Helena, Montana

[JHoward88 38]

Storage Units and Exxon appear directly East of Hampton Inn & Big Lots on Prospect Avenue.

[JHoward88 38]

Storage units on Highway 12 and some subsidized housing near the capitol were added.

[JHoward88 38]

[Dot 30]

Oh, I never saw someone using real maps to base the streets position of an city. They look cool. The vegetation you put on the flanks of the streetsand roads makes it look like the ones I see in real life. I can even remember their fragrance entering the windows of the moving car as the wind blows through it.

Hope you have fun.

[JHoward88 38]

I took a little break from Skylines while I got into some other games that have been grabbing my attention lately.  When it comes to games, I've seldom played Skylines as it was originally intended to be played, with mods off, simulation and financial consequences turned on.  The modding community is so vibrant and the capacity for customization is so deep, I view Skylines as a city painter, a hobby much like what some people do with model railroads in their garage... not so much a game.  As such, sometimes - Skylines can start to feel more like work than gaming, and lead to burn out.  But in the end, I know that I'll always come back.

Today is just some trees, the Bryant Elementary School, and some detail around the capitol campus.  My goal is to just keep pecking away at this, and at least detail a couple blocks or a few intersections every day or two.  I'm excited to keep the project going, and appreciate all the folks in message boards over the years who have taken the time to give it a scroll and check in from time to time!

[JHoward88 38]

I have a new gaming PC now, which is awesome!  Been a bit distracted with some other games lately, but sooner or later I always return to my city projects.  After taking a break for a while, it was nice spending a few hours today working on Helena.  It's been a little hard to get motivated to start over essentially from the beginning, this time focusing on making my model of Helena a true 1:1 scale replica of the real city.  But it is amazing seeing the difference which comes from making space for parking lots and yards, trees and open spaces.  In many ways, it isn't so much the buildings that make a city, as it is the spaces in between, the roads, the beautification.  In that regard, while my goal is to be true to the real life city I am modelling, I really want to take a lot of artistic liberty with props, trees, and beautification to create a pretty, idealistic urban space.

[JHoward88 38]

[JHoward88 38]

More work on the neighborhood east of the capitol, and on the areas around Saint Peter's Hospital this week!  d on the Saint Peter's Hospital area.

[JHoward88 38]

Progress on the South Downtown Area/Last Chance Gulch walking mall.  Next will come finishing work on the North Downtown/Centennial Park and Carroll College Area, and the neighborhood which rests between the Capitol Campus and Downtown.

[JHoward88 38]

Tonight I did some detailing around the Cathedral of St. Helena, and the downtown Methodist Church.

[JHoward88 38]

More progress on the Movie Theater and North Downtown Areas, and the Neighborhood directly East of Downtown.

[JHoward88 38]

More work on north end of Downtown and adjacent Neighborhoods.

[JHoward88 38]

[JHoward88 38]

Here's a few more screenshots of the city as it progresses.  As was the case with my first model of Helena, the one artistic license which I am taking is the addition of various Casinos which are being tastefully added in.  Beyond that, I'm focusing on keeping it as true to life as possible.  In the case of the Casinos, I'm also making a point to add them in only to areas where they would actually fit in real life without requiring the addition or removal of any major development or roadways.

[JHoward88 38]

A little bit more work on the West Side neighborhoods.  Streets and houses are done for that part of town now.  My process for this is to start by getting the road layout correct and planting houses.  Then I go back thru later to add flora, small decorations, and trees.

[JHoward88 38]

After taking a break for a while, the Helena build continues with the completion of a nasty junk yard area.

[JHoward88 38]

More work on areas near Highway 12 going toward East Helena.