TCC Maps by thecitiescenter

[thecitiescenter 3,025]

Currently Available Maps (updated after every new release):

MAPS OF EAST ASIA:

CHINA:
北京 Beijing 
大连 Dalian, Liaoning 
广州 Guangzhou, Guangdong
杭州-湖州 Hangzhou-Huzhou, Zhejiang - Includes Jiaxing (嘉兴) and Shaoxing (绍兴) 
城关区, ཁྲིན་ཀོན་ཆུས་ Lhasa, Tibet
南昌 Nanchang, Jiangxi
深圳-香港 Shenzhen, Guangdong-Hong Kong 
臺北 Taipei, Taiwan - Includes Taoyuan (桃園), Hsinchu (新竹), Tamsui (淡水區), Keelung (基隆)
天津 Tianjin
武汉 Wuhan, Hubei - Includes Huanggang (黄冈) 
厦门 Xiamen, Fujian - Includes Kinmen (金門)
西安 Xian, Shaanxi

JAPAN:
Nagoya
Okinawa
Osaka-Kansai (Rotated)
Tokyo-Yokohama-Chiba - Includes Hachioji, Saitama, Narita, Kawasaki, Funabashi

SOUTH KOREA:
Seoul (Rotated) - Includes Gimpo, Incheon, Pyeongtaek, Suwon, Hwaseong

MAPS OF SOUTHEAST ASIA:

CAMBODIA:
Phnom Penh

INDONESIA:
Jakarta - Includes Bakasi, Tengerang, Depok, Bodor, Mt. Pangrango, Mt. Gede

MALAYSIA:
Kuala Lumpur

SINGAPORE:
Singapore - Includes Johor Bahru, Malaysia and parts of Batam, Indonesia

THAILAND:
Bangkok

VIETNAM:
Ho Chi Minh City - Includes Vung Tau

MAPS OF SOUTH ASIA:

INDIA:
Hyderabad

MALDIVES:
Villingili (in Huvadhoo)

NEPAL:
Kathmandu

MAPS OF AFRICA & THE MIDDLE EAST:

EGYPT:
Cairo - Includes Giza, New Cairo City

NIGERIA:
Lagos

PALESTINE-ISRAEL:
Tel Aviv-Jerusalem-Ramallah (Rotated) - Includes Bethlehem, Netanya, Hebron, parts of Jordan (Ajloun)

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (U.A.E.)
Abu Dhabi (Rotated)
Dubai-Sharjah (Rotated)

MAPS OF EUROPE:

FRANCE:
Calais-Dover-Dunkirk (English Channel, Strait of Dover) (Rotated) (also available under "United Kingdom")
Paris (Rotated)

GERMANY:
Stuttgart

ICELAND:
Reykjavik-Keflavik

ITALY:
Milan - Includes the Lakes (Como, Lugano, Maggiore and Varese), Malpensa
Naples - Includes the Amalfi Coast, Capri, Caserta, Ischia, Sorrento

NORWAY:
Longyearbyen, Svalbard

SPAIN:
Vigo

THE NETHERLANDS:
Amsterdam (Rotated)

UNITED KINGDOM:
Calais-Dover-Dunkirk (English Channel, Strait of Dover) (Rotated) (also available under "France")
London

MAPS OF THE AMERICAS:

BRAZIL:
Sao Paulo

CANADA:
Quebec City, QC (Rotated)
Vancouver, BC - Includes Bellingham, Blaine and Point Roberts, WA, U.S.A.

GUATEMALA:
Puerto Barrios

MEXICO:
Mexico City
Tijuana, BC-San Diego, CA USA (also available under "United States")

UNITED STATES:
Chicago, IL - Includes Naperville, Gary, IN, Kenosha, WI
Las Vegas, NV - Includes North Las Vegas, Red Rock, Henderson, parts of Lake Mead
Los Angeles-Orange County, CA - Includes Pasadena, Glendale, the San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Valley, Inland Empire (Riverside, Ontario)
Minneapolis-St Paul, MN
Monterey Bay, CA
New York City-Newark-Long Island, NY-NJ (Rotated)
Orlando, FL - Includes Kissimmee, Winter Garden, Sanford, Walt Disney Resort area
Portland, OR - Includes Vancouver, WA
Sacramento-Davis, CA
San Bernardino-Palm Springs, CA
San Diego, CA-Tijuana, BC Mexico (also available under "Mexico")
Stockton-Modesto-Livermore, CA
Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL - Includes Sarasota, Bradenton, Clearwater, Tarpon Springs
Ventura-Santa Barbara, CA
Washington, DC-Baltimore, MD

MAPS OF OCEANIA:
Coming Soon.

