SC4 Devotion Forum Archives

See Page 19 onwards for Whitefall, Iridar (the revival)


This topic will be updated along with Ensenada over at Simtrop (http://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=36&threadid=82473&enterthread=y&STARTPAGE=1). All updates from today will be posted (with the exception of the remaining 2 Interludes, which are remaining a ST-exclusive for the moment) - for the first 10 updates, visit my topic at Simtropolis [linkie] (http://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=36&threadid=82473&enterthread=y&STARTPAGE=1).

Well, most of you guys know about Ensenada, so I'm gonna bring it over here too. There may be a slight delay between ST and SC4D updates, due to the differences in formatting, but I'll work around it. It must be noted that Ensenada is a large region (so large that Region Census refuses to display it), and filling it up will take a long time. At this point, I have completed Brackenfell, and am working on Greater Midlands, the so-called 'edible centre' of Ensenada.

From here on, I'm not sure what will happen once Greater Midlands is completed - maybe working on either Ensenada, Hazaria or Mordicar (most likely Hazaria, since Ensenada and Mordicar are in fact one city, and I might be working between them simultaneously)

The story line of Ensenada, in Greater Midlands, will continue. Though, since I've split the CJ up into five 'books' (I may actually go back and include the two interludes - plus the other two not yet posted - in Book I, Brackenfell)

I will not be starting Book II right here and now, however. I have to finish the Interludes first. The Interludes will only be posted at ST, however a 'reader's digest' version of the two Interludes may be posted here. This, I suppose, means, that Ensenada will expand to SC4D once Book II has started. I will also be posting a 'Best of Brackenfell' update, so people who are not familiar with Ensenada can get to know the city.

---

The saga will unfold, as soon as this bout of really bad RLS gets out of the way. It's called half-yearly exams. I have a two or three day break, so I'll be alright (three exams are done, two to go). I better post this while I still have freedom.

---

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Coming Soon... I need content here, for goodness' sake!

---

INFORMATION ABOUT ENSENADA
(copied from ST)

Ensenada, a thriving, modern, cosmopolitan city, currently has 2.5 million (this number may be inaccurate) inhabitants in the metropolitan area, is located on the east coast of Savannah, at the opposite end of the famous Savannah Way. There are numerous ruins scattered through the hilltops of Ensenada, remnants of Ensenada's past history. Ensenada's history is a rich and vibrant tapestry of various despotic rulers, noble kings, and the private lives of the lords and ladies, which is best not printed due to their sordid nature. That aside, Ensenada is after all, one of the most sought-after destinations in all of Savannah, if not for the historical factor, then for the fun factor... and if not for that, then what the hell are you doing in Ensenada?

Located on a plain ranging from 20m to 70m above sea level, Ensenada is a sprawling city, divided into five regions, which form the basis for Ensenada's system of government.

Brackenfell: Located on a low island, not unlike that of Notre Dame, on the Brackenfell River, Brackenfell is a modest city with almost 400,000 inhabitants, and is the only city that still has an original government building, dated approximately 1400 AE. Brackenfell is officially known as the Gateway to Ensenada.

Greater Midlands: A sprawling city, with a large agricultural base, the city of Greater Midlands covers the largest area, almost a quarter of the region, stretching from Brackenfell in the north, down to the Ensenada Range in the south, a series of precipitous mountains up to 2000m high. The region of Greater Midlands encompasses two cities, Greater Midlands and Mara. The majority of the land is arable, and provides much of the food for Ensenada. It is often referred to as the "Edible Centre of Ensenada".

Hazaria: Much of Hazaria is mountainous, being located on the south-east peninsula. It is approximately 20km from Ensenada, and is by far the smallest of the five cities. It has a large base of shipbuilding and industry, appropriate for its name, which literally means 'next port' [Ha (next) – Zaria (port)]. The sister city of Zaria is approximately 50km south, further along the coast.

Mordicar-Ensenada: Technically, Mordicar-Ensenada is two separate cities, but due to the urban sprawl, Mordicar-Ensenada enjoys a relationship not dissimilar to that of the two cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. The combined urban area is the largest of the five in total area and population. The lakes east of Mordicar are extremely popular with young families and couples seeking a quiet place only fifteen minutes from the Ensenada CBD.

The Ensenada region is widely considered to have the most superior freeway system in eastern Savannah, however, the lack of a freeway connection through the central business district in Ensenada has resulted in heavy traffic congestion, giving rise to a 'Central Distributor' project, which is currently in its approval stage. Currently, the four freeways at the edge of the CBD dump their traffic directly on surface streets.

The governing of Ensenada is quite unique – it is the only province in Savannah that has a government for its capital city. The core of Ensenada's government revolves around the Council of Five, which has five representatives from the five cities of Ensenada (Brackenfell, Greater Midlands, Hazaria, Mordicar, and Ensenada). This harks back to the days when these five were originally small isolated city-states all squabbling for a handhold in the once massive Greater Savannah Region. Brackenfell is the only city that has a government building dating back to these days.

---

No interlude, I'm afraid. Haven't had the time to write the story - in the middle of exams right now. Rest assured, I'm studying hard (but having non-assessable exams is kind of, in my opinion, stupid). BUT... I do have pictures from Greater Midlands International Airport. Hopefully that should make y'all slightly happier.

I'm not gonna say much, though...

The main concourse, with hotels, carparks and the rail and T-Way terminus at Greater Midlands Int'l Airport. The T-Way begins here, goes through the interchange at Arlington Gardens, continues on, where it goes over M1, and joins with the Brackenfell-Greater Midlands T-Way. I may post a map later on, detailing all the stops on this route.

The main entrance, up close. Of course, it's the dead of winter, and as such, the normally-verdant trees out the front are devoid of any leaves. A statue, along with the flags of Savannah can be found at the front of the terminal. The terminal is currently undergoing internal renovations to better allow the flow of traffic. On the left and right hand sides can be seen the short-term carparks, as well as the taxi ranks. There are also underground carparks.

The terminal has 20 gates.

The Customs facility, where dangerous items are confiscated and kept until they can be destroyed. The other two industrial buildings are logistics centres built primarily for the use of other companies. The facility is run by Universal Shipping Ltd.

The last picture, an overview of the entire airport. Keep in mind, though, while this section of the city tile is completed, the other half isn't. The Airport Link can be seen in the bottom left, with the railway and T-way next to each other. There are more than adequate facilities for any conventions or the like to be held. A convention hall is next to the railway station. The helipad on the left is strictly only for the use of any government officials. It is however, only connected to the T-way.

Greater Midlands International Airport, in contrast to Ensenada's airport, is surrounded almost completely by farmland. The two parallel runways are designed to ensure maximum flow in the airport. However, due to the presence of the ridge to the east (top of image 4), takeoffs are almost exclusively always done to the west. A plane can still take off to the east, it is just more difficult - most planes are still able to clear the ridge, with the exception of certain fully-laden planes.

The fuel depot is always kept under close guard, as an explosion would instantly wipe out the airport's storage tanks underground, as well as above ground. It would effectively ground the fleet kept at the airport.

Savais, as well as Rex (Regional Express) call this airport home. Flights most often leave every half-hour, compared to Ensenada, which has flights leaving every 15 minutes.

All Savais flights are designated 20xx or 21xx. For instance a flight between Savannah City and Ensenada is given the designation 2063. An international flight between Passendof and Ensenada is designated 2120. Flights to Savannah City take off from both airports (Ensenada Int'l - every hour, on the hour; Greater Midlands - every hour, on the half-hour). High-speed travel between both airports is possible - it is most commonly done by train or helicopter (helicopter flights, however, are considerably more expensive - 150 pounds for a flight, compared to 2.20 pounds for a train between both Airports).

The Midlands Express terminates at the Airport Station, passes through Greater Midlands, then goes directly to Ensenada Central Station, and terminates at the station. From the station, it is then possible to catch a train directly to Ensenada International Airport. The trip takes 20 minutes by train, travelling at an average speed of 80 to 90kph.


Well, that's Update P01 done. The normal updates will be coming soon.

Here, please note that all update information will be in the subject line. So if you want the latest update, just look for the word Update (or if Re: is missing :P

Oh SA , this new already makes my day !   &hlp

What an airport !  &apls

I have to go for my first working day ... come back later . :P

How have I missed this over at ST. Just glad its going to be here now
Amazing airport SA love the layout. Gonna keep a close eye on this.

&apls &apls

Oh, this is too cool...

Now we don't dont have to go all the way to Ensenada...

...Ensenada has come to us.

Welcome, Shadow, to you and your great MD/CJ.  I'm sure Ensenada will get lots of careful and well deserved attention here.

Much more to say about your content in a bit- it's 2:30 a.m. where I'm at and I'm severely jet-lagged.  I don't know how much longer I'll continue to make any sense.

Mpriblurf!  Good Luck! (and good night!)


David

wonderful information! great pictures! fantastic work! :thumbsup:

Wow. That is just so awesome in so many ways.
Great job!  &apls

wow SA. huge 'port! and great detailed touch to the story, too! any major liner based there?  :P book me a flight in!  $%Grinno$% see you around

 &apls &apls &apls

At last! You brought a twinkle to my eye! :P And your airport is AMAZING!  :thumbsup:

Welcome to the MDing world of SC4D! It's good, real good to see you here.  ()stsfd()

Hey SA!  Great to see you, I was just over at Simtropolis admiring your journal, I was going to post there and probably still will but seeing I was here thought I might just drop by and say how stunning your presentation is!  You know I'm a big fan of yours!

Cheers mate.

Wow very nice airport Shadow Assassin  &apls

This is great work. I have seen your work before so I know a bit what to expect, but this CJ/MD is new to me and I really look forward to see more of Ensenada. &apls

I like your airport Shadow Assassin... Very cool ! &apls

wow i love that third pic!! i love the all actually!!  &apls
your airport rules man!
great Job :)

Ensenada has been a favourite of mine for a long time now. Great to be able to follow it overe her too. :thumbsup:

 &aplsGreat start you have done . I enjoy your work of this airport. Nicely detailled. Keep it up. :thumbsup:

note: This isn't going on ST. Not yet, anyway.

This took a little while, since I was trying to get Photoshop to open my PSD files - it just refused to open them...  >:( ImageReady opened them fine, though. It's also not responding to my commands - that is, despite my mad mouse clicks, it just refuses to do it.

Welcome to Greater Midlands. The first number of updates will be possibly after the Easter long weekend - I think I'm going up the coast for that weekend.

This postcard can be obtained from any number of tacky souvenir shops throughout the city, for a mere SVP3.50. The stamp is included. The east side of downtown is the easiest and cheapest place to find them, considering many of the shops there are discount stores. There's not much crime, which is a good thing.

The Guidebook entry will be added soon. I just have to get Photoshop working again. A restart should do it.

---

Oh dear, how rude of me. I forgot to reply to y'all.

Badsim: Aww, thanks. :P Glad to be of some help regarding your day.
TheTeaCat: Thanks!
David: Well, I do hope so. It's kind of going down the charts pretty fast over at ST (in other words, it doesn't take long before it ends up on page 2. God it's a competitive place.). At least you'll get to see what I've been up to.
bat: Thanks!
Mulefisk: Thanks!
Heniz: Well, Savais is based here. As for real world liners... hmm... that's a toughie, considering Savannah's on entirely another planet.
Marius: A twinkle? That can easily be obtained by one Mr. Sheen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Sheen). :P You would have heard of it, considering it's available in South Africa. :P Thanks, BTW.
Choco: I haven't seen you at ST in a long, long time. :P Thanks! Speaking of that, when will Depra make a return?
mark: Thanks!
Kwakelaar: Thanks! It's different from Savannah and Dynasty; more an evolution of my playing style, really.
sebes: Thanks!
Fledder: Thanks! Shame June and April aren't wreaking havoc over at Liaane anymore.
emilin: Thanks! :P
kimcar: Thanks!

Well, that's all. 14 comments for a preview. Certainly impressive. :P

I'll have to post an update soon. But since I might be up the coast for a coupla days, it might have to wait till Monday, unless I pig out on chocolate eggs...

Great night shot.  The touch of red added by the Coca-cola sign just sets it off.


David

Oooo, nice teaser! Thats a cool downtown. And its a special SC4D exclusive! mwahahah $%#Ninj2

Aww, thanks. :P

I have the Guidebook entries here:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg413.imageshack.us%2Fimg413%2F5320%2Fguidebook1cx2.jpg&hash=33fe1df14d48722474b7716791374f3ae3c0d77e)  (https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg178.imageshack.us%2Fimg178%2F1945%2Fguidebook2cp8.jpg&hash=1b01e368f295f49480911ed63209f635165c5ac5)
*on opposite sides of the same page, btw. You can print it out if you want. :P
Please note, while the Museum of Fire was featured in last year's Guide, sadly, it burnt down.

That is a kick-butt guide, S_A/.  And I know from guides.


David

Shadow Assassin-

I've lurked over at Ensenada-ST, and now that you've brought it over here, I figured I'd break my silence. :D  Your MD looks awesome, and I'm looking forward to see where you go with it.  You mentioned that the region doesn't fit in Region Census--just how big is it? Inquiring minds want to know.  :D

And I found your remark about the Guide amusing:

Quote from: Shadow Assassin on April 03, 2007, 07:37:37 PM
Please note, while the Museum of Fire was featured in last year's Guide, sadly, it burnt down.

Excellent work, and thanks for bringing it over here!

-Alex (Tarkus)

wonderful guide and great picture! :thumbsup:

another planet? woops my bad!!! great pic tho. love the work on the guide, too

Thank god for Imageshack's uploading directly from the computer. Now I don't have to visit www.imageshack.us anymore!

This is a big update, and it's introducing the first city of Greater Midlands, the northern tile between Brackenfell and Midlands itself. Ideally, I would've finished those other two Interludes, but I'm still gonna post the first update of Book II: Greater Midlands.

It's a different storyline, with the same guy. This takes place several months after the events at Omega Key, on the Skeleton Coast. I'll return to the Interludes later. Unfortunately, I am having problems with the Reader (I actually require it to do some modding for Interludes 3 and 4. I'll do it some time next week.) Oh yes, and I've been experimenting with Photoshop.

Might as well mention that I obliberated the city tile that Arlington Gardens Golf Course is on? Even though our dear, deceased friend the Councillor of Brackenfell got hit by a lawn dart there in a previous update, the layout has changed. Oh, and I have to thank Cycledogg for his wonderful Oak Replacement mod. It's made my cities look much better already.

Anyways, shall we begin on Book II?


Update 11: Life After Omega


This mosaic shows the redesigned Arlington Gardens golf course (formerly Greater Midlands Golf Course), as well as the Southbank Green Belt. It must be noted that the Green Belt does in fact have farmland within its boundaries. The whole purpose of the green belt is to allow a clear-cut division between the administrative areas of Brackenfell and Greater Midlands. Admittedly, there has been a LOT of confusion over where exactly the boundary is between Greater Midlands and Brackenfell, because of the location of the Southbank industrial park. The boundary currently follows the river between Brackenfell's CBD and Southbank itself. Bit on the long side, but oh well.

---

Ah. Shopping is good. At least it gives me something to think about, especially after what happened at Omega. Due to a gag order, I can't exactly reveal what happened there. I know, I know, I should spill the beans, but the Savannah Government don't want me to reveal what exactly happened in that base. Not to mention, they want their money too. So I've pretty much pissed them off a little.

Thankfully, they can't touch me, because they don't know where I am. Thanks to the services of Zelana, I was able to acquire a new home, a new identity, a new car (it's certainly an improvement over having to catch public transportation). Call it 'witness protection', if you must.

Now, all I have to do is keep my head down...

Since we had gone our seperate ways, life was most definitely a lot quieter. For one, I'm not skulking around in tunnels under Brackenfell City. Never liked them, tunnels. They scare me.

What was I thinking when I took the job offer over here in Ensenada? I had a cushy job back in Savannah City, and it was nice and quiet, just filling out paperwork. I suppose I needed a field job.

I'm no longer working for the Savannah Intelligence Service, by the way. Of course, they were right to fire me after what had happened, especially with the Good Doctor and all. But seriously, they don't need to chase me down.

I wonder if the Mayor of Zemoch could send me some things to tide me over in case a buncha secret service agents decide to pay me a visit and try and give me a dirt nap. Oh, yes, and since when did I become best buddies with many members of Ensenada's criminal underworld? Crazy world, isn't it?

Anyways, back to shopping. The latest tech's just come in, and I fully intend on buying one of those shiny new laser projection TVs. They're certainly very impressive, and better than plasma, to boot. And cheaper, too. Well, I'm standing here ranting, and people are giving me strange looks.

Lucinenne climbed the phone tower. She liked to keep her climbing skills sharp. Even though it was technically illegal to climb a transmission mast, she still loved it for the thrill of it all. After her fiance (the Councillor of Brackenfell) died in that little 'accident' a few months ago, she felt... empty.

She needed something else to do. Remembering back to that strange character she met in Ensenada, she wondered if he could help with something. She would need to talk to Lucia about it. Deep in thought, Lucienne climed the mast. Eventually, she reached the top, where a small steel platform was. There, she meditated.

Fresh from several laps in the pool at Rathane Aquatic Centre, Hunter vigourously towelled himself down, then got dressed. Hidden in his jacket was a small gun. Inside the gun was a single hollow-pointed bullet, the point filled with a greenish liquid.

He had a job to do. As a SIS agent, he was supposed to hunt down someone. Little did he know that his target was at a nearby shopping centre. He knew he had to keep things quiet, make him 'disappear'. Like many agents in the Service, he was quiet, and had the uncanny ability to sneak up behind people. Oh yes, and fast reactions helped a lot, too.

In the car, Hunter had a folder. Inside the folder was several images, one of them the picture of the target.

He knew why the target had to disappear. Now, to track him down.

Over at the Universal Shipping warehouse, infamous for its bright orange text on the roof, directly under the line of the nearby airport's runways, I had just received a large package. Inside were certain objects, that if I was caught with them, I'd instantly be packed away in a jail somewhere. Or I would be hired by a security firm. I loaded the package into my car, and drove to a small place somewhere in Rathane.

Inside, I removed the biodegradable foam, revealing some extremely high-powered computer equipment that had access to some satellite frequencies that the criminal underworld were after for some reason or something. Of course, this was my job, using my contacts in the Intelligence Service, to 'obtain' government information. I had no choice - this was my job. I was only the go-between person. Though, I was raking in the money, which was kept in a secure account that Zelana had set up for me back in Avarinheim. This meant that the government could not touch my money.

Which was good, I suppose. I booted up the system, and it quickly asked me for a password and classification. I started up the 'helper' program, which generated a valid ID for me, and allowed top-level classification...

Once in the system, aware that I was most likely being traced, I changed some things around, which added to the confusion of the government agents.

Over at the Aquatic Centre's cafe, Hunter received a message on his mobile phone.
"Yeah?"
"Agent Hunter, you've got a secure message waiting for you. Come into the Midlands branch, eh?"
"Yessir."
"Don't take too long, this is important."

He left the centre, heading to Greater Midlands' downtown.

---

Arlington Gardens Interchange is where the rail line and busway intersect. It has a throughput of approximately 50,000 passengers per day, switching between buses and trains.

---

A high-ranking officer within the Midlands government, Mark Andersson, was enjoying a quiet game of golf. Admittedly, the Midlands course was his favourite, preferring it over his native Hazaria golf course. Even though it was his day off, the same message that had reached Hunter reached Andersson.

"Great, just what I needed." He put the club and ball back into his caddy, and sped off back to the main carpark. Of course, he had to be there quickly.

---

Part of the Southbank Greenbelt, this area is considered the unofficial boundary between Brackenfell and Greater Midlands. The OFFICIAL boundary is further north, on the river.

---

Twenty minutes later, the two agents were in the Situation Room. Andersson walked in with Hunter, demanding why he was pulled away from his game for this.
"Sir, it's a Code Blue."
Andersson looked at the secretary in shock. A Code Blue meant that someone had hacked into the system.
"Did you find out who it was?"
"No, sir. We tried tracing it, but it was bounced through six different satellite signals. We got the first few, but he logged off before we could get a lock on him."
"Crap. That's not good. Keep an eye on it, just in case he decides to try it again. What got messed up?"
"Some files regarding our agents, as well as a few sat coordinates."
"Perhaps a clue. And how did he get the highest-level classification?"
"I don't know, sir. It's strange."
Looking to the room of assembled agents, including Hunter, Andersson said "Okay, guys, we've got a situation here. It seems our target is still missing, and we're trying to track him down. Any ideas, anybody?"
An agent towards the back of the room suggested "Sir, what about using our 'network' down below?"
"The tunnels? Wouldn't work, though, it'd seriously shake some people up. Maybe we need to stir the pot a little..."

TO BE CONTINUED...

---

God, I'm getting tired. I should turn in soon.

EDIT: Replies are a few posts below.

--SA

I am quite speechless after seeing these fantastic pictures. I am so overwhelmed by the mosaic and the other pictures that I haven't even read the story. I think I will dwell a bit more into the pictures first before I will read the story ... truly amazing.

QuoteGod, I'm getting tired. I should turn in soon.

LOL, Shadow... on the other hand, your readers (no, make that fans- Ensenada has gone far beyond just having readers) never get tired.

Never get tired, that is, of amazing stuff like your recent update.  An incredible mosaic (I can't imagine the initiation fee and yearly dues at that country club), a busway map, extraordinary interchanges (I have a feeling the work that's being done on modular interchange parts has you specifically in mind), a tightly-written and interesting story... what can't you do?

Ensenada is one of the great ones.  It's the classic "desert island" (i.e.: if you were going to one, and could only take a few things...) MD.  We're so proud that it's here on SC4D.


David

 :thumbsup: Great update you done . I`m ready for an 18 holes if youn are  ;D Nice pics too BTW. :thumbsup:

Man - I have no words...   All your pictures are wonderfull. The total scenere is like a dream, the mosaic is just  - PERFECT - as if you're flying in a plane over Ensanada. And your exits and crossings of the highway are so well laid...  &dance &dance &dance   

Yowza! :o That mosaic is absolutely insane.  And you're probably one of the best suburb builders out there, if not the best.  Your road network is quite nicely laid out as well.  I gotta concur with David on this one.  You're doing some absolutely amazing things here.

-Alex (Tarkus)

David: Thanks! :P I quite like how it does that, too.
Giligone: Not anymore. :P

David: Thanks! :P Of course, you'd know, considering you're working on your excellent Gazetteer.
Alex (Tarkus): The config's 64x40, with a total area of oh, 3156 sq. km. (keeping in mind that 1 pixel equals 1.024km on the map). It's a total of 160 city tiles, with around 24 filled up, I think. Actually, I have to zoom out before the region image will appear in Region Census. It never used to do that, but the city information/data is just fine.
bat: Thanks! :P
Heinz: Eh, it's more my fault for not telling you guys about it. :P But you can just catch a Savais plane, however, it requires the breaking of a number of laws regarding to physics. It helps if you think about pink elephants so that the universe doesn't catch on.
Serkanner: Uh oh. It seems we've got a little issue here. :P By all means, spend as long as you want. :P
David: Aww, thanks. I'm honoured that you actually said all that about this CJ. Three Rivers is, in its own right, one of the most unique CJs out there, and I gotta congratulate you on that. :P Hmm. I might have to talk to Alex about those modular interchange pieces. In my opinion, I don't really like the grey of the RHW mod, so, I might have to find something else, unless I take the effort to change the colour...
kimcar: Thanks! :P Come on over, have a game of golf any time. Just be warned: Midlands is a tough course. But then again, it isn't as tough as some of those others out there.
sebes: Thanks! :P Good to see I got the intended effect with the perspective tool. :D
Alex (Tarkus): Thanks! And I do look forward to trying out the RHWMIS (though, admittedly, it'd be a little difficult to put into action because of the nature of my curves).

