The Official City Journal Critics Thread Archive

[-M- 6]

I like the way this is turning out. It's looking really good. Great work on the banners you guys, and of course the ToC too.

I'll be posting my next review soon, just a tad bit busy with exams and all that. But, rest assured, I have not forgotten about this.

Thanks for the opportunity, and for your great work thus far!

[Discreet 0]

The City Of Ocenca

The city of Ocenca is a good role model for other historic and european cj creators.Its depth and detail are amazing it gives you a feel as though you were in europe.

Mulefisk really makes good choices with the photoshopping but one photo the mid 70's lost my edge i felt as though something was missing like a train with no rails.But when i scrolled down i was stunned the train was back on the rails

Then what i like to call 'Nightlife shots' were here, to my eyes i saw every detail a city should have but what also stood out was the good use of networking.

Mulefisk has a real talent for laying citys out the correct way

 Also what i forgot to put in above was that i caught a photo it gave me the feeling of a cold cool twilight in Norway although what was special was it was basic but looked really good, its amazing what you can do going that extra mile.

This is a cj everyone should appreciate and get an idea or five from.Mulefisk has really outdone himself but also pulled me in

to the city of Ocenca.The link is

here if you too want to be pulled into mulefisk's creation.one more thing mulefisk excels at is making those cool fishing town piers i myself think those are quite cool.

Review by Discreet, Offical City Journal Team

[patriots_1228 51]

good reveiw, im busy learning the art of TOC and making the thread more userfriendly, but i hope to get some reveiws in between now and monday.



https://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=36&threadid=82473&enterthread=y

Ensenada

A CJ by Shadow_Assassin

Welcome to the much awaited sequal to Savanna way, Ensenda. Author Shadow_Assassin has divided his region into 5 volumes, Ensenada, Brackenfell,Greater Midlands, Hazaria, Mordicar-Ensenada. The CJ looks very proffesional, and the pic effects are superb.The Story, very much like a book, where it will take a couple minutes to understand the situation, can often be full of humor, which can kill the suspense in a hurry. However i like putting hidden jokes in my journals, so im not going into a spasm. however, those who like suspense-thriller journals will be angry at how the suspense is ruined by humor. The most adveritised building in this journal is the City hall, a large magnificent building, which is also used in update 1's story alot.

Now we move on to another update,now we head to West Brackenfell, home to 90,000 sims. West Brackenfell, which i thought would be a large city, turned out to be a MASSIVE suburb, with excellent road network. The houses seemed to all be from the Stex as i struggle to find a Maxis Building. The story towards this part seems to be more about a tunnel system allowing troubled government officials to escape, but i found myselve still trying to understand the story. West Brackenfell was home to some amazing STEX buildings, and the suburbs were very realistic. Update three Showed Amazing Ariels of Brackenfell, leaving me stunned and drooling at the massive suburbs, that had not one grid the entire time.As we go into the story, the action starts to rise. The Protagonist knows somethings going on in Middle Brackenfell. My best guess; Shadow_Assassin was making another well laid out city with a awesome road layout and amazing STEX influence.

Here the story starts to come together and the humor has gone away, it turns into more of a mystery suspense journal at this point. Update four is more of a Showcase update, with large mosiacs that could reck havok on a slow computer. As we conitinue we see some nice maps and top secret maps, which tell us next update will be even better.

To conclude a long reveiw, Shadow_Assassin has made a masterful journal with a suspenseful story and fabulous pics of amazingly built citys, i only found two things i didn't like! the humor thrown in at suspenseful parts and some of the Commercial or industrial(idk which) areas in the suburbs. But that is all opinion, and nothing can take away from this masterpeice.

[patriots_1228 51]

i need to learn to do ToC before i can make additions. look for a reveiw soon!

[patriots_1228 51]

Yes, for now on no requests here. Please don't keep requesting if you've requested already. It takes a while as we only have about 4 of our 7 critics pulling their load.

[SpecialEddie 3]

Can patriots add Ensenada by Shadow_Assasin on the list? I'll try to a review today or tomorrow...

[Asimov 0]

Just in case, someone from the team would like to review my CJ "Neu Preu

[DioAngel 1]

nice reveiw!

