WELCOME TO
ABELFAREI
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Featuring Pontiac Heights
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Featuring Alabaster Shores
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This is a continuation of my CJ from over at Simtrop found HERE (http://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=36&threadid=63519&STARTPAGE=1&FTVAR_FORUMVIEWTMP=Linear)
How Pretty I especially like the mix of Goobers Canals and the Mixs of park, where did you get the cable cars from is it something CSX Concted!!!
Outstanding &apls
It will be very interesting to watch you develop that extremely geographically challenging region. It's nice to see a different take on ploppable water (Peg's vs. brtim2's or jeronij's), too. I'll be looking forward to seeing what you do with that in the more "natural" areas of your region.
Welcome aboard- Good Luck!
David
I've lurked around your CJ over at ST, and I expect nice lotediting from this. And a lot of parks. Should be really good. :thumbsup:
Fantastic start and wonderful region! Great pictures!
A good start with masterful parks. I also like the bridges over peg's ponds (was it done by the rain tool-land bridge trick and then putting an overhang lot next to it?). It seems like, whatever the trick, it must have taken awhile. Good job.
I enjoy the parks, you are very good with them. Please, we need more!
I'm going to echo David's sentiments and welcome you to the MD community here at SC4D, and wish you all the best of luck with this undertaking. I know it can be daunting at times, and especially with the challenges of RL it seems so irrelevant at times too, but hang in there! I'll be looking forward to more, and have to say that it's an excellent start (with great utilisation of SG Brick Canals and the BSC parks, not to mention the CSX Cable Car) and an amazing region that will provide a very interesting development to monitor. :thumbsup:
I have also stuck to Peg's streams rather than ploppable water, but have recently discovered the beauty of ploppable water and fell head over heals in love! :P
Looking forward to more soon!
Regards,
M
I've got a general update on the region I can post reasonably soon... I'm currently cleaning some things up with my plug-ins and I'm actually going to be changing up a few things I think... I've really liked Citynut's rapids, and I'm thinking of incorporating them into Pontiac Heights near the waterfalls (which are numerous...). I think I may just post some that I already do have prepared, and then I'll be able to show a bit of a "before and after" pic.
I'm plagued by the "fault" that my creations need to be perfect... I can't tell you how many times I've had something that was perfect... but then a new lot or prop, or anything comes along and I've got to change it. The entrance to the Alabaster Shores garden has been changed so many times... but each time it's an improvement, IMO. I sure hope you'll agree when I finally get a chance to post it!!
I really am in awe of those creators who are able to meticulously put forth amazing update after amazing update. Part of it may be my computer (and I actually will be getting a new one in the near future... Yeah for tax returns!) but part of it is that I'm just not very quick with the tools needed to create what I want to create (with lot editor, etc).
Well, gotta go watch Survivor with my wife (it's one of our "things... :thumbsup:)...
Hopefully I'll get a chance to post an update tonight!!
Update #1
Here are some shots of the region being formed...
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The region is composed of 16 medium tiles. Not a huge region by any respects, but quality is most important, IMO. I've been working on this region off and on since May 2005.
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It has definately had lots of changes!
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I changed the water color
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And I put through a bit of erosion so that I'd be able to build on the land!
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And here is a regional shot from about a year ago...
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I'm running the dat packer at the moment for the first time... when it's finished, I'm going to fire up SC4 and see how it works.... I might have a chance to show you the most up to date regional pic.
&apls
That is one good looking region. It's nice to be able to see how the development has been forming it. I totally agree about the size: quality is definatly more important.
Wonderful region! Great mountains and using of trees! :thumbsup:
RESPONSES
Narocos300- Thanks, I love SG's canals too... there are rumors he's going to put together another pack soon... I can't wait! The cable car is one of Colyn's creations, and it's found on the BSC LEX.
Dedgren- Thanks for the comment... I've actually had to make the region more flat to be able to build on it, but, especially with Pontiac Heights, I tried to build around the land, as opposed to forming the land around what I wanted to build.
