Tarkusian Cities (Update 107-08/23/2020-West Chemeketa Reconfig, Part 1)

[krbe]

Some nice planning there--isn't often we can take part in that process!  Also, videos would be a nice additions, as long as you're not plastering them with some heavy metal soundtrack

[Godzillaman]

Typical suburbs, great job on them!;)

[sebes]

I am shocked. Why? To see a regular SC4 street in the 2nd picture, construction streets in the new subdivision, and asfalt streets in the same area in the next picture. I am really puzzled how you do that....
Is there a mod where you can just pick the way you want your streets to look like???

[j-dub]

The mod that allows you to have different street variations at the same time, is the SAM (street addon mod) Version 4 is still in the works, but the sets you see should be in Version 3, at the LEX.

[Ennedi]

These new roads look fantastic Alex!  I have a strange feeling that NAM is still at the early stage of it's development 

I love your construction sites, but I must say new network looks excellent in more developed areas, as on your last picture, especially with SAM streets 
Maybe any map actualization in the near future, I'm curious how much part of projected civil works are done yet? 

PS. Please remove some old messages from your inbox, it is full and I'd like to send you a PM 

[Tarkus]

Hi everyone-

Well, I'm back yet again, finally.  And as hard as it is to believe, Tarkusian Cities is officially one year old.  I'll be doing a brief retrospective and showing a map for the first time in awhile, but first, replies:

Heblem:  Thanks, the construction stuff can be kinda fun to do!  I find it helps out with the planning process quite a bit, actually.  And the SAM Dirt Streets have really proven their worth.  As well as the Asphalt set you did, which is probably the SAM set I use the most.   And I'm looking forward to one of these days getting the TLAs out there . . .

Alfred.Jones:  LOL, thanks, I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it!

Pat:  Thanks for the very helpful tips on movie making, I never would have thought of that method!   I had considered doing an Animated GIF, but that sounds far, far easier.  Look for something soon on that front . . .

bat:  Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed the construction!

Haljackey:  Thanks for the compliments on the subdivision and the park!  I've always found that kind of stuff is fun to build.

j-dub:  Thanks for the movie-making tips as well--I really appreciate it!   I do have Fraps on my HD, but haven't messed around with it much yet.  And when I do take the plunge, I'll definitely be showing some construction.

Joe (star.torturer):  Hehe . . . someone caught the little TP-ing bit.  I've always found that crime animation rather amusing--one of the things Maxis did right.   And thanks for the kind words!

Joan (Jmouse):  I'm very glad to hear this last update made sense clicked--thanks!  I'll finally be showing the latest map of Wakeman in this update here. 

Dustin (thundercrack83):  Thanks, I'm glad to see someone caught my little SAM trick there!  I'm always trying to find ways to further the realism on the construction, and I kind of came across that method by accident.  I can't say enough great things about the SAM.

Kevin (BigSlark):  Thanks!  I can't help the planning thing--it's kind of an unavoidable instinct for me.  The more I play SC4, the more so it becomes.  And I greatly enjoy teasing, as you can probably imagine.   

nerdly_dood:  Thanks for the kind words!

Jon (bakerton):  I'm now getting kind of curious about trying something like that . . .    Hope you enjoy this latest update!

Eric (EDGE4194):  Thanks, and I'm glad you enjoyed the asphalt SAM usage and that you caught the park name reference.   You'll probably catch some more references on the map for that new subdivision that adjoins it. 

Quesh:  I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the construction projects--thanks!  There will be plenty more where those came from.

kassarc16:  Thanks!  One of these days . . . have to wait for the transit network fruit to be ripe enough. They're still a little too green to pick right now . . .

Ryan (burgsabre87):  Thanks, I appreciate it!

Alex (warszawa) :  Thanks, I'm glad you like the road mod, and I'll be showing a little teaser of that new development in this update here.

Matt (threestooges):  Thanks for the all-too-kind words, my friend!  I've always been rather fond of building suburbs, and I've been finding it's been getting easier for me now that I've completely gone to custom content for residential stuff. 

rusummer1:  Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!

krbe:  Thanks, I appreciate the kind words on the planning part of things--I've always enjoyed that side of things.  And don't worry, I won't be plastering the videos with heavy metal.  

And thanks for making the 400th comment in this MD!  As with all the other 100-posters, you'll be getting a road somewhere in one of these regions named after you, which I'll show in Update 30.

Godzillaman:  That was exactly what I was shooting for, so thanks for the compliment!

sebes:  That's the SAM mod, by my good friend and NAM colleague Jason (jplumbley).  I highly recommend it.   If you haven't picked it up yet, here's the link. 

(Thanks for j-dub for pointing it out as well. )

Adam (Ennedi):  Thanks for the kind feedback on the new networks and the construction sites, I really appreciate it!  There is quite a lot in early development stages right now, actually . . . (cough) RHW Version 21 (cough).