[dedgren 830]

I've heard some guy named Skippy might be willing to help out with the TOC.

He's here and there, though.  Maybe if you say his name three times [ linkie ]...

[jacqulina 162]

very nice reviews here i enjoyed reading them

[RushHourFreak 1]

Here comes a Review

FORT FOLLEY METRO AREA - 1dera3

INTRODUCTION:

The following review is going to be about the 1dera3's project, Fort Folley Metro area. There are 3 pages, and 5 updates. Despite his quitness, this is a very important CJ to follow. There is a large banner, showing a region's map, with modern flash-running-like letters. This fact allow the visitor to understand, this is not going to be an historic CJ. Then when you look at the next pic, a great gateway entrance to the city welcomes you. Excellent idea 1dera3. the first pic is the entrance of the city. Just like you're traveling by car between cities. That gives you a very nice idea of how the CJ really is. (Note how every pic is numbered by update.)

URBAN DEVELOPMENT:

Looking each pic closely, you'll find a world of details. Even though the city looks like typical, there are facts that change you the ideas and think "OMG this man made this very realistic" And it's true. Those trees are great. One more time thanks jeronij for those seasonal trees. Thanks 1dera3, that nature is awesome in you city suburbs. Something that is very relevant along this CJ, the canal. The canal gives the city an artistical and pleasant ambient, and you feel like being there. The canal has its own boardwalk and statues are bordering the water. As mentioned above, there is a bunch of detail in this city.

Do not ignore the sidewalk network, excellent arrangement. There is large-wide avenue in the middle of the city (it seems to be a limited access road) and avenue intersections in the borders. The commercial around the avenue is great concept of central development, while in the uptown are the suburbs. The trees also are very important in this CJ. The city has an excellent transportation network, incluiding sidewalks, bus system, ElRail

Monorail, and a strategical distribution of the roads and streets.

Gee, this CJ is one of the most realistic and detailed here on ST. I am not saying that is the MOST, but is an example of how the basic tools can be used, with custom content.

Thankyou very much 1dera3 for sharing your CJ with ST community.

RHF

[RushHourFreak 1]

Excellent review patriots, Thanks

[SpecialEddie 3]

Run for Your Life! by hamsterTK

LINK

Run for Your Life, is a story-based CJ depicting the tale of Shaun Darnell, an industrial worker (on the run), traveling all over hamsterTK's fictional world. On the way, he is enslaved, breaks free, and meets new people, while at the same time avoiding mysterious ARCO workers who seem to be after him...

Hamster's CJ is well-done and has potential to become a classic Simtropolis story-based CJ. The storyline flows smoothly, and the reader can tell it has been well-planned out. The reader can relate to the character, as his thoughts are relayed to us--giving a more emotional impact to the story. However, we never see the character in any of the pictures, just as many story-based CJ's fail to show the hero (only focusing on the SC4 screenshots).

But what Run for Your Life lacks in character visuals, it makes for world-scenery. The world that hamsterTK has envisioned is lively and colorful, though when he wants to, he can make it dark and dreary with his Photoshopping skills. 

The first pages of the CJ are suspenseful--giving the feel that you are following Shaun through his discovery of an underground tunnel at the ARCO facility. Shaun realizes his life is at risk, and flees through means of SC4 transportation and on the way, gets kidnapped, meets someone from a country that is difficult to spell, and flies on a futuristic airliner to the country that is difficult to spell. 

However, a problem that hamsterTK has in his CJ is the rush to explain everything going on in the story. Some updates have way more text than there are pictures. A strategy that often loses the reader. An improvement in this area would be to add a picture or two in between long sequences of summary or conversation. This brings us to dialogue, which though interesting is somewhat lacking emotion. The characters don't seem that intelligent (in my opinion), by the way they speak. 

City Building. hamsterTK establishes himself as a great city-builder, as well as a great story-craftsman. There's some custom lots in his CJ, and it is always exciting to see some unique self-made lots on a city journal. HamsterTK also shows some flexibility in the way that he can build South-east asian looking urban centers to contrast the small American-looking suburbs in the beginning of the tale. But not just cities, is the creator of this CJ highly-skilled at making! He is also great at making secret military installations (shh), and busy looking industrial-construction sites. A city builder that can make many styles of settings, has truly reached the top of his game.

