The Tropics of Haalu

[cityhawk 12]

I've been busy the last few days, so to comment on your past updates in a random order: The cave really amazed me! I like your crossroads town. I really like the lights from the buildings in the pics in the update before the region shots, and the region shots are awesome as well! I will try to follow this CJ more closely from now on.

[Lyhoko Leaci 770]

Nice region views, nice and tropical!

[Micah 16]

Those are incredible night-time photos! This is a great Cj!

[ThePeoplesPerson 3]

Darmok - I've never been to a Kristy Kreme, but since there's a tim hortons on every corner in Canada, I've gotten use to them . Hope you can make out the new brighter pics better.

heyden_simcity_4 - Thanks

cityhawk - Glad you liked something about all the updates!

Leech10 - I'll use the new brighter lighting for night pics now, since they're easier to see for most people. Glad you like the tropical region shots too.

Micah - Thanks, I really like how they turned out as well.

[tomdapom 79]

Nice use of Palau! Flamesrock is a master of maps. This is one beautiful place to live!

[natedoggg 0]

awesome night pics !!!

[Goin2Chicago 4]

i looked through all your pictures and your city buildings skills and photoshop skills are amazing. it would be great if there was a water mod that made the water look like that with the shadows and everything. lol. can't wait for more!

[SpecialEddie 3]

Whoah. I can see the night shots now! Amazing! And that's a pretty big region! Hope it gets filled up (to your satisfaction of course).

[GaBoR 7]

Nice region pics!!! Very realistic, love the nightshots (the retouched ones), you're getting this CJ very interesting!!!

[ElBarto92 7]

Holy canoli that's nice Photoshopping! Glad I caught this journal - it's truly spectacular. I really love the water reflections and the night effects (I think your original darker versions make certain lit aspects of the picture stand out more than in the new, lighter ones; not to mention I find the darker pics more realistic.) Anywho. Keep up the awesome work, here - this CJ is definately going places.

[ThePeoplesPerson 3]

Update 6

I decided to do a mosaic for this update, my first ever. Hope you like it.

[Lyhoko Leaci 770]

Looks good, can't wait for more!

[Shadow Assassin 336]

*jaw drops to floor*

That's.... so.... realistic.

God, it looks wonderful.

[zzsim 3]

Wow, that mosaic is awesome .  I love your city's park system and the attention of detail you put into it.  This is definetly one of the most asthetically pleasing cjs on this site.  Keep up the great work and I look forward to more updates  !

Edit:  Those night time shots are incredible also.  You have some real talent with photoshop!

[jackel.22 3]

i love the bit where the houses are near the cliff face and there is that lake/pond underneath looks brilliant. grats

[szarkoz 8]

Beautiful and very scenic mosaic. I like that road on the bottom where you put those jeronij's fences on both sides, very nice idea!

[ThePeoplesPerson 3]

tomdapom - I love Flamesrock's maps. In my opinion he has the best most interesting (and challenging) regions to build on. This is my 2nd Flamesrock map. I used another one in my previous journal as well.

natedoggg - Thanks!

Goin2Chicago - Thanks for the great compliment. Yeah a reflective water mod would be cool but likely impossible in the engine. It would save me alot of work though

SpecialEddie - Great! Glad you can see them now. In the process of brightening them up, I gave them a blue tint to keep the midnight look. The effect is slightly less brilliant lights, but now all the details in the picture can be made out.

GaBoR - Thanks! I'm getting a lot of positive feedback on the new night pics, so I'll be keeping with that style now. I also plan on adding some new interesting elements to the CJ to keep it fresh. Look for some suprise updates sometime in the very near future

ElBarto92 - Thanks for the wonderful compliment. You share my same opinion on the night pictures as well. However, the general concensus is that they are too dark for some monitors (I saw them on an older monitor at work, and I can see where people are getting at hard to make out) so I'm going to use the newer style. Hopefully I can figure out a way to make the lights more brighter in regards to the rest of the picture though in future updates. Alot of this photoshopping is experimental until I find the best way I think I convey the picture.

Leech10 - Thanks

Shadow_Assassin - Thank you!

zzsim - Thank you for the wondeful compliments! I plan on showing even more of the smaller parks in Montacello in the upcoming updates.

jackel.22 - Yes, a favourite spot of mine as well. It would be an awesome spot for a house, as they're high enough up to get a look across the whole city, and across the bay to the skyline of the downtown of the city.

szarkoz - I love Jeronij's fence lots. You'll see me use them quite extensively in my cities.

Thank you all for your comments.

[cityhawk 12]

Very nice bright mosaic! One question: In the high school parking lot, what is that smoke stuff? Anyway, looking forward to more!

[GMT 389]

hey. the last update was awesome.

and the reworked nightpics look way way better now. even more realistic imo.

anyway, I really can't wait more

[ThePeoplesPerson 3]

Update 7

These are all various shots around Montacello.

