Vizoria

[Milleenium 1]

Just one word: epic. Those are some GREAT looking pictures. Love your work 

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Great work!!!!

 

Just curious what is Echoes population?

 

About 90000, though that number changes + or - 10000.

 

Just one word: epic. Those are some GREAT looking pictures. Love your work 

 

You'll like the next entry; the same CBD but at night!

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In the third and final part we take a look at Echoes CBD (Central Business District) at night and also a few snapshots of other areas of Echoes in the night. And now...




Out of sight, out of mind... The three incinerators burn Echoes trash and high wealth sims and commercial offices are the worst offenders for producing garbage!




The strangest thing about this game is how the CBD looks ridiculously small from a bird's eye view and yet really large from the ground.




The usual traffic jam as workers leave their respective posts... At 10pm!




This street -- one which runs almost across the entire length of Echoes -- has always generated serious traffic; both a cities lifeblood and cancer...




From up close these buildings almost block out the sky, unless you look straight up which alas the camera refuses to do in this game.




The heart of Echoes slowly quietens down as the night lengthens.




While some roads take forever to clear up, which is bad for our mayor since he is trying to sleep in his mayor's house after a hard day's work.




Those skyscrapers must have a spectacular view of the ocean gleaming under the moonlight... And in the Sims world the Earth is unquestionably flat which is why they are so nonchalant about the ocean falling of a sheer edge...




The beauty of high density...




It is only through luck those small stores have not redeveloped into something much larger; the mayor got sloppy with the road layout you see.




Yet more sloppiness on the mayor's part; water towers when there is a water pumping station ten times more useful. Perhaps our mayor should not be sleeping so soundly...




Behold the mysterious ways of the lunar cycle, in a mere several hours the moon goes from waxing to full. Clearly there is great commotion with the celestial bodies up in the sky...




The last workers return to their homes, or have they forgotten where they live (or even work)?




Echoes; the city which does not sleep thanks to the newly redeveloped CBD.


And that wraps up the three part mini-series detailing Echoes blossoming high wealth commercial district and its first high wealth commercial skyscrapers. In the next entry I will be either be returning to Slackners, or back to Treeville, or starting up a raw materials city, or focusing on a Great Works or even trying something completely new with a city design. So there is still much to do, I have plans like building all four types of Great Works, and Vizoria's story is not over yet, hack I haven't even claimed the remaining 12 cities... (And if it is over I'll demolish large swathes of my cities to completely redesign them- because a mayor must have something to do )

[SomewhereSim 13]

Nice work Ln X.  Like the pics...

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Last time we visited Slackners it was a rather sedate place for Vizoria's high wealth residents to live in, however I plan to change all of that and though Slackners will continue to be a posh residential community with an absence of industry and a smattering of commercial, the centre of Slackners is going to be renovated to bring in higher densities...

 

 

 

Attracting high wealth apartments is always easy when the mayor plops down a dozen or so parks in the local area.

 

 

 

But high wealth residential doesn't last long without places to shop; places of similar affluence. You'll be amazed by the wonders of high wealth parks in this game...

 

 

 

Clements Avenue, the nerve centre of Poshola. Later on I slightly adjusted Clements Avenue to accommodate for both a landmark and some redeveloped commercial zones...

 

 

 

A few medium density homes start creeping up upon Clements Avenue.

 

 

 

The first wave of high wealth apartments means that this clinic is going to be swamped with patients. Wealthier sims not only complain more, they go to the nearest medical facility for even the smallest scratch.

 

 

 

Snake's Road, so called named due to the mysterious bend in what is an otherwise perfectly straight road. Snake's road runs through two blocks of high wealth residential before connecting with Clement's Avenue.

 

 

 

Visitors from outer space pay a visit to Poshola, I hope they're friendly...

 

 

 

One of the UFOs breaks out of formation searching for...

 

 

 

The citizens of Poshola's city hall blithely protest about something just as first contact is about to happen.

 

 

 

These poor citizens were beamed out of their homes and up into the UFO...

 

 

 

With the alarm now raised, Poshola's inept police do nothing as the UFO zips over in search of more sims ripe for abduction.

