Piedra Verde - A New Island Territory

[Chappington 131]

Hi all, I wanted to share a new project I've been working on, Piedra Verde. The idea is to try and build up a city organically, over time, with some backstory - hopefully this will result in a neat creation with some realism as well. I've started this in the early 90s - early enough that I have plenty of time to grow the area before reaching the present day, but late enough where I can get away with using most of the vehicles and buildings from the game. (Of course, some vehicles will look a bit too modern, and some buildings a bit older, just go ahead and look the other way  )

Piedra Verde (a.k.a. Green Stone) is a set of islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Although it was sighted a few times before the 20th century, there was never any settlement. All anybody knew was rumors about a faint green glow coming from an island in the Pacific. (It turns out that glow is due to rare radioactive ores, but more on that later.) The islands somehow remained unknown until around World War II, and then during the Cold War it was agreed to keep the islands as a mostly secret neutral uninhabited area. Once the Cold War ended, the existence of these islands became more widespread. In the new spirit of international cooperation, an organization was formed to settle this area and investigate the glowing rocks... and profit off of the ores if possible.

In 1991, the territory of Piedra Verde was born. In the rush to settle it and construct the original facilities, not that many photos exist of its first year. Here you can see the main settlement - a small port, a couple of factories, and some basic housing. They did at least have a nice football/soccer field though.

Here's a closer look at the port area, including the main fuel depot for the settlement.

Of course, the main reason for this new territory was the mysterious glowing rock. So far the mining operations haven't actually found much of the glowing stone - the reports of glowing were probably quite exaggerated. There was, however, plenty of coal and iron to dig up, so there was plenty of profit to be made in this new land.

With all the new hype, the island's infrastructure is being significantly expanded - construction is probably the second biggest industry on the island.

 

So that's a little preview of Piedra Verde, in the future the territory will get some actual government organization, and they'll be sure to take plenty of pictures.

[Chappington 131]

Moving onto 1992, the territory has now been organized, and is controlled by an international organization. The settlement has nearly doubled in size since 1991. The overhead image above shows all of the areas that have either been shown in the 1991 post, or will be shown in this one.

The residential area has grown quite a bit, filling in the area between the port and the cliffs nearby. The port itself has also grown, doubling in size. More images below:

Meanwhile in the residential area, housing is starting to creep up the hill, and a road up the cliff is being built.

Down the hill, new tenements have been built next to the football field.

In the middle of the growing town is a small office building, holding the new colonial administration.

Next door is a small commercial area, including the famous American chain Food and Stuff.

To the south, agriculture has started popping up - it's much more efficient to grow food onsite rather than waiting for ships to bring food from thousands of miles away.

The new farm construction is leading to more infrastructure down south - that way, more of the island will be easily accessible.

Off to the northwest, oil has been found! More drill sites are being explored in the background, and this could easily cause a population boom.

Finally, a hint of what's to come.

  Edited December 17, 2017 by Splime  
High Tech JPEG Compression

[Chappington 131]

Welcome back, this is the 1993 update. Around 1500 people have moved in over the past year, and the settlement has had to expand accordingly.

The biggest new development is a new research centre, built to analyze the mountains and find any evidence of the supposed green glowing rocks.

Meanwhile, the oilfields are starting to expand - this settlement should be pretty lucrative, even if the glowing rocks turn out to just be a rumour.

Near the port, a new waste disposal facility is being built, using a landfill to continue expansion of the port and burning up the rest of the trash.

The central administration office has expanded into the space where the old recycling facility was.

Of course, with all the expansion, more housing was required. This time more emphasis was single family homes, to attract a diverse set of people to the island.

Meanwhile, some new bayside housing developments have been built, putting nicer quality housing in the settlement.

More farms have been built, including a flower field with a nice public garden.

A sugar refinery has also been built nearby.

The island is also finally getting an airport, making travel much easier and faster.

