District of Wenzel | Update 116 - (Ouisconsin County) Morgan Town: Rival to the South

[dfnva 34]

WELCOME TO PAGE 5!

Nice update as always, that's a good idea to combine scenes from two different, contiguous, city tiles.

-Dan

[hotChocolate 95]

Looks great! A nice slum you got there... Looking forward for more .

[wwetom1 831]

Your suburbs/residential areas/apartments look great! I love the way the whole area looks. And the composite mosaic thing is really cool. I had always wanted to do that with Stone Creek, but I never knew how I would do it, or pull it off smoothly like you did, although I can see where one tile ends and another tile begins

Can't wait for the next update!

[GreekMan 246]

very good work packers! I like that you put in the name Brittany, mainly because thats my girlfreinds name *wink wink*

[packersfan 667]

Update 16 - Highland Neighborhood and Brittany River Industry

This update we will move a little north to view the area between Baltimore Ave and Brittany River. Heavy industry occupies the area between Highland Ave (D10) and Brittany River. South of W Highland Ave, a low density residential neighborhood flourishes. This neighborhood is called Highland Neighborhood and is situated between S Harrison Rd, W Highland Ave (D10), W Baltimore Ave, and S 24th St (D230). D15 runs through the east end of the neighborhood along S 6th St and then S 8th St. The neighborhood is serviced primarily by the Wenzel Transit Authority Bus System, but the Wenzel Transit Authority Metro (WTAM) also runs along the southern edge of the neighborhood along Baltimore Ave.

I suggest opening in another tab/window the region map of the District of Wenzel.

District of Wenzel Street Map

Beautifully lit power plants on the south bank of the Brittany River.

We start our tour of Highland Neighborhood on the northwestern edge. This is North Division High School.

Allen Field School (Kindergarten - 5th Grade)

Some cleaner industry within the neighborhood.

George Mason Elementary School (Kindergarten - 5th Grade) and Hanover Street Methodist Church.

Hanover German Immersion School. All classes are taught exclusively in German and all students are required to speak only in German.

Mason Park. I forgot to include pictures of the origins of the park. Maybe I will make that a separate update.

Highland Neighborhood police and fire departments.

Now a look at the industry north of Highland Ave. This factory is located at 1450 W Cutler St (where S 14th St would pass through). Opposite the factory are some water treatment vats.

W Warren Ave sits at a little higher elevation that the factory along the rail.

More manufacturing. A small neighborhood which houses factory workers sits in the middle of much of these factories.

Overview of the area.

A nice sunset shot of a factory. I took this at the same time I took the title picture on the east side of S Harrison Rd.

Mosaic including heavy industry and the eastern end of Highland Neighborhood. We can see Calvert Middle School, Oakwood Baptist Church, and the edge of Baltimore High School's campus in the lower half of the picture.

Overview of the heavy industry straddling D15.

The aforementioned Baltimore High School.

I hope you enjoyed these views of southwestern Martin. What do you think? Too many pictures? What would you like to see? The next update will either move south and view Applewood Neighborhood (W Baltimore Ave - W Lucas Rd - S 8th St - S 16th St) or I'll show you the northeast neighborhoods I've been working on. So much to show and the city is still young and "small" 275,000 residents or so.

[packersfan 667]

Can anyone help me find different textures for the in-game rail...I don't like the solid dirt around the rail...it doesn't match with the texture on most custom lots, also is there going to be any overlay texture for FAR or FARR? I sparingly use FAR and FARR for the very reason that it has not texture so it looks out of place (and it also doesn't support development alongside).

[psander5 198]

Great update!  The industrial development looks good.  I like how it integrates with the neighbourhoods.  

I don't think I can help you with your texture questions.  It's not something I pay enough attention to in my own game

Haha, George Mason Elementary... is it an accident that I think of 24 when I read that?  

[wwetom1 831]

Very nice update! They are always very well done.

And sorry, I can't help either. I don't even use rail.

[packersfan 667]

I have a ton of texture issues, but I can't figure any of them out, ugh.

[nathanthemayor 1,263]

Oh boy a dirty industrial city....I can imagine the pollution is bug in that city.

[Damastius 5]

I love that elementary school with the parking lots next to it, very natural!

[Rearviewmirror. 3]

Very nice.

[dfnva 34]

Nice update... I love the industrial buildings, did you plop or are those growables? I also like your realistic schools and their surroundings, I, too (as a teacher, myself), always put playgrounds, parks, sports facilities and plenty of parking by schools.

I agree with you about the dirt under the rail... I have the same problem! The thing is, I don't want to get rid of all the textures and have a situation where there's always grass underneath too.