There are definately some (and will be more) natural areas... but I'm not nearly as talented in this area as you are!
emilin- Nice to see some people actually DID follow this over at Simtrop... I've been working on this for so long, and I've taken really long breaks that it would have seemed natural for people to merely forget about Abelfarei, 'cause it sure appeared that I did!
bat- Thanks for the comment, I sure hope you like the pictures. I'm terrible at any kind of image modification, but I spend lots of time (probably more than I need to!) with the details of the city that I hope it shows!
threestoges- Yep, the bridge over the water in the third picture was done with the rain tool and with the overhanging props, you're exactly right! This simply looked much more natural to me than if I had Peg's bridge props... I didn't think that a bridge that was at-grade with the river either above the falls or below simply wasn't very realistic!
petercintn- I certainly do have some more for you... Alabaster Shores in almost entirely full of the parks and canals. I have a few updates ready for Pontiac Heights, which I think you'll like too... you'll just have to wait a bit on the parks!
m4346- Thanks for the welcome! There are definately some things that I like about Peg's ponds and streams, though I haven't taken a serious look at the plopable water as of yet. I also use Peg and SG's canals (some of the latter are shown above) and I'm looking to incorporate Citynut's rapids in with what I've already got going with Peg's, to add to the realism. I really like what I have had with Peg's ponds/streams but the lack of turbulence, especially around the waterfalls needs a bit of attention. I need to work on some transitions from Peg's to Citynut's and back.
emilin (2)- Part of the reason why I chose a small region was because I knew it would take me a while with each individual city tile, but also because my computer it about 6 years old... but I'm getting a NEW computer in a little less than a week, so I'm pumped. I'm expecting that the performance will increase by a LOT and I'll be able to do what I want much, much quicker. As of right now, it takes forever to fire up SC4 and when I open up different menu's it takes forever. The DAT Packer has helped some, but my plugins file isn't (and can't be) enormous... I just think it will fly (at least comparitively!) with the new computer!
bat (2)- Cyclepuppy's mods (both with trees and with the terrain) absolutely revolutionized the game... the look and feel of the game changes so much with the inclusion of these creations and truly give a realistic feel to any type of city and region.
The mountains did take forever... but I wanted to create something that I really could picture and that would be realistic. If you like it, then I guess I succeeded!
QuoteI've been working on this region off and on since May 2005.
In other words, you've made a commitment. The best regions, IMHO, are ones the player has decided, for whatever reason, are worth seeing through over time.
Thanks for sharing Abelfarei with us, my friend.
David
This is an old update from April of 2006. I'm planning on updating this city soon, I just haven't had the time yet, as it takes SO long with my current computer to do anything. Feel free to let me know what you think about the city and if you see anything you think could be "tweaked" because there are some things that have kind of bugged me lately about it that I definately want to change.
Here's your first real look at Pontiac Heights... UPDATE #2
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Pontiac Heights is a unique and diverse residential community with great disparities in wealth.
Pontiac Heights was originally settled by Spanish subsistance fishermen. The poor fishermen fished on Pontiac Heights extensive waterways and rivers.
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Pontiac Heights was later colonized by the Dutch.
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The Amsterdam-style row houses still line the streets in Eastern Pontiac Heights.
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The Dutch settlers harvested the great trees of the Heights for 5 years, but then Holland was overtaken by the Portuguese, who strangely had no need for the wood. It was during this period that the few remaining Dutch settlers set up the Amersterdam Marketplace, where they sold goods to the poor Spanish.
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Many years later, the beautiful shores, majestic waterfalls, great forests and breathtaking views began to appeal to the rich and retired. Though they dispised the poor who lived in the hills, they generally secluded themselves near the shores.
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Ironically, it wasn't until the super-rich came to Pontiac Heights that the situations improved for the poor.
