Kim026's Landscaping Laboratory (provisional name)

[kim026 298]

I've been working on this for the past week and a half. It's hard work to draw those mountains by hand, I'll tell you that!

Do you guys think it looks realistic, so far? I'd be interested in your opinions... thanks!

[nycsc4 5,250]

3 minutes ago, kim026 said:

I've been working on this for the past week and a half. It's hard work to draw those mountains by hand, I'll tell you that!

Do you guys think it looks realistic, so far? I'd be interested in your opinions... thanks!

If you really did all that by hand, I may have a job for you lol.

In all seriousness that looks very, very realistic.  At least from afar.  Well done!

[kim026 298]

16 minutes ago, nycsc4 said:

I may have a job for you lol.

errr... what kind of job? ahaha mapper?

BTW, yes! I did that by hand. Started with drawing a map by pencil on a notebook, I've drawn a grid and applied it to 13x13 empty large tiles. And now I'm making it happen. I did this because for my previous region, Branny V1.0, I used somebody else's map and I felt it wasnt original this way. No offence to the creator, whom did a great job. But I wanted to be able to say i've done it myself. (I regret this a little bit, because it's SUCH a HAAAARD work, but it's very satisfying to see it grow)

I also took inspiration from many users here. So thank you all.

[SecretMbr_735754 2,158]

47 minutes ago, kim026 said:

Do you guys think it looks realistic, so far?

If you are doing this by hand, then it is amazing and realistic.  Can I ask what terrain mod you are using?   Its looks like the Baja.

[kim026 298]

2 hours ago, RandyE said:

Can I ask what terrain mod you are using?   Its looks like the Baja.

i'm using CPT Grand Canyon for the most part, and CPT Olympic Coast beaches and tree controller. 

[kim026 298]

Oh my god! I just discovered a nice little program called SC4 Terraformer... 

19 hours ago, kim026 said:

nycsc4

I might be up for that hypotetical job offering muahahaha!!!

[matias93 7,535]

3 hours ago, kim026 said:

Oh my god! I just discovered a nice little program called SC4 Terraformer... 

This is gonna be so awesome, considering your skills!!! By the way, the part of your map you already did looks perfectly realistic, and that's a huge achievement on a game that's so hard to force to behave that way! In particular, you have to define from where the water comes to that lake and where it goes: to me, it looks like an endorheic basin, cut from the sea by those mountains, so the seaside of the hills should be more humid and forested, while the sorroundings of the lake would be salty, with more wildlife than plants on it (think on flamingos). If, on the other hand, the lake goes down from the mountains, you'll have to find a way to make snow to be present on the earthside of them, as all mountain ranges cause curtain effects on sea winds, squeezing their humidity; nonetheless, there are lakes like this one, as the Diamond Lake in Argentina.

5 hours ago, T Wrecks said:

The benches might also be too many right now - imagine running across that plaza, only to find out that it's littered with clusters of benches in any numbers, patterns and orientations.

Yup, that's true, but in fact, those bad landscaping decisions occur, or maybe they aren't even bad ideas, if the context asks for it. For example, if you have a beautiful trimmed lawn on a plaza and everyone and their dog insists on littering and destroying it, maybe is a good idea to fence it and to put benches to block the passing. I've seen dozens of squares on which this is done.

9 hours ago, mattb325 said:

And, as a change of pace, an 'ye olde worlde' type terminus for the L1 networks

Really nice design, and as T Wrecks says, the contrast between the neoclassical facade and the functional rear is the cherry on the top. If only, it would be nice to see a modular version, with two sheds side by side behind the front building, occupying a two-tile wide lot. Mind you, this is pure greediness from my part, but maybe you agree with the idea...

3 hours ago, tun93ngo said:

NAM team please include these beautiful stations in your next version.

It wouldn't be necessary, as the only reason the NAM includes stations is to fix the ones that were massively used but incompatibly modded with the NAM itself. Provided that Matt mods this new stations according to the NAM standards, there won't be any need to include them, and they will be readily available on either the STEX or the LEX, the same places from where people downloads the NAM.

[kim026 298]

41 minutes ago, matias93 said:

In particular, you have to define from where the water comes to that lake and where it goes:

 That's cool! I need to write this stuff down...

42 minutes ago, matias93 said:

to me, it looks like an endorheic basin, cut from the sea by those mountains, so the seaside of the hills should be more humid and forested, while the sorroundings of the lake would be salty, with more wildlife than plants on it (think on flamingos). If, on the other hand, the lake goes down from the mountains, you'll have to find a way to make snow to be present on the earthside of them, as all mountain ranges cause curtain effects on sea winds, squeezing their humidity

I am not sure which lake you're talking about. I've got a lake sorrounded by dry hills in the middle, by those rivers. But if you're referring to the water by the bottom, that's not a lake separated from the sea by the mountain range. It's actually a bay. I aint finished painting the terrain. I did start using Terraformer, but It started crashing a lot after the region got bigger, so I'll have to wait for my new pc coming next week to see if I can make it happen, otherwise I'll have to figure out some trick.

