Argentum (CLOSED--5/15/2007)

[Tarkus 6,932]

(

Welcome to Argentum, my first ever CJ.  I've been working on this region for over a year, and gradually improving it (many of those improvements have involved De-Maxisification).  I'm not the greatest city developer by any means, but I've gotten great enjoyment out of this region.

There are a few basic premises I'm taking with my approach.  I'm a big "roadgeek", so this CJ will focus a lot on transit networks, and most of the time, I'll be presenting it from the perspective of a Transportation/Land Use department.  Each update will follow a number of different construction projects being undertaken across the region. 

As you may know, I'm also actively involved in the Transit Modding community, with the NAM and RHW, and this will serve somewhat as a preview for some of my works-in-progress, namely, the RHW Modular Interchange System (RHWMIS), which is essentially a "toolkit" for the creation of completely custom interchanges.  There may be some other surprises on that front as well.

Here's a few pics as a bit of a teaser before the first "real" update:

Some suburban areas

Some scenic areas

Some of the construction projects underway

And some nearly completed interchange projects

Finally, here's a map of part of one of the suburbs.  (Warning: The image is very large. )

I'll have more up soon, including some background about the region, as well as an even larger map.

-Tarkus

[jacqulina 162]

great start very nice teaser pics i cant wait to see more

[Voulpiotis 4]

OMG, great pictures!!! Where can I download the rural highway?

[lakeyboy 12]

Very nice start with this CJ Tarkus. I love the interchange in the last picture. Finally SimCity is starting to resemble real life freeways like in my hometown Melbourne where we have hardly any concrete barriers on the sides of the freeway and where we have big, green wide medians for our freeways as well. Keep it up because this is great!

[rickmastfan67 0]

Originally posted by: Tarkus

quote>

 

I see you're enjoying my new strait RHW pieces with the reflectors and brighter paint on them.

[DFire870 2]

Yay, it's up! I can't wait to see the first update, and I can tell this will be an awesome CJ.

[Krio 624]

Oh you geeks do fine job.

[ccecill 52]

This is awesome. I'm about to get the RHW now...

[jacqulina 162]

wonderfull work my friend

[sc4portugal 10]

Great work!

[siso43 13]

Great pics, and a great interstate. I say only it's cool

[mjig_dudy 11]

Its great to finally see this CJ, been waiting for it

so is this a new, brighter, RHW texture you are using? It looks very nice

[JCarter 0]

OMW!!!!!! I just LOVE this! I cant wait for more! Hey, I have one suggestion: what about an elevated spur connecting Routes 4 and 204? Judging by the picture I saw (I havent seen the whole city, so I dunno), it may be useful. Also, it would be cool to see a T-interchange with the RHWMIS. Take care!

[Cjah 15]

Woah...people say my CJ is good...this is one hell of a...no this is probably one of the best starts I have ever seen...

The upper RHW systems/pieces looks excellent..I might not be able to work this into my current Destruction CJ,but once things are able in Evolution this RHW network will be my tool of choice...you may not be an expert,but this CJ and your region look excellent...

Great job...I'm normally used to simple starts...

[Haljackey 17,354]

Looks great so far... Awaiting updates as they come.

[bat 6]

wonderful using of the RHW!

great start and wonderful pictures!

bat

[dfnva 34]

Wow.... drooling.

In additon to showcasing these new road puzzle pieces, I liked your map and the look of your city.

Keep up the good work,

Dan

[tommiej 0]

fantastic pics!! this is an eyecandy CJ, only then instead of BAT's, Transit Mods!! and i really like it!!

looking forward for more!

[rickmastfan67 0]

Argentum--A Roadgeek/Tutorial CJ | Now Open! (also at SC4D) (Update 1 coming April 21st--Really!)quote>

Well, Tarkus, it's the 23rd now here on the East Coast. YOU'RE LATE.

[homeandaway 1]

OMG! - fantastic pics my friend!

always looking forwards to seeing more of your great work my good friend

take care and ill cya!

~alex~

[JCarter 0]

The frequent date changes are getting to me

[Amberite 0]

Originally posted by: Tarkus

quote>

This is looking great! Good job Tarkus! I am just wondering, where did you get those road curve mods from? I see your avenues / roads / highways have natural curves, unlike the ones in SC4.

Also, I'm assuming you're using the RHWMIS. Is this available anywhere yet??

[homeandaway 1]

take care and i await to see more of your great work my friend

~alex~

[Tarkus 6,932]

I figured it was probably about time for some sort of update to break the silence.  RL and various modding projects (namely, dealing with the RHW v13 Beta release) kind of derailed things, but I'm looking forward to spending more time with Argentum.  Many thanks to everyone for their continued continued interest and comments during my absence.

This here is Update 0.5--it's a further teaser which will show you some more of what's to come. 

Here is an overhead shot of the Argentum region:

And a slightly larger one for those interested:

The main idea behind Argentum was to create a region in an area not unlike the so-called "High Desert" or "Shrub Steppe" of the inner West Coast of the United States, a semi-arid region which covers most of Central and Eastern Oregon and Washington states, as well as parts of California, Nevada and Idaho.  The region is not assigned to any particular state, though in a somewhat "Simpsonic" way, it's vaguely in Oregon. 

