Twin Rivers Region - a work in progress

[dedgren 830]

So, I think I've got two answers to the age-old question: How many is a million?

A lot.  And maybe not nearly enough.

#1

I'm about eight hours in to my initial pass of foresting the Jessamine quad.  Chirpy tells me I have burned through 100,000 trees of my million tree limit (I'm, as noted, using knighthawkGP and DRen72's great Unlimited Trees Mod mod [linkie]).  100.706 to be exact.  No impact on game performance yet.

This is a small side canyon off the Kentucky River Palisades that shows off pretty well how densely I am planting my cliffside forests.

#2

I am using Breeze's Summer Tree #6 [linkie] and Summer Tree #7 [linkie].  Mainly #7.  I like the darker green color than the "vanilla" game trees use, and the leaves and trunks to me seem more realistic than many other custom trees in the workshop.  If I would have a complaint constructive criticism, it would be that the trunks are a little too red.

#3

The gorge has too minor a stream to put water in.  The trees, though, create a nice trompe l'oeil effect, much like I used those dark pointy little pines in SC4 to do the same thing.

#4

I think the cliffs are just stunning sometimes when the trees are placed just so.  I am painting them one at a time, as I have found that a larger brush will not give me the dense spacing that I am looking for.  It takes forever, and I will probably pay for that later as I near the million tree limit.

#5

I'd like to get the trees closer down to the water.  The RL river banks are not usually carved in the region's stone- they are usually mud, as I can tell you from first-hand experience.  I'll fiddle with that at some point.

#6

100,000 down, 900,000 to go.  Any bets on whether I have to crawl to knighthawkGP and DRen72 and beg them on my hands and knees to raise the limit again?

More coming up soon.

 

David

n.b.  Oh, and... Page 4!  A decade ago the common wisdom here at ST was that page 2 was where most CJs wound up dying off, and page 3 was where most of the survivors of page 2 wound up meeting a similar fate.  I really appreciate all the great comments.  We're getting over 100 page views a day now, and I think I can predict that TRR-Jessamine is here for the long haul. Thanks so much for supporting this CJ! -de

3874/89

 

 

  Edited November 9, 2015 by dedgren  
Add note re Page 4/fix typo

[catty-cb 4,412]

Its worth it tho, those pictures are looking stunning especially no. 3 and 4 they are looking very real life

[The Big Z 103]

Looking awesome! The trees are pretty awesome. Thanks for sharing the links to them on the Workshop. I can't wait to see what Twin Rivers looks like when you reach 1,000,000 trees.

[matthewscott6615 34]

and to think...i once felt silly for placing and curating individual houses in a medium sized neighborhood. the different ways people use this game never cease to amaze me, sandbox games are great like that

[boformer 3,169]

The problem with the trees is that all of them are rotated the same. It looks repetitive. The only fix: Create multiple versions of the trees with different rotations. There is no other way.

[Mr_Maison 2,426]

Nice update! And the magic begins  Just beautiful.

  Edited November 10, 2015 by Mr_Maison  

[dedgren 830]

After a while...

...you begin to believe you can just do anything.  I would have killed for a "road under game bridge" like this in SC4.

This will be a placeholder for High Bridge until we get an cantilever under deck truss bridge to replace it.  I'm sure we will.

boformer, I commented in your Randomly Rotated Trees thread [linkie].  If anyone can do randomly autorotated trees, you can.  You are one of just a handful of "go-to" Cities: Skylines modders.  We are not worthy.

 

David

3946/95

  Edited November 11, 2015 by dedgren  
Add views/comments info

[gfvsims 169]

I hope we're in for the long haul with this CJ! Your latest pics are amazing.