If you're here in this CJ to read a great, thrilling suspenseful movie-flowing graphic novel, or just to scan the colorful, lively images, RUN FOR YOUR LIFE is reccomended. 

[hamsterTK 93]

(I posted this in my cj too)

---

Thanks for your review!

I like the constructive critisim you gave. I have thought about those things,but pondered whether or not it was just me or if I would screw up and make things worse, now hearing it from another I know I will be able to improve greatly.

I think its funny you thought the characters wherent very intelligent... my intention was to make the main character in sort of inarticulate and awkward, but a good person who's way smarter than you would think. Unfortunately I know exactly why it never comes across people to be like that, Your very right, it lacks emotion stemming from a lack of detail about the characters feelings.

I really messed up, there is an uber lack of character development so far. I guess I just wanted to make the story exciting so people would read it and it would get comments.

I have a plan to change things. I hope to make the story far more enjoyable. I will get more into the characters personality, interests, his past, etc.

also, interesting about lack of character pics.. thats just something that would be really hard to do. I cannot draw that well and it would take a significant amount of time to do just one picture that looked really good and didnt look like something a 12 year old drew on the blank page of a textbook. Still, its something I have thought about and sort of wished I could do. I actually have a very good picture in my mind of what the characters in the story look like, maybe one day I can get that picture out...

......Lol this whole writing a story thing is a lot harder than I thought it would be....fun though, I hope I don't ever have to end this cj

---

As for the review itself...man im lucky... that was a well written one.

[DioAngel 1]

Sweet! Keep it coming!

[Shadow Assassin 336]

Being a fellow story writer, I'd agree with Hamster about the difficulty of writing a story.

And my review: thanks to Patriot for writing a very good review. At least I know where the storyline could be improved. I actually do feel that the beginning of the story was a little shaky, as you mentioned the humour - most likely remnants from my previous pseudo-story based CJ - The Savannah Way. Speaking of the commercial/industrial, I might add that configuration exists a mere 5 minutes from where I live, lol

Hopefully this should pinpoint areas of improvement, especially in the story. My region view's a mess, so I'm not gonna show that for a while

I'm going to lead readers on a merry chase through Brackenfell soon, so be sure to check it out

[1dera3 29]

...well I'm glad you liked it.

[MasterPlanMan 1]

You guys are doing a great job! I thank you all for your time and effort. The reviews have been informative but short and precise. They are a good starting point so far when wanting to browse through the many outstanding CJs we have here. Keep up the good work!

[Mulefisk 15]

Discreet: Thanks for a great review

[crazychickensc12 84]

i have a ?, so your CJ gets reviewd say it was on page 10 at the time but now your on page 20 can it be reviewed again?? like added to the previous review ??

[Discreet 0]

SimTropia

Simtropia a CJ with no history behind it, which does make a good

CJ but simtropia is the sort of CJ that dosen't need history to make it interesting it features outstanding rural scenes to small downtowns that have a great appearance.There is also no negative points about simtropia because it excels at everything from scenery to realism and cool historic European cities.What is dissapointng about Simtropia is it hasn't been updated

for a while and it would be so great to brig simtropia back into action as a top CJ.The region is really detailed in every part even at the dawn of this CJ it contains detail to the full.This

CJ Is a whopping 90 pages long for you to observe all the scenic pictures and cities of course.I really admire networking systems that are laid out nicely and im more of a critic at that than what i can do with them but Jeronij has covered all aspects of networking realism for me.

Halfway through this CJ Jeronij shows us industry and sea ports

that have top effort and all custom items which makes it look

superb.on Page 60 the region view looks like a place on google earth its that good.Everything is very well presented like i said at the begining this is a CJ to see but you'll never want to leave.

I have said enough but probably haven't covered every aspect on simtropia and its greatness i hope eventually though that Jeronij gets enough time to create a new cj or continue on with this one,I do want more though once you get to the end you'll see what i mean.