 

 

 

More guinea pigs selected for experimentation, anal probing and what not...

 

 

 

And let it never be said that UFO's discriminate, even rich sims are targets in the eyes of these aliens.

 

 

 

Giving rumours that UFOs, after abducting a dozen or so people, fired some kind of death ray as a hostile kind of farewell, Poshola was thankfully spared such wanton destruction...

 

 

 

With the UFO attack promptly forgotten about, because you see these poor sims can't even remember which house they live in or were they go to work (sims are renowned for their trust of strangers and accepting anyone into their family or workplace), some high-roller decided now was the time to construct Poshola's first high wealth flat.

 

 

 

Construction begins in earnest as sims are hired early in the morning regardless of sims rights or working regulations...

 

 

 

Situated right next to Snake's Road, our soon to be completed flat is sure to contribute substantially to the local area's traffic.

 

 

 

Through Herculean efforts our flat -- which this proud mayor will call Snake's Court -- is at last completed.

 

 

 

However Snake's Court will not be the only tall building competing for prominence in Poshola's skyline, oh no. In my next entry some significant changes occur to Poshola...

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In this entry Slackners is graced by the Kolner Dom landmark and some more skyscrapers sprouting up from this post-suburbia town. But first...

 

 

Not all of Slackners is going to be covered in a high density mish-mash of skyscrapers and office blocks, one side will be 'inflicted' with such buildings whilst the other side will be preserved with the low density paradise Slackners was designed for... Can you guess which one?

 

 

 

An expanding city means ever more larger (and unsightly) utilities...

 

 

 

In a cunning ploy to attract a lot more tourists to Slackners, I fished out 50k to build the Kolner Dom.

 

 

 

I also think it may just be the tallest building in Slackners, tallest and perhaps the most elegant?

 

 

 

Really Slackners is a town divided in three; two thirds of which are the retail and residential blocks and the other third is the utility side. Conversely the utility side has the greatest amount of woodland intact and I have a thing for wind turbines rising up from the trees...

 

 

 

High wealth fountains and paving areas litter Slackners city centre, which is the real reason why Slackners boasts some of the finest real estate in all of Vizoria...

 

 

 

Another obsession I have; taking pictures of the setting sun when it rests just above the city's skyline...

 

 

 

I won't lie, Kolner Dom looks hideously repugnant at night-time. Waaaayyy too plastic-looking. Where's the masonry or fine stone carvings? SC4 did a FAR better job with landmarks!

 

 

 

 

Straites Lane; renowned for its kinky little curve dividing two rather badly placed intersections. Straites Lane cuts through both intersections before ending at Clements Avenue.

 

 

 

I had to completely redesign Clements Avenue to accommodate first Kolner Dom and then redesigning the small CBD directly adjacent to Clements Avenue because the zone size was too small. Making such adjustments can be a real pain in the ass especially when the final outcome is one ugly-looking convulsion in the avenue...

 

 

 

Once one skyscraper comes in, several come in- 'cos skyscrapers raise local land value you see...

 

 

 

For some reason having a dozen or so high wealth parks did not cause these shops to upgrade to a higher density, oh well... Just another one of SC 5's quirks.

 

 

 

Slackners first high wealth commercial office, and one of the nicer ones to.

 

 

 

I so dig those steel construction beams...

 

 

 

A very worthy addition to Slackners skyline.

 

 

 

High wealth always glistens in the low sunlight...

 

 

 

And another high wealth commercial office is being developed! Exactly as I intended (and desired)!

 

 

 

We end this entry with Slackners transformation reaching a crescendo, with just a little more tweaking and time Slackners will finally develop into the suburbia settlement I had in mind several days ago.

 

 

Thanks for reading this! In the next entry I will be starting up a more industrial city, one geared for resource extraction...

 

Whilst several entries later I will be sharing with you another new city which will be the essence of architectural design and precision (or as precise as you can get with jagged circles and trapezium-like road pieces!).

[synthetahedron 0]

Your city is turning out really nice.

[89James89 1,169]

Damn aliens and their probing.

