Shaw Island. - Genesis. From Alpha to Omega.

[nickjbor 0]

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING...

I've decided to hit the restart button. It's been a fun week but I'm starting to see that the current path of my CJ is not in sync with what I would like it to be. I'm also starting to see stark differences between what I've done, and what I'd like to do, as well as between what I've done, and what others have done.

THEREFORE... I am closing this CJ

but do not fret! I will be starting a new one later this week - same map, same general idea, only this one will be better thought out, and have a more compelling story. Shaw Island will continue to live, but it will do so differently. Look for my first entry towards the end of this week.

----

Hello and welcome. I am new to making CJ’s, and I hope you enjoy this one. I’d like to start with a little introduction so that you understand what I am trying to do and why.

 

My objective is to develop an entire region. First, into a rural community, and then to urbanize it. I will place emphasis on storyline as this continues. For example, a decision may be made to create a greenbelt – IE a limit to urban growth. My objective is realism, so don’t expect to see any “Commercial Cities” that contain nothing but one zone type. Where the story goes will depend partly on any feedback I get. If people find towns exciting, I may focus on them, etc.

 

I will introduce personality and politics into the game, along with political parties. Don’t expect to see any mayors from the Conservative Party or governors from the Democratic Party, but it’s not impossible that the “Pro-Farm” party could make an appearance, along with the “Skyscraper” party.

 

Shaw Island is based on Prince Edward Island. I lived there for a decade, and will use it as a ‘base’ to develop my region. That means you can, generally, expect towns to pop up in the same places as real-world towns. Which of these towns turn into cites, however, may not sync up with reality.

 

The story (which will begin in the next post. Sorry for double-posting, but it keeps this intro post free for edits as I develop) is that some nameless country (lets call it the United States Kingdom of Canada and Australia) in our modern world has stumbled across an uninhabited island that no one knew about – a result of a joke taken way to far by mapmakers – for centuries. The decision has been made to settle the island and to let it build it’s own character. Hence, where we begin…

 

 

edit - for some reason my images are not posting properly. I will include BOTH a link and an image for all my pics (except the "bonus" pictures at the end) so if you only see a link, it's because I am having trouble getting the pic to work and it will be up shortly.

 

EDIT-

this will, when I find them all, incluide all of the downloads/mods I use

https://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?id=14589 -> TTC buses

https://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?id=3348 -> GO trains

https://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?id=15844 -> Prince Edward Island (PEI) flag

[nickjbor 0]

Welcome to Shaw Island

This untouched land has been divided into parcels by the government, each a perfect square, a perfect government-style square, that is. The plan is a simple one, settle the island and bring it into the civilized world. Citizens from all parts of the country have signed up to go, but first things first, the people must have a way to arrive. A parcel was chosen to be the site of the first settlement.

A small island off the main Shaw Island was chosen to house the first settlers. After some tricky construction, advance workers have finished setting up the first ferry docks, and have built a small power-generating windmill.

Almost as soon as the gates opened on the docks, the first settlers arrived. Clearing the land, and making efficient use of the wood to build their houses, the settlers began to build the first buds of a community. At the first meeting, a mayor was selected, and a name was decided for the community. Newbury. Containing only a cross-street, a few shops, and one foundry, the small village is still preparing for the arrival of more settlers. Weather this area will become a permanent settlement, or just a waiting-station for settlement onto the larger island remains to be seen.

A second cross-street is constructed, and a fire hall is put up. A small police kiosk is opened to keep the order, as more houses are built. Three farms and a small industrial area open on the island as well as a few more businesses to prepare for the eventual move to Shaw Island itself. A park, a community garden, and a gazebo are also constructed to help the new settlers built new social networks.

The mayor has made a proclamation, that starting tomorrow, the settling of the main Island will begin!

Bonus images:

https://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/pellaken/?action=view¤t=Newbury-Jan3001205113710.png The untouched Island

https://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/pellaken/?action=view¤t=Newbury-Jan3001205115126.png Building main street

feedback is welcome.

[Simtastico 0]

i like the region map.. looing forward to see some more, best of luck to you!

[jacqulina 162]

great intro and start nice region shot there my friend

[nickjbor 0]

I hope to improve my skills during the course of this CJ. I'd appreciate any advice on how to do that. For example, my first city (Newbury is now "done", the update will be posted shortly) looks rather ugly, with many retaining walls. I also do not use any special grass or textures, and suggestions on this would be helpful as well. I hope that each page of this CJ is better then the last, and that by the time I'm ready to urbanize, I have a very good thing going. Don't be afraid to criticize anything you don't like, so long as your respectful about it. EG, I'd prefer "download a grass texture" to "your city is ugly and bland" 

Also, feel free to suggest specific downloads. I cant seem to find a good grass texture

[nickjbor 0]

Part Two - to Shaw Island!

On the orders of the Mayor, workers from Newbury began to construct a new ferry dock on the southern shore of Shaw Island. This would be followed with a power-supplying windmill, the beginnings of a rail line, and a seaport, to speed the import of items onto the Island.