And lastly, a new lighthouse guarding the bay.

Thanks for reading!

  Edited December 17, 2017 by Splime  
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[Chappington 131]

Welcome back, this is the 1994 update. Around 1700 people have moved here in the past year, and the housing development on the ridge has massively expanded to handle it. Here's a night shot of the colony.

Piedra Verde finally has a proper bus system to keep up with new immigration.

It turned out to be a little *too* popular though...

The airport from earlier is now fully built.

Meanwhile, a new residential area has been built south of Portridge, with the incredibly original name of Southridge. In an effort to rely on local building materials instead of imports, a lumber mill was built nearby, along with some new trees.

The cargo harbour now has a rail connection - the island's administration is leading an effort to reduce truck traffic, but it may have a tough time convincing the mines to use trains, given that the line is longer and only single tracked.

To help cope with overwhelming bus demand, a cable car has been built, giving a direct route up the cliff between the industrial area and Portridge. While it is quite popular, it hasn't really made a dent in bus usage.

Portridge itself has expanded quite a bit, adding new suburban-style housing and some nearby farms - complete with a small farmers' market!

Finally, the expanded mining area.

Thanks for reading!

  Edited December 17, 2017 by Splime  
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[mutton noir 170]

Great work- nice narrative and superb detailing. Look forward to following developments!

[Chappington 131]

13 hours ago, mutton noir said:

Great work- nice narrative and superb detailing. Look forward to following developments!

Thanks! The updates will be slow, but they should have *plenty* of new developments.

[hunkske 53]

Looks really nice... and realistic.. 

[boformer 3,169]

I love the farms! Nice work!

[Chappington 131]

11 hours ago, hunkske said:

Looks really nice... and realistic.. 

Thanks, glad to hear it!

11 hours ago, boformer said:

I love the farms! Nice work!

Thanks, though DeCzaah's farm fields did most of the work

[Chappington 131]

Welcome back, this is the 1995 update. This year over 3000 people have moved to the territory - the cause of this population boom will be shown below.
But first, the increased growth of Piedra Verde meant that just one settlement wouldn't be enough. A new town has been founded on Beacon Rock (named after the lighthouse), complete with its own vineyard.

The big discovery on the island though, is the source of the mysterious green lights. After some intermittent sightings, the mountaintop research centre figured out the mystery - deposits of the radioactive element Californium*. It was never thought to occur naturally, until now. This discovery prompted a huge wave of investment, including a major highway down the steep slopes of the Piedra Verde. (The largest mountain shares the name of the whole island.)

The investment also includes construction of a massive tunnel through the mountain, scheduled for completion in 1996. Some construction workers have moved into trailers nearby, instead of waiting for more official housing to be built.

Finally, here is the mining area itself.

(I also redid the mines on the main side of the island.)

The Portridge suburb is expanding further, including some fancier mansions one top of the ridge.

The Southridge suburb has also grown, but the housing isn't *quite* as lavish.

More development has come up near the beach, in an attempt to diversify the island's industries and bring in tourism.

Next to the beach, one of the farms has been redeveloped into a new development, complete with a brand new university, offices, and some brand new top-of-the-line apartments.

The last main thing built this year is a new nuclear power plant. While it's not up and running yet, the new Californium discovery means that a more renewable source of energy can power the growing territory.

Thanks for reading!

----

*OK, so it doesn't actually glow green in real life... but I figure taking some creative liberties can't hurt.

  Edited December 17, 2017 by Splime  
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[Chappington 131]

Since the new update and DLC is hitting tomorrow, I thought I'd get some more detail shots before the inevitable mod breakages & updates:

 

  Edited December 17, 2017 by Splime  
High Tech JPEG Compression

[Chappington 131]

Welcome back, this is the 1996 update. The population hasn't exploded *quite* as much as last time, growing to a healthy population 10701. Some of this is thanks to new settlements, and some is further suburban sprawl. Thanks to the growth of the local economy, a lot of investors and locals are talking about becoming gaining more independence from its UN administration - but it's still early days for those talks.