Quote from: Shadow Assassin on April 05, 2007, 07:46:20 PM
Alex (Tarkus): Thanks! And I do look forward to trying out the RHWMIS (though, admittedly, it'd be a little difficult to put into action because of the nature of my curves).

You just gave me an idea for some more new pieces for the RHWMIS. :D And don't worry about the grey--personally, I'd like a darker road surface too, and I've been recruiting some texture artists, so it's quite likely there will be some options in the near future.

-Alex

Great update. I love your realistic buildingstyle!  :thumbsup:

Ehhh... I'm sort of lost for words right now. Saying "great!" about that update seems very inadequate. It's far beyond "great".

Wow...  I have a borderline obsession with my disgust for urban sprawl.  (Wait for it... I'm not done yet...)  However, that is urban sprawl at its finest.  The golf course, the mall with endless stretches of asphalt, the sprawling highway ramps, the abrupt end of "progress" at the highway where the farms pick up... it all flows together so well.  Although I might not like the real-life practice of such poor land management, I can't very well hold that against you when you done such an amazing job of recreating it here.  If your suburbs look this good, I can't wait until you get back to the city!

JB

Hi SA ,

As usual , nothing to criticize , you don't need any advice ... it's rather maddening !  ;D
Awesome golf park , awesome road network , awesome suburbs (I'm particularly jealous about your suburbs ), awesome farms ... and an outstanding mosaic . &apls
Have to be honest about the story , I don't follow it ... firstly I missed the begining and now I have the laziness to translate . $%Grinno$%

Nothing to criticize but something to ask ; why are you using a single variety of tree for that's supposed to be wild landscape ?  ::)

P.S. : I have to rate this MD, as no one seems to be worried about this ... so far ... :P

This is without doubt one of the best MDs we have here.
The way you deal with such large spaces while still keeping an eye on detail is simply amazing.
Keep up the great work!

Tremendous, spectacular, astonishing. Thanks for showing it off to us.  ;)

QuoteHeinz: Eh, it's more my fault for not telling you guys about it.  But you can just catch a Savais plane, however, it requires the breaking of a number of laws regarding to physics. It helps if you think about pink elephants so that the universe doesn't catch on.

oh ok. i was thinking i was the only one in the dark about it. lol. well, maybe i'll take the savais when i get tired of things around here. one thing for sure, if you keep this story and amount of detail up, i won't be getting tired of this MD.  :P great stuff, my friend.

are your images edited? cause i dont get that amount of detail in my game. well, my system isnt really top notch but i just wanted to know how your images are so... real.

and for personal use, where did you get the universal shipping warehouse and its surroundings? or did you make it? A-grade, my friend. A-grade  &apls

SA the master of suburbs ;D I really like them. Great update.

SA - these shots are brilliant. You've an amazing layout to begin with and then to add the editing that you've done is just perfect. Well done.  &apls

It feels like I'm Seven Hills/Winston Hills/Kellyville etc.

I really enjoyed the update and the mosaic with the golf course and the farmland was just spectacular. I like the subdued colors you are using and also the hint of perspective on some of the images is very good.

Wonderful mosaic! Great update! fantastic pictures! :thumbsup:

That was an amazing update - suburbia at its finest (or worst, depending on how you look at it).  Those were some of the best screenshots I've seen.

Looking forward to more!

S_A, this MD is really a jewel my friend, but that Golf course mosaic....WOW...  :o . Really impressive. I really liked it. Excellent  &apls

wow.  this is a masterpiece.

Well, well, well. 500 views. :P

Anyways, sorry I haven't got an update or anything. Despite being on holidays until... yesterday... I haven't had a chance to play SC4, probably due to the fact I was out of the house for about half the time, and Final Fantasy XII. It's a great game, leveling up and battling various enemies is a breeze, thanks to its new Gambit system.

Anyways, despite random crashes and freezes (which only happens in farm tiles, heh), I have an update of some sort.

Here's Greater Midland's downtown. It'll be showcased in the next chapter. Actually, I should ask you guys exactly what I should do regarding the storyline: do I continue it, or do I scrap it, and concentrate on the city building? :P Well, the latter option would mean more, smaller updates, but no story. :P

Anyways, enough talking.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg440.imageshack.us%2Fimg440%2F1859%2Fgmdtp01to6.jpg&hash=361eeb22c04409e542b44cf36fec4fae44495bb4)
Greater Midlands Rail Station. Incidentally, it's done in the same style as Brackenfell's railway station. The station was positioned where the rail tunnel comes above ground. It turned out quite good, I think. I'm kind of proud of Greater Midlands' downtown, because there's little repetition. :D
It was taken on a foggy day. Despite being far inland (about the same distance as Parramatta is from Sydney), Greater Midlands, on most mornings in the autumn and winter, is covered in a fine fog. While it isn't extremely thick, it can be a minor inconvenience for drivers. In autumn, Greater Midlands has some beautiful mornings.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg359.imageshack.us%2Fimg359%2F2184%2Fgmdtp02rn5.jpg&hash=5ce62a506c39470f2335d3a5e2bdfc12522517de)
One of the last few remaining areas of rowhomes in Greater Midlands. Originally, the rowhomes covered huge swathes of land in Midland's east, but now have been partially demolished in favour of apartment blocks and suburbia. These rowhomes have been built over a variety of eras, filling in land, replacing run-down buildings, and the like. The district is always undergoing change, being replaced by newer rowhomes if necessary. It is considered that this district is currently at its best, and a law will soon be passed prohibiting change to the area. The tree-lined streets of the district give Midlands its open, leafy charm.

Compared to Brackenfell, the entire city feels much more spread out. There is little in the way of natural hills or rivers, or the like, and as such, the city has sprawled out considerably. Right now, this tile has 140,000 sims living in it. By the time I'm finished, there should be at least 300,000.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg81.imageshack.us%2Fimg81%2F10%2Fgmdtp03wc2.jpg&hash=12a1a10a333182f8f90b22c96af313df81143ef5)
Savannah Coffee Arena. Savannah Coffee was originally established as a consortium of coffee-growing farmers in eastern Savannah. Despite the entire region being temperate (normally, coffee is grown in equatorial regions or in that general area :P), it is perfect for growing that potent brew that is called Savannah coffee. The consortium, now one of Savannah's biggest corporations, specialises in exporting Savannah Coffee along certain distribution channels (legal and illegal; Savannah coffee has actually known to be banned in a number of countries due to its chemically volatile nature, but they still smuggle it in anyway), as well as handling distribution for its farmers within Savannah.

To cut it short, Savannah Coffee put its name on the Arena, also known affectionately by locals as the Glass Bagel.

There is also plenty of parking.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg20.imageshack.us%2Fimg20%2F8379%2Fgmdtp04yv0.jpg&hash=505dfb602f65464dab36dc7dd725752e1b691161)
Right in the middle of Greater Midland's downtown. The tower (god, Tonk's Bishopgate Tower's awesome - can't remember which number it is, lol :P) is a major defining point of Midland's skyline. It is owned by a certain consortium which we know better as Savannah Coffee. It has its international HQ in Greater Midlands, because it's cheaper than having a HQ in Ensenada, and it's close to infrastructure. Possibly the golf course up north may have something to do with it, too.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg120.imageshack.us%2Fimg120%2F1962%2Fgmdtp05rr6.jpg&hash=ff0a62cc89296385fef0385e8037dcfc1919b925)
People need somewhere to stay. Also, there is additional parking here for the stadium, there is also a train terminal. I... ah, actually forgot just why I put the Larkin building there. :P

Anyways, that's it, to be honest. :P

It's a bit late for replies, I'll do them ASAP.

OMG your city look pretty nice !!! I love  :o so realistic  :o

Quote from: Shadow Assassin on April 24, 2007, 06:06:09 AM

Well, the latter option would mean more, smaller updates, but no story. :P

"Smaller" updates that quality as often as you want , SA ... :P
Only my opinion 'cause google translation is a calamity , and to be honest , I'll not take time to translate word by word ... $%Grinno$%

As unconditional of your skill , I'm totally gratified by this set !  &apls &apls &apls
The picture in competition should enter the Hall of Fame, considering the work requested for this exuberant and stunning result ! ( though I'm not participating to this thread  :P )
Not only your cities are amazing , but there're so alive too ...a true feat . :thumbsup:

wow!!! beautiful update! my favorite picture is the one of the suburbs with the dense trees, just beautiful!

i do have one question:

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg440.imageshack.us%2Fimg440%2F1859%2Fgmdtp01to6.jpg&hash=361eeb22c04409e542b44cf36fec4fae44495bb4)

in this picture, where did you get the orange building in the top right corner and the smaller gray - green roof building?

thank you!

wow this is just too amazing!!  :thumbsup:

I love P02. I think thats one of the best pictures I've ever seen

Okay, shall we do the replies? :P
- If any of the images come up with a "Image Doesn't Exist" error, just hit Ctrl + F5. It should (hopefully) make the image reload. Just pressing F5 won't work, because the browser cache actually needs to be cleared.

I downloaded Cycledogg's houses the other day. They look wonderful, but they're nowhere to be seen...

Alex (Tarkus): Heh, they'll be interesting to see... As for a darker road surface... hmm. Closer to one-way roads would be good.
metasmurf: Thanks!
emilin: Eh, thanks. :P
JBSimio: Don't worry, I hate urban sprawl too, but it's so easy to create in SC4, since the game was basically built for it.
Badsim: Thanks! :P Uh, the tree thing, I think that's got something to do with where I grew up... in Australia, in most cases, only one type of tree will grow - eucalypts (gum trees). The precise species of eucalypt, though, varied. However, despite that, there's so many varieties of bushes and shrubs that grow on the forest floor below them. In this case, I used sub-alpine fir (which sounds kind of odd, but c'mon, they have pine trees growing on the beach here) - which is a species native to much of Savannah. Not much else grows except for oak or elm. But I'll try and mix things up, especially with shore pines and aspens. Though, you do bring up a very good point about the trees.
Mulefisk: Thanks! :P
Flipside: Thanks!
Heinz: Thanks! No, I didn't make the BAT itself, if that's what you're asking. I, however, made the lot (the already-existing lot wasn't really to my taste; besides I downloaded the (original) lot because I'm too lazy to make my own .desc files. :P You can download it here (http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?page=1&keyword=cogeo&type=all). Scroll down a little until you see the Logistics Centre Mega Pack. Don't forget to download the Warehouse BAT props: they're needed. Yup, images are edited. They're run through a quick little adjustment in Photoshop CS2 (thank goodness for the Action Tool - it greatly simplifies things). The original image size is 1280x1024, at highest detail settings. Unfortunately, while I have a powerful CPU (AMD64 3200+) and plenty of RAM (1GB, will upgrade to 2GB as soon as I can find more DDR400 RAM), the graphics card (GeForce 4 MMX440-PCI) is a big bottleneck. It's fine with 2GB of plugins, loads quite quickly. Takes about 2 minutes to load the game, the same loading a city tile. Bit longer to save, though.
Air6: Eh, I'm honoured. But I've seen bigger suburbs. :P
Mattb25: And I replied to that in a PM (with a little BAT request, too). :P Thanks, btw. :P
kwakelaar: Thanks! :P
bat: Thanks!
meinhosen: I do try to reflect the sprawl of suburbia. Unfortunately, as you probably already know from lengthy discussions on the subject over at ST, it comes at a price - that isolation that comes with such wanton land usage. Thanks! :P
jeronij: Thanks! (I also noticed that you rated me earlier :P - thanks, btw). :P
guurgkud: Thanks! :P
Antoine: Thanks!
Badsim: Hmm, mixed feelings on the subject (many at ST want the story to continue :P). And I know how you feel about Google Translator - it's terrible - I've often used it because I can't really read French, German, Italian, etc - even though I can understand them quite well. :P Admittedly, that last sentence confuses me :P I entered the rowhome district into the HoF - it lost in its second round. :P
ilikehot-- iamgoingtoeatyou: Thanks! :P Ah, that orange building is Creighton Corporate Plaza, created way back when the BAT first came out. As far as I know, it's no longer available anywhere - it used to be available at SCC, but not anymore. Perhaps someone else can tell me if it can be downloaded anywhere else? As for the grey-green roofed building: that's actually not a BAT. It's a Maxis-made building. :P
guurgkud: Thanks! :P

I don't believe I've commented in Ensenada either here or at ST, but your city building really is fantastic.  The photo editing gives the place an excellent feel as well.  I love that if I ever went there, apparently I wouldn't have any trouble finding a parking spot.

As for the story...I still haven't actually read it yet.  I would like to see more of your work, so I'd vote for shorter non-story updates.  That wouldn't be completely fair to the people that love your story though, so I could go either way.

Hope to see more soon

Hi Shadow Assassin-

Glad to see you back with an update for Ensenada.  Reminds me I need to get going with my MD again . . .  :D

Fantastic pics as always--I really like your angled shots, like that last one by the stadium, and you've really managed to achieve a very realistic looking parking area.  The fog in the downtown shot was an especially nice effect as well.  And the Savannah Coffee backstory was entertaining to read.

As far as future updates go, I think the formula on this most recent one works very well.  And thanks for letting me know how dark you wanted the asphalt RHW textures.  That may even be doable with my limited texturing capabilites.  ;)

Excellent job as always!  Looking forward to more. :thumbsup:

-Alex

Storybased MD's can be interesting, but mostly I will look at the images, and I love the images of your last update.

another great update and very realistic! :thumbsup:

Nice update SA love the stadium and surrounding area  &apls

Wow, the Savannah Coffee Arena aka The Glass Bagel is a fantastic stadium. Your own bat?

Hehe... the curse of other games. Been caught up in FF12 myself lately. But it hasn't really managed to take over my life like FF7 did a few years ago. It's good though, really good! Do you have the Zodiac Spear yet? ;D

Anyways, about the update: as good as always. You have a real understanding of how things really look. The gigantic parking lots are extremly realistic. Everything needs to be much bigger then one initially thinks if it's going to look real in this game. And you push it a step further than most. Frankly, it looks amazing! &apls

Fabtastic pictures and very nicely laid out transit networks.  I like that you have almost every tile filled with something.  Great job!!!

Robin   :thumbsup: &apls

I haven't commented here yet? :o *gasp*

Well, I thought I'd do that now then, and in the process...


Looking good SA! ;)

WOW!

How did I miss this place?!!? Sorry, it took so long for me to comment here, but I just found it today. Such is the perils of "Show new replies to your posts," I guess...Anyway...

I just went through all the updates that I missed and I must say that Ensenada is absolutely amazing! The airport is magnificent; I love the entire complex from the cargo yards and customs to the airport hotels! Great work.

Next, the guide to Greater Midlands was outstanding! Not only was it incredibly creative, but the graphics work was beautiful, too!

And then that huge mosaic of the golf course! I'm running out of words to use here! Fantastic job! The pictures of downtown with the stadium and train station were great, too.

Now that I'm caught up here, I can follow along with every update, and I'll be looking forward to doing so!

I expect none less daniel &apls

Masterful. I can't wait for more.  ;D

I'm a big fan of your work - all of your pics look amazing and it's great to see that you're not afraid to build parking lots and "lots" of them!  It just makes your city look that more realistic!  This is one of my favorites.

Okay, I haven't got anything much. Consider this update 12 part 1.

Greater Midlands, of course, is Ensenada's second largest regional area. The suburbs of Greater Midlands stretch as far as the eye can see in the Brackenfell valley. Of course, the northern boundary of Greater Midlands is formed by the main river, and Little Brackenfell River (the southern river in Brackenfell itself).

Originally founded midway through the 15th century, Greater Midlands (formerly called Mara) was established as a trading centre on the Great East-West Highway, a caravan route linking Ensenada with many cities located inland, including the city of Helsingfors, now long since abandoned. Greater Midlands was established at the confluence of the Great North Road (which has long since been realigned to run through Mordicar), the Savannah Way and the Great East-West Road. Many of Midland's modern freeways actually follow the old tracks of these three roads, with the exception of the M1, which was rerouted to the south of the Brackenfell River. It is believed the original Savannah Way from Brackenfell follows the Central Brackenfell Highway, a major route linking Brackenfell (though not of a freeway standard) with Ensenada.

The old city of Mara is now a suburb of Greater Midlands. It is now a satellite town of approximately 50,000, with a thriving main street. It is located on the banks of the Brackenfell River, with a small port, which is mainly used by recreational fishers now. Despite all odds, the town of Mara still thrives as a tourist destination.

At night, the city never sleeps. All day, all night, work is done. Greater Midlands often looks spooky at night, when both moons are out, the combined light of which washes out the city lights. It is indeed a sight to behold.

Visit the city which never sleeps, never stops working to keep the cogs running. Greater Midlands plays an important role in keeping the gears of government efficiency well-oiled. It has an important role to play.

And that's part 1 of 2.

Replies will come later.

QuoteOkay, I haven't got anything much.

Okay, I know that's not true  :P  I love the park/plaza that's below the Athen's Library.

Great work, SA!

Well, for "nothing much," it certainly looks fantastic, my friend! The city hall is outstanding! I'll be looking forward to Part 2!

Hello, all. I have a new 22" widescreen monitor and new graphics card - an ATI X1950 Pro. ;D

Ah. SC4 runs well, but the lag is horrible... I suppose running it at 1650x1080 would cause that lag. :P I wonder how it'll look when all the pictures are sharpened and taken at that resolution.

Replies down below:
footballfever: Heheh, we have plenty of parking, of course. Hmm, thanks for your input. :P
Alex: Hehe, thanks! :P
kwakelaar: Thanks! :P
bat: Thanks! :P
mark: Thanks!
sebes: I wish... nah, it isn't mine. It's done by dmscopio, and is divided into two parts: You'll need this (http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?id=17614) and this (http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?id=17615), before you can begin building the stadium. :D
emilin: Nope, I haven't, because I was dumb enough to pick up treasure when I shouldn't have - there are four places in the game that if you collect the treasure from any of these places, it will actually prevent the Zodiac Spear from spawning. Besides, spears are crappy. :P Staffs FTW. ;D
Rooker1: Hehe, every tile? You sure? :P
M: Thanks! And shame on you. :D
Thundercrack: Eh, one can live with that indicator. Hehe, thanks.
Nascar_Guy: LOL, okay.
Flipside: Thanks!
seemurray2: Eh, if it looks good, I plop it. I'm just a little less discriminating. :D
meinhosen: Really? :P Thanks!
Thundercrack: Thanks!

As soon as I iron out the horrendous framerate problems in SC4, I should be able to do an update pretty soon. ;D Oddly enough, many of my newer games (eg. Battlefield 1942, Battlefield 2, etc) run at 1650x1080 with no problems whatsoever.

EDIT: After testing it to an extent, it's running beautifully now, but still has an utterly horrendous framerate. :P Here's an unedited picture of what it looks like in game on my monitor (http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/3667/previewofmidlandsyc1.jpg). Be warned: it's a big, big file, about 843kb, in fact. It's a crying shame I can't turn this monitor sideways, and orient the desktop based on it... voila, instant mosaic! :P

Hi Daniel,
Great work you're doing... you haven't lost your touch!
I particurlarly liked the interchanges in one of your previous updates, no retaining walls but instead just gentle grass slopes.... superb... and lifelike!
about the lag thing.... I can relate, I run the game at 1600X1200 and also experience such lag that playing is really not fun... hummm.... perhaps if I were to play in 16 bit color.... hey you just gave me an idea...!

See you my friend!

-John

fantastic two pictures :thumbsup:

I knew I forgot something.  ::) Looks like I'm jumping to Update 13. Unfortunately, due to technical limitations, this update is not available on ST for the time being. The average resolution of my updates had to be upped to 1024px wide, to account for my new monitor. And as most know, ST's rules require a 800px-wide image. And if I had done my pictures any smaller than 1024, much of the detail would be lost. It's unfortunate, I know.

Hmm, wider audience, loss of detail or narrower audience, but increased detail? It is a tough choice.

However, it is enjoyable not having much lag when scrolling across maps. If anything, a quick driver update to the latest version helped wonderfully.

Ah, I'm still tossing up about the story line. I might have to reconstruct it significantly, since I kinda feel I've backed myself into the corner. Also, time constraints don't help my situation so much.


So, this is update 13. Some call this number unlucky. Funnily enough, it's always been a lucky number for me. :P

Ravenswood is a suburb of Greater Midlands, located roughly the same distance from Greater Midlands CBD as from Brackenfell CBD. Located on the Brackenfell River, Ravenswood Cemetery is a er... popular place for people. Regular tours, featured in the Guide, are held at midnight every Friday night and Saturday night. Special tours are also held on Halloween. The cemetery is franchise-run, run by the U-Dump-It consortium, a collection of funeral directors whose main aim is to ensure the disposal of bodies is carried out discreetly and safely, without any harm to any persons surrounding. They have a strict code of conduct involving the recently deceased, including not asking questions about the nature of one's death - which works out quite well for the local criminals who need to dispose of witnesses. At Ravenswood, there is a chapel, church and crematorium (for those who want quick disposal and/or can't afford/don't want to pay for a full-sized plot). You can guarantee the eternal rest of your loved ones at Ravenswood. However, we cannot guarantee they will stay put on October 31...


The cemetery abuts right onto the northern boundary of Greater Midlands. While the Cemetery is considered part of Greater Midlands, all suburban development ends here. I suppose it's just as well. Nobody likes seeing arms and legs in their basement. The original town of Ravenswood sits on the southern boundary of the cemetery. Suburban development between Midlands and Ravenswood has joined the two areas together. Just 20 years ago, much of the space between Ravenswood and Greater Midlands was open plain. Remnants of this greenbelt can be seen between Ravenswood and Rathane (in the next city tile to the east).


More pictures of the cemetery. There is wide-open space available for anybody who wishes to reserve their plot. All one has to do is call 1800-BURY-ME to get a quote. Though, space is limited, so avoid the rush! There are three gates into Ravenswood, and they are all on the east side of the cemetery. The middle gate is the main entrance.


The main entrance into the cemetery. Plenty of parking is available. The main church is here, where most services are held. The cemetery is laid out in such a way that multiple funerals can be held at the same time. There is a function room next to the main gate, for where people may enjoy a quiet afternoon with their (remaining) loved ones. It is recommended you stay away from the shellfish sauce, though. Our funeral directors are fine, upstanding people, and they are always willing to help you tackle your grief.

There is also a coffin salesroom, where you can choose between the simple pine coffins, and the expensive... pine... coffins with all the trimmings, including bio-degradable synthetic fabrics on the inside. It is unknown why there is a light inside the coffin, though. Funerals are available in packages, tailormade to suit you and your budget.


For those people who are too cheap to buy a plot: the crematorium is open to all, but a booking must be made. There are certain advantages to having a pyromaniac run the crematorium: you'll never see finer ash this side of Savannah. Trogdor's Burninarium is widely considered to provide the best-quality service at the lowest prices. They also offer Drive-Thru Funerals, for those people who are in a rush and need to reduce their carry-on luggage. To make a booking, call 1800-CRISPY.

If you still need to burn your loved one (deceased, obviously), there are shelves available for the urn to er, collect dust. We take utmost pride in ensuring the urns are kept in top condition, and we have a storage facility. Of course, it is entirely optional, and we can arrange custom paint jobs for the urn to match the furniture in your living room. Our urns are made with the highest-quality metals and plastics, so your loved one's ashes can rest comfortably in peace.


