United States of Simerica (USN)

[Compdude787 916]

So, being that I'm now part of the newly created alliance called the United Sim Nations, I thought it's about time I start a CJ of my own. Although I only have one region right now, I'm have ideas for several others in my mind, and they'd all be part of the same nation, which is called the United States of Simerica. It's my fictional country not at all like America IRL, but it has the same sort of road numbering system, except all the mileposts and exit numbers are in kilometers, not miles. Metric system FTW! Here's the flag: (very original, huh?)

1.1

 

So I've been playing SimCity 4 since around 2005 and never really mastered the game. I could never make money and my cities would go broke as a result and I don't know how many times I'd end up obliterating them and starting over. I lost interest in SC4 as a result and stopped playing 2 1/2 years ago. I re-installed it on my laptop this past February and with the help of one of Dwyrin's YouTube videos, I've been making money ever since. I got into custom content shortly thereafter with the RTMT and NAM being my first downloads ever, and began experimenting with the RHW, NWM and other NAM components.

 

I quickly found that the default Maxis "Timbuktu" region was completely unsuitable for doing anything with the RHW because of the steep slopes in many places and the fact that it didn't have any large city tiles. So I ditched it and downloaded the off of the STEX mainly because it was a lot flatter but still had mountains which would be a lot of fun to build scenic highways through. I added some smaller rivers to it and plan to add a few more hills as well. Here's how the region looks as of July 21st, 2014:

1.2

The biggest city is smack-dab in the middle, and it's called Twin Forks because it's where the two forks of the river meet. To the north at the foot of a mountain range called Peyton Mts. is a suburban area called Mountain View. The currently lonely town at the northeast corner of the map is called Lamont and I plan to make that into another big city and the capital of Simerica. It will also have a big port as well.

I'm really into creating freeways since I'm a big roadgeek and aspiring highway engineer, so interchanges, roads, and maps will be a big part of this CJ. Yeah, there's going to be other stuff too...maybe.

I'll start off with some assorted shots from around the region. First, we have a scenic Fall shot of Interstate 5 snaking through the Peyton Mountains. As with all my pictures, click to view at full size.

1.3

The next few pictures show parts of my biggest city, Twin Forks. This is the CBD currently (still can't seem to get skyscrapers to grow yet):

1.4

The intersection at the north end of the arch bridge leading into downtown is the most congested in the city. Accidents happen regularly because of the amount of congestion. Even building another bridge into downtown (the diagonal one) hasn't done much to reduce traffic at this intersection, so plans are being drawn up to build a partial interchange here.

1.5

One of I-5's interchanges downtown. You can see the NAM Engineering's offices in the roundabout, where highway engineers are coming up with plans for an interchange at the north end of the blue arch bridge.

1.6

This is a residential area in the east part of Twin Forks near the industrial area. The Crosstown Expressway is seen in this picture which runs from I-5 through the CBD and across a bridge to the industrial area. Most of it is elevated, but here it turns into more of a parkway as it runs through this residential area.

1.7

In the northern part of Twin Forks is the residential area, ranging from highrise apartment buildings to single family homes:

1.8

1.9

1.10

1.11

The railroad serves as a dividing line between the old and new suburbs. The grid ends on the north side of the tracks.

1.12

I-5 goes across the river on two concrete arch bridges with a total of ten lanes to carry people to and from their jobs in the CBD:

1.13

This is a mosaic of the freeway from the bridge north:

1.14

And another mosaic of the interchange between I-5 (running top to bottom) and the I-20 East-West Corridor, which runs through many of the USN's member regions:

1.15

Further east on I-20, you'll find this interchange as I-20 turns north when it meets another freeway that goes around the east side of Twin Forks: (area has been developed since this picture was taken)

1.16

That's it for now. I hope you guys enjoy my CJ, and I'd appreciate your comments and suggestions. Thanks!

[Titanicbuff 1,262]

looks nice- maybe a round about downtown would solve the traffic problems. and welcome to the union-

 

Cofounder Titanicbuff

[jmsepe 2,039]

My god that anti-grid is just too beautiful!

[JP Schriefer 5,591]

Wonderful CJ!

Well done roads and pictures

Keep it up!!

[Schulmanator 5,799]

Welcome!! Glad to see your stuff. Keep up the awesomeness!

[SimRico 968]

CompDude! NICE update! You are doing The United SimNations Peoud!!!! Will chat later about buying a poece of land in Simerica!

FIVE STARS☆☆☆☆☆

1+ BUT OF COURSE ☆☆☆☆☆

FOLLOWING! ☆☆☆☆☆

[TekindusT 3,809]

The last interchange looks premium-class! Very cool!

[Compdude787 916]

So welcome back to Simerica. Here's another update from me. But first, the obligatory replies.

