The Tropics of Haalu

[jackel.22 3]

welcome to page 7!!!

thanks for the reply, il try out the dirt paths technique next time i get on to my city. its sounds so simple yet i know il mess it up somehow >_<

[cityhawk 12]

Man, I like those ploppable rivers and the mountain park. Great Photoshopping as always! Keep up the great work!

[ThePeoplesPerson 3]

I've prepared a small tutorial on the dirt paths that I will include in tonight's update, for anyone who doesn't understand exactly how to do it.

[Mikeaut1 261]

Great, sounds good to me. Excellent work, and on the last page with the beach shot, excellent, excellent job! Very realistic looking. Keep it up!

[ThePeoplesPerson 3]

jackel.22 - I've created a quick 2 picture tutorial that's shown below. It should give a good idea of how to set up the paths, then its just a matter of filling it in. Thanks for the Page 7 welcome!

cityhawk - Thanks, I'm glad you like the park and rivers. I plan on doing a very complex and large one soon. That small one was more of an experiment to see how it'd look.

Mikeaut1 - Thanks

Anyways, here's a small update showing how to do the trails I did in the last update. As you can see there's nothing to it.

I'm almost ready to show another updated region shot, so expect anytime now

[Weird 0]

Wow!! Thanks for the tip!

Your pics always look so lush and green, they're wonderful!

Keep up the great work!!

[Battlecat 14]

Seriously cool!  I forgot that you can plop trees on some lots.  I like this style, looks very classy!  I'll have to try it in my temperate region, although I'm not sure if I can get the trees dense enough.  Thanks for showing the technique.

[GaBoR 7]

nice touch, talking about finesse, good tutorial very simple, see you in your next update

[Darmok 34]

Simple

Elegant

Beautiful

Enuf said!

Take care!

(You see I can also make short posts!)

[ThePeoplesPerson 3]

Update 11

Finally get to throw up a real update since the mysterious vanishing of ST for the weekend. I got quite a bit of work done on Montacello, but unfortunately the downtown is a while from being seen up close. It will be  a while before I get the buildings I want to grow to actually pop up.

In the meantime, I've been able to work heavilly on the suburbs and also more of the countryside. Since the last update was countryside, I'm going to show some more of the newer areas of Montacello.

The Alpena River is one of the two rivers that seperate the heart of Montacello from the south (which we've been seeing) and Northwest.


11.1

11.2

Some of the newest and high tech industries are dotted along the Alpena River. They also mark the beginning of Ajax, a community that is Almalgamated into Montacello. Ajax is a rather expensive community. Many of its citizens work in the industries down the river, while others work in the many small offices in downtown. Ajax isn't a very entertaining community. Except for a supermarket and a few small business, Ajax has no shopping or entertainment . Anyone looking for some fun besides hanging out at the park has to go other areas of Montacello.


11.3


11.4


11.5

[SpecialEddie 3]

The brightness really adds a tropical effect to it. Sweet!

[cityhawk 12]

I like the tropical goodness of the new areas. Thanks for the tutorial on the dirt paths, too. Great job as always!

[Micah 16]

Ajax is an awesome name and a beautiful region. That's a real useful tutorial... looks like a whole other game! The tropical theme, the cool textures, and awesome extras make this CJ so unique. Wow, page 7 already!

[jackel.22 3]

thanks for the tutorial, by the way thoes new pics look really good. and again brilliant photo shopping on the river.

why must you be so good at cjs, your destroying my beautiful cities with your brilliant updates.

im goign to have to steal some of your ideas

[yoder7652 21]

looks good...how do you make your water look like that?

[topcliff 1]

yoder7652: he photoshops all his images before uploading them here. if he didn't, it would look like something a farm animal stepped on some keys on a keyboard. looks good, really like the street side mod here! TopCliff

[Battlecat 14]

Hollee!  Those reflections on the water make your screenshoots look so realistic!  You must put a lot of time into just tweaking your images, let along how long it must take to build those beautiful cities.  Great work!

[collgab 10]

wow nice update really like the "water painting"! can't wait for more!

[Goin2Chicago 4]

everytime i see this cj i say wow so i'll think of something else to say the next time i see it. the first pictures looks perfect. i like the bridges and canal walls. can't wait for more!

[GaBoR 7]

Ok another great update, maybe you could surprise us with a region pic, wanna see how the whole thing looks like by now, please!!

