Maxisland, a CJ by MABE (MAyor ABE)

[Mayor Abe 3]

Welcome to Maxisland. This has been a region I have been working on for several years, using the base SC4 region. This is what it looks like now.

The first city to be featured is Spring Hill, a small suburb of Mineonapolis. The city was built using mostly Mattb325's Modern Houses (avalabile only on SC4D). The city consits of mostly suburban middle class Homes on large lots. here are some examples.

this is just a preview, to test reaction. A new update, including a trip to Mineonapolis, is coming soon. Note: Mods used include the Indusdry quadrupler, Bridge hieght mod, lots of riots, and, of course, the NAM. Lastly, I would like to thank Deadwoods, Simgoober, and Mattb325 for their creations.

[jacqulina 162]

this is a very nice start my friend,great work and pics

[MsD 0]

Nice start! But what is with all of the water zots? (icons)

[needgames 0]

Looks impressive. I'm curious what else you're gonna show us.

[patriots_1228 51]

-10 for the subliminal devotion advertisements (lol that was a joke)

-10 for the zots and toolbars(not a joke)

but you've built a nice city from what we've seen so far, i hope the name doesnt describe the kind of buildings used!

[Mayor Abe 3]

From the Desk of Mayor Abe

Jacqulina: thanks

MsD:

But what is with all of the water zots? (icons)quote>

Uh. hehe. I forgot to remnove them when i was taking the photos of Spring Hill

Needgames: thanks, though this is only one of 2 suburban areas in Maxisland I developed. I usually develop medium/ large size cities.

Patriots:

-10 for the zots and toolbarsquote>

well, I forgot. I took all the Spring Hill photos the same day, so they all will exibit this. But, a 90 is still good!

hope the name doesnt describe the kind of buildings used! quote>

Well, scince I made Maxisland beforee I joined ST, about half of the cites have no custom contend, and the other half have noting but custom content.

Pre ST: Mineonapolis (though somewhat has custom copntent), Chicago, West Windsor, GreenPointe, Baron City, Norfolk City.

Post ST: Bedford Styvusant, Bedford Heights, Alexandria Heights, Washington city, Iillryia, Ashcroft Ville, Northside, Farmingdale (started just a few days ago), Sam's City, and Spring Hill

Later today, i'll post pics of Spring hill and Mineonapolis.

[Mayor Abe 3]

Skipping ahead, here are pictures of Mineonapolis...

Coming in from Spring Hill...

Here are some shots of the residential areas (a peek of downtown in the last pic!

Contiuing with residential, here are some pictures of Finger Point, off of Mineonapolis.

Next update, more of Downtown, and a trip to the Indusdrial area.

[Mayor Abe 3]

please comment

[patriots_1228 51]

thats bumping your CJ and it is not allowed. only post when you have an update or important announcement. btw the pics arent showing.

[autoVino 26]

That looks great!  But instead of shrinking the pictures in you cj, maybe you can take smaller ones in the game (by pressing the space-bar when taking the picture)... The quality loss is horrible when resized. 

edit: and maybe convert your images to jpeg format for faster internet loading... Other than that it looks promising!

[Mayor Abe 3]

Replies:

Patriots: Sorry, but it had been sitting on page 2 with no responses. no one ever goes on page 2. also, aboiut the pics, I uploded them using image shack's firefox toolbar. if U can't see the pics, veiw using firefox.

autoVino: thanks! the resizing is a good idea.

[Krio 624]

Uuh..I can't find the nice words for this. You should fix everything, give water to your sims for start, take pics without pausing the game and use custom content.

[Sky Guy 163]

This is pretty good... its cool how you used the maxis region, never seen that before. Anyway keep up the good work P.S: some downloaded buildings from the STEX would be good

[Mayor Abe 3]

Welcome to Maxisland. NOTE: to see images, please use Mozilla Firefox! If you don't have it, download it here.

UPDATE 2: Mineonapolis part II This is the second, and last part of Mineonapolis, before we go to West Windsor, another of the pre ST cites. 

Here are some pictures of the Downtown Area

This is a new development that has grown around the area of  the Mineonapolis AirStrip. the last picture is of the landing strip itself.

Finally, pictures of the indusdrial area

If you like it, please comment. If you don't, constructive criticisim accepted.

[Deever 23]

Pre-Simtropolis cities eh? That reminds me so much about my city Directus.

It's nice to see some good ol' Maxis buildings, but I hope you get to the part where you use custom content, as others have already emphasized. Your work isn't bad, but custom content will make things look a lot better.