Ravenswood, of course, has its own history. This photo, of course, graces the front wall of the function room. It was taken one day at sunset, and is a popular topic of conversation amongst our patrons. This photo is of the old church. The cemetery was originally much smaller until the authorities decided to merge many of the cemeteries across Greater Midlands and Brackenfell into one large facility. A lot of paperwork was involved, and in many cases, nearly overwhelmed the facilities of Ravenswood. This move made Ravenswood six times larger than what it used to be.

We place emphasis on customer loyalty. We give discounts to regular patrons at the cemetery, ensuring customer loyalty. Once we get em, we got em for life (or death, in this case)!



The old church and the town centre of Ravenswood. Originally a separate town in its right, it was assimilated into Greater Midlands in 3008, (the current year being 3022), when suburban sprawl hit the Ravenswood-Rathane green belt. The greenbelt has mostly been developed over, but parts remain open. It is not known if future development will take over the remaining green belts.

The town centre is the only thing that gives away the fact that this place was originally a separate, discrete town. Mara, to the south-east, has suffered a similar fate. A green belt originally divided Rathane from Ravenswood, which later went down to divide Ravenswood from Mara, then curved around to join the Southern Hills. Patches of the green belt still exist between Ravenswood and Mara, though.


Suburbs and lots of it. Most of these suburbs are only about 10 to 15 years old, a byproduct of the suburban sprawl that overtook Ravenswood.


The Rathane side of Ravenswood. Due to the terrain of Ravenswood Ridge, the avenue cuts into the hill, requiring a complex system of retaining walls to maintain the structural integrity of the avenue.


Finally, a zoomed-out shot of Ravenswood, with the cemetery to the right, Ravenswood Ridge to the top. Ravenswood Ridge is a hilly section of the greenbelt. At the time, it was not developed over, due to the nature of its slopes. However, a small patch of land at the base of the Ridge was developed, giving rise to the new Ravenswood Ridge development. Note that Ravenswood Ridge is not considered a suburb in its own right.

As of now, the only suburbs of Greater Midlands that have been completed are:

• Greater Midlands
• Arlington Gardens
• Southbank
• Rathane
• Ravenswood
• Aspengrove
• Midlands International Airport (yet to be named)

The postcodes for the suburbs has yet to be determined. Right now EN2060 is given to Brackenfell. It is likely that EN2075 or EN2076 will be given to Greater Midland's CBD.


- That was Update 13, folks, and hope you enjoy it!

--SA

Quote....Trogdor's Burninarium....

*GROAN*  &hlp

You might have to book a spot for me in this cemetary after I die from the puns.  ;)  For an update exclusively about a cemetary and its practical connections to organized crime, this was stellar.  I'm impressed as much by the layout of the place as I was by the story(s) associated with it.  Great work, SA!  :thumbsup:

Quote....Trogdor's Burninarium....

Looks like we've got a fellow Homestar Runner (http://www.homestarrunner.com) fan! Anyway...

WOW! That cemetery is HUGE, and it looks absolutely amazing. I love your suburbs, too, they're so realistic looking! I would liketo see a region shot if you've got one, but if not, that's fine, too! Great work!

wonderful cemetery and great suburbs!! :thumbsup: &apls

Amazing update  &apls   

Not only the best cemetery ever, but also the greatest and funniest story -ever- about a cemetery...  The drive-thru funeral option for people with to many cary-on luggage made me call 1800-KARMA4U

Oh, and by the way: great suburbs too :thumbsup:

1800-CRISPY haha

that is a HUGE cemetary geez. The town kind of makes me think of Colma, california, which is a SF suburb that has more dead residents than alive ones

Shadow,don't make me cry.lol  :P Amazing,amazing work.I'm supprised i havn't popped in before.lol.  ;D

Wow, Shadow.  Now that's what I call an update. :thumbsup:

That cemetery is just massive, and very well built.  I rather enjoyed the Homestar Runner reference as well. :D   I am still in absolute awe of your suburbs.  They're unsurpassed in terms of realism.

-Alex

You seem to like your cemetaries big, and they are also very beautiful. About the suburbs I can only agree with the rest they are among the best I have seen in this game.

By the way, SA. What are you using for those cemeteries? I forgot to ask in my last post...

Nice pictures, The suburbs and the cemetery are beautiful, green everywhere.
Stunning work !   &apls

I have one question: Where did you find the church in the fourth picture?

Let me see....
The Burninarium...  :D
1-800-CRISPY....  ::)
Drive-Thru Funerals...  ???
Dare I say that, at Ravenswood Cemetary, it's standing room only.... (Ooooh...  Bad joke....)  ;)
You just made my day Daniel!....
Thanks  :thumbsup:

-John

A bit late with my comment, but: wow! I think that none of rest of us evere have to build another cemetary again. All of our cities can just ship our dead to Ravenswood.  ;D

Show me the airport or face death :P

Waaa   :o

It is a splendid cemetery ... It is fantastic  :thumbsup:  ;)

As Ensenada climbs closer to the 1.5 million mark, with approximately 70% of the entire region left to develop, Greater Midlands has grown considerably. There's still six or seven city tiles to go in Greater Midlands; four have already been completed - Farms 1, Greater Midlands Int'l Airport (which has been zoned, but not entirely completed), Arlington Gardens, Ravenswood. All up, these city tiles provide a total population of approximately 150,000. Add to that Greater Midlands, at 164,000, and you can see just how much has been done. The scale of Ensenada means that there are huge amounts of land still left to develop. Eight months on, Ensenada has grown from a tiny little town in the top-left of the map to the messy network of cities it has become.

To prove that I am still alive, I have two previews for you.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg292.imageshack.us%2Fimg292%2F5443%2Fgmp901co6.jpg&hash=b29e4539681fabc0c013897ba75c62c34c0c6d6e)
The M1 (Greater Midlands Freeway) can be seen down below. This is a small medium-density area sticking up in the middle of rowhomes. It hasn't entirely been finished, but will be soon. Because there's a huge demand for jobs that I am trying to fill, it slows down development. I've skirted this issue by using industrial lots that provide a LOT of jobs, somewhere in the region of 10,000. Keep in mind, this is a 'sandbox' city journal. I don't care about money. I only care about making a city that functions well, looks good and above all, fits in well with the region.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg72.imageshack.us%2Fimg72%2F4962%2Fgmp902dj0.jpg&hash=3ec603003c2b776ba159c8c8dc238e8e490fc58f)
Typical suburbia this close to Greater Midlands. This entire area actually underwent a 'downgrade' in density in the late 2900s (current year is 3022). It was actually unknown why this was done but it has had its benefits, amongst which is leafy-green suburbia, close to main facilities and transport. Greater Midlands' transport system is currently undergoing an overhaul to allow better use of services.

To sum up, Ensenada, eight months later, ended up a lot bigger than I originally imagined. But I love it!

Unfortunately, updates have been VERY sporadic as of late, mainly due to a fully-laden real life. It's a shame, but I have to live with it...

Replies:
meinhosen: LOL, thanks. :P Let's hope the Bad Pun Brigade doesn't decide to chase me down and burn me.
thundercrack83: Thanks! I quite like Homestar Runner, it's quite random and stupid. :D
bat: Thanks!
sebes: LOL, Karma4U, eh? :P Thanks!
Zaphod: Thanks! :P
jayo: If you've got an issue, here's a tissue! :P Thanks!
Tarkus: Thanks! :P
kwakelaar: Thanks! What can I say? Big is better, after all.
thundercrack83 (again): I'm using PEG's Drop'n'Plop Boneyard (search for memorial park). It's available on the STEX.
Berethor: It's a very old BAT, a wonderful one by nomad. You can download it here (http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?id=3449). :P Thanks!
John: Not a problem. I'm sure Death himself has a sense of humour. Laugh at it once in a while. :D
emilin: Over my dead body. :D I suppose I could get away with building a cemetery that covers a large tile. :P
Yoman: Already have, and won. :P
Snaper: Thanks!

And that's just replies, etc. :P

Great two pictures, SA! Nice suburbia-area! :thumbsup:

Wow, SA. The dead centre of your map (pardon the pun) is huge! I like the fact that your endless suburbs for the living having their conterpart (the endless cemetary) for the departed  $%Grinno$%

This is one of my preferate ever - maybe my preferate. I'm amazed by the deep realistic appearance and sheer beauty of Ensenada.

Sorry to hear about your "fully-laden real life," my friend. I hope everything is going OK!

These two shots of Ensenada look great, though, by the way! I love the second picture of suburbia, especially! I'll be looking forward to seeing more, as always!

it's just amazing ! (love the curving field) Love it !!!

It's simply fantastic  :o

It's very realist  :thumbsup:

Cheer for the whole of your work  &apls

Good to see you are still alive and well.  Great two pictures and nice little city.  It looks very realistic, just how I like it.  Great work.  I can't wait for more.  (than two.....LOL), please......pretty please.  Okay I guess I have to wait.

Robin  :thumbsup:

Another month, another update. :D

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg247.imageshack.us%2Fimg247%2F797%2Fguidebookdptg4.jpg&hash=119f66ddd35e0a60523bf46b1eac7445d2febaa0)
And as always... the Guidebook entry.


It was a dreary afternoon when I arrived in Dom Perivor, by ferry. After being questioned to a great extent by the Savannah Intelligence Service, I was eventually left off the hook and allowed to follow the trail of many of Savannah's greatest myths. I had long since quit my job as an 'investigator', preferring to follow my own path, discovering just what made the myth, and what was real and not real.

So, I asked around in Dom Perivor for more information. It seems that the Perivorians have a myth of their own, something to do with one of the southern islands, which had lay uninhabited for the past sixty years. From the information I had gleaned during the Omega investigation, this coincided with the beginning of the project.


Something told me the locals weren't willing to give up this information so easily. I had to choose my questions carefully. While the locals were quite friendly, there were some things that were not to be talked about. I walked up the Main Street to the general store.

Inside, I asked the shopkeeper a few things.
"Hi, I'm an investigator of modern history and mythology. I'm wondering if you're able to shed light on some of the happenings and myths in this particular region."
"Unfortunately, mate, I can't help you there. Would you like to buy something before you leave?"
Friendly enough, but something wrong about the way he said it was obvious. He knew something that he wasn't about to reveal.


Quite a few of the houses in Dom Perivor were abandoned, as well. I took a look at one of the houses up on the ridge. Large, and otherwise intact, the peeling paint on the house suggested a degree of disrepair.

Normally, whoever owned that house would have taken the furniture with them when they moved away, but the furniture was still there. I looked inside one of the windows, saw that apart from a relatively thick layer of dust, everything was in good condition. I went back to the General Store and re-entered the store. I went to the front counter and rung the bell, as the shopkeeper wasn't there.

Before long, he entered. "You again?", he said.
"Yes, indeed. I was wondering about one of the houses up on the ridge," I pointed to approximately where they were, "Am I able to rent one of these?"
"Ah, Dom Perivor's a dying town. Twenty years ago, the main street was full of people, and there are quite a few houses out in the forest which we demolished and allowed the forest to take over.
"I suppose it's the weather that's chasing people away. I suppose I should tell you about why exactly this is happening..."
"Yes, I'd like to know. I'm currently compiling a book of information about the urban legends and myths of Savannah."
"You're that guy behind the exposure of the Omega project, aren't you?"
"Indeed, I am."
"I'm kind of surprised the government hasn't tried to silence you. Maybe you are the right person to expose what's really been causing the problems in the Hazaria archipelago. Rent for the house is 200 pounds a month. Let me grab the keys."
He left the room. I was satisfied, because I had overcome a hurdle in finding out more. The first step was always the hardest. A few minutes later, he returned, key in hand.
"Here you are. Now, be careful of the fourth stair. I've tried to clean up the house in a condition that resembles some sort of cleanness, but haven't gotten around to painting the place."

I left, key in hand, went back up to the house, and looked around. Everything was in good condition, just mildly dusty. A car was parked in the front yard, but I wouldn't need it. The weather wasn't looking too good, though.



Inside the Church building, seven hooded figures sat at a table, under a single lamp. It was cold and foggy outside, the sort of weather that nobody wants to go outside in. Perfect for a meeting of this nature.
"And with that, let us begin the latest meeting of the Council." One figure said, "Is there anything that anybody wants to bring up?"
Another said, "Someone has been asking questions. The wrong sort."
"What do we do about them?" They all looked at one of the figures, presumably the leader.
"We leave them be. Until they threaten us, we don't act." The leader said.
"Yes. That will be sufficient. Be watchful, though. The island should be left alone by outsiders." The figure said the last word with a certain degree of contempt.

A bolt of lightning cracked across the sky at that moment.

That same bolt of lightning illuminated the Perivor property.



Rain was starting to fall. I had just arrived at the Perivor house. The first place to look regarding any myths was in the library located here. Tastefully renovated, the 300-year-old house was the centrepoint of a massive property that covered the southern part of the island.

Formerly the home of the Duke of Perivor, the office of which has long since been dissolved, the Perivor house was a centre of government for the Hazaria Archipelago. The archipelago, now under the governance of Hazaria, was made up of several tiny duchies, united under the one banner of Perivor.

I knocked on the door using the rather ornate knocker. I waited for a few minutes until someone came to the door. And someone did.

"How may I help you, sir?", the doorman asked.
"I was wondering if I would be able to use the library here. There's some info I want to pick up."
"Sure thing. It's just inside, to the left."

I entered, followed the doorman to the library. I noticed almost instantly that it was spread over two floors, the bottom of which partially underground.

"Do you know where the records are kept for Dom Perivor?"
"They're downstairs."

I walked downstairs, amongst the shelves, until I reached the records section. There were numerous records, most of which were in reasonably good condition.

I picked up a handful of records and went over to the large writing desk nearby and under the dim light of the lamp, I began leafing through them...

TO BE CONTINUED.


An overview of the island of Dom Perivor during some wet weather.

To the next update.

Oh, and as an aside: the busway map for Brackenfell and Greater Midlands: (some people may get minor issues with scrolling sideways)


--SA

Replies:
bat: Thanks!
mattb325: Thanks! Shame your wonderful rowhomes refuse to grow in my city... :(
Buddhah: Thanks!
thundercrack83: Thanks! :P Everything's quieted down a little here, but the peace in the middle of the storm's only temporary, unfortunately.
Nova Vesfalo: Thanks! :P
Snaper: Thanks! :P
rooker1: Thanks. Well, you get *gasp* six images in this update. :P (technically eight, but oh well :P)

Once again, lovin it SA!

Cool busway network, I see you like Sydney's T-Way netowrk cos it reminds me a lot of it.

&apls &apls

Great island, SA! Wonderful update and great fog-, rain-effect! Also a wonderful busway map! :thumbsup:

what a great looking little island...the story is quite interesting. The fog pics are wonderful, mostly done in photoshop?

Hi SA ,

Amazing similarity between the real pictures and your work . I don't know in which order you worked on this similitary ... but truely amazing !
Beautiful pictures by a foggy night . :thumbsup:

Although I love that island , considering this ...

Quote from: Shadow Assassin on May 26, 2007, 07:36:56 AM

Unfortunately, updates have been VERY sporadic as of late, mainly due to a fully-laden real life. It's a shame, but I have to live with it...

...I Hope you'll not leave us too many time on it . :P

Intriguing...

I love the newspaper and the mysterious little island is outstanding, too! But, I must say that the bus map is my favorite part (I love maps and stuff like that, I'm weird!). Great update as always, SA!

Shadow, you achieved to get my full attention *again*  The rain and the fog, that I normally do not appreciate, give the island it a charm that is very appealing and attractive!  :satisfied:   I would even book a ticket to Dom Perivor immediately, and book a room in that B&B, if the story would not be so awfull scary.... I am anxiously awaiting what comes out of your pen next time...  &hlp

Fantastic as always. Love the fog surrounding the perfectly planned islands and landscapes.
I want more! :)

As usual Daniel you're a master for "Hitchcockian" ambiances!....
The foggy pictures are superbly done!
Loving it!
-John

Hello, all. :P

Won't do replies in this post, but I've got something. A map of the Hazaria Archipelago. ;D

It is really, really, really big (but it'll load quickly, only 260kb!). Click on the thumbnail to enlarge it.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg443.imageshack.us%2Fimg443%2F6194%2Fhazariaarchipelagomapthnl4.jpg&hash=300407965d0092bc0100ffe49c844710fd6df427) (http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/2529/hazariaarchipelagomapup4.png)
Or click here (http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/2529/hazariaarchipelagomapup4.png) if you can't see the thumbnail.

Have fun, all.

--SA

That's a very big map, SA! But it looks wonderful! :thumbsup:

First, some replies:
Owen: Why, thank you. :P The T-Way system in Sydney is quite good, well, it's a case of forward planning. But in the case of the north-west, it's not looking too good, because who in their right minds would go to Parramatta when there's a direct service to the city from there? :P
bat (x2): Thanks! :P
Yoder: Indeed, using Photoshop CS2 (well, I have CS3 now :P), but of course, I use SC4 :P
Badsim: Thanks! Well, this might be the last "picture" thing for the next few weeks, then a few more weeks after my holidays, because of exams...
Thundercrack: Thanks! :P I like maps, too. :P
sebes: Thanks! :P As for rooms in Dom Perivor, visit the island at a less-scary time. :P
bigberta: Thanks! You'll get more. :P
Darmok: Thanks! Considering I've never read Hitchcock... :P

Anyways, a day of boredom and wet weather led to this:

The pictures below are part of the biggest port in Ensenada, Port Mordicar. Located just down the road *cough* from Ensenada and Mordicar, it is located approximately halfway between the two cities. Like the port in Hazaria, Mordicar deals with a variety of industrial things. Unlike Hazaria, though, the Port is the main er, port of entry for items and possibly furniture. Also unlike Hazaria, Port Mordicar is purely commercial. The Naval Base for Ensenada is located down at Hazaria. (will go into more detail when I finish Port Hazaria)

Unfortunately for Port Mordicar, it is not located close to Ensenada International Airport, so trucks and heavy vehicles (being prohibited from heading through the CBD - they must go around or take the freeway through to the airport) either must head north past North Bay, or south to Ensenada. Alternatively, they use the train to transport goods directly to either airport (Ensenada [ENS] or Greater Midlands [GMI]).

A lot of lots were made just for this update.


An overview of part of the seaport.


The infamous Olympia Bridge. Built in 3019, the bridge is already suffering from congestion heading into Ensenada, and is expected to worsen as development opens up in North Bay, north of Mordicar. The Mordicar Bypass is a limited-access dual carriageway, providing a link with the M5 to the north. Discussions are underway about whether to build the M40-M5 link. It would most likely be built in two stages: stage one bypassing the bypass of Mordicar, heading out towards the Lakes and joining with the M40. Stage two: It would link the M40 and M1, joining up with the existing M3. Land is already reserved for the freeway, it is yet to be seen if residents would be willing to put up with the freeway going through. Maybe I'll put a map up of the freeway plan. The SS Behemoth is currently going under the Olympia Bridge.


One of the major products that enter (and also exit) Mordicar are cars and other vehicles. SMW (Savannah Motor Works) and Zaibatsu Motors are two major manufacturers in Savannah. SPAM (Savannah Ports Authority, Mordicar) oversees the Port from the control tower in the left of the shot. Right now the Freight Yard is empty, but will hopefully be sorted before long...

Savannah Ports Authority is an organisation run by the Savannah Government that oversees all major ports in Savannah. It is divided into different branches, depending on where it is located.

Using Imageshack is a lot like playing Russian Roulette. You never know if the server selected's gonna be down, up or just slow.

Awesome seaport. I love the bridge  &apls

Yes, a really wonderful seaport, SA! :thumbsup:

Nice work! Love the vastness of it all. I kind of lost you with all the freeways and bypasses but I'd love to see a map... Knowing you, it'll be awesome ;D

Also, you're lucky you live in a city where Public Transport projects actually go ahead... down here, there's no T-ways or underground trains tunnels... it's all about the CAR!

Yeah have a good remainder-of-weekend.

AMAZING  :o !!!!!

Lol ensenada is likw Ensalada  in spanish  :D .

That is really nice stuff.  I really wish I could afford photoshop.  What does CS3 stand for?

This harbour is splendid  :thumbsup:

I find it very roomy, very realistic, with a network excellent ferrovier and the overview is wonderful  &apls, it's my favourite  :P

It's absolutety super !  &apls

That seaport is simply stunning, SA. I'd love to see a zoomed-out view to get an idea of the size of it! Also, I have a question for you, though: Which seawalls are you using there? I don't think I've ever seen them before.

Quote from: thundercrack83 on June 17, 2007, 10:02:16 AM
That seaport is simply stunning, SA. I'd love to see a zoomed-out view to get an idea of the size of it! Also, I have a question for you, though: Which seawalls are you using there? I don't think I've ever seen them before.

I'm wondering the same thing...

Holy crap SA, that is quite possibly the best seaport i've ever seen. I think i hate you. but, ya know, in a good way.

and BB and TC83, those seawalls are from a japanese site, but unfortunately when you download it the file doesn't unzip, as it's either corrupted or empty.

Amazing Seaport.  Very nicely laidout.  I really like the Olympia Bridge.  The gradual slope to get it at the right hieght for ships to pass looks very realistic.  And your lots look amazing as well.  It must have taken you a while to develope this area.

Great work!! &apls

Robin   :thumbsup:

Quote from: spartanB292 on June 17, 2007, 04:17:48 PM
Holy crap SA, that is quite possibly the best seaport i've ever seen. I think i hate you. but, ya know, in a good way.

and BB and TC83, those seawalls are from a japanese site, but unfortunately when you download it the file doesn't unzip, as it's either corrupted or empty.

That's a shame, they look really good. Thanks for the heads-up, though, spartanB292! I appreciate it!

Some amazing updates, the map is again ...big, yeah I know by now, big is better. :D

The port, also big, and very well made, the bridge fits well there and these big spaces reserved for different goods makes this look like a real port.

that's 1 of the nicest updates I've ever seen some-one posting on SC4

it's just stunning!! the seawalls with cranes, car on concrete, warehouses.. all custom & so perfect (home-made by yourself??)

and the bridge with warehouses underneath it.. just unbelievable detail!


you should get a "trixie" for best update &apls

SA, that is one awesome setup you have there.  Looks like a thriving seaport, and that bridge seems to be getting a lot of traffic.  Just fantastic, as always. ;)

The map of the archipelago is very nice as well--I'm a total map geek, so it's fun stuff.

-Alex (Tarkus)

Edit: Welcome to page 7!!!!

That's what I get for not paying attention to when you update... I missed several BRILLIANT updates! There's so much to comment on, but I have to recover from looking at that map first. You are the best mapmaker this game has ever seen (without a doubt, and there are a few good ones out there, but you are in a league of your own!). &apls &apls &apls

Ever think about doing a Photoshop "pathfininding" tutorial? I would kill for your skills when it comes to tracing paths. &apls

Your port looks so realistic, as with everything in Ensenada. Great work with the custom lots.
I second emilin's request, show us how to become great cartographers!

Fred

Wow, you made a great update again. That map rocks!!!!
The seaport, the bridge and the motorworks are so beautifull... It's always a joy to visit your MD and discover Ensenada  :thumbsup:

PS: sorry to tell you: ENS is the city/airport code of Enschede, in the Netherlands...  ;)

 :o
Wow, certainly one of the best ports I've ever seen in SC, awesome (As is this entire Thread, so many new ideas and impressions out of so few pictures....)