As you can see in this picture, the owner of this house, millionaire Kathryn Orsmsby, did not seclude herself from the poor. She had recieved a fortune with the death of a great aunt, and she vowed to spend the money on those in need. The woes of the Pontiac Heights poor were widely known in the region, so she chose this spot to be the place for her personal quarters and boarding house. She daily serves three wonderful meals to the locals and she even allows over forty locals (whose houses were destroyed 8 years ago in the floods) to permenantly live in her home with her. It has been said that somehow, despite her generosity, her fortunes continue to grow, even though she brings in no working income of her own!
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Another benevolent soul is known only as "Arky." He too chose to live right among the less fortunate.
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Arky was the son of immigrant German parents in Chicago in the early 20th century. His parents both died while Arky was still very young, so he was sent to an orphanage. At the age of eighteen, he left the orphanage and began working as a teletype operator for Chicago Title and Trust. He was befriended by company president Holman D. Pettibone, and with Pettibone's sudden death, it was discovered that the Pettibone fortune was left to one lone man, Arky, the teletype operator in office 3b!
Arky had grown to love the outdoors and gardening. Holman Pettibone had been a member of the innaugural board of trusties at the Morton Arboretum, outside Chicago, and he had passed on to Arky the love for horticulture. However, trees did not interest Arky nearly as much as gardens. Soon after finishing his estate house in Pontiac Heights, he purchased a vast area of land across the waterway in what would become Alabaster Shores. He employed many, many decendants of the original fishermen from Pontiac Heights and he taught them the gardening trade. (Soon to come, pictures of the wonderful Alabaster Shores gardens!)
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Arky also had a heart for orphans. He adopted seven children and regularly checked up on the children at every orphanage in the county.
There were, of course, a few in the "super-rich" category who didn't really care anything about anyone living near them. They secluded themselves up high on the heights.
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Not much is known about the inhabitants of this home. It is rumored that the owner (who is rarely ever seen in public) is an Arabian horse breeder who's riches are incredibly vast. It is also rumored that he has ties in Arabian oil, though these rumors have never been confirmed.
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This house has sat atop the highest point in Abelfarei Heights for as long as any of the people can remember. Spanish legend says that it has always been there, and it was once inhabited by a god. This god controlled the flow of the rivers and could create droughts and floods at his every whim.
The current resident is very shady. The man who lives there goes simply by Don Miguel. The police have questioned him many times in regards to many strange crimes around the city, but nothing ever seems to stick.
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Well, there you have it! This update is near and dear to my heart because of the storyline... Kathryn is my wife's name, and Orsmby was her grandparents' last name. They both passed away 3 years ago at Christmas time, just 17 days apart. Kate is an only child and it was very hard on her, as she had never had any close family pass away for her, so that portion of the update was dedicated to them and to their memory. For those of you who have ever heard the song "The Luckiest" by Ben Folds, the final verse is, in many respects, exactly what happened in her grandparent's case. That was actually the song she walked down the aisle to at our wedding, in large part because they couldn't be there on that day.
"Arky" was the nickname of my own grandfather. He actually did grow up in an orphanage in Chicago, and he did work as a teletype operator for an insurance company in Chicago for many years, though he didn't inherit any fortune or anything like that... My Grandpa was an amazing man... born in 1905, he lived through two World Wars (he fought in the second), the depression, and so many technological advances in his lifetime, and had an amazing personality. He passed away on October 16th 2005... 6.5 hours before his 100th birthday. His wake and funeral were truly amazing... though so many of his friends had passed away, and though we all missed him and were sad he was gone, we were essentially sad for ourselves... how could we be sad for him? He'd definately lived a VERY full life!
Well, I hope you liked the update and some of the inspirations for my storyline... I'm not sure that you can really expect any type of a continuing storyline, but I'll at least make something up for each set of pictures! ;)
RESPONSES
David- Hopefully I'll be able to cultivate even more than I've done so far, and I can make what I've already done all the better! I'm so glad you like it!!
By the way, the next update will be a highlight of the waterways and recreational areas of Pontiac Heights!
Fantastic development! The overview looks very beautiful! :thumbsup:
RESPONSES
Thanks bat... I think you'll like the next update even more... the waterways are certainly the "highlight" of Pontiac Shores, and I'll have this update ready for later this afternoon!