Continuing east on Atlantic drive will take you right through the Atlantic Plaza. Atlantic drive is a long avenue that runs right along the coast of Southern Montacello.

Same place as the above picture, I just really liked the angle of this shot

This is going west on Atlantic Drive. Shortly below this picture Atlantic drive comes to an end at an intersection with Altavista Drive. Altavista Drive also officially begins at the same intersection, though it is just a renaming of highway 11.

This shot shows Atlantic and Altavista Drive. The bottom avenue is altavista and the above is Atlantic.

Altavista Drive is known for some of the best shopping this side of Montacello. Here we see some of the smaller but elegant designer stores. Further down, the road is flanked with malls and restaurants on both sides. Truly a shoppers paradise.

Subdivisions cut as far into the mountains as they can before the slope becomes impossible to build on. Getting property on these higher hillside areas can get you some of the best views of the entire Saphire Bay, including the Montacello Skyline, if you can afford it.

Here, Altavista Drive merges into the I-11, but also contains bypasses which branch back together and continue the avenue going north (shown south in this picture).

That concludes update 7, Enjoy!

[RadioheadFan 1]

Oh my God...this CJ is absoutely amazing. That last update was fantastic, you're a Photoshop master, and your cities aren't that either This might be the nicest tropical region I've ever seen. Keep up the great work, and I'll be sure to lurk around a little more

Jamie

[Darmok 34]

First off, That mosaic was great looking! moreso with, I guess' Jeroni's mod. Those sidewalks are looking great in that setup! And the Atlantic Plaza is really eye catching right on the Beach!

Good update as well!

The only gripes I would have is a personal preference toward a more natural slope, in the last pic the tunnel entrance is a bit steep, but again it doe's not alter the beauty or originality of the setup itself, and I like how you made that highway interchange that goes diagonaly over the highway itself!

Keep up the good work!

[Micah 16]

That is awesome! Those red bricks, shurbs, tropical plants, and the photoshopping add so much to your CJ.

This is quite an impressive CJ that I will keep coming back to.

Fantastic job!

[Lyhoko Leaci 770]

Wow, looks good, can't wait for more!

[SpecialEddie 3]

I do believe your insane. Your cities are beautiful!

[ThePeoplesPerson 3]

cityhawk - Thanks for the comment on the Mosaic. The smoke stuff in the parking lot is just that, smoke. I didn't put it there, it was just pouring out of one of the beat up cars in the parking lot. I guess some vandals got to it or something . They're already making the town look like christmas with all the toilet paper, now they're blowing up their cars. What next?

GMT - Glad you like the new night pictures.

RadioheadFan - Thanks for popping in, and don't be afraid to come out of the shadows every now and then, Haalu is best enjoyed in the sun  Thanks for the compliment and comment!

Darmok - Yes the new street mod is a must have for everyone IMO. Makes the streets so much more varied and full of life and really colours up all parts of town. I really love the larger trees that grow from the sidewalks now in the 'burbs. Props to Jeronij for making a mod that goes right up there with Cycle's terrain mod in terms of must have.

Oh finally some critism. I used to have a slope mod that made much more natural and gental slopes. Anyways, I had to remove it everytime I did railways because, even though it was more realistic for a railway to be pretty flat, I found it too tough conforming the land to the rail, and it became counter productive in trying to get beauty. So I removed it to my desktop everytime I wanted to throw rail line. I forgot it was there, cleaned my desktop and lost it ever since. Though I did forget about it until you mentioned it. Going to have to try and find it again.

Micah - Thanks again and I'll continue to see you around!

Leech10 - Thanks

SpecialEddie - I'm more meticulous then insane, as I do excerise some control over myself

Thanks for the comments!

[cityhawk 12]

Your Photoshopping skills never cease to amaze me! The thing that really caught my eye was the diagonal overpass over the highway, but the Atlantic Plaza area looks really great, and the sidewalk textures add that much more appeal to your CJ! Great job and can't wait for more!

[zzsim 3]

ThePeoplesPerson, that slope mod your looking for is most likely the "BRFtunnel&slope mod" (probaly not called that exactly).  I'm pretty sure that its still on the STEX somewhere.

Great update  !  Cool sunset shots on the beach, and I agree with you, jeronij's street mod really adds some nice color to your city's roads.  I also like all of the tropical trees your using, they really give your city that tropical island feel.  Keep up the great work  !

[ThePeoplesPerson 3]

Update 8

For this update I wanted to do something a little different. I wanted to show my style for developing new towns / areas and also the transition from a normal SC4 shot to an edited one.

And here is another before and after set of pictures.

Hope you liked this different update for a change of pace.

[simster6 0]

Wow it looks stunning! Your little tutorial thing was really great, too.

What are your region population stats, BTW?