Adara - Update 184 - March 26, 2012

[Cyclone1001]

As an aviation nerd, I would love to see the airport and surrounding area. In this MD I've seen a ton of spectacular rural areas, but not many urban areas, so I think it would be a great idea. However, you are known to create great rural towns and areas, so the idea of introducing more before you develop them is also good.

I'd prefer seeing large urban areas next, but whatever you do will be fine with me.

[Skimbo]

nice progress during the last updates...

[canyonjumper]

Great OSITM BC, hope to see more of you after this conference

           Your friend,
                         Jordan

[bat]

Nice work again!!

[metarvo]

Once again, you've displayed OSITM-calibur work.  I've seen the RHW used a lot in flat areas, but you've really taken it to the next level by building it on slopes.  Your problem-solving with the RHW curves is quite impressive.  Keep up the good work!

[rooker1]

 Just wanted to give you a big thank you for making a very enjoyable November.  With all those awesome updates, the way you presented them and your overall style made for pleasurable veiwing every time. 
I have always looked forward to your updates.

Robin

[zzsteven]

Well, 140 updates later I finally caught back up again. Sheesh you're prolific Battlecat!  

Thank you for the way you write your MD; reading your methods and trials has helped to shape the way I do things today. You are a good teacher.

In answer to the question of 180: I would like to see you fill out the rest of the region. Why? Because I'm just starting to learn how to use terrafomer and would like to use your region as inspiration.

Christmas coming soon and I wish you and yours well.

zz

[dedgren]

180-5: Since I've got your attention, does anybody know how to correct this bug?  The short segments of gravel road between curves are filled using the straight filler included with the Rural Roads plugin.  At the highest zoom level pictured here those piece are either becoming invisible or turning back into normal streets.  Have I messed up the installation or is this a bug?

Bug, Gordon.  Definitely a bug.  It's now on my list.  While I'm at it, I'll do textures for a diagonal gravel level cross.

Oh, and great work here in Adara as always.  Have a great new year!


David

[rooker1]

Happy New Year Gordan, I wish you all the best in the coming year!
Robin

[calibanX]

Your terraforming skills never cease to amaze Battlecat. It still amazes me that you design your regions entirely by hand/mouse. Those region views are great. You haven't done a topographic map in a long while. Any plans to do so?

Happy New Year!

Geoff

[TiFlo]

Oh Brother, where art thou?!

We miss you around here. I hope everything is well and you're enjoying a somewhat mild winter over in BC.

Cheers! 

[Battlecat]

SCWTC4: Yeah, it worked out better than I could have expected.  The tiles around Winfield are certainly on the list and I've started the terraforming in that area now.  But I agree, the airport island is the first project on the list for the New Year!

noahclem: Thanks for all your support over the month!  I like the idea of making the curves extra smooth as well, but I'm really reluctant to go back and mess with that area again!  The hillside is a serious headache to work on.  But I'll keep that in mind for the future.  The airport and an increased industrial base kind of go hand in hand so I'll be starting in that area. 

Cyclone1001: Thanks for your thoughts!  With the troubles I've been having with residential demand, the airport island seems like a better and better bet. 

Skimbo: Thanks very much!

Jordan (canyonjumper): Thanks, shame it took me so long to get my act together for the next update! 

bat: Thanks!

metarvo: Thanks, building those RHW sections on the hillside was one of the more challenging things I've taken on.  There are a lot of restrictions!

Robin (rooker1): Thanks for the opportunity, I only regret I couldn't keep the momentum going right afterwards.  I hope to pick things up again now though.  Thanks for the kind wishes for the New Year.

zzsteven: Wow, thanks for taking the time to read the entire thread, that's no small feat as far as I'm concerned!  Glad you found the read valuable.  My decision on the next steps will be a mixture of airport development and ongoing work to finish the region.  But in terms of advice, use the SC4 Terraformer to do the large scale regional work, but I still find the maxis tools are necessary for the final fine tuning.

As for actually laying out the map, it's been a very organic process since I've only been terraforming as needed for a very long time now.  It's left me a lot of freedom but it's also prevented large scale map growth of the sort you saw during my November blitz.  There aren't any particular notes or sketches to be honest, I'm doing most of the desing straight out of my head.  Thanks for the comments!

David (dedgren): Thanks for stopping in, glad to see you're back.  Thanks for the response on that bug and for the great work on all your rural works.  I'm eagerly watching your work on the triple rail textures!

Geoff (calibanX): Thanks very much for your kind words!  The topographic map is a pretty large job to assemble and it's been one of those things that I keep being forced to put at the bottom of the list.  I'd really like to create a new one, particularly with all the recent changes to the map but I really have no eta on when I'll be able to get it done.  It's on the list though, thanks for your interest!

