Boston 2.0 - finally most of the snowfall related issues solved

[Simulanten 681]

BOSTON - The Big Dig / recreating Downtown

Here we go. After my big complaint about CO heading for Duckburg with C:S it's time to show again what's possible with this game...  Needless to say that I play with endless money and everything unlocked from the start and a lot of mods and even more assets. In some parts the simulation gets more real with the mods (like with the latest hit "Rush Hour") but over all there is nothing real or immersive left with my set up of C:S. Balancing is totally off and my Boston seriously lacks residential and industrial suburbs to feed Downtown. To avoid that the demand bars go nuts I put much more high density residential in the city center - I might be able to replace them with offices/commercial once I have more residential on the periphery - but I might hit the limits before that. I feel like going back to Banished lately...

Today I had enough time to finish the Downtown area and take a few screenshots. Downtown Boston in C:S is all about the Big Dig - the crazy highway tunnel infrastructure that was finished about 10 years ago. It connects the I-93 with the Massachusetts Turnpike, puts the I-93 underground in the Financial District and offers a second connection under the harbor to Logan Airport. There's dozens of tunnel ramps, bridges, intersections in a very dense urban environment together with massive pedestrian traffic and public transport in tunnels and above the ground.

C:S together with Network Expansions and mods like the sharp angle junction mod made it possible to recreate most of that infrastructure according to RL. What I realized that it is incredibly tricky how road building and terraforming work together. It's the same about coastlines. It gets messy, jagged slopes and sunken wall assets take up too much space. I would LOVE to have a road-building toggle mod that makes vertical walls if going below zero. Like it is now you get unrealistic slopes or light blue "world holes" when forcing the terraforming to realistic tunnel entrances and sunken highways. Still I don't think something like this will be possible with the current game.

Another thing that I realised while recreating a Downtown area with all its facilities, government buildings, parks, tourist attractions, museums was, that C:S focuses on services that you would have in any small town but lacks considerably an urban diversity of museums, theaters, libraries etc. Assets are hard to manage and I have lots of tourists driving all the way to Boston to spend an hour on a parking space because it's a "park". There is no courthouse that has a purpose, no city hall - all together the game lacks immersion because nothing seems to matter. Visually it is hard to find assets that are neither skyscrapers nor monuments but all those buildings - medium sized office blocks, boring stuff - that a real city is made of.

Let's start with the pictures:

That's the view from Pleasure Bay across South Boston towards Downtown. The skyline was missing in my first entry of the CJ. Now it's there and it looks good. Unfortunately there are not many medium sized highrise buildings in the workshop so the skyline is a bit too slim and lacks those postmodern buildings that are typical for Boston.

We're approaching Downtown along the I-93. The elevated road on the bottom right is the South Boston Bypass going directly to the harbor area. A lot of logistic services are located here between the I-93 and the train tracks. You can see two regional trains getting to South Station in the background just in front of the Downtown high rise.

A little bit more to the west of the I-93: In the foreground we see Boston University Medical Center and Washington Street (left) with a lot of bus lines (like the Silver Line with the articulated buses) connecting the southern suburbs with the center.

This intersection is pure madness. Not only IRL but also in C:S. After connecting the Massachusetts Turnpike (going West / left from it) and the tunnels replacing the former Artery my cars and trucks use every single lane of the highways. It is really fun to watch and its capacity is way too big in the game...

For South Boston's harbor area I was lacking good buildings to recreate the Convention Center and the buildings around the old docks. But it still comes quite close to the real thing. In the foreground we have the exits of the Mass Turnpike before it dives down under the harbor in the direction of Logan Apt. Boston has a lot of huge ventilation buildings for the tunnels - I used a small incineration plant to represent this (and C:S likes garbage services too much - so this was a win-win) - in this shot there is one on the right hand side of the Convention Center. The bus lanes close to the highway exit are where the Silver Line 1&2 buses come to the surface (They use a tunnel from South Station - I placed a metro line for that part).

