Twin Rivers Region - a work in progress

[catty-cb 4,411]

I'll come back and do a proper post later as I do want to make a comment on the first part of your post (the bits in blue) from my point-of-view as a website owner, which brings up a minor point ... great you are doing a link to the site, but we have upped the site security so now the link is HTTPS not HTTP

https://community.simtropolis.com/clubs/26-city-builders-website/

not sure if you can access it if you use the old link, anyway back after work with a post 

Cathy

[dedgren 830]

Fixed, Cathy.  Thanks!  I'm looking forward to hearing what you have to say.

Ohmigosh- we're on page 5!

 

David

[catty-cb 4,411]

Lunchtime at work, so something to read till I can come back again

http://www.nngroup.com/articles/participation-inequality/

Otherwise know as the "The 90-9-1 Rule for Participation Inequality in Social Media and Online Communities"

[dedgren 830]

This is from the article that Cathy (catty-cb) linked to [linkie] a little bit ago.  This, folks, is wisdom, but there's still some things to talk about.

So, with another nod back to Three Rivers Region, let's set this Friday, the 20th, as...

C'mon, you 90%!  We know you are out there, and we'd love to have you join us.  And that doesn't just go for here at Twin Rivers Region.  Don't lurk in any CJ.  Let the authors know you are out there!

Thanks in advance.

 

David

n.b.  I'm still working on the page 3 mailbag update for a few more hours.  It's on the previous page, but here's a handy link [linkie].  -de

 

  Edited November 16, 2015 by dedgren  
Add link to unfinished post

[PhatHead 248]

Interesting study of people online   ie  lurker's  and the peeps who put their 2 centz in    If I were to write a whole paragraph that might be more like 25 cents.  however just to write a paragraph not really giving feed back to the author could be looked at as not even 8 cents.   so   Keep up the great work you seemed to be blessed at doing and I look not lurk to see what comes next.   

[raynev1 1,886]

   Funny how you mention the lurkers .  Just this evening , I started following a few more CJs and made comments . Activity does seem to be down a bit lately . Comments , likes and following I too believe is a big encouragement , to keeping a person interested in making their next entry . 

   Thanks for helping build encouragement . Eventually I might also give CJ'ing a try . Recently I started posting pictures in the "show us" threads . I wasn't using a picture hosting site , so they had been removed . Good news is that I had the pictures somewhat organized and then joined "imgur.com" , and have since updated those posts . One step at a time , right . 

    

[catty-cb 4,411]

I'll come back and do a proper post later as I do want to make a comment on the first part of your post (the bits in blue) from my point-of-view as a website owner...

I said I'd be back and here I am with a website owner point of view

One of the things I most notice as a website owner is the assumption from some people that somehow they are entitled to download what they want when they want it and people will drop what they are doing to make something for them or do something for them and they don't have to do anything in return, thankfully its only a small group of people like that as most people out there do appreciate what other people have done either in a CJ or as a content creator or as a website owner and make an effort to say so or to support the site in some way either by volunteering to help run it or support it financially, because this site and others like it are community run and funded

https://community.simtropolis.com/announcement/13-would-you-help-us-simtropolis-needs-your-support/

or lurk because they aren't ready to post yet and we have all be there, its a scarier thing to make that first post or picture, I can remember like yesterday the day I posted my first picture over at SC4D and I wanted to delete it immediately then didn't go near the site for a couple of days cos I didn't want to see what the reaction was going to be from people, but patfighter took the time to post that it was a great picture, it wasn't but it give me the confidence to post again ... and again 

Anyway back to that assumption again, I get complaints from people on a fairly regular basis that the downloads on my site aren't public downloads that they have to set up accounts to download them and its inconvenient and that they can't download everything at once or as many times as they want and they can't do this or that and the really irritating thing is you know that as soon as they have got what they want you will never see them again and it does get very wearing after a while and you do start wondering why you bother especially considering just how much it costs to properly run a website.

My site is very small in comparison to Simtropolis and yet it costs me roughly $1200 a year in hosting fees and software licences, so just imagine what its costing the Dirktator to run this site or SC4D to run their site and there is no company paying for any of this, there is a person just like you going out to work and paying the day-to-day bills behind each of the community forums, we don't put adverts on our sites for the fun of it, its to help pay the bills.

I posted this at CB

https://community.simtropolis.com/clubs/26-city-builders-website/stream/item/5993

public users can only see the first post, the other posts in this "topic" are from longterm members of the site who I get on with really well and like, but all of them use adblockers even on sites they belong to and support like CB, and in some ways you can understand it as there are some sites out there that have so many adverts on them that they are effectively un-useable, but it does mean that in all the time I have had adverts on my site I have earned a grandtotal of six dollars, so you do start fighting back and for those people who want to see what happens when a website starts fighting back against adblockers you just have to visit the CATALOG, CBEX or DOCUMENTS area of my site

https://community.simtropolis.com/clubs/26-city-builders-website/cb-documents

with an adblocker on, as we have adblocker blocker software installed on the site, it doesn't effect the social areas of the site where people post and once you login the adverts go away, but it is there and it does stop anyone using those areas if they are blocking the advert.