Beacon Rock has more than doubled in size, with a new ferry line connecting it to the main city.

The new Green Cities commercial assets really suit this area.

On the other side of the bay is Sandy Bay, a smaller bay with, you guessed it, lots of sand. It also has a nice marina and hotel, for any tourists who want to get even further away from it all.

Back in Southridge, suburban sprawl is hard at work, along with some agricultural growth as well.

Up the cliff in Portridge, new farms have been developed, and some land has been set aside for a cemetery.

On the other side of the mountains, where the Californium mines have been built, a new development is being planned. Its name is Nueva California, and while it's mostly a combination of construction and trailer homes, it's planned to be a fairly big ocean view development.

Part of the construction site is pedestrian accessible in order to reach a new bridge to the industrial zone.

Back downtown, Piedra Verde finally has a proper hospital!

With the recent population boom, the public transit infrastructure was overwhelmed. A new central bus station has taken over where the old petroleum power plant was, and most of the buses have been replaced.

Finally, the waterfront has been redeveloped with new shopping, as well as a new hotel and casino - extra tax revenue for Piedra Verde!

There is one more small area that I forgot to screenshot am intentionally saving for a future mini update, which will probably come in the next couple of days, and then it's a big wait until all of the 1997 work gets finalized.

Thanks for reading!

[Chappington 131]

As promised, a quick addendum to the 1996 update. First we start with an image from the 1992 update, annotated to provide context on what's going on here:

The water pumping facility has been around since the 1991 settling, but it's always been off camera - you'll catch some glimpses of it below. In the centre is the main settlement, and up the hill is the plateau that will become Portridge. To the right, you can see some farms (most of which have now been paved over), as well as the forests that would become Southridge. This update concerns the originally-named Northridge, some infill development on an area previously deemed too steep for efficient construction. Demand has now increased enough to make filling that area worthwhile.

The first thing you'd notice when looking at Northridge from below is the rows of blocky cubic apartments. Claimed to be "modern" architecture, residents are divided on its aesthetic appeal - though they do at least appreciate the extra housing.

Despite its small size, it holds an elementary school and a high school for the surrounding area, as well as a few shops.

Finally, an overhead shot:

Thanks for reading!

[Chappington 131]

Outside of Nueva California (which is still under construction - images will be in the 1998 update), most of the territory's expansion has taken place in the gaps between built up areas.

But first, the biggest new infrastructure improvement: passenger trains! As just a freight line, the massive rail tunnel was a large waste of money - it would be easy enough to just setup a second port and ship goods around the island. However, now that the rails are double tracked, passenger service makes the journey to Nueva California and the Californium mines significantly faster and safer. Some earlier buildings have been demolished to make way for a nice station downtown as well.

The main chunk of this update concerns infill development near Southridge. Two farms have been bought out, along with a sliver of a third, to open up space for higher density development. Here's what the space looked like last year:

And now:

Near the university, a new commercial area has been built, along with a new open air market.

Of course, plenty of housing has been added as well.

The train tracks don't just go to Nueva California - there is now a rail connection straight to the airport, with a shiny glass station.

A concert space has opened up in one of the old fields. It's mainly there to attract more tourists, and a more permanent location may be needed if things go well.

In Southridge itself, mass transit is taking over. The new Underridge Tram Line has its depot here, and a new cable car line connects it to Portridge up above.

The Underridge Tram Line goes from downtown Piedra Verde around to a new suburb, Underridge. It's a fairly well off neighborhood, just underneath the tallest of the ridges.

Thanks for reading!

[JohnAkaMrP 61]

The level of noiceness here is off the charts.  Can't wait to get home in the evening to read the narrative and browse through all of the photos!

[Chappington 131]

16 hours ago, JohnAkaMrP said:

The level of noiceness here is off the charts.  Can't wait to get home in the evening to read the narrative and browse through all of the photos!