 

Lovely city shots here. I really love your planning for the cities and the road layouts, especially Slackners. Looking forward to seeing it develop more into Echoes large scale, CBD.

 

Cheers

 

James

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Last entry I mentioned something about starting up a different city, one based around resource extraction. Enter the newly developed town of Jemonia Flats which is rich in oil. In this entry it focuses on Jemonia Flats initial development and the construction of its first oil well. So anyway, welcome to Jemonia Flats!!!

 

 

 

This was the main reason why I came to this city- the oil... By the way ignore the name Honenburg Shores, once I plop in a town hall I'll be renaming this place Jemonia Flats.

 

 

 

Yet another mish-mash of road styles, as always whenever you do this you cover at least two thirds of the city tile...

 

 

 

Instead of wind or coal, I tried instead a solar polar plant. They seem to produce a little bit more power for less space so it seems like a good deal. One day, when I'm feeling brave, one of my cities will have a nuclear power plant but for now... It seems too risky.

 

 

 

The sun smiles down upon the several industrial construction sites.

 

 

 

Ah... Those small wooden cabins... If SC 5 has done one thing justice it would be these homes which looked so cool in SC4.

 

 

 

No matter how grim these small commercial shops look, what respectable business person wouldn't snap up these buildings with such a glorious sunrise?

 

 

 

The bird-eyes view of Jemonia Flats (South).

 

 

 

The bird-eyes view of Jemonia Flats (North).

 

 

 

My first oil well, a rather welcome additional to this game, plus given the large quantities of oil this facility will expand in size by at least ten times.

 

 

 

And any resource extraction facility would not be complete without a trade depot- providing those freight trucks can be bothered to leave (crummy AI cough cough).

 

 

 

A dull flare lights up the night, although with this tilt shift it looks more like a birthday candle!

 

 

 

They really should have included traffic priority in this game; if no traffic lights then traffic on avenues will always have right of way and traffic coming from streets merging must give way. Or at least that's how British roads work...

 

 

 

I added two more nodding donkeys and some additional dirt roads to mark out where the oil was. Although easy money can be made selling crude oil the real money is made converting it into refined oil and then using that to produce plastic. Giving my lust for the black stuff in a few days time a towering petroleum HQ will be dominating Jemonia Flats.

 

 

 

Despite the dirty nature of the business, the woodland still thrives. Lets hope there are no accidents...

 

 

 

And that concludes todays entry! In the next one I travel back to Treesville to check up on that woodland paradise...

[89James89 1,169]

Nice update and its very nice to see you build a city from the ground up. The road layout looks fun, especially the curvy roads. Looking forward to it progressing.

 

James

[Panos 29]

Ln X, you are an artist dude. Keep the good work, because you inspire us all. 

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89James89: The only reason why I brought this game was for the curved roads, it gives you such creative freedom...

Panos: I'm no artist but thanks for the compliment!

 

 

Treeville volume 1, the path to prosperity

 

Today I returned back to Treeville (and yes it is Treeville and NOT Treesville- my mistake!) and my vision for its development continues in the right direction...

 

 

 

Because I left so much of the woodland intact, Treeville merges with the grassland, forests and rolling hills surrounding it. One thing is for certain; it will NOT be a skyscraper oasis!

 

 

 

Most of my efforts (more like time spent waiting for the desirability to improve just so higher density buildings can arrive) are focused upon the area with the circular roads. My vision is a circle of high density $$$ flats in this area which I believe will look very beautiful against a backdrop of trees and low density.

 

 

 

Green yonder...

 

 

 

Tetchers Lane is always busy since it is the main way to Treeville's industrial district.

 

 

 

At last! After much waiting around and scratching my arse the first medium density $$$ flat appears!

 

 

 

But this is only the beginning, you add several more $$$ parks or plazas, plus an hour's worth of your time and higher density will be coming around sooner than you think.

 

 

 

Treeville's only firetrack battles a cabin fire, also -- and I've never noticed this before -- wherever a firetrack goes to an emergency this helicopter also follows. Maybe it's the newscopter looking for a breaking story?

 

 

 

And talking about emergencies, do you see those trash cans? This miserly mayor has been neglecting on the garbage disposal.