No updates today, because I don't really have anything to show. Maybe the picture above will tide you till I can post an update. ;)

By the way, Mordicar's going quite well, it's developing nicely, just wish the game would stop playing stupid tricks with my CO demand. :P

Replies:
metasmurf: Thanks!
bat: Thanks!
Owen: Heh. Well, Sydney's roads are not exactly top quality... Thanks, by the way! :P
Ralph: Thanks! Incidentally, Ensenada in Spanish basically means "cove", according to Babelfish. Strangely appropriate, since Ensenada itself is located on a large bay. :P
football_fever:  &sly CS3 stands for Creative Studio 3. It's the third incarnation of Adobe's Creative Studio (which basically includes programs like Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Fireworks, Illustrator, Flash).
Snaper: Thanks! :P
Thundercrack: Thanks! :P As for a zoomed-out shot, I'll take one once the city tile's completed. It actually goes across two city tiles. :P I'm using the Japanese seawalls, which can be found somewhere... I forget the link...
bigberta: Thanks! :P
spartanB292: That's because you need a program like 7Zip or WinRAR to unzip the files (the files are .lzh, I think). WinZip won't do it. LOL, thanks! :P
kwakelaar: Thanks! :P Big is always better in SC4. But the details count too!
ejc: Thanks! :P It's all home-made, using lots that I made (quite simple), and stealing props from all over the place to create these lots. I've already won a Trixie for Ensenada over at ST... maybe I can add another one. :P
Alex (Tarkus): Thanks! :P
emilin: Thanks! :P But your port's better than mine... lol. All you really need in Photoshop when tracing those paths is a steady hand. :P
freedo50: Thanks! :P I might get around to creating that tutorial soon... big pictures, because I use a widescreen monitor...
sebes: Thanks! By the way, I think quite a few airports actually use the same code. :P It'll probably stay as ENS or I'd end up using ENA.
Asimov: Thanks! :P

I like it, if it's a teaser it's supposed to be:P Nice work with the clouds, roads and terrain

I also like that teaser! Great picture! :thumbsup:

Some really lovely work here. Where are you getting those fabulous seawalls from (in your last update)?

Wow, beautiful teaser, SA! I love the windy roads. One suggestion, though, if I may: the new NAM curves may help the roads look even better....Not that they need improvement! I'll be looking forward to the next update!

Hi Daniel,
Great seaport pics, particularly liked the bridge pic, with that smooth and curved bridge access! Nice touch.
And to tell you the truth, I've never read Hitchcock too! Seen some movies but never read it!  ;)
See you!

I forgot to add this with the Dom Perivor update. Silly me.  $%Grinno$%

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg181.imageshack.us%2Fimg181%2F39%2Fhazariaarchipelagothdp6.jpg&hash=33ef003c8dabfb1f8deee2ee5b646fdd530d70ef) (http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/3103/hazariaarchipelagomainhm5.jpg)

If you cannot see the thumbnail, click here (http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/3103/hazariaarchipelagomainhm5.jpg).

That is just a picture of the Hazaria Archipelago, not in a map version. :P I should hopefully have the Dom Salidar update this weekend. Pictures are yet to be taken, but the city tile itself is finished. Then from Dom Salidar, it's a quick jaunt over to Lucifer Atoll (technically off-limits for reasons "unknown"), from there, back to the mainland. ;D

And maybe, just maybe, we'll see a couple of "History of Savannah" updates.

wow....that looks like a lot of terraforming.  Excellent work.  The time you've put into this really shows.  That's a lot of delicate little movements in terraforming.

Great work

That map is absolutely stunning. Those may be the most realistic islands I've ever seen in my life. Great job, SA!

SA that map is simply amazing great job - pat

It's so realistic. Great work. I particulary like the Lucifer Bay. I'm looking forward to seeing more.

In a bit of a hurry right now, but I have one pic:

SA that is marvoules great and beautiful one pic... cant wait to see more pics

it's always a delight to see new pictures from ENSenada ! Mordicar countryside is wow-ing , simple but IMO so realistic ! The region view is splendid, one of the best I've ever seen, and the downtown pic shows a quite large and big commercial district

Stunning! Simply stunning! I can't wait to see more of that downtown, my friend! Great teaser!

the islands rock....

is it a custom map... because I'd really like to ahve those :P but I cant terraform worth jack

Edit 1: Welcome to page 8.

Edit 2: Yay! It looks like I just made "governor" here.

Very cool looking downtown! But the archipelago is what really blows me away. Those islands are very near perfect! Great job! &apls

Update 15: Islands of Ensenada - Part 2

It had been three weeks since I arrived in Dom Perivor, hoping to find some information about the issues that plagued the Hazaria archipelago. I had found, in the Perivor library, a lot of information relating to the history of the region. One thing can be said about the people of Dom Perivor - they hoarded their records, careful to keep them in order. Which worked well from a historical perspective. But unfortunately, if I needed to go over to one of the uninhabited islands of the archipelago, I had to go to Dom Salidar, to the south. In my notes regarding the research of the information, one place kept on cropping up from time to time...


Later that day, I caught a boat from Dom Perivor to Dom Salidar's northern ferry terminal. The town itself was quite large and divided into two sections. The North Town and the South Town were located at opposite sides of the island. But first, I had to track down some important things. I wasn't planning on renting in Dom Salidar, having a house up in Dom Perivor, which I had to pay rent for. 200 pounds wasn't that much, anyway. It was a clear day, but it was cold, something like 10 degrees. Probably snowing in Avarinheim.


My mobile phone rang.
"Yeah?" I said.
"I hear you're looking for something. Come on up to the Weather Observation station up the top of the hill."
"Alright, see you in a few minutes."
The other person hung up.

From where I was standing, I could see the weather observation station on the hill. A large satellite dish, it was the weather observation station for the Archipelago region. Every region in Ensenada had one. I had to hire a car first. It'd be too far to walk, especially considering how windy and hilly the Salidar Road was. Before long, I had a small green car, which would do me nicely for a couple of days.


Before long, I drove up the dirt track to the station. Luckily, it was relatively dry, or the trail would be one long mudbath. In these island towns, there wasn't much funding available to keep the roads in excellent condition - though, they were in good condition in Dom Salidar. The Salidar road was of excellent quality. I pulled into the parking lot, and knocked at the door of the weather observation station.

I waited a few minutes until someone came to the door.

"You called me?" I asked of him.
"Yes, I have something inside for you. It was mailed to me not long ago, with explicit instructions that it be addressed to you" he said.
"Oh, really? Interesting... Can I take a look?"
"Sure, come on in."

I entered the weather observation station, walked down the hall, following him, until we entered an office. On one wall, there were numerous screens, showing graphs and the like.

"So, what is this place?" I asked him.
"It's basically the control centre for the whole complex. All you saw outside is only a small part of this particular station. We play another role, other than weather monitoring, and that is, we act as a relay station in the entire satellite network for Savannah's military services. It's a closely guarded secret, and strictly speaking, I shouldn't be telling you this."
"Hm, true, but if they don't know that you told me, it'll never hurt them."
"Maybe. But shall we continue?"

We entered another room, a tall room with catwalks criss-crossing the void in front of us. I looked down into the void, and could not see the bottom.
"Just how deep is this, and what is it?" I asked.
"It's about 100m, and this place's real purpose... well... nobody knows. After all, it's been here for a long time."
"Maybe we should look around a bit more."
"I'd prefer not going down there. I don't know what's down there."
"Hm, fair enough."

We left the room, headed back to the weather monitoring station.
"Wait here," he said, "I have to pick up some files for you." He left the room.
While I was waiting for him, I looked carefully at a small screen hidden in the mess of various screens. At first glance, it looked like it was part of the entire mess of screens on that wall. But on second glance...

He re-entered the room. "Here's the information that was sent to you." He then handed me the folder, which had been sealed with a branding that I was not familiar with.

With folder in hand, I left the building.

He picked up the phone, and dialed a number.
"Hello? He's picked up the folder."
"Excellent." The voice on the other end of the line said, then hung up.


Before long, I was travelling on the Salidar Road, to the south. It was a meandering road, but of excellent quality. I revved up the small car, travelling at about 80km/h on the road. Dom Salidar did not enforce speed limits, so I would not be pulled over. I shifted down a couple of gears, went through the S-bend, and then sped back up. Before long, I'd be in Dom Salidar South Town. It was reasonably late in the afternoon, with the sun low over the horizon. From here, I could not see Mordicar and Ensenada - just the bay.


In a few minutes, I had arrived in the outlying areas of Dom Salidar South Town. This particular neighbourhood was quite small, nestled in a small gully. I turned down the side street, parked at the top of the hill. I opened the folder, slicing the seal in half, and took out the various sheets. Leafing through them, I could quickly see they were what I needed.


Not too far from where I was parked, there was an old farmhouse. I looked quickly inside the farmhouse. Everything, like back in Dom Perivor, was covered in a particularly thick layer of dust. I quickly left the farmhouse. It wasn't important.


Later that evening, I had booked myself a room in a small hotel in the South Town. Much smaller than the North Town, it was only a few streets. In my hotel room, I leafed through the information once again. I recalled that little oddity on one of the screens matched a line of text in the file. It also matched my other information I had gleaned from the library at Dom Perivor.


Early the next morning, I headed over to the Lighthouse. Charmingly designed in a different style, the lighthouse was located on one of the islands of Dom Salidar. There weren't many people about when I took the skimmer (a small boat that 'skips' over water at high speeds) over to the lighthouse. Perhaps the cloudy day had something to do with it, too. It was still quite cold here, but regardless.

In the Lighthouse, a small machine hummed and whirred. It was a satellite signal interceptor, one most often used by the SIS to obtain information. This time, the intended victim was a weather satellite passing over...


The first of a number of pictures came through the data link. This one, of Dom Salidar, wasn't important. I needed ones of Lucifer Bay, and the satellite was heading that way. Lucifer Bay was a small bay located in the caldera of a large volcano, long since extinct, and long suspected of being an excellent hiding place for many government projects...


The second image, which, oddly enough, was taken from the east side, showed something unusual. Something was in the water, something extremely reflective - water should not do that. I would need to return to Lucifer Bay before long, but I had things to do over in Hazaria, first.


Even though this picture was taken before the Bay image, this one came through after the second image, for some reason. Nothing unusual in this shot.


The final image, an image that I enlarged, showed something slightly suspicious. The trees looked a little odder than usual... almost as if they were projections...

TO BE CONTINUED...

Replies:
Glenni: It's just a random pic, that's all.
bat: Thanks! :P
toxicpiano: There's a link somewhere in the last couple of pages for those seawalls. :P
Thundercrack: (x3!) That ain't a road. It's a rail-road! :P I don't use the NAM curves myself, (with exception of the rail curves) because they don't match the Euro Road Mod. :P
John (Darmok): Thanks! :P Never even seen Hitchcock either. :P (by the way, I still do update at ST, it just disappears almost straight away)
football_fever: Thanks! :P
Pat (x2): Thanks! :P
Air6: Thanks!
nova: Thanks! I'll admit, I borrowed a couple of ideas from your CJ - it's an excellent example of Photoshopping. :P
flame1396: Thanks! The area's hand-terraformed. But I could always release that area of the region as a SC4 Terraformer file (the rest of the region's a very heavily modified greyscale file I picked up from the STEX)
emilin: And you welcome another page. :P If you make it a hat-trick, I'll have to name something after you. :P Thanks!

Anyways, that's update 15. Have fun!

SA your welcome and man hooooooooly cow what a wonderful update i loved the sun glare in the lake
will see you next update - pat

OMG  :o :o

Amazing, these images are splendid and especially very realistic ...

... Frankly there is nothing to repeat, and in more with your talent on PhotoShop, that makes it still more beautiful than it is it already

Bravo l'ami  &apls

OMG - Lucifer Bay is absolutely a dream, fantastic ! 

Here you have a big guy dancing for that: &dance

Nice littel town you have there, perhaps a small Fishing Harbour or something similar couldn't hurt, but anyway, a very lovely place.

Hey Daniel,

I used to follow the CJ back at ST but you are also here as an MD so i am picking up the story here I guess.
Great updates you've given us. Shame that RL is rearing it's ugly head and giving you a hard time to update. Well that's just live I guess.
Love the island pics of Dom Perivor and the other islands.

Nik-Nik

Hand terraformed Islands! wow that's ahrd to do...

If its no trouble I'd love if you released them!

WOW.

I'm speechless!

WOW.

An amazing update, SA. I simply cannot believe how beautiful these pictures are! Lucifer Bay is fantastic! Great job, my friend. Great job!

 :P :P
Great CJ shadow.I just love it  :thumbsup: Very realistic aswell  :satisfied:

 &apls Wow great effect you have done. Very nice  :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 &apls &apls &apls &apls &apls
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg142.imageshack.us%2Fimg142%2F2492%2Fmoar3ry.jpg&hash=5d5746b9e5fac79c2fdad9f4bdcd6be7a993c7ee)

I love this CJ, I've been admiring it since it's creation but I figured I should say so.

Anyway, what rock texture is that that you're using for all those craggy mountains on the islands? It'd look perfect for what I'm working on.

Great update S.A.  :thumbsup:  The island looks terrific albiet a little suspicious $%#Ninj2, an image of Mr. Berns from the Simpsons flashed across my mind when that anonomous guy said "Excellent."  This is defenitively an interesting story you got going on, I've only been able to read this last update, but I can tell that you have some great writing talent, and I can't wait to see what to find out what's going on in that bay.

Geat update.  I really like the last few pics.  It looks like a meteor fell.  Great work.


Robin   :thumbsup:

Uh? What did you just do in picture "ensenadads1503by9.jpg" with the weather station? I distinctly recall that it's impossible to place a lot next to Trolca's dirtroads without them turning to asphalt.

If you did crack that problem you have to tell us how you did it. It would be so very, very, very usefull not to have to work around that all the time.

And if it is only an optical illusion, it still looks mighty cool. &apls

A lot of fantastic pictures, SA! Great update! Like the last four pictures! :thumbsup:

WOW!  :thumbsup:

What have I been doing these last months? I like MD that intertwine with a good story. but this is magnificent. I have only read the last post. I have to catch up reading the rest before I give you an in depth comment ;D

I like stories but you really have a talent for it. this will give me great reading pleasure.  And the pictures look very good too. a very clever use of trees and terrain mods. which do you use if I might ask?

:thumbsup: Thank you.

Strechnitz.

p.s. where did you get that delightful lighthouse if I may be so bold?

Shadow- You're pegging the superlatives meter just about nonstop here these days.  The caldera's a great feature, and the islands are to get lost in.  The story is also first class.

Just the usual stuff, eh, my friend?

Ensenada's always at the top of my "let's take a look" list.


David

wow...great story you got there. can't wait to see the next installment....as always, your pictures are wonderful...particularly your nature-scapes...great work.

it looks wonderful one of the best cities ever  &apls &apls &apls I have a question for you, which terrain mod have you used?

Awesome update, SA!

Great story! Also wonderful pictures! Picture 15.10 looks beautiful! :thumbsup:

I'm sorry that there haven't been any updates in Ensenada - real life is pressing down hard, with my Trial HSC coming up in a couple of weeks, then it's the real thing in October. The HSC (Higher School Certificate) is well, pretty much required for me to go to university.

Unfortunately, I don't think a proper update will be able to be done until November, when I finish my final year of school. If anything, it's not likely that I'll be able to update any time between now and then. Some might ask "what about between August and October?" - well, I'll end up being studying throughout that whole period, but if anything, knowing me, I'll probably play SC4 from time to time, and finish any modding projects before then. I'll probably wind up all my SC4 stuff on or around 18 September - a month before the HSC starts. I know Ensenada's first anniversary is October 1, but I have a feeling I'll miss that...

So, that's the low-down on what's going on with Ensenada. Come November 7 (when I have my final exam - Studies of Religion 2), I should be home free (unfortunately, I have to wait for my results till Dec 14 or thereabouts). I don't know what I'll do with Ensenada then - maybe I'll keep working on it, or start a new region.

Pat: Thanks! Unfortunately, that next update's gonna be quite a while...
Snaper: Thanks! :P
sebes: It's a pink elephant... haven't seen one of these in a while. :P Thanks! :P
Asimov: Hmm, I suppose you're right, but I didn't have the necessary BATs at that time when I created the islands.
Nik: Yes... that's life. Shame, really.
flame1396: That'd be a problem, because they're hand-terraformed, and well... I don't know how to only put in part of a region if I was to release it in SC4M format...
thundercrack: Thanks!
jayo: Thanks!
toxic: Thanks!
StegSC: I'm using the rock texture that came with the Missouri Breaks terrain mod.
zzsim: Thanks! :P
Robin (rooker1): Thanks! It was quite an interesting effect, so I decided to keep it.
Emilin: Easy - all I did was zone Agriculture around it. But to make the zone invisible (rather than using Zoneria): you hold down Ctrl while zoning the agriculture plot, and it'll disappear when you draw it over the road. Same principle for Residental and Commercial zones. That same method also provides power to the weather station. :P
bat (x2): Thanks!
Strech: I got the lighthouse from the STEX. It's called the Sages' Lookout or something along those lines. It's by rp2005, I think. As for the terrain mod, it's the Missouri Breaks terrain mod with modified elevation range parameters.
David: Thanks! The usual stuff... hmm, I wonder what happens if I go into unusual territory...
Yoder: Well, I'll admit I prefer nature shots, mainly because they're er, so easy to construct... :P Thanks!
gonzalo12345: Thanks! I use the Missouri Breaks terrain mod, but as I said earlier, it's got a modified elevation range so it appears greener.

Well, till the next time, folks.

Sorry to hear that you won't be around for a while, SA, but school has to come first. I'll be counting the days until November!

Good luck at school Shadow, the final year is more important than updating this MD.

But I will miss your updates: always have to make a quick look at what's up in Ensenada. I'll be waiting for November to do so again...   :satisfied:

It's pretty quiet here RL-wise (got a break before my next bunch of exams - next Monday, but I felt like a break so here we go :P), but this'll do in keeping Ensenada alive anyways...

And well, I present Ensenada International Airport. It's under construction right now, with one terminal and two runways completed. The second phase of the project -- I'll complete it whenever I feel like it :P

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg166.imageshack.us%2Fimg166%2F3761%2Fensenadaintl01ms9.jpg&hash=6ac2e61076706e280064fb594698d664d3f30ed7)

This is Ensenada International Airport (IATA: ESA; ICAO: GCEI).

Quote from: ICAORegion G: Greater Savannah - Central Sanubia
W: West Savannah
S: San Fernando (encompassing the provinces of San Fernando and Scania)
C: Cartagena (the three eastern provinces - Valencia, Ensenada and Aracione - Cartagena is the capital of Valencia province)

• EI: Ensenada International Airport
• GM: Greater Midlands Airport

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg123.imageshack.us%2Fimg123%2F7965%2Fensenadaintl02pt2.jpg&hash=7b987abb6ac1ebafe18ac4278a7e697ab2af4d6f)
A closer-up pic. :P Terminal 1 has 34 gates in the main terminal, with gates 35 - 38 being on the walkway to the smaller local planes. It is likely gates 31, 32, 33 and 34 will be removed to allow runway 05-L to be longer (they are right up next to the diagonal asphalt section).

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg462.imageshack.us%2Fimg462%2F2761%2Fensenadaintl03xr7.jpg&hash=ab83e847d18614cadea2a3aa71769f00376df77d)
Closer up, and you can see Terminal 1, along with the control tower, which has underground access to T1. The grass area in front of T1 is yet to be prettied up. Right now, it has a face that only a truck tyre would love. More parking's needed.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg485.imageshack.us%2Fimg485%2F4570%2Fensenadaintl04im3.jpg&hash=325f5bfd6445b267f9fcdcda43d018ca51717d16)
Look, Ma, it's annotated! Anyways, this airport is crying out for something... can someone guess what it is? :P

That's about all, folks! --SA

[edit: I just noticed I stuffed up 05-L and 05-R... they should be reversed. Same goes for 21 (or is it 22?).]
[edit 2: LOL, I just realised this is the second time I've posted an airport update in the middle of exams! See March 31 :P]

The International Airport of Ensenada is looking fantastic so far! Great pictures!  :thumbsup:

I'm guessing it's crying for diagonal runways. ;D

That is an amazing airport under development, by the way. The terminal is... well, maybe not the most "interesting" looking one, but certainly the most realistic I have seen so far in SC4. Once again, it is your feeling for scale that makes the point (it's ALWAYS bigger than you think it is).

One thing looks a bit odd: the airport tower standing in the middle of nowhere. It looks lonely.  ;D It doesn't really need to be placed "inside" the airport in my opinion. It can just as well go just beside the terminal, or something. It needs a road connection anyway...

And also, a petty you won't update regularly for while. I'll miss that. I certainly hope you will be around for advicing me on improving my mapping skills though...  ;)

Super work on the airport and so realistic.  I can't wait to see the rest for sure.  I like the setup and the building.  I'm not so good at airports, although I do try, so more pics of yours so I can copy, I mean learn from would be great.  Which airport pack do you use? And where did the main building come from?

&apls &apls

Robin   :thumbsup:

I have to agree that airport is one of the finest I've ever seen! Where did you get those terminal buildings? They are amazing! Glad to see an update here in Ensenada!

Man Travis - this is absolutely the most realistic airport ever seen in MD's (except for the no-road-to-tower that Emilin mentioned) ! It's absolutely great, especially the construction of the terminal.  I can see you have a place reservered for the diagonal runway... Once that has been released, this airport will be state of the art - for sure!  &dance &dance &dance &dance

The airport Looks fantastic! Makes me want to play right away! (I'm currently in the process of reordering all my plugins to accomodate CAM, I have decided to organise all the the dependencies in one folder and then have different region types (Desert, Mediteranian, UK etc) as satelite folders, so using the sc4 manager all the regions will always have the right dependencies!).

EIA is very wonderful airport SA great job and planning too  :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Thanks, guys, for your comments. I do appreciate it. :P IO

Here's a nice little surprise for you folks. I'm planning on redoing the Brackenfell map totally, and I've got a detailed map of the Brackenfell CBD down below:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg522.imageshack.us%2Fimg522%2F9963%2Fbrackenfellcbdthumbnailsv3.jpg&hash=c68024c3d0641f0a0e30b33f6b7c6a2a60d5ca61) (http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/1294/brackenfellcbdpe8.png)

If I showed it as it is right in this topic, it'd really stretch the window - it's about 1576 pixels wide, and 1124 high. I won't be doing the entire map to this scale - it'd turn out to be freakishly huge. It's only something like 1.2 or so km wide SC4 scale. One grid square is 100m x 100m, according to that scale I've got below. That section is 1536 pixels wide, 1024 high. So, if you translated that to the size that Brackenfell is right now (4x4 large city tiles - the section shown is the width of 1 small city tile - 1200x800 :P)... it'd end up being 24,576 pixels wide by that same height! And it'd crash my computer - 4096 is about as far as I can go on my current setup (maybe further if I picked up more RAM). So, no way I'm gonna do that. :P The normal scale will be 2048 pixels wide by 2048 high, the equivalent of four large city tiles - one "quadrant", so to speak. I will probably bump it up to 4096, but subdividing each map into 20 sections, each map being rectangular in shape to emulate what you'd get in a street directory. I will create maps like I did for Brackenfell CBD for all of the five cities, and possibly some selected areas. But... don't think I'm gonna name every freaking street on the big maps... it was tedious enough as it is on the big CBD map.

Thank goodness for those Photoshop tutorials that allowed me to create those accursed dotted lines. So, enjoy.


Oh, and sebes, my name is not Travis. :P

GJ Danny &apls

WOW hooooooooooly cow SA that is a wonderful map and i thought you was supposed
to be studying them books for your next round of test lol.... OK so i reallly cant blame
you too much we alll need a wee break from RL from time to time and you used it
very well - pat

How the heck did I not see this MD until now?