&apls Wow fantastic view . Very great terraforming . I like what i saw. :thumbsup: Keep it up.
I like your stories, and how you present your city. And the city itself is like nothing I have seen so far, very unique.
Pontiac Heights... UPDATE #3
Here's the second update for Pontiac Heights!
Like I said after the last update, this one's all about WATER!
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This pond is the origin of all waterways in Pontiac Heights. This pond is stream-fed from farther up in the mountains. From the pond (which, unlike much of the rest of the streams and waterfalls, doesn't have a name) the water diverges in two directions.
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The first three falls are called "Jim's falls" after Jim Loynachan, an old fisherman who build a cabin up on the hills here and fished the pond (called Pond Donna after his wife).
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His son, Jim, now owns a seaplane and flies brave customers up to the pond his father fished. The customers have to be brave, because check out the size of the pond! Jim is the only one who has ever tried to land a plane there, and he's somehow managed to keep everyone safe and alive. He claims he's the only pilot who would be able to land in such a small pond, and other pilots in the area say that's probably true... because they're not dumb enough to try!
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The next falls, Edward Falls, was dubbed by the original owner of the cabin at the base of the falls. This cabin is no longer owned by anyone... it stands as a monument to poor planning. Every spring, the cabin is flooded when the river swells with the spring thaw. Mr. Edward's wife lasted all of about 3 months living in the cabin and she made her husband buy a new home. I don't blame her!
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This next section is the McKillor Swamp. Surprizingly, the houses that were build here do NOT flood with the spring flaw. Environmentalists complained that so many people were living on the wetlands (even though the homes had existed for YEARS before there even were environmentalists), and they studied the area to try and find some species of plant or animal that was being threatened. What they discovered was that what appeared to be islands were actually giant floating lilly pad-like plants. They were so large that trees actually grew out of them. The environmentalists were going to protest what they assumed was an endangered species of plant (because they'd never seen it before) when suddenly, there was a rock slide in Australia that threatened the breeding grounds of some endangered koalas. That should keep those environmentalists busy for a while!
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Here's an overview of the area.
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These four falls are the Tetra falls. The base of the falls lies in between two places with higher ground and forms a wind tunnel, so the locals like to sail here.
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For as much of a problem as the environmentalists had with the people living in McKillor Swamp, they surprizingly had no problem with people (albiet RICHER people) building houses right next to the otter breeding grounds. The locals come and see the baby otters playing in the water and in the winter, the adults climb to the top of the hills and slide down on the ice, to much fanfare from onlookers. Speaking of onlookers, it appears that the mayor is sailing over to take a peak at the otters now!
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There are some perks to being mayor. Not only does he get this nifty boat...
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he gets to stay in the mayoral mansion, which lies right on the water.
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The mayor gets a nice boat, but this boat is owned by the Kathryn Ormsby foundation. She regularly takes her boarders out for afternoon sails and treats them to a picnic.
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This is another outlet of the McKillor Swamp.
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The water splits again here.
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This is the second place that water drains from the pond by Don Miguel's mansion.
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This stream, nicknamed Signature Stream because it manders like cursive past the (reported) Arabian's home.
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This campground is one of the most scenic in all of Abelfarei. The Echo Falls are visited by many people from throughout the region each year. The geography of the land creates a unique echo sound when visitors walk across the rope bridge.
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A view of the lower cascades of Echo Falls.
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At the base of Echo Falls, the stream takes a quick turn at Elbo Falls and meets up again with the rest of the water initially from the pond near Don Miguel's.
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The installation of these permanant bridges made life much safer for the locals. Before the city installed them, the decendents of the Spanish farmers were forced to raft across the water, and especially during the spring, this was a daunting task.
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Many, many men and women lost their lives when their rafts overturned and they were cast over the falls which became known as Widowmaker Falls.
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Another shot of Widowmaker Falls.
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In between Widowmaker Falls and these falls here, Twin Falls, I was not allowed to take any pictures. This is some of the best trout fishing water in the world, and the locals own the rights, including the rights to any photos or newsprint of or about the area. That's all I can say, or I'll get thrown in jail!