By Discreet

Link is Here

[patriots_1228 51]

Just got my CJ up so now ive got some time for a lenghty reveiw.


The New Carpathia Confederation of Planets

By Zeldagis

https://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=36&threadid=70604&enterthread=y

Welcome to the 85 update journal that is The New Carpatia Confederation of Planets, by Zeldagis. Zeldagis picked out 10 updates for me to critic, so ill start of with the 5 update series titled,"The Day In Hell". The Story in this journal is fell written, and unlike many cjs, you can get yourselve lost in the  and forget about the pics. The journal almost is like a movie, with pictures of the character talking next to their dialouge. The Pics fit in with the story and alot of details in them show the experience of Zeldagis. The water is blue, like most journals, however the amount of detail on the surface is stunning. This is some of the best water ive ever seen! The terrain is a dark green, with the standard beaches and trees. however the rocks do have a black color instead of brown, this combination makes a very unique nature scene. Zeldagis has used every type of transportation possible in her journal and thats along with the water are two things that stuck out right away, As i go on, the story continues to be masterful, and zeldagis continues to show the same spots at every angle possible.  Final thought on Part one: The trees are mainly the simtropolis trees, and the Streets are well laidout for the most part.

Moving on We see some new spots on the map, including you drive it scenes! which is something ive never seen before in a journal. Another little detail i noticed was aside from apartment complexes, where you have the same apartment twice or more intentionally, i never saw the same building twice in the same city. Through you drive it we see Zeldagis's beautiful highways, Some nice effects on the pics, and more story. The city ha is well designed, and when the elavation rises, Zeldagis just puts in walls to prevent buildings from being above the road. As ive discovered is usual in this journal, i continue to see Stex buildings being ploped amazingly, and what i think was the titanic? Aww man, who would of guessed it, the ship sunk! Soon Zeldagis shows us many stunning fantasy buildings, and has goblins blowing up the city, for the violence fans.  

So with a a battle update featuring fights, pics full of war plans, part four starts the climax, with a big battle between two of the main characters. Zeldagis even includes some battle animation! Part five put a fine ending to one of the many sets of mini storys in the big story, with Zeldagis bringing up something from the first part, making for a suprise ending. Well i was given up to ten updates to critique, i could only fit in 5 because i didnt want the reveiw to get too long. I have however looked at the last couple of updates and i know this cj is 85 updates long, and shows no signs of stopping. The Story makes an excellent Sci Fi journal, the pics support the story well, and i cant stop thinking about that water! lol

[patriots_1228 51]

of course just call in someone and they can edit there old reveiw. then they could tell me and ill put an updated next to the reveiw. Keep up the good work!

[SpecialEddie 3]

Glen Harbor by MasterPlanMan

LINK

Welcome to Glen Harbor, and be prepared to be amazed by the transportation marvel that MasterPlanMan has imagined. Some stunning city building can be seen in the early pages, and the signs of more great updates to come are hinted in these first batches of images. 

Glen Harbor excels at transportation layouts, that's obvious. It makes great use of the NAM, and probably every other form of transportation the game and the STEX has to offer + more. The twisting highways and elevated train-tracks weave around MasterPlanMan's masterpiece like the train-set of some genius child-droid. And the slopes are perfectly terraformed. You'll see no abrupt drops or edgy turns that is common with someone who is inexperienced with working with uneven terrain. MPM has stunningly sloped and smoothed the terrain of Glen Harbor. 

Glen...Harbor? Don't think this CJ is named for nothing. It has a port, too! And one of the most detailed and colorful ones I have ever seen, also. At first, the harbor used Japanese lots that though wonderfully BAT'ed, lacked a nice lot--something, MasterPlanMan fixed. The final result was a harbor with colorful boats, lively piers, and some very detailed lots. MasterPlanMan is extremely flexible in his city-building. He establishes himself as a transportation genius, city-builder master, and avid lot-editor. MPM can turn plain, undesirable, grey lots into an eye-candy treat. 