[SIM-ple Jack 17,444]

Great Idea.

[thecitiescenter 3,025]

Hyderabad, Middlesbrough, Ho Chi Minh City, Taoyuan-Hsinchu and Phnom Penh are now available on the STEX. 

[thecitiescenter 3,025]

Guangzhou, Osaka and Bangkok are now available on the STEX.

[thecitiescenter 3,025]

Taoyuan-Hsinchu (Rotated) Version 2.0 now available.  Fixed a couple of elevation issues and smoothed the terrain for easier gameplay.

[thecitiescenter 3,025]

Going to be uploading some new maps very soon, as well as some new and improved versions of the regions I had previously made.  First up is the re-make for Bangkok, Thailand: 

 

Coming soon:

Osaka-Kansai:

Lhasa:

Milan and the Lakes:

Monterey-Salinas-Carmel:

 

Portland-Vancouver-McMinville:

 

Livermore-Stockton-Tracy-Modesto:

 

 

[thecitiescenter 3,025]

Tampa-St. Petersburg-Bradenton-Sarasota, Florida

[thecitiescenter 3,025]

Seoul, Milan and Abu Dhabi are now available on the STEX!

Also now available are Version 2.0  of Guangzhou, Taoyuan-Hsinchu, Osaka, Narita, Bangkok and Hyderabad.  See first post above (Catalogue) for download links.

[Ke|is 3,333]

I just came to say thanks for your work and your efforts, I really appreciate the maps and the quality of them. I've downloaded some of the maps just to test and see the small details.

Would you take any requests in the future?

 

Thanks and please keep the amazing job up.

[thecitiescenter 3,025]

6 hours ago, Ke|is said:

I just came to say thanks for your work and your efforts, I really appreciate the maps and the quality of them. I've downloaded some of the maps just to test and see the small details.

Would you take any requests in the future?

 

Thanks and please keep the amazing job up.

Thanks for dropping by, glad youre enjoying the maps!  As for requests, the short answer is yes. 

Long Answer: I do have quite an extensive list of places I want to map, so it may already be on that list.  My criteria for determining locations for mapping are generally:

• Cities or Metropolitan areas where a DEM-based/accurately scaled map is not currently available on either the STEX or over at SC4D
• Cities or Metropolitan areas where an accurately scaled map is available, but the coverage area wasn't as large as I would've liked.  The joy that I derive out of SC4 has always been to re-create real world metropolitan areas, which differs from the way some (maybe even most) people play the game.  As such, I tend to like my maps to cover not only the City proper but also large swathes of suburban or adjacent cities and areas, especially for North American metro areas where sprawl is a very real thing (as you can see my Tampa map above offers a large coverage area to include not only St Pete, but also Brandenton and Sarasota on the same map).  
• Cities or Metropolitan areas where an accurately scaled map is available, but a rotated version is not.  This is primarily for ease of building an airport, or a city's transportation grid layout (for example, my Seoul, Narita, Taoyuan maps are rotated for easier placement of their respective airports, and Abu Dhabi was rotated for easier placement of the citys street grid layout). 
• Currently, my priority is cities, large metropolitan areas, or semi-urban/rural areas that feature multiple smaller to midsized cities (such as Stockton-Modesto, California).  Fully rural areas such as National Parks, mountainous regions, etc. will take a low priority until after I've gotten through my current list.  There are also some mapping techniques I'll have to work out with regards to mountainous regions, so there's that.
• I also have several maps in the works that are basically "extensions" of maps that are currently available on the STEX or SC4D, usually ones that were made by @drunkapple or @Izidor44 that I have built up over the years (the reason why I made the Stockton-Modesto map was to extend the San Francisco Bay Area map that @drunkapple made).  I also have extensions of other metro areas in the works similar to the Stockton-Modesto area.

That all said, if you have an area you'd like to request, I'm willing to entertain it.  Feel free to shoot me a DM.  It's likelier to be fulfilled if it meets one or more of the criteria above.

[ThePilgrim 1]

I Live in the Tampa Bay area, and your map is spot on.  Amazing work!!

I have been attempting to make my own maps, but there is much to be desired in my work.

I would like to make a request of the area roughly from Newburyport, MA, to Kennebunk, ME and west towards Brentwood, NH.  Its the are I grew up in, and have struggled to make a decent map of the area.

MA-NH-ME Coast.pdf

[thecitiescenter 3,025]

Updated Maps for:

• Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
• Phnom Penh, Cambodia
• Tianjin, China

Now available for download (see catalogue above for links).