[Kaschperl 92]

Your landscape looks quite impressive already! I adore those sophisticated nature scenes that some players put together in SC4. It's nice to see that you're now trying to take that to C:S, that vegetation is much more convincing than the vanilla trees

[dedgren 830]

Christmas is coming up, so we here at Twin Rivers Region are getting our wish list together.  These are things that are "must haves" for Jessamine.  The list is actually quite long at this point, but I am aware of a couple of mods under development at this point that may shorten it somewhat.  Here's a handful from near the top- we'll update this post from time to time with new items.

n.b.  Before we get started, though, I want to make clear that this is in fact a wish list, and not a demand list.  I was an active creator of custom content for SC4 (fractional angle roads and railroads, single track rail, wide radius curves for road and rail, the Plopperizer, among others).  I know how much time a modder can invest in these things.  I also know that what might seen like a snap to do to the folks at the user end often represents a Rubik's Cube-like [linkie] near impossible puzzle to the folks who are working their fingers off trying to put it together.  So, as I have no ability to mod and otherwise create Cities: Skylines content, I apologize in advance for adding to the multitudes of requests already out there for stuff.  I will volunteer my texturing skills to anyone who needs that kind of work done- just let me know.  I am also willing to try to learn anything, although five years of trying to BAT even a simple cube without success means that I might not be the most apt pupil.  So please, C:S modders, don't look at this as a "gimme" list- thanks in advance for understanding.

OK, so here we go.

#1 - Shoreline Rocks.

Many streams and lakeshores are lined with rocks and small boulders, the vast majority of which are a foot/.3 meters or less in size.  The shore of North America's Lake Superior is famous for its "cobble" beaches

There are a number of places in the Jessamine quad where the Kentucky River and its tributary streams are lined with these rocks.  TPB's great Green and Blue [linkie] and Red and Yellow [linkie] Rock Clusters are really close to what I'm looking for, but the rocks used are simply too large, and a little too round.  A comparable set using smaller more angular rocks would make a great tool in the streambank/shoreline detailing kit.

#2 - Lock and Dam

There are two of these on the Kentucky River in the Jessamine quad.  These are concrete structures- the dam part is 100 to 200 feet/30-60 meters long and the lock end is about 25 feet/8 meters wide.  The dam drops the river about 15 feet/five meters.

As a C:S asset, a lock and dam would need to interact with the water so as to back the river up behind it.  It would need to have some of the characteristics of the game's hydro dam so that the terrain could be raised to "cover" the end of the dam and fill in alongside the lock.  The lock gate could be closed all the time- there's still some things that probably should be reserved for real life.

Am I dreaming here or what?

#3 - Under-deck Truss Bridge

For High Bridge, of course.  I've really got my fingers crossed that folks are close to a breakthrough that will give us alternative bridge types, and not just for railroads.

It's just not the same.

Close behind getting the under-deck truss right would be the steel towers and piers.  I can't wait to see what one of the wizards [linkie] who is taking advantage of boformer's fantastic Pillar Changer mod [linkie] can do with this.

#4 - US Road Centerlines by Segment

The very cool Network Extensions Project mod [linkie] by Katalyst6 adds a "National Road" to the available choices.  This road is perfect for the rural C:S player in that it is two lanes wide and doesn't have any roadside "furniture," such as lightpoles, mailboxes, street trees, trashcans, and the like.  It's just a basic road.

It carries forward, though, a situation that was always one of my gripes with SC4.  There is no passing.  None.  Never.  Double yellow (or, if you don't use hyperdrive_engage's excellent American Roads mod [linkie], white) lines wherever you go.  I came up with a puzzle-piece based solution in SC4, but it was not widely used.  Cities: Skylines segment based approach to the way roads are created in the game offers another bite at that apple.  Have two menu choices for two lane roads, one with a double yellow line for use on hills and curves where passing should not be allowed,

and one with US MUTCD-standard dashed yellow lines for areas with good sight-distance where passing would be allowed.  I've put the current National Road from the mod as it appears in the game at the bottom of each pic for your comparison.

#5 - Local Blacktop/Chip Seal Roads

I'm waving my arms in front of the monitor in the hopes of getting Katalyst6's attention about the possibility of adding a hard-surface local road to the Network Extensions Project mod [linkie].  Rural areas, at least in the US, are full of these minor roads, which rate no centerline, but carry enough traffic to merit an upgrade from gravel.  These roads often lack shoulders, which is the way I have proposed them.  The road is the same width between the white edge lines, but lacks the pavement outside of those lines found on the National Road shown below for comparison.

Anyone interested in working on any of these items?  If other readers of this CJ think these things would be worthwhile additions to the game, please chime in so that our modders are aware that there is demand.  Thanks to all for sharing my enthusiasm for this great game.