What a fantastic MD, it's very realistic and the pictures are so detailed. Great job SA. I especially like the airport and the diagonal terminal.

That is an awesome map, SA! Great using of photoshop! :thumbsup:

A very nice airport that is, and I must agree with emilin about the terminal, very well done, hes right about the control tower also though, it looks so lonely.

SA--That map is amazing. I don't really know what to say! It's simply amazing! In fact, it's so good, I think it deserves a visit from the Karma Police!

Anyways, I've finished my exams, so I kinda celebrated by putting together an update. This update deals with (mainly) the four biggest corporations of Savannah, courtesy of cityscape magazine! (hm, Imageshack's a bit slow at the moment...)

There's a lot of images in this update, so be patient while it loads...


And that's the feature article. :P

As for the real update, it's below. Sorry if I don't say much, there isn't really much to say.


(The last image's supposed to be ominous :P)

And that's it, really. Have fun, all.

--SA

WoW SA that was wonderful i love the mag appereance great job on that and this update as well...  :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Wow....seeing as how I've been up all night I don't have more to say, now off to add some tequila to my hot choco.

Fantastic update, SA! Beautiful looking pictures at night, but the others are also looking great!
Wonderful work! :thumbsup:

Breathtaking update, excellent article, that was a wonderful read  &apls

Wonderful update SA!
Where can i get the soccerstadium on picture 16.08?

Wonderful stuff! :thumbsup:

On a side note: the Infinidum logo is very similar to the old Konsum logo in Sweden (a cooperative food chain that is quite the opposite of an evil media corporation ;D):

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.signtime.se%2Fimg%2Fnostalgi%2Fn-konsum.jpg&hash=9357a4625d3d2d538761570c3422a3c989f20f3e)

Just for the shear size of your MD you should get a special reward, a visit here is never boring.
This is a great update, and I really like the logo's you have made for these big Ensenada companies. Also your 'Feature Articles' are interesting to read.
Your suburbs are still among the very best I have seen in any MD.

Omg, it's simply wonderful  :o :o

I love your airport, very realistic  :thumbsup: And your last update is fantastic ... Bravo l'ami  &apls

Daang.  I usually don't read newspaper type things, but this was interesting.  Your airport is inspiring...I seriously threw out my old airport for CC and am building a bigger/better one.

As for the rest, you have great downtown areas, and I must ask how you do that with the suburbs!  Do you place each and every 1x2 and 2x2 lot in that area?  If so, that's impressive.  I can never get them to look right.

Great update and I like the magazine layout.  Some of those night pics are amazing.  This city looks pretty old and I like how the building heights are all very realistic.  Nothing too super tall compared to it's surroundings.

&apls

Robin   :thumbsup:

Wow, Shadow- I just don't post here enough.  I think your magazine article was probably the best conceived MD/CJ piece I've seen for a long time, and ranks right up there with "ever."  The update pics are great, too, although every time I see that building with the handle on it in 16.04 and 09 I just can't keep the vision of how someone would plop it (overhand bucket grasp) out of my head.

This is fine, fine work.


David

Wow! Unbelievable update, SA! That magazine is simply brilliant, and the pictures that go along with it are amazing, too! Keep up the fantastic work, my friend!

best city i've ever seen  &apls

Great updates SA. Your city building skills are very good; your suburbs are expceptional, but the downtown areas are equally incredibly well conceived. It's great to spend time here. :thumbsup:

Wow! You have some of the most realistic suburbs I've ever seen. Pure sprawl. Great work on the editorial pages, the airport and the downtown too. Looking forward to future updates.  :)

~Nisha

Beautiful city, SA! Incredible CBD's and breathtaking suburban sprawl. Very realistic and well conceived MD

Freaking hell. :P Thats a city  :thumbsup: Where did you get those parking lots  :o :o

Finished exams already? It's only August...

But, who am to complain -- awesome update!

An update will be coming tomorrow morning. All I have to do is bump this to the next page, only one reply. :P

Owen, I actually have just finished the HSC Trial exams (finished last Wednesday). I've got my REAL exams in about a month and a half.

Anyways, I should probably mention what's in the next update. A different region, with a whole new set of plugins will be introduced to you shortly. Ensenada will stay open, this new region's for the tinkering around with other mods (example: the CAM), and stuff.

Congrats on 200!!

Now that I've secured it! :P

Great updates (the ones I missed) I particularly enjoyed reading about the four biggest corporations! ;) And then again, I couldn't resist flipping the page for you, seeing as you so unashamedly hinted at it. :P

Looking forward to what you have in store for us, and...

CONGRATULATIONS ON 200 COMMENTS AND 10 PAGES!

;)

Ooh, a new area! I can't wait to see it! I'm also looking forward to seeing how you work with the CAM. Until then, my friend!

Hehe, I had to, M. :P It was the only way I could get to the next page, seeing as the previous page was already taking ages to load. :P

Also, one important thing to note: I've changed my image host to Photobucket, because it's a lot faster.

Blackdelve Fields is one of the many towns in the San Fernando Valley, also home to the capital of San Fernando Province - San Fernando Valley Metropolitan Area (bit of a mouthful, really). This particular chronicle (let's call it that) actually deals with the growth of the towns in the Valley, following the growth of the towns into one large metro area - the Valley Metro. The first city we'll be seeing is Blackdelve Fields, one of the larger towns in the region, and is located in a relatively flat area on the river. Further downstream from Blackdelve Fields is the largest dam in Savannah, the Mead River Dam. We'll be seeing that dam shortly.

There are two townships on the Blackdelve Fields tile, giving a combined population of just over 10,000.

By the way, this is being done on the Columbia River Valley map recently released onto the LEX. It should be quite fun. You will also notice that I'm using a custom dirt shoulders mod, one that uses a grass texture. This isn't available, but I will release it in the future when I have the time and when I get the texture working in inner-city areas.


The southern township, Beacons Point, is located at a strategic position on the River Road passing through Blackdelve Fields. The River Road was (and still is) a major route running north-south through the Valley, linking all the towns on the river and the Tchita Uplands together. A major trading route, many of the towns in the Valley owe its existence to it. The town of Beacons Point has no main street to speak of, but it has a small shopping area outside the station. The origin of the name mainly derives from the position of the town itself on the Mead River. Beyond this point on the Mead River, it was dangerous due to the random movement of the banks and the sandbars. It was not uncommon for ships to get stranded on these sandbars. The town was the first of a series of beacons guiding ships upstream through the sandbar region. For many traders, it was necessary to change to the flat-bottomed barges to make it past this section. However, when the River Road was widened from a small cattle track to a major route in the region, water trading ceased, as it was safer and cheaper to travel overland.


Beacons Point Caravan Park. This is a small caravan park, popular with tourists, as it is a quiet place located around a bend in the river. Water-skiing is common along here, with quite a large number of craft on the river at any time. It is not uncommon for skiiers to go further upstream, past the bridge.


One of the oldest farms in Beacons Point, this farm has been open for hundreds of years.


The bridge where River Road crosses the Mead River to the east side. It was realigned recently because of difficulties associated with surfacing the River Road through the western swamps.


These farms have recently fallen on hard times, and will most probably be demolished in the near future.


The township of Blackdelve Fields itself, there is a small shopping centre on the main street, with a supermarket and a few stores. A train station is also located here.


Some farmland off the River Road. This particular farm has been abandoned for a couple of years, and all is needed is a good coat of paint.


A recently new development in Beacons Point, it was built to provide some accommodation for new people moving into the region. Beacons Point is one of a number of fast-growing towns in this particular area.


Some farmland north of Blackdelve Fields, this was actually built on relatively swampy ground which was later found to be extremely fertile, and as such, wine is grown here.


A small number of farms located just where the Mead River forks.


An overview of this particular area. It is quite fertile. In the future, this might actually become Blackdelve Fields as it is moved to the opposite shore in order to develop further...

Who knows what will happen in the Valley?

Your farms are excellent, my friend! And I love that trailer park on the water with boats--fantastic work! The road mod is great, too! It's always a pleasure to see what's happening in Ensenada!

Wonderful looking farms! Fantastic road map! Great work! :thumbsup:

Those are great shots, and your work bringing the farms to life is amazing. I loved the shot of the bridge and trailer park.

I don't know is there a point say GREAT anymore, it has been repeated too many times  $%Grinno$% But, after all these pages: your MD and region and cities are MASSIVE and realistic. There are some faults (something dosen't "fit" for me, generally everything fits) but this MD has always been great and nice to follow. Argh, I said great :D

SA you are defintly a master skilled planner here... The farm that has fallen into disrepair should be given the oppritunity regain life, but naw i think the local fire department might want to have a little fun  ;)

Wow! That's all I can say, really. It is so clean-cut, clear and beautiful! I really love it! ;)

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Awesome update my friend and I love the caravan park.  Great work.

Robin   :thumbsup:

Wow, that is quite beautiful area. The farms, residential areas, trailer parks--all well-done.

But what really caught my attention was the name:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Fernando_Valley

...I used to live there.  :P

Hey SA,

Can you please tell me from where do you have this streettexture? I don't mean the Trolca Dirt street mod or the Euro-Street Mod. I mean that bright-green texture under the street and under the rails.

Oh man,

I can´t believe it has been so long since I´ve been here! &mmm
every one of your updates is a pleasure to read and look at.
Mysterious ensenada is truly worth the effort of reading from A to Z. :thumbsup:

Strechnitz.

It's simply stuning ! wonderfully made part of esenada !! (love the 07 and 10 pictures)

 :shocked2: Splendid SA, I cannot what say moreover... cheer!  :thumbsup:

Well SA, it seems I don't like to say anyone is the best at anything... but you are definitely the best at rural areas!!!!!!

Do you happen to live in a rural area?

I like the darkness of the images. You do wonders with image editors. Wonder what you will be doing with regards to the local scenery with your image editor (whatever it may be)?

I'm paying attention here, trying to learn some new techniques. Pays to learn from the best.

Shadow, congratulations!

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...A Master, hard at work...


The Staff

Special Interest this Month! Congrats, SA! September's going to be a great month!

Whoa, how'd I end up here? :P

Anyways, real life bites once again. ::) So it is kind of ironic that as soon as I get into Special Interest of this Month, that I can't update.

Congrats on this award, SA! &apls Looking forward to the updates of this month!

Congratulations on the new status (and it seems David has a sixth sense for when people have too much to do in real life - it's a guaranteed way to get "special interest" status :D)!

And it seems I missed the last update. Great stuff as usual. The trailer park by the see is a very unique and interesting feature - serves to remind me that beachfront property isn't always luxurious. In fact, I think you proved that with all of the island updates too. Is that a new terrain mod (or water mod) by the way?

The only thing I don't really like is the embankment on the one side of the river where the bridge crosses. The bridge itself looks great, but the embankment looks a bit artificial (maybe some retaining walls would do the trick?).

Anways: congratulations, once again! &hlp &hlp &hlp &apls

WooW! It is incredible, I like your city, Bravo for this reward, you really deserve him  &apls !!!

Congratulations on the Special Interest Award! Still waiting for that new update...lets go!

Congrats on the  Special Interest Award.  It's very well deserved, you have a great MD.

Robin   &apls

Quote from: Shadow Assassin
flame1396: That'd be a problem, because they're hand-terraformed, and well... I don't know how to only put in part of a region if I was to release it in SC4M format...

I could crop it myself. If I'm the one benefiting I should do the work.

But those islands are just sweet to the power of 12.

PS: Please  ;D

PPS: Gratz on Special Interest. Must be those great islands  ;)

Hi Daniel ,

Not surprised to find you there ... don't worry about updates , I've had this feeling ... Not NOW !!!

Ensenada is always interesting . I remember how I was already impressed by The Savannah Way (more than 52 000 views at SCC/Simphoni  ::)), it's a real pity to have lost almost all pictures  with the shut down of imgcity ...  &mmm

...A Master , hard at work...

Yeah. Since a long ...

congratulations on your award, when I take a look at the pics it seems it's well deserved. I can say I learned something today: Im going to change my way how to build farms after seeing this MD. Thanks for the knowledge :)

This MD is freakin amazing! :thumbsup: So inspirational ;)

Well, well.

Four pictures of my work in Blackdelve Fields so far. I haven't had much of a chance to start up SC4 lately, what with real life and all. So, five days before the 60-day deadline passes, I have a small update.

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Blackdelve Field's downtown. The tallest building in town is the Blackdelve Fields Hotel and Conference Centre, located at the top-right of the picture. The town is home to about 31,000 citizens at this point, most of whom live on the west bank of the San Fernando River. Once finished, Blackdelve Fields will become the region's largest city, but the population will most likely be not much, maybe around 110k or so.

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Some pictures of suburbia around Blackdelve Fields. This is a typical middle-class area, with the Valley line dividing the town into two.

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The southern part of Blackdelve Fields, with some changes made to the area. There is no longer a farm field, it is now just a field of open grass, with the industrial area enroaching upon the southern end of town. A newer industrial district is being developed further west.

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The rail bridge crossing one of the main tributaries of the San Fernando River. Further upstream is the dam that provides Blackdelve Fields and other surrounding towns with water.
So, that is Blackdelve Fields to this date. Next update: the construction of Highway 1, expansion of the town onto the east bank.

Thanks for making sure the 60-d deadline was not crossed  :thumbsup:
Ensenado should be in the picture, so it was a great idea. Hope that RL will ease on you for the next 2 months, as I am looking forward to the expansion and HWY1 construction.

PS: for a moment I thought this village was called Blackvelvet (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ut09zkRoG0g) Fields  ;)

A fantastic looking pictures in that small update there! Great work! :thumbsup:

My 3050th post!

SA wonderful update here!!! I loved the Blackdelve Field's downtown pic talk about having a realistic feel to it....  &apls  At first i was iffy on coming since you say you last updated 25/8/07 lol but either way a great update - pat

About damn time :P A good if modest update, I especially enjoy the 3rd picture.

Nice stuff. I really like the slope where the train leaves the station. Very nice shot, there... :thumbsup: The roundabout right next to the station looks a bit odd though... why would you have one with only two possible exits?

The railway bridge is awesome! &apls

Edit: a question too: what is that bus mod, and could we have a closer look please? ;D

sebes: Actually, the name is from a game released a few years ago (Champions of Norrath). In that game, there is actually a town called Blackdelve Reach, with  Blackdelve Lava Field nearby (these guys apparently MINE lava). By the way, if you search for "Blackdelve" on Google, my CJ comes up as #9 on Google's list. Awesome!

---

Pat: Oops. Should've updated the title. Consider it done.

---

emilin: The bus mod is actually a modified version of one of SAC's buses. I changed it around a little to suit what I wanted. For one, it has "Savannah Mass Transit" on it. Two, it's blue and has greyish-white markings.

These buses are also extremely easy to see on the road. :P

I'll have pictures up close soon, so patience. :P

EDIT: Here's a closer-up pic.
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As for that roundabout: it's like that to give people room to do a U-turn safely. That's quite common here in Australia if the only other way out is a parking lot.

---

All others: I haven't got much time to catch up on my backlog of replies, so I'll pull a David (dedgren for the unenlightened :P) and just leave it till later. :P

I might have an update in the next month or so. I actually have just picked up a copy of Guild Wars: Eye of the North, so I might be a lost cause for a while...

Okay, random update time. So much for the planned Highway 1 and expansion. I've changed my mind about what happens next, mainly because I well, felt like it. :P Plus, I wanted to build up the west bank some more so that it looked more complete. The west bank is more or less done (apart from some farmland that might get filled in), but I'll probably start a new city tile to add some jobs and whatnot. It's most likely Blackdelve Swamps [to the north] will be done first, then Silverwater Junction [to the south].

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Now, just north of the town's CBD, a rail interchange where the Uplands Line splits off to the west [top-right], and the Valley Line [bottom] continues to follow the river. This is essentially the northern boundary of the CBD. I'm considering leaving the area off to the right just as forest, seeing as much of it is basically hilly, and therefore it would be difficult to develop on.

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A picture of the smaller district that's sprung up across the railway, complete with an extension to the station. Right at this point in time, it is next to farmland, but will change as soon as the farmer who owns the place where the avenue ends sells up... The avenue is proposed to run right through that farm, so who knows what will happen next?

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Remember this shot from update 1? Well, what's happened is that it's become a little better-decorated to suit what Blackdelve Fields is turning into... a small city. Does this look better than the old shot, now that everything matches better? In any case, the road in this bridge is a certain highway that is due to be moved so that it bypasses the CBD (and duplicated, too), forming a ring road of sorts...

Blackdelve Fields Hospital, one of a number of health facilities available in the town, has excellent views over the San Fernando River. The valley is quite pleasant in the spring... provided you don't mind the extremely cold breezes that come down from the mountains from time to time (due to the valley's wind-tunneling effect).

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Some more pictures of the parkland that covers most of the western shore of the river. The parklands stop a considerable distance further south, roughly where the rail bridge that was built to the east side is. (that'll be shown once the surrounding area is fixed up).

It also might be a good idea for me to sort out the highway numbering system. I use the MABC system (M routes, A routes, B routes and C routes) in all of my regions. The major highway at this point in time (better known as River Road) is A48. M and A routes are mutually exclusive, so when the bypass is built, it'll become M48. The major east-west route that passes through Blackdelve Fields (or other towns) is A85. So, it's not too far to San Fernando province's southern border from here.

Updates will occur whenever I feel like posting/playing SC4. :P

hey SA thats one hell of an update! great job i love the RR area you created  :thumbsup:

SA, I have to concur with Ryan here.  This is a fantastic update, as always. :thumbsup:  Random updates are always a welcome thing--it keeps with the NAM Team motto, "We like to surprise people". ;)  I really like what you've done with the rail networks, and that embankment up to the bridge is very realistic.  I can't wait to see the bypass go in.   ;)

-Alex (Tarkus)

Some time since my last visit, and there is again a lot to see here. I still very much like how you let your developments use a lot of space, making for high degree of realism.

Where did you get that hospital?
Great CJ  :P

SA that is a wonderful update and i cant say it enough love the relotting of Glenni's Hospital [Linkie]  (http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?id=15395) ohh and Jayo click on that and it will bring you right to that hospital - pat

btw SA welcome to pg 13

WOW! Glad to see you're back here, SA! I missed a bit of the updates since your return, but I'm glad to say that I'm caught up and am amazed at what I see! I love the parks, the tunnels, the railroads, and that bridge--fantastic! I'm always looking forward to seeing more of your work, my friend! Keep it up!

Blackdelve fields is looking very great! Wonderful work, SA! :thumbsup:

Hi SA ,

SA back  at work , yeah ! Between school and NAM team , I guess how it has became hard to find enough time . :P

SAC's busses are truly ... OK , I have to stop right now with  SAC ! :D

Great update as always  , can't get bored with your updates ... like  Kwakelaar , I like the way your developments are using a lot of space ... where finally you've decided to use different trees !  :thumbsup:

I didn't notice before that you're using ejc technique ( or maybe is he using your !  :D ) of turns & turns with some roads/avenues/railways , hope to see an overview (if the overview is also one of your purpose ) to look at the result with Blackdelve Fields ?

See you . ;)

The images along the river... very... rugged! Great job on that, you've gone ahead and discouraged me from working along my own river system! I just can't seem to compare, despite all of my efforts.

I really enjoy the (desaturating and darkening?) of the images. I can't remember if I said that before, but if I did, then I'm saying it again! I feel like making a MD... just not now.. time constraints you know. I could learn a lesson or two... or thirty.

No more 55 day layoffs, okay?

Replies first. Then the update. It's a bit of a 'roadgeeky' update, but it's been done for a reason: the bypass will be going in pretty soon (once I've got my new RHW mod up and running... and as soon as I get the RHWMIS off Alex for testing).

There are quite a large number of PNG files in this update, but they are only ~10kb each (so the signs show up without any loss).

---

Pat: Thanks for providing the link! :P

---

Badsim: Yeah. :P Back again. :P SAC's buses are probably the best ones I've ever seen made. As for trees, yes, I know, sub-alpine fir is well, repetitive. I won't be using them unless in the mountains, and even then, it'll be mixed with cedars, larch, ponderosa, etc. For the overview, that'll be done once the west bank is fully completed.

As for the "EJC" method, it's not really copyrighted or patented, but is just a way of growing cities. I actually mix and match styles, whenever it suits whatever I'm building.

Oh yes, I know that I'm busy with the NAM team... but the results will be worth it, for sure!

---

Besk: Yessir. :P You should make one... eventually. ;) There are many ways of making a riverside look good. Don't worry, you'll sort it out. :P

---

Today, we'll be following the River Road through Blackdelve Fields. The River Road is currently signposted A48, but this will change when the Blackdelve Fields duplication and bypass section of the River Road is completed. In preparation for the construction of the highway, all signs along the route have been updated with new destinations and route markers (and coverplated as is appropriate).

During this update, the signage may actually reflect the original alignments of the roads, especially when going around Blackdelve Fields in the northern section.

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Beginning down south at Blackdelve Junction, the area hardly has changed. The farms around here have been abandoned for a while, and plans are underway to demolish these farms in favour of beautifying the riverfront. It is likely, in the near future, a new park will be built around the area, with much of the forest regrown along the riverbank. A new town centre is under construction at Blackdelve Junction, complete with a new shopping centre. Blackdelve Junction is one of the fastest growing suburbs in the township area. A new commercial area with small port is being considered on the riverfront, however it is being met with opposition by the locals due to it potentially disrupting the amenity of the area.

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The corresponding signage for the intersection where Blackdelve Junction Road and River Road meet. Hastings Ridge is primarily farmland, and a small town has grown up there in recent years. At the foothills of the mountains, it sits atop of a fresh mountain stream. It is expected that within the next 30 years, Hastings Ridge will be assimilated into Blackdelve Fields.

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My my, Beacons Point Caravan Park has grown. Rather than just a holidaymakers destination, the caravan park now offers cheap trailer homes for people to buy as either a place of residence or a holiday house. The nearby industrial area has grown considerably, but it is likely that it will be gradually demolished in order to join the main town of Blackdelve Fields to Blackdelve Junction. Businesses located here are being given a chance to find new places to build, including the industrial park slightly west of the town centre of Blackdelve Fields.

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A sign stating that the caravan park is off to the left, as well as the name of the road. This type of sign is commonly used to point out tourist locations. The green sign below is a street sign used in conjunction with road signs if it is not marked clearly. The normal street signs are much nicer, believe me. :P

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Just another proto-suburban community (locality name: Blackdelve Shores), developing around Ice Creek Rd (B851) and River Rd. Just off to the left is the bridge that goes over to the main town. Ice Creek Dam is one of the largest dams in the San Fernando Valley, providing electricity and water to the citizens of Blackdelve Fields and surrounding areas. Hydrogen for vehicles can conveniently be obtained from the service station by locals in this area here. Mountain Oil provides much of the needed hydrogen to stations throughout the area... despite their name, they were formerly a company that specialised in the production (and refinement) of oil and derivative products, but later diversified into the field of hydrogen production, storage and refinement. Mountain Oil is the dominant company in Savannah in this particular industry, due to its competitors dying off because they failed to see that petrol would be no longer needed...

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The corresponding sign. B851 goes off to Ice Creek and associated national park. The National Park is a great place to camp and kayak down the creek (provided you don't mind occasional flash floods down the creek from the dam letting out excess water).

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An area that is about to be developed. The owner is still refusing to let go of his land so that A85 can be rerouted through his house. Perhaps a compulsory acquisition is needed...? As a consequence, A85 is duplexed with A48 for about 250m between this intersection and the next major intersection.