[patriots_1228 51]

eww maxis

lots of CJs sit on page 2, its still no excuse for bumping. let the comments do the bumping! mines currently on page 3 if im right.

im not gonna give constructive criticism for your preST cities, because, well, they were preST. Looking forward to Post-ST!

[JanYpe 17]

Welcome to Maxisland. NOTE: to see images, please use Mozilla Firefox! If you don't have it, download it here.quote>

Friendly advice: Download IrfanView, and convert your .png screenshots to .jpegs. That way everyone can see them, and their size will be reduced a little. There's no reason why an 800 x 600 zoomed out screenshot should be 600kb+.

[MsD 0]

Nice couple of updates. No Zots, No tool bar. Very cool.

[Mayor Abe 3]

THE RETURN OF MAXISLAND

After a 1 year Hiatus, I felt like reviving my CJ, so here it is. This is what Maxisland looks like now

The major addition we will be seeing today is Baltimore, a post ST (and post CAM) city. Starting with the Residential portion...

I don't know how those buildings got on the terminal loop either- lol.

A night shot...

Sorry about the zots, but I forgot the key for the cheat code.

This one here shows the commercial area, which shows the full extent of the cam (I've reached stage 10)

This one shows part of the first industrial area. In case you are wondering why such ritzy commercial areas are coexisting with indstrial plants, some of them dirty, its because In the middle, with the white smoke, I built an air purifier (I forgot when I DLed it, don't ask)

Here's another mixed use area, with the purifier, this time on the small "finger" that the coathanger brige in one of the night shots leads to.

That last one is of the comercial area, with a closeup of the GLR line.

I took these pictures pretty fast, as last August I got  a new computer with Vista Premium, and the mysterious crash still happens. In addition to feedback on the CJ, tips on how to stop this crash would be appreciated. Hopefully, I will regualrly keep updating this iteration of Maxiskland- the CJ.

[nihonkaranws 88]

You got some custom content, but it still doesn't look all that nice. SLOPE MODD! Those roads are WAY to steep! Seawalls! Does that coast really fit in with such a large city? And what about a terrain modd, a custom airport, and BATs? Also, PLEASE, for the love of all that's great, close your menu when you take a shot! Click the little box in the bottom left corner, and use Ctrl+Shift+S to take a picture. And could you please post those images at 800x600, they're too small.

And please, take the advice I gave you. All you have to do is look at some of the longer CJs here, you will easily see how yours doesn't really compare to them... I wish you good luck.

[Mayor Abe 3]

Where can I download this slope mod you speak of? And I will make larger photos the next time, thank you. As for the custom Airports, I tried to make one in the plot that is now Spring Hill (see first Post) ,But I quickly lost patience. Same with PEG's waterfronts and canals.

[nihonkaranws 88]

I don't mean to brag, but click the image in my signature. You will see how yours doesn't even begin to compare with mine, or others...

[Joetropian1 1]

First off, half theweb still uses IE (including me), so I can't even see your pics, except a few. You can use MS Paint to convert your pics to JPEG.

Second, you will need more custom content, especially as time goes on. When I started my journal I had about a gig and a half of CC. Now I have of 3.6 gigs.

Third, for some eason your cj took ridiculously long to load. I expected about 1 minute. It must have been 10 min!

btw, what is Maxisland anyway??? I never had a Maxisland region...

JT1

[Theirishnintendonerd 13]

Its cool to see What you have done with the maxis region   It would look better If you had level terrain

[Mayor Abe 3]

REPLIES

@nihonkaranws; But you are...

@Joetropian; About that, I use the Firefox TB because I can upload multiple images (to IS)easily. Regarding the Maxisland, it was included with the original SC4. The city of Farmingdale, which I will post next, used to be the Mayor Tutorial  for the original SC4. Possibly you bought the deluxe edition, and it was omitted.

@Theirishnintendonerd; Thank you! That is the first unequivocally positive comment I've gotten since i started the 2nd Iteration of this CJ

Probably tomorrow or Monday, I will post Pictures of Farmingdale (IE compatible, this time). I also am still looking for help with the SC4 on Vista crash. any tips appreciated.

[nihonkaranws 88]

Just do (a bit) better and people will enjoy it. I already gave you ideas, and it seems you didn't even take them...

I was trying to help you, but it doesn't work if you don't do your part too. Good luck though.

[Chappington 131]

Mayor Abe, not only do people not like PNGs, but Simtropolis rules require you to convert those pngs to jpegs. Just use paint, it's super easy.