 

David

4145/98

  Edited November 11, 2015 by dedgren  
Working on/saving post over a couple of hours/typo/wordsmithing

[catty-cb 4,412]

People are starting to do some really nice bridges, but so far it looks like you are out of luck when it comes to having a Under-deck Truss Bridge

https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198187028459/myworkshopfiles/?appid=255710

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=543756499

[dedgren 830]

Cathy (catty-cb), you are Twin Rivers Region's first "Double-0" Club member, as you made comment #100 here.  More on that in a bit, once I get done with the "Wish List" update.  All done [linkie].

It's hard not to get a little bit excited about how things are going for Twin Rivers Region.  You know, you do something once and it really clicks like 3RR did, you always wonder if that lightning can strike a second time.  I'm not saying I feel like I've got something to live up to, but Three Rivers Region [dare I do it?- linkie!] had a really good run, and standing in the shadow here of the guy who authored that- 500+ pages, 11K comments and over 1.7 million views- is kind of daunting.  But we've had 250 views here in the 24 hours since mid-day yesterday, and we look on track to do that again.  Commenting is approaching at times the sort of conversation about the game I'd hope we could sustain.  You folks are doing that.  I'm just providing a venue.

But enough of that for right now.  For those of you who weren't around in the 3RR days, we had a tradition there for a long time of honoring the reader who posted every hundredth comment- 100, 200, 300 and so on.  We'd get a couple every month, and name a freeway exit or bikepath or something after the lucky winner.  We'll probably be a little lower key about it here, but now, at least, there's a list:

The TRR "Double-0" Club

Comment #	Date	Commenter	Link
100	11/10/15	catty-cb	Comment 1598633
200	12/13/15	feyss	Comment 1602345

 

David

4203/100

  Edited December 13, 2015 by dedgren  
Bolded username/completed post/edited table/insert header pic

[boformer 3,169]

How about this?

Which one is better? The brighter decal version (basically just a texture) or the modeled rocks?

Don't mind the color difference.

One difference is that the modeled prop has a normal map, that means the shadows will be nicer at sunset. The decal version on the other hand looks better from far away.

  Edited November 11, 2015 by boformer  

[tariely 4,499]

How about this?

Which one is better? 

 

I like both !!!

[dedgren 830]

How about this?

Oh, be still my beating heart.  Ohhhhh....

Amazing, my friend.  I'm going to think about your question and observations overnight, but I think tariely might have the best answer already.

 

David

[GC_Vos 714]

+1 for Local Blacktop/Chip Seal Roads

I'll see if I can work something like that into TAM/NExt. It kind of looks like T++ pedestrianised roads (albeit with stripes).

[boformer 3,169]

Oh, be still my beating heart.  Ohhhhh....

Amazing, my friend.  I'm going to think about your question and observations overnight, but I think tariely might have the best answer already.

Here, done: https://community.simtropolis.com/forums/topic/69221-custom-ground-textures-and-other-interesting-prop-shader-tricks/?do=findComment&comment=1598687

  Edited November 11, 2015 by boformer  

[dedgren 830]

Just a screenie I played with a bit.

 

David

 

[catty-cb 4,412]

You are certainly starting to show what's possible with C:S, I must admit this topic is really bringing up fond memories from the SC4 past for me when SC4 had just been released and people started to work out just what they could do with this new game ... it was exciting to watch ... I was still very much a lurker in those days 

[raynev1 1,886]

@dedgren you are making Cities Skylines even more appealing to the die hard Simcity4 fan that I am . After reading your post in Roadman's City Development Journals: Seattle, Washington, USA , now I understand . You sound like someone that's very passionate and dedicated about their work . I too was passionate and dedicated to my career , but it was in the asphalt paving industry . Yes , I am a "roadgeek" too . Reading this back to myself , humored me a bit . Sounding like an alcoholic at A.A.

   I believe this CJ will be as big of a hit as 3RR of your SC4 days , I can't wait to see how this CJ evolves . 

[dedgren 830]

It seems like just yesterday I was whining about the lack of ploppable rocks in Cities: Skylines.  IMHO they are essential for superdetailing shoreline scenery, as well as making a fantastic addition to other natural places in the game.

