Welcome to Condor Bay

[chasespncr 4]

that was an amazing update! keep up the great work

[nihonkaranws 88]

What an amazing CJ. You have great skills to put to work in SC4!

[Hamish 1,370]

Wow, the parks look great. Keep the updates coming.

[chasespncr 4]

i demand an update!

[Maraus 0]

I demand it too! Great CJ, i like it much.

[masochist 111]

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boon1234 -

LOL, I'm glad you found the patience, because I honestly don't know how long it'll take to get to downtown !  I'll try not to get rid of all the towers, but the area definitely needs to tone down the building height at least a bit.  It seems like Tokyo with all those res towers!  Anyways, I'm glad you enjoyed that update, and I really hope you'll enjoy this next one and all it has to offer.  Thanks for your comment!

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jjune4991 -

Heh heh...yeah, I'm good at those large updates.  I think this upcoming one is officially the shortest, but it may take you the most amount of time to fully explore...you'll see what I mean .  I'm really glad you like the park, as it's one of my favorite features of the city right now.  Feel free to come back any time!  Thanks for the comment!

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Ntq$310 -

I'm glad you liked it!  Good to know that you enjoyed my parks and such...I spent a fair amount of time on them.  It is sad about OP4, but that's why the memorial exists...just as a way to remember him. Anyways, don't be a stranger!  Thanks for commenting!

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penguin007 -

Heh heh...I think you're the only one on ST who gave an opinion about those banners (and it's been a unianimous decision for "A").  But...I went with a different one, and you'll see why in this update.  As for downtown, I actually have no idea when I'm going to get to it...instead, I think I'll try starting up on the other side of the river in a different place....

I'm glad you liked the region shot...and yes, I do plan on starting a new region sometime soon.  If you want some info on it, check out [The Planning Pages] or [simPeg].  I'm excited about it, but even as I plan on developing that region, Condor Bay will still live on as always .  Anyways...thanks for the comment!  Hope you enjoy this update; it's a doozy!

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panthersimcity4 -

Thank you !  I'm glad you like it so far!  That bridge is built, but it hasn't been...ahh, "prettyfied" yet, so if you stick around for a (long) while, you'll get to see that done.  Thanks for the comment!

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chasespncr -

Thanks!  I'm glad you liked it...hopefully you'll like this update, as well !

2nd comment -

Then an update you shall have !  Thanks again for the bump!

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nihonkaranws -

Thanks !  I appreciate the compliment, and I'm glad you enjoy Condor Bay!  Come back soon!

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hamish -

Thanks!  I tried to make them look at least a bit like I knew what I was doing...of course, I didn't .  Still, I'm glad you enjoyed them.  Here's a large, multi-tier'd for you...hopefully you like it!

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Maraus -

LOL...then an update you shall have, as well   I'm glad you like Condor Bay so far...I hope you enjoy this update after having demanded it so forcefully !  Hope to see you soon!

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UPDATE 11 - Multimedia Extravaganza!

Bewitching the mind and ensnaring the senses...

Well, already something out of the ordinary, isn't there?  This logo was created by Sticksboi05  at my request.  In case you don't know, he heads a [CJ Map and Logo Service] here on ST (along with a handful of other users), and I'd say he does good work !  As it is, I've decided to help him advertise his service, so I've truncated the logo down into a signature and will use that as my banner for a while (instead of the three that I asked you guys to vote on last update... ).  You'll also probably see this logo appear in various other places.  BIG thanks to Sticksboi05 for doing this for me!

That opening banner is just a taste of the oddities to come in this update...but first, the new Condor Bay embassy in Tierra de la Oscuridad has been completed!

11.1)

Photo by BlondeTwiggy; click to see more embassies by her!

Doesn't it look great?  I chose the building; BT did everything else.  You can see some of the other embassies she created for people by clicking the above picture; trust me, they're all spectacular !

And thus ends the normalcy of this update .

I've been really busy for the past few weeks/months trying a couple different things to help, ahh...enhance the experience of Condor Bay, and to make things a bit more personal for you guys.  So, I have a few things showcase that I think may achieve the desired affect .

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"I've got pictures to prove I was there..."

I don't actually have too many pictures of new areas to show, but I do have something slightly special: a Special Picture Showcase (a la Condor Beach) of the Rigel District.  Hope you enjoy it!

