Granite Bay

[vgcpapa 5]

Welcome to Granite Bay. This will be my fist city journal and an attempt to "beat" simcity. I have never come close to actually building a region I have liked in Simcity 4. So i think that if I start this CJ, I will have a better chance of successfully building up a region.  NOTE: that GB is not completed, nor fully planned out (as you will see in this update). 

Update 1: Westport
Westport is the industrial center of western GB. Also it stands as the industrial center for the entire region of GB, as this part of the region is all that I have built. 

Westport offers over 25,000 jobs,  over 23,900 of these are industrial and port jobs. The community's population is 8,339 so many of Wesport workers commute from outside the community.











Yup, that is all for Westport. Up next are some general region views, so we can get a sense of what I'm working with. 

Granite Bay(10x10mediumtiles) was created using Landscape Designer. I got lazy the other day and generated this region. I thought about terraforming the region either by hand or with SC4TF, but again I was lazy, so i just decided to start building. Let's take a look.  

(Provided by Region Census)



NOTE: That red line isn't built. No highway exists in the region yet. That redline is just helps determine where I should build. If you have and suggestions please help, thanks.

And our last pic is in game, showing GB's current population.


Almost done with this Update. 
Here are a few mods that I use in my region. Also, i don't consider that I cheat, I only use Godmode Terraforming (mostly for trees) and I do play UDI. Anyways here are some things from my plugin/mod list:
Bridge Height Mod (but I don't have any bridges yet?)
Columbus Terrain/Tree Mod
Slope Mod by Bones1 (I can't find BRF's mod)
Weathered Granite Rock and Brigantine Water by Pegasus. (I think you know why Granite is neon green.)
Pegasus CDK
Industry 4x
No Palms
Edmonton Transporation Map
NAM
No1wayarrows
Radius doubler

Alright. My goal with this region is just to build for a while and get some practice and some confidence. I really do not want to decide one day to stop playing or start on another region, because I don't like the way GB is turning out. This is again, why I started this CJ: to give me a reason to play. (I had always wanted to complete a region first, and then make a CJ, but that hasn't happened, so I am taking this approach.) 

All kinds of encouragement, suggestions, concerns, criticisms, questions, help, advice, assistance, replies etc. are appreciated.

[seemurray2 21]

Hey, thats a really nice port area, I can't wait to see you develop that region, it is huge!

[Camedia 0]

That's a nice looking region, a huge city would fit in perfectly. Just build it the way you think it's best, just don't forget the agriculture

[Schulmanator 5,813]

You are off to a fine start. Looks good!

[BlondeTwiggy 43]

hey, this looks great so far! Looking forward to more

[FlyingFreeze2 0]

Spectacular! Really like your ports.

[mayorron 0]

I love your industrial harbor. The whole region looks good so far. I hope you put a highway through Fall Park and Dailyshore, it'll be really useful for your citizens. I suggest the rural highway.

[jacqulina 162]

thats a great region there,some awesome work on the harbour / docks and the area around it,very nice work and pics

[infinitum19 0]

Nice busy port you have there. something realistic! Go for the updates boy! Waiting here

[JaneJacobs 1]

Nice work, looks promising.

[Abc987 3]

Looks great!

Jason

[connor_v 3]

Looks very nice, good ports. I'll be here next update!

[Master of Nukes 0]

Great Looking region! Should look awsome when finished.

By the way, Good Start! Keep it up!! 

[capitol1 1]

pretty neato ports i like the region look and your planning.But it would look really cool if you made that future highway all curvy and what not..

[vgcpapa 5]

Saratague: Home to the SU Seadonkeys

My train passes by some office towers. I have never seen skyscrapers before. There aren't any yet in Wesport. I have never been on a train also. Wait a second. There isn't a train station in Westport? Whatever, it's a capricious world.

U]GO SEADONKEYS

[Voulpiotis 4]

Wow, great city and a very promising map!

[homeandaway 1]

looks very modern and spacious, looking forwards to seeing more my friend, hope you are well and take care

~Alex~

[vgcpapa 5]

Responding...

Homeandaway: Thank you for your comments.

Voulpiotis: Thank you. Yes it is a promising map, maybe too promising. Which is why I have neglected that map and begun work on another region. I don't have a region view of the new region, but it is nothing like the old one.

A midweek Mosaic of someplace in Saratague.

Mayor's note: It might be evident from this mosaic that i have a plain playing style. It is not so much vanilla, but as you may notice there aren't many custom buildings. I think it is because i like to keep a relatively clean plugin folder. Ok, wow this picture isn't up the quality I expected. Whatever , maybe it might turn out better next time.

[Kippis05 2]

Mmmm, vanilla sounds delicious... Ahem. Yes, well it certainly looks good from where I'm standing. Excellent work!

[Schulmanator 5,813]

Nice update -works for me! Vanilla, chocolate, or swirled... alll yummy eye candy. Keep up the fine CJ work!

[vgcpapa 5]

I am working on it...

