• Welcome to SC4 Devotion Forum Archives.

Greenacre

Started by threestooges, December 24, 2008, 03:13:48 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.

bat

#20
Welcome to page 2! ;)

That new update is great! The region map is also fantastic! Wonderful pictures of your city!!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

sim_link

Great job with the update! Awesome view of the region, looks like a nice place to live.:) Like how in picture 2.07 the individual farms are surrounded by trees, looks very realistic.
Your writing stye is also very good :thumbsup:

-sim_link

woodb3kmaster

Funny how you should have named one of your towns Apple Valley - I'm originally from a real city of that name (though without any apples, since it's in the desert)! Good job so far. Looking at the size of Greenacre, I can tell there's plenty more to look forward to in this MD!

Feel brand new. Be inspired.
NYHAVEN - VIEWS FROM WITHIN
Nuclear City - 5/8

threestooges

Replies:

-Joan: Glad to hear you liked it. This is one of the areas where I laid the rail early on. I had a main path around the valley in mind from the get go and just built the towns where they looked like they'd fit (usually where a couple main roads intersected).  Thanks for the suggestion on numbering the pics.  It does help in talking about specific ones. The previous updates have already been updated accordingly.



-Paul: I'm glad I could bring a bit of relaxation and bliss. If you liked that part, you'll hopefully enjoy what's coming. The valley is the main agricultural source for Greenacre, but there are other spots which we will see in times to come. I've always liked the tree lines that act as buffers too, they'll feature heavily in the area. CP's aspens work great in the task. Not seasonal yet, but they may be someday. The agricultural areas I'm familiar with are largely those of Southern and Central CA. They developed in a fair grid system, and there weren't many trees or terrain features to break that grid. I'll need to look for it, but driving up Interstate 5 they seemed to lose a sense of creativity when naming the roads, I have a pic of an exit for "Road 19." David gave a good description of US farm layouts in 3RR.

Here's something to show the age of the game. The cattle yard is a classic lot by mrbisonm (the same who made Nexis if I recall) from 2003 and can be found here on the STEX, and the towns being built into the farm fields is something I picked up from Digby, one of my earliest rural inspirations.

I was trying to think of something to improve the vineyard, and that might just do it. However, I haven't noticed a dirt street option in the SAM, did I miss a texture pack?



-tragicomicus1: Welcome to Greenacre. Aside from adding the red line and hiding the vertical edge of the map, that region shot is how it shows up for me in the game. When I made the island, I ended up with about 1 medium tile of water on all sides. It really seems to emphasize the island aspect. Glad you're enjoying it.



-Albus of Garaway: Thank you very much, and welcome to Greenacre. If you happen to see something on one of these trips that interests you, let me know. I'll do a little research and see what I can find for you.



-art128: Glad you're enjoying it Arthur. There will be a few more farms coming up here for you in this next update as we finish circling the valley.



-Pat: Always good to see you Pat. She did give some good advice (both now, and when I was planning things out). Enjoy the next part of the tour here.



-bat: Thanks for bringing things to the second page. Glad you're enjoying it so far. There's plenty more to come.



-sim_link: Welcome to Greenacre, and thanks. If you see a place you like, let me know and I'll see if I can get a realtor lined up for you. Glad to hear you're enjoying the story too. It's fun to write. I've always liked the tree-lined farm look too, though it may not be too realistic in some farms around here. Hope you enjoy what's to come.



-woodb3kmaster: Funny how you should note the town of Apple Valley. If it's the one in CA just east of Victorville, then it may have provided the name for this one. A slightly different climate perhaps, but I like the name. You are right that there is plenty more to come, hope you enjoy it. Welcome to Greenacre.



I felt bad cutting the tour short last time, so here's a bit to give you a taste of what's to come. They say a picture is worth 1000 words, so with that, enough of my jabbering, here's part of our path for next time. Enjoy.



-Matt

Jmouse

Hey Matt, you're doing some good work down on the farms. If I didn't know better I'd say you know exactly how to hitch up a mule and plow a straight line! ;)

That's an awesome mosaic, and the village in the lower half is laid out well – everything looks like it belongs there. I like the tiered look and retaining walls even though they aren't sights I'm used to seeing. That's a pretty steep cliff from water level to the top – is this a typical scene in parts of California and/or the West Coast in general?

Glad you've decided to number your photos – now I can tell you how much I like each one! ;D

Later...
Joan

thundercrack83

Wow! What a mosaic, Matt!

The village on the coastline, the farmlands--excellent placement of everything, my friend!

Great stuff here in Greenacre! Great stuff!

Dustin

jmyers2043

Hello Threestooges

I like the farm in the lower corner with the sheep. It looks like you spent a little time on it with all the extra flora and fences. It was a nice picture to look at and gave me a tranquil feeling.