11.2)

Residential condo oilified

11.3)

The dead of night...(as seen in the SC4 Picture Contest)

11.4)

Larger (and more interesting) overview available at SC4D

11.5)

An odd-perspective photo

11.6)

Nottingham Tower at night

11.7)

Nighttime picture of the Rigel District (larger view on SC4D)

PAUSE!

Okay...for some reason, I really like this picture.  I was trying to duplicate the nighttime effect that Cockatoo has in his pictures; you know, that sort of...bronzed nighttime effect that really makes the city lights come alive.  I think I almost got there with this one, but not quite.  The SoftGlow really helps this picture, though, and I'm proud of how it came out.

UNPAUSE!

11.8 )

Shield your eyes...

11.9)

Another odd-angle shot

And that would be the bulk of the pictures this time...but the update is far from over .

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YouTube = WIN

You all can thank Haljackey for this section .  There's a thread here on ST called [show Us Your Videos] where people have, predictably, been posting their SC4 videos.  When the topic was made, I wanted to try it...so I did.  I took Haljackey's advice and grabbed the Fraps video capture software to record the game footage, planned out my route, and filmed it.  I edited it with ULead Software, and hosted it on YouTube.  So now, I'd like to present to you "Visions of Fordville" (and I'm embedding it in high-definition, so ignore the little annotation unless you actually go to YouTube to view it):

"Visions of Fordville"

(6:32 at 1.5x game speed)

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[BlondeTwiggy 43]

Heya!! Sorry I haven't been here in SO long and didn't get to bump your CJ from the dark abyss of page five hundred and three   Instead I"ll be the first comment for this update!  (hopefully, but knowing me, this will probably take like 20 minutes to type and someone will beat me to it)  Aaaanyway...That is a pretty cool logo and I might have to check out that label service meself... Oh boy a link to my embassies!  Glad you liked yours!  Oilified hahaha...Sorry, I'm not crazy about photoshop filters.  (That is what you used?)  I like the second one though   As well as that mall...Yesssss!  Now let's go shopping... I cannot see the names of the stores though.  Ohhh, 11.5 is interesting.  How did you do that perspective thing?  oi, 11.8 definintely need some sunglasses or sth..Oh a video!  That is cool.  A little car drives about Fordville.  Nice!!  too bad about the quality.  Oh, I don't get this myspace thing...I dont use myspace.  Those curve roads look good and hmmmmm...Cant wait to see it developed!  I'm going to have to check out this video making software..[sorry that was random]  Well nice update Mas!  

[Jazzmaster 716]

Loving this CJ! The Coastal areas rock out loud!

[penguin007 27]

Some simply amazing night shots there and the teaser looks interesting. I like the curvy avenue looks very nice. Cant wait for more of this region and your new region, btw the mountians on it look so so good!!

Will

[edmonton_stinks 5]

Fordville looks great! That was a long, detailed update, especially the video! Nice work.

[masochist 111]

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Blondetwiggy -

I seem to be guilty of the exact same thing !  But I'm glad you paid CB a visit anyways, no matter how long it took!

I think you should check them out, absolutely.  Them, or CraigKingofIreland's thread; he does exceptional work, as well.  I was definitely happy with the embassy, thanks again for making it!  I thought all of them were awesome, actually, so there were no qualms about giving them a free bit of advertising .

LOL...nope, I didn't used a Photoshop filter for that picture...I used a GIMP one !  I was really just trying some new things here, or trying to mix-up some old techniques.  I'd really like to get into photo editing deeply, but I don't know exactly how to go about digging deeper.  Oh, well.  I was really pleased with how the nighttime pictures came out, though!  11.7, as I said, was my attempt at trying to get that same nighttime effect that Cockatoo gets in his pictures...I think I got really close with it!  The perspective shot...I did that by skewing the picture using GIMP.  There's an actual transform tool called "perspective" that allows me to manipulate the photograph like that (I'm sure it's on Photoshop, as well).  I did [the same thing with the mall shot] too, actually, and I think that one came out better .

I'm glad you liked the video!  Took me only a few hours from driving to publishing.  I plan on making a few more, but I have to get more places to drive.  But yeah, Fraps is awesome!  Just press a button and it starts recording; hardly causes a frame drop!  As for MySpace...well, you're not the only person who hesitated to visit the radio station because of the hosting site .  I used it simply because it's the easiest place to get my own spot and upload my music.  I suppose I could use PureVolume.com if it would make people a bit more comfortable...hmm....

