Austerlitz...an attack on Mother Nature

[Rochefort 13]

Welcome to Austerlitz

Hi and welcome to my first City Journal (in fact my first posting of any relevance).

I've played around (on & off) with various editions of SC for years now and finally came across Simtropolis a year or so ago (although I didn't register straight away). Since then I've lurked in the background learning tricks and finding inspiration from many of the talented people who populate this site. I can also say that the enjoyment I get from SC has multiplied enormously since finding the site and for that I am truly grateful to those who administer it and to everyone who contributes their ideas, time and energy. 

 

I've had some success with my city building, but far more failures than I care to recount and the one thing that has always troubled me is making my cities fit into the terrain in such a way that a) works within the limits of the game & b) is pleasing to the eye.

 

I detest flat cities, but equally I am just not talented enough to plan my way around Mother Nature so I've decided to make Mother Nature (or at least RH Mother Nature) fit in with me !!

 

I have started terraforming my region using the mayor tools (they are much more precise and user friendly) with the intention of creating a landscape around my city planning - particularly around my transport network as I like to see multi-levelled transport routes which interchange, cross each other etc..etc... For this stage of the process I've used stardog13's super cash park (thank you stardog13 !) to accumulate squillions of simoleons so I can terraform to my heart's content..I'm not sure whether I'll keep the transport network in place once it's done and thereafter cheat my way through to a picture perfect end result or whether i'll wipe out the city and then play the game for real but with my ideal terrain in place (and obviously a pre-determined route to follow with the city building).....comments welcome on that issue. As this is my first attempt at a CJ, I welcome any comments, criticism, suggestions, encouragement or even requests to stop

 

I'm also using smoncrie's hole digger (who isn't?) so a thank you goes out for that too...its one of those essentials that I use so often that I can't remember what life was like without it.

 

So for fear of talking you all to death, here are a few snapshots of the start I've made...I'm concentrating first on my rail network.

 

Region View

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//Austerlitz%20Region%20View.JPG align=baseline>

 

City View  

 

 

 City View 2

 

 

 

  City Centre - I really want the focus of the city centre to be a rail viaduct connecting the two halves but as yet I haven't found anything I can use for this. I'm having a small issue with EA about downloading the BAT (I wont bore you with the details) but even with it I'm light years away from producing a transit enabled viaduct by my own efforts...offers gratefully seized upon !!

 

 

Freight Yard - this will be the main freight terminus for those industries growing close to the centre of the city

 

 

 

well I'm sure you get the idea now so I will leave it at that. Just to point out, I will not be leaving the terrain so squared off. this is the base terraforming of the rail network only and the whole thing will evolve over time.

 

Bye for now.

 

Rochefort

[____----____ 37]

wow i could imagine this developing quite nicely

 

Alek

[oroen 0]

Looks like you've got some great ideas up your sleeve and a very nice plan afoot.

[BlackStar 0]

A very nice start, I definitely will keep  an eye on this one.
What I want to know, however, is-- are you currently using the NAM? I'm curious to see if you incorporate such networks as the GLR.

 

I also particularly look forwards to seeing SC networks like the monorial or elevated highway in this city.

 

As this CJ is essentially regarding making fantastic transportation networks, I suppose you will be going  overboard with unnecessary interchanges, intersections, etc.. just to show off? If so, I look forwards to it even more

 

Anyway, great start, looking forwards to more

 

Laters

 

BS xx

[Rochefort 13]

aleking & oroen: Thank you for the early encouragement. I'm sure that everyone who posts a CJ appreciates positive comments and I am no different.

Blackstar: Yes I am using the NAM (big thank you yet again to the creators) and I have some ideas on incorporating all the available transport networks. I've used some pretty attractive transitions from sunken ground level highways to elevated highways at ground level (if that makes sense) in previous cities and I will be using them here as well, although I am some way off tackling the highway routes as yet. Here's a screenshot as an example -

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//Highway%20Transition.JPG align=baseline>

fairly basic stuff, I know, but hopefully it shows that I like smooth lines and smooth transitions and that's what I'll be aiming for with this project

[Rochefort 13]

Welcome to Austerlitz Update #1

I pretty much completed the rail routes this evening, although the terraforming around those routes will undergo some changes once they are interlinked/cross with the other networks. I also positioned the Docks and Airport areas...complete with preparation for a railyard with sheds after seeing some of the great ideas in jrhnemo's thread Let's see some train yards !!! Take a look, there's plenty of inspiration on there:

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/view.asp?topicID=69224&pageNo=1#652526

I have now decided to put a river through the centre of Austerlitz running North/South and I will be running a ship canal through to the docks area.