TiFlo: Rumors of my demise are only slightly exaggerated.  :-)  Thankfully, life is getting back to some sort of normal!  Thanks for your concern! 

Update 181
Seabird Island – Rumors of My Demise . . .

Well a belated happy New Year everyone.  If you thought I dropped dead after that busy November in OSITM, you'd be pretty close to the truth.  I got pretty sick right after the end of November and it turns out I had Appendicitis.  So a round of surgery later it was Christmas, and then I got one of the nastiest colds I've ever had (nearly 2 months by the time I was recovered).  Anyhow, what with one thing and another, I've hardly touched my computer for gaming in the past couple months. 

Anyhow, I'm hoping to pick up where I left off.  The general consensus seems to be that I should work on the airport area, known as Seabird Island which also includes a chance to build up the region's industrial base a bit.  But I'll still slip a few new region tiles into the mix on occasion, I want to finish building the region. 

Just a small update to get started. 

181-1: Here's the area where the airport terminal will be built.  I need to do some research on runway designs before I start on this.  Specifically, I need to read the RIMP and AC project threads to figure out how much space I need.  I need to balance the budget on this tile first as well, so the airport will have to wait.  The lower tier area down by the river will be industrial land and some minor port facilities but the designs will be dictated by runway placements. 


181-2: The starting point for this tile is thus the west side of the river, where the highway and railway actually leave the first Adara Region block.  This area will be suburbs with a small concentration of mid rises and additional industrial and port space down by the river.  The first thing on this list is finishing the highway which was incomplete when I moved on from this tile last time.


181-3: This road comes down from the tiles to the north, specifically from the diagonal bridge on the tile to the north. 


181-4: Naturally, this area needs an interchange.  I finished building this beauty in record time (about 5 minutes).  Then I realized I'd done it wrong!


181-5: As I worked through this, I realized this would be a perfect excuse to build a sunken highway. 


181-6: The new interchange is a transition interchange from RHW4 to RHW6.  I hope a future release of the FLUPS has RHW tunnel portals.  Right now I'm using the avenue tunnel entrance which looks good with RHW5. 


181-7: This is of course the real reason I decided to go with a sunken highway.  It's a perfect excuse to use Buddybud's gorgeous highway retaining walls.  I've always loved this set and what with one thing and another I've never actually used them.  The only flaw in this shot now is the style of the grass fillers.  I'm going to tweak that later hopefully using plopable items.


I'm sorry to say, that's a wrap for today!  My goal is to return to a minimum of one update per week, targeting Monday mornings.  But of course if I can get more done, I'll certainly post it! 

Also, it should be noted, I managed to catch the new subscription requirement for imageshack in time, so the old images will be preserved.  2$ a month seems reasonable to store over 4200 images. 

[threestooges]

Sorry to hear about the appendicitis. I was wondering where you'd wandered off to. I know OSITMs can take a toll on people, but that's nuts... then again, so are you now (NUTs) that is. Good to see you back around here in Adara again. I'll be interested to see your take on an airport. I threw absolute scale out the window in Greenacre a while ago, but from the research I did, take the length of runway that looks good/appropriate inthe game and then double it to grt the RL equivalent.

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.
-Matt

[RickD]

I am sorry to hear you were ill. But it is great that you are here again. The MD section wouldn't be the same without Adara.

[SCWTC4]

welcome back Battlecat, i'm sorry for your illness but i'm glad you recovered.
see you next monday (or earlier, who knows) for another update.

[FrankU]

Hello Battlecat, welcome back!

I really started to miss you. I hope you recovered well. Evolution should have taken care of that appendix some million years ago, but now that it has failed we need to do it by surgery.
It's a pity you are going to work on airports... It's none of my interest. Although I might add that I like to look at the images. And again: no, of course, do what ever you like!

[Cyclone1001]

Sorry to hear about everything that happened, it sure is great to have you back. A nice update, good plans, and a cool sunken highway; welcome back!

[metarvo]

I'm sorry about your health troubles.  That comes before any game, so don't worry about your absence.  I just hope you're feeling better now, Battlecat. 

Those highway walls were part of my first big downloading spree, so it's rather enjoyable to see someone else using them.  It's true that they came before the RHW really got going, but they are still usable with it nonetheless.  Another thing that stands out to me here is the wide 90° uphill rail curve in the first pic.  I don't think I've ever seen one built like that in this game before, but yours certainly does look good.

[Nardo69]

Sorry to hear about your health problems. Lost my Appendix as I child but had an surgery lately, too.

Nice start with the highway even though I am, not too much in airports ... but I am curious anyway!

Take care my friend!

Bernhard

[calibanX]

Welcome back. Glad to hear you're surgery and bug free. You'll need the energy to build that airport. I noticed that a few fans aren't too keen on watching an airport come together. I love the airport lots and props that have been created for the game. I'm looking forward to seeing some airport. Bring it.

Geoff