Anyways, thanks for giving the first comment !  And I'm sorry for the late reply, and for not replying in TdlO in soooo long...perhaps I can do something about that?  In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this update...I get back to basics!

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Yoshiisland -

Heh heh, thanks!  I'm glad you're liking it!  The coastal areas are some of the biggest attractions to Fordville, so it's good to hear that they look good.  Anyways, I hope you enjoy this update, as well!

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penguin007 -

Thanks!  I appreciate that...those are some of my favorite shots of the bunch, as well!  I really admire Cockatoo for being able to get his night shots like that, so I wanted to see if I could do the same...proud to say that I was reasonably happy with the results !  Anyways, glad you like that avenue, because this update is full of soft curves and winding roads .

As for Merideth Valley...it needs just a bit more work.  I need to rough up the terrain a bit, and I need to seed different trees.  I'm also thinking about using a different terrain mod for it...we'll see ;-).  But thanks for the comment on it!

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edmonton_stinks -

Thanks!  I'm glad you liked it...but it was actually one of my shorter updates !  Hopefully you enjoy this one just as much.

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Hey!  Sorry for the two-month hiatus, you guys !  I got a case of RLS in the form of a new job and a slightly revitalized social life.  Also, getting back into EVE Online doesn't help, either .  I've been trying to get back into playing SC4, though, and hopefully I'll be able to get back to updating Condor Bay within a more reasonable time interval.  But anyways...a couple of points to cover.

I've noticed quite a few people both here and and SC4D have had apprenhensions about going to MySpace to listen to the radio broadcast.  I thought I'd go ahead and explain a few things...perhaps it might make people a bit more comfortable. 

The reason why it's up on MySpace is because it's perhaps the easiest place to create a profile, customise it, and upload songs and audio files for people to listen to.  I promise that nothing will happen to you or your computer if you go and check it out; you won't unknowningly be given a trojan, and you won't catch The Dumb by visiting a MySpace profile.  Simply click on the link, then wait for the player box to load and click "Play" if it doesn't start automatically.  Here's the link again: [KGOP].  Check it out!

In other (only slightly related) news, I posted a blog last month on what I considered my [Top 10 SC4 City Journals of All Time].  You should check that one out, too ...feel free to leave your opinions about the list!

All right...enough of the shameless self-promos .

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UPDATE 12 - Condor Mountains

Ain't no mountain high enough; ain't no valley low enough....

Condor Bay lives again!  Actually...I've had the next two updates done for weeks .  But hey, better late than never, right?  Right?!

This update will be a more traditional update than the last one.  As hinted at the end of the last update, we visit the foothills of the northern mountains, called Condor Mountains (the feature that gives the city tile its name).  As you'll see, I revisit some building strategies learned during the last time I had to build houses on hills, as well as a few of the picture-taking techniques.  This city tile will actually be divided into two different updates: the first one will show the actual building of the town, and the second one will showcase some of the details of the city and the building of certain houses and buildings up close.

First, let's take a look at the city tile in the region.  Condor Mts. is #4 on this map, in the NE corner of the region:

12.1)

And now the SC3K representation of this area:

12.2)

As SC3K had limitations on building on hills (i.e., if it was sloped, you couldn't build), the mountains basically blocked any further development save for a building or three.  With SC4, this limitation was eradicated entirely, and so the entire city tile full of mountains and hills has the potential to be built upon.  Of course, as this is still a recreation (and I'm still rather bad at building on slopes), I'm not going to take full advantage of all that land...but it does give me an opportunity to exoplore the terrain a bit further.

One more thing...you see the house way up high on the hill there, with the road going to it?  Yeah...make sure to keep that house in the back of your mind for next update .  And don't say anything about my trees!  I know I should use different ones, but that's a lesson I'll apply to a different region; for now, you'll just have to make do with the ol' Maxis oaks .

As it is, I don't have a blank shot of the entire city tile, so we'll have to start where I started building the roads and streets:

12.3)

As seen in the last update...

These are the preliminatry streets and avenues of the city.  Basically I continued all the roads from Western Fordville and brought them at least to the East-West avenue (the northern-most avenue west of the Ace River).  A few street cul-de-sacs and roundabouts, and it's ready for the first zones.