Final thoughts. Glen Harbor is a simple CJ, nice to look at, and is a pretty enjoyable read. Looking at all the details in this journal can occupy someone for days. MasterPlanMan stated in the early pages of the journal, how he was aiming to make more of a fantasy/realistic city, and his words proved true. Though, I cannot name a lot of real-world cities that resemble this unique city (with it's elevated rails passing by mansions, skyscrapers built on the slopes of a mountain), it is a great journal, and a lot of hard work has gone in to this. Make a visit to Glen Harbor!  

[asturianu 4]

WOW! Hey, patriots, thank you very much, my friend, i couldn't comment before, and now i have to say that your critic is so nice!

Thank you very very much, my friend, your critic thread is very interesting, and seeing what you think of my journal has been very funny!

Thanks a lot, my friend, and yes, i'm from AVILES - ASTURIAS - SPAIN

Thanks a lot.

Cristian

[Charles Rodulfo 0]

sooo... who's Jeronij and what's simtropia? LOL hahaha. I sound like a newbie that way. nice review discreet!

[jeronij 13]

Thanks for a great review Discreet !!!, but it sounds so good that nobody will believe you ;-D

[connor_v 3]

New Area - A City Journal by SimCity Freak

New Area is a frequently updated City Journal with an enormous developed area and an endless amount of well-planned areas. SimCity Freak is a very personable host who replies promtly. All update titles display a very artistic use of the Photoshop program.

In the Golden Coast area you can see how well developed the suburban areas are, not a grid in sight. The downtown area's road system is a broken grid, and is very realistic. Most larger buildings are unique, giving individuality to city blocks.

Rockport is a picturesque area, with peaceful farm lands and quaint villages. Park systems are everywhere, and steep cliffs lead down to the calm rivers.

Orange Beach has one of the nicest downtown cores, with a fair number of taller buildings, most in a more modern style. High speed rail twists around buildings and above the many parks that are in the city centre. Again, a wide variety of different buildings give it a very realistic feel.

The beautiful Highlands area, a suburb of Orange Beach, is a middle to high wealth area on the sea. This very sizeable area has a good mix of low density homes and flats, and higher density developements such as high class lofts and condominiums. Shopping areas are very nice, but could use parking space. A well planned highway system gets people where they need to go.

Orange Delta is a well planned area, as always, with a stunning array of different building styles.

Delta City North is another heavily developed commercial area, with a large amount of residential flats on the edges. Traffic is high, obviously hinting to the enourmous amount of people commuting in the area. East Delta City has a smaller downtown core, with more medium height commercial and residential buildings than the North. A stunning Capitol building and park breaks up the grid, with a well landscaped government area. Big box stores and high-tech industrial areas line the freeways.

Delta City Centre has a mix of historic and modern buildings, with a well laid out transit system and a ton of tall commercial buildings. Picture quality is greatly comprimised in this update, luckily that didn't continue.

Coen Delta has a mix of high-density commercial and residential developement on three seperate islands. Parking lots are common in between the skyscrapers. European style row homes line the streets of the suburban areas, with higher wealth citizens living in larger homes on treed lots.

In Clipperton, a very well developed downtown core is balanced out with a massive parks system. This area is beautifully done, with many different building style coexisting well in a high density community. At night, the area brilliantly glimmers, making for a very good shot.

Overall, this CJ is one I would highly recommend. All buildings are grown, none are plopped, and there are a huge variety of grown STEX buildings used in the city. SimCity Freak is a good host, who will definetly reply to your questions and comments.

Visit New Area Today!

Review No. 2 - 11/14/06

[Zelgadis 638]

Oo, nice review!  I'm glad that you chose that section, having to cut some of it.  I understand.  It is a bit big. 

A couple of things.

1)  Yes, I do use mostly the Maxis trees.  I've been having trouble finding god mode trees that suit my liking.  These days, I plop most of mine from my parks menu.  Still on the lookout for better trees though.  I've seen some amazing ones in other CJ's that might work.

2)  I'm a boy. 

3)  My name is "Zelgadis."  Don't worry.  You're definitely not the first one to make that mistake. 

Thanks a bunch for the review!  It was nice to read. 

Also, Glen Harbor looks interesting.  I think I might have to go have a peek at it. 

ISF

[DioAngel 1]

Sweet reviews!!