The train bridges across Fort Point Channel. A bit bumpy I'm afraid. And the Amtrak Acela runs along the Mass Turnpike through Back Bay afaik.

This is where my skills and the available assets came to a limit. The bridge below is where the old harbor is located with the historical ships and further to the right the iconic waterfront. Only the ridiculous marinas of AD mark that. At least there is an aquarium where the New England Aquarium should be.

A closer look across Fort Point Channel with busy busline #7 going into South Boston from South Station. Again I like the mix of American cars. Although taxis are white in Boston, right? I would kill for the typical Boston mid-size postmodern red granite office towers to use in C:S!

This is what came after the double-decker highway called The Artery that ran across Downtown. A belt of parks. There is a lot of traffic underground even in the game!

My Downtown consists of many ploppables - so it feels a bit empty. A handful of "tourists" visiting the landmark towers don't make a bustling city center...

This is not Detroit :-)  You can see the Prudential Center and John Hancock Tower in the background. They are the two only Boston assets in the workshop. The park in between is Boston Commons.

This is a helpless and clumsy way of recreating the area around Boston City Hall and Faneuil Hall (which is represented by this small thingy on the left). I placed hundreds of brick-tile flooring around City Hall (which is actually one of the great World Trade Center assets). I would use more of this pavement because it really makes a lot of Boston's look and feel - but it's tiresome to place...

This is the view from Prudential Center. The Mass Turnpike runs beneath it towards the I-93 intersection and the glass tower is John Hancock Center right on Copley Square. Boston commons on the left of it and the area of Back Bay with its central tree-lined avenue.

Now from the other side... The C:S vanilla bridge is nothing compared to the real suspension bridge carrying the I-93 before diving down under the city from the North. The train tracks are entering North Station (and above the tracks there should be Boston Garden - I only have a bus terminal to represent this structure). On the right behind the bridge of the Green Line there is the Science Museum.

Closer to North Station. A nightmare of tunnels and ramps, elevated train track stations and more... the train tracks are part of the Green Line and its station "Science Park / West End". It's more like a tram - that goes underground in the city center. So my passangers have to change platform (and from train to metro) in North Station's underground station...

Another subway line crosses the Charles River Basin via a bridge. The Red Line's elevated station is called "Charles / MGH" and is close to the Massachusetts General Hospital close by on the left.

Cha

Charles River Basin. Science Museum on the dam front left and the beginning of a stretch of parks along the river on the right. Coastlines are a pain in C:S - and there is a partial autumn season close to the water ;-) . And there is a serious lack of water traffic! No sailing boats, no ferries, no life...

The posh neighborhood of Back bay and the parks close to Charles River. On the horizon the still empty island of Logan Airport. Maybe I'm going to work on that one next. Or rather more residential suburbs - let's see.

Overview of the area that is done by now. It has around 60'000 inhabitants and loses about 120'000 money units every cicle...

And for once a look at traffic and the all the tunnels... You only can imagine what it meant to build this IRL when you did it in C:S...

That's it for now. Sorry for the big load of pics...

Again a big thank you goes out to all the modders and asset creators and all the CJ authors that inspired me to work on Boston!

Let's hope that C:S despite all current doubts turns out to be a tough and solid base for more to come!

Cheers, Dominic

 

 

 

[Turjan 1,048]

Awesome update, as usual. You bring out the beauty in the ugliness of a big modern city. It definitely looks real, and that is a great accomplishment. As I have never been to Boston, I won't notice any differences to the "real thing". I can understand your frustration though. It's good that this does not deter you.

[Simulanten 681]

 

Thanks Turjan for the heads up and the kind words...

13 minutes ago, Turjan said:

As I have never been to Boston, I won't notice any differences to the "real thing".

Me neither :-) Been at Logan Apt for a couple of hours, nothing more. That was one of the reasons I picked Boston - to avoid the frustration of not really getting there... but after hours on Google Earth (Boston is 3D!) and watching films set in Boston I'm much more familiar with the city.