Lots and lots of work to be done. But SC4T seems like a HUGE help. Dont understand why I only found out about it now... ahah

Anyway, thanks for the advice Matias. It got me thinking. Im no expert in humidity and such. Must study eheheh

[matias93 7,535]

46 minutes ago, kim026 said:

It's actually a bay

Ohhh! That changes things! In that case, provided that the water flow from the river is enough, that bay (I think it's more accurately a gulf, as the San Francisco Bay, which is also a gulf) would have brackish waters, not salty: that means that the surrounding vegetation is more similar to the one up-river, grows more close to the shore and human settlements are more probable to appear directly on their coast.

In your case, the peninsulas that close the gulf look very rocky, so this is less of an issue, but if they were lower, you'll find dune fields on their tips, caused by the sediments dragged by the river current and the sea. Those same sediments also cause the river basin to extend itself underwater, as they erode their way to deeper areas of the submarine soil.

On the other extreme of the water body, the river estuaries that open to the gulf tend to be marshlands, with shallow waters and lowlands composed mainly of sands and nutritive muds, allowing the growth of tall grasses, inhabited by migratory birds. If used by humans, those lands are perfect for water-intensive crops, as rice; or they could be dragged and filled to reclaim land or navigation routes.

51 minutes ago, kim026 said:

I did start using Terraformer, but It started crashing a lot after the region got bigger, so I'll have to wait for my new pc coming next week to see if I can make it happen, otherwise I'll have to figure out some trick.

Have you patched the Terraformer executable with the 4Gb Patch? If your computer has more than 4 Gb of RAM memory and your SO is 64 bits, this would allow the application to not crash when using more than those 4 Gb. Also, I've noted that the Terraformer crashes when the computer is suspended, so get sure to save your region (or to export it) before suspending the computer (which can happen by only letting it alone for 10 minutes or by closing it, if it's a laptop, depending on the configuration).

[kim026 298]

13 hours ago, matias93 said:

provided that the water flow from the river is enough

Interesting... Yes. I'd say that river has enough affluents to have quite a bit of flow. So, brackish waters... What kind of vegetation? I was reading wikipedia, it says it's common to find mangrove swamps... Why did I study tourism... I should have studied geography and science! 

13 hours ago, matias93 said:

In your case, the peninsulas that close the gulf look very rocky, so this is less of an issue,

What "issue"?

Also I'll point out that this region is at a latitude similar to Melbourne, Australia, and has a similar, mediterranean climate. I haven't worked on vegetation on the region yet, only the one tile at the centre for experimentation. If you see green it's actually the terrain mod doing its thing with bushes all over the place, which actually helps to save on prop placement, which is nice. Compliments to the creator!

From what you've told me, Matias, I understand that the estuary is going to be marshy and swampy, and the whole bay/gulf area is to have brackish water and so appropriate vegetation (i guess mangrove swamps?)

Correct me if I'm wrong...

This is quite important as it will definetely affect the settlements. 

Before your advice, I was oriented towards a mediterranean flora on the coastal side, with a mix of mediterr. and swampy on the inside, and dry in the inland, away from the river. Maybe small woods, bushes, and just fields. Prairies, what do you call them.

You seem to be quite informed on these topics. Did you study them? Do you work in the sector? I'd love some more of your advice, it's very interesting stuff! It's partly what tickles my imagination on playing SimCity in the first place.

Thank you so much!

[matias93 7,535]

1 hour ago, kim026 said:

Why did I study tourism... I should have studied geography and science!

Hey, tourism and geography sound like ideal partners, maybe you can make something fun from those two, even without formal training...

1 hour ago, kim026 said:

Did you study them? Do you work in the sector?

I've studied it like a hobby, just for the sake of designing realistic regions...

1 hour ago, kim026 said:

Before your advice, I was oriented towards a mediterranean flora on the coastal side, with a mix of mediterr. and swampy on the inside, and dry in the inland, away from the river. Maybe small woods, bushes, and just fields. Prairies, what do you call them.

In fact, that first idea is really spot-on, maybe the only difference would be on how dry the inland areas result, but this depends on more factors.

1 hour ago, kim026 said:

From what you've told me, Matias, I understand that the estuary is going to be marshy and swampy, and the whole bay/gulf area is to have brackish water and so appropriate vegetation (i guess mangrove swamps?)

Mangroves are maybe a bit too much vigorous to grow on a mediterranean climate with a dry season and not-so-mild winters. An adequate model for this mix of climate and water body would be Lisbon (more precisely the Tajo river estuary and the Straw's Sea): grasses, flamingos and farms

1 hour ago, kim026 said:

What "issue"?