12.4)

It's actually pretty dangerous to spread out your zoning so dramatically (long and thin), but it worked out pretty well.  Those curves work pretty well in the mountains, surprisingly.  It might be obvious that I don't have a slope mod, and there's a reason: even the most lenient slope wouldn't let me do what I wanted to do in this city, and while I enjoy the look of terraced cities, they've never appealed to me enough to try and make them myself.  My sims will simply have to find the best cars/trucks to live here !

Anyway, you can see by comparing the two picture above that I've extended the streets a bit.  I really started testing out those Wide-Radius Curves so that I could use them to their fullest potential...

12.5)

...and I also worked to extend my building area.  There's a bit more flatland north of that avenue around where those streets make that triangle-looking figure which would be perfect for building up the northern suburbs.  Without trees, it looks like this:

12.6)

And building the streets out a bit more, the entire area looks like this:

12.7)

You can see that I decided to have a few streets run off the north and west side of the city tile (and consequently the region) to who-knows-where.  You can also see how prevalent those WRC's really are in this city--there are only two default digaonals in the entire thing.  Because those curves don't allow as steep a slope as the regular roads do, I had to really do a bit of terraforming to make the cliffs appear as little as possible...but there are a few places where they come in, and they look pretty good, IMO.

Actually, you can tell which road gave me the most challenge, because it's where the largest cliff appears.   That road is called Bald Mountain Road, and it's only the second road in this entire region to be given an official name (the first was Market Street).  It gave me a bit of trouble mainly due to the huge elevation difference between the top of Bald Mountain and those two WRC's next to the cliff.  Observe:

12.

I have to make it from the top of Bald Mountain to the little stub of road down there on the highway out of town.  I finally did manage it, and it resulted in the creation of that cliff:

12.9)

The lack of a slope mod is very apparent here...

In the end, that cliff doesn't look so bad...it actually looks natural.  As for that little street that rounds the peak of Bald Mountain...well, never-you-mind why that's there....  I will, however, clue you in on the other little street in that picture (towards the top).  That one leads to a small valley between some hills:

12.10)

At first, I just left it there as a placeholder for something...industry, perhaps.  You know...sometimes you drive on those rural two-lane highways and you see random industrial buildings, especially on the outskirts of cities where they can evade city taxes while taking advantage of the city's workforce.  That's what I was going for: a little plop of industry in that valley between those hills just outside of Fordville.  This is what I got:

12.11)

Bald Mountain Logistics Center

As the caption might've clued you into, that's the Bald Mountain Logistics Center.  It provides this city tile's only industrial jobs, while also being a good cover for water pumps and small power plants .  I love its isolation...and it really gives a rural feel to this otherwise suburban tile.

I actually have (for some reason) a panorama of the northern area and its streets (again, without trees).  Simply click on the following picture to get to the full sized one:

12.12)

Click to see the full-sized picture

Ignoring the fact that the street to the Logistics Center isn't correct (), this panorama is a bit interesting.  First, the streets on the lower right-hand corner of the picture mirror a formation I have already tried before...[remember]?  Thought I might try it again, since the first one came out so well.  Funny enough, I haven't tried to photograph it much...yet.  Another interesting thing is that you can see Bald Mountain in sharp relief here...though other than the shape of the peak, the reason it's called Bald Mountain has yet to be shown (it will, don't worry ).  One more thing...on the left side of the picture, there's a street that makes a semi-large rectangular loop.  That will be explained in the next update...but not now.

(Heh heh...actually, all these winding streets through mountains remind me of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas !)

Anyways, how about we get back to the zoning of low-res housing, eh?  Back in the southern part of the city, I've gone ahead and finished filling out streets among the roads.

12.13)

This picture illustrates an obvious difference in this tile from the previous two: there are a noticable lack of avenues and roads in this one.  Streets outnumber roads and avenues put together, and I actually have room to spread the streets out.  It makes for a refreshing change, if I may say so .

Some classic zoning shots for you:

12.14)

12.15)

Houses on the mountains, houses in the valleys, houses everywhere!  Here's the entire area zoned out:

12.16)

The zoning is (almost) complete!  I'm going to let these houses grow into suburbs.  Note the spaces along the east-west avenue--that's where I plan to throw light commercial areas.  Unfortunately, my commercial demand is still kaput after I zoned that heavy commercial area in the last city tile.  Oh, well.

