Sterling & Lake Champlain Region

[PhilsCafe 8]

REPLIES

krbe: Thanks a lot! It's a very exclusive golf course though. You'd need an extremely (in-)decent job to be accepted there. But the view is incredible, it's really worth to gamble with other people's money for that. Thanks for commenting!

Blue Lightning: I'm in for a round of snow golf . Thanks for the comment Vince! I'm glad you like my towns.

un1: Thanks un! Yeah, I couldn't stand it anymore to only look at SC4 pictures and not play it. And that golf course bugged me a while, 'cause I never seemed to get it right. But I'm glad it turned out like that. Crown City is the nickname for Sterling, btw.

ComputerGuy890100: Thank you very much for commenting! I never wanted to abandon this, and I was always hoping to get it going again. Good to see that people remember it.

Schulmanator: That's very kind, thank you ! I'm also glad to be back. Yeah I figured the snow would be realistic for this time of the year. I even checked some webcam in Vermont to make sure .

BlondeTwiggy: It's the first time indeed... I didn't want to show a lot of nothingness before. I'm glad you like it that much. If you wanna see more winter scenes, check the updates before. I posted a couple of them last year I sure hope it's not gonna be another year for the next real update though. lol.

dfnva: Thanks Dan! It's great to see some familiar faces in here again . It's almost like I never stopped updating. Take care!

Benedict: Thanks a lot Ben! I guess they usually clear the golf courses from the snow? I don't know... anyways, I do like the look of it myself. And thanks for the congrats. 5000 is amazing indeed! Didn't realize until you mentioned it. Take care!

TmiguelT: Good to hear that! Thank you!

art128: Hey Arthur! Thank you very much! I like the snow too

Nardo69: Danke Bernhard! As I said in the initial post, Urland has always been a great inspiration for my rural scenes... if it wasn't for you, I'd probably never won a Trixie . Take care!

Jill Jacobs: No problem, Jill! Thanks for commenting! Yeah, took me a while to make that golf course myself... I suck with LE and that's part of why it was so annoying to do I'm glad you like it!

Simbourgeois: Merci beaucoup! Yes, I'm somewhat known for those curvy roads they're like the thread going through the whole journal. Good to know people aren't tired of it yet.

b22rian: Brian, thank you very much! And welcome . You like it? Cool, I'll sure keep this up. Take care!

Deathtoall: Thanks! Oh well... it's not cheap, I can tell you. Maybe you get discount for shoveling snow though...

To not make this another year without any update, here is a teaser to show what I'm working on right now . Enjoy!

---

TEASER: VERMONT UNIVERSITY

Mosaic of the central campus of Vermont University:

[Jillybean86 38]

Cute campus, Phil. It looks very much like those tiny campuses you see tucked into tiny little towns while driving down tiny little roads.

But Philly, the Maxis uni? mmmmmm

[dhoppeii 12]

Hey Phil - Long time my friend. I've just been poking around ST and checking up on old friends. Glad to see you're still in the CJ business and that you and Nardo are keeping the Rural CJ alive and kicking!

[Ded 30]

Your City Journal looks fantastic, Phil. On a side note, I noticed that in your Campus, that you used the 'Open Books Library' by Prepo which has always been one of my fave BATs. So big ups for that. I love the small town nature of your region, and the snow shots were awesome. The gold course is fantastic as well

[Vahr 343]

Ooo, pretty mosaic Phil! Very nice rural feel, but yet quite suburban with that uni and development. I like the sport fields, they fit in quite well.

[Nardo69 51]

Nice mosaic!  I love the campus and the sports facilities!

I might just use the RRP Grass flora texture(s) to smooth out the sawteeth at the wide angel curves. And I wonder what happend to the texture of that intersection of the grey (dirt) street) with the road right next to the football field.

And as I can see you're a fan of mattb325, too! 

Happy New Year! Ein frohes neues Jahr! 

Bernhard

[BlondeTwiggy 43]

Oo the university looks like a nice place to go to school.  A peaceful suburb, lots of green, and trails around the track, tennis, and baseball field.   I also love the open books library - one of my favorites!

[sEAhAwk fAn121 0]

Hey Phil.

You're awesome at small town universities.

Clint

[Schulmanator 5,812]

Looking good. A great setting for a college

[SounderBruce 173]

Love the campus! Where did you get that building south of the football field? It could make the best downtown department store in LC!

[ky72x 13]

It's great to have you back, Phil!

You've done an excellent job with the university, I really like the layout. Great job with the trails, it's really nice how they branch out from the parking lots to the major facilities. The inclusion of the apartments is a clever touch that really adds to the campus atmosphere.

[Simbourgeois 139]

It should be quite boring to study there, as there's nothing to do around, just to study, study and again study... No cinemas, no ba..pardon, cafes. No, I prefer an university in some huge metropolis

But, hey, don't take this as a criticism! You've done a great job, and some people who would really like to study (not to hang around like me...) will find this place amazing! And I like the modern touch to it, with that library building in the form of a book - it looks great there

Keep up the great work!

Best regards,

Simbourgeois

Mayor of Belleville

[mightygoose 92]

very very nice there phil, i love the whole composition, not cluttered but not empty..

[GreekMan 246]

Phil-

You always amaze me with your brilliant work! Your region is stunning!

That is a pretty good university and what a location 

loving your cj! keep it up

[willfish 0]

man this is good

[Benedict 3,119]

I love the gridiron just above the university. Looking good!