The occurrence of sand dunes on the gulf mouth. As yours are hilly enough, the bedrock is strong and tall enough to block the accumulation of sand, but keep in mind that those same forces generate mud islands in Melbourne, producing a very similar environment there:

Now, what makes San Francisco, Melbourne and Lisbon different from each other, being all of them gulf-located cities in mediterranean climates, is the underlying geology:

• Melbourne is over a very old craton that's very flat, with many small and slow rivers opening to the main water body, and a humidity level that doesn't change a lot on the entire area, as nothing blocks the sea breeze to reach the inland prairies.
• Lisbon is located along a relatively old fault line that gave place to the Tajo river: it's a big river that comes from hundreds of kilometres east, and few others appear on the area. The bedrock is much more abrupt but nonetheless relevantly eroded: there are cliffs on each margin but no loose rocks nor big stone walls without vegetation; it looks like the cliffs were 'melted' a bit.
• San Francisco is famously built over the San Andreas fault and the gulf the metro area surrounds was not long ago a valley: the big hills that face the ocean 'squeeze' the sea breeze from its water, becoming lush redwood forests (similar to the ones located closer to the north pole, in Oregon), and depriving the inner valleys of ambient moisture.

To explain this a little more, look at San Bruno mountain in San Francisco:

Note how the green areas are distributed: is drier and less covered the farther from the sea (east) and where the slope faces the sun position (south in the northern hemisphere), and more humid and covered by grasses and trees where facing the sea (west) and where covered from the sun (north). To make it more clear, I marked the areas with different colours:

 

Well, there is so much to talk about this, and I think I'm going really away from the topic of this thread. Do you mind if I move this comments to its own thread?

[kim026 298]

5 hours ago, matias93 said:

Do you mind if I move this comments to its own thread?

Well, I would be honoured!!! Thank you!!! I'm learning so much stuff from you that I might just start calling you sensei ahahah

I love this forum (like the quote "i love this town" from ghostbusters. Might just watch that movie tonight, actually...)

[matias93 7,535]

ok, moving done. I also tried on a thread title, but you can change it with a long click on it.

[kim026 298]

You're a hero!

There is so much potential here... Considering I take this very seriously because hopefully it will be my career one day.

I actually took a break yesterday from Branny project because I've been working on it for too long and I'm afraid I'll burnout. I started working on a simpler project that doesnt require landscaping that much. So i can actually build cities for a change. 

But what I'll do is get me some folders and notebooks, stationery and stuff, get ready to learn! ahaha

One trivia

I live in a little Italian town called Orbetello which has a big lagoon and we get many flamingos in the same settings as Lisbon that you showed me, Matias. So, you might understand, as soon as I saw that picture, It felt like home... ironically I'll end up creating something similar in SC4. 

[matias93 7,535]

I googled the place and WOW, that's really an impressive geography, truly a matter of tales!!

And about landscaping places alike to home, I guess we all are guilty of that...

[Odainsaker 2,137]

Coincidently, I had not too long ago Wiki dived into information on carracks and galleons, which eventually took me to the Wikipedia page on the naval Battle of Orbetello, which included this period map:

 I don't remember the details of the battle's outcome or its place in the Franco-Spanish War 1635, but I do recall greatly admiring the almost figurative, pincer-like shapes of the landforms depicted here shielding the fortified port town.

 

[kim026 298]

46 minutes ago, matias93 said:

I guess we all are guilty of that

Thing is... I wasnt going for recreation of hometown... But I guess these things are built-in into our own motherboards... eheheh cant escape hometown nostalgia. But I must give it to my hometown, it does have some amazing landscape. 

Upper left of this image is flamingo town... eheheh

I took this picture while walking on the lagoon-side. Common sight around here.

Ok, enough bragging!

But it does give way to ideas...

22 minutes ago, Odainsaker said:

which included this period map:

oh gee... we have those maps showcase all around our tourist hotspots... I do find them fascinating, and also confusing ahah 

But considering I am going to work with Middle ages SimCity stuff at some point (like i was in the Branny V1.0) I might look into that stuff and try to understand it. Afterall it happened here where I stand. MAAAANY years ago. If you guys are interested too I might go on a little tomb raider adventure/exploration. There surely is a lot of stuff to see around here.

[kim026 298]

 

almost ready.... gotta fill in the details now... like rivers, vegetation, and erosion....

[kim026 298]

Hi there. 

After a long hiatus, I am ready for an update...

Work on BrannyV2 is taking loooooong time... I needed a side project to freshen up and do something different. So while I work exclusively on nature in Branny for the moment, I have started a secondary city called "Sheldo", with its own dedicated map. I might start its own CJ very soon...

This is the map and you can see some grain fields and a castle city on the hill. This is the historical beginning. There are two rivers ending in a bay, with sharp contrast of redwood forests and savana in the inland.

 

Opinions and ideas on climate and ecosystems very much welcome 

[kim026 298]

Evolving... 

 

With climate for this area set up, I now know it receives summer currents from the ocean that bring sporadic thunderstorms and some winds, while the winter is slightly less windy but still with sporadic rain. There are some mountain shadows starting to dry the land on the north-east and north-west valleys, so we can expect prairies and steppe, maybe a savanah...

The river valley at the centre will probably become a lush temperate rain forest.