At City Council the decision was made to extend Newbury to include the entire parcel of land, and to build a new "Downtown" on the main island. In the ensuing time, factories, businesses, and apartment buildings would open their doors. Rail and road connections were built to the edges of the city to prepare for the settlement of the rest of the island. An international airport was built in the centre of town to handle the traffic from the incoming settlers. By the end, a clear downtown had been developed.

However, all was not well in Newbury. People complaints about pollution levels. Farmers, originally welcomed, faced a punishing 20% tax rate. Most of the population settled in the "suburban" area to the south of the airport. The sound of endless flights taking off, and trains rattling by on the nearby tracks did not help. Even though a bus network was set up to assist with movement throughout the town, many were disappointed. The residential areas were clear "not happy" and the people began to grow weary.

By the end of the development period, a large police station and large fire hall had been built, as well as an elementary school, a church, and a cemetery. The clean windmills were eventually replaced with a dirty coal-burning power plant, which was placed beside a new landfill. The once quiet and peaceful land was no longer so.

The people demanded action. In a meeting at the improvised "city hall", located inside the mayor's house, they began to protest. "The city is not even funding the airport!" one citizen yelled. "Oh, uh, that's because the upper levels of government provide the funding" the mayor retorted. "Our budget is hardly balanced, even with a 13% tax on the wealthy" another screamed. "Erm, but at least taxes on the poor are only 8%!" was the mayor's answer. After an hour of bickering, the town held a vote, and decided to throw the mayor out. Disenchanted, the Mayor boarded a train along with newly arriving settlers, to become just a resident, in the new town of Victoria to the north...

[jacqulina 162]

type in cp on the stex and you will find some great things to liven your terrain up my friend.wonderfull update looking great so far.

[nickjbor 0]

Thanks. I'll download this one first and see how it looks. If I dont like it, I'll just change it later.

https://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?id=13038

I assume this is what you ment when you said look for CP? for some reason the "keyword search" does not work for me in the stex, but when I edit the addy par to throw in a keyword it does. I tried searching that, the modds section, and google, and got confused. I'm not very smart I dont think. What I could figure is that you were trying to tell me to download the terrain mod made by "cycledogg" but when I looked that up I found many mods, so I picked this one because it's green and so is PEI.

anyway, I plan on improving as I go though. Hopefully by the time I get to urbanizing the island, I'll have dozens of things downloaded that make my cities unique.

The next update(s) will be far more detailed, as Newbury is kind of... well, you'll all find out soon enough  lets just say, 'expect the unexpected'

[Schulmanator 5,793]

Also, to smooth out the terrain before you build and get all of those retaining walls and big foundations, try making a bunch of roads over the area you plan on building. When you build roads, it tends to flaten the area out somewhat. This will reduce the big foundations somewhat and make construction easier.

BTW, a 8% tax on poor and 13% on rich will skew your city to low wealth commercial and industry. To keep your budget in check, build slowly, no matter what the demands are, until the funds stabilize.

Good luck!

[nickjbor 0]

I intend to try to post here once a day (unless that would mean I have a chain of my own posts without anyone else posting) even if I dont have an update.

Thanks. I'm good with the tax slider, and was aiming for a more "poor" city (to fit in with the story of the mayor leaving). I think I've got the hang of making the terrain more smoth, but I still do have some retaining walls, though the ones I do have tend to be smaller, and where big ones are needed, I try to hide them with trees. Either way, I have "special plans" for Newbury, that will add a fun twist to the story! I did not get enough done today to do justice to a full update, so I will save that for tomorrow or perhaps even the day after. I've downloaded a new terrain, however, so it should all look better.

[nickjbor 0]

Update Two-Point-Five

Rather then keep everyone waiting for one, or perhaps even two more days, I've decided to do a "halfsies" update. Currently, I'm building "Victoria". I've therefore decided to share with everyone the plan for doing just that. Here it is:

The first step is to build North Newbury - the first buildings outside Newbury. All these buildings will be made historic. The next step is to start to build Cornell, a small but affluent village containing civic services. Following this the groundwork will be laid for the Industrial Park (a dirty area) as well as Imperial City, which is to serve as the capitol of the Island. Victoria comes next, one day it will be the commercial centre. Stratford will come last as a village on the other side of the river, and the last part is the "Premium business park" which will, hopefully, contain high-tech industries.

Sorry for the low-quality pic. I have SC4 at home, but do most of my CJing from work, so improvised images like this dont have the benefit of GIMP

[MrJakesWar 0]

I like what I am seeing so far. My only critisism is the lack of custom content. You'll probably here that a lot, but don't get discouraged. My advice is start downloading your civic building (powerplants, police stations ect) first. Before you know it you will find a bunch of things you think will fit well into a given area.

[gabry85 2]

Looks cool, I love the island shape!

[nickjbor 0]

Here's a little teaser for all of you. A large update coming in tonight, 16 images!

[Schulmanator 5,793]

Cool teaser!

I mean... hot teaser! lol!

