NO LONGER UPDATED // The Illium Empire

[Legobuilder123 24]

Excellent! The lake there looks awesome!

[The Avatar 1,089]

I just skimmed through the previous pages of this CJ, and I love what I see. Great work with everything! I'll keep my eye on this CJ from now on.

[SAVAGExPHOENIX 955]

Replies:

SimCoug: Thanks! I'm really experimenting with elevated railways in rural areas. I love how they turn out.

Sim_Link: Thank you, sir! I am guilty of that, and I tried to break it up a bit.

LegoBuilder: Thanks for bringing in the 4th page! And I agree. Lake Windemere has always been a part of the western suburbs. It's my favorite lake so far

MamaLuigi: Thank you! It's always fantastic to bring in new fans of the Empire! Also, I see you live in Gilbert! I was just in Mesa a couple of weeks ago, just off Val Vista and the Superstition fwy.

Teaser:

Further west, outside of Illium City, in the southern foothills of the Serenity Mountains, lies the small city of Highland Village, which we'll see next time!

For now, how about a glimpse of the Greystone River early in the morning, which sits north of Highland Village.

  Edited July 13, 2012 by daTSchikinhed  

[Charlie_Zane 963]

I love roads & railways that follow alongside rivers!

[vivapanda 422]

This is more than awesome! The road and railway flow very natural with the river. Also stunning work on the flora and rocks (:

[The Avatar 1,089]

Looks like a beautiful highway to drive on.

Cool! My grandma lives right in that area. It's hot here, isn't it?

[simlink 1,098]

Pretteh! Love the creek and the road under rail crossing.

[SimCoug 5,976]

Awesome flora work - looking forward to the update

[Fox 1,444]

Impressive last picture .. wow.

I think I need to have a 1-on-1 lesson over skype so I can learn how to do areas like that.

I could stare at that picture all day.

[Ion_Cannon 677]

*Could have sworn I commented on the previous update*

I have found traffic doesn't actually have that much effect on performance, turning shadows off does though, just has to be turned back on for the actual pictures.

Anyway, great suburbs you have there, I like the diagonals and the greystone river highway pic is gorgeous

[AdoxxBE 289]

Nice job and good looking city, I like what you did with the smartphone

[SAVAGExPHOENIX 955]

Hey guys, I'd like to apologize for the lack of updates. I've been hospitalized. :/ When I get back and free time, I'll be able to post updates.

[Ion_Cannon 677]

Sorry to hear that, hope it's not to serious and that you're feeling better soon.

[vivapanda 422]

Sounds bad :C I hope you get better soon!

[SAVAGExPHOENIX 955]

Replies:

City_Master: I've always loved them too.

Vivapanda: Thanks! I'm doing better, too.

Ion_cannon: Thank you, sir! I enabled traffic for this teaser, but lack of viable roads make it hard to drive around. Once I finish up Highland Village, I will get more.

MamaLuigi: Yes ma'am! And thank you!

Sim_Link: Thank you!

SimCoug: Thank you, sir!

Fox: Any time man! I'm not on skype that often, but when I am, I'll be more than happy to teach you. My skype name is "anthony.c.myers" (I know, how original )

Adooxx: Thank you! I'll probably end up making a custom smartphone template soon.

Update:

Well, I'm back in action! I'm pretty well done with the city of Highland Village. I just need to finish up the outlying areas and make minor adjustments to the rest of the tile then I'll do a full update.

Each tile has something unique. Illium City tile has the CBD, Denton & surrounding area tile have the Sariah Airport, Maddigan City tile has Lake Windemere, and this one has Greystone University!

For those who don't know, Greystone Industries is the largest leading corporation in the world (as it stands now). Greystone has dozens of branches, including Greystone Defense Industries, Greystone Medical, Greystone Aeronautics, and head up the current space program for Illium. Greystone University was founded and sponsored by owner Daniel Greystone.

[Charlie_Zane 963]

That looks like a great place to study!

[The Avatar 1,089]

Beautiful pic! I love the buildings and trees.

And lol, I'm a guy.

[vivapanda 422]

Good looking opd buildings, lots of paths and trees, it has everything to be a great university! Where can I sign up?

[Legobuilder123 24]

Wow. Just wow. University looks superb, was it made using custom university lots?

[simlink 1,098]

Nice university - very scenic.

[Markus J 242]

Impressive, impressive indeed

[SAVAGExPHOENIX 955]

Replies:

City_Master: It most certainly is. It's considered a "Crimson League" School (akin to America's Ivy League)

Vivapanda: Thanks! you can go to www.greystonecampus.il.edu to sign up

LegoBuilder: Yes it is. I found them here on the STEX.

MamaLuigi: Haha sorry man. I only have screennames to go off of. And thank you!

Sim_Link: Thank you again, sir!

Markus J: Thank you!

Update:

Okay, I'm super super sorry for just another teaser, but I had completely forgotten about my family trip to Louisiana this past weekend so I couldn't finish everything I wanted to. I got the main portion of Highland Village done though. Here's a night shot of the city during the last New Years Eve celebration. If you look closely, you can see the Trans-regional railway station that stops here (next to IH-75) and the end of the iCART rail line (far left center). There are proposal plans to link the iCART to the Trans-Regional. You can see the campus from here too, just on the south side of the freeway. It's the winter break, so most of the buildings are empty.

