Franklin County - A 1st CJ

[lookinin 2]

First off, thanks for dropping in! Don't expect much - my talents are not nearly as up to par as some of the other CJ's I've seen so far, but I'd like to share my stuff and see what you all think - so please feel free to make comments and suggestions as I go along.

There are at least two other CJ's with Franklin in the name. I hope I don't cause confusion, and I'm sorry if I do, but they seem to be out-of-date, so I thought this would likely be okay.

I'm using a bunch of mods & bats. They are too numerous to mention all of them, but notably, I am (or will be) using cycledogg's terrain and tree mods, NAM, GLR, the new ANT mod for diagonal streets, a bunch of BLS farms, jeronij's parking lots, walls, and trail parks, and quite a bit more - A BIG THANKS to the authors of (and contributors to) all of the projects I'm using - including ones not listed. If you're not sure what something is, just ask and someone will most likely know.

Most of my stuff is grown, not plopped, and I am *not* using any demand, anti-delapidation mods, or anything I'd consider a cheat with the exception maybe of jeronij's parking lots - they're great for cashflow That said, having a well balanced game is pretty important to me.

The region I'm using is my Scranton map, which is available on STEX. I am not recreating Scranton, this region is completely fictional, but you'd definately want to think PA when looking around, since that's where I'm from.

Oh yeah, I'm not much for story telling, but maybe one will develop as we go along - no promises - for now just a few pictures of the early development.

All images hosted offsite

A regional view with the current city being worked on highlighted:


The center of Franklin Township - not much happening yet, but a few people have moved in:


A shot of the other side of the mountain where you can some farms have moved in:


Some wildlife gets pretty close to the residential areas - the sims don't seem to mind


A close up of the new BLS farms - Thanks BarbyW!


Thanks to the Big John's Mine (barely visible in the 3rd image), I haven't needed much industry to get started... Demand is rising though, so more will be added:


If you got this far, THANKS!! I hope you've enjoyed my CJ! I'll be back with more soon...

[thatmonkeysim 8]

whoa whoa whoa... wait a sec...

do i see diagonal streets?!?!
WHERE DID YOU GET THAT MOD!?!

btw everything else looks great i cant wait to see how this CJ develops...

[oroen 0]

Nice looking start, and good use of the new diagonal street mod. That looks like a really interesting region on which to build. I especially like that last picture, with the little industry and train going by, with the houses in the background; a variety of things to take in at once there! And jeroni's parking lots are great for cash flow, aren't they

[1234 0]

WHOA DIAGONAL STREETS! ME WANTEEE! Where did you get them? Please tell us and we will love you! (not literally!)

[pekeboo01 3]

Good start-I didn't know the street mod was ready. Yippee!! I like the way you have your streets laid out. Looks very good. Love the wildlife-I have bears roaming around in my neighborhoods. * teehee* Good luck with the new CJ.

[lookinin 2]

Date: 5/17/2005 4:40:16 AM
Author: 1234
WHOA DIAGONAL STREETS! ME WANTEEE!

quote>

Date: 5/17/2005 4:22:24 AM
Author: thatmonkeysim
whoa whoa whoa... wait a sec...

do i see diagonal streets?!?!
WHERE DID YOU GET THAT MOD!?!

quote>

Hey guys, I thought this was common knowledge - I should have included the link in my first post.

Grab it!

Original post

Check out the thread !

Thanks everyone for the comments! Hope you enjoy the mod as much as I've been

[Kwakelaar 92]

Good start for a first CJ or any CJ for that matter.
Like the region and the slow development.

[jacqulina 162]

great start great region,your cj will improve as you go along ,you have done well so far

[MrCinatit 30]

you did a most excellent job with your trees, lookinin. i count at least three different tree types throughout the landscape - please correct me if i am wrong.

[dhoppeii 12]

Yes, very nice start.  Nice looking region, very plush.  I appreciate all the forward info.  The first development pic is interesting.  I like the look of the terraced road.  I'll be looking forward to seeing how you develop your farmland....Very nice indeed.  The only thing I would suggest, if possible, is increase the graphic resolution in-game.  The pics are a bit pixelated.  I understand though, that not everyone can run their game with the graphics turned up.

 

I'll be coming back for more.

 

Regards,

 

dhoppe

[MayorTim 16]

Great start so far! You might want to push the graphics up when taking pictures though.

[jonesla6 0]

You can just tell that this is going to be a good CJ. I'll be keeping an eye on this one.

[lookinin 2]

Kwakelaar, jacqulina, & jonesla6: Thanks so much for your compliments - I hope I can continue to keep your interest!

MrCinatit: Thank you, but I can only take credit for using CycleDogg's flora brush He's done an absolutely amazing job with both his trees and terrain. I believe there are 14 trees in all when you use the generic brush, which are automagically placed by the brush depending on slope direction and elevation. If you haven't seen them yet, check them out ! There is also a support thread for the trees , and a support thread for the terrain .

dhoppeii & MayorTime - Thank you for the compliments, and I am sorry about the poor quality of my images! I will increase the quality after this update. I am using 1280x1024 resolution when snapping my screenshots, but I guess I over-optimized them. I like a page that loads fast.

Thanks again *everyone*, I was not expecting such nice responses!

My updates will likely continue to show slow growth, I really like adding things gradually. Though I am not the best at terraforming, I prefer things to be just so. So you likely won't visit one day and find the whole thing turned into urban sprawl overnight. (I'm making excuses for my next images since they don't show much change, but rest assured, I am working on it!)