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Corresponding sign. It has not yet been updated to account for the future reroute of A85, since Tchita Uplands and Diessa Hills are destinations on the River Road section of the sign.

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A85 heads off to the west. A48, to the east. This is where the duplex of A48 and A85 ends. This issue would have been solved long ago if it wasn't for the said owner refusing to sell up the necessary land for A85 to be built.

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A fingerboard sign with the destinations of both roads. The Diessa Hills Road is one of a number of ways that can be used to access Tchita Uplands and the towns that lie in the region. Blackdelve Fields, of course, is signposted... just in case anybody going along the River Road happened to miss the A85 intersection. The green sign will be removed when the new bypass is built.

Getting past the tree-lined section of River Road, we arrive in the town centre itself. Personally, I quite like how the residential district has developed, reflecting the growth patterns of the town itself. The intersection of River Road and West Bank Ring Road is one of the busiest intersections in Blackdelve Fields. Due to the nature of the intersection, accidents can be quite frequent. But then again, it depends on what day of the week it is... Mondays, it's worst, due to the number of people deliberately crashing in order to avoid going to work.

Some of you folks may remember what this area used to look like back in update 1. :P

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The corresponding sign. The hospital is up ahead, so the sign has been altered to reflect that. It is also convenient, considering the accident-prone nature of this intersection...
The 'T5' is often used as a detour route to avoid
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A picture of the residential area north of the town centre. You can see the hospital at the top of the picture.

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A warning sign for the hospital. There is a 40km/h speed limit in effect on the surrounding streets. Parkes Way (between the Ring Road and River Road) also is required to adhere to this limit for a 100m stretch, and as a consequence, there are quite a large number of delays (to tell you the truth, it wouldn't matter so much during peak hour, as traffic is moving at a bit of a crawl :P). For people heading north, it is generally recommended that they use the Ring Road to avoid this speed limit. There are cameras there, you know.

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The corresponding sign, with a coverplate below Blackdelve Reach. This is one of the signs that have been modified due to the preparation for the construction of the bypass. Under the coverplate is a sign directing people to the River Road exit of the freeway.

So, that's A48 through Blackdelve Fields. Some more pictures of the riverside residential area are below.

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As always, an update will come whenever I feel I have enough content to do such a thing.

A fantastic new update there, SA! Great work on the signs! Also wonderful pictures!  :thumbsup:

What a magnificent update, SA!

The way you crafted the road signs and had them coincide with the pictures in the game was great! I actually felt like I was driving on the streets--very creative! And of course, the in-game shots look splendid as always! Can't wait to see more, my friend!

Wonderful stuff! So much quality in your work. &apls

And you have now convinced me to have a try at making my own bus mod. I am sure I will fail miserably, but it could be fun. ;D

love your last update SA that trailer park was a classic shot and im sure cletus would be proud to see a fine trailer park for maw,paw, auntie sue, helena roberts, mary ann, lorie lisa,sue baker, randy "snaggletooth" wilson, memaw jenkins, papaw pappy, billy slim , and the goldfish stanky britches!  :D

wow-ing , this update is over-great ! very (as usual :) ) great transportation layout ,and the riverside residential area with the park is beautiful (and very inspirational )

Nice  ()stsfd() ()stsfd() Where can i get those marrast underpasses in pic 4

I am impressed (once again  ;)  by the absolute beauty in your MD: the road shields make it all complete. Good job!!

Great update, I especially like the riverfront park/nature area.

I was looking at your industrial area with the big industrial "anchors" without al the smaller buildings in between, how did you make that area?

wow, too much to say, as this is the first time i comment here.. despite having visited it many times
this is a great md, excellent layouts and great job with those signals &apls &apls

mauricio.

Everey update is worth the visit, time and time again. :thumbsup:
I should comment more often I think ;D

great job SA &apls

Strech.

Great update.  The trailer home park I really like in particular.

Status Update

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This is one of the interchanges on the new A48. It is located in Blackdelve Reach.

Sorry I haven't got anything else, I've been busy playing Guild Wars, transit-modding (and I've been doing that more than playing the game), and generally having real life to deal with (...and Final Fantasy XII to finish :P)

Just so you know, I've finished school forever, and I'm currently waiting for my university preferences to be accepted (which is about a month and a half away).

Don't worry, I've got big things planned for Blackdelve Fields... as soon as I finish the texturing for the RHWMIS (it's an integral part of what I'm planning).

And haha, I just realised I made a mistake on one of my signs. That's okay because the RTA (Road Transit Authority) make mistakes here too (like incorrectly spelt names, wrong route numbers, wrong coloured signs, etc). :P

Since I have a formal to get ready for, replies will come soon. :P

nice pic and congrats on finishing school :thumbsup:

mauricio.

Looking great this picture there! And also a congrats from me for finishing school! ;)

The last pic looks incredible! I cant get the Rural Highway Mod to work, its a bummer. Thos exit lanes, did you make them yourself? They are great.

Again, a great picture, I cant wait to see more, and congrats on finishing school!

Hello again, and welcome back to Life in the Valley, where we see what the Sims are up to.

Today, we visit a new city tile west of the town of Blackdelve Fields: Hastings Ridge.

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On the edge of the town, suburbs gradually subside into farmland. From here on in, it's just farmland and grass.

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A close up image of the suburban area of Blackdelve Junction. I quite like the detail that Cycledogg and SimGoober have put into their houses. They go well together.

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This road travels up the escarpment that separates Blackdelve Fields from the Uplands, the region of land stretching for kilometres both into the north and south. Hastings Ridge is not too far from the Junction.

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A night shot of what could be considered a little town centre in its own right. It only has a couple of stores, and if people need anything more, they go to the Blackdelve Junction Shopping Centre, about 500m down the road.

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A gloomy and damp night in the Valley. Unfortunately, there aren't any haunted mansions or anything like that nearby at the moment (reminds me to build such a mansion further up in the Uplands, complete with mini cemetery).

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The end of the line.

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And an updated region shot.

Wow, every update in this MD is perfect!
I love the transition from suburbia to farmland and the forest on the escarpment is beautiful!

Fantastic new update there, SA! Wonderful looking pictures of that great area! Also beautiful updated region overview!
Blackdelve Fields is looking fantastic, too! :thumbsup:

congratulations on school... i know the feeling of graduating from college knowing you may never have to walk into a classroom ever again all too well...

where did you get the roads for that intersection on "A48"?

::

nice update :thumbsup:
the close up of the suburb is great, i esp like that pic!

mauricio.

A very nice update. :)
Where did you get the small houses?

Very nice  &apls


Are you planning on releasing that sidewalk mod that changes dirt to grass next to farms? :)

SA that was a wonderful update on Hastings Ridge and great job on it too.... 

It's very difficult to design a rural town or rural scenery and make it look picture perfect. Thank you for your inspiring picture perfect work, and congratulations on finishing school.

A great update.  I love the region pic, it just looks so amazing.  It looks like an actual picture!

Very goodlooking indeed. The first picture is stunning (with the little church just on the edge of town). :thumbsup:

those are really awsome pics! i like the effect you put on it...

splendid countryside! and very beautiful area too!  &apls &apls

what an update (love it), you'r a really nice Surburs-maker ! with all the lil'details ( the football field, the school attached to it,....) and the region shot is wonderfull !!

Been awhile since I've seen some of your stuff and I'm pleased that it's looking better than ever.  :D

ISF

Replies.

Now, I have the first update for my new CJ (using the Whitefall map I released on the STEX a week or so ago) ready. Now, the question is: should I launch it in a new topic way down the bottom in the Recently Published section, or keep it in this topic?

As I said, I have an update ready, but I'm not sure where to put it.  ::)

---

To the majority of posters in this thread: Thank you for posting, and come again! :P

Metasmurf: It will be released under the NHP banner. I actually have a lot of things lined up for release, but real life has prevented me from releasing those products.
Manuel: The small houses? It depends on which set you're talking about... in any case, you can find the 19th century houses under c.p. on the LEX. SimGoober's houses can be found there as well. I also used the American Four Square set, which is available on the STEX.


So, what do I do? :P New topic, or keep on going?

Keep going! I like to know where to start looking for your updates.

Very nice work on the RHW modd you released by the way. I just downloaded it and is going to give it a try later on. :thumbsup:

I'll keep it in this topic, Emilin. I'm gonna update that RHW mod soon, so you'll probably have to replace it anyway. :P

Um, I kind of need one more post here so that I can post my new MD on page 15...

Here is the post you need SA  :D

I was thinking about your question too. Sometimes it is good to start something completely new - it is rather a mental question. If you start something from the beginnning, it is easier to free your mind  :) and you can have more fresh ideas.

But there is no need to do it. And there is one important reason to keep your MD going: there is a lot of great stuff and great ideas here, it wouldn't be good if they would be hidden in the archive  ;D

So keep it going and show what you want! :thumbsup:

THIS SPACE LEFT BLANK FOR HEADER (COMING SOON)

---

CONTENTS:
Update 0: Introduction
Update 1: Nilbasse - Part 1 (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=824.msg99895#msg99895)
Update 2: Verona Beach (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=824.msg100456#msg100456)

---

ABOUT IRIDAR:

A country roughly the size of the United Kingdom, Iridar is located on the planet Gaia, on the continent Valena, a large landmass that occupies much of the planet's northern hemisphere. The southern parts of the continent enjoys weather similar to that of equatorial regions, while the northern parts, where Iridar is located, have a cool, temperate climate. Iridar is located approximately in the middle of the continent, occupying a section of coastline facing the Northern Sea. The ceremonial capital, Imperial City Iridar, is located inland on the fertile floodplains that sit alongside the Iridenne River. The administrative capital has recently moved to Whitefall, while the Imperial City is being reconstructed.

There are thirteen provinces of Iridar, each one under the jurisdiction of the largest city in each province, ultimately being overseen by the Imperial City. For the last six hundred years, each of the thirteen provinces have fallen under the Imperial City's governance.


The cities of Iridar are linked by the Imperial Highway System, largely centering around the Imperial City. Each Imperial Highway is well-maintained, as they form the arteries of the country. Without the Imperial Highways, the country would fall into chaos and ultimately split back up into its individual provinces.

The currency of Iridar is the iridenne (named after the river which the Imperial City sits nearby), where 1 iridenne equals approximately US$1.33.

The current flag of Iridar, with the Phoenix insignia, has been in use for the last hundred years. The Imperial Throne is now largely ceremonial, effectively becoming a constitutional monarchy. However, the Emperor is still required to give final approval on laws that affect the running of the Imperial City, and ultimately, Iridar.


ABOUT WHITEFALL:
Whitefall is a bustling, cosmopolitan city located in the northern parts of Iridar. With its wide boulevards and rolling hills, Whitefall is a pleasant city, enjoying a temperate climate all year round, despite its northerly location. Surrounded by lodgepole and larch pine forests, Whitefall is a very green city, and this is reflected in the city planning design. On the outskirts of the city centre of Whitefall, a large park sits. Nearby, one can find one of the thirteen Imperial Palaces (one is located in each of the thirteen cities).

Overlooking the Central Marches province, Whitefall is the largest city in the province, as well as in the country. The city is divided up into a number of local government areas, each overlooking a section of the city.

As of 3033, there are five Local Government Areas located in Whitefall:

• Whitefall City Council, overlooking the CBD and immediate surrounding suburbs.
• Nilbasse, overlooking the northern part of the western suburbs of Whitefall, concentrated around the inlets of the Lakes.
• Tsenoble, overlooking the southern part of the western suburbs. Is the second largest government area within Whitefall City Limits.
• Hawkesbury, overlooking the southern suburbs and Whitefall International Airport.
• Ashford, overlooking the inner plains covered within Whitefall City Limits. Largely covered in farmland at this point

---

LOCATOR MAP:
Below, this map shows what areas of the region have been showcased thus far:

---

WHAT'S COMING UP:
A History of Iridar
Nilbasse (Part 2)

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Well, that's Whitefall launched. The current year is 3034 AE, and we will be visiting the various areas, neighbourhoods of Whitefall over well, a lot of updates.

Nilbesse is in the next post - and thank you, Ennedi. :P

--SA

Nice start! I love your Whitefall map, and this looks like it'll be a great MD, especially with the bit of backstory.

Looking forward to the first update!

-- John

And so, we begin our tour with Nilbasse, one of Whitefall's Local Government Areas. Nilbasse, at this point, is unfinished. However, there is enough content to introduce the area...

First up, we have tile C1, which contains Nilbasse town. If people are wondering about the name, it originated from a comment that an unlucky fisherman made one day. "No bass" gradually became "Nilbasse" over the years as the town grew. There, unfortunately, is very little evidence of settlement before the 2850s, which has given rise to the rumour that this little comment may not be true after all.


Perhaps the most obvious trademark is the northern end of Seven Mile Beach. The sand here is white, the water is enjoyable. Despite Whitefall's northerly aspect, the water temperature is a comfortable 22C in summer, but not so comfortable in winter, unfortunately. The entire LGA has approximately 150,000 people living in the area (census 3032), with 35,000 living in the immediate area.


Of course, we have beautiful trees in Nilbasse. The Council has taken care of those trees to ensure that the city is protected to some extent from the cold winds that may come blasting down from the north. It does not snow often in Nilbasse, but when it does, it is duly enjoyed... even though many unprintable words which are often used to describe snow are temporarily added to the local lexicon.


The town park, which incidentally, is the dead centre of town. Market Square was originally located here way back when markets were popular, at least in Nilbasse, but now has long since been replaced with a very nice park... and a cemetery (that includes the church, by the way). Nilbasse Town Hall and Courthouse is also located in the nearby area, an ideal place for locals who have nothing better to do than write irate letters to local papers to complain about the latest "silly" council law that recently has been passed.


Nilbasse Town Centre, with a strict height limit in place to protect the amenity of the area. Of course, the fact that the tallest building in town is approximately 100 or so years old still hasn't passed the notice of the lawmakers...

Note that the area isn't finished. Neither is the next upcoming area: Nilbasse Lake.

Nilbasse Lake is located immediately to the east of the town centre, with an interesting take on development, where Floridian-style development was all the rage 30 or so years ago...


The Lakes Shopping Mall, a small, motley collection of shops that provide for the nearby citizens of the area. A roundabout was recently placed here to alleviate traffic congestion. Suffice to say, it worked a little too well... people are having a lot of fun going around in circles.


Another shot of the surrounding area. These old houses opposite the school are due to be replaced with something slightly better, people hope. They look kind of worn out... it was alright for the area sixty years ago, but now... nah. "They gotta go," one local complains. Incidentally, that same local also writes letters to the local paper complaining about that same thing.


An industrial park off the Lakes Way, nothing special, mostly warehouses and a bottling plant or two (possibly a storage facility for Fukitol(TM) Herbal medicine as well... but they are only rumours).


Nilbasse Keys, one of those styles of development that were all the rage 30 years ago. A law was passed soon after this area was built, prohibiting the construction of any more Floridian-style develoments, where every house has a waterfront (and possibly a direct view of the neighbour's bedroom... but that depended on whether or not the house was a) opposite another house with nice, big bedroom windows, b) whether the neighbour was good looking enough, and c) whether the neighbour had their curtains open/closed). Fortunately, not many houses met the criteria for the above.

So, Nilbasse Keys. What do you think? Would you move there? Would you buy a house in a known erosion danger zone? And that last question's actually on the brochure. You'd be surprised at how many people are actually willing to do that. Then again, they're the sort of people who have more money than common sense...


And that's update 1. More updates coming soon.

SA I love your new Start here and I agree it cuts off the clutter by changing the name of your current MD to a new name to reflect a new begining and this way you still can refer back a few pages if you ever wanted to lol...

Looking great there SA, though some people on Seven Beach might be nice, even if they aren't swimming. Looks like a common North American town.

The inclusion of the Florida style developments is also interesting. Hey, if the neighbor was good looking enough I'd buy a house :P

I haven't visited in a while, but this update from what I can see looks fantastic s.a! Your work continues to improve :) I like the Floridian style development, very familiar for me :P

wow great update there SA i like how you did the beach and layouts  :thumbsup:

That's a very great start there for this new region! Great first pictures of Whitefall!! :thumbsup:
Looking forward to more of it.

Amazing work as usual Shadow. I have a suggestion though: could you not rename your CJ after every update? That make it so hard for me to update my favorites.

Your maps are fantastic!  &apls &apls &apls I would like to have a half of your skills in this field  ;D

National symbols are very nice too. All introduction is very professional.
Your pictures look excellent too (as always  :D). Very good idea with white sand - there is a beach mod with white sand too, can you tell me why did you decide to use the ploppable stuff?

Very nice suburban area, I have the feeling something new comes to us  ;)

As usual amazing work. I really like the beach but it seems to be deserted  :P

great start here! nice update.
wonderful maps and pics. i also like the beach area, maybe it was too early so noone had arrived $%Grinno$%

mauricio.

Ah, these pictures are beautiful. :) I don't know why I like it so much. Maybe I like it how everything fits together.

Woo, 6000 views. Now, this is probably update 2 in a sense... the locator map has been updated to show what's new in the region (see the top of page 15). I've started another city tile, B2, also known as Verona Beach.

Verona Beach is part of the Nilbasse Local Government Area. Its suburban boundaries end at the south end of the dunes on Verona Beach (the beach shown in this update, not the suburb), at the river to the east, and the inlet to the south. It is home to 18,000 people at this point in time (probably 20,000 or so by the time the suburb is finished.). One thing to note is that I am basing populations not on city tiles, but individual neighbourhoods which may or may not follow the city tile boundaries. Whitefall at this point is kind of fragmented into three major sections across three city tiles: the town of Nilbasse, the suburb of Nilbasse Keys and of course, Verona Beach. The average suburb in Whitefall is approximately 14km^2 (not necessarily within the same city tile, though - Nilbasse actually spans two tiles), with a population of approximately 25,000 to 50,000 per suburb. There are exceptions, though...

Once Nilbasse is 'solidified' (ie. the different suburbs are joined together into one contiguous mass), a street map will be released.

Once you approach Verona Beach via the Lakes Way from the north, you will see the following kilometre marker:

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These kilometre markers are generally only used in outer city areas, though they may occasionally be found within suburban boundaries where there may be no destination signs nearby. Another 5 kilometre marker can be found approximately halfway between Nilbasse and Tsenoble, also on the Lakes Way.

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At night, nothing much happens in Verona Beach, apart from people heading home. There are a large number of holidaying facilities inside Verona Beach, including a hotel, caravan park and a number of houses that are rented out for holiday hire. It is not far from Whitefall, so generally, not many people hire those holiday homes unless they are from out-of-province. However, approximately 10% of the homes in Verona Beach are holiday homes owned by families for weekend getaways.... even though Whitefall CBD is 16km or so away.

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The beach. It is a quiet night, not many people are out walking. People often watch the twin moons set every so often. Verona Beach is patrolled at the south end during the day, with plenty of access points from the road that runs the entire length of the Beach.

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The dunes, located about halfway up the beach. There are plenty of grasses here, with a dense covering of trees towards the road. The tree cover is quite common on Australian beaches, where low trees and shrubs about 1m high grow in a dense network of branches and leaves, and it is impossible to make your way through such a thicket, short of using either a flamethrower or machete (I prefer flamethrower. It's more fun, and it doubles as a barbecue... not that I've done it).

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An example of one of the beaches in Whitefall. (This is taken in RL pretty close to the location of where that beach is on the unedited version of the map)

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I suppose it is request time. I can't find any appropriate shrubbery... so... can it be created? Please?  ;D I'll probably make a collection of lots especially for the creation of these Australian-style beaches, with a little rest area, showers, tourist information billboard, and of course, low bushes!

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Replies:

Pat: It's good to have a fresh start on a conveniently located page. Yeah, it's good to have a topic that everybody knows where it is... Ta for visiting.
Owen (Yoman): I agree there should be people walking on the beach, but keep in mind, sometimes the beach isn't always used. I love those sea breezes, though... As for that neighbour thing, there's a black market going on in high-powered optics at the moment... I wonder why.
iamgoingtoeatyou: Thanks! :P Glad to see I'm improving...
bat: And you'll see more of it! Thanks for visiting.
gmavignier: Thanks! Well, if you've got this CJ saved as favourites, I suggest using the built-in favourites in IE/Firefox... unless you're talking about that inbuilt subscribe function (thought it would refer to just topic location rather than name...). The only reason why the topic name changes is to keep people apprised of when there's an update. The original post, however, has just Whitefall, Iridar as the subject line.
Ennedi: Thanks! :P The white sand... why it is ploppable is for one simple reason: I like using white sand, but I don't like having white sand on every bit of shoreline. So, I plop the sandy beaches, but have Cycledogg's Moab beach on rivers. It's more realistic that way... I'm sure you'd agree from a realism standpoint that it works out better in ensuring terrain works together well. As for the suburban area... hm, we'll wait and see, hm?  ;D
Air6: I know, it needs people! I just forgot to make a sand lot with randomwalk pedestrians, and yeah... It could do with a little more "nightlife" too, now that I think about it.
Mauricio (figui): Could be a quiet day at the beach, everybody's busy... Surfers here are known for getting up at the crack of dawn (ie, 5am) to do some early morning surfing. :P
ManuelR: That could be it... :P

Well, more coming on the way. I should squeeze in one more update before the end of the year. I'm actually not doing anything for Christmas... LOL.


--SA

Fantastic pictures of Verona Beach there, SA!
And wonderful looking beach.

SA fantastic UPdate!!!  I love the beach and the RL pics as well...

Holy crap dude. Where did you get all of this skill?

First off, the text is hilarious, I loved reading it. Still chuckling over it hehhaha! The idea with the keys development in update one looks magnificent. The beaches look fabulous, the white sand is incredible.

Worthy of a new name, I think. Great work here!

I love the first picture with the malls at night. :thumbsup:  Question: the pools in the second picture. I don't see them on my houses, is this V2 of this housing set?

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Just a little preview of Tsenoble, Whitefall. It isn't finished. The reason why it's being built now and not later is simply because I need some way to fill the commercial demand. After a period of instability, I'm proud to say that Tsenoble is turning out extremely well. I will get rid of those drive-in theatres when there is more development... it may require a re-config of the grid here in the centre of town.

High density development is centred around the rail station, much like it is here in Sydney (the State Goverment is dealing with land issues now, as incompetent they may be, they sure do know how to cram people into tall towers... Syd's population is expected to reach 8 million by 2020... and we're running out of land).

Using Chatswood Town Centre, located in north-eastern Sydney, approximately 10-15km from the CBD, as an example...
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You can see that Chatswood town centre, like Tsenoble has become, has all its density concentrated immediately around the train station. The result is a clump of commercial buildings sticking up from an otherwise low-density area, as seen in this picture below:
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While Tsenoble, as an example, is a little more extreme in the height difference, it doesn't look as bad from a perspective like that of SC4, than it does from the ground level. Unfortunately, because there are practically no buildings between 15 and 30 stories on the STEX, the difference between medium and high density is more extreme than it normally would be in real life. For instance, when changing zone density from low to medium, there is initially a smooth transition. But unfortunately, SC4's stage system throws that in disarray eventually, for instance the game will place a Brink Real Estate next to small mom-and-pop shops... and the result looks odd (for an example, look next to the stadium in my picture). The CAM has helped with this problem considerably, spacing the stages further apart, as well as adding new stages (9-15)... but there are still some extreme changes, especially as the city grows. Historicalising certain key buildings to ensure the integrity of the skyline in proportion to the rest of the city is almost essential.

More pictures of Nilbasse will come when the city is built up more.