 

 

 

Treeville's first skyscraper emerges...

 

 

 

All the night the construction workers slave away or face the wrath of an angry mayor, who will stop at nothing to bring to life his vision for Treeville.

 

 

 

Being the only skyscraper, this building really stands out- as was my vision all along. But this is only just the beginning, there will be at least two more entries in the here and now chartering Treeville's progress, so stay tuned!

 

 

However, in the next entry we return to Jemonia Flats where big oil has been making some big inroads...

 

 

The bonus pic...

 

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A Glut of Black Gold in Jemonia Flats

 

In this entry we catch up on the latest developments happening in Jemonia Flats. Now we begin with...

 

 

 

The flames that rise and the smoke which billows upwards signifies both an incompetent and negligent mayor. But hey, watching buildings burn down is cheaper than adding fire services for those mayors of a miserly disposition.

 

 

 

But given my oil wealth I decided to show some mercy on my hapless sims.

 

 

 

However the firefighters had their work cut out as factories continued to burn in the industrial district. But at least my oil wells should be safe and sound. Oh wait...

 

 

 

Experimenting with the vintage filter (or the one which gives the city a 70s feel...).

 

 

 

My burgeoning oil extraction facilities expand ever westwards, eventually most of the woodland will be cut down as it lies above a major oil reservoir, and I will cut down or destroy anything to get my mits on that black gold...

 

 

 

My reward for cutting down woodland, developing big oil and polluting the landscape is this Petroleum HQ. If I do a good enough job not only will the HQ become a skyscraper, but this proud (and vain) mayor will be invited to various parties with oil magnates, other big shots plus additional perks...

 

 

 

Jemonia Flats is blessed with two oil fields, unfortunately the second oil field is slap bang in the middle of those shops and homes to the right of this picture. Looks like some sims are going to be kicked out of their homes.

 

 

 

As my oil production increases I had to go overboard with the oil storage depots, of course they would be more efficient in selling crude oil if those oil tankers weren't cursed with the shoddy traffic AI.

 

 

 

The reward for churning out 4.5 million barrels per day- I can't wait to unlock the second upgrade of the petroleum HQ!

 

 

 

Day or night those nodding donkeys will keep nodding 'til there is no oil left. Which is why Jemonia Flats holds Vizoria's record for the city with the highest decibel count. 

 

 

When I upgrade the petroleum HQ we will be returning back to Jemonia Flats, until then we will be heading back to Treeville. I hoped you enjoyed this entry, because in the next one Treeville incurs the wrath from the heavens...

 

 

And finally the bonus pic, if it's somehow mysteriously cropped from the bottom here is a link to the actual picture;

 

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/6846/spark20130330215213.png

 

[Thorseus 0]

Good job, but it just isn't the same as Simcity 4

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Good job, but it just isn't the same as Simcity 4

 

I know, which is why one day I'll get around to starting a SC4 city journal...

[Thorseus 0]

Good job, but it just isn't the same as Simcity 4

 

I know, which is why one day I'll get around to starting a SC4 city journal...

I'm looking forward to it. I'm planning to start a SC4 CJ also.

[Benedict 3,119]

Congratulations, your CJ is number one on Ben's Top Ten this week.

[Davir 1]

i can.t see tou pic of the city

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i can.t see tou pic of the city

 

Photobucket bandwidth problems I'm afraid (and it costs quite a bit to increase it...) They happened because there were thousands of views of this journal, but I'll get it sorted out.

 

p.s. I will be using ImageShack and I will be reuploading the pictures. Hopefully Imageshack has more generous bandwidth limits...

[Davir 1]

Nice Cities tou have make

[galacticwarrior 9]

You sir, have the best CJ in SimCity 2013  section. I take my hats off to you.

I really do like how you capture the sunsets, sunrises, and make stunning atmospheric images. It's unbelivable!

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Benedict:
Davir: Glad you appreciate them!

galacticwarrior: Again thanks, I'm glad there is still interest in this game and interest at all the city journals created because of SC5.

