The Official City Journal Critics Thread Archive

[flyinbird93 2]

Hello, i have tried to follow protocall for this thread. I want to get my journal criticed, but out of 3 pms to critics ive only gotten a respawnce from one that said they were too busy. Is there anyone (who I havent pmd yet) that is will to critic my journal to give me some pointers? Thanks

[flyinbird93 2]

Hello, i have tried to follow protocall for this thread. I want to get my journal criticed, but out of 3 pms to critics ive only gotten a respawnce from one that said they were too busy. Is there anyone (who I havent pmd yet) that is will to critic my journal to give me some pointers? Thanks

[Artur_001 4]

Originally posted by: flyinbird93 Hello, i have tried to follow protocall for this thread. I want to get my journal criticed, but out of 3 pms to critics ive only gotten a respawnce from one that said they were too busy. Is there anyone (who I havent pmd yet) that is will to critic my journal to give me some pointers? Thanks quote>

This thread is a little bit lifeless lately. I also want to get my CJ reviewed.

[Amerikaner 42]

Hey guys if you want a CJ review just PM me I am the newest edition and hoping to jump-start this a tad.

[Shingure 56]

CJ Review by Shingure

Worchester was created February 21st 2008 by Artur and this Cj is one of the few that has caught my attention upon first looking at it. This Cj from the beginning has very nice shots of the downtown cityscape which added with parks and organization make for a wonderful reading expirience. Worchester also is one of the Cj's in which the good outweighs the bad by a great amount.

To start there are many good things about the CJ. Building choices and diverse styles make the CJ interesting. Also I had seen some pieces in this Cj that make me ask " Wow, where did that building come from. The usage of landmarks are also very nice. Through all of this the author shows his city in a wonderful manner. However there are some faults.

Realism buffs would love the Cj for a majority of it's shots. Especially the more recent ones on Page of his 5 which shows Midtown. However in the beginning there was a issue with the rails. The rail lines  heading into the trainyard were fine. But the train yard it'self was awkwardly placed. The rails at the opposite end terminated , even after the rails joined back to their normal configuration to have it seem like they were going to continue forward. Also there are problems with picture quality and there were several pictures which were slightly too big.

In the end this Cj is very, very well rounded is great for a 1st time Cj. I suggest that you take a trip over to Worchester and enjoy the eye-candy. Realism buffs will like it as well.

The Good

- There is loads of custom content , building concepts , and building styles to feast your eyes on.

The Bad

The picture quality and size is alittle iffy , Plus there are some minor realism issues, however those are balanced out with the positive aspects.

[blue sinjid 7]

great review!

[Artur_001 4]

I totally agree with the review. I'm going to resolve the issue with those rails when I will return to Harbour & Docklands. But now I'm working on Midtown.

I hope that photos quality is better in last updates that it was in the beginning.

Thanks Shingure for your excellent review. 

[Amerikaner 42]

Created on the first of October the Greater Modernopolis Region by Blue Sinjid is a growing first time experience in the world of City Journals. Focusing on an Asian style with looks of inspiration from Singapore and Hong Kong, the city is full of towering skyscrapers and an impressive water front. Sinjid mainly skips over the details of his "nation" to bring you skillfully built parks and puzzle piece blocks, although he does fill you in on some information in the first post. A city jounal almost anyone could enjoy, Sinjid has wonderfully captivated the asian journal experience.

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The maxis construction takes away from what Sinjid tries to showcase: the marvelous upbringing of a new city.

Again an amazing shot but the construction seems to akwardly take over the picture and make it seem lifeless.

Criticism : With interesting shots of the city, Sinjid is able to capture a sizeable audience as we dive into the city. Unlike many Cjers he focuses a lot on the building of the city instead of the final result. However in a strife to create realism he takes a small step backwards by mainly showcasing maxis construction. With a good search of the STEX Sinjids construction sites would explode in both realistic and eye candy inspiration. To balance this act use of the Lot Plop extra cheat would allow him to rapidly expand his city with some amazing results. Images such as this can distract the reader, and take away from what Sinjid is really trying to showcase. Although his final results do look quite amazing, a little work in this area will be quite helpful. Another minor problem with this CJ is the amount of custom content, or the lack of a common base to be more precise with the massive amount of custom content he shows. With a little work in the Lot Editor to change all his bases to a common tile or concrete (my suggestions for maximum eye-candy) and the use of the Lot Plop Blue Sinjid would be a serious contender for a trixe or two (if not already). Because thankfully most STEX providers use the white tile base Sinjid is still safe in the category and a little switch up never hurts, so this problem is not something I am about to stress. A little work in Photoshop with possible banners for the update and perhaps a border around pictures would invite readers a tad more, and a secret to share: horizontally flipping the pictures adds a whole new angle to your work, and can make updates even more magical!