Replies

Titanicbuff: Thanks for making the first comment on this CJ! I don't know about doing a roundabout at that congested intersection; it might work, but I want to try and build the most compact interchange I can with the RHW. Mind you that this is not a freeway and so a super-compact interchange would be fine (speed limit would be only 35 mph anyway).

jmsepe: Glad you like the grid-breaking. I like it too! It's so much more satisfying to create suburbs with the NAM. Grids look nice, too, since they convey the feeling of an older area, but grids can't and shouldn't be everywhere.

Schriefer: Thanks, glad you like my roads. And the pics are straight from the game; I didn't edit the pictures (besides changing them to JPG and stitching the mosaics together) so you're seeing exactly what I see in-game.

Schulmanator: Thanks, and oh yes, I'll definitely keep up the awesomeness!

SimRico: Glad you like the update, and I'm enjoying being a part of the USN. So where is that property that you want to buy?

TekindusT: Thanks; I was trying to make it look as good as the interchanges created by RHW masters like Maarten and Noah, with lots of FARHW, smooth curves, plenty of merge space, and no weaving. I think I've succeeded at that, except I'm not to the point where I can really do it in one sitting without rage-quitting SC4 after an hour of playing the game. I think we all have a little bit of a love-hate relationship with the RHW.

Update 2: More views of Twin Forks and Lynden

Okay, now onto the second update. This is just going to be more of a showcase of pictures from Twin Forks again as well as from the neighboring city to the northeast, Lynden. Sorry, no interchanges this time. I've built some, but they don't have lights, signage, or development around them yet. Their completion will probably warrant another update pretty soon.

First off, I'll just show you some more shots from Twin Forks. This one shows some riverfront properties and a road going along the riverbank. I like building roads that go along the riverside.

2.1

Here's another shot of the CBD of Twin Forks. Yeah, I know, those are such tall buildings--NOT! I guess I need a higher regional population. But anyway, the Crosstown Expressway runs across this picture, connecting the CBD with the industrial area on the other side of that arch bridge (you can tell I really like arch bridges ).

2.2

If you look on the left side of the picture, you can see part of the interchange between the Crosstown Expressway and I-5. It sucks right now; I plan to partially reconstruct it soon, and I'll give it an extreme makeover once NAM 33 comes out and I'll have more elevated ramp pieces to use.

Okay on to the next picture. You can see more of that beautiful arch bridge across the river, as well as part of the industrial area. I know that the Maxis seaport is probably making you guys cringe, but it's just temporary. In the future, freight from the industrial area will be taken by rail and truck to the real seaport located in the coastal city of Lamont, which will be built soon.

2.3

The shot below is of the same spot as Image 1.9 in the last update. In an effort to spruce up this area of town, a developer has recently torn down several of those dumpy highrise apartments and built some nicer condos in their place. With the increase of well-paying jobs in the city, many of the residents of those old buildings had the money to move into the new condos or into other houses, so ultimately those people are now better off than they were before. People here also enjoy the short commute into downtown, another one of the perks of living here.

2.4

With that, I leave you with a parting shot of Twin Forks, a view of the entire city. It's far from finished as you can tell, but it's getting there.

2.5

Okay, now we move onto Lynden, which is located to the northeast of Twin Forks. Here you can see lots of moving trucks full of all the stuff that Sims have for their newly-built homes here.

2.6

So this is what happens when you zone a whole bunch of 1x1 residential zones: you get nothing but repetition in the form of bungalows and trees placed in the exact same spot on every lot. I think I need to find some more 1x1 residential lots; if anybody has any suggestions for something to download, I'd appreciate it. (couldn't find anything with a quick search of the STEX)

2.7

Zoom out showing more of that neighborhood:

2.8

A residential area on the other side of the freeway. People here really like swimming pools, it seems.

2.9

And now, here's a bridge along this yet to be numbered freeway. I'm not a big fan of cable-stayed bridges IRL, but I gotta admit that this one in the NAM just looks awesome. The touch of elegance on its towers really goes a long way in making it look nice.

2.10

The elegant cable-stayed bridge really fits in nicely with the equally elegant arch bridge just downstream:

2.11

Notice something cool I did here with this bridge? Yup, I put an avenue under it. Wha--how do you do that?! Well, out of the kindness of my heart, I will tell you. I downloaded the Under bridge Lots off of a Japanese website, http://klex.blog85.fc2.com/. Use Google Translate to read it unless you're familiar with Japanese; there's several other things here that this guy has made that might interest you.

These under bridge lots are overhanging lots for transportation networks and they convert it to subway to allow commuters to go under the bridge, so it's actually functional and not just eye-candy. This really adds to realism since I can think of so many examples of real-life bridges of significant length and height where roads go under the bridge. I can't think of many bridges where this isn't the case.