#1

Now, thanks to TPB and a couple of other modders, we have the greatest rocks evah! and lots of them.  The ones here are TPB's Red and Yellow Round Rocks [linkie] made ploppable with BloodyPenguin's More Beautification mod [linkie].  They can be plopped in the water because of our friend boformer's No Water Check mod [linkie].  I love it when a plan comes together.

#2

I have been stopping my tree plopping from time to time to just practice using these things.  I think I'm getting better at it.

#3

With a little work you can take the game terrain textures and make them into something entirely different.

#4

For right now, I'll just encourage you to check out the various plants that are available to plop.  A good place to start is Breeze's stuff, which is collected here [linkie].

#5

I've saved the best for last.  You've been looking at boformer's shoreline cobble in these pics.  These are collected, along with the fallen leaves I've used, in his amazing Ground Texture Props collection [linkie].  We are pleased to say that we can cross the first item off of our TRR Wish List [linkie].That didn't take long- thank you boformer!

That wraps up our brief glimpse into a process I expect will take many months- the superdetailing of Jessamine quad.  And remember, it won't just be rivers and streams.   There are so many other things we will be doing- thanks for checking in and taking a look.

#7

Before we go, we want to take a minute and remind you of the bigger picture.

#8

I'm well along towards plopping 300,000 trees in the quad.

#9

Here's where we passed 200,000. 

Getting nervous.  That 1,000,000 limit does not look that far away.

 

David

4525/109

  Edited November 14, 2015 by dedgren  
Posting over time

[gfvsims 169]

Wow, just wow. That looks amazing, David! You're a real inspiration.

[art128 4,622]

Absolutely beautiful update David. Your detailing is as always on a very high level. The overview is great so far.  

[Roadman20 601]

The attention to the natural detail is simply stunning.  The land is shaping up well.

 

[jesper107 113]

This is great!

[tariely 4,499]

[catty-cb 4,412]

When you say out loud that you want more rocks and boulders, etc ... I think most people would shrug their shoulders and say why bother when you can do skyscrapers, but then you see what a difference those rocks and boulders make to the game and ones ability to replicate real life and its magic 

[Cool_Z 1,547]

When you say out loud that you want more rocks and boulders, etc ... I think most people would shrug their shoulders and say why bother when you can do skyscrapers, but then you see what a difference those rocks and boulders make to the game and ones ability to replicate real life and its magic 

Yep !! Little things add a lot.

[dedgren 830]

Let's read the mail from page 3 [linkie] of TRR, shall we?

So I'm getting a later start on this than I'd planned.  Heather and I watched the wonderful Peter Sellers movie "The Mouse that Roared" [linkie] last night and so I put TRR aside for the evening.  It's currently free to watch if you're an Amazon Prime [linkie] member.

I've changed my avatar for a bit in remembrance of those who died in the terrible events in Paris.  This is not the place for my opinions on the matter, but I am saddened to the point of despair by what happened and why.

Also before we get going, I am also a bit down over a fellow CJer's response to a comment I left yesterday on his journal.  In short, I thought that the comment was honest criticism and advice.  He thought it was b***s*** and posted that in response.  Now, as far as I'm concerned, neither of us are right or wrong.  We each have our own perspectives.  Those of you who know me going back over a decade here and at SC4Devotion know that I speak my mind about things.  I always try my best to be polite, and I think I honored that in my comment.  You can't get along with everyone, I guess.

UPDATE 151116: But maybe you can.  The CJer in question and I, after some cooling off, have reached out and offered apologies.  I think each of us has learned a bit from the experience- I certainly needed a reminder not to be so full of myself, and especially in light of what I've said here below.  TRR would love more company in the C:S CJ forum, and I need to keep that squarely in mind when I am off visiting its neighbors. -de

But the comment was motivated in particular by something I have noticed here in the various CJ sections since returning with TRR in September.  CJing at Simtropolis, while not on life support yet, is in serious decline as of late.  I've read comments in other threads that indicate that this is a relatively new phenomenon.  I get a strong sense that this is across the board, although I don't have the level of current familiarity with SC4 CJing that I do with journaling in Cities: Skylines.  When I look at the index page of these C:S CJs, I see only a few journals that are truly active, and just a very few comments and page views.  This is a terrible shame, especially since right now this game is literally exploding with quality new content, some of it truly mind-bending, seemingly every day.  The first thing I do when I fire up my computer in the morning is look at the Steam Workshop for new mods that have posted overnight [linkie].  I am rarely disappointed, and most days I am amazed.