Overall I would mainly fix the Construction issue, it’s nothing major and certainly nothing to stress over, in fact its the only major thing I can think of to critique!

Shots like this will keep you coming back for more, Sinjids amazing work with the asian style pays off the most in his amazing night-shots.

 

 

A brilliant overview kills in the updates, and provide the reader a visual map which Sinjid can use to his advantage later on in the CJ.

 

The Good : Although his CJ is very good for a first timer, it really takes a turn for the better after page five. His amazing overviews kept me staring so long I finally had to put them in this update so that I could still look at them (), and page six is filled with goodies including a new central park. As well Sinijd finally takes hold of the mosaic, and now is able to showcase larger portions of the city in less chaotic ways. Sinjids first mosaic is nothing short of amazing, the vastness of his custom content treasure finally being shown. On page seven we finally see some traffic which is wonderful and Sinjid finally has a city on his hands, his stadium mosaic fully captivating his skills and showing his city in full life.

Overall his city buildings skills outweigh any problems this city has, and it will be an exciting journey to see it grow.

 

I highly recomend this CJ for anyone out there who needs a little inspiration for a downtown area, Sinijd so far has been able to take hold pretty well of the CBD ideal.

 

Link : https://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=36&threadid=102683&STARTPAGE=7

[blue sinjid 7]

Wow thks for a great review of my cj! This is greatly appreciated! Thks for the critism! I will add borders from now on! Also, you have mentioned that ''Lot Plop'' mod,any chance you could link me to it? Also, I will add less constuction photos,because I guess it takes away from the point.. ( was too influenced by Dubai XD). Also i did install a lot of custom construction lots which i will showcase in future updates! Anywyas greatly appreciaited!

[griffen_star 0]

Wonderful review. I agree with the construction, it gets in the way sometimes.

Though the night shots are amazing!

[flyinbird93 2]

I think construction if properly used can add a nice touch.

*edit* griffin, your link doesn't work in your sig for your cj

[Twenty20 28]

Good review well detailed of an excellent CJ.

[patriots_1228 51]

well, if you didnt notice already, i don't really post here or review at all. In fact, I hardly even think of this thread. It was fun for a while, but think its best I hand the reigns to someone who is going to put some effort into it.

Im handing over the reigns to the first critic that says they want them, but you have to be part of the team to take over. Good luck to whomever leads next!

[Shingure 56]

Okay, Thanks Patriots!

[Zelgadis 638]

Heh. I don't come in here nearly as often as I should. Great reviews and still the best place to get the low-down on new CJ's.

ISF

[Shingure 56]

CJ REVIEW 

by Shingure

Parkland by Newyorkrunaway one is a wonderful Cj which lives up to it's subtitle. This Cj has had 2 Trixie nominations , one of which is the Most Realistic Cj award. Parkland is a combination of planning and also loads of building techniques that are adapted from real life to help bring together something that is worthy of winning a Trixie. Loads of custom content and the awsome regional transit view put into perspective how detailed this Cj is. In this CJ everything is top notch, from the road layout to the establishment of subdivisions.

This Cj in short is almost close to flawless. However there is a minor issue. It is the textures matching. I know it's something extremely tiny , however , it can easily turn above all CJ into a excellent one. Texture transitions can be used to get around the problem easily as it provides a smooth transition. Perhaps a trip to the Lot Editor may also bring upon a universal texture for the diagonal wide sidewalk pieces which are off colored from the Maxis sidewalk. 

All in all the Cj is a wonderful piece or art that is a shoe in for a Trixie award anytime soon. So why don't you go over to Parkland have a look around and even make a comment or two. I promise, you won't be let down.

The Good	The Bad
The Cj uses pictures to create a something that looks good and brings in interest. Realism is also the name of the game and is A grade and top quality.	The only flaw about Parkland is that some of the textures don't match, However simple fixes are avalible for that.

[newyorkrunaway1 110]

wow.... i am speechless....

thank you so much!

[nihonkaranws 88]

PLANNING HALIFAX, NEBRASKA - a CJ by GreekMan - a review by nihonkaranws

Firstly, sorry about this lateness. I was asked to do this a month ago, but then forgot... Sorry GreekMan.

