The Straight Seas Region

[Tomasneto 20]

Nice Region, good job!

[IsaacTham 0]

Replies:

ComputerGuy890100: Thank you! There are many tutorials for the RHW, and this link (the RHW Development Thread) has many links to tutorials on how to build the RHW. Also, look at haljackey's The Greater Terran Region so that maybe you can get the idea from his extensive RHW network.

Tomasneto: Thanks!

Update 7!

This update will show a remodelling to the RHW interchange I showed you in update 6, my new financial district in Downtown, and a new subway network. My city has doubled its population since Update 6, from 200 000 to about 415 000 people! More than 300 000 commercial jobs too!

This is update 7, and there are 7 pictures! Perfect!

Picture 1: Remodelled the RHW interchange so that it can handle more traffic than only the MIS slip road. Now it can handle 2 lanes per direction!

Picture 2: My new financial district in downtown! Many financial buildings, stock exchanges and banks combine into one area!

Picture 3: Downtown has grown! - a lot! Densely packed, it accounts for more than 70% of the city's population! The building to your northeast is the sleek new Lighthouse Tower. Hey! I also have the Burj Dubai south of Downtown!

Picture 4: The National park of Keppel Bay (NPKB) has expanded, featuring a luxury ferry terminal, the city zoo and some hotels! Many Sims take a rest from work to relax here!

Picture 5: This is Keppel Bay's first subway line! The Downtown West Line, with 13 stations, is aimed to relieve traffic congestion and lower commute time in Downtown.

Picture 6: The same area aboveground, for reference.

Picture 7: The whole city, with a new residential district south.

That's it! Please continue to comment! Update 8 will come tomorrow, stay tuned!

Best,

Isaac

[SirUnger 13]

Nice pics! Just one thing: you should think of using a water mod.

[IsaacTham 0]

Reply:

SirUnger: Thank you! I will download a water mod soon!

Update 8 is here faster than expected!

This update has no pictures but I will show some statistics on the region. This will be updated every fortnight as the figures will change.

Statistics of the Keppel Bay

General

Residential Population: 414 872

Commercial Jobs: 326 198

Industrial Jobs: 0

Mayor Rating: 100

Average Commute Time: 5 minutes 30 seconds

Crimes per month: 20 (90% arrested)

Fires since start of city: 1 (100% put out)

Funds: A lot

Average Resident Income: About $36 000

Education: 196

Life Expectancy: 88 - 91 years

Economic

Currency: Strea (combination of straight and sea) (short form: $)

1 Strea = 2.47 US Dollars

GDP: $13 726

Interest Rates: 3.5%

Unemployment Rate: 4.2%

Main Trading Partners: USA, UK, China, Singapore, India

Financial

Stock Market: The Sheraton Stock Exchange of Straight Seas

Index: The Straight Seas Index (SSI)

Current Value: 4381.93

Year to Date Performance: -2935.07

OK that will do. Update 9, with pictures, will come tomorrow.

Isaac

[jacqulina 162]

great work and pics so far my friend.

happy new year

[IsaacTham 0]

Reply:

jacqulina: Thank you! Happy New Year!

Not an update, but good news!

Yesterday, my father bought me a new computer. It is an Acer Extensa 4630G, and it is awesome! It is very fast, and also has high resolution! But it is wide screen (1280 x 800) so for future updates the image will be smaller at 800 x 500.  Although you will see less, it will be in high resolution!

There will be no updates till the new year, but let's take a look at the posts competition so far...

Leaderboard

Jacqulina has also tied with ComputerGuy890100 for the lead with 3 posts. Raysfan16 and Hawkeye9 are second with 2 posts. Third is all the other people including SirUnger, haljackey, flyinbird93 and and many others.

Please comment! I appreciate good and bad comments.

Update 9 will come (if luck is on my side) on Friday or (if luck is not on my side) next week. School will start on January 2, but that will not affect updates. I can still play SC4 and update the CJ.

But remember, Happy New Year!!!

Cheers,

Isaac

[Raysfan16 5]

Hey, those skyscraper districts look very good. it's unfortunate that you have to cheat though...

[Hawkeye9 0]

Wow, awsome cj... you have a great High rise district!!!!

Keep up the great work!!!

[SounderBruce 173]

Great statistics update. Look's light the SSR is doing fine despite the recession.

[SirUnger 13]

Nice statistics, can't wait to see more pics. Great you get a new computer! I bought one too.

In Saxony/Germany (where I'm form) school starts on january 5, so I have a little longer holidays!

But till then I have to do many things for school.

Happy new year!!!  

And I hope it will be a great year for the Straight Seas Region!

[jacqulina 162]

thats great news good luck with your new computer my friend,looking forward to those updates.

