A Pocket Guide To Bonne Isle

[Jambi 0]

Welcome to Bonne Isle everyone! I've been lurking on Simtropolis for years with nary a post to my name. So why not hit the ground running? The following city journal has been in the works more or less for three years or so, never getting very far before I clear the board and start my region all over or get sidetracked by some other project. So finally after a marathon of zoning and plunking down buildings I decided to finish it up.

A Pocket Guide To Bonne Isle takes place in 1950 somewhere in the Great Lakes Region of North America. It's based loosely on Northern and Western Michigan cities like Traverse City and Muskegan. I was also inspired by other journals such as Digby East Coast Region and Adventures In New Urbanism. I wanted to do something to present Bonne Isle as someplace grounded in reality with a history like those fabulous journals did. It won't be a very long journal, but I hope that what you see will more than make up for that. Besides, there's always the ability to continue on if I want to.

I've made my screen shots to look like pages in a book of aerial photography. They won't be the largest size possible, so I hope you won't have to squint. Also, I've photoshopped the heck out of most of them. So anything you see that you can't figure out what kind of mod it is probably isn't. Speaking of mods, I've used several, most of which I can't remember offhand, although a lot of them are Peg products. These all look great and also work well on my Mac with no dependencies, which I'm far too lazy to hunt down (unless I see something on the exchange that looks really cool). If you see something that you want to know more about, just ask. I'll try to hunt down which Lot or BAT or Mod it is as opposed to amassing a big list right here. I'm not a very technical player so what you see is based more on how it looks to me instead of whether or not I play the game according to the rules. This is an artistic endeavor.

The artist Mark Ryden said that if you delight yourself, others will be delighted. I hope you enjoy Bonne Isle as much as I was delighted to make it.

[City2TheMax 3]

Wow, that's some great picture editing! I'm looking forward to this CJ.

[Almighty Nienaber 3]

that looks fantastic!

[Jambi 0]

A Larger version of the Bonne Isle map can be found here.

Next Time: We start our tour in Bonne Isle's largest borough!

[Callbat 8]

Wow do you realise how fantastic that looks?

[Jambi 0]

Lost?

You can always find where you are

in Bonne Isle with the big map right here.

Next Time: We continue our tour of the Borough of Bonne Isle when we visit downtown Towne District!

[Schulmanator 5,812]

Lemme tell you this... as a new person to ST and CJs... you TOTALLY TOTALLY ROCK!

This is a heck of a way to start! Awesome work!!

7 out of 5 stars for awesomeness!

[ilikehotdogsalot 311]

Wow, that's incredible photo editing. I agree with Schulmanator, YOU ROCK!

[nickjbor 0]

Holy hell. This is amazing! This CJ is going to rise to the top quickly. Your a god at photoshop.

[SaltandVinegar 1]

Wow. Okay, not much else to say but wow.

[crazyyaya 4]

Amazing job. I guess you've been a bit of luker til now haven't you? The graphics here are really stunning though.

[GingerBlokey 30]

Ok. Just wow.

A.m.a.z.i.n.g

Seriously, this is stunning.

[Callbat 8]

wow, knocked me off of my feet. Excellent EXCELLENT scenes.

Try to download some more growable custom content, search "Simgoober" for the best American downloads.

[Nardo69 51]

On the first look I had the feeling I'm back in the good old days when I discovered Digby which should dramatically change my way of playing SC4 ...

Same kind of presentation, a lot of nicely placed Maxis with tons of nice details - zou're sure you're not Paul (LLewellan?)  that changed to a Mac?

Great work anyway

Take care (and don't forget to make backups)!

Bernhard

[gabry85 2]

Wow, that's a great start, love the book looking! And welcome to ST!

[NMUSpidey 3,956]

Having gone to school in Upper Michigan (hence the NMU, haha) I must say this is a great cj! The pictures and effects are great! That historic fort is really a great touch

[Almighty Nienaber 3]

3 thums up!

[RJN 1]

Awesome photoshoping!!!!! Great Start!!!

Just Great!

[Jambi 0]

Thanks everyone! I've had most of this artwork done for a while, just sitting on my computer taking up space and doing nothing else. I figured I should at least show it to someone. I'm glad you all like it.

Nardo: Yeah, I really loved Digby (I even named a street for it over on the Canadian side of the map). Paul really had a nice way of making things look workable and real. I would have lived there if it were a real place! It's not my attempt to copy it, but if Bonne Isle reminds you of Digby, it's not an accident.

NMU: I had a friend that went to NMU way long long ago. If any of this looks Michigan-y enough to you then I must be on the right track.

Callbat: I might download some custom content for future use (not all of it works on my Mac though), but this version of Bonne Isle is complete. I wanted to finish the presentation before posting any of it so that I'd be sure that I wouldn't get part way through and then disappoint everyone when I got bored or enticed by the next bright, shiny object. So everything is complete, I'll just be unfolding the journal to all of you over the next several...well however long it takes...days, weeks.

[Smarty218 2]

Spectacular effects and great looking city! Amazing for a first CJ!

[tobin834 0]

amazing. you make me want to use more photoshop in my stuff.. this is pure inspiration... will follow closely.

[Lordy Lord 0]

Amazing! A perfect way to begin a CJ! I will definately come back for more!

[Mike the Mayor 51]

This is an awesome cj, fantastic start and your picture effects are just stunning. Yet another cj ventures into my favourites list!

[Jambi 0]

Shoulda taken that left turm at Albuquerque?

You can always find where you are

in Bonne Isle with the big map right here.

Next Time: We continue our tour of the Borough of Bonne Isle when we move on to White Oak District!

[Smarty218 2]

Great work! I absolutely love your effects! Can't wait to see more!

[nickjbor 0]

I have a complaint!

This is one of the best CJ's out there and you've only just begun, so...

Why lurk for so long and deprive us of your amazing talents!!

[Superchan 23]

looks great.

[dfnva 34]

Nice way of presenting a CJ, great photoshopping effects.

Dan

[jacqulina 162]

wonderfull start and intro my friend,great history and maps,very nice start to building and great photoshopping.

[Schulmanator 5,812]

More awesomeness! Keep up the great work. I will be back for the next terrific update.