As far as how much of the public works projects are completed, well, that's a good question.  As many times as I've torn up and rebuilt Argentum, I'd have to say that my cities are constantly in "beta", just like the NAM.   There's some pretty big projects coming up, too--you might catch a glimpse of one or two in this update.

_____________________________________________________

Well, this 1st Anniversary Update is going to be a bit brief . . . but I hope you enjoy it.  I figured I'd show before and after photos of Argentum and Wakeman, from when I started showing them in this MD (and its predecessor), compared to how they look now.

Here's what Wakeman looked like back in Update 1, on July 1st, 2007.  (both pics looking east)



And here it is now.  The subdivision I showed last time is more or less in place now (though it will get expanded further), as well as a couple of other things . . . the infamous "mystery highway" project is up in the upper left corner.  According to TDOT officials, it's been "delayed (apparently, they need to get a bit more funding before they go through with it.)



And side-by-side map comparison:

June 17, 2007

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[URL=http://img77.imageshack.us/my.php?image=agmap34wakemantn8.png][IMG]http://img77.imageshack.us/img77/8998/agmap34wakemantn8.th.png[/img][/URL]

June 17, 2008

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[URL=http://img171.imageshack.us/my.php?image=agmap34wakeman05012008uj7.png][IMG]http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/6526/agmap34wakeman05012008uj7.th.png[/img][/URL]

(as you can see, I finally figured out how to show Railroads better.)

And now for Argentum.  I'm actually going to show a few pics from Argentum from before I ever really showed it publicly--back when I barely had any custom content--just a few SG, kevdan and Bobbo BATs.  These are like really embarassing baby photos, so you may want to avert your eyes, unless you're morbidly curious . . . these pics date all the way back to February 2006.  I had just discovered the NAM and didn't even know what a RUL file was. 

This is looking east.  I had actually made this pic for reference purposes for making highway signs--anyone remember Arthur (artforce1) and his old GHSDP (Generic Highway Sign Development Project)?  That was new stuff back then.  It was one of the things that drew me into the SC4 community some 2 1/2 years ago.  All the signs I made got quickly outdated, though, as I was constantly ripping everything up.



This was the old Airport interchange with old Highway 204 (which no longer exists) running underneath it.  I actually showed this pic in the old "Show Us Your Most Creative Transportation Network" thread over at ST back then.  Creative, certainly.  But in the same way the old Caldera Lane/Barnaby Drive interchange was "creative".  Talk about drunken engineers . . .  yikes! 



Here's what it looked like during my old Argentum MD, a little over a year ago (May 1, 2007, to be precise), looking west.  I was still using (*gasp*) Maxis Highways (but in the process of tearing them out), and no Slope Mod.  The old Caldera Lane bridge had been torn out, as seen in the upper left corner.

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[img]http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/3756/argentumoverviewyu9.jpg[/img]

And here it is now, also looking west.  There are some things which will appear somewhat familiar, but quite a lot has changed.  And quite a lot is under construction.  You'll probably notice that sunken highway area has widened quite a bit, too. 



So that does it for this little trip down Memory Lane . . . which is still under construction.   (I realize that was just an awful joke, but I couldn't resist.)  Hope you enjoyed it.

And most of all, thank you for all of your support and comments over this past year.  I really, really appreciate that.  And that's still an understatement.

-Alex

[deathtopumpkins]

I finally caught up with this, so I'll be the first comment for the 1 year anniversary. 

I love your transportation creativity, which is what keeps bringing me back, and especially how you plan out your highways.
I can tell you love superhighways.
Were you ever by any chance a city planner or civil engineer?

These updates (especially the last one) really make me itch to get my hands on the NWM though...

Great work, Tarkus! (Is it OK to call you Alex? I've seen it tossed around before)

[JoeST]

Alex: WOOOOOOOOOOOO....OOOOOOOO

and very well done on the joke LOL: I was humoured

OMNOMNOMNOM

BTW: a very well done on getting the admin job you are the right guy for it

Joe

[Alfred.Jones]

It is always great to see before and after pictures of cities. You can see so much change (including your new terrain mod) in the pictures.

Excellent update, capped off by an... excellent?? joke

AJ

[MandelSoft]

Digging up memories... What a difference between old and new. 

[bat]

Congrats on the 1st Anniversary of your MD!!!!

And this is a fantastic 1st-Anniversary-Update!

[Pat]

WoW Alex simply stunning there the comparissions from one year does for someone!!! Congrats on a year and here is to anther one at that and as I said in the Offical Thread but I will say it again here to Congrats for your appointment to Admin duties...  I cant wait to see that video and if you need help in production just get ahold of me and I will be glad to help you out!!!

[Heblem]

its nice to see you how you keep your old cities and keep em updating with the most recent stuff, of course can-t wait how it turns 

congratulations for the anniversary 

til next time 

[Quesh]

Very great update 
I like this air-photography 

[EDGE4194]

Alex- Nice retrospective. I like seeing how cities grow and change and I document my cities' histories as well. It is interesting to look back on some of the early pics and see how we were able to improvise. Congrats on the anniversary and here's to another year  .