One last thing seen here is the solar power plant. While the town is fairly small, with the recent finishing of the iCART rail line, Highland Village expects a massive surge in population. A new proposal has been put on the table for the construction of an efficient Hydrogen Power Plant complex. Residents are somewhat skeptical of the proposal. While efficient, the Hydrogen Plant can get noisy at times, and outlying towns may request to shut down their own noisy generators and run lines from Highland Village, scarring the landscape with electrical lines. SIU Energy, the owners of the land and energy providers for most of the Southern Serenity Province and western Illium Provence, say that they could lay underground/underwater energy lines, but this would be substantially more expensive and would require the construction of dozens of relay stations, driving energy prices up temporarily to cover the extra costs.

This means, COMMUNITY INPUT! What do you think? Leave the Solar Plant and wait to see if development comes to Highland Village, or construct the new Hydrogen Generator? Should inexpensive lines be constructed and keep energy prices low while scarring the landscape, or should SIU Energy lay underground/underwater lines at significantly higher costs?

  Edited July 30, 2012 by daTSchikinhed  

[Markus J 242]

I like power lines, so I say draw those power lines!

As for the power source... maybe compromise... Hydrogen is expensive but drawing those cheaper lines, could make the balance?

Nice firework effect

[Fox 1,444]

Great last two updates.. love the additions of the fire works.. very cool.

As for the power plant.. build a hydrogen one, move the solar plant out to another location fo it doesn't go to waste, recycle it

And build underground cables!

  Edited July 31, 2012 by Fox  

[The Avatar 1,089]

No worries. I've been called a girl mistakenly many times in real-life because of my long hair, so I don't mind.

Great teaser. I look forward to the next full update.

I say keep the solar power plant for now, and lay underground cables, as well.

[Schulmanator 5,812]

Nice pic!

As far as the choices go, go for the best quality your budget can take!

[SAVAGExPHOENIX 955]

Replies:

Markus J: City Council voted. See below for the ruling! And thanks!

Fox: Thank you, sir!

MamaLuigi: Thanks! Input noted, but there's already been an explosive growth spurt just east of Highland Village. See below.

Shulmanator: Thanks for dropping by! SIU Energy is the largest energy provider in all of Southern Illium (hence SIU - Southern Illium Utilities), so they can definitely afford it.

Notes:

Well, it's been long awaited. A full update this time! For those following the storyline, I'm working with Vivapanda on the peace summit that's meeting in his country of Heimen. He's currently on vacation, so we'll just continue on our updates while the Queen is off doing her thing

Update:

Here we are! Highland Village has been completed (minus a few roads that I still haven't connected to neighboring cities) We'll be highlighting noteworthy points of this lovely town located due west of Illium City, about 80km outside of the Illium City Limits.

Here we'll start with Heritage Estates, a large neighborhood directly east of Highland Village across IH75. It has access to both the freeway, and the iCART rail line.

Within Heritage Estates lies the J.D. Young High school, just finished this year. The school is named after Staff Sergeant Jessica Dawn Young, a marine squad leader that lead the rescue team into enemy-held territory in Illium City to rescue Princess Skylar Jaymey Sariah after her transport was shot down over central Illium City during the occupation. Sergeant Young pushed her squad through an enemy defensive armor line and artillery barrage to get to the Princess's transport. She ended up rescuing not only the Princess, but the surviving crew of the transport, all while keeping her squad from sustaining any casualties. Sergeant Young received the Queen's Medal of Valor, the highest wartime award, and only one of 4 living recipients of the award in the Empire's history.

(Also note that you can see here my first BAT. I made an overhang prop (the Heritage Estates signs) that covers the blank spot in the slip-lane tile)

Moving into Highland Village itself, we have some great shots of the town, including an overview and Greystone University.

And finally, to close out today's update, the City Council of Highland Village has voted to allow SIU Energy to construct a Hydrogen Energy Plant to supply the western portions of the Illium Province and southern portions of the Serenity Mountains province. SIU Energy also agreed to run underground & underwater lines to keep from scarring up the landscape in return for getting a tax break from the Empire. This kept energy prices fairly low compared to the national average. Once construction is complete, the solar energy station will be decommissioned and a park will be built in its place. In addition, SIU Energy purchased two residential properties directly west of the new station's location at a very high cost and relocated the families to Heritage Estates at no cost to the families. This was as much a public relations campaign as well as to keep property values from dropping and adversely affecting the two families that lived there by the noisy station. The 128M credit facility is slated to open later this year.

I hope you enjoyed this update! As always, comments, criticism, and +1's are always welcome! See you next time! -daTS

[Legobuilder123 24]

Nice update, I like the solar power plant. It compliments how green that place is.

[Fox 1,444]

Love the over pass and I love the small details like the street angles in the suburban areas.. makes the area look so much more desirable.

[Sciurus 323]

Great update, I really like the picture with the river!

Guillaume.