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Here's a shot of Pontiac Garden.
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This statue is a perfect likeness of Captain Pontiac, the Dutch explorer who first mapped the land here.
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The documentation on the name of waterfalls in Pontiac Heights is not that great. For example, these falls are also named Twin Falls.
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And so are these. Go figure! This ferry station is only open during certain months of the year. The great ferry disaster of '23 killed 147 people onboard as an ice floe shot over the falls and capsized the boat. Only three people survived the tragedy.
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Let's move back to Fisher's Falls, the falls near the Mayor's mansion. These falls got their name because old local regulations mandated that the local fishermen fished above the falls, where the fishing was mediocre at best. The legislation was overturned and the Spanish fishermen actually began to be able to make money from their fishing, instead of just getting by.
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These bridges are some of the oldest in the region. As soon as the Dutch arrived, they realized how important it was to be able to get to the other side of the river during the springtime, so they built these bridges to be able to cross the river.
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This is another example of poor planning. The government set up a free clinic, and they tried to find the cheapest land to build on... Well, they didn't have to pay a THING for the land at the base of the falls. Of course, that means that the clinic is only open about 1/3 of the year, but...
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This is the final shot of the second place that the water finally makes it to the sea.
RESPONSES
Kimcar- Thanks for the comment... I hope you like what else I've got to show!
kwakelaar- Great to see you here! I'm glad you like the stories... like I said, they (probably) won't all tie in, but each picture probably will have some sort of story!
Keep up the comments guys... There have only been 5 comments after my first two REAL updates. Are you guys still interested in seeing this...?
It's almost too much to comment about: the backstory behind the pic is good, the pics are exceptional, and the detail with which you have interwoven the streams, houses, and general infrastructure is quite spectacular. Keep it up.
Those tiny spanish houses are adorable. I use them alot myself. :thumbsup:
RESPONSES
threestooges- Hopefully the streams will look even better when I give the waterfalls a bit of an overhaul with Citynut's rapids.
emilin- I love these Spanish houses... These, along with Jeronij's recent release of 1x1 buildings of MBear's props will definately keep the Spanish feel!!!
Quote from: threestooges on February 18, 2007, 11:26:43 PM
spectacular
Man, you have a way with Peg's Streams & Ponds. I've really enjoyed myself with you fabulous MD.
&apls Great update . Very good use of Peg pound. I like your pics too. keep it up :thumbsup:
I like your commitment to majestic parks. :thumbsup: I'm sure your Sims do too. ;D
Wow, I don't know how I missed this one! I thought that I had posted here before, but after reading through, I realize that I didn't. I apologize! The terraforming work you did in the early updates is spectacular, and Pontiac Heights looks beautiful, too. I love the streams and ponds! I'll be looking forward to the next update!
There are a lot of waterfalls here, and I still try to follow your stories. I like the camping ground you have made with the bridge over the Echo falls.
Don't know if it is intended but quite a few of your images seems to be a bit blury.
The "Horse and Rider" statue pic in Pontiac Park is next week's (starting tomorrow- this week it's been one of jeronij's Biniarix pics from Grand Canyon) rotating desktop image. It's beautifully composed.
David
There's a possibility of another update soon... I don't work tomorrow (well, technically, today, it's after midnight here!) and I'm getting my new computer... so I'll probably need to fire it up and see how she works with SC4!
RESPONSES
petercintn- I wish I could just claim that I have some natual abilities with all things aqueous when it comes to SC4... but like anything else, repetition gives the desired result! I was a basketball player in college and a math major... in both disciplines, the more you work and work and work at a particular skill, the better the outcome will be! I'm just lucky (as we all are!) that we have just great pieces of custom content to use to our liking!
kimcar- I'm glad you like the pics... I'm just sorry that the last update didn't have pictures that were very crisp (more later!)