Thanks, glad to hear it has an acceptable amount of noiceness! 

[JohnAkaMrP 61]

Wow!  Still impressed after finishing gawking at all of the screen shots.

• I've never been involved in mining IRL, so I couldn't say if your extraction areas bear any relationship to anything in real life.  What I can say is that they look plausible, and beyond that a-maz-ing.  I have never included mining in any of my cities for reasons that include 1) the vanilla ore assets look ridiculous and 2) I would have no idea how to turn workshop assets into something both good looking and functional in some way beyond their appearance.  I would gladly watch a half hour youtube video of you building and detailing one of your mining areas.
• Like other people who do realistic layouts, you have a good eye for proportions and density.   One good example is the shot that includes the cemetery.  You've not just plopped it down or not just set it back off of the road, but you gave it its own network of roads, among which one could imagine the future active sections.  The small, mass-built cottages in the same photo have thin but long backyards that replicate what is sometimes done in real life.  And the city 'feels' right, suggesting appropriate horizontal spread versus vertical building.
• I love your fenced-in lots containing trucks, sheds, construction equipment, debris, etc.  I'll have to try that for myself in my current city.

Finally, I'm sure the management of the cargo lines that serve your port have mentioned that they lost 14 tankers (and knocked over a ferry) in the massive pile up earlier today.  The city council should probably allocate funds for a new quay with better traffic flow for 1999. 

  Edited November 26, 2017 by JohnAkaMrP  
Too much

[Chappington 131]

On 11/20/2017 at 10:32 PM, JohnAkaMrP said:

Wow!  Still impressed after finishing gawking at all of the screen shots.

• I've never been involved in mining IRL, so I couldn't say if your extraction areas bear any relationship to anything in real life.  What I can say is that they look plausible, and beyond that a-maz-ing.  I have never included mining in any of my cities for reasons that include 1) the vanilla ore assets look ridiculous and 2) I would have no idea how to turn workshop assets into something both good looking and functional in some way beyond their appearance.  I would gladly watch a half hour youtube video of you building and detailing one of your mining areas.
• Like other people who do realistic layouts, you have a good eye for proportions and density.   One good example is the shot that includes the cemetery.  You've not just plopped it down or not just set it back off of the road, but you gave it its own network of roads, among which one could imagine the future active sections.  The small, mass-built cottages in the same photo have thin but long backyards that replicate what is sometimes done in real life.  And the city 'feels' right, suggesting appropriate horizontal spread versus vertical building.
• I love your fenced-in lots containing trucks, sheds, construction equipment, debris, etc.  I'll have to try that for myself in my current city.

Finally, I'm sure the management of the cargo lines that serve your port have mentioned that they lost 14 tankers (and knocked over a ferry) in the massive pile up earlier today.  The city council should probably allocate funds for a new quay with better traffic flow for 1999. 

Thanks so much for the detailed feedback!

- For the mining, I have no idea either - this is the first time I've managed to piece together something I like for the non-farming specialized industry. Glad it looks nice though!

- Thanks, that's been the goal. Ideally it's supposed to look a bit more planned than a realistic city, but the whole timeline setup really helps with the density.

- Some of those fenced in lots aren't mine, they're construction lots from the workshop. (Will have to provide links later, on mobile, away for Thanksgiving for the past week.) It is a really useful way to fill space though.

And yeah, haha, the people of the town just try to ignore the carnage happening there, as long as they can pick the spilled freight out of the bay

[Chappington 131]

Piedra Verde has grown a decent bit over the course of 1998, thanks mostly to significant development on the other side of the mountains - Nueva California.

But first, some other infrastructure improvements - the increased train & vehicle traffic near the older mines has caused massive traffic backlogs, even down to the city itself! An added carriageway, along with additional turn lanes, has improved traffic flow in the area dramatically.

