blade2k5's Real World+Fantasy Maps

[blade2k5]

Hello all   I was just recently taught how to convert DEM data to 16bit greyscale format by my good buddy Heblem and have completed my first accurately scaled map.  Santa Barbara California is where I was born [at St Francis hospital] and raised [lived on the Mesa about two blocks from the beach near Monroe Elementary School for those of you familiar with the area] and spent the first 19 years of my life enjoying the mild weather, surfing at Henry's Beach], and rock climbing [on Gibraltar Rock].  The map is 8x5 larg tiles, encompassing Santa Barbara city, Montecito, Carpenteria, Goleta, Isla Vista, Summerland and Winchester Canyon areas.  Also featured are La Cumbre and Cathedral peaks, San Marcus Pass and parts of the Santa Ynez River and Lake Cachuma, the Riviera and of course, the famous Sycamore Canyon that was scarred for years after the Sycamore Fire in the summer of 1977 in which over 200 homes were burned to the ground and made world-wide headlines.
 

Some background History:

The Spanish Period

From a genealogical perspective, the useful history of the Santa Barbara County area begins with the Presidio period, even though there is evidence that as many as 150 tribes occupied the area for the previous ten centuries.

When Sebastian Viscaino sailed into the Channel of Santa Barbara on December 4, 1602, he gave it that name because the 4th day of December is sacred to the memory of Saint Barbara, virgin and martyr. Of course, the names of the city and county followed at the appropriate times.

Father Junipero Serra founded the Santa Barbara Presidio in 1782, adding the Mission four years later. The Presidios were military garrisons for the protection of missionaries, established in San Diego, Santa Barbara, Monterey and San Francisco. Their twelve-foot high adobe walls enclosed barracks, store houses, a church and the residence of the commandant.

The Pueblo was the village around each Presidio, initially housing retired soldiers and their usually Indian wives and families on small plots the first of which was granted in 1797. Many of the old adobes are presently the homes of descendants of those soldiers.

In 1822 the citizens of Santa Barbara swore allegiance to the Empire of Mexico ending Spanish rule in California. That year's Mission records show 4288 Indians baptized and 947 settled Indian families.

The American Period

In 1848 Mexico signed a treaty ceding California to the United States. The territory became a state in 1850 when the population exploded to nearly 100,000 with the discovery of gold. While California was still a territory, county boundaries were formed. The present county of Ventura was originally included within Santa Barbara County until 1873 when the Legislature separated the area into the present Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties.

The first major earthquake, recorded in Santa Barbara County in 1812 which tumbled the La Purisima Mission in Lompoc while services were being held, did little to slow growth. The following year another quake so ravaged the Santa Barbara Mission that a new one was build rather than attempt repairs. The new mission survived a series of quakes over a century until it was damaged and again restored in 1952.   In 1971 Santa Barbara was rocked by the San Fernando quake and literally threw me out of bed that morning [I was 7 at the time] and I believe it was a 6.1 magnitude.  Santa Barbara was jolted again in Aug 1978 when the fault line under the channel ruptured, though only a 5.1 magnitude, it was strong enough to cause an old pine tree in my front yard to topple over, nearly taking out the garage with it.  The last EQ I experienced was in early Sept 1980 when the San Joaquin quake rumbled through the southern part of the State and had a magnitude of 5.8, but was one of those quakes that had a rolling sensation as if you were on a boat going over the small swells and lasted roughly 45 seconds.  I heard t before i felt it and i just happened to be my first day of High School.  What a way to start your career as a HS student eh?  To bad it didn't strike the day before or I would have been out doing some serious surfing due to the larger than normal waves we got for a few hours that morning.

Santa Barbara County "boomed" in the late 1800's. Streets were paved and public sewers laid. By 1901 the railroad connected Santa Barbara with San Francisco replacing the Wells Fargo Stage Coach line. By 1910 Santa Barbara City population had increased 100% and the County by 50%. Even during the 1915-17 depression, Santa Barbara County forged ahead attracting tourists and wealthy residents from the East.

Carpinteria

The city of Carpinteria is approximately 15 miles east along the coast from Santa Barbara. The first American families came in the 1840's, although the town-site was not laid out until 1887. The Carpinteria Valley's rich crops of lima beans and walnuts have since given way to development, although large avocado and citrus orchards and commercial flower gardens abound still.

Summerland

In 1888 H. L. Williams subdivided part of his Ortega ranch into 25' by 60' lots. In an effort to attract the "Spiritualist" faith, he named the community Summerland after a Spiritualist book of that title and sold prospective residents lots for $25 each. The new mission survived a series of quakes over a century until it was damaged and again restored in 1952. In a short time 500 Spiritualists inhabited the slopes. When oil was discovered, the $25 lots went for a premium. Oil production petered out and the population dropped, but after WWII, the vacant cottages, the sun and the surf again attracted a new breed of residents often referred to as "hippies." More recently a newer breed often referred to as "yuppies" has replaced the "hippies".

Montecito

Originally Montecito was part of the Pueblo lands granted to discharged soldiers and to new settlers from Spain and Mexico. Today, Montecito is an affluent residential suburb of Santa Barbara and the home of many in the entertainment industries.

Goleta

Goleta is the largest unincorporated area in the US and is substantially middle class residential. This area was originally a 4400-acre ranch granted by the Mexican government in 1846 to Daniel Hill. The name "Goleta" is Spanish for schooner. The village was laid out in 1875, and within two years contained a church, store, lumber yard, blacksmith shop, schoolhouse, post office and a wharf which we called Goleta Pier.  I snagged an octopus off the pier when I was 9 years old when reeling in my line after catching a rather large Sea Bass   Don't worry, the octopus survived and was let go

Map Specifics

Map Type: Accurately scaled

Region map size: Map is configured for 40 large city tiles and is 8x5 in size.