I will be back to see what you have in store for us.

[collgab 10]

Good start, keep it up.

[jacqulina 162]

i havnt tried that terrain mod,im sure as you go along with your city your skills will be fantastic your doing great allready.great update and pics my friend.

[nickjbor 0]

UPDATE THREE - The ups and downs

The train rumbled into the new community of North Newbury, where the old mayor was now to settle. He kept mumbling to himself that "they" will get "what's coming", but people shrugged it off and went about their business, there was an island to settle!

The first few houses just on the north side of the boundary line formed the community of North Newbury. Small shops opened up as well as a little industry. Farms began to pop up around the community, and a covered bridge across the river was quickly built. North Newbury would be the jumping-off point for new settlers to this, the Victoria township. Overall things began on a rather high note.



The growth of the community was rapid. Fueled by new settlers every day there was high demand for housing. Settlers also found the untouched soil of the Island to be great for farming, and farms began to spread out across the land. A new community, Cornell, was built across the bridge from North Newbury. Water pipes were built, as well as police and fire stations.



All was not fun and games however. The job of settling an Island is not an easy one, and an industrial park was set up, connected to the remaining communities by rail. Bus stops helped to encourage people to use mass transit to get to their jobs in the new industrial park, where as a road-to-rail freight station encouraged businesses to use the rails to export their product. A new coal powered electric plan was also built in the area



The industrial park was located at the southern edge of the "Four Corners". A small enclosed water area with three rivers branching off to three sides, and the ocean to the fourth. In order to speed up movement though the area, ferry docks were set up on each corner.



Overall, the Victoria Township was growing into a beautiful rural community. Farms covered almost half the Township, and people began to settle in to their new lives.




Meanwhile, in nearby Ellesmere, west of Newbury and Victoria, a small rural crossroads became the site of the buds of a new village.



The area, however, remained largely unsettled.




Back in Victoria, the township celebrated the founding of the first military outpost. Settlers determined to protect their investments and their homes organized into an army, and set up a base just outside the Industrial Park. The flag of Shaw Island can be clearly seen flying high over the base.



Over on the east side of the river, a new village of Stratford was set up. Filled with farms and many cross-streets and roundabouts, the new village was a quiet and happy place to live for it's residents, connected to the remainder of the township via ferries and rail.



Yes, all was well in Victoria. The budget was balanced, even if it was on the backs of the Farmers.

[nickjbor 0]

gabry85 ---> While I made the config file, the actual map comes from here: https://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?id=16180 Feel free to contact me for the config. As it removes much water, it makes it quicker to render. I've also centred on certain RL cities (Charlottetown, Summerside, Georgetown, Malpeque/princetown)

MrJakesWar ---> If you have any suggestions for specific BAT's to download, I'm more then willing to give them a shot (that goes for anyone!)

[jacqulina 162]

coming on great my friend

[AlexandrosK 0]

looks cool...

[nickjbor 0]

If anyone is "holding their punches" for fear of insulting me, dont. Be respectful, of course, but if you have any tips, please share. It's the only way I'll get better!!

[Mike the Mayor 51]

Hi there. A nice cj you got going on here, you may however want to use some more custom content. Overall, very nicely shown and set out.

[Schulmanator 5,793]

Whoa! That's quite an undertaking to rip up the whole town. I am eager to see the new version. Perhaps you will have some parks and green spaces and special civic places in the next one?

Also, remember that if you bild roads all over the land first it will help smooth itout for you to build.

We'll see what they decide to do in the next update.

[nickjbor 0]

UPDATE 3.5

At the first meeting of the new Regional Council, decisions are made that will affect the future of Shaw Island. The decision was made to divide the island into three areas, Central, East, and West. The exact boundaries of these parts were to be decided later. After some debate, it was decided to plan the western portion of the island later, and for now, focus on the central and eastern portions. Three cities were planned each to serve as the centre of the three areas. Each would have an industrial area, and a high-wealth area within its suburban area. Also planned were a number of farming towns, and some "government areas" for use by the government for the betterment of the entire island. Following the meeting a map was released to show the public what the council had come up with.

[nickjbor 0]

I have one heck of a toothache and the codiene they gave me is making me feel like meh. Rather then not do the story justice, here are a few "teasers"

Growing Transit System

Victoria Subway Map

Beaches for Relaxing. Being a settler can be a drag.

[jacqulina 162]

wow looking and coming on great my friend your doing so well keep up the great work

[nickjbor 0]

PLEASE READ THE FIRST POST AGAIN. I have decided to kill this game and restart.

I will, however, share the images I took for the last update.

Port of New Newbury

New Newbury Island

New Newbury

"Burbs"

Capitol

Victoria

Shaw Island

Victoria by night

[nickjbor 0]

I heard that the CJ's recnetly took some damage.

I do have a bit of good news. After building an entire Shaw Island again, and destroying the whole thing, I finally am building one that I really like where it's going.

On that note, I want to inform everyone that the successor to this CJ, using the same map (Prince Edward Island) will be starting very shortly.