Flipside- Thanks for the comment! One of my goals in creating these cities is this: would I like to spend some time here? If not, then I simply change it... if so, then I've succeeded! Especially with the parks of Alabaster Shores (which will be shown sometime in the relatively near future) I geared those towards what I would like to go visit!
thundercrack83- Thanks for the reply! I'm glad you stopped by and left a note! It really is encouraging to see what it is people like! It helps to guide me in how to move forward in the future... I hope you'll check Abelfarei out again!
kwakelaar- Gjermund, Grr... to be honest, I just screwed up with the lack of crispness of my pictures... These pictures were ones I used in an update over at Simtrop, but I when I had switched them over from .png's to .jpgs I had made them smaller pictures. I thought I could stretch them back out to larger sizes, and I overwrote the pics with the larger ones... but about half way through, I realized I was losing the crispness of the pics... but it was too late, the damage was already done :thumbsdown: I'm going to be taking some more pics of Pontiac Heights when I work on updating the city a bit in the future... I haven't done anything extensive with the city in over a year, believe it or not!
dedgren David, wow, I'm honored to have a place on anyone's desktop, but to have it be someone who I really see as being an innovator of the game with the way you've created such realistic landscapes is QUITE an honor! Thanks for your continued support!!
I've got some work to do molding some transitions in the LE and then I'll show some updates of Pontiac Heights. I apologize that the updates don't occur more frequently, but they hopefully will be much more frequent now that I'll have a computer that will be much more responsive when I'm trying to do things with my cities!!
Thanks for stopping by!!
The Widowmakerfalls and Echofalls are simply amazing. And the orange houses make Abelfarei a very Dutch atmosphere even in the parts of the region where the Dutch colonist did not settle :D
awesome first two pages &apls that sums up to a great start (or continuation) i love the huge park! very colorful. your transitions between waters with those falls are great. clean and crisp. i like them. the lots you put in are splendid. again, very colorful. but you haven't followed through. i hope you get to update here often. see you around
Nope, this isn't dead... I've just been out of town the last 3 weeks, and I set it aside for a bit... I picked it back up last night, though, and have some great new ideas!
Quote from: CabraBuitre on March 26, 2007, 04:37:22 PM
Nope, this isn't dead... I've just been out of town the last 3 weeks, and I set it aside for a bit... I picked it back up last night, though, and have some great new ideas!
Glad to hear it, my friend! I can't wait to see what you have next!
thats good to hear!!! :thumbsup: see you around and the sooner the better :P
Can't wait to see the parks of Alabaster Shores, Cabra! ;) ;D Will be watching.
Alabaster Shores... UPDATE #4
Here's the first real update of Alabaster Shores! I'm still working on many spots and trying to pass my own personal standards...!
I've already changed many of these sections 4 and 5 times, and I'm pretty happy with these that I'm showing here now!!
Below are some shots of Monroe Memorial Garden. It is in honor of James Howard Monroe, who served in Viet Nam. He put the lives of his fellow soldiers in front of his own as he risked his life to respond to cries of help from other soldiers. He then gave his own life to save the life of others. A grenade was thrown near his position. Pushing injured comrades out of the way, he fell upon it and sacrificed himself so that others could live. These shots were taken on Memorial Day, as the color guard honored the one who gave his life and they remember his bravery and valor.
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Hmm... Running out of time to post! I might be able to come back and provide some captions for the other pics soon!!
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These last four shots are the masterpiece of Nikolash Kottari, world renowned for his intricate pieces that have a place in the world's finest gardens and parks.
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Hope you enjoyed this update!!
RESPONSES
First off, sorry it's taken me so long to update. My time has been slim these past few months, but I've steadily worked here and there and I keep seeing many things that continue to inspire me to work even harder!
Sebes- Thanks for post Sebes! I'm going to revisit Pontiac Heights sometime soon and see if I can make it even better and more realistic!
Heinz- Well... maybe it wasn't a quick "follow through"... but here's another update for you!
Thundercrack83- It's not dead yet... it's getting better... It thinks is will go for a walk... It feels happy!!... (WHACK)
Ok, maybe it's done now.
Just kidding!