Moving on to the source of some of this traffic - Nueva California:

Given the expected growth of the Californium mines, most of the housing being built is high density. Demand is still super high though, and more housing has to constantly be added to the island.

Next to central Nueva California is a state-of-the-art elementary school.

Also near the central area is a community centre and soccer/football field, so that residents have space for leisure both indoors and out.

Just a bit to the west is a business district and the new train station.

An overview of the rest of the business district, new apartments, and a new high school:

And finally, a picture of the new trains running on the island:

Thanks for reading!

[Chappington 131]

1999 has been a big year for Piedra Verde - after negotiations with the United Nations, it looks like Piedra Verde is set to become an independent micronation! The independence is planned for January 1st, 2000... assuming everyone survives Y2K!

There's been plenty of developments this year, including an expansion of the Sandy Bay suburb:

The nearby oil fields have undergone some expansion as well:

Back to Northridge, last year there were some improvements to the 2 lane highway connecting downtown to the mines. The main benefit was the addition of a second carriageway, dramatically expanding the road's capacity. However, there were still some issues. First, the end of the dual carriageway at the eastern end had a less-than-smooth intersection. Thankfully traffic has been low, but it was clear it would not scale with population growth. Then, the biggest issue, one of the roads intersected the train tracks with a level crossing. That by itself caused some traffic backlogs, but some train traffic jams (more or less fixed since then) caused some particularly gnarly issues. On some days, the morning rush hour traffic would back up all the way from the mines to downtown, and it wouldn't end until well after midnight. The decision was made to convert two of the intersections to grade-separated interchanges, completely remove the nasty choke point, and end the highway (now with full freeway status) in a roundabout.

The grade separation project has also allowed for increased hillside development.

Finally, more major development has been taking over some older farmland. At this rate of development, downtown is no longer the densest part of the city - though the territory is eyeing some new developments for the new millennium.

Thanks for reading!

----

A quick note: As this series moves along, 1 year increments are definitely too small. Given limited free time (and you know, limited viewership), I'm probably going to be reducing my time on this CJ. Mainly, I'd like to bring this into the future at some point next year :). Not that my updates have been that frequent, but still, expect longer gaps - I want to keep this as a fun project rather than let it devolve into a chore and then end up abandoning it. So you should be able to expect a good 2000 update, and then the timer will speed up a little.

[Turjan 1,048]

Oh, there is some viewership (even though it's possibly still limited ), and you should definitely go with what is comfortable for you. I like that little town and your descriptions of its development. One thing though: my computer seems to have a hard time loading all those png files. The process tends to die halfway through the page, and today, it only worked on my third reload . Jpg's may not look that nice, but even if you use a decent compression rate instead of the standard one, they usually load much faster - for me at least.

Maybe someone else could chime in, as this issue may be limited to me.

[Chappington 131]

10 hours ago, Turjan said:

Oh, there is some viewership (even though it's possibly still limited ), and you should definitely go with what is comfortable for you. I like that little town and your descriptions of its development. One thing though: my computer seems to have a hard time loading all those png files. The process tends to die halfway through the page, and today, it only worked on my third reload . Jpg's may not look that nice, but even if you use a decent compression rate instead of the standard one, they usually load much faster - for me at least.

Maybe someone else could chime in, as this issue may be limited to me.

Thanks!

And thanks for the feedback! I hadn't really been paying attention to the image sizes - each one is ~3-5 MB, which definitely adds up. I'll switch over to JPG then, quality isn't worth it if the images don't all load!

[MAW 33]

What are those buildings in the last 3 pictures? They look amazing.

[Chappington 131]

1 hour ago, MAW said:

What are those buildings in the last 3 pictures? They look amazing.

Right? The ones in all the last 3 images are https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1200329421. There's also some apartment complexes by KingLeno, including https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=860320757.

[MAW 33]

Awesome! Thanks.