If Ben (Benedict) did a Top Ten [linkie] for Cities: Skylines forum CJs this week, he'd have to rename it the "Only Ten," and he'd have a hard time finding those.

I am not faulting anyone for this.  Authors have RL considerations.  Computers fail or crash.  A city or region gets corrupted.  Those things happen.  But my sense of the thing has been for ten years of doing this now is that most authors abandon CJs because they get discouraged.  They put a lot of work into them, post them for the reader's pleasure and then... almost nothing happens.  They get a couple of views, and if they are lucky maybe a comment or two.  What started out as a fun project soon gets to seem like a job, and a not very rewarding one at that.  Then they find themselves taking two weeks between updates, then a month, then...

Readers have those same considerations.  It used to be, ten years ago, so many great CJs-so little time.  I think the time thing has stayed constant.  Now though, there are many CJs at all, let along great ones.  I'm not privy to what the foot traffic at ST is these days- it might be way down, but there still appear to be a lot of members online whenever I look.  So where are the CJ page views?  Why has commenting fallen so low?  Is it boredom with what is being presented?  Then why aren't readers telling city journalers that?  Is it not having enough time in a busy day to take a minute to tap out a few words on the keyboard (or tablet, or phone- yes, I too have moved into modern times)?  Folks have already taken the time to stop by ST, why aren't they looking at and supporting (IMHO) the heart of the site?

This rant has gone on a bit longer than I meant for it to- I guess it's reflective of my mood.  But, just like with the guy last night, I have a few recommendations for you, CJer and reader alike.

1.  If you have a CJ, it should make some sort of point that reflects you as an individual.  It should be headed somewhere. 

2. If your CJ is based around a video format, giving yor readers a couple of interesting teaser pics from the video is the polite thing to do.  And please remember that readers who want to look at several CJs while at ST don't always have time for 30 minutes of your latest YouTube effort.

3.  Treasure your readers.  Treat them like guests.  Interact with them.  Don't freak out when they drop a drink on the new carpet.  Listen to them- then make your own decisions.  Perhaps based on their advice- perhaps not.  But at least you have listened and thought about it.

4.  If you are a reader, resolve to visit the CJs that have updated since the last time you were here, and to comment in at least one of them.  Who knows?  You might find something you otherwise would have missed.

5.  If you only have one comment to make today, for whatever reason- time, energy, other things to do, don't make it here. It's not that I don't want your comments- I love each and every one of them.  But TRR is doing pretty well right now.  Some other CJs aren't.  Pick one you particularly like, or where you want to encourage the author, or which has shown you something novel or made you laugh, and comment there.  If you can only make two comments: same advice.  Three's another matter- hey, I gotta have something out of this.

6.  Say what you are thinking in your comment, even if it is critical of something you see.  My CJing is infinitely better because over the years people pointed out mistakes I was making or things that didn't quite measure up.  But always be constructive, tactful and polite.  If you think something can be done better, explain how you would do that.

7.  If you like a CJer's work, follow him or her.  Follow the CJ.  Rate it five stars.  Tell other folks about it.  The CJ sections can only thrive if you are enthusiastic about the things you see here.

[/rant ].  On to the mail.

_____________________________________________________________

On October 21st, our friend Linoa06 (Skylines of Cathnoquey) got things started by noting:

 

How did I miss this thread? The pictures are amazing

Well, you've found it now.  Thanks for the kind words.  See you over in Cathnoquey.

_____________________________________________________________

Three days later on the 24th, Anthony (madtony26) said:

 

David.. I was following Twin Rivers Region before you switched to the "Jessamine" map, and was completely shocked when I saw that the spot where I grew up was included in your region. I marked the map below with a red star of the former location of my parents house on US 68, across from Cog Hill Lane.

Our back yard backed up to a tree line, and our property beyond that line of trees was wooded and included the palisades all the way down to the river. I know the area between 68 and the river that contains Cog Hill Cemetary is currently known as Shakers Landing. Great job on US 68 on the map above.. it looks spot on!