Heinz (#2)- Is now soon enough...?! Hope you like it!
Flipside- Hopefully these will be even better the next time I'm able to show an update. These have been largely unchanged for at least 6 months!
Hope you all like it! I love to read your comments!!
It's a pleasure to see this fine MD return to the active categories! Thanks, CabraBuitre, for coming back and sharing more of Abelfarei with us.
Best of luck in the weeks ahead. Lots of folks, I'm sure, will be watching for further updates.
David
This is a huge garden, and really beautifully made. So many different looking lots with flowers in all colours. The wild flower garden would be my favourite and the city gardens in the last pictures.
Nice to see you updating again.
That parks are looking beautiful, CabraBuitre! Great using of these lots!! :thumbsup:
An absolutely spectacular update. I would be interested to see a zoomed out pic (or a zoomed in mosaic) of the whole memorial park. Did you make the parks yourself (particularly the garden paths at the bottom of the first pic) or are they dl'ed? They are so intricately done, they must have taken you some time to put together. This has raised the bar on an already superb MD.
&apls &apls Fantastic gardens. Great use of it . Very colored too. :thumbsup:
RESPONSES
dedgren- Thanks for finding a spot for this again... Like I said before I don't necessarily have a ton of time for posting, etc, but I am constantly working on this and plan to update when I do have time! I think I started it as a CJ on simtropolis in May 2005 and I've played off an on since then. That was back in the "glory days" of ST, when a lot of legendary members were in our midst. As time has gone on and the game has aged, it's interesting to see how so many have gone, but also how many new great people are contributing to the game!
kwakelaar- I've really spent quite a while trying to find tune each of the individual garden pieces. Maybe if I get a chance, I'll show each individual piece that makes up the whole. I really find it hard to take too much credit for it, though, because it's people like SimGoober, Dolphin66, Peg, Mickebear and Cobb who've created the props that I just slap on a lot. With such intricate and beautiful pieces, it would be hard for me to NOT be able to make something that looked halfway decent!!
bat- Thanks for the comment bat! I've had a TON of inspiration from so many members and journals over the years. I save pictures that I find particularly inspiring on my computer and reference them when I'm piecing together lots. A lot of times there are small pieces of someone's picture that I really like... and so what I try to do is to make each part of my cities the kind of things that would catch my own eye! Fredval over at ST creates cities is much the same way, and I've taken it as quite an inspiration!
threestooges- I'll try and get a wide view pic and possibly a mosaic. I still have parts of the gardens that are completely empty, and there are portions that I am in the process of completely redoing because (as I mentioned above) they weren't unique enough on their own merit, or I've been inspired to update to something else!! I have made a large number of these parks myself and (as I said before) I may get a chance to show each of the individual pieces sometime soon. I haven't uploaded any of them because they haven't been modded and aren't really packaged very well, plus many of them are made specifically for one spot and one spot only (especially from the last four pics).
And yes, they did take a while to put together, but one of the things I can suggest to people who want to learn how to make great looking lots is to get in the lot editor and play around with it. Look at some of the masters like BarbyW and see what it is that THEY do with their lots that you like and try and emulate some of their ideas. You develop your own style after a while, and the rest is history!
I've created these for my own purposes, and that's the important part. Most people don't release what they're making, because they may serve a particular purpose that WOULDN'T serve anyone else's.
kimcar- Thanks Kimcar, I've had to watch myself so I don't make everything too repetitive... It's easy to make green and red (especially because my paths are the default red from SG's original BSC parks), but I need to make sure that I'm adding the yellows and oranges, purples and blues too!
Stay tuned! I'll see if I have an opportunity to post again soon!!
This is the first time I have come across your work and I'm wondering what I have missed. That park is beautiful and a fitting tribute :thumbsup:
I am really looking forward to seeing what you show us next.
Cheers
Dave
WOW Cabra the parks is something else whos btw are those they are stunning and the way you used
them is a real fine tribute to the creators of those :thumbsup:
wow, that doesn't even look earthlike... some alien parks or something. Great work!
take care,
Very impressive work &apls