Region View

Docks/Rail Yard

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//Docks-Rail%20Sheds.JPG align=baseline>

This section will undergo quite a transformation down to water level for the Docks area, with the ship canal leading away south to join the river towards the bottom centre of the map.

As you will note, I have not covered the region in rail routes. This is principally to afford room for the inclusion of other networks, such as the GLR and highways but also to reflect our decreased reliance on rail in modern travel (more's the pity).

So just a small update for now and no more til Monday as I'm off to Amsterdam tomorrow (Yay !!).

Bye for now.

Rochefort 

[Deathtoall 28]

nice work, nice starting. I know getting BAT to work is such a drag. I would have ttried but sometimes you get fed up. Now i wish i had downloaded it.

[jacqulina 162]

great start and interesting ideas

[Rochefort 13]

Deathtoall: Although I downloaded GMAX some weeks back, I finally got access to the BAT only last night and when I get the time and enthusiasm I will have a look at how it works. On first view it looks a bit daunting and makes you appreciate all the more the excellent work produced by the talented people on this site. On the plus side, there are some excellent tutorials on here so I really hope I'll be able to produce some simple buildings in the not too distant future (famous last word's...it'll probably tie me up in knots and make my brain hurt). Thanks for posting and for the encouragement.

jacqulina:  Thanks for dropping by and for your words of encouragment. I feel I've moved up a notch that such a regular visitor to the CJs has finally dropped in on mine !

[Abc987 3]

Gee, I'm suprised! I never thought anyone would notify somone about that link and then to top it all of give a compliment about it. I have a tip for you. Check out the tutorial for making train yards at the front of the page. It is made by Meinhosen and it is great! Anyways, I can definatley picture this being a big Metropolis!

[Rochefort 13]

Welcome to Austerlitz Update #2

Hi and welcome back to Austerlitz.

I've been in Amsterdam for the weekend and I'm now quite keen to add something to my region along the lines of the city layout, but that's for another time perhaps.

I've moved things on a little now so I thought I'd post a quick reminder of where I started with the layout.

Original Region View

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//Austerlitz%20Region%20View.JPG align=baseline>

Latest Region View

 

 

As you can see I have now added a river through the centre of the city and the main docks area to the South. The terraforming is beginning to build up and there's more depth and substance to the landscaping....still a long way to go yet, so expect to see many more changes/improvements. I'll probably make adjustments to the river as I'm not particularly impressed with it and I can't see much scope for decent bridges if it remains so narrow all the way though the city.

 

Time for the slide show folks !!

 

City View + River

 

 

 

Docks-Ship Canal Entrance

 

 

 Docks View 1

 

 

 

Docks View 2

 

 

Docks View 3

 

 

Docks View 4

 

 

Docks View 5

 

 

 

I've not yet decided what to work on next...probably just to add more depth and variation to the landscape before I look at highway routes.

 

I have decided to use the GLR to connect the North/North-East area to the city centre so that region will remain fairly flat. There will be GLR lines out to other areas but they will be limited.

 

Region View

 

 

Well that's it for now. Please feel free to comment...positive or otherwise. It's nice to see the hit count rising and that people are reading the CJ but nothing beats a bit of interraction.

 

Bye for now.

 

Rochefort

[Dsrwhat316 12]

hmmmm... i'm liking this. should be quite interesting what will become of this region. i'll keep my eye on this one!

[Thut 0]

Your doing something i've only dreamed of doing (such as flying)

 

This must of tooken long, patient hard time ot make and I appreciate your doing so and showing us your progress. The hard work payed off in my eyes. Cant wait to see more

[choco1 4]

Nice start, the design looks great. I love watching these things evolve!

[Rochefort 13]

Welcome to Austerlitz Update #3

Welcome to update 3.

 

Dsrwhat316, Thut & chocolatemax285:  Thanks for dropping by and for the kind words.

I got a sudden urge to lay highways, so I have now put the preliminary routes in, with the aim of connecting the 4 neighbouring cities and the city centre with the airport and the docks. I have tried to include a bit of variety, linking up ground and elevated highways, some of which are sunken and others raised. As I continue to build depth to the landscape I'm hoping to tweak highways to make them more interesting.