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REPLIES:
bat: Thanks! :P
Pat: Heh, thanks. :P
Travis (beskhu3epnm): Thanks... For the skill, I've been playing since SC4 came out, alright? :P
ManuelR: Thanks! The pools... actually, I find it interesting that the average density of pools increase the closer I get to the beach... LOL. These houses aren't all Maxis: some are the Four Square set which can be found on the STEX, some are SimGoober.

Who knows what will come next?

Nice work SA. Going back a few updates, I really like the layout of the avenue roundabout :thumbsup:

The quays are nicely done and the white beaches, brilliant.

Whitefall is looking good.

By the way, I work at Chatswood in the taller of the Vodafone Buildings (2nd from left).

Cheers

Dave

Great preview there! Looking forward to the update...

Hello SA

I like how you've made a dense high city center. I also never see the Maxis drive in theater in my game. And you've managed four from what I can see.  :D  Looking at other peoples cities is a part of what makes SimCity interesting for me and I appreciate the time you've invested in this MD.

Love it! I like how you've made a predominately Maxis-esque city look interesting. Also, I know what you mean about Chatswood. I was in Sydney last Monday and had a full day to "explore" so I decided to jump on the next train and see the real Sydney (Although I can barely say all of the city is a nice looking as what I saw-outer west :'(). I ended up going from Wynyard to Chatswood and I noticed the sudden change from low to high density. This seems to be the case in Bondi Junction and I'm presuming at Parramatta, Hornsby, Hurstville etc. Nothing like that down in Melbourne (I guess you could say Dandenong and Box Hill are the closest.

Also can't wait to ride the Epping-Chatswood tunnel!  :P

SA nice teaser there and some good info too...

Hi SA ,

Brilliant work and classy presentation as always ... you have been right to keep on this MD , I think that the principal problem of MDs classification here is that a closed MD is too quicly forgotten ... and your deserve a better destiny . :P

I love the gizmo Mod with your white sand beach ... these pictures are really beautiful with their apparent simplicity . And the real photographies reminds me a lot my own home , there're such wild beaches near Argelès and there're now highly protected . ::) 
I 'm not sure that you need a new kind of bushes , I understood that this beach is a (or several ?) Lot(s) , try a massive use of the last Jeroni's bushes on them with LE , it's easy to simulate a dense vegetation with only a few narrow paths for beach bathers with them . ;)

2008 will be pleasant here , for sure . :thumbsup:

Absolutely stunning work you're doing here with Whitefall, my friend! I'm all caught up on the recent goodness and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing where you're headed here. Keep up the good work!

Dustin

Nice work, as always. Love the beach - it's just wonderful. Nice downtown area too (perhaps a tad to many drive-in movies though ;D)

&apls &apls &apls

wow -- the city looks cool and so realistic!! great preview!!

Another great one Shadow. Best wishes for 2008  ;)

Fred

Congrats on the OSITM "promotion"

Congrats, SA!

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The Staff

Mind telling me how I missed this update? :P I liked the explanation of the area (is this the one with unlimited Co demand) and it made me go look at the Sydney central station wiki which I find to be a nice station. Can't wait for that main CBD now ;)

Congratulations Shadow Asassin, I hope you will have a bit more free time this time...  ;)

Special Interest of the Month again?  :D

Anyways, I've got plenty of time to play SC4, but the next week or so's packed full of stuff that I must do. Also, I have resumed work on the Euro RHW mod, which the good news is that it's all proceeding at a cracking pace!


I should have an update sometime next week, but my cities are suffering from a little bit of a demand problem in at least three tiles... demand's maxed out but nothing develops, that sort of thing.


Replies:
Tooheys: Interesting, I didn't know that. I've been in one of the buildings, though... I'm not sure, but wasn't it once owned by Optus at one point?
bat: Thanks!
jmyers2043: Thanks! They grow like weeds for me, just zone 4x4. :P
Owen Luby: Thanks! As for that density thing, it does happen in Hornsby... and Castle Hill to a lesser extent. Rouse Hill will have that thing happen to it when the rail link is built (in fact, the area around the regional centre's zoned medium density).
Pat: Thanks!
Badsim: And it's paid off. ;) I don't use the Gizmo mod for the night view; it's all Photoshopped. Call me a traditionalist, but that's what I do... lol. Jeronij's bushes are more suited for undergrowth, not dense cover, though. Plus, they're too short. Have a happy new year. Thanks for visiting. :P
Dustin: Heh, thanks. :P
emilin: People love their movies. But this is a preview pic, which means the drive ins will go eventually.
suplado: Thanks!
Fred: How'd you know about OSITM? :P Oh yes, you're a mod... Thanks!
          EDIT: Congrats on finding the hidden message, the others haven't worked it out yet  ;) - Fred
Dustin: I accept this award with... I dunno, great fervour. Or something like that. :P
Owen: Because you didn't visit here. ;) It does have unlimited CO demand, and it's a very fine balancing act I'm undertaking here.
Ennedi: Don't worry, I have plenty of time this month...

Congrats on your second award, SA! &apls

Cngrats on the award my friend  &apls

(and sorry for me not being around frequently ...  &ops )

Bernhard  :thumbsup:

Hey, very nice MD you have.  Congrats on the Special Award.

I love your white beaches, they look really cool.

How nice that you receive this honour for the second time as well SA :thumbsup:

I have always loved your MD, although I post too little, I know.

Strech.

Wow, some interesting things you've done there with the waterway in the residential area.  Very unique!  :)  And the beaches look great!

ISF

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A foggy morning in one of the new suburban developments that dot the landscape between Whitefall and Verona Beach. People are heading to work, but it's quiet on the freeway...

As this is a new suburban development, the powerlines have not yet been put underground.

EDIT: Forgot those two pictures:
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Suburbs upon suburbs. This area is an established area within the confines of Verona Beach. Previously, I showed you part of Verona Beach, but I never showed this part mainly because it wasn't fully developed at the time.

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Verona Beach High, located on the edge of town. And more suburbs. ;D


Anyway, I have no update, but most people should know the reason for lack of updates -- the fact that I have a custom highway in that picture should alert to you what's been keeping me busy [and real life too]. Thankfully, it's almost finished, and we can resume Whitefall... I should have an update or two before the end of the month.

Replies:
bat: Thanks!
Bernhard: Thanks! No problem, everybody has real life issues of some sort, and people can't visit. :P
paroch: Thanks!
Strech: Thanks!
Zelgadis: Thanks! :P

Anyway, update on its way, now that I've almost finished the RHW mod.

Finishing your RHW version is a very good reason of the break in Whitefall (I'm waiting for it too  :P)

Don't worry, we will wait  :thumbsup:

Nice picture of this village  ;)

Edit:

QuoteEDIT: Forgot those two pictures:

You forgot two very good pictures  :P
Even boring and griddy suburbs look completely different at your pictures than in most other MDs  :thumbsup:

Great two pictures of the nice looking suburb!! :thumbsup:
And also looking forward to your RHW version! ;)

Excellent little update. Even if it was just the first picture it was awesome because it showcased that awesome RHW of yours. Suburbs look nice and boring (though green) like they should be also  ;D

These are great updates! Very realistic and beautiful. I wanted to ask, what power sources do you use? Traditional Maxis or something custom? Do you use any power mods?

MaryBeth

I use my personal Invisicube lots so I don't have to worry about such petty things as providing power. ;) Plus, for realism purposes, you never have power plants in every city tile.

Thanks to all for comments.

Anyway, the reason why there hasn't been an update is well, because I'm not happy with how Whitefall is looking. While I am happy with the way the suburbs look on the coast, my problem is well, Whitefall lacks direction. It's all over the place. It lacks zing. It doesn't, well, satisfy me. So I might have to take this MD in a new direction. Maybe I'll do a story, just for something to do. The RHW is proving more of a hassle to build around than the normal Maxis highways, and you know that I don't use them.

To tell you the truth, building suburbs, which is the same old thing I've done for three years, is boring. I envisioned Whitefall as a semi-futuristic metropolis spread along an extensive waterfront, and that vision doesn't seem to be taking shape... instead, it has turned out the same way as Ensenada. While Ensenada was on a larger scale than Whitefall, it never was finished because simply, it was too big, and development stagnated to the point where I simply couldn't develop any more. Plus, I had four large tiles of suburbs between Ensenada and Greater Midlands that needed filling. And that didn't work out.

I know this is sounding like a rambling story of my city-building style since 2005, but that's how the cookie crumbles. And it seems I'm using cliches badly. Oh well.


So, until this region develops direction, I suppose it's time for me to find something new to do inside Whitefall.

Being as how your suburbs are already wicked to begin with, you could build a million of them in the same manner and still have me impressed.

Considering your skills, I'm thinking whatever your new direction is, it will be awesome as well!

Your residential suburbs are second to none, my friend! Absolutely amazing job! I can't wait to see more!

A big suburb!!! ;) :thumbsup:Good!

you make some kick-a suburbs shadow. That RHW is pretty awesome too.

Love those suburbs SA, nicely done  :thumbsup: It may not be the prettiest layout, but that's the way it is in RL, a typical suburban area, I like it.

The freeway looks like the F3 over the Xmas hols. If it was only like that every day, I'd be a happier person ()sad()

As for the building, it may well have been Optus at one stage but I've only been there a few years and its always been Vodaphone.

Cheers

Dave

 *Cough* Big project like a port or airport *Cough*

*cough* go mad...do something crazy like you have never tried before... different city style or something. *cough*

Sorry to see that you're not happy with the way Whitefall is looking, my friend. Perhaps Yoman and mightygoose are right--try switching up your style or tackle a part of the city like a port that you haven't frequented before. Knowing your work, whatever you do will be outstanding!

Good luck!

Dustin

SA I know you will find a new grove and it will be great, I love your style and I know the feeling you need a fresh breath of air sometimes to get that love back.... Either way however this pans OUT I know it will be great coming out from you!!!

Well, I always love your suburbs (since I've never made a decent suburb myself), but I can understand the "boringness" it could result doiong the same thing (but IMO, all your suburbs  had a little detail, a little thingy that makes it unique !). I think your idea of getting a dtory or an historical and geographical bakcground could be great start ! Whitefall is full of potential ! you sould keep on trying ! And as thundercrack83 suggested, maybe starting something you've never done like seaport, Airport, or whatever, maybe changing of Style, why not doing an Idian, Sout American or Asian Region ? Well It's need more "time" that a regular one, but as far as I've seen since your suburbs where so detailed ( loved your big cimetary !), doing those sort of city would be easy for you ! but refrshing !!!

Don't give up !

Congratulations, Daniel (Shadow Assassin)!


Whitefall has officially been inducted into the SC4Devotion Mayors' Diary Hall of Fame!

You have earned this honor, my friend. Enjoy it!

- The SC4Devotion MD Hall of Fame Committee

Congratulations Daniel!  &apls

Congrats on your HoF-award!!!

Congratulations indeed :) !!

Joe

 &apls &apls Congrats for your excellent work , even if i don`t post often i like what you have done. :thumbsup:

Daniel congrats on making the SC4Devotions MD Hall Of Fame!!! You deserve this as you have done some major breath taking work here with your MD Whitefall and ENSENADA!!!!  Again congrats for making it here!!!!

Hah, thanks. :P

And this topic is pinned, too? Whoa.

But seriously, thank you to all those who voted for me. I'm really flattered.


Anyway, I should be back to normal after the 20th of June. Maybe I'll have an update then.

Hey SA I will be looking for that update on the 20^th and also by the topic being stickied it will remind you that you still wanted to do a TOC lol....


NB: OK I am confussed now??? First the other day all these well deserving first inductee's where Pinned and now they are not????

Congratulations, you've certainly deserved it!   %wrd

Fantastic news that your MD has also been moved to the Hall of Fame. Keep up the brilliant work and look forwards for the update on Friday 20th June. I knew it was a friday because the Year. 11 prom is then! :)

Alex

Looking forward to the new updates on the 20th June!!! ;)

Lookng forward to the 20th then. I don't comment in here as often as I should, but I must congratulate you on making the Hall of Fame and I'll be looking forward to seeing what comes next.
-Matt

Ive followed this MD since it started and your suburbs are awe inspiring. Also I admire your work with the RHW. Cant wait for your planned update on the 20th.

Will

I didn't actually say I'd have an update on the 20th. :P

Some time after the 20th, definitely. :P

Thanks for your replies! :P

I sowwies SA dat was alll me fault I started that trend, I do hope to hopefully see that update then is what I should have said!!!

Good luck collaborating another update, It would be worth waiting a few days for a massive update, just show us what you do best there!

Some previews of what to expect in Whitefall pretty soon.

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These above pictures are taken in the far north of Whitefall. I have started a totally new map, which is more mountainous than the old map, but is still playable. I will be working my way south as we get closer to the city centre. The map used for the new Whitefall is called the Pacific Rim National Park, which can be found on the STEX.

I'm going to take you guys on a tour through Whitefall, and hopefully I can get it right this time and the MD won't die as easily as it did. I'll be doing a lot of my experiments in this region, so maybe you'll find something interesting.

And hopefully it sticks around for a bit. After all, this is in the Hall of Fame, so I have to make it worth it. Sorry for not having a big update (had a busy weekend)... but I'll have one pretty soon.

-- SA

Hi SA
Your new pics are superb and so realistic
I hope you make new update in the week  :D
;)

Hello SA

Two very very nice pictures. I especially like the one of the small village. A nice mixture of homes. I like the row of trees between the fields and homes. I also like the farm with the pastures.

splendid previews, I am in a hurry to see some more !

Great news!

The Pacific Rim map is very good, it will be very interesting to see what will you built on it.
Experiments?  :D Excellent! I'm waiting impatiently  ;D

Adam

Good to see a couple of pictures some time after the 20th!!!

And these two pictures are looking really good! Nice start on that new region!

Looking forward to more updates and to the experiments...

Can't wait to see it Daniel!

Daniel, it's fantastic to see your MD is back up and running. :thumbsup:  I must also congratulate you on getting inducted into the Hall of Fame as well--you certainly earned it.

That little rural town you have there looks just about perfect.  And I can't wait to see what your "experiments" are. :P

-Alex (Tarkus)

Gorgeous as usual, worth waiting for as usual!  Too many usuals!  Make more!

Nice. Nicer. Nicest Awesome!

Woua ! The preview is very beautiful  :thumbsup: ! Your city is very splendid ;) !

That first teaser pic could sweep the Picture Competition. It's very interesting....  :thumbsup:

Well Daniel

Its about time i posted here again seeing as i had the second post and said I'll be keeping a close eye, Well I have been but have been somewhat reticent in my comments &mmm.

Lets see belated congrats for 2 special interests awards and been voted into the Hall of Fame for MD's and Pics too  &apls &apls

What wonderful storytelling skills, some of the most amazing pics of the surbubia, great skills in city building and with PS,
I'll have to let you know more often :D :D  :thumbsup:

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Have this on me it's the least I can do for you :thumbsup:

regards
Derry



:satisfied:
TTC

Extremely nice project going on here!  &apls I love the introduction that you had for it.  :thumbsup:

< no voice >
I see all your MD 4 times and it's incredible  :o :o your city are amazing :thumbsup: realistic and bieautiful  &apls &apls

Arthur

SA! Congratulations mate!  &apls

*grin*
I like your preview pics just as I had stood in awe at Savannah and Ensenada. Looking forward to Whitefall...
Hmmmm *grin* Iridar does sound familiar *grin*

This valley and city are very beautiful  :thumbsup:

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Introduction
I decided to give SimCity 4 another go, using a different playing style, partially inspired by many city journals. This is my first city journal since 2007, so basically, I haven't played a region like this for two years.

The aim of Whitefall is to see how far naturally growing a region will get me, with some "big-government" ideas thrown in.

Currently, the population, at time of writing, is at 103,000 or so. The transport system is fairly basic, with an embryonic rail system, and a very complex street network. I use Simulator Z - Medium. Map is a modified version of drunkapples's Mackay region.

The current game year is 1970, a time where a lot of modern infrastructure first began to take shape. Follow me as I chronicle the development of Whitefall into a modern metropolis from the sleepy town it is today.

Updates may occur sporadically, since I tend to just do it on the spur of the moment, and real life tends to take priority. I need to write a better introduction - which will come when I have a better idea of how the region's backstory has developed.

Additional notes: The SC4D edition of this diary will most likely be updated second behind ST, as it takes longer to write all the BBCode needed.

-- SA

---

Region and Transport Views
current year is 1970.

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Archive:
1970: [region] (http://www.ld-host.de/uploads/images/8396f5afe14ae788f35252dc7f9ce0ec.jpg) [transport] (http://www.ld-host.de/uploads/images/6a199b3c9542b0fc730257e453772f6b.jpg)

---

About Whitefall

[more information to come soon - watch this space!]

--SA

Hi SA, great to see Whitefall on the move again  :thumbsup: I'm sure a lot of people will be watching this with interest  :)

Dave

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Let There Be Rail
An integral part of Whitefall is its basic rail system. Thirteen stations, one line. Shared with freight. Basic grade-separation on major roads. The rail system was intended to provide a back-bone for the majority of the city as it stands today. (region views are on page 1)

The rail system is well-used, being the only means of transport for many people. Trains run every 20 minutes with limited connecting bus services.

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Today, we look at the first six stations on the network...

Whitefall Industrial Park
The current terminus of the main line that runs through Whitefall, Whitefall Industrial Park is the most heavily used station on the network, with an average of 1500 passengers per hour passing through its doors. Whitefall Industrial Park station also has the freight and rail maintenance yard located next to it, making this particular station very important to the entire network.

It services the industrial park and much of the northern-most suburbs of Whitefall.

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One of Whitefall's largest single employers is located here: Joseph Rank Ltd. A flour mill that was constructed to provide the region with finely-milled high-quality flour, the facility employs 1805 people. In a classic example of vertical integration, a number of wheat farms and bakeries also fall under the Joseph Rank banner.

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Castlemaine Street
The next station on the line is no less important, either. Completely surrounded by development, it is an important interchange station providing connecting services to nearby Whitefall North Station by bus. The catchment is entirely residential. Whitefall's only radio station is also located here.

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Whitefall North
Another terminus station, for the spur line, Whitefall North is located close to the State Fair and the town centre. However, it suffers from infrequent services, so the station is basically underused.

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Whitefall State Fair is a popular attraction, located conveniently close to transport. The station for North Whitefall originally stood across the road until a decision was made to move it further into town to provide better transport options for these people in the southern part of North Whitefall.

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Whitefall Heights
Back on the main line, Whitefall Heights is the last station before the rail line enters the tunnel under the subdivisions of Whitefall Heights. Located next to a smaller hamlet that is technically part of North Whitefall, Whitefall Heights has not changed much compared to the rest of the city.

Located at a busy intersection, Whitefall Heights is also a heavily used station.

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Whitefall Heights is also the largest suburban subdivision, and provides many nice views over the rest of town to the water, depending on where you live in the Heights. Of course, this comes at a cost: it is one of the more expensive areas in Whitefall, which really isn't saying much, but it is.

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Whitefall Central
Another major station, Whitefall Central is important as it provides service to the majority of Whitefall proper. It is the second-busiest station on the network, with 1250 passengers per hour passing through its doors. It has been planned to become a major hub for many rail lines in the future, however current situations prevent this from happening for upwards of 50 years.

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Whitefall Central stretches from the Heights to the shores of the Whitefall River.

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Woodcroft Road
The last station on today's tour, Woodcroft Road is one of the busier stations on the network, providing access to the industrial park there. It also is the oldest passenger station on the network, since it was formerly the original terminus for the Whitefall River line before it was extended to Whitefall North.

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Where to from here?
The future of the northern part of Whitefall's rail system is bright. Future extensions will definitely occur, and these will be done over the next 20 years if necessary. Most extension will be done from Whitefall Industrial Park, in Whitefall's northern suburbs. Investments in road infrastructure will go hand-in-hand with the extension of the rail line.

Part 2 of this update will go up tomorrow. If not, it will go up Friday. Remember, I update sporadically.

Daniel, it's fantastic to see you back in the MDing world again!  Whitefall looks great, and I see you've got some really nice farm stuff going on with the region right now.  The rail tour was also quite enjoyable--it was great seeing another one of your great maps, and I especially liked the industrial shots there.  That first pic with the switchyard looks especially fantastic, and your neighborhoods look as realistic as ever.

I'm curious to see what all you have in store--whatever it is, I'm sure it will be amazing and well worth following!

-Alex

Nice to see you back. Good stuff as always  :thumbsup:

...The Legend Returns...

Fantastic work SA! That rail network is stunning

Looks like we're using the same map... of my hometown  :P

Can't wait to see more, those industrial areas are tantalising!

Also, could you tell us what Photoshop effect you used? If it's not too revealing :P

Havva good one,
Adrian.

Good to see you back SA  :thumbsup:

The map is great, and an idea of a tour along the rail line is really cool. I will visit you here with pleasure  :)

Adam

Great to see you back in the world of MDs ;)
Love the suburban development. Also nice railway layout!
Can't wait to see more from you! :thumbsup:

Fantastic return! And a beautiful update!!!  :thumbsup:

I CONCUR"!

Fantastic return indeed, cant wait for more :)

Joe

Yes! I knew this was coming but didn't know when!

Wow, Daniel it's great for me to be around to comment on your MD this time around. (Considering I was late for Savannah and Ensenada. But still read through the latter frequently.) This 'new' Whitefall is looking great, and I really do like that map. Is it the same one that Adrian (adroman) is using?

I've always liked your rail lines, and your photoshopping, and they're getting better to this day. I really like the style in which you build your roads to appear smooth curved from afar. It has also always amazed me how great you can make the Maxis row shacks look. They look like normal homes in your cities, and makes them even slighty desirable. (?) But, of course you also have that great selection of BATs in your city. (Are you not going to plop, anything?)

I like this style of updating as well, so keep it up!

Ethan

It's nice to see activity here again. I wasn't around to comment the last time around. I'm looking forward to following along this time. I enjoyed the tour of Whitefall's stations and the map looks great. Looking forward to seeing more.

Geoff

The return of SA!  &apls

It's really good to see you back at it again.  With this last update it really shows what we all have been missing for some time.  I look forward to following this from it's begining.

Robin  :thumbsup:

What a come back, Daniel !
I love your new region, looks quite unique as usual. And the let there be rail update is fantastic, excellent work with all the installations for the railway. The industrial areas are very nice also as the residential. In one word, Stunning !

Regards,
-Arthur.  :thumbsup:

BWT - Welcome to page 20 !  &dance

A new update of Whitefall and the return of Shadow assasin in dangerous world of sc4D MDs. :)
This new region is looking splendid and beautiful. I really like "whitefall Rail Network's map". :thumbsup:
The industrial park is really beautiful and simply realistic.
Finally the north whitefall's suburbs is fantastic &apls.

Vivien.

Very cool to see this on the go again!  Great return update!

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Crossing The River
Today, we take a look at the remaining stations on the network... Whitefall River, Stowe, Islington Road, Londonderry, Hezlett, Withers Park and Ashford. Most pictures are taken within the Whitefall River tile.

Whitefall River & Hezlett
Whitefall River is a major station, and also is quite busy, as it services the entire northern part of the river. Located on the edge of town, away from any major commercial centre, Whitefall River perhaps doesn't get as much patronage as it is expected to, however this will change once the northern part becomes more developed.

Hezlett station services the southern part of the Whitefall River tile. It is the first station on the Hezlett line, branching off the main line heading into Ashford. Hezlett Station is probably one of the least-used stations on the line due to its relatively poor location compared to the rest of the stations.