Halifax is GreekMan's latest CJ. The city was made in a very authentic mid-western American style. Featuring urban W2Ws mixed in with midrises and skycrapers, the CJ is very unique. I haven't visited the United States very much (only been to San Francisco and New York), but from photo reference, I can see that the author pays a lot of attention to making it an American-style metropolitan area. Big open squares mixed in with ethnic towns and (semi-)ghettos makes the CJ quite an interesting array of photos.

An overview of Halifax prior to the booming success of the CJ. Don't be turned away by the undeveloped areas, as they are only temporary.

But, if you dig a little deeper into the CJ, you will get an idea of the different neighborhoods of Halifax. Like a lot of American cities, there is a lot of room for development, and so the city is spread outward, and divided up by massive expressways, stadiums, and malls. Grid-style suburbs line the outer regions of the city, and are all connected up by major avenues, painted with commercial development. The transit system in Halifax looks pretty cool also, with an efficient light-rail system running about the city, and trains connecting Halifax with other major cities in the area.

Wow! Halifax, Nebraska is outstandingly booming with success! Yet another bit of development in the CBD.

The CJ isn't just about nice photos. GreekMan takes on the planning of the city, hence the title. Several images and descriptions are presented to give the readers an idea of the next plans of the city.

The AFDES embassy in downtown Halifax, and an underground mall right below.

To sum it all up, the CJ is very interesting and well planned, as is the city. In my opinion, as a CJ critic, I feel joy looking at this city, and all its plans. Wisely-chosen BATs, and great road system!  However, a few issues may need to be sorted out. The thing that bugged me about this CJ was the grass areas, especially on diagonals. To me, the Maxis grass doesn't go at all in the CJ. Since GreekMan has the marrast seawalls in his plugins, using the fillers for open grass areas would look a lot better, especially when using them to remove the jagged edges of diagonal streets and corners. Maxis buildings also make this CJ looks a bit worse. How about downloading some more Team Grater buildings, which IMO are perfect for an American city?

I also noticed a lot of dead-end roads, plus too many maxis buildings used for the medium-density commercial. LBT has some great shops and malls which will give this city an amazing touch! Semi-transparent borders to the images would look nice as well. But, the good far surpasses the bad.

[Shingure 56]

CJ REVIEW

By Shingure

Parkland is a showcase created by FlyinBird93 in order to showcase his interesting cities. The Cj shows a mix of maxis and custom content as well as some story telling. This Cj , although on it's 6 page and 35th update it requires a large amount of work overall. The main issue in this CJ is that there is a lack of realism. The way how some cities are set up are very hard for the eyes to make of. Also the city building is alot left to be desired  however it does improve within the first few pages. However in the CJ there is also a notable lack of a slope mod. 9 times out of 10 slope modes are your friends and also is the key to realistic pictures.Repeats in buildings is also seen as a problem. I can say that only 2 of the same building should be the max in a picture not unless it is a:

1.Housing development of some kind

2. A generic industrial or commercial park

Other than some minor issues with the textures matching this Cj is good as it shows the Authors skills in photoshopping and manipulating his pics for new and unique perspective. Videos for this Cj is also there as well showcasing the cities of FlyinBird93.

In the end this Cj has alot of potential and has loads of room for improvement. I advise people to support FlyinBird's Cj and offer some advice that can help make it better. In short it is deemed a fair read.

The Good The Bad The Cj has loads of potential and uses many concepts and extra items to help bring the interest of the readers. There is a general lack of realism as far as the pictures are concerned.

[Shingure 56]

You're welcome

[GreekMan 246]

WOW great review and thanks don't worry about the lateness....

yeah i plan to put trees along side the highways in the future and i know about maxis buildings =)

thanks a bunch and a very great review!!!!!

[Haljackey 17,398]

Nice review nihonkaranws! I think you did a great job with Halifax, you share the same thoughts as me.

[patriots_1228 51]

"Maxis buildings also make this CJ looks a bit worse. How about downloading some more Team Grater buildings, which IMO are perfect for an American city?"

-You my sir, are a god. These are happy tears falling from my eyes. lol. Grater references aside, Good reviews from you nihon and shinguire.

[Twenty20 28]

Nice reviews, with a good description of the cities. Excellent work.

[Craig-Abcvs 1,595]

A new faster loading CJ critics thread will be posted soon.   

This thread will be linked to the new one and will still be available to be viewed.