Here's a strange thing: you can see up on the mountain, there's a patch of trees that won't grow.  No matter how often I plant them, and no matter what kind of trees I seed, a nice patch of them disappears at the change of the season, leaving a small blank patch on its peak...in other words, a bald spot.  Observe:

12.17)

...and this is the reason why that mountain is called Bald Mountain .

And in the time it took for me to explain that, look what happened!

12.18)

All the zones have been developed, and my suburb is now sporting a healthy population of about 15,000 sims.  Here's a different view of the city:

12.19)

Facing south

Wow...you can really see the topography of the land from this angle!  Let's try it out on that winding road to the right...

12.20)

Facing south again...

Mmm...that's tasty!  The trees and hills really hide Bald Mountain Rd., but I assure you, it's there .  You can see in this shot that I had to add both a garbage and power plant to the tile.  I was trying to avoid this, but the power coming in from the other city wasn't enough.  Oh, well...at least they're out of the way .

After this, I went ahead and added a bit of commercial zones, as well as adding a bit more residential neighborhoods in various spots on the hillsides.  Here's the entire (pretty much) completed city tile:

12.21)

...and its zones...

12.22)

And that's that!  That's another city tile down, and another update coming to a close.  Next update as I said will have details and close-ups of the more interesting parts of the city.  Here's a teaser for you:

12.23)

You might remember [this picture's brother]...

All right, that's all I've got!  Thanks for reading this update !  I'll try not to be as late with the next one as I was with this one, but I can make no promises !

[Ntq€310 1]

wow and i thought this was dead! great to see another condor update, and the moutain area/suburbs looks great.

that last shot was very awesome.

[edmonton_stinks 5]

Hey, masochist! Long time no see.

Great update! I can't get over how long it is...

The end result looks pretty good, and spectacular considering the lack of slope mod! You've got an excellent suburban town there.

[Haljackey 17,385]

Its amazing to see what the suburb has grown into. A vast improvement from SC3K eh?

The way you present your images is astonishing. I wish I had more time to write up a decent comment, but I had to say something! Great work and I am happy to see Condor Bay back!

Best,

-Haljackey

[politicman 1]

I love your neighborhood in the hills, excellent job !!!

[BlondeTwiggy 43]

Haha actually I did check out the label service (By Craig) and got meself this sig image!  oh, I just now realized I forgot to give credit humm...Will do that right now. [Fixes it]  Hopefully it won't completely erase my sig again...Ive been having problems with that...Ah I'm rambling now. 

Oh oh a GIMP filter...Sorry I've never used the gimp but I've heard it's pretty good.  Well, filters are like, anyone can do that lol.  I like the perspective you did to 11.5 though....Oh wait I said that in my last comment...(It's been too long!)  Kinda flat looking but sharp and clear.  I think Scipio edited a picture like that for me once but I could never figure it out myself.  Yeah I didn't even see that with the mall photo.  Haha yeah hope to see you in TdlO...I'm updating tomorrow(if all goes as planned...but nothing ever goes as planned lol) But I shall not advertise my journal here.  I suppose I should reply to the actual update now!  (There's an update? ) 

Oh, I got an honorable mention!  Thanks!  I definitely agree w/Alicante City being on there.  One of my fave cj's!  I think EYECANDY should be on the top list tho lol.  I have to agree w/your other choices, even though I never saw some of those because I havne't been around long enough.

Lol sorry I don't have time to read all the text  But I like all the trees!  and the little houses at the base of the mountain.  And your planning.  Poor mountain, it has a bald spot

Argh why is it that every time I visit here I write a book?  Sorry well I'll see you next update! 

[CarmineHilton 6]

OMG, I love it

Great building upon those mountains! Wish I could do that too.... I'm just afraid of it :$

h

[roboo1 1]

The last picture is really interesing. I like the "focus on houses" effect

[jacqulina 162]

wow what aawesome work you have done here very nice planning and detail my friend,great use of trees,awesome pics.

[Gayowulf 15]

Pardon me whilst I picks up my jaw from the floor where it just fell.

That's better. I only have one word to say about this:

...

...so okay, I guess I'm just speechless. It looks amazing. I love how the suburb blends so smoothly with nature. (See, I don't stay speechless for long)

[uzziah247 0]

what tool do you use to make the shore look so clean and precise?

[Chptrk 86]

Seeing as there hasn't been an update to this CJ in about 2 years, this thread will be locked. Please try not to bump old threads. CJer can always contact a mod if he wants it unlocked.

Thread Locked