Thorseus: My SC4 Journal will be coming out early in the start of May. I've already worked out a narration format, each entry will be covering how my region grows, plus I've gone crazy with the mods and finally I'll be experimenting with the huge palette at my disposal: water, rocks, parks, trees, NAM, SAM, CAM, additional utilities and more (as I've just begun to explore them!)...

 

Thanks for all the comments and thanks again Benedict for placing my CJ in this week's number one spot!

 

 

Fire from the sky

 

This entry I promise you will not disappoint, as fire and brimstone from the sky above rains down upon Treeville...

 

 

 

But several hours before this disaster, Treeville started to another sedate, peaceful and calm day. And for now Treeville is going to look like this for a long time; the small cluster of skyscrapers in the centre surrounded by the woodland. Ultimately Treeville is an exercise in restraint and minimalization, and of course preserving as many trees as possible. Treeville -- the greenest town in all of Vizoria -- yeah! That'll be its slogan!

 

 

 

By placing the street close enough to the avenue I've ensured that higher density buildings will never grown on this mini-block. Besides those mansions are too cool to be uprooted!

 

 

 

With desirability sky-high (Treeville also boasts the highest property prices as EVERYONE wants the scenery and fresh air) expect to see a lot more of those large apartments sprouting in the centre cluster.

 

 

 

To further bolster Treeville's aesthetic credentials, the Globe Theatre is a welcome additional to this town's cultural refinements.

 

 

 

And you can host events in the Globe theatre, this provides a free gravy train for the mayor healthly source of revenue for Treeville.

 

 

 

As the night approached its zenith, Treeville calmly slumbered away (though half the town are insomniacs)...

 

 

 

But Treeville's citizens were rudely awakened to the fiery death raining down from the sky above.

 

 

 

One such meteor decided to raze a sizeable chunk of the industrial district.

 

 

 

Though it just missed my water pump!

 

 

 

And these explosions are massive (far cooler than the SC4 meteor strike's explosion)!

 

 

 

The dust and iridium had barely settled when the next major impact happened...

 

 

 

A dozen or so homes were flattened in that second meteor... Let's take a moment to remember those poor sims so cruelly cut down...

 

 

 

But anyway, back to the disaster pawnage; those cabins didn't stand a chance!

 

 

 

With only one fire station, the sole firetruck residing there had a colossal challenge as a sizeable part of Treeville burnt down.

 

 

 

But again -- and more miraculously -- the water pump was even spared the fires ravaging these factories.

 

 

 

As Treeville woke up after the extraterrestrial terrors of the night, the aftermath could still very much be seen.

 

 

Which concludes todays entry. In the next entry we follow up on the meteor strike aftermath, plus the Globe Theater hosts a major stage play.

 

Finally I've switched to ImageShack for hosting my pictures and it's working stupendously!

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In the last entry Treeville was still reeling from the meteor strike, and the effects are still being felt...

 

 

 

With several fires burning spontaneously this fire truck crew were hopelessly overwhelmed...

 

 

 

Because I had virtually zero money I couldn't build any more fire stations, and at this point I started to panic a little bit as three areas started burning down!

 

 

 

Though thankfully this fire didn't spread too far.

 

 

 

With my fire truck racing off to somewhere else, some fires still continued to smoulder while I was left to count up the hefty damage costs.

 

 

 

Of course I wish meteors in this game would make dents in the ground like in SC4, AND it would be nice if burnt out buildings would stain the nearby ground with black soot and debris.

 

 

 

The final burning building...

 

 

 

Which the newscopter quickly passed by... Move along here, we need another news story! But against the backdrop of all this destruction my city centre was developing just nicely.

 

 

 

The tally of destruction...

 

 

 

More retarded traffic AI in all of its flawed, splendid glory!

 

 

 

I really, really love this haze! The tilt shift though takes it to a whole other level!

 

 

 

Now THIS is what I wanted to see! Finally Treeville is coming into fruition!

 

 

 

And here's something else I've never noticed; this residential skyscraper has pine trees sprouting from its patios on the top floors! Crazy!

 

 

 

And we end this entry with the above picture. This picture explains Treeville in a nutshell.