I wish this was the case, but in reality I haven't made any progress in my region so far. I still haven't even decided a name for my region (as of now it is labeled Test Region). I could look for a scapegoat, and I would look no further than the BAT. I swear it can be as addictive as the game itself. But everyone knows that the real cause is myself. My work habits when it comes to video games is counterproductive; it is ALL play and NO work.

...Moving on. Here is a mosaic, that I particularly like. Well at least I like how the two northernmost  office buildings fit in with the architectural style of the train station and as you move south, there are more modern but repetitive buildings.  This mosaic challenges our perception that the "modern" transcends the "old", while it also discredits an excessive romanticization of the traditional. This is too say, that this picture finds the perfect fusion between perceived modernity and tradition. This is done, by giving the "Old" the upper hand. By this I mean that, the "Old" controls the top of the picture. But to balance out the "Old's" positional dominance, more space is devoted to the "Modern", thus creating an equilibrium between two incongruous forces. These two forces [old and new]  are further stabilized by a network of roads that snakes its way through the mosaic. As the road network approaches the sides of the mosaic, it appears that the network might break, thus breaking the tie between the two dominant powers. But the road network holds strong and firmly fuses together the perceived contrasting forces of this mosaic.

 

Alright, that is all I have for my interpretation of this mosaic... IF YOU DIDN'T READ THE ABOVE PLEASE READ [i SWEAR IT'S REALLY GOOD]... and plus it took me forever to write, ultimately forcing me to change what I was going to do in this update. Maybe I'll just do what I had planned next time.

The negatives I see in this mosaic, is that there is not any street life whatsoever, and that the southernmost road does not connect properly. But both of these are easy fixes, so it is not that bad.

Editors Note: In my CJ's short history [only one page], this happened to be the funnest update. I think that I might continue to do this type of update, but this will most likely depend on your feedback. It would also be greatly appreciated and would add to the feeling of this CJ if people that wanted to, provide their perspective of my pictures or opinions of my own interpretations. In this picture, for example you could mention how the fountains enhance the picture, or whatever.

Also, thanks for stopping by and replying:

Kippis05

Schulmanator: because of your continuous support in my so far short CJ, I think that this mosaic should be in your name. And it is so that it will be named:

       "The Schulmanating Balance"

[SaltandVinegar 1]

That was a nice seaport. Like the eye candy.

[capitol1 1]

woa nice mosaics mann.sorry granite bay didnt work out for you.

[homeandaway 1]

OMFG!, WHat a mosic!, lovely!, cant wait for more!.

Take care and PM if you need anything

~AleX~

[jacqulina 162]

excellent work and pics very nice layout my friend

[Schulmanator 5,813]

That is an awesome mosaic. I think everything goes along very well together. I am honored to have it named for me. Thanks!

[homeandaway 1]

always loking forwards for more my friend!.

~Alex~

[Nardo69 51]

For a rather plain "Vanilla RH" plugin - folder  your CJs looks extremely good (even though I would not trade my 1,3-2GB plugins - changes thanks to Startup Manager)!

So your original Region didn't work out - hmmm - tried rural areas? Get the Rural Variety Kit to reduce the Pedrianas - don't worry - this as old as useful Lotpack uses only EA props:

https://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?id=1846

and then go wide!

As for degining developing axis: Good idea but I would use railways instead of Highways. They are cheaper to build and maintain, historically older IRL and especially in rural areas look really nice.

Bernhard

[homeandaway 1]

cant wait for more my friend!.

~Alex~

[vgcpapa 5]

First off, here is an ingame region shot. I haven't made much progress, except for the terraforming I have been doing. I can showcase the changes another time if you want.

The Aesthetics of History

This image reintroduces us to some of our perceptions of community. At first glance, we focus on the dilapidated buildings and while not exactly immediately, but eventually we begin to question how such a prosperous community turned the corner only to find that the road only goes downhill. As the neighborhood plummeted, it enticed the interests of neglect and darkness. These two foes latched on to our plunging idol. What used to be prosperous is now depressed. What used to be cherished is now neglected.

But a neighborhood that is plagued by abandoned buildings, neglect, and darkness should not be deprived of its status as a respectable community.  For each neighborhood, regardless of its inhabitants or lack of holds its own history. And what is absent at first glance is history.

For history is beautiful. And while it can be expressed through image, History is blessed in that it doesn’t have to be committed to a medium that is aesthetically interpreted. History is flexible in its modes of expression, more examples being oral and written. And History’s limited independence from these modes, its ability to take the street, road, avenue or highway is what makes history beautiful.

At a second glance, we look past the characteristics brought by abandonment and neglect, and we are rewarded with history [make one up if you want, but basically this happened after a highway was built nearby, think East Tremont]. And we see that this community is marvelous.

Alright that is all for tonight. I am sorry that my thoughts about my image are not as complete as I want, but I have a busy week ahead of me with track meets.

Thanks for stopping by and thank you for your marvelous comments:

SaltandVinegar

capitol1

homeandaway

jacqulina

Schulmanator

Nardo69: That was great advice thank you. I might just download the mod that just stops Pedrianas from growing at all. But I haven’t decided yet, because those large silos don’t bother me much, at least not yet. And my plugins folder isn’t too small 125MB. I will retract my previous statements of “plain.”