A small firehouse has been built to help my sims stay safe:


Industry is booming! Okay, not booming, but we're getting there


Some commercial development - I really like Bobbo662's gas stations! I just wish they looked a bit more weathered - they're awfully bright compared to everything else:


A church and a small cemetary has been built - I think the cemetary should have a road connection, I'll do that next update. I like the thought of the sims in church as a train rumbles off into the distance - feels rustic:


A couple more farmers have cleared some of the forest... an S-curve street? I'm deeply in love with the ANT mod - can't get over how nice it looks:


This is the plateau(?) above town where some additional development will occur next update. I'm thinking some wealthier sims might like the view:


Thanks again, and I hope you enjoyed this update!

[GaryGB 0]

I agree with you on that gas station, buto therwise everything is looking great.

[jacqulina 162]

looking good great work

[FullStrenght 74]

Nice start, keep it comming!

[mayormommy 8]

A nice rural look - I love CJs with lots of terrain.

[aasim45 1]

Nice and Great Start for a rural CJ. I kinda love rural cities where there is lots of open land, beautiful scenery and low density buildings.

[lookinin 2]

Hi again everybody! An early update today, I hope that's okay...

First off, an apology to MayorTim for misspelling his name - I was tired and hurrying to get to bed at a decent hour.

Thank you GaryGB, jacqulina, FullStrenght, mayormommy, & aasim45 for the wonderful comments and praise - I love coming back and seeing what you all had to say!

This update has at least some better quality images, please let me know what you think!


First, an anomoly


A couple of rural train stations have been added to reduce freight trip lengths. These were made by Pegasus - I forgot to mention him in my first post, but I like his stuff alot and use quite a bit of it:


As I mentioned I would do, a slightly nicer layout for the cemetery - hopefully it won't fill up too fast!


A big city doctor has decided he would rather live the country life - he seems to fit right in:


Thinking again of safety, the mayor has decided a sheriff was needed to keep the peace:


A small museum has appeared and has many American Indian exhibits:


Same image as above, but having some fun with filters


After reading the day's newspaper headlines (Musiam been bilt!), the mayor decided that the addition of a small school was probably a good idea:


The first wealthy sim has moved into Franklin!


And finally, a wider view so you can see the progress so far:


Next update will include a farming expansion, some resolution of a growing garbage problem, and hopefully lots more!

I hope you've enjoyed my third update! Let me know what you think!

[creilmann 0]

Lookinin,

You sold yourself short with that first statement about not expecting much in this CJ.  You have some very good talent.  Don't be so modest.  My expectations for Franklin County are quite high now.  You've got a new fan.  Keep it up.

 

(now I must go try out my new diagonal streets)

[dhoppeii 12]

Yeah, I agree with creilmann.  I think you sold yourself short.  This was a great update, but the pic that really caught my eye was the small museum on the pond.  I love the simple pics such as this.  I think they really show the character of this game.

[jacqulina 162]

lovely work with the pond how did you get the island in the pond,great update

[oroen 0]

Musiam been bilt! Ha!

I always like small bits of industry that blend in with rural terrain. Industry is always the hardest to make look realistic (for me anyway), so nicely done with that!

[lookinin 2]

Hey everybody! A short update for now - if I have time, I'll try to do more later tonight.

creilmann, dhoppeii: Thank you! I'm really glad you both feel that way - it boosts my confidence a bit

jacqulina: Thanks! The island is just pond edges placed in the center - nothing special, but gives a nice effect, don't you think?

oroen: Yes, I like it too, it feels more realistic to me than having them all bunched up. And don't worry, my sims are getting a little smarter now!

Thanks everyone for your great comments, and sorry this is so short today, but here we go!

Some nice looking new farms:


A few more - I've tried to keep them to only things that would realistically grow in Pennsylvania - I'll have to do something about those limes in the lower right


With the influx of grain farms, a special shipping facility was needed (close up of 1st pic):


Everybodies favorite, the garbage chute! I tried to find something more realistic that I liked, but couldn't... I'll try to work on this.


And finally - my first lot! What self-respecting rural PA town wouldn't have a junkyard?


Thanks for following along, I hope you enjoyed this update!

PS: After many hours work all ready, we're finally up to a population of 1039 - Woot! ...

[GingerBlokey 30]

Could you release that brilliant scrapyard. Your CJ is very interesting

[Mikeaut1 261]

Great work!!!  Love the use of the diagonal streets and the cycledogg! Everything is so rural and green! Nice joB!!! [:0]

[lookinin 2]

GingerBlokey: Thanks! I'm glad you like my junkyard! I would release it, but I think I would be terribly embarrassed!! It's just a large park with no park effect that I modified in the lot editor. The original idea came from disk_error's Recycling Center . If you really want it, let me know.

Mikeaut1: Thanks very much for dropping by! Glad you like it!

Now since my last update, some interesting things have happened! First, one night, not long after the garbage chute was built, the people of the town decided to let the mayor know that they found the chute a bit distasteful:


So, with his head held low, the mayor decided to quietly dismantle the chute:


He then replenished the land:


And introduced a cleaner and more environmentally conscious garbage solution:


The people of the town rejoiced - thier water was garbage and pollution free:


After everything returned to normal, the ever fiscally responsible mayor decided to rebuild his home:


And just so I don't leave without giving you any substance Here's a couple more farms for you:


And the wealthier ranchers decided that a showgrounds was needed:


Next update will hopefully have some improvements of Franklin's very boring main street:


A big thanks to everyone taking the time to read my CJ - I hope you've enjoyed it!

[dhoppeii 12]

I really like your development so far.  The farms look great and I really like the showgrounds....

[jacqulina 162]

awesome update

[sloppet 3]

nice updates! not so bad so far