I hope you enjoyed this second update, and I'd appreciate your comments and suggestions. Also, how do I change the title of this thread? I thought I could just edit the first post, but I did that but there wasn't any option to change this thread's title.

[Schulmanator 5,799]

Nice new pix. Glad to see the new stuff.

[PhatHead 248]

Great looking update and pictures.    This update is better looking then my avatar is tasty. 

[VMIUJcadet09 250]

Those highways are gorgeous! Can't wait to see more!

[Titanicbuff 1,262]

beautiful- I can't wait for my computer to come back so I can start over on my CJ. Got ideas- yours is looking nice.

[Neto Dari 220]

Wow, very good!! Highway system is amazing. The interchanges then...

[BLANKBLANK 4,414]

Solid grid-busting, good city and great RHW interchanges.

[SimRico 968]

Nice updates!  And the highway system is somehing to be coveted. You, TitanicBuff and Neto Dari are the KINGS of highway constructions.

 

I think I've already added my rating at the prior update. 

 

[simlink 1,098]

Love the grid busting - nice work!

[CaterpillarKing 52]

Nice and elegant. I forgot how beautiful SImcity can really be. I couldn't get my different texture mods to play nice so I put them all in timeout, or as I like to call it, the recycling bin.

[Ke|is 3,337]

Fantastic work I like so much how you are doing your roads and Highways, they looks pretty nice !!

[freemunchies 124]

Great work with the RHW! I always have a hard time with it and its usually too frustrating for me to really bother with it, so its always inspiring to see someone else do such a fantastic job with it!

[Compdude787 916]

Once again, hello and welcome back to Simerica. It's been a little longer than I'd hoped between updates, but I went on vacation for a week in mid-August and again on Labor Day weekend so I didn't get much chance to play SC4. Now that I've finally got some time, I'll post my update. First, let's do the replies:
 
Replies:
Schulmanator: Thanks, I'm glad to have impressed you.
 
PhatHead: That's really saying a lot! Thanks!
 
VMIUJcadet09: Glad you're loving the highways, and you'll definitely see more this time. Thanks!
 
Titanicbuff: Thanks! Hopefully your computer has came back now.
 
Neto Dari: Thanks!
 
Ln X: Thanks! I really like your cities too, so I'm glad you like mine as well.
 
SimRico: Thanks! I'm glad to be considered one of the Kings of the road!
 
SimLink: Thanks, I like Holt, too!  

CaterpillarKing: Thanks! I enjoy your city and I hope you can get your terrain mods and whatnot working. That will drastically improve the look of the game. 
 
Kelistmac: Thanks!
 
freemunchies: Thanks! The RHW can be frustrating for me too, but I press on and get an interchange done after a few days. I usually end up having to rage-quit SC4 (or at least take a quick break from the game) after an hour of building an interchange. Even the most experienced players still have a heck of a time with the RHW.

Update 3: A tour through small towns and farms
So this update will show off all the farm towns that I have in my region so far. I currently have three of them and they don't take that long to complete. They are medium tiles, so there's that too. 
 
But anyway, let's take a tour of these three cities. We start out from Twin Forks and head north on I-5 to Mountain View, which is a suburb of Twin Forks and you'll see it in a later update. Next, we begin to climb the Peyton Mountains and marvel at the beautiful scenery that you can see from I-5.
3.1

 
After we get over the Peyton Mountain summit (elevation 279.1m, 915 feet, according to TerrainQuery) we now descend towards the town of Sleepy Hollow. Whoa, looks like the season just changed back to summer from fall!
3.2

 
So we get off at the exit and take a right to head into the town booming metropolis of Sleepy Hollow, population 1,636.
3.3

 
3.4

 
3.5

 
Okay, that's it for Sleepy Hollow. Let's move on to the town to the north, called Farmville (best name ever!  ). First, here's a picture of a typical farm near Farmville:
3.6

 
Here's the interchange that we pass by on the road between Sleepy Hollow and Farmville. This road that we're on used to be the main highway from Twin Forks before the freeway was built in the 60s.
 
3.7

 
Here's an overview of the town Farmville, population 3,124. The mayor told me to tell you guys that this town borders another larger city to the north with a population of between 25 and 50K but I don't know what he's talking about.   I guess that town hasn't been built yet. (shh, says the mayor, you weren't supposed to say that)

 
3.8

 
Downtown Farmville:
3.9

 
Last, but not least, here's an overview shot of Farmville:
3.10

 
Okay, now the last town on our itinerary is Wayne's Ferry, so named because this is where a ferry crosses the river. Run by the Wayne Ferry Company and subsidized by the county, it was originally started by Joseph Wayne many years ago, and the ferry business continues to be owned and operated by the Wayne family to this day. 
 