Jim Myers  (5th member of SC4 Devotion)

kant01

Beautiful job!  &apls

I particularly love that mosaic. The farm with the sheep is just perfect! Looking forward to seeing more :D

Albus of Garaway

Wow, what a nice mosaic! It reminds me a lot of where I live, except here in New York state, many of the rails are abandoned (At least where I live). I love how lively your images are. You can really tell that this is a living and growing place. So many people think that it's just the looks that count in SimCity 4, but I really think the liveliness and the feeling that things are changing in the area is a huge factor, too.

That Christmas tree farm is extremely creative. Another reason why I love this MD. ;)

Thanks for giving us such an incredible read, Matt! :)

bat

Beautiful mosaic there! Your rural area(s) is (/are) wonderful!! Great work!! :thumbsup:

kbieniu7

Nice fields. Just this one on the top, with trees on it looks strange a bit  ;)
Thank you for visiting Kolbrów, and for being for last ten years!

Nexis4Jersey

Those Rural Farms are absolutely stunning!  Awesome work on the mosaic too!   

Pat

Matt that is wonderful mosaic there!!! I loved it and I cant wait for the tour to contiune!!!!

Don't forget the SC4D Podcast is back and live on Saturdays @ 12 noon CST!! -- The Podcast soon to Return Here Linkie

dsrwhat316

A nice mosaic, Matt! The grade on some of those roads are a bit much, though, but that's not a big problem. A bit too much Maxis for my taste, but I've been spoiled by the all the custom content available  $%Grinno$%. I'll try and stop by again soon!

~ Dan
Custom Lotting at its Finest:

Last updated: 2/9- I'm Back! +  A Teaser (of course...)

tooheys

Cant believe nobody linked http://www.tvland.com/theme_songs/themeSongsPopup.jhtml?id=10

I know, it's got an s on the end, but it's close  ;D

Matt, great to see an MD up and running. And you've started with my fave area, rural. Looks great, and I like the way the rail descends down the hill  :thumbsup: Nicely done.

Looking forward to more

Cheers

Dave


paroch

What a great mosaic you've given us Matt.  Your rural areas really are something special.  And I also like the way you deal with the terrain height changes - it looks very smoothly done and I know that's not easy.

I'm really enjoying seeing Greenacre develop. :thumbsup:

Paul

sim_link

Great Mosaic, gives a very nice snapshot of the area. :thumbsup: Love how the small town fits in with the surrounding farmland, works very well in this instance. :)

Ryan B.


threestooges

#38
Replies:

-Joan: Let's put it this way, if I had to hitch up a mule and plow a straight line I'd probably do it the same way I'm doing Greenacre, figure it out as I go along and hope no one notices. Even with Maxis farms, I've always enjoyed the rural areas of the game. Rest assured, there is more to Greenacre than farms, but you'll see a few more for at least this next update.

The retaining walls were the best thing I found to make the tiers at the time, and I still like them today. I can't recall seeing too many full-slope walls in CA, but there are a number of vertical retaining walls, especially along Highway 1 (Pacific Coast Highway-check out the picture at Mugu Rock, the road goes through that gap). From Santa Monica through Malibu, large (20ft+ tall) concrete retaining walls line the road that cuts along the coast. Some areas like La Conchita along US 101 have had some serious landslides.



-Dustin: Thank you very much Dustin. Most of what you see there is just a result of zoning. aside from the tree farm at the top, the trees and sheep added to the farm at the bottom and perhaps 1-2 buildings I may not have noticed, all RCI grew there as is. I like how it turned out too. Sometimes letting it grow can yield less than optimal results, but this one worked well.



-jmyers2043: Coming from someone who has done some excellent rural work, that is a fine compliment. This is actually the more industrial agricultural area, the fancier ones are up in the hills, but that's outside the valley, and is a place for a different trip in the future. Thanks for stopping by.



-kant01: Thank you very muchm and welcome to Greenacre. I love the ploppable animals, they make pastures and such so much easier.



-Albus of Garaway: The rails of Greenacre will hopefully be filled for years to come. Fortunately, freight is still fairly big out here too. UP and BNSF each have stock out here. You are right too. Looks are certainly a plus, but life in a pic helps dramatically... I just have no idea how to get it consistently. The tree farm actually came from a desire to have something a bit more uniform than the existing tree farm (though I do like that lot too). Hope you enjoy this next part.



-bat: Thanks bat. It's still the same rural area from the last update, we're just getting to the northern part of the lake now and wrapping around. Good to see you.



-kbieniu7: I suppose it does look a bit odd to have the trees surrounded by flowers, but the owner seems to do a good business. Must be good soil. Welcome to Greenacre, and I hope to see you around again.



-Nexis: Thank you very much, and welcome to Greenacre.



-Pat: Thank you very much. Our tour shall continue shortly.



-dsrwhat316: Ever been to San Francisco? Heh heh, yeah, this area was originally made back before I had a slope mod installed. Some of the slopes were actually toned down when I repaved the streets with the SAM. You'll gradually see more non-Maxis stuff enter in as we go, but you'll likely see it still in this update. Welcome to Greenacre.