[solonvt 0]

Wow, awesome journal! You've done an amazing job recreating the look and feel of Boston. The Charles/MGH and science museum area look great, as do I-93 and the greenway above. I would love to see Cambridge next!

[Roadman20 601]

Quality work on the CBD of Boston.  It's impressive even though the unique Boston assets are lacking at this time, as well as your recreation of the "Big Dig" gets a hardy round of applause from myself.  

[Benedict 3,119]

Fantastic update. The level of detail on the interchanges and other transport really showcases the game abilities.

[Judazzz 1,936]

Absolutely amazing! Even though the Workshop lacks actual Boston assets, your city still really captures the essence of Boston (as far as I can capture it, being only familiar with the city through TV, movies, Google Maps and sites like Wikipedia [I've been reading so many pages about American cities, architecture, etc. since I bought C:SL]). Can't wait to see your next update!

[FullStrenght 74]

On 23-1-2016 at 8:36 PM, Simulanten said:

It has around 60'000 inhabitants and loses about 120'000 money units every cicle...

Worth every penny! Beautifull!

[Mr_Maison 2,426]

I could lose many hours staring at this city. I hope one day I can make something close to what you have here.

[Simulanten 681]

19 hours ago, Mr_Maison said:

I could lose many hours staring at this city. I hope one day I can make something close to what you have here.

Oh, it wouldn't be possible without your and many other assets. As I only can hope that one day I can make something close to what your assets look like I'm going to stick to my cities...

[Judazzz 1,936]

On 1/23/2016 at 8:36 PM, Simulanten said:

Spot the differences 

(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hancock_Tower)

[Simulanten 681]

4 hours ago, Judazzz said:

Spot the differences 

Oh, there are so many hurting my eyes... Maybe I need to get into asset creating to get those beautiful monster buildings like the Marriot on Copley Sq (bottom right) or the Back Bay Amtrak station. Or... or... I better don't get into this.

[Judazzz 1,936]

I actually meant it as a huge compliment
Obviously there's no way you can find a good copycat replacement for each and every building, but I think it looks stunningly similar even with the currently available assets (up to minute details like the pedestrian walkways in the Boston Common). 

[Matthias King 348]

6 hours ago, Judazzz said:

I actually meant it as a huge compliment
Obviously there's no way you can find a good copycat replacement for each and every building, but I think it looks stunningly similar even with the currently available assets (up to minute details like the pedestrian walkways in the Boston Common). 

Agreed. It's surprising how close they are. Especially the highway. It's almost like looking at a 1:1 copy. Very impressive.

[Simulanten 681]

14 hours ago, Matthias King said:

Agreed. It's surprising how close they are. Especially the highway. It's almost like looking at a 1:1 copy. Very impressive.

Thanks guys.

Working on the expansion towards Charlestown and Cambridge... Hope to update soon!

[mrsmartman 200]

Remarkable.

[cmdp123789 710]

Great pics! I really like it! Btw, I just saw the University where I attended for my masters degree.. ehm Hult International Business School.. See if you can guess where it is =P

[Simulanten 681]

On 10.2.2016 at 6:51 AM, cmdp123789 said:

Great pics! I really like it! Btw, I just saw the University where I attended for my masters degree.. ehm Hult International Business School.. See if you can guess where it is =P

It's actually a high school asset that I put there... Cool that you found it!

[Simulanten 681]

Teaser pic of the area I'm working on: Charlestown, Somerville and the Northeastern corner of Cambridge. This area is much about the I-93 entering the city from North. Double decker highways, complex intersections close to residential areas, train and subway tracks and railyards...

Hopefully there's time for a full update soon.

[Mr_Maison 2,426]

Seriously.......these pics can pass for photos at a glance.....still looking

Is that teaser Google Earth or in game?

[Matthias King 348]

Agreed. I'd like to recruit you for a project I'm planning.

[andreharv 1,197]

Being originally from Boston, the Zakim bridge was actually much of my inspiration behind the 8L avenue bridge in the Network Extensions Project.  While it is not a highway bridge, I think you'd like it.