[blue sinjid 7]

Wow this is a great start ! Looks very dense and modern

[Petrovar Ambassador 15]

very nice downtown area, and a water mod will definitely make your downtown much more awesome-er . Cant wait for more updates and Happy New Years!

[IsaacTham 0]

Replies:

Raysfan16: Thank you! What do you mean 'cheat'? Happy New Year!

Hawkeye9: Thanks! Ampton County is looking good too! Happy New Year!

ComputerGuy890100: Thanks! The 2008 GDP data will come soon, so then will you be able to see whether the SSR is in recession or not. Happy New Year!

SirUnger: Thank you! Did I hear the last two lines from somewhere... Happy New Year!

jacqulina: Hey thanks! Happy New Year!

blue sinjid: Thanks! Good luck in your beautiful Olympic Island in Modernopolis! Happy New Year!

Petrovar Ambassador: Thank you! I have downloaded a water mod, you will see in Update 9! Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!!

From now on, the pictures will be in high resolution!  Update 9 (as I said in my signature) will come tomorrow, and you can see the high definition pictures! I put everything on 'high' in the graphics section, and put the colour to 32-bit and the resolution to 1600 x 1200! Since my computer has a good graphics card and is super fast, it wouldn't slow the computer down. Stay tuned!

Best,

Isaac

[suplado! 23]

hey - happy new year, great work on your city, looks like more development coming soon...

[Raysfan16 5]

Howdy Isaac,

by cheating I mean that you obviously have the money cheat mod.

[IsaacTham 0]

Replies:

suplado!: Thanks! Happy New Year to you too!

Raysfan16: No, the coastal casino gets all the money...

Update 9 is here!

This update will showcase high resolution pictures from my new computer. I have installed a water mod.

Picture 1: The zoo of the Keppel Bay National Park. Can you see the animals?

Picture 2: the luxury ferry terminal at dusk.

Picture 3: Downtown at Rush Hour.

Picture 4: Downtown at night.

Picture 5: The Highway I-1 bridge. The bridge links the two shores of the city. Many people use the highway to go to work, and also to access the park.

Picture 6: The traffic congestion data view of the city. Note that Downtown is congested at times.

Picture 7: The Lighthouse Tower.

Subway network

The response from the first subway line was good, so I added 3 more. The yellow line is the Circle Line, the Purple Line is the Downtown West Line, the Red line is the Downtown East line and Green is the Northwest Line. End stops look like a 'T'.

Picture 8: East subway map.

Picture 9: West Subway map.

Picture 10: The most popular stretch of the Downtown East line, with more than 13000 commuters travelling on that stretch every morning.

Picture 11: A busy interchange near the edge of town.

That's all! Update 10 will come ... (don't know, it's a surprise!!) I am considering on expanding the main 4 lines and adding 2 more lines. I will also create a bypass flyover or tunnel at the roundabout to relieve congestion at the bottleneck. I will improve the bus and rail systems, and hopefully, my first double-digit update will be on transport.

Please comment, and ask questions if you need to! Happy New Year!

Current Leaderboard:

1. ComputerGuy890100, jacqulina, raysfan16

2. Hawkeye9

3. SirUnger

The CJ has exceeded 750 views, and I am looking for somebody to provide me with the 50th reply. Who will it be?

Best,

Isaac

[Raysfan16 5]

Hey Isaac, nice mass transit. You do have a pretty good transportation network.

By the way, though, if that casino gives you 67 Trillion dollars, it's cheating.

[SirUnger 13]

Nice update! You have a very well planned traffic system.

[SounderBruce 173]

Great updates!

[IsaacTham 0]

Replies:

Raysfan16: Thanks. How did you get that figure of 67 trillion bucks? It's only $628,229,636! ($600m) but anyway, this sparks a debate: Should you have a money cheat and be free from any constraints of financial problems, and can build any building you want, or have no money cheat and only start with $500,000/$200,000/$100,000 and be restricted to what to buils just because of your budget? I will set up a (fun) poll soon to find out what others think about this. Thanks for pointing this up!

SirUnger: Thank you! Just like Manhillton!

ComputerGuy890100: Thanks!

Update 10 up!

This update will showcase new transportation networks in Keppel Bay, and for your information the population has reached 550,000! 340,000 commercial jobs, that means the jobless rate is about ... (calculating) ... (calculating) ... about 26%! OK, that's what SC4 is unrealistic in. And it is the 50th anniversary of Keppel Bay! 50 (of course fake) years of existance!

Picture 1: Population check, here the pop has not reached 500000 yet, because it was taken at the START of the game.