After taking I-5 south back to Sleepy hollow, we take a right and go west on the road to Wayne's Ferry. So, welcome to the town of Wayne's Ferry.
3.11

 
Like many of these towns, Wayne's Ferry gets much of its power from the sun's rays. Speaking of which, looks like the sun's out, because now you can see shadows on the ground. (or maybe the mayor just turned on the shadows on his computer, but don't tell anyone else I said that)
3.12

 
Let's drive down to the ferry dock and take a ride on the ferry.
3.13

 
3.14

 
3.15

 
Here's what you can see on the west side of the river:
3.16

 
3.17

 
3.18 (whoa, the seasons just changed again!)

 
Now, if we go back across the ferry, and south of town, this is what you'll see:
3.19

 
3.20

 
Whew, that was quite the tour. I hope you all had fun and enjoyed the tour and I'll see you soon. Any comments and suggestions would be appreciated! 
 
Thanks!
-Compdude

[BLANKBLANK 4,414]

I like the RHW 4 running straight through the farmland.

[jmsepe 2,039]

Nice touch of RHW in this update. Well done.

[SimRico 968]

Great to see you back with another excellent update, @CompDude! The mountain view up in Peyton Mountains AND the town of Mountain View are breath taking! I will have to do a series around I-5 that hilites our townsfolk trek to "Knoff's Autos" where we like to purchase cars for some of the teens back home! Like the countryside tour buddy Truly a great Simerica's a great USN region for sure!

[LexusInfernus 908]

.Wow you got some impressive forests there. Good job! Love your farms as well  

[Titanicbuff 1,262]

 United SimNations is back. Keep up the good work. And yes, my computer is back.

[PhatHead 248]

Outstanding Far-reaching So-believing.   ps   I think I saw SimRico[Alf] at the Pets Mart "checking out some dinner."

[Schulmanator 5,799]

Nice new stuff! Looking good!

[Sims firehouse 198]

I like the interchange between Farmville and Sleepy Hollow (#3.7). The layout is pretty good, but a little history makes it more alive. It makes me think of many instances around my hometown where roads are rerouted to allow for the construction of the highway, and old routes are widened and straightened. The subject of history is always fascinating.

[GDK 20]

awesome cities!!!

[Compdude787 916]

Hello, and welcome back to Simerica. You may have already seen this update on SC4Devotion, and now I'm finally getting the chance to post it here. First let's start out with replies to all you wonderful people:

Ln X: Thanks, it truly is a nice rural highway.

Jmsepe: Thanks, I appreciate your compliment.

SimRico: Thanks for the comment and glad you like my updates! I'm glad you've enjoyed the scenery and farmlands.

LexusInfernus: Glad you enjoyed the forests and farms!

Titanicbuff: I definitely will keep up the good work, and I'm glad your computer is back so you can keep playing SimCity 4.

PhatHead: That's a nice slogan that you came up with!

Schulmanator: Appreciate it, thanks!

Sims firehouse: Glad you like the interchange, and having a little historical background always makes things more interesting. Even though I don't do a "natural growth" style for building my region, I still try to add some historical perspective, such as routes of old highways and whatnot.

GDK: Thanks!

And now...drumroll please.....


Update 4: "Bridges" inspired by Noroway...

So some of Simerica's highway engineers recently took a trip to the city of Noroway, aka the NORO Cooperative, that is currently being built on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia. The engineers and mayors of NORO Cooperative are highly respected throughout the SimWorld because of their amount of talent they possess at creating good-looking cities and amazing transportation networks. So, as one might expect, our engineers were really impressed with what they saw, especially the bridges over small bodies of water, and they just had to incorporate that in Simerica, using the same cutting-edge techniques that are used in Noroway.

Here is the end result. Just a few pictures, but as they say, it's quality over quantity that matters...
4.1


4.2


4.3


Of course, all the roadgeeks in Simerica and a few other people in the news media were impressed with these bridges, with the Twin Forks Tribune calling them "an engineering marvel of efficiency and simplicity." Everyone wanted to know how this was done. Eventually the engineers reluctantly produced a link to a YouTube video showing how this was done in Noroway, courtesy of a Norowegian engineering and construction company called MandelSoft Engineering and Construction. You can view the video here and sit back and relax as you watch a recording of the bridges being built in real time.

And before I leave you, here's one more shot of the river flowing through the delta, just maybe a hundred meters downstream from those bridges. Those kayakers are paddling up to those new bridges to check them out:
4.4


I haven't done much city development; mainly I've been building a freeway to connect Twin Forks with the soon-to-be-city of Lamont on the coast. This is also the first week of classes at my college (Fall quarter just started this past Monday), so now I'm going to be spending a lot of my time at school and studying, and less time playing SC4.   I'll try not to totally let this CJ languish though....

Well, that concludes this update. Hope you enjoyed, your comments and suggestions are much appreciated!