-Dan

[packersfan 667]

Yeah...so many little annoyances with textures and for some reason the best CJers don't have those issues, their pictures always look beautiful, bah.

I use CTRL+x and "lotplop" in the cheat box to plop buildings like businesses or industries when I want something specific. It is especially handy since my demand for any industry except high tech is now completely in the tank.

I really need to get the lot editor so I can go onto many of these lots and remove the parking so I can put my own more realistic custom parking around a building when I plop it, but I can't download the editor since I don't have the game code for SC or Rush Hour since my mom cut them off the box for a rebate or something, so I can't register at SimCity.com or whatever.

I definitely refer a lot to google maps and freshlogicstudios bird's eye view maps to get more realistic everything, but I am really happy with the way my school's are turning out.

[Benedict 3,119]

Great update - I love the lighting on the industrial buildings in the first picture.

[packersfan 667]

Update 17 - Near East Side - Cramer Neighborhood

Now we move to the north side of the Brittany River, more specifically, the Near East Side, the area between Orchard Creek and Honey Creek north of downtown. This update focuses on Cramer Neighborhood which lies between N Webster Ave, E North Ave, N Prospect Ave, and E Sherman Ave. The neighborhood is home to low-wealth residents and has two schools (Cramer School - Martin Public Schools [MPS] and St. Mary's Catholic School)

District of Wenzel Street Map

Open farmland north of Martintown.

Honey Creek flows south from Marble Lake into Willms Bay.

The farmland is paved over and development booms around Cramer School.

Cramer School (MPS - Kindergarten through Sixth Grade)

St. Mary's Catholic Church and School

N Prospect Ave

The southwest corner of Cramer Neighborhood.

The western boundary of Cramer Neighborhood - N Webster Ave.

Cramer Neighborhood during the day. Note: the boundaries for the neighborhood are loose. Residences on the few blocks west of N Webster Ave are also considered part of the neighborhood.

Cramer Neighborhood at night.

TEASER: Ivanhoe Terraces

Thanks for visiting Cramer Neighborhood. The next update will continue our little picture tour of the Near East Side (now that I think about it, my map calls this area the Lower East Side). We will move north of E Sherman Ave. Based on the teaser I chose I will focus on the Ivanhoe Terraces neighborhood west of N Webster Ave. Hopefully my city building is not boring and uninteresting. I am aiming for realism, and real cities can be a little repetitive. That is one reason I am focusing heavily on naming neighborhoods, schools, churches, etc, to give the "monotony" some life. Tell me what you think!

[dfnva 34]

Nice update... I like how you realistically have these "neighborhoods" like many cities have.

-Dan

[rewright 804]

The pictures look like an older city with blocks of houses with industry mixed in between. I like the use of mosaics in you updates also. 

[packersfan 667]

Yup, rewright, that's exactly what I'm going for, a realistic old midwestern city along the lines of Milwaukee, Chicago, Detroit. My city displays a density more like Milwaukee, though, than Chicago, since I'm from Milwaukee and like to have lots of single/two family homes as opposed to blocks and blocks of apartments/tenements. I can never seem to handle all the apartments and the demand for jobs!

[kakado_to_save 514]

I really like you housing selection. Interesting maps and towns. Keep it up!

[packersfan 667]

Update 18 - Near East Side - Ivanhoe Terraces

We move kitty-corner from Cramer Neighborhood, north of E Sherman Ave and west of N Webster Ave to Ivanhoe Terraces. The neighborhood is bordered to the west by Orchard Creek, to the south by E Sherman Ave, to the east by N Webster Ave, and to the north by E Orchard Ave. The terraces were developed along the sloping ground where Ivanhoe Park and N Webster Ave now sit down to Orchard Creek. The neighborhood has two schools, Ivanhoe Elementary and Ivanhoe High School, and is home to middle-class residents.

District of Wenzel Street Map

Unadulterated farmland on the verge of being overtaken by the expanding Near East Side.

Ivanhoe High School - MPS

Views from along N Webster Ave along the western side of Ivanhoe Park.

Intersection of N Webster Ave and E Orchard Ave.

Ivanhoe Elementary School - MPS (Kindergarten - 5th Grade). Ivanhoe Terraces along Orchard Creek.

Ivanhoe Park. 1/8 square mile (1/2 mile X 1/4 mile).

View of Ivanhoe Terraces and Ivanhoe Park looking northwest.

Street view looking east.

Ivanhoe Terraces looking west towards Orchard Creek.

Ivanhoe Park looking west.

Thanks for visiting Ivanhoe Terraces. Next week we will look at Lincoln Terraces east of Ivanhoe Park.

Tell me what you think, what you would like to see, what could use some work. Thanks for visiting.