An amazing connection!  Anthony, if you have a picture of your former house and the surrounding area you can post in a comment we'll make a special effort to get that little corner of Jessamine as close to reality as possible.  I also have to note that it is always a privilege when someone posting for the first time on ST chooses my CJ to make that in.  Please feel welcome here any time- there are no strangers here on TRR, only friends I haven't made yet.

_____________________________________________________________

Later on the 24th, our good friend Dennis (Mr. Maison - Mr. Maison's Creations) dropped by and kindly said:

 

I'm loving all this detail. Following with interest.

I guess I've been a detail guy all my life, my friend.  Probably too late to stop now.  Kind of like a guy I know who is creating incredible NYC elevated train assets for Cities: Skylines [linkie].

_____________________________________________________________

The next day, October 25th, TRR Regular Cathy (catty-cb - Citybuilder's Website) chimed in:

I'm loving all this detail. Following with interest.

Ditto  

Thank you!

_____________________________________________________________

Also on the 25th our new friend Roadman20 (Roadman's City Development Journals: Seattle, Washington, USA) stopped by:

Very detailed and creative terrain to be working on.  Populating the Kentucky River valley with trees will blow this map away once development is underway.

Thanks!  But here's some development that really blows a map away [linkie].

Note the great implementation of thaok's Sharp Junction Angles [linkie].

_____________________________________________________________

On the 27th, Dennis (Mr. Maison) stopped back by:

I have no doubt the 81 tiles will be back one day. I just hope it's more stable. I can't wait to look at what you will build here and make references to these awesome maps. Feel like I'm at the library.

I'm seriously thinking that CO should consider implementing some official "use at your own risk" mods.  An 81 Tile/Unlock Everything mod would be great for starters.  Removing or significantly increasing various limits (like, say, trees.  Heh!- wonder why?).  Just need a disclaimer like, "WARNING! This mod may cause your computer to overheat, melt down, and destroy your neighborhood."  Yeah, that sort of thing.

Thanks for the nice words, Dennis.  I'm still in complete awe of your NYC/big city stuff.

_____________________________________________________________

Later in the day on the 27th, our new friend Horus_Kol (Delvedene - City Journal) spoke up for the first time:

I'm loving the attention and care you have in planning this city - looking forward to more updates

You are too kind, H_K.  See you again soon.

_____________________________________________________________

Roadman20 popped back in to close out the 27th by saying what most of us are certainly thinking:

I'm a fan of 81 tiles, it's such a big canvas to build on.  I look at the 5x5 and I stare beyond the boundary thinking, "More land... must develop."

Says it for me.

_____________________________________________________________

On October 30th another new friend, Turjan, appeared with the following tip:

This looks great. I just hope you are aware of the very strict limits this game has on objects. At least there is a mod to lift the tree limit to about 4 times the original.

Thanks!  As I have noted before, Jessamine would not be possible without knighthawkGP and DRen72's great Unlimited Trees Mod mod [linkie]).

_____________________________________________________________

Over the next five days I worked on posting an extended RL pictorial update on the major built and natural features of Jessamine quad [linkie].  This put comments on hold for a few days, but on November 3rd Cathy (catty-cb) broke the silence with:

WOW some great pictures in that last update my computer struggled a bit but worth it in the end 

... I think I'm going to have to come back and have another look later ...

Thanks for bearing with an update with over 100 photos, Cathy (and everyone else).  It was the only way I knew how to convey the sense of Jessamine quad as a real place, though.  Working on it for close to a week really brought back a place to my mind that I haven't traveled in extensively for coming on 50 years.

_____________________________________________________________

A bit later on the 3rd, our friend and TRR Regular Marisa (gfv1974) said:

Very interesting! You're really doing your homework with this one. Hope you find someone to work with you on the Shaker buildings - they'd be great for rural areas. Looking forward to the next update!

I've got some thoughts about what we might do once the Jessamine quad isw out of the "forestation" phase.  We'll be talking about that.  I've not once touched the game's Asset Editor, and will be interested to see what I can do with it. 

I appreciate your kind words, Marisa, and look forward to working to exceed your expectations.

_____________________________________________________________

The Big Z (Dewey Dell) wrapped up the 3rd with:

Looks awesome, Dedgren! Some of those pictures make me want to go there. I can't wait to see more!