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Stowe
Stowe is a busy station located in the heart of Whitefall River's main industrial area. Stowe, at one point, was the last station on the main River line, however the Stowe-Whitefall River-Woodcroft Rd stations form the backbone of the system, providing freight with a means to leave the region.

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Islington Road
Islington Road is located on the northern approaches of the bridge crossing Whitefall River. This station is important as it will later provide an interchange station for people who wish to head east or west along the Whitefall River from the south.

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Londonderry
Londonderry Station is located on the southern approaches of the same bridge mentioned above. Right now, it is undergoing an overhaul to bring it to a similar standard as to what's on the rest of the network, so no pictures are available right now. However, it is the last station before the line splits up to head towards Hezlett and Ashford.

Withers Park
Withers Park is the last station for the moment on the Hezlett spur line. Servicing the industrial park surrounding it, Withers Park is expected to pick up additional patronage when the Londonderry works are completed later in 1970.

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Ashford
Ashford is the last station that we will be visiting. Located right in the heart of town, next to a Buffalo Grill [apparently also quite popular, seeing as there is two in the entire town], Ashford is a relatively large town developing south of Whitefall River. The station, unfortunately, is not particularly well-used due to a lack of a bus system currently available in Ashford. This may change in the future as Ashford expands...

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And to 1971...
Next year, many new road projects have come online, particularly with the construction of a number of new roads, as well as the infrastructure upgrade of a very congested road in the northern parts of Whitefall. As for the rail system... nobody knows what is planned... perhaps an expansion to St Albans, in the region's far west?

---

Replies

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Quote from: tooheys on November 30, 2009, 10:16:04 PM
Hi SA, great to see Whitefall on the move again  :thumbsup: I'm sure a lot of people will be watching this with interest  :)

Dave

Indeed - it's nice being able to do a MD again.

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Quote from: Tarkus on November 30, 2009, 10:22:54 PM
Daniel, it's fantastic to see you back in the MDing world again!  Whitefall looks great, and I see you've got some really nice farm stuff going on with the region right now.  The rail tour was also quite enjoyable--it was great seeing another one of your great maps, and I especially liked the industrial shots there.  That first pic with the switchyard looks especially fantastic, and your neighborhoods look as realistic as ever.

I'm curious to see what all you have in store--whatever it is, I'm sure it will be amazing and well worth following!

-Alex

You'll just have to wait and see, eh. :) Thanks.

---

Quote from: metasmurf on November 30, 2009, 10:35:10 PM
Nice to see you back. Good stuff as always  :thumbsup:

Thanks. :)

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Quote from: adroman on November 30, 2009, 10:49:57 PM
...The Legend Returns...

Fantastic work SA! That rail network is stunning

Looks like we're using the same map... of my hometown  :P

Can't wait to see more, those industrial areas are tantalising!

Also, could you tell us what Photoshop effect you used? If it's not too revealing :P

Havva good one,
Adrian.

Hah, me a legend? No, I'm just an ordinary MDer... we are indeed using the same map- the Mackay map, but mine's got some modifications to it (well, all that was done really was that it was flipped). The photoshop effect, I think I'll keep it to myself for now, but the effect's really simple to do - as long as you're willing to experiment a little. The trick is to use multiple layers so that if you screw up, you can always go back to the original image and try again.

Okay, okay, I'll leave a little clue: A little blur goes a long, long way.

---

Quote from: Ennedi on December 01, 2009, 12:28:00 AM
Good to see you back SA  :thumbsup:

The map is great, and an idea of a tour along the rail line is really cool. I will visit you here with pleasure  :)

Adam

Thanks, Adam. Any chance of you reviving your CJ when things get a little quieter? I can't wait to see your HD terrain mods become available - as you can see I'm already using your HD rock mod, but there's that little something missing...

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Quote from: io_bg on December 01, 2009, 01:45:45 AM
Great to see you back in the world of MDs ;)
Love the suburban development. Also nice railway layout!
Can't wait to see more from you! :thumbsup:

Thanks!

---

Quote from: Tomas Neto on December 01, 2009, 03:39:26 AM
Fantastic return! And a beautiful update!!!  :thumbsup:

Thanks!

---

Quote from: JoeST on December 01, 2009, 04:51:03 AM
I CONCUR"!

Fantastic return indeed, cant wait for more :)

Joe

Thanks! I don't know where this will go next... but that's half the fun. :)

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Quote from: ecoba on December 01, 2009, 05:05:08 AM
Yes! I knew this was coming but didn't know when!

Wow, Daniel it's great for me to be around to comment on your MD this time around. (Considering I was late for Savannah and Ensenada. But still read through the latter frequently.) This 'new' Whitefall is looking great, and I really do like that map. Is it the same one that Adrian (adroman) is using?

I've always liked your rail lines, and your photoshopping, and they're getting better to this day. I really like the style in which you build your roads to appear smooth curved from afar. It has also always amazed me how great you can make the Maxis row shacks look. They look like normal homes in your cities, and makes them even slighty desirable. (?) But, of course you also have that great selection of BATs in your city. (Are you not going to plop, anything?)

I like this style of updating as well, so keep it up!

Ethan

I suppose it's my fault that I decided to do a bait-and-switch with Alentene. :P As I said to Adrian, the map is the same, but with a couple of small modifications to at least make it a little unique just in case someone decided to develop on the map. The Mackay map is wonderful - it's so nice to develop on. I originally was going to use Brisbane for it, but after my laptop threw a tantrum at it and refused to render it, I decided to look for something smaller.

As for plopping - no, I'm not going to plop anything apart from services, important infrastructure and parks.

---

Quote from: calibanX on December 01, 2009, 08:07:15 AM
It's nice to see activity here again. I wasn't around to comment the last time around. I'm looking forward to following along this time. I enjoyed the tour of Whitefall's stations and the map looks great. Looking forward to seeing more.

Geoff

Thanks! :)

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Quote from: Earth quake on December 01, 2009, 11:17:30 AM
A new update of Whitefall and the return of Shadow assasin in dangerous world of sc4D MDs. :)
This new region is looking splendid and beautiful. I really like "whitefall Rail Network's map". :thumbsup:
The industrial park is really beautiful and simply realistic.
Finally the north whitefall's suburbs is fantastic &apls.

Vivien.

Thanks, Vivien - hope you like this update too! :P

---

Quote from: Battlecat on December 01, 2009, 12:21:08 PM
Very cool to see this on the go again!  Great return update!

It's nice to come back to Whitefall, yes. :) Thanks!

---

A note from the Editor:
Well, that looks like I got quite a healthy number of replies, both here and ST... anyway, if there's too many horizontal lines in the replies above - please tell me and I'll fix up the replies accordingly.

Enjoy!

--SA

Great update. I really liked the suburban layout, especially the use of culdesacs. I'm sure that they are used all over the world, but to me that's a great Aussie touch. We love our deadend streets  ;D

Dave

Looking fantastic SA...

Keep it up, I'll be experimenting in Photoshop  :D

Havva good one,
Adrian.

I think the replies look fine, Daniel.

These railway updates are pretty cool, I like seeing what development lies along the rail lines. Your suburbs are so beautiful, and I like the universal uasge of gravel streets.

I really am falling more and more in love with this map that you are using, but I primarily would just want the rivermouth if I were to build on it. Can you remove tiles from SC4M. files, and then convert to greyscale. This should probably be asked in the mapping section, but if you know, or could make, the area around the rivermouth a greyscale it would be cool.

I've also noticed that it really seems that you have modified the SFBT trees for a SAM street mod. How did you do this, and maybe could I have the file?

New transport projects?

...expressways?...

Ethan

P.S. What Rock Modd and Terrain Modd are you using?

Great mosaics SA. Your suburban sprawl is nicely laid out, and that industrial wasteland is fantastically dirty!

Geoff

Great looking city!  I quite like how abrupt the boundary between your city and farmland is, it's actually fairly realistic!   Your suburbs and industrial areas are quite nicely laid out! 

Very beautiful, I've much time see this topic since the begining, and each time, I wondered "When will he begin it again?"!!
So now, I'm fixed, and I just say : it's still beautiful SA! &apls &apls

Guillaume :thumbsup:

It's nice to see some more suburbs, by the Master of Suburbs !
The river sides are wonderful, I like the ferris terminal on each border. The details in Hezlett's mosaic are well done, like that railway passing in the middle of the houses and commercial development. The little creeks around the suburbs are sweet, they give some charm to that repetitively massive suburbs (the style I like ! ).
Farms and industrial areas are very nicely done too, also as the rail interchange. The way the Industrial area is very "concrete" at the same time as a bit "green" is a good thing, and I really like it.
Can't wait to see the future developments of your region, and of the road network projects.

-Arthur. :thumbsup:

Just a quick teaser -- I haven't had much time to play SC4, and plus, I have no idea what to showcase.

But anyway, here's a shot of a new suburban development in Whitefall's northern tile.

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Replies:

Quote from: tooheys on December 02, 2009, 02:33:38 AM
Great update. I really liked the suburban layout, especially the use of culdesacs. I'm sure that they are used all over the world, but to me that's a great Aussie touch. We love our deadend streets  ;D

Dave

Thanks, Dave. :P Well, I build what I'm familiar with... so there. :P

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Quote from: adroman on December 02, 2009, 03:00:27 AM
Looking fantastic SA...

Keep it up, I'll be experimenting in Photoshop  :D

Havva good one,
Adrian.

Yup, keep experimenting. :P

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Quote from: ecoba on December 02, 2009, 04:57:14 AM
I think the replies look fine, Daniel.

These railway updates are pretty cool, I like seeing what development lies along the rail lines. Your suburbs are so beautiful, and I like the universal uasge of gravel streets.

I really am falling more and more in love with this map that you are using, but I primarily would just want the rivermouth if I were to build on it. Can you remove tiles from SC4M. files, and then convert to greyscale. This should probably be asked in the mapping section, but if you know, or could make, the area around the rivermouth a greyscale it would be cool.

I've also noticed that it really seems that you have modified the SFBT trees for a SAM street mod. How did you do this, and maybe could I have the file?

New transport projects?

...expressways?...

Ethan

P.S. What Rock Modd and Terrain Modd are you using?

Thanks for the quite long comment, Ethan - as for the map, this particular map actually is a greyscale, so it's a simple matter of opening it up in Photoshop and cropping it to the area of the map that you want, keeping in mind the rules: a number that is divisible by 64, add one, for each side. For instance, a 4x4 large tile map is 1024 + 1, giving a total of 1025 for each side.

As for the T21s, I simply copied the exemplars over from the default SFBT street mod, changed the T21s so they worked for a number of SAM sets. Unfortunately, the mod doesn't entirely work 100%, but it's good enough for me. I'll have to clean it up some if it's got any chance of ever being released - such as asking permission from the SFBT to release it, for instance. I can't send files like that, it's just not allowed, unfortunately.

No expressways, the city is too small for that. Only got 120,000 people.

Rock and terrain mod: Ennedi's HD sandstone rock mod, c.p. Missouri Breaks terrain mod.

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Quote from: calibanX on December 02, 2009, 06:54:38 AM
Great mosaics SA. Your suburban sprawl is nicely laid out, and that industrial wasteland is fantastically dirty!

Geoff

Thanks! I wanted to create an industrial wasteland, and I quite like it, actually.

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Quote from: Battlecat on December 02, 2009, 08:50:43 AM
Great looking city!  I quite like how abrupt the boundary between your city and farmland is, it's actually fairly realistic!   Your suburbs and industrial areas are quite nicely laid out! 

It happens when you develop a farm lot at a time... just like some subdivisions, for instance.

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Quote from: Sciurus on December 02, 2009, 08:51:12 AM
Very beautiful, I've much time see this topic since the begining, and each time, I wondered "When will he begin it again?"!!
So now, I'm fixed, and I just say : it's still beautiful SA! &apls &apls

Guillaume :thumbsup:

I started it again, indeed. Just gotta find stuff to CJ about.

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Quote from: art128 on December 02, 2009, 09:52:48 AM
It's nice to see some more suburbs, by the Master of Suburbs !
The river sides are wonderful, I like the ferris terminal on each border. The details in Hezlett's mosaic are well done, like that railway passing in the middle of the houses and commercial development. The little creeks around the suburbs are sweet, they give some charm to that repetitively massive suburbs (the style I like ! ).
Farms and industrial areas are very nicely done too, also as the rail interchange. The way the Industrial area is very "concrete" at the same time as a bit "green" is a good thing, and I really like it.
Can't wait to see the future developments of your region, and of the road network projects.

-Arthur. :thumbsup:

Thanks! :) You'll be interested to see some new road networks springing up over the next few weeks...

Splendid Avenue and mosaic. &apls
Your suburbs is really wonderfull SA.  :thumbsup:

Just wonderful, and plus, you make splendid american suburbs! &apls &apls
So, to conclude, awesome work! &apls

Guillaume.

The city's looking great, Daniel.

Thanks for that helpful info, and I saw that it is a greyscale, so maybe I'll render it, and thanks for your rock mod, it's really a good one.

Ethan

Hi,

I'm glad to see you back SA with incredible pictures  &apls
The mosaic is at the height of your talent :o I hope to see more and more pictures here
David

Nice to see some updates here again.

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Roads Spread Out
Come 1971, Whitefall has hit 130,000 citizens. Now that some infrastructure was put into place, people were able to move in and be able to commute to work, do whatever they do at night, and more.

So, what we have below is a map showing the status of major roads in the region (click to enlarge)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg710.imageshack.us%2Fimg710%2F4327%2Fwhitefallmapthumbnail.jpg&hash=bab43d20a47a6fcd1e2c3b93a282c57ea4b87ac5) (http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/2378/whitefallmapupdate3full.png)

The lengend is self-explanatory: dotted lines are streets that have been designated as major roads but do not yet warrant the traffic volumes required before it can be upgraded. Thin lines are streets that already have been upgraded to roads. Thick lines are avenues... and the fourth level of classification of roads haven't yet been reached... so... yeah.

For 1971 region views, they are on the first page. All region views will be put there.

One project we'll be looking at is the Whitefall Valley Way widening.


Whitefall Valley Way
Whitefall Valley Way, a major road in Whitefall's northern suburbs was finally upgraded in early 1971, after numerous complaints from the locals about the heavy freight traffic congestion on the road. 4000 vehicles per hour use Whitefall Valley Way in both directions to get to and from Woodcroft Road to Whitefall Industrial Park, as well as servicing a combined population of approximately 60,000 people.

Once the subdivisions east of Whitefall Valley Way have been completed, the road is expected to form a backbone of Whitefall's burgeoning arterial road network.

As seen on the map above, Whitefall Valley Way runs between Woodcroft Road (now upgraded in part to an avenue) and Whitefall Industrial Park, where it terminates rather unceremoniously.

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Whitefall Heights has expanded significantly since the last time we saw it. Some vacant lots are still for sale along Heights Road, also heavily congested but will not be upgraded due to lack of room at the underpass. The train line has seen a significant increase in usage, with about 4000-6000 passengers per hour using this section of the line.

To see the full extent of development, click the picture below:

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg710.imageshack.us%2Fimg710%2F6634%2Fwhitefall302thumbnail.jpg&hash=795f5dfb006f8924b8c87891f1ec918d739e4847) (http://www.ld-host.de/uploads/images/2dd608b392663e945f757f71592d60b8.jpg)


Exmouth
Whitefall's northernmost suburb at this point is located on the Exmouth Inlet. It forms two parts: Green Point and Exmouth itself. Home to approximately 5,000 people and expected to expand in the future, Exmouth's future is looking bright.

It is where the bulk of population growth occurred in the region over the previous year.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg704.imageshack.us%2Fimg704%2F2709%2Fwhitefall303.jpg&hash=3bff55a7dfb3e8929f05ade472d2cbd49962032f)

Exmouth's town centre is also pretty modest for a township of its size. The train line also bisects Exmouth, one of the few towns built around the train line rather than it bypassing a town centre as it has done so previously.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg706.imageshack.us%2Fimg706%2F6448%2Fwhitefall304.jpg&hash=28b008b5b0357b3d330fb375e5e42f3d8348f97b)

Green Point is a modest subdivision located off the Exmouth road. Like the main town, it is expected to expand somewhat in the future.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg707.imageshack.us%2Fimg707%2F934%2Fwhitefall305.jpg&hash=a1db5cecdc8cde151e2f0dfbcd36567146a638be)

Exmouth also has a motley collection of small farms on the peninsula. As land values rise, it is expected that these farms would be developed over in the near future.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg707.imageshack.us%2Fimg707%2F494%2Fwhitefall306.jpg&hash=369ad55bbd3463d8b171d2f080cad00b800ace52)

That's update 3, folks. Sorry it took so long - RL and an unreliable internet connection delayed this update... but hey, it didn't turn out too bad, I think.


What's next?
Who knows? 1972 could be rather interesting for those in the development industry, with new tiles being opened up for development and more orbital towns being built, with existing cities expanded. Of course, in 1971's region view, it's evident that the towns of Whitefall, North Whitefall and Whitefall River are going to merge together into one big shapeless mass...

Farmland on the Whitefall peninsula, where it all began, is in danger...

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Replies

Quote from: Earth quake on December 11, 2009, 01:57:08 AM
Splendid Avenue and mosaic. &apls
Your suburbs is really wonderfull SA.  :thumbsup:

Thanks :)

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Quote from: Sciurus on December 11, 2009, 09:06:19 AM
Just wonderful, and plus, you make splendid american suburbs! &apls &apls
So, to conclude, awesome work! &apls

Guillaume.

Technically, Australian suburbs, seeing as I come from Australia, not America. :P

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Quote from: ecoba on December 11, 2009, 03:30:26 PM
The city's looking great, Daniel.

Thanks for that helpful info, and I saw that it is a greyscale, so maybe I'll render it, and thanks for your rock mod, it's really a good one.

Ethan

No prob - thanks for the reply. Good luck with the greyscale.

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Quote from: Simpson on December 12, 2009, 08:25:02 AM
Hi,

I'm glad to see you back SA with incredible pictures  &apls
The mosaic is at the height of your talent :o I hope to see more and more pictures here
David

You got your wish - see above. :P

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Quote from: kwakelaar on December 13, 2009, 01:47:55 AM
Nice to see some updates here again.

Indeed.

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Bit of a delay between this update and the one at ST - just was tired and didn't really feel like spending 5 mins or so transferring everything from there.

Lucky there isn't any complicated code. :P

Region views are back in the first update. If anyone has any problems - just let me know and I'll have them in the main body of the post from now on.

Waow, this update is impressive. &apls For the suburbs, Australian suburbs look very much like American suburbs, it's the same style of construction ()stsfd()
See you soon "the master" :thumbsup:

Guillaume :thumbsup:

Great update! I especially like your maps and region views! :) :thumbsup:

Yay! Good to see another wonderful update up!

I like that Whitefall is getting some larger roads now, and I think that they all seem important to the city's development. Looking at the region view Exmouth really is far north. It took me a minute to find it on the region map. But, anyway, Exmouth might have to be my favourite town because a) There's no dirty industry, which is cool sometimes, but wouldn't seem to fit in here (for me, of course), and b) The bridges coming in to the town and the central rail station. It really is a nice little orbital town.

Also, I was looking through some old MDs at Simphoni, and I found Dynasty and The Savannah Way there, and of course I just had to read them. Dynasty I found very interesting because of the almost complete lack of custom content and how beautiful you still made it; almost all of Dynasty's pictures were still intact! The Savannah Way, on the other hand, only had three updates surviving.  ()sad() Although these three updates were very good, and it was the first time I saw the use of your distinctive curving style that was very prominent in Ensenada.

Sorry for going a little off-topic, but it was a great update, Daniel, and I can't wait for another one.

Ethan

Reply #400 and welcome to Page 21!

Looking good!  I like your use of the gravel roads in low wealth subdivisions!  They really do look more like concrete anyhow, and they are quite suitable for subdivisions that probably shouldn't have fancy sidewalks! 

Quote from: Sciurus on December 16, 2009, 12:33:18 AM
Australian suburbs look very much like American suburbs, it's the same style of construction

Well not really, if you look at some American suburbs you'll see that it's much more squared than what SA did here. American suburbs don't have a lot of diagonal street, as they were built (and are build) in a "check table" plan.. That means almost all the streets are parallels..  ;)

Anyway that's a fantastic update there Daniel, I really like how we switch from suburbs to farm fields, that is really sweet and nicely done. The second picture is by far my favorite, you did a nice job with the two height of the suburbs, and with that train line that goes "underground". Also nice work with the road and avenue layout, it looks quite realistic, me thinks !  ;)

Although, the only thing I don't really like is the farms lands, not the farm fields themselves, but the flora you've added there which show a bit too much the edge of the farms for my personal taste, I think with some fillers and/or trees/flora to hide that the result will be much much better. Anyways as I said it's only my opinion !  :D

Ah and the map is also quite beautiful, I like the way it's not presented as the other maps we can see though the forums, this one isn't "flat" as the other and that's a good point. i think it took a lot of time to make that map, right ? By assembling each general view of each cities and then making the proper map into photoshop, wow ! Also the names of the inlets, lakes or creek are quite authentic, great touch SA !

Take care,
-Arthur. :thumbsup:

First of all, I want to congratulate you on your triumphant return to this MD. Well done on a strong come-back. As this MD finds its second wind, I think it will continue to be a strong presence in the SC4D MD section. Your photoshopping is excellent as always, and the snippet of region view in the header looks really amazing. It looks like you spent a long time putting that map together as well, and the results really show.

However, there have also been some aspects of your last few updates that I haven't liked as much. I'd like to begin by saying that I think there are 2 categories that MDs and CJs can be divided into: Region View Diaries, and Zooms 2-5 Journals. Region view diaries, are those that (in my opinion) use a lot of angling roads and quick diagonal shifts to produce, in region view, a nice illusion of fractional angles and a really realistic view. However, this comes at a cost. Doing this makes the region view realistic, but in close up zooms, you have a city with a whole lot of diagonal-shifts and not-very-realistic corners in roads. You certainly have gone for this approach, as have others such as CSGDesign and JBSimio. In my opinion, you have sacrificed much of the city's close-up beauty in this process. But as I mentioned earlier, your regional view is really quite spectacular.

I also have to disagree directly with battlecat. I don't think that the gravel streets are appropriate in that locale, especially because they encircle a block's worth of wall-to-wall commercial development. Perhaps some low-wealth suburban townships might not have a paved foot-path, but I am fairly confident most built-up areas in the western world have a paved foot-path next to the road. Certainly, the block of shops could use a paved footpath, and a sealed roadway. I wonder if you were trying to simulate a chip-sealed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chipseal) road. I think that SC4 could definitely use some chip-seal for guys like you and me. Perhaps we could work together to develop a new SAM texture set. 

That brings me quite tidily to the last nit that I have to pick (I'll admit I'm nitpicking a little). In the block of shops you have 3 buildings that have grown twice. In my opinion, thats not very nice to look at, and certainly is not very realistic. I'm not sure if you need more plugins, or could have demolished and waited for a different building to grow, but its certainly preventable. Also, those two identical servos next to each other... :D

Sorry for being so critical, good luck for the continuation of Whitefall, Iridar. I know I'll be back!

spendid update  &apls

Great Updates :thumbsup:

My first visit here and I must say you definitely live up to the hype! Amazing work  :thumbsup: &apls

Suburbs, airports, seaports, golf courses, cemeteries, etc. After reading through your entire MD, I can definitely say you run the gamut very well! Now starting over, I'll be able to follow from the very beginning and see how this turns out!

~ Dan

Fantastic new pictures of Iridar! And great to see you back updating!
Wonderful work on your city! Looking forward to more in this year... ;)