 

In the next entry I'll be travelling away from Treeville and building another new city. This city is going to be far more architecturally orientated and it will include a lot of something I tend to avoid; grids and straight roads! But don't worry I'll knock up something which will catch your eye!

 

 

And lastly the bonus pic, something which could be a scene out of Shakespeare (only four centuries later);

 

[89James89 1,169]

Ah well easy come easy go and all. Stupid rocks hell bent on destruction. Maybe, just maybe the mayor will invest in more public services now.

 

Looking froward to more of Vizoria.

 

James

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89James89: With cheetah speed this mayor will be able to cobble together the money necessary for fire and police stations!

 

 

Artex part 1; The Beginning

 

As promised I've started work on another new city in Vizoria, and as it developed it rapidly became my favourite city in all of Vizoria and in these next five entries I hope you will see why!

 

Firstly the picture below shows the blueprint for Artex;

 

 

 

I know in my last entry I said I would be developing a city which was mainly comprised of a grid system but as I began developing Artex I compromised. It would be a city of small grid like blocks, sweeping ninety degree curves and a few freeform curves.

 

And now a tour around this promising town!

 

 

 

We start at the beginning where cabins and taco bells are all the rage for start-up settlements.

 

 

 

Artex has two commercial districts, the Vellum area of Artex (shown here) will eventually develop into medium wealth commercial office area. Also in the background is the town of Jemonia Flats, even from here it can still look hideous!

 

 

 

A brief glimpse of Artex's only industrial area, it's only one block of industry however that will be all I need. Artex is going to be predominantly a residential/commercial city.

 

 

 

I bring up this picture again to highlight the diagonal block of commerce (our area of Wenders). Now this area will be where my (future) high wealth residential and commercial develops, as always high wealth should only develop in the area of highest land value; in Artex's case this would be by the river.

 

 

 

These cliffs are the only natural obstacle separating Artex and Atolsville (one day I will return to that town!), these cliffs can also set the scene for some of the most spectacular sights of Artex during sunrise.

 

 

 

Tyler's Avenue is the backbone of Artex, but in the interests of noise pollution and sightliness I decided to spawn woodland on both sides of Tyler's Avenue to pretty up what was otherwise a pretty dull stretch of land.

 

 

 

 

Our area of Vellum will also be host to Artex's town hall...

 

 

 

Having introduced the administration and a whole bunch of bureaucracy to Artex, this mayor decided now was the time to move in with his fellow Artexians...

 

 

 

The Washington Monument is the sole reason why I built Artex, plus the area immediately next to it will be green area, and so become like a mini Central Park.

 

 

 

And this folks is the centre of Artex and probably its most distinctive feature!

 

 

We end part 1 here. Coming up in part 2 is the arrival of our middle and upper classes!

 

And as always the bonus picture...

 

 

 

 

[Board_Marshal 104]

I think these are the best pics from you yet.  The nighttime pic of the industry in the foreground, commercial/residential in the background, and separate city blurred in the distance is by far my favorite followed by the blurry Washington monument (close-up with the shadow).

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Board_Marshal:  Thanks a lot! The Zooropa experience taught me a lesson in brevity and to up ones game!

 

Artex part 2; here comes the middle class!

 

I'm sorry if this entry is a little short in detail or narration, but this second part is necessary and even if you don't like it then you will like the third. This entry is the second part of a miniseries about Artex, and this entry shows the introduction of $$ and $$$ sims to Artex.

The reason this entry is a little scatterbrained was because I stayed up right until 3am in the morning to render every single tile of the 72 by 80 kilometre region of Zurich I downloaded. Because there was no grayscale map and instead only a .sc4m file, you have to load up each tile and with at least 360 large tiles that is no small task. But this endeavour will pay off as it will be this region which I will be featuring in my SC4 CJ (the one I'll be starting this May).

Anyway here is part 2.




Arrival of our high wealth; mansions and construction sites with those cool looking blue beams.




The first R$$ medium density arrives in the area of Vellum.




Instead of adding lots of parks and tree strips, I went for sports facilities to give medium wealth that kick..,




Day or night tourists will arrive in Artex's train station.




The nature shot...




Xindi Avenue, another key component of Artex's road infrastructure.