Picture 2: I have started a new GLR service in the south. Since it is undeveloped, it will be easier than to weave through the tall buildings. Careful to avoid hovering TE-lots over puzzle pieces (you know what happens when you do ), I made the network. Here's the south-east side of the network.

Picture 3: the southwest side of the GLR coverage. I needed to convert it into El.Rail because of the RHW.

Picture 4: People have started using the GLR!

Picture 5: The whole city.

Picture 6: The casino that gives me the money. Raysfan16 MUST see this.

Anyways, that's all! Thanks for visiting! Hope you can comment!  I have school, so bear in mind that updates may not come so often. But they will still come, and I PROMISE that! And when that RHW 3.0 comes, I will take advantage of that to restyle my interchanges! Hope it comes soon, lol!

800 views in this CJ! Congratulations everyone! And sorry, but the 50th reply was claimed by me. The 50th POST, however, was made by ComputerGuy890100! Thank you!

Best,

Isaac

[JoystickJunkie 0]

Very nice city, love your transport network and the GLR will be very useful for future growth.

But maybe you could build a new airport away from Downtown, as those planes must have a hard time getting in to land. Still, I really like it!

[jacqulina 162]

great looking city so far my friend,nice layout with the transport system

[IsaacTham 0]

Replies:

JoystickJunkie: Thanks! I'll see what I can do.

jacqulina: Thank you!

Posts Competition Leaderboard

1. ComputerGuy890100 -- 5

1. Raysfan16 -- 5

1. jacqulina -- 5

2. Hawkeye9 -- 3

3. SirUnger -- 3

Update 11 is here!

No pictures, but this update will show the December 2008 Economic Report, for those dying to see whether the Straight Seas Region is in a recession or not. Here it comes!

Hope you like it!

December 2008 Economic Report of the Straight Seas Region

Sectors

> >

Construction: +1.1%>>

> >

Manufacturing: +0.9%>>

> >

Engineering: +1.3%>>

> >

Financial: -5.7%>>

> >

Healthcare: +0.8%>>

> >

Trade: -0.5%>>

> >

Tourism: -1.2%>>

> >

Automaking: -2.4%>>

> >

Education: +0.2%>>

> >

Stocks

> >

Keppel Bay Index (KBI) >>

Year to date: -2942.74>>

Month to date: -103.62>>

Current Value: 4267.08>>

> >

City Welfare

>>

Crime>>

> >

Committed: 23 (+4 from November)>>

Arrested: 19 (+3 from November)>>

Arrested %: 82.6%>>

> >

Fire>>

> >

Fires in December: 0>>

> >

Education>>

> >

Education Rating: 189 (+1 from month ago)>>

No. of Schools: 24>>

Students: 47,893>>

> >

Healthcare>>

> >

Life Expectancy: 91 years (same as month ago)>>

No. of Hospitals: 7>>

Doctors/Nurses (Staff): 1,632>>

> >

Population>>

>>

Residents: 521,657>>

Commercial Jobs: 334,890>>

Industrial Jobs: 0>>

> >

Mayor Rating>>

> >

Mayor Rating (December): 100 (same as month ago)>>

> >

Overall GDP figure for December 2008>>

> >

Total Figure: -3.1% (from month ago)>>

-3.1% in recession! Oh man! A crisis in our hands! I will be working hard to alleviate the effects, because there is starting to be some abandoned buildings...

Hope to see you soon!

Please comment!

Cheers,

Isaac

[jacqulina 162]

looking out for more my friend

[Tomasneto 20]

Very nice update, guy!!

[Raysfan16 5]

Hey, sorry I was off by uh, a few... digits...but still, part of the fun of the game is the challenge of staying in the black, especially with a big city like yours. Without budgets, it's just like the game Heroine Hero (incase anyone has watched South Park). If you feel like just making skyscrapers and cool-looking cities as long as you like, then the money cheat is right for you. If you want to play the game the way it was meant to be played, then that casino is kinda dumb. Besides, isn't 500K more than enough?

That casino is just like David Beckham playing against a four-year-old.

[SounderBruce 173]

Nice updates, Isaac! I can't believe I was the 50th poster!

[IsaacTham 0]

Replies:

jacqulina: Thank you!

Tomasneto: Thanks!

Raysfan16: I agree with you fully. OK maybe I was lazy, sorry... Thanks for regularly viewing my CJ!

ComputerGuy890100: Ha ha! Will you be my 100th poster?

Update's here!

This update is about a new rail district, and a change to Multi-RHW. This update could not be done if not for Haljackey, because if not for him I wouldn't have known where to download a 10-platform rail interchange station, and he was the one who invented the Multi-RHW concept. But I will again be reconstructing the whole RHW into RHW-8 when the 3.0 comes out, and there will not be any use anymore for Multi-RHW.

