Apollo County

[r0g3r 1]

Thanks very much Pooty. Comparisons to Dibgy are very flattering, as that region is incredible. I hope I'm not copying it too much! I was really impressed with how that journal created a real sense of place, and if I truly manage to copy anything from Digby, I hope it's a little bit of that vibe.


Then and Now: Tranquility
While all of these small towns have been cropping up around it, Tranquility has not been at a standstill. Development is ongoing there, and in this update I hope to give you a sense of how things have grown.

Downtown Tranquility Then
This was how the downtown area looked when it was introduced:

Downtown Tranquility Now



A closer view:

Then:



Now:



And a closer view of the new McDonald's:

[sharkbait16 0]

This is a really good small town. I like your point that's it's not about tranquility, but the typical growth that goes on. I also like that it seems to be fall forever there.

[r0g3r 1]

Hey Sharkbait16, thanks for checking out my journal.... it's actually not always fall there, but the area is most picturesque in the fall....

Greater Tycho Area

We looked at the city of Tycho earlier, now it's time for a quick tour of the whole area....



Here's an updated, and labelled photo of downtown Tycho, which has grown quite a bit since the previous update:



Lowell Observatory
The independantly wealthy local astronomer, Percival Lowell has constructed this observatory on the foothills of Copernicus Mountain. He also built his house on on the hill nearby, as well as housing for the other sim astronomers and staff who work at the observatory.

Percival has made a startling discovery using the observatory: He has found canals on Sim Mars, leading the sim astronomers to conclude that that life exists there!



North Tycho
North Tycho is a neighborhood across the Hadley River via Gus Grissom Memorial Bridge from the Downtown area.


Town of Eisley
Eisley is a town across the Orion River from Tycho. It is accessed via the Sunshine Bridge, or the Tycho Rail Bridge:


Town of Stafford
Stafford is a small industrial town located on Highway 4 between Tranquility and Tycho.

[jacqulina 162]

great work you are doing well love the pics too

[r0g3r 1]

Thanks very much Jacqulina.


Satellite View
Here is an updated satellite view:


Transportation View

[r0g3r 1]

[mjgawthrop 0]

Wow, good luck so far, i love how you have been able to make the city look so real, yet not copy anything real... keep up the good work

[praiodan 78]

Lovely... there's nothing more to say...

[r0g3r 1]

Thanks very much for the comments guys...

[r0g3r 1]

Farmland gives way to suburban sprawl...

As the city of Tranquility becomes more metropolitan, the surrounding farmland is being lost to suburban residential and commercial development. The following is a tour of the city and it's suburb Armstrong in their current state.



The Riverfront at night


Old Downtown Tranquility


New Downtown Tranquility
As the city has grown, the old Downtown area is no longer the largest commercial center... a new commercial center has begun to grow nearer to the riverfront:


Riverfront and Riverwalk
Some new riverfront development near the Timberlane neighborhood includes the Riverwalk:




University of Tranquility
Tranquility is now home to Apollo County's first University, seen here along with the beautiful University Park:


Eagle Stadium
Tranquility now has it's own soccer team, the Tranquility Eagles:


Best Buy and Shorty Burger


Downtown Armstrong
Downtown Armstrong has grown quite a bit since the last time you saw it:

[choco1 4]

Bloody beautiful update, your city looks absolutely fantastic! Its really stunning and beautifully designed. I cannot wait for more! Oh, one thing, do you think you could turn the grid off before you take a pic, it just makes it look much more realistic! (press g) Keep it up! Cheers.

[praiodan 78]

Oh, you let it grow! Wonderful! This makes it much more interesting for me than it already is Nice developement!

[r0g3r 1]

Thanks chocolatemax285, and thanks again praiodan....to me, my journal seems very humble compared to the ones you guys have made. Such postive comments really help give me the will to keep this Journal going.... much appreciated.

Oh, and thanks for the tip about the grid.... I know about the G key, but I get so used to looking at the grid that I forget about it entirely... DOH!

[Micah 16]

Apollo is looking good!

[r0g3r 1]

Time for another episode of Then and Now...here are two images taken from the same perspective, one very early in Tranquility's development, and one very recently:

[r0g3r 1]

For people with high speed connections, here is a montage of the entire region so far... zoom in and scroll around...enjoy!


P.S. You'll need to save the image to your hard drive in order to see it full size.. it's huge.

[praiodan 78]

Hm, I like the difference between the then and now shot. But something that would make it look better (in my opinion) is making some more suburbian housing schemes. Apart from that, respect!

[r0g3r 1]

Hey Praiodan, I appreciate the suggestion.... I'm actually looking at various thing trying to get ideas for different suburbs... a few city journals on here, and some satellite photos etc.... the area to the east of Tranquility is going to be one huge suburban city, and I've tried to include several suburbs surrounding Tranquility.... the screenshot is kind of far out to see it, but near the golf course there are a few different suburban areas. I'm trying to learn how to make them look even more realistic, but obviously I'm not there yet.....

Anyway, I'm learning as I go with this... I think I'll try and post some closer pictures of my suburb areas and see if I can get more tips on how to improve them....

[praiodan 78]

Maybe for some clues, hints and so you should really have a look on Mikeaut1's Suburb Tutorial . There are some very good tips given - and the pics there are also very inspiring

[jacqulina 162]

love what you have done so far,great farms great use of the walls

[r0g3r 1]

Oh I did read that tutorial, I was already doing most of those things in my suburban areas.... some of the pictures he posted from other journals were very inspiring though.....

[r0g3r 1]

Updated Map of Populated Areas

[r0g3r 1]

Town of Bayside

Bayside is a community located on the shore of the Bay of Seething on the outskirts of Tranquility.

[texanpride786 2]

this is awesome dude....very nice update

[Alabaster 0]

Apollo County is a very naturalistic looking region. The terraforming and overall look of the cities are wonderful.

 

It's great how you show us the before and after shots of your cities. It really lets us get a feel for how much the cities have grown from their humble beginnings.

 

Excellent work, r0g3r! This is a CJ I will be visiting again!

[sloppet 3]

Great work so far has been done here! I have to say I like very much the previous updates, and the last one is really good too! Keep it up! The pictures are nice! Nice start of a CJ!

Take care,
Sloppet

[Fabiocb 1]

relly nice work so far Roger, the development is quite interestng and the presentation is great.

[-HITMAN- 0]

Nice CJ, very well planned and thought of!

I especialy like the MacDonalds and your Avenue layouts, I most like this one:

 

[Micah 16]

Wow, Apollo County is growing like crazy. I guess people love the coastal farms and city.

[praiodan 78]

The detail is just amazing
I love the bay side Would it be possible to get an appartment there?