Region View

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//Region%20View%20+%20Highways%201.JPG align=baseline>

I always think highways don't show up too well in the full city view, so instead I've taken a few screenshots of some of the more interesting parts of the network.

 

M1 Centre (fig 1-Region View)

 

 

 

M1-M2 Interchange (fig 2-Region View)

 

 

M1 Ship Canal Bridge (fig 3-Region View)

 

M3 Docks (fig 4-Region View)

 

 

 

The M2 Airport link is far too boring to warrant any pics and will definitely go through changes in landscape before too long.

 

As usual I welcome any suggestions, critisism or feedback.

 

Thanks for reading & bye for now.

 

Rochefort

[Rochefort 13]

Welcome to Austerlitz Update #4

Hello ! If there's anyone out there, welcome to update # 4.

Following on from the addition of the highway network, I have now set about terraforming an area which will eventually incorporate a residential zone close to the centre of the city. If you've been reading this CJ, you'll have worked out by now that the emphasis is very much on planning every inch of the map (something I've never really done in previous cities).

I've called this area Mons Badon (special accolade if you know where the name comes from) and as you can see it will be surrounded by three train stations and has a close enough link to the highway network for longer distance or off map travel. It is also positioned perfectly for the nearby planned industrial zone and has a direct rail link into the very centre of the city.

Region View

 

 

Mons Badon

 

 

 

Now I know it looks kinda lumpy and unrealistic at the moment but it does accomodate a large number of sims in this configuration. I should be able to do some close up terraforming once the houses grow - adding trees, parks etc.. and re-modelling any available unzoned areas.

 

I've played around with a few layouts for the residential areas, an example of which is below...not sure if that will be the actual one I use in the game but its an option.

 

Test Layout

 

 

 

Well there you have it for another short update.

 

Comments welcome as always.

 

Bye for now.

 

Rochefort

[texanpride786 2]

very nice

[Mikeaut1 261]

Nice work terraforming. Can't wait to see the result!

[Dsrwhat316 12]

should be interesting what will develop on the hill. i enjoy seeing technical shots, makes it easier to see the plan you have for the region. awaiting the next update!

[choco1 4]

Cool update, roads look great.

[toxicpiano 125]

this certainly will be an interesting cj, keep it up!

[Nik-nik 3]

Impressive amount of terraforming Rochefort.

The river looks great!

Nice work with the motorway (sorry that is highway), (sorry that is VERY Nice work).

 

Looking forward to the development of that Test area and harbour and rail yard and...and....

[Alkaola 18]

yes the terraforming is very original , cool man !

[Rochefort 13]

Welcome to Austerlitz Update #5

Hi and welcome to update 5.

Firstly, thanks to texanpride786, Mikeaut1, Dsrwhat316, chocolatemax285, toxicpiano, Nik-nik & Alkaola for the posts. They are appreciated.

Motorways is fine with me Nik-nik...I'm a Brit.

Continuing with the transport theme, I've now added sunken expressways and a few tunnels (for variety more than anything) to the city. The expressways are arterial routes which will have only a limited number of junctions and are designed to assist with traffic flow over distances and particularly en route to the city centre. They have been added to service the four main residential areas and include a rather nifty tunnel on the central circular route.

Region View

Mons Badon Tunnel

 

Mons Badon Circular Expressway

 

Mons Badon Expressway South (junction of the M1 & M3 to the right)

 

North Spur Tunnel

Northern Expressway

 

Southern Expressway

Camlann Expressway

Well there's not much else to say, other than please keep the comments flowing. I'd love to hear any suggestions, criticisms...in fact anything. I'm always looking to learn new techniques so please, if anyone has some ideas I can use, speak up !!

Bye for now.

Rochefort

[Rochefort 13]

Apologies for the multiple posts..the update seems to have duplicated itself and I don't know how to delete them, so I've had to edit to this instead...very odd

[Rochefort 13]

And again

[Rochefort 13]

And again..last one thankfully

[Deathtoall 28]

Nice work, may i suggest using using some of i think jeronji walls, he has made some special water ones. Nice starting!

[Micah 16]

Still lookinf great. Hmm... wonder what is to grow on the top of that hill.

[Fabiocb 1]

quite interenting the way you work with the land, and I'm waiting for some development pics.