Regonal View:


Terraformer Overview:


A couple of images of Santa Barbara.....

A view of the Courthouse and the Riviera in the background....


The Santa Barbara Harbor.....if you look at the two mtn peaks in the top-center of this pic, the pointed peak on the left is La Cumbre Peak and the rounded one on the right is Cathedral Peak.....


Thanks for dropping by and hope you enjoyed the brief history lesson.  This map should be available for dl later tonight

[Pat]

oooooooooooo a new thread from Troy woooooohoooo!!! I love the history lesson and it was very informative... Still love the maps!!!!

[blade2k5]

Okey dokey, Santa Barbara is now available for dl at a LEX near you

[Heblem]

Okey dokey, Santa Barbara is now available for dl at a LEX near you

wow you did something I have never done!  upload a 16-bit map to the LEX!!!! just recently i just taught to you how to make 16-bit maps 

[blade2k5]

  and it's an exclusive to the LEX as well   I'm still working on the practice region we used to teach me how to do this.  I'll probably get that one uploaded by early next week.  I also have Mt. Hood, Tampa Bay and Tomahawk Wis in the works as well.

[Tarkus]

Mt. Hood?  That would be awesome.  Right in my neck of the woods.

Congrats on your first DEM/16-bit map as well!  It looks fantastic.

-Alex (Tarkus)

[DFire870]

The new map looks fantastic! I can't wait to see Tampa Bay, I've always wanted to build a city using Tampa Bay as a region.

-- John

[Pat]

I cant wait for Tomahawk to come out to the LEX!!!!!

[blade2k5]

Mt. Hood?  That would be awesome.  Right in my neck of the woods.

Congrats on your first DEM/16-bit map as well!  It looks fantastic.

-Alex (Tarkus)

You asked [kinda ] and thou shalt receive   Here's the SC4TF overview image of the Mt.Hood region that encompasses parts of the Columbia River.  As you can see, this map is kinda big, a 10x9 lrg tile map and Mt. Hood stands at 3413M at it's highest point.  I should have a rendered pic posted at some point today/tonight

[Heblem]

thats a great map 

[Vandy]

Hello, Blade.

First of all, congratulations on your newest endeavor.  I see by your results that you're going to take to this like a duck to water.

Second, I am quite impressed with your two maps.  I've finally been able to realize why my maps never looked good enough to me and were never good enough for me -- It wasn't a master's hand creating real world terrain.

Finally, I do look forward to continuing to view your creations both in this thread as well as look forward to those new frontiers even you have yet to dream.  I've followed your work from your first offerings on the ST STEX and have seen nothing but quality work and improvement.  You've made yourself and your team quite proud to have you as such a valued asset.

All the best to you and keep up the wonderful work.

Regards,

Gary

[Pat]

Niiiiiiiiiiice very Nice Troy that is looking soo sweet!!!! I cant wait to see that rendered map lol..... I hope to see Tom and Rhine soon 

[rooker1]

Very nice looking map you got there.  I really like the river flowing right through the entire region.

Robin 

[blade2k5]

Thanks Heblem, Vandy, Pat and rooker1   I do have to announce though that after talking with Beskhu3epnm the other night, this map is not 100% accurately scaled but pretty darn close.  I still have a couple of things to learn yet, so until then, I won't be claiming maps accurately scaled, but rather Real World Maps that are pretty darn close

Now, as promised, here is the rendered pic and make sure to read the snippet at the bottom of the pic below


A RWM [real world map ], that I'm working on now is Salt Lake City, but having a tough time choosing a terrain mod to render it with     SC4TF pic to come soon

[Heblem]

thats a great render, excellent work 

[Pat]

oooh great anther acronym that we have to learn lol.... Other then that Troy as we talked about today I love it!!!

[blade2k5]

Thanks Hebs

Thanks Pat   I'm on MSN by the way

[Tarkus]

Alright, more acronyms!  I'm glad I'm not the only one propagating these things.

And the Mount Hood map looks fantastic!  As a native Oregonian who's been through that area quite a bit, I'd say it looks very accurate.  I was able to pinpoint Hood River and Oregon Highway 35/Bennett Pass on there as well.   And I love the fact that it's a large map. 

-Alex

[wouanagaine]

Wow, so we have another Besk clone

Great job 

[blade2k5]

I really glad you liked it   It should be uploaded by this weekend. 

Alright, more acronyms!  I'm glad I'm not the only one propagating these things.

And the Mount Hood map looks fantastic!  As a native Oregonian who's been through that area quite a bit, I'd say it looks very accurate.  I was able to pinpoint Hood River and Oregon Highway 35/Bennett Pass on there as well.   And I love the fact that it's a large map. 

-Alex

Thanks Alex   You know, I used to live in Bend late '83 - early '84   Hmmmm....Maybe I'll do Bend after and get Mt. Bachelor, Three-Fingered Jack, Mt. Jefferson and the Three Sisters [those are four names that I can recall].

Wow, so we have another Besk  Smiley  Great job

Thanks Wou   Feast your eyes on the one below

As promised, here are the pics for the follow-up to the Mt. Hood Region, Salt Lake City Metro area.  This is a 9x8 large tile map and I used CD's columbus terrain mod.



This region will also most likely be uploaded this weekend too   Thanks for dropping by.