-tooheys: Heh heh, welcome to Greenacre Dave! Farm living is the life indeed, isn't it (though no relation to the show intended)? I suppose it's fitting that this is where we get out first full glimpses of the area. Interestingly, for as hilly as that area is, there is no major slope to the rail line outside of the bit by the station and just above the 'S' curve. Everything just weaves around it (or that's the hope). Glad to see you here, and I'm glad you're enjoyng.



-paroch: Thank you Paul. Most of the slope workwas done with road plops (a little trick I picked up from Anduin River Valley), levelling the terrain outward from the hill. It gets a bit messier up the hill though, but the extent of the town is more or less in the mosaic, so the mess can be worked out later. Since you showed your local farms, I'll try to do the same. For now, here's a pic I found on the net. I'll try to track down one that's more local.




-sim_link: Thank you very much. It can be easy to go overboard with the town and spread too far into the fields, but I think this one worked out.



-burgesabre87: Thank you very much and welcome to Greenacre. Hope all is well with you and your family.




So, after a nice night in Miller's Creek, what say we get going again with our tour.

3.01

The lighter red highlights our intended path today. The darker red, as you might guess, is where we have been.

We're travelling by rail (via the GVRR) from Miller's Creek, and will be arriving at the Crater Lake station shortly.

3.02


Here is the local rail station in Crater Lake. It's fairly centrally located, and is within walking distance of most of the local venues. This is a good thing as they'll be bringing our car along on the next train. Sure we could have driven, but there's something fun about rail travel for me. As long as we're here, let's looks around.

3.03


The town got it's name from the rather large body of water out there, and it is one of the primary points of entry into the lake. There is a launch facility that services boats as well as the occasional aircraft (with pontoons of course). There were a few flying boats in the area last time I came out here, but it seems pretty quiet here today. Likely out on a tour or something.

3.04


Some of you noted the rather steep slope lead up the hill. Well, you haven't seen the half of it. One of the more dangerous roads around here, especially at night, it creeps quite close to the edge of the cliffs. It does give a stunning view of the lake however, and is an essential route to get to the major cities futher inland.

3.05


A couple of things to point out here. First, you'll notice the monument just above that tunnel entrance there. It was constructed after a boiler on one of the GVRR locomotive exploded. The fire got a bit hot, and the water got a bit low. Near as they could tell, the pressure gauge malfunctioned. 'Near as they could tell' being a couple hundred feet away where they found said gauge. It ripped up some of the closer houses, but fortunately no one was killed. The ascending path it takes symbolizes progress and advancement while the gaps are there to ensure that pauses for reflection are made, that things work properly before moving forward and that there will likely challenges to overcome in pursuit of a goal.

On a lighter note, as you ascend the hill, you'll note some of the local wildflowers. It's the off season here right now, though it's getting close, but when these things get going, the entire hillside can be in bloom. Just up the hill from this is the start of an industrial sector, but that's something for another time, we had better get back down and on the road again if we want to make it all the way around before night.

One last point of interest is the railyard here. This is where the aforementioned locomotive exploded. The boiler ruptured at the top so fortunately that's where most of the energy went. We'll grab a bite to eat at the pizza shop across the street before heading out.

3.06


It's nice to have connections with the GVRR, they brough our car along and now we're good to go again. As we leave, take a look at this sheep farm out here. CVG Farms owns the property. The owner actually told me an interesting bit of advice for tending sheep. Never feed them before sunrise. Apparently they'll get used to it and start pestering you at all hours of the night wanting food.

3.07


Here's is another one of the local GVRR stations near a few more ranches. Again, a lack of fences, but that doesn't seem to impede business much.

3.08


The rail in the area starts to get a bit messy in this part of the valley, what with all the spurs jutting out. It does get fairly heavily used though, so I guess the confusion works itself out. If you're wondering about the rail crossing on the upper spur there by the houses like I was, it turns out the engineers (who were building the line, not driving the trains) thought they'd have some fun and designed the crossing to have two standard gauge tracks offset from the line. They designed it so that the train would ride along the median. It looks like things would derail (and it's often a place to have fun with the new engineers too) but it works quite well.

3.09


Would you look at the time. It took us a while, but I think we're finally back to Apple Valley where we started. You remember the train station right?

3.10


Since it's getting late, what say we grab a bite to eat? There's a fine microbrewery here. Good food. They've started shipping their product around Greenacre, and may even start opening a few new restaurants too. Until then however, enjoy some of the finest food the valley has to offer. Fresh from the farms.

3.11


Hope you enjoyed the tour. If you happen to see any areas you'd like to know more about, I have some flexibility in my schedule so I'll see if I can arrange a tour. It never hurts to get out to these areas when I can. It lets me stay current on the local issues. At any rate, take it easy and I'll see you next time.
-Matt

Nexis4Jersey

Another Excellent update :thumbsup: , ur giving me great ideas for my New Jersey Farmer's Region &hlp