The map was made back in February 2006 in Landscape Designer, in the dark ages before wouanagaine's SC4 Terraformer.  Coincidentally, though, it does actually bear a striking resemblance to Malheur Lake, Oregon, near the Nevada border.  Here it is on Google Maps.

And here it is turned facing east--rather eerie . . .

As you can tell by the scale, though, the Argentum region is much smaller.

Here's a few vital statistics on the Argentum region:

Population: 44,207 (est. as of April 2007)

Land Area: 225 sq. mi (576 km²)  (SC4 equivalent--6 large tiles x 6 large tiles, 36 "quads")

Population Density: 196.48 per sq. mi (76.75 per km²)

Largest City: Argentum (Pop. 24,045)

(this will be updated as this CJ continues)

And a couple more teasers:

Here is a pic of the small town of Angstrom, just to the south of Argentum:

And here's another map, which is still in progress.  It's of the actual city of Argentum, the most populous in the region.  Many of the construction pics in the last update are located on here.  Eventually there will be a whole series of maps covering the entire region.  (I had tried to get them all into one image, but it was 12,000 pixels in width and length and crashed my computer. ) 

My main inspiration in terms of the design scheme was from the Thomas Bros. Maps (now a subsidiary of Rand McNally), which are prevalent in the Western US.  Being a map geek, I've studied their various Portland Metro maps and Pacific Northwest Atlas for many hours since I was about 7 or 8 (often even finding some errors ). 

Next time, I'll be back with more maps, and some construction projects in progress.  And of course, the RHWMIS interchanges will also make another appearance.

Now, to reply to some comments:

jacqulina:  Thanks!  Glad to hear you liked the start.

Voulpiotis:  Thanks for the compliments!  If you haven't gotten the RHW yet, it's on the STEX.  Check my sig for the link.

lakeyboy:  Thanks--it's good to see you back around these parts again! 

rickmastfan67:  Yes, I have indeed been enjoying your new textures.  Thought this may serve as a suitable trial run.

DFire870:  Thanks!  Hopefully, I can deliver on that awesomeness.

Krio:  Kiitos!  There will be much more geekery to come . . .

ccecill:  Thanks for the compliments!

jacqulina:  Thanks again!

sc4portugal:  Thanks for stopping by!

siso43:  Thanks--glad to hear you thought the pics and the interstate were cool.

mjig_dudy:  Thanks--I had no idea that this CJ was so anticipated.  And yes, that is a new brighter RHW texture, courtesy of rickmastfan67.

JCarter:  Glad to hear you love it.  There's more where that came from--hopefully my next update won't take so long.  As far as Routes 4 and 204 go, judging by that single map, I'd probably say the same thing.  The new map I just posted is just west of the first one, and as you'll see, there's a North-South highway on the east side of it (near the border with the second map).  And there will be a T-Interchange with the RHWMIS quite soon.  There's a couple even bigger interchanges which will be gradually built throughout as well.  Glad to see someone asking about the network layout! 

Cjah:  Thanks for the compliments, and I'm happy to hear that you like the Elevated RHW enough that you'd consider using it.  I'm hoping to make that available sometime quite soon, perhaps with the next version.

haljackey:  Another avid RHW follower--thanks for stopping by, and glad you liked it.

bat:  Thanks, I'm pleased to hear that you liked the RHW usage--that's going to be one of the big features here.

Dan (dfnva):  Thanks.  It means a lot to hear that from a fellow roadgeek.

tommiej:  Thanks for the compliments!  The whole transit eyecandy thing was exactly what I was going for. 

rickmastfan67:  Yes, I am indeed late.  Sorry . . .

Alex (homeandaway):  A fellow Alex . . . thanks for the compliments and take care as well.

JCarter:  They got to me too . . .

Amberite:  Thanks!  Actually, all of the stuff in those pics is either already built into SC4, or available in the current NAM, so there actually wasn't an additional mod used there.  And yes, I am using the RHWMIS, and unfortunately, it hasn't been released yet.  But I hope to have it out soon, and you'll get to see some further development of it here.

Alex (homeandaway):  Thanks again!  There's more where that came from . . .

I'll hopefully be back here much sooner with the next update.  Thanks again for your continued support, and hope you enjoy this update!

Edit as of 12:25am PDT, 4/26/2007:  After some suggestions provided by Shadow_Assassin and pickled_pig over at SC4 Devotion, I've updated the transportation map of the city of Argentum.

-Tarkus

[mayormommy 8]

Such an incredible variety of road overpasses and interchanges. The small town is quite interesting too.

[sEAhAwk fAn121 0]

amazing use of RHW!! i wanna see more!

[bakercity 270]

grreat cj. will be waiting for more.

[homeandaway 1]

great usage of maps and scales with all that! - i like it all very much my friend!

i really enjoyed your update and im am always eager to see more of your great city my friend!

take care

your new friend

~alex~

[jacqulina 162]

excellent work and pics my friend,fantastic transport system

[Godzillaman 21]

Tarkus when will the new RHW interchange system come out?

Just a SC4 dude wanting to know...