It's a great RL place [linkie], Z.  And hey- please call me David.  This is a "first names" kind of place unless, of course, you'd rather use your nic.

_____________________________________________________________

Our new friend from the Mountain State, raynev1, kicked off November 4th with:

Those pictures make me want to visit as well , nice update .

this is the only C:S CJ i am following . Can't help it , it's just that interesting .

Greetings!  Glad you like Jessamine quad.  Those are mighty kind words, but I'd encourage you to check out some of the other great C:S CJs too.  The game is, as I've noted, going through an incredible phase right now due to the efforts of a number of truly gifted modders.  It's like SC4 was for about two years after the Rush Hour release in 2004, except that it's been compressed into a couple of months.  I can't even begin to guess what great new feature someone will put on the Steam Workshop [linkie] tomorrow.  Exciting times!

_____________________________________________________________

Cathy (catty-cb) dropped back in on November 4th to call me out for dissing Chirpy in a post:

 

On 11/3/2015, 11:45:06, dedgren said:

....Chirpy seemed like the one wrong note in Colossal Order's magnificent job in putting the game together.  A Jar-Jar Binks moment.  It's one thing to have fun at this stuff.  It's another thing altogether to infantilize it....

That wasn't the intention

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/04/03/mods-maxis-and-forward-motion-cities-skylines-interview/4/

Another interesting interview with CEO Mariina Hallikainen

http://www.pcgamesn.com/cities-skylines/how-colossal-order-touched-the-clouds-the-making-and-success-of-cities-skylines

While we haven't exchanged phone numbers or gone out for drinks yet, Chirpy and I seem to have reached an accommodation, as It's helping me keep up in real time with how many trees I've "planted."

_____________________________________________________________

Following a post in which I lamented what I believe is the imminent demise of SC4, an old friend from the Simpeg days, tariely (P.R. Crastina's Travels (SC4) observed on November 5th:

Wow. Coming late into the fray (you really going to build THAT ? re-wow.) The CS discussion is quite interesting too. But one bit of it had my hackles raised : "SC4 wil be gone..." No, no, noooo. SC4 CANNOT go. I know i'll keep a computer up and running only to play it, if needs be. The kind of ingenuity is takes to play it, to paint with it in 2D ortho seems so much more  challenging to me than the 3d pseudo-photorealism of CS... Oh, OK, CS needs another kind of ingenuity !:-) But I like both... I like both, I like options. I like Middle-Ages book illuminations, Vermeer, Turner or Klee as much as Cartier-Bresson or Ansel Adams. I Want It All:-)))

_____________________________________________________________

Later on the 5th Marisa (gfv1974) revisited the Chirpy situation:

  On 11/4/2015, 9:08:58, catty-cb said:

 

  On 11/3/2015, 11:45:06, dedgren said:

....Chirpy seemed like the one wrong note in Colossal Order's magnificent job in putting the game together.  A Jar-Jar Binks moment.  It's one thing to have fun at this stuff.  It's another thing altogether to infantilize it....

That wasn't the intention

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/04/03/mods-maxis-and-forward-motion-cities-skylines-interview/4/

Ok, I don't really HATE Chirper. I feel bad for Mariina, now! 

The thing that annoys me about it is the repetitiveness of the "chirps". I've found a mod (SuperChirper) that filters it, so I only get the necessary ones. I think it's a good solution.

The Super Chirper mod can be found here [linkie]. It looks like it will do the trick.

_____________________________________________________________

On November 6, my dear friend Alex (Tarkus - NAM-RHW) found us and said:

David, it's great to see you back into the city simulation fray again!  I've been kind of lurking a bit in the background here, and thought I'd take the camouflage off the ol' tankadillo.  I did finally manage to pick up C:S at the end of October, when they put it back on sale (and Steam put the normal countdown clock on there, rather than the male bovine excrement they pulled earlier this month), and I've sneaked in a few hours with it.  I don't have anything really worth showing at this point, but it's been a good experience so far.  CO seems to have understood a good bit of what made SC4 tick, and avoided many of the pitfalls that plagued CXL and SC2013, though I'm finding the interface and the road and pipe building mechanics a bit on the clunky side still.  I'm really curious to see where the game goes, and what all you are able to get out of this new frontier after having been along for the ride of your SC4 endeavors. 