When the RHW 3.0 comes out, I will have a special update for you, including tutorials and guides on how and when to use RHW networks and interchanges, and also a comparison against other types of networks against the RHW. Stay tuned, as I think RHW day will come by the end of next week.

Here's what to expect from the new RHW.

• RHW-2 and RHW-4 bridges
• RHW-6C, RHW-8, RHW-10, Elevated RHW-4, Elevated MIS (15m) networks
• RHW-2 Ramp Interfaces (A, A-Dual, B, B-Dual)
• RHW-4 Ramp Interfaces (A-Diagonal, A-Wide, A-Inside, Dual-MIS Splitter)
• Elevated RHW-4 Ramp Interfaces (A)
• RHW-6S Ramp Interfaces (A, B)
• RHW-6C Ramp Interfaces (A, B)
• RHW-8 Ramp Interfaces (A, B, Dual RHW-4 Splitter)
• RHW-10 Ramp Interfaces (A, B)
• Road, OWR, Avenue and Rail-over-RHW-6S, 6C, 8, 10 Overpass pieces (all orthogonal over orthogonal)
• Diagonal Road-over-RHW-4 overpass pieces
• Draggable Elevated Light Rail and Monorail-over-MIS, RHW-6S, 6C, 8, 10 Overpasses
• Draggable Elevated RHW-4 and MIS over Road, One-Way Road, Avenue, Rail, RHW-2, RHW-4, MIS Overpasses (all orthogonal over orthogonal)
• Draggable MIS-One-Way Road transition and MIS-Avenue transition
• Draggable RHW-2 and RHW-4/Draggable GLR at-grade crossings (all orthogonal/orthogonal, RHW-4/GLR puzzle piece now phased out)
• Draggable MIS Tight 90-Curves
• Draggable MIS/Road Diagonal Intersections (none for OWR or Avenue yet)
• Draggable MIS/RHW-2 Intersections (all orthogonal/orthogonal)
• Draggable MIS Y-Splitters
• Draggable RHW-2/OWR Roundabout Intersection (orthogonal)
• Starter Pieces for all networks
• Ground-to-Elevated and On-Slope transitions for MIS and RHW-4 (orthogonal-only)
• Transition Puzzle Pieces for MIS->RHW-4, RHW-4->RHW-6C, RHW-6S->RHW-8, RHW-8->RHW-10
• Diagonal functionality for RHW-6S (through Puzzle Pieces)
• Elevated MIS/Avenue Intersection Puzzle Pieces (all orthogonal/orthogonal)
• New texture set
• Empire Builder, Inc. Elevated RHW-4 and MIS Models by Swamper77
• A surprise . . .

I'll get to the pictures now. From today onwards, I will stop counting pictures.

Rail Interchange

I have made a new district. Its highlight is a BIG 10-platform rail interchange station. This station will be used for national rail, travel between Keppel Bay and other cities. Note that trees shield the tracks from the road.

If you want to know where the rail tunnels lead to, the next 5 photos will explain it to you.

The two tracks going North: I have to duck under the dense city. First is a tunnel from the district to just south of downtown.

After that, they go on a bridge across the river and then cross to the city to Keppel bay's north.

The two tracks going to West of Keppel Bay: A simple tunnel and we're at the border!

Tracks going South: Easy tunnel links station with border.

Tracks heading East: Another tunnel and you're there!

The district after development.

The next part of the update is...

Rural Highways

I have decided to upgrade my RHW network to a Multi-RHW network! Here's a tutorial on how to make a Multi-RHW interchange.

Step 1: Lay out your Multi-RHW. For information on how to lay it out, refer to Haljackey's Multi-RHW tutorial.

Step 2: At the area near the interchange, change the RHW into one-way road. For the outer (collector) lanes, build entrances and exits using one way roads. Leave the inner (express) lanes alone, we'll deal with them later.

Step 3: Build an avenue overpass to connect the two sides.Then, make a road connecting your two inner lanes together somewhere and create a road overpass that links to the avenue overpass. Do the same with the other side. Done! You have an interchange!

A logical thing is to add eyecandy and lights.

If you have any questions or suggestions to improve my way of building of multi-RHW interchanges, feel free to leave a comment or PM me. Now, some pictures of the Multi-RHW I created.

Another interchange near the main interchange. Not a high-capacity one because only Collector lanes can enter/exit the network.

Yet another interchange. This can be a major interchange because express lanes can also enter/exit!

The main interchange during Rush hour.

The RHW network during Rush Hour.

Some people use highway sound walls. I use the natural way...trees.

The end of the RHW, for now.

That's done it! Hope the RHW comes soon! I will be updating again soon!

Best,

Isaac

[jacqulina 162]

interesting rail network my friend