How do you spice up rural life?

[locolobo 0]

So I've been having a lot of fun playing around with a very rural region lately, but I am beginning to get bored of endless farm sprawl. What do all you Simtropolis folks do to keep rural areas interesting?

I'm mostly interested in stuff that doesn't involve downlading tons of custom content, but I have enjoyed using things like PEG's Sky Farms and the rural variety pack. I also tend to use a lot of trees to put borders between farms.

I'm also considering trying Darmok's rural trail pack. What else do people suggest?

[bigthing 35]

You could maybe add some rural rail lines.

Check out the Omnibus for loads of rural techniques.

[beebs 129]

Originally posted by: locolobo

So I've been having a lot of fun playing around with a very rural region lately, but I am beginning to get bored of endless farm sprawl. What do all you Simtropolis folks do to keep rural areas interesting?

I'm mostly interested in stuff that doesn't involve downlading tons of custom content, but I have enjoyed using things like PEG's Sky Farms and the rural variety pack. I also tend to use a lot of trees to put borders between farms.

I'm also considering trying Darmok's rural trail pack. What else do people suggest?quote>

Generally, I enjoy adding creeks and forested areas in my rural/farming areas. A few little hamlets here and there (a dozen houses and a store).. IMO it's just enough to add the variety needed to keep it from being endless farmland.

[CTMandR 9]

I second beebs on the creeks. They are also a good way to divide up farms, as well. Add some culverts in, maybe link some creeks into a river, and suddenly a farm-sea is broken into various different places. Also, hills can do a good job of breaking places up, if you don't develop farms on them.

[ecoba 28]

Look at some of the pictures in the Show Us Your Farmland! thread. There are some great pictures on the second (I think) page by Joe90.

I would also tell you to check out the Rural Renewal Project, and the 3RR Exchange over at SC4D. You have to be registered though.

Ethan

[locolobo 0]

Thanks for the suggestions all.

[Kittani 1]

Look up rural new hampshire, you'll get towns based around a single industry plant (like the old paper mill in Berlin) and a few medium and low density commercial services, and no farms. Try it. ONE plant, ONE Power plant, and about a dozen small businesses and chain stores on the strip. Residential snakes its way outwards along long and winding roads with houses sometimes a half mile apart in dense forest. Just look at a satellite map of northern and north western new hampshire to get an idea of what farmless or low-farm rural new england is like. You also have the option of using a cheat to unlock a small seaport and build a rural city like BATH maine where everyone works at the Ironworks making ships for the navy. If you ever want ideas for non-farm based rural communities, just look at satellite maps of the us and the towns that you know are there, but can't really see through the trees. There's a TON of them in New England, and not all are reliant on a larger industrial or commercial city nearby to provide jobs, demand perhaps, but rarely people in these towns commute out of town.

[kellydale2003 2,276]

TREES!!!

[830point35 8]

Having spent a lot of time around Fresno, I can tell you that sprawling farms are indeed boring.

[Simaddict1000 1]

go see natural growth in the old cj section- do what it says. build slowely- makes the game 10000000x times more fun

[heitomat 156]

In addition to trees, trees and trees, I suggest trails and Simgoober's (updated) irrigation canals. Get it from the LEX, as the version on the STEX isn't  updated.

[kingdiz_55 12]

I like a few farm fences here and there.

[Nuck97 0]

If you have an urban area in your region, perhaps you should consider adding some transmission line eye-candy that goes from outside of your region, through your farming area, and into the city(s)...

[kingdiz_55 12]

Oh yeah. I also forgot to mention that the RHW can really make tings a whole lot more realistic along with some wind turbines. A rural rail line could also do. The single rail line thing is a good addon for rural areas. I really hope that we can help you.