[rewright 804]

 Very nice job on the residential areas and the alley-ways. I especially like the large park with the paths and recreational facilities. Good use of Fox's tree as well. They do look good in the game.

[dfnva 34]

Ivanhoe Terraces definitely contrasts nicely with the other sections of town you've already shown us.

-Dan

[nathanthemayor 1,263]

I like your street maps, except it's a little blurry.

Ooo me likes the nice park

[Livin in Sim 83]

Originally posted by: packersfan

Can anyone help me find different textures for the in-game rail...I don't like the solid dirt around the rail...it doesn't match with the texture on most custom lots, also is there going to be any overlay texture for FAR or FARR? I sparingly use FAR and FARR for the very reason that it has not texture so it looks out of place (and it also doesn't support development alongside).quote>

Hi, there, nice work on the journal, love your industrial areas.  What are those attractively lit power plants, anyway?  I may have them, but just haven't seen them at night.

Have you found a solution for your rail texture issue yet?  This mod<<< works in conjunction with the NAM, and removes all dirt textures, except from farm areas and landfills.  It also has the option to choose concrete textures for High and Medium densities.  Read the readme carefully, and have fun!

Zelgadis has hosted the Lot Editor installer on his file sharing site here<<<.  It is the tenth file down on the list.

[packersfan 667]

Thanks a lot for the links Livin in Sim. The power plants are just the Oil Power Plant from the game.

BTW, is there anyway to place subway stations without the game eliminating all the buildings and then being forced to rerender a whole major city?  When placing pipes or subways it goes to underground mode and then you can quickly go back to above ground and everything is back quick...but placing a station causes everything to go into zone view mode and then it takes forever to re-render?  Anyone have any secrets on how to place subway stations without spending a whole day doing it?

[packersfan 667]

Replies to Your Comments...

Benedict: Thanks, MAXIS sometimes does a great job with lighting on the basic buildings that came with the game.

Damastius: Thanks, I look at satellite views to get the look realistic.

dfnva: The terraces are definitely a contrast. In this young city, they are the early "suburbs". You can see areas like this in Milwaukee, Chicago, etc., where the wealthier people lived, though it seems very close to the core later in history and not in the suburbs, but back in the 1800s and early 1900s, the rich people live near the center of town, since of course the city hadn't sprawl too far out yet.

Naming things is very important when creating a city, gives it more life, especially when it looks a little repetitive.  You know what I mean.  You do it quite well in your journal too!

GreekMan: Yeah, Brittany is the name of a girl I like, haha.

hotChocolate: Thanks, every city needs some slum.

kakado_to_save:  Thanks, I really don't do too much housing selection, haha.  I use the Urban Housing Mod to get the houses with garages.  I'm always referring to satellite views of Milwaukee and Chicago to get the right feel.

Livin in Sim: The attractively lit power plants are the in-game MAXIS oil power plant.  Thanks for the link to the mod, I'll check it out.  Great, thanks for the Lot Editor link, too, hopefully I can get it to work and create my own lots!  Thank you for the help and visiting the District of Wenzel.

mightygoose: Thanks, the region view did turn out superb.  I like FAR and FARR but they aren't flexible enough for my needs and I can build along side them and match up textures

nathanthemayor: Thanks.  What do you mean they are a little blurry?  I blow all the maps up in size so that they can be easily viewed, and I just use the in-game transit data view, nothing fancy  I'm definitely building a lot of parks in this city (I am from Milwaukee.)  The pollution does become a little factor with all those industries and garbage is a REAL pain.

psander5: Thanks for stopping by.  Nah, no reference to 24, I didn't really watch 24, though my parents did.

rewright: Thanks rewright!  Alleys are very important to a realistic mid-western city, especially in the older sections of the city.  I'm proud of the park.  Still not my biggest I've ever made, that goes to a park I had in my journal, two journals back - Rabourn.  That was a MASSIVE park.

wwetom1: Thanks.  Stone Creek is still looking good!  Yeah, the composite mosaic is my favorite, though a lot of work, and yes, still imperfect

ZGMF - X88S: Thanks for stopping by.

[packersfan 667]

Ugh, my VPN is acting up and refuses to connect to any server making another Sunday completely unproductive for me! I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL I GET BACK TO AMERICA WHERE THE INTERNET (for the time being) IS FREE AND OPEN TO USE.

[rewright 804]

Originally posted by: packersfan

...WHERE THE INTERNET (for the time being) IS FREE AND OPEN TO USE.quote>

Yes, there are some who would change that (for our own good?). Parks are difficult to do well I think but yours are great.

[mightygoose 92]

congrats on making it to the superbowl.