Another shot of the Vellum district.




The first of many Co$$ tower blocks...


That's it for this entry, part 3 will be of a lot more high quality, but part 2 is a necessary filler which yields great results for part 3. Now I'm out of here as I try to find some sleep or a tree controller compatible with Berner Oberland's terrain mod or both...

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Artex part 3; urbanization

 

 

Artex arises to one hazy, sleepy morning...

 

 

 

The few people who do work in Artex's industrial district make their way across one of Tyler Avenue's intersections, it is always a pleasant route and this mayor had the wisdom of planting two rows of trees to hide most of the industry out of the sight of the residents of Artex's Vellum district.

 

 

 

The Cloiters; Artex's quietest town district and the most peaceful with the backdrop of the cliff and the woodlands next to it... The Cloiters is also Artex's area of white trash heaven.

 

 

 

For some months the sims were constantly moaning to their mayor about the introduction of some sort of police force; however small or inadequate. But these sims did not have the vision or patience to see how their mayor was saving up the money for a deluxe police station; the best law enforcement the Simnation hast to offer!

 

 

 

Though the mayor was more stingy with his education policy...

 

 

 

No matter where you look, the people will always turn to the Artex obelisk for their guidance and inspiration.

 

 

 

Having goosed desirability ever higher and bowing and scraping before its feet, developers finally found Artex worthy of high density construction.

 

 

 

My two favourite flats...

 

 

 

Eventually -- due to the constraints of space -- the mayor decided to further develop Tyler's Avenue, starting with leasing construction rights to medium wealth restaurant chains and necessity stories.

 

 

 

Day or night, there is always traffic passing by Artex's obelisk, it is also rumoured that the obelisk is actually a covert spying post for the mayor...

 

 

 

After the end of one day, two apartment blocks were constructed, several new office blocks were constructed and Artex's GDP tripled; but in all in a day's work for the Herculean-like efforts of Sim construction workers and the insatiable spending habits of the Sims in general!

 

 

In the next entry high wealth further proliferates and Artex welcomes its first C$$ skyscraper!

 

 

And finally the bonus pic, this would have been the last picture of this entry but they're of the same calibre but I couldn't decide which one was better, so at any rate you be the judge of that!

 

[Board_Marshal 104]

The pic right above the line "No matter where you look, the people will always turn to the Artex obelisk for their guidance and inspiration."  is good but has unused potential, IMO.  The low wealth housing in the foreground kind of spoils it.  It seems to me that higher wealth and/or density buildings would give the impression of a much more urban setting and thus fit better with what's in the background.  Perhaps when the area matures you'll snap another similar pic.

 

Also, you do seem to have a knack for taking pics with pleasing Bokeh.  Well, pseudo-Bokeh since we're not using "real" cameras and lenses but my point remains.

[BLANKBLANK 4,414]

Board_Marshall: Contrast is everything, the low-wealth of those cabins compared with the grandeur of the obelisk is what makes that picture!

 

 

 

Artex part 4; High rise developments!

 

 

The sun rises swiftly upon Artex...

 

 

 

And God do those brownstones look good in the orange sunrise!

 

 

 

After utilising Tyler's Avenue to accommodate for housing and shops, the top part of this avenue is what I like to call Doughnut's Alleyway!

 

 

 

The area of Wenders is coming into fruition with R$$$ high rises, and soon to be coming high density C$$$!

 

 

 

Potley's Street; the central road in Vellum district. Whilst busy it should be what with all the prime real estate by the river.

 

 

 

The northern part of Vellum district; a beautiful cluster of R$$!

 

 

 

Though the low-wealth apartments are also very appealing to the eye, as we look at the industrial quarter of Artex.

 

 

 

Finally the first C$$ skyscraper to grow in Vellum district!

 

 

 

And a fine addition to, situated right next to Potley's Street!

 

 

 

The six towers of Wenders...

 

Next entry we come to the final part of Artex, and after that I'm going to be trying out a different type of CJ format. Something more up close and narration-like.

 

 

And the bonus picture (those Nissan Micras seem like a rash on the city's backside, ever encroaching upon the roads);