[Simulanten 681]

21 hours ago, andreharv said:

Being originally from Boston, the Zakim bridge was actually much of my inspiration behind the 8L avenue bridge in the Network Extensions Project.  While it is not a highway bridge, I think you'd like it.

Thanks for that hint - can't believe I didn't know about the 8L bridge!

This view from Bunker Hill monument in Charlestown is for you - it looks much more like the real thing now:

 

[andreharv 1,197]

Wow...I feel like I'm back home just by looking at that pic.  Nice!  ATM we don't have a very good way of notifying people of new updates so stuff kinda randomly shows up.  That bridge was from an update about a week ago so people are probably stumbling upon it as they see it.  Keep up the good work.  Love what I see.

[Judazzz 1,936]

I just found out about the new 8-lane bridge yesterday when I checked this topic: a very pleasant surprise, because it looks positively stunning!

And as always very impressive stuff, Simulanten! Can't wait to see your next CJ entry!

[Simulanten 681]

The only downside is that the speed on 8L roads are slower and some cars choose the old bridge now clogging up traffic. Is it only with Traffic++ that we can manage speeds on road segments? I will disable it soon because it won't be compatible with the forced free update of C:S.

I'm scared of this DLC - hopefully it doesn't crash Boston for good. There you have your natural disaster option....

 

[Roadman20 601]

You know Traffic Manager: President Edition enabled changeable speed limits on road segments.  I'm completely weened off Traffic++ as soon as Network Extensions adds the Traffic++ bus lanes.

[Judazzz 1,936]

The one upside of having to start all over again a few weeks ago (due to a forced reinstall of my laptop) is that I could finally ditch T++ for good (I do miss the pedestrianized roads and 2-lane bus-only roads, but I'll manage without them), because once used you'll never get fully rid of it (Ghost Mode is the absolute minimum, disabling/un-subbing is not an option). So with some luck my new city will make the transition to the new version quite smoothly. But only time will tell, so fingers crossed.

I'm currently using Traffic Manager + Enhanced AI, but I've read a lot about TM:PE, so I'm kind of tempted to make the switch (especially because TM:PE is actively supported and still being developed further). But what I want to know is whether the Traffic Manager: PE contain all the features of the version I have, including the traffic AI optimizations? And more importantly: will TM:PE be able to read the xml config file containing all traffic light/lane changes that was created by the TM version I use? I've spent tons of hours removing all unnecessary road arrow in my town for visual appeal (like all road/alleyway intersections and all 2-lane road/wider road intersections), and it would be a headache having to do all that over again...

[Roadman20 601]

TM:PE has some form of Enhanced Traffic AI in it since it was introduced in verison 1.4 back in early January, not sure how far beyond it is the original one it is.  TM:PE in the beginning had all the base features of the original TM, including the basic lane changing and then got developed further.  It's getting another update with Snowfall with the introduction of vehicle restrictions, so it's been working on adapting some features of Traffic++.  The last version put in changeable speed limits, although the speed limit icons are everywhere now when popping into that view.

Priority signs definitely work, I have a few four-way stop intersections without signals in Seattle working out.  Although the coolest feature was the introduction of adapative traffic lights.  These traffic lights are built like timed traffic lights but can change their signaling timing based on the traffic encountered at the intersection without you messing with it.  TM:PE is compatible with Traffic++, but it disables it's own lane changer and Advanced AI in favor of Traffic++'s own.

I just saw all the Traffic++ bus roads are coming out on NetEx on the 19th, and with the one cell roads, I've replaced all my previous pedestrianized roads with the one cell roads.

 

EDIT: Sorry for the slight hijack.  I like the bridge in that background and how the Network Extensions team designed that with Boston in mind.

[Simulanten 681]

No prob about highjacking at all. Thanks for adressing my concerns. TM:PE seems to be on a great track - I ignored it so far...

I feel like removing Traffic++ completely. But: What happens if I don't replace all the zoned pedestrian roads and bus roads? What else to check? I'm seriously concerned about breaking the whole city and don't know if disabling / unsubscribing is possible at all... What do you think?