[penguin007]

My first visit here I think. Congrats on your 1st anniversary and I cant wait to see more from this showcase of NAM stuff

Keep up the great work

Will

[bakerton]

Oh, how cute, baby pictures. Really, I love to see before and after pictures and I must say, what a great job. I am also glad I made you curious about mass transit. If you do mass transit, it might releave rush hour traffic and congestion no matter the population size. Congrats on 1 year anniversary Alex. JKB

[sebes]

And what a year it was...

It's fun looking at these old "baby" picture, realy cute!

As usual, always having an eye on Tarkusian cities... and will continue doing so. If you're interested I can mail some construtions pictures that I took the other day of the A2 project in the Netherlands (the project I linked you before).

Cheers!

[Jmouse]

That's quite a transport network you've established there, Alex. And this time I get two maps instead of just one! I'm going to have to get a bigger storage cabinet.

I, too, enjoy these glimpses in the rear view mirror. In the rush to move forward, sometimes it's easy to forget how much progress has already been made.

Hoping to see much more of the same...
Joan

[Tarkus]

Hi everyone-

Back with a small little update . . . taking a little breather from construction for once to show you a little corner of Argentum, Peninsula City.

First, replies:

deathtopumpkins:  Alright--a first timer!  Thanks for the congratulations and the kind words on the transportation networks, and I hope you enjoyed all the prior updates as well.  To answer your question, I'm actually not an engineer or planner--I have a Masters' Degree in Music Composition.  But I've just always been a big roadgeek as long as I can remember, and I find myself mentally re-engineering RL roads and playing "Monday Morning Quarterback" on local road projects.  By the way, either Alex or Tarkus works. 

JoeST:  Hehe . . . I'm glad someone enjoyed my lame joke.   And thanks for the congrats on the Admin job.  It's still weird having all these new buttons.

Alfred.Jones:  Thanks, I've always enjoyed seeing before and after pics of cities as well.  It's always fascinated me.  And I'm glad there's at least two people who enjoyed my attempt at humor there!

Maarten (mrtnrln):  Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

bat:  Thanks for the congratulations!  Hopefully the first of many years.

Pat:  I'm amazed how much those cities have changed as well--it's always fun to look back.  I've been playing the Argentum city tile for almost 600 game years now.  I'm glad you enjoyed the little retrospective there, thanks!

Heblem:  Thanks, I'm rather curious to see how things turn out as well, and I'm quite glad to hear you enjoyed the look back.

Quesh:  I'm really quite pleased to hear you enjoyed the aerial shots--thanks!  I really should start showing more of them.  It's always interesting to see things in different perspectives.

Eric (EDGE4194):  Thanks, I really appreciate it!  I had never really anticipated that I'd ever be showing any of those way old Argentum pics, and it was kind of fun finding those by accident in my Albums folder the other day.  I'm still in shock how much my playing style has changed in certain ways--though in other ways, it hasn't changed much at all (namely the heavy-duty transportation focus).

Will (penguin007):  Hey, another first time--thanks for taking the time to comment, and I really appreciate your kind words!  I can't wait to throw in some more new transit mods, too.

Jon (bakerton):  Thanks for the compliments and the congratulations!  Onto year number 2 . . . 

sebes:  Thanks for the kind words, and for all your support over the past year.  And I'd love to see more of the A2 project!

Joan (Jmouse):  Well, after this update, you may need to upgrade the cabinet again.   One of these days I'm going to get the full Argentum region map done, too.  Thanks for the compliments on the network, and I'm glad you enjoyed the look back.

__________________________________

The locale I'll be focusing on this update is Peninsula City (pop. 3704), which is surrounded by Emerson Lake and situated on the Costa Norte Peninsula, which is about 3 miles due west of downtown Argentum.  Despite its proximity to Argentum, it has a distinct small town feel to it.  This is perhaps due to the fact that Peninsula City has managed to avoid being annexed into Argentum.

First of all, a map of Peninsula City.  Relatively easy to get around.

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[URL=http://img181.imageshack.us/my.php?image=peninsulamap06232008ru3.png][IMG]http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/7717/peninsulamap06232008ru3.th.png[/img][/URL]

Here is an overhead shot of Peninsula City, looking west.  The old ferry is still in place at the end of Peninsula Avenue, which runs from northern Argentum and becomes "the main drag" through town.



Speaking of downtown, here it is (looking south)



And here is a view of Pinecrest, a lakefront community, looking south at the intersection of 15th Avenue and Penrose Drive.  A fair amount of commercial development has popped up at this intersection, perhaps given its proximity to the future Highway 261/Penrose Drive interchange (which will be over to the east/left, on the Argentum city tile).



Another shot, at the 15th/Pinecrest roundabout (also looking south), with a glimpse of the lake.




I'll be back with more next time . . . hopefully with something . . . interesting . . .

-Alex (Tarkus)

Fixed one slight (but glaring to those paying attention) error . . . 15th and Penrose, not 16th.  Thanks, Joan!