I have played a bit of SC4 since C:S (well, testing a NAM 33 RUL fix), and I feel it still holds up well enough graphically and gameplay-wise.  And even with Microsoft trying to screw the retrogaming consumer over big time (a fact which needs to be made a bigger deal), SC4 is still readily available through all the digital distribution platforms (though is overdue for a price reduction--$19.99 isn't going to cut it anymore when C:S is $29.99) and should continue to run decently on the latest systems as a result.  The biggest contributor to its apparent decline right now has been that we've lost a ton of manpower in the modding community--not to C:S (xannepan/xave excepted), but to RL.

Alex, thanks!  I hope you find Cities: Skylines as enjoyable as I have.  Best of luck, too, on the next NAM release.  I've snuck some looks over at SC4D, and you and the team are still creating jaw-dropping new content.

Don't be a stranger.

_____________________________________________________________

After I posted about an earthquake here in Alaska the morning of the 6th Cathy (catty-cb) said:

 

  On 11/6/2015, 8:01:15, dedgren said:

Nothing like a good old 4.54 earthquake....to get you out of bed early.  This one, about 35 miles/55 kilometres north-northwest of my home, was a real shaker.  OK, fun's over.  Back to work....

The morning ones are ok its the ones at night that I don't like as I live on the Wellington Fault line

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wellington_Fault

On this bit to be precise

  Quote

Although no historic earthquake has been recorded for this fault, the potential impact of rupture along the Wellington-Hutt Valley section on the Wellington area makes it one of the greatest natural hazards in New Zealand. The Wellington Fault is also capable of producing earthquakes of up to magnitude-8

so each quake has the potential to be the big one 

As for visiting CB no worries we not going anywhere so call in when you have the time, I've just moved the site over to the hosting company commercial hosting package this week and am still having the odd teething problem with it ... one thing you will notice is we now have a SSL certificate so the site address is now HTTPS its also meant to be faster which so far hasn't proved very noticable.

Scary stuff.

I was inside a storage closet when we had the 7.9 "Denali Fault" earthquake [linkie] almost exactly 13 years ago in 2002.  Its epicenter was about 150 miles/240 kilometers north of my house.  Every box in the place fell on me and the light swung so hard the bulb shattered.  Amazingly, we had no damage at home.  You be safe.

Thanks for the info about your site.

_____________________________________________________________

Another great old friend, Jesper (jesper107) from my SC4D days, started out the 7th with:

Extremely happy to see this journal being made! I don't have the time to contribute myself, but I'll do what I can as a bystander!

Your encouragement when I was pretty down on the game last summer had a lot to do with me returning to check it back out, and I thank you for that.

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

The 7th also saw Marisa (gfv1974) return to note the earthquake concerns she has in common with her fellow New Zealander Cathy (catty-cb).

  On 11/6/2015, 8:57:09, catty-cb said:

I live on the Wellington Fault line

Hey, me too! Although, I haven't actually felt any earthquakes for a while.

I'd be more concerned about being upside-down all the time... just kidding.

_____________________________________________________________

Cathy (catty-cb) responded later in the day on the 7th:

 

  On 11/7/2015, 5:43:12, gfv1974 said:

 

  On 11/6/2015, 8:57:09, catty-cb said:

I live on the Wellington Fault line

Hey, me too! Although, I haven't actually felt any earthquakes for a while.

All the recent ones seem to be have been quite small, since that one in October 

http://www.geonet.org.nz/

Which reminds me I really need to get my emergency kit updated or at least go thru and check it.

Me too.  Good idea.

_____________________________________________________________

After I put up a last eye candy update on page 3 on November 8th [linkie] The Big Z (Dewey Dell) checked back in and observed:

Some delicious eye candy!

Plenty to go around.  Thanks!

_____________________________________________________________

Our great friend Art (art128 - Art128's SC4 Projects) closed out page 3 on the 8th with another comment concerning the eye candy:

That looks alright! 

Thanks, Art.  I'm enjoying watching you grapple with the mountain terrain in your journal, so we're probably even.

_____________________________________________________________

All done 'til next time.

 

David

4657/117

  Edited November 19, 2015 by dedgren  
Lengthy update worked on over several days

[charlesnew 262]

Wow, this is so cool! So detailed!