I'm not happy with doing that, but its certainly cut down my bandwidth usage.

Anyway enough about my website, A lot of people were surprised when SimPeg died I know I was and yet in the back of my mind it wasn't a surprise as we had got down to a handful of regulars that still posted, myself included and I know Pegasus must have looked at the number of people that still posted and the number of posts and it was probably an easy decision to make given the costs of keeping it going just for the PLEX (and yes I've donated most years at SimPeg to help pay the bills), cos that's the thing if you don't post in a community forum then one day its going to cease to exist as the forums are the site's life blood.

Ok just realised how long this post is, so I'll finish up with a comment about CJ's, I have a sort of Banished CJ over at my own site and you start off all enthusiastic and you get a couple of likes and the odd post and then that's it  ... so when it comes time to post the next update there really doesn't seem much of a hurry after all there doesn't seem to be anyone who will miss it if you don't post again, and then you go and have a look and realize the last picture you posted in it was back on the 4th of October, so like David says take the time to visit the CJ section here at Simtropolis or over at SC4D and if nothing else if you like what you are seeing then click the "like" button, well except at SC4D as they don't have "like" buttons. 

Cathy

 

 

[FullStrenght 74]

Incredible attention to detail, well done!

[BLANKBLANK 4,414]

Amazing work utilising the new MMPs, mods and flora which the Steam Workshop has to offer.

[dfnva 34]

Wow -- glad to see you doing a CJ again and taking full advantage of Cities:Skylines. I liked your realistic rural areas in the past and you're doing some amazing stuff now. It's motivated me to dust off the game and try some of the custom content!

 

-Dan

[Tarkus 6,932]

 

My site is very small in comparison to Simtropolis and yet it costs me roughly $1200 a year in hosting fees and software licences, so just imagine what its costing the Dirktator to run this site or SC4D to run their site and there is no company paying for any of this, there is a person just like you going out to work and paying the day-to-day bills behind each of the community forums, we don't put adverts on our sites for the fun of it, its to help pay the bills.

I don't have the exact figure offhand, but for a ballpark figure, SC4D costs about $2500 per year to run.  Most of the software we're using is either open-source or is custom software written by staff, which means no real licensing costs, and it's basically all hosting costs and Spanish sales tax.  The reason it's that much is because we had to upgrade to a dedicated server 6-7 years ago to be able to keep the LEX up and running.  Running a forum is not terribly expensive or bandwidth-heavy, but once you bring a download section into the mix, especially a popular one, things add up quickly, and with normal shared server packages, there's a hard limit on site traffic.

I don't know ST's exact figure, but I know it's quite a bit more than ours at SC4D, and the STEX is the main driver of that cost.

-Tarkus

[dedgren 830]

This page is just screamin' along, eh?

That. folks, more or less, is 300,000 trees.

Later.

 

David

5095/130

  Edited November 19, 2015 by dedgren  
Fix linkie

[FullStrenght 74]

That's quite a lot of work. I can see myself being a dick and build a dam to get the clean power for an emerging metropolis  drowning all the trees you put there... Better not let me play with it!

[gfvsims 169]

Whoa. 300,000! The way you're placing the trees looks so realistic.

BTW, I'm one of the 9%. Hope I remember to pop in on Friday!

  Edited November 17, 2015 by gfv1974  

[BLANKBLANK 4,414]

dedgren- waiting for the moment when you go bonkers with the MMPs and the custom made farms. Also the tree distribution looks incredibly organic.

[catty-cb 4,411]

David

I know here and on a couple of other topics you have wondered about the lack of active CJ's for C:S even for SC4D and I don't think its necessarily that people aren't doing CJ's its just there are more games out there that scratch the city building itch or in the case of Banished the village building itch 

http://banishedpeople.freeforums.org/viewtopic.php?t=282&f=3

[Elz_41 10]

I have a question.

Reading through this thread, you sir, dedgren, appear to be putting in a HUGE amount of effort before the city has even started - ie on the landscape, river, trees. It looks incredible! 

Do you ever, you know, just like load the game up play one of the regular maps or is that not your thing ?

[GC_Vos 714]

I agree, I am in complete awe with the level of detail and realism here, and I would love to play that map once it's finished.

Are you not affraid you might run into performance issues with such tree density?

[raynev1 1,886]

   Wow over a quarter million trees , that's a lot of trees . And haven't begun to develop yet , a WIP indeed . Details ,details and more details . I can't wait to see how this evolves .

[Mr_Maison 2,426]

I have a question.

Reading through this thread, you sir, dedgren, appear to be putting in a HUGE amount of effort before the city has even started - ie on the landscape, river, trees. It looks incredible! 

Do you ever, you know, just like load the game up play one of the regular maps or is that not your thing ?