[DCMetro34 577]

Yes, the football and the U is very nice. Looks sort of like a rural town that rides on football, like in some movies. Anyway, terrific update!

[PhilsCafe 8]

REPLIES

Jill Jacobs: Oh noes, it's noticable I was really playing with the thought of re-lotting it. But LE left me all frustrated, ugh. And I thought I could get away with it... haha. Oh well, thanks for reminding me of my high standards

dhoppeii: Hey Dan! Yes, it's been a very, very long time. So great to hear from you! Yeah, I'm on and off with my CJ. And LaPlaisance county was such an inspiration really. How's the music career? Take care!

Ded: Thanks a lot for commenting! Yes, the Open Books library is a fantastic BAT. I always wanted to use it, but I never did a campus before... and IMO it looks best stand-alone, like on a campus.

Blue Lightning: Yes, Sterling is quite suburban compared to the other communities in the region. Thank you for commenting Vince!

Nardo69: Thanks a lot for the pointers, Bernhard. The weird dirt street, I think it's some conflict with the mod or something. I'm gonna look into it. And mattb's mansions are simply amazing

BlondeTwiggy: Yes, it's very calm and peaceful... and laundry is rather cheap too . Indeed, The library is beautiful; it's sitting in my plugins folder for a while now. Never found the right spot to use it. Thanks for stopping by again Twiggy!

sEAhAwk fAn121: Oh, thanks a lot Clint I'm glad there's Google Earth... lol

Schulmanator: Thank you! The founder's conviction is that a good setting is crucial for good performances. I guess he's right.

ComputerGuy890100: Thanks for visiting again! The building is called "Sportska hala", I got it from the STEX ages ago. It's really a sports arena though. The stand is quite visible from the other angles actually. But it's a pretty BAT which I haven't seen in use very often.

ky72x: Thank you Kyle! I'm glad someone noticed the apartments. I'm not completely satisfied with what is growing there, but hopefully that will change.

Simbourgeois: Don't worry, I can take criticism . You're right,there aren't many possibtilities to go out yet. But the town center is very close to the uni actually... 500m maybe. And then there are still the dorms . However, I'll add a couple of more stuff later on. 'Open Books Library' by prepo is genius indeed.

mightygoose: Thanks a lot! I try to use a lot of open spaces. Sometimes it's kinda hard to fill a large tile with a minimal population...

GreekMan: Thank you for that great compliment! I'm glad people like that campus. It's my first one...

willfish: Thanks a lot!

Benedict: Thank you very much, Ben!

DCMetro34: Actually, hockey and baseball are the big sports at VTU. The football program was nearly discontinued. Thanks for commenting!

Thank you very much for your nice comments everyone! I won't be able to have another update up very soon, because of finals. So enjoy this (huge) one for now!

---

UPDATE 3.6: VERMONT UNIVERSITY PART I

Vermont University is located on University Heights and was chartered in 1791 as an agricultural college. It is now a public university, funded by the State of Vermont and the City of Sterling. The original structures are still standing and form the Central Campus. To this day, VTU is still known for its agricultural research, but also established other strong branches.

^ Central Campus accomodates study halls for the Colleges of Agriculture and Business Administration. Admissions also has its offices in the original buildings from 1791, which have been renovated though.

^ the outdoor theatre is an exclusive feature of the campus. For the winter plays, people from all over the state flock to the Blonde theatre. Of course, warm clothes are a life saver, because it's... um... Vermont

^ World class architecture at VTU: The Twiggy Library of Arts was designed by the world-renowned architect Prepo. It is the center-piece of the College of Arts and Sciences.

Now to Varsity sports, which also plays a big part at VTU:

^ Home of the Hockey Cougars

^ Home of the Basketball Cougars, among others

^ Opened in 2000, Millenium Field is a state-of-the-art facility for the Baseball Cougars.

[DCMetro34 577]

I can see why the like baseball and hockey; their stadiums are state-of-the-art! Nice job!

[Simbourgeois 139]

Oh, now I can see there're some nice places to hang around in the town center

Great work on the campus, it looks really nice, especially the outdoors theatre!

Best regards,

Simbourgeois

Mayor of Belleville

[Keegan V50 15]

Im glad you are back updating this CJ Phil,the University Teaser and update was spectacular!,well done my friend

all the best

victor

[Mr. Beer 12]

Damn... I don't remember the last time I visited your CJ... Awesome work Phil!

Take care,

David

[De Ja Vu 117]

What a beautiful campus! The campus buildings really go well together with all the suburban houses. Keep up the good job!

[Jillybean86 38]

omg I have a hall named after me! I must've donated a LOT of money to that college...

I love your road layout. Small towns have roads all over the place just like that. It's really good, except one thing. The state-of-the-art baseball stadium is actually a state-of-the-art softball stadium...Phil is showing the female athletes some love!

[Oktoberfest 0]

wow! this is really nice! id go to that college, and speaking of new england did u happen to catch the ravens game?

[SounderBruce 173]

Great university! Thanks for the hint!

[Schulmanator 5,812]

Just great! The town and the university both look terrific. What a delightful blend of scenery and buildings. Everything fits together so nicely. I am very pleased.

Henry the Octopus gives this 8 thumbs up for awesomeness!

[JanYpe 17]

That library building still looks awesome, great update.

[Zezug 6]

Looks great, I like what you did there with the C. Zug Hall, among others. Reminds me of the small towns I've been to

[mightygoose 92]

fantastic update, i love the simple phot effects your putting on your images. your towns feel very real.