Also, here's what you absolutely need to do:

- fix problems which cause the zots

- minimize the panel on the lower left

- convert images to jpeg

- effort

I've noticed you've said a lot of things such as "I quickly lost patience" or "it's easier". If you can't be bothered to put in the required effort, then people won't be bothered to read this CJ.

If you put in a lot of effort, this could be a good CJ, but you'll need to put in a lot.

[Mayor Abe 3]

And now, here is Farmingdale. These pictures were taken sevral months ago as part of a project to create a subway map of the city, and therefore the pictures follow the city's subwat lines. THese pictures have been converted to .jpg, so they should be veiwable to our IE users. Without further ado...

This is where the red line "R" and "RR local" begin, at the border with Bed-Stuy. This stationm, called Frankie Ikes avenue, is one of the busiest on the system

This here is Livingston Station, located in the neighborhood of Livingsrton. an express station, this conects to the "G" and "GG local" trains at the underground station, as well as the "P", "PO local" and "PP local" trains, which north to the indusdrial district of the city. THe livingston station, both the elevated and underground portions, constitutes the busiest station in the system.

Same station, diffrent angle

Parrivile. this is where the "R" and "RR local" trains connect to the "Y" and "YY" local trains. 

The junction is between the local and express; the track which breaks off to the left is a spur used by the "YY" and "RR" trains, making stops in the comercial district of Rockville. the right line is used by the "R" and "Y" trains and during daytiime hours, some "RR" specia trains, directly to the industrial district, where they terminate at either Hauss lane or Fullmiester street.

This is a photo taken at a diffrent angle, showing both the express bypass and the Rockville station. The Elevasted rail at the bottom is the May Franks Lane shuttle.

This is the Rockville North station. just after this station, there's a junction where the local rejoins the main track.

This is another angle of the area that was shown in the first 2 photos. bottom left is the station where the "RR" Specials terminate. the station is closed during dusk because of the low traffic in the area at night.

A more detailed veiw of the junction leading to Indusdria. note that the HSR  also has a terminus nearby. At the top of the photo, one can also see the Hauss lane terminus, where the "RR" and "Y" trains end.

The track that continues past Hauss lane is used by "R" and "YY" trains. they are joined at Fullmniester street by the "P" and "PP" trains.

The first station the fullmiester Street branch. the "R" "YY", "P" and "PP" trains continue for sevral more blocks before terminating. note the HSR at the bottom of the canal, as well as the Orange Line EL at the extreme right of the photo.

The glass roof station is where the "P" family of trains, as well as the "R" amnd "YY" trains terminate. the track that continus is used by the "A" and "AA" local trains, which turn south on River Avenue torwards COmercia East.

The turn point itself is obscured, but this is where the "A" and "AA" trains turn onto RIver Avenue.

One may note how long the trains are. the line is heavily used.

The line nmow leads us to a sketchy area of the city near the airport. As there is no room for a midsize airport in the city, this is the city's seccond airport. THe Eye was put here to improve the mayor rating, as this area has been marred by riots.

The first airport, as well as its smelly neighbors..

THe "A" and "AA" trains leave the avenut to end at the Comercia East station (not shown)

Neighborhood of Comercia east, known mostly for the Farmingdale Indian casino, abnd the Farmingdale Mall (BAT by Simgoober) 

Comercia East Station itself. the A family of trains ends here. the track that runs past this station is used by the "G" and "GG" local trains which go to the downtown, and are 1 of only 2 lines in the city that are mostly underground.

Diffrent veiw. however, the City Hall/Courthouse statuion is visibnle at the top of the photo.

Detail of City/Courthouse. not included in the station name is the more acessible Farmingdale Stockmarket and Mercentile exchange.

This shiows the underground junction of the "G" and "GG" trains, as well as the HSR's Down town station.

This last photo (sorry about the obtrusive panel) is of the first station on the "Y"and "YY" line. the line goes west from here until Parrivile.

Hope you enjoyed this tour of the  Farmingdale subways.

[nihonkaranws 88]

Looks like it's getting better. Three things you need to do to improve: Get some more custom buildings. I think there is still too much Maxis. Next, please get seawalls, the irregular coast just doesn't look nice in that city. Third, please close you toolbar! As I said before: click the little box in the bottom left corner, and use Ctrl+Shift+S to take a snapshot. Good luck!

[Hamish 1,369]

It looks good. I would suggest doing what nihonkaranws said and remove the menu. Also download this to remove the yellow pause sign aswell.