[Lyhoko Leaci 770]

Looks good, can't wait for more!

[Darmok 34]

Ajax industries is my favorite this time!

Great work!

Take care!

[ThePeoplesPerson 3]

Weird - Thanks, and your welcome.

Battlecat - No problem, good luck on trying to implement it.

GaBoR - Thanks.

Darmok - Thanks

(I can make short replies as well )

SpecialEddie - Yes it does! SC4 is too dull for a tropical region

cityhawk - Thanks, and our welcome on the path tutorial.

Micah - Thanks for all the awesome compliments! Yes it really is moving fast, thanks to all the wonderful comments you guys give!

jackel.22 - Haha! I prefer to call it "borrowing" of ideas. Afterall, one of the main purposes of CJs is to give readers ideas on how to do new things. I know I've picked up lots of ideas from other CJs on how to build cities. Everyone has something to offer.

yoder7652 - It's photoshopped, using a variety of techniques depending on the shot and how I want it to look.

topcliff - I love Jeronij's new street mod. Adds a whole new level of life to the streets of Sim City, and greens it up alot more.

Battlecat - Aye, alot of time does go into it. Thats why my updates can only consist of 3-5 pictures most of the time. I find photoshopping as fun as actually building the city, so its like a second game to me, much like how others have fun writing stories.

collgab - Yes I went back to doing the "old school" way in my first update. I think it gives it more of an artwork look to it. I juggle between the styles, depending on which one I think will look best and most realistic for the particular setting/ zoom level.

Goin2Chicago - Hehe, yeah it can be hard to think of something specific to say. I have a hard time doing it myself lol.

GaBoR - You're in luck, that was the plan for tonight!

Leech10 - Thanks



Update 12

Ahhhhh! It's 06/06/06! The appocalypse has come! Aliens are invading and destroying humanity as we know it!



At least that's what some nuts were saying for the last few days leading up to today. Of course we threw them all in the local loony bin. Serves them right for trying to cause mass hysteria. Alien invasions, pfft...

Anyways! I had to do something that related to today. I was suprised no one started up any appocalypse CJs or some cool stories or something today. So I through in my own little 666 update, and had alot of fun doing it.

So we'll go on now to the real update, I've prepared a number of maps showing the region and the whole island. I'm still developing in all directions in the region. Development to the west seems slow, but that's because tackling Montacello is a lengthy procedure. You'll see an ugly maxis airport near the city as well. No worries, that eyesore will be out of the way soon enough when I get building a real airport. I only put it there to temporarily satisfy the complaining businesses.

Development to the North and East is going along pretty fast. The only thing that keeps it as a pain is the individual placement of all the trees. No god mode brushes here folks, all trees are thrown down in Mayor Mode.

The picture below shows the chunk developed out of the whole island.



Prepare for a bunch of thumbnails now!

Transportation Map


Satelite View


Hybrid Map (Satelite and Transportation combined)


Future Plans


The Future plans map just gives you a rough idea of the size of Montacello. I'll still be continuing in all directions like I've been doing. I should be reaching the Northern Coast soon, and I'm working my way to the East coast as well.

Hope you enjoyed this update!

PS. Don't mind the different colours of terrain in the development pic. They'll all be uniform when I get around to opening and saving them!

[GaBoR 7]

Thank you, nice region pics, much more than I expected, Nice idea of an Hibrid-Map, myabe Oro Bruno will benefit of that, I'm really expecting the airport!!!

[jackel.22 3]

thanks for showing the region pics with the rtansport turned on. now i know how all the towns and cities link together.

[ruhlcore 0]

Nice pictures like always. I like the overview of your island. I see someone else knows about supreme commander (upcomming (2007) rts game) and is probably a TA fan. Did you see the 300 Mbyte trailer ?

But sorry , back to topic. The roboter spider additions look professional.

Good work , cant wait for an update.



ruhlcore

[bat 6]

Nice region pictures!

bat

[jasperdeman.nl 1]

Amazing region views! I liked the 666 updates .

I can imagine the pain in plopping all those trees! But it sure is worth it!

[yoder7652 21]

cool maps...can't wait to see how the new city expansion will develop

keep up the good work

[cityhawk 12]

rofl to the aliens! Anyway, plopping those trees in mayor mode does consume a lot of time, which is what I hate about the downloaded trees. Your maps are awesome looking, and the hybrid map was a great idea. I look forward to more!