[Chappington 131]

Piedra Verde has entered the new millennium, and gained its independence - a suitable reward for surviving Y2K. Most development this year has been focused on building up, not out, though there is sure to be more outward development soon.

The Sandy Bay suburb has expanded somewhat, with the addition of a second ferry stop. The main attraction is on the peninsula, where some lovely parks and beaches have been built. The centerpiece is a set of three art deco hotels, bringing architecture from the past into the new millennium.

Next, a small port has been setup near the airport, with the hopes of unclogging ship traffic in the main port. The aviation officials nearby aren't too pleased about the cranes (they're currently investigating the issue), but otherwise it's a much welcomed addition to the island.

Thanks to the new port development, some of the downtown fuel infrastructure has moved. This land was a prime location for new development, centred next to the train station and close to the docks. Some shopping centres and two large dull office blocks have been built, but the main attraction is the new tallest building - the Millennium Tower. Piedra Verde is hopeful to expand its technology sector (on top of the Californium research facilities), and this will definitely help.

Finally, the Portridge neighborhood has been densifying somewhat as well.

Piedra Verde is looking forward to the new millennium, and the opportunities (and dangers) that will come about from its independence.

[MAW 33]

Alright! Been waiting too long for this... 

Absolutely speechless. Amazing. Thank you for not slipping away like I did. Obviously 10 days late but this just made my day.

Go Piedra Verde! Hope it makes 20K by next time.

[Scarton 57]

I like your story of Piedra Verde's development over the years. The town has some nice areas that share a common theme with the buildings as well. The natural growth reminds me of your fantastic old MD Barsalargonia over at SC4D. I haven't played C:S (still stuck playing and enjoying SC4), but Piedra Verde shows the same high quality that Barsalargonia had. Keep up the good work!  

[MAW 33]

I agree with Scarton, and one reason I like this series so much is the natural growth, but also just to have a C:S CJ. I've noticed that pretty much all the C:S CJs that i followed have either gone away or just remained inactive for the past 6 months/year. Don't get me wrong, I love and enjoy CS4, but Cities Skylines is my preferred city building game. And since mine no longer works, I just really appreciate such a nicely built C:S CJ.

[Chappington 131]

On 1/28/2018 at 6:53 PM, MAW said:

Alright! Been waiting too long for this... 

Absolutely speechless. Amazing. Thank you for not slipping away like I did. Obviously 10 days late but this just made my day.

Go Piedra Verde! Hope it makes 20K by next time.

Thanks! And no worries, still more frequent than my updates are, haha

On 1/29/2018 at 2:44 AM, Scarton said:

I like your story of Piedra Verde's development over the years. The town has some nice areas that share a common theme with the buildings as well. The natural growth reminds me of your fantastic old MD Barsalargonia over at SC4D. I haven't played C:S (still stuck playing and enjoying SC4), but Piedra Verde shows the same high quality that Barsalargonia had. Keep up the good work!  

Barsalargonia - that's a name I haven't heard in a long time! Glad that you like this one too - and definitely agree on the natural growth. At the very least, it just makes it so much easier to imagine the history of the place, since I'm literally building it as I go.

19 hours ago, MAW said:

I agree with Scarton, and one reason I like this series so much is the natural growth, but also just to have a C:S CJ. I've noticed that pretty much all the C:S CJs that i followed have either gone away or just remained inactive for the past 6 months/year. Don't get me wrong, I love and enjoy CS4, but Cities Skylines is my preferred city building game. And since mine no longer works, I just really appreciate such a nicely built C:S CJ.

Yeah, the natural growth is just my favorite way to play the game. No promises on activity though - my goal is to keep this one going to the end (ideally well past the present day in-game), but no promises on the frequency of updates

----

What I can promise, however, is a smaller next update - one that focuses on the diverse transportation infrastructure of Piedra Verde. Still have to actually build a map & do some development in order to get a 2001 population estimate, but that's what the next update will likely be.