The way this CJ is going reminds me of how I been playing SC4 since 2003. I would usually spend days and even a week or longer just making a map going back and forth in Photoshop. Then I would spend a very long time in God mode. The day I begin to make streets (usually 3 weeks to a month in) is my main transport network stage and then zoning and growing a city neighborhood by neighborhood. I still have a region I started from 2007 that I see no end to though it is well developed. The great thing about taking time to do intentional planning and detail at a slower pace is the density of quality you end up with when you look back later and have memories (good and bad) of every neighborhood in the region. This is the making of a masterpiece. The natural detail of the tree lines along with the flow of the rivers is really pushing the inspiration bar up and showing this games potential in the hands of a seasoned city builder. Still following with interest. 

 

-Dennis 

[gfvsims 169]

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

I don't know what you're talking about...

  Edited November 19, 2015 by gfv1974  

[dedgren 830]

 

In celebration of passing 300,000 trees planted, here's some eye candy with minimal explanation.  There've been great comments on this page and I really want to do them justice.

So, for now, just enjoy.

#1 - The Norfolk & Southern tracks bend to the northeast towards Wilmore after crossing High Bridge.

#2 - The edge of a field along the tracks.

#3 - The Kentucky River seen upstream nearing High Bridge.

#4 - US 68 on its way west up out of the Kentucky River gorge.

#5 - Another view of US 68 just after crossing Brooklyn Bridge.

#6 - The Palisades just below Brooklyn Bridge.

#7 - The high cliffs of the Palisades tower above the Kentucky River.

#8 - Bottom land just upstream of Brooklyn Bridge.

#9 - Fields end sloping steeply into the gorge of a Kentucky River tributary stream.

#10 - The hillside in the area remain heavily wooded despite of the area being almost 200 years under cultivation.

#11 - US 68 approaches Cog Hill.

#12 - US 68 leaves the gorge headed west.

#13 - An outlier tree.

#14 - Old fencelines are often marked by a row of trees.

#15 - The woods beckon everywhere in Jessamine quad.

Just trees, a couple of roads, the river, some streams and this amazing terrain.  Imagine...

 

David

5457/140

[catty-cb 4,411]

Great pictures, not quite sure about the grass and it could be my computer or a sign I should be swopping over to my other pair of glasses ... close up it looks OK but from a distance in some places it looks sort of watery, but otherwise the trees have certainly been worth the effort you have been putting in to planting them all 

[The Big Z 103]

Seriously amazing! I love your attention to detail and the perspectives in those shots is perfect.

[boformer 3,169]

Looks like my Tree Rotation mod is in use

[Cool_Z 1,547]

Great pictures, not quite sure about the grass and it could be my computer or a sign I should be swopping over to my other pair of glasses ... close up it looks OK but from a distance in some places it looks sort of watery, but otherwise the trees have certainly been worth the effort you have been putting in to planting them all 

Agreed !!!

 

But wow, what a nice work on the trees, yup !

[charlesnew 262]

Wow. Honestly, I don't know if I would want to build a city on that. It looks so perfect.

[MrCinatit 30]

Great job, dedgren. Nice to see you back. 

I commend you on being able to get back into it. I tried a couple of months ago, and like a lot of what this game had to offer, but just could not get my heart into it. Perhaps in time I can come back and give it a harder look. Your journal gives me a lot of hope for the future of this game. 

[dedgren 830]

So many great comments on this page.  I can't wait to do the "mail" update.

An informal couple of pics- I'll do a real update later- as I approach half a million trees.

#1

I've been working in the far northwest corner (extreme left in the above pic) of the quad today.  Planting these trees one at a time is hard work.  I can't us a tree brush, even though they have now been made slope tolerant with BloodyPenguin's nifty No Tree Brush Slope Limit mod [linkie] because the trees do not "plant" densely enough and repeated passes with the brush don't help.  So one at a time it is.

#2

This is closer in looking almost due northwest.

#3

Another closer in shot, this one looking a little west of north.  I'm stuck for the moment using the game's "dirt" road for all unsurfaced roads- I'm going to have to replace all of them when a proper "gravel" style road turns up.  I'm also playing with the trees between fields and small woodlots out of the gorge here.

The road at the center here used to cross the Kentucky River 100 years and more ago on Cummins Ferry.

#4

Close in of Cummins Ferry Road.  Because I can.

The trees really make the topography jump out.  I'm going to have to figure out how to deal with the road "shoulders."  Another challenge for another day.

______________________________________________

And hey!  One last thing.

It's our first No Lurkers Day, remember.  If you're lurking, please leave a comment- even "Hi" will do, so that we will know who all of our friends are.  There's at least 100 of you every day, as we are up close to 200 page views during that time on average.  It would be great to have you come out and join us here.  Next time I'll set out cookies.

 

David

5699/147

[jake052 3]

Really cool city journal, loving all the effort being put in to make what I'm sure will be a really cool end result! oh and btw long time lurker here, thought I would make that first post.