[Ke|is 3,333]

Hello,

First of all and again, please let me say thanks for your great job, I am really happy every time that I see a new map !! Thanks Mate.

Okay, I hope I am not disturbing you, with my request, but I would really like to see a good quality map from those locations:

Map 1: Vigo, Galicia, Spain.

Map 2: Taipei - Taiwan.

Map 3: Nagoya Japan.

 

I

It would be awesome if you could take some time to make those maps available for the game. Many thanks in advance for your time

[thecitiescenter 3,025]

4 hours ago, Ke|is said:

Hello,

First of all and again, please let me say thanks for your great job, I am really happy every time that I see a new map !! Thanks Mate.

Okay, I hope I am not disturbing you, with my request, but I would really like to see a good quality map from those locations:

Map 1: Vigo, Galicia, Spain.

Map 2: Taipei - Taiwan.

Map 3: Nagoya Japan.

Hey there, I've been sticking to uploading one map per week (usually sometime Tuesday afternoon US-Pacific Time), but I've actually got quite a few maps already completed and they're just sitting in the queue waiting for release or some testing.  One of them is Nagoya.  Here's a sneak peek:

I'm not sure if it will be next week's release, but I'm fairly certain that it will be released by the end of this month.  And just so you know... its fair to say that all major Japanese metropolitan areas (and lots of not-so-major ones) will get a map from me at some point, or at least thats the plan .  

As far as Taipei goes, I personally used NHP's Taipei Map for years.  I built up the region quite extensively, but given that map was released 15 years ago and there's much more detailed mapping data available now, I think I'll give it a go. My map will probably extend from somewhere where my Taoyuan-Hsinchu map ends out to Keelung.  I really don't want to delete my Taipei region and start over again, but since I've already done that w/Hong Kong and Singapore (hint, hint), whats another one anyway 

Finally Vigo was not one I had considered before.  I'll take a look at it and give it some consideration.  Lucky for you, I'm a sucker for Spanish cuisine, so send a bottle of Rioja and some tapas my way and maybe I'll be inspired just enough 

 

 

[thecitiescenter 3,025]

Taipei, from Taoyuan to Keelung:

 

[Ke|is 3,333]

OMG !! You can't image how happy I am right now !! Both maps are just what I was expecting, they are actually big and highly accurate, now I just want to start new cities and regions using them HAHA.

Regarding the other map, Vigo, I think I have a better deal for you, you can always visit me over here, I live in Galicia, which is one of the best places in terms of food, I can prepare you all kind of different meals, and in the meantime you can teach me your map making techniques. .

Is it possible to get an early release of the above maps ?

Many thanks for your great contribution my friend, much appreciatted.

[thecitiescenter 3,025]

Spain is on my bucket list and one of the European countries i have yet to visit - so, i may have to take you up on that offer someday.

As far as the maps, Im putting together finishing touches on Taipei.  Nagoya very likely will be released next week.  

[thecitiescenter 3,025]

Taipei has been released to the STEX (link in first post above)!

 

OTHER UPDATES:

I plan to release one or two more maps per the usual weekly schedule (Tuesday or Wednesday, U.S. Pacific Time) and after that, I'll be wrapping up this "season" and taking a short hiatus for the summer before releasing the next batch of maps.

Some sneak peeks for "Season 2"...

Tokyo, Japan
Tokyo, Chiba-Narita, Yokohama... it's all there, in one map!

Sacramento-Davis, California, USA
Taking off where I left off with my Stockton-Modesto map and adding a couple buckets of water to Folsom Lake yielded this... includes Davis for any Aggies around here:

Hong Kong-Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
Includes everything previous HK maps had, but expanded to add Shenzhen, the technological capital of China.

London, England, UK
Fish n chips, anyone?  This one's been expanded to Southend-on-Sea.

Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
While we're on the subject of lakes... the Twin Cities also gets the bucket and compression treatment that Sac got...

 

[Odainsaker 2,133]

These upcoming maps are looking great!

Something to consider with Tokyo is that very little is properly oriented north-south.  The city was originally a castle town where the town's small gridded districts were largely oriented to the castle gate approaches.  There are many grids that wrap around the center.  As the "Low City" on the lower elevations expanded, some of the grids became more oriented north-south following first traditional and the later modern practices, while the "High City" on the hilly elevations surrounding the castle to the west became dotted with large estates reserved for the samurai elite where radial proximity to the castle mattered.  As such, there is no best overall grid orientation for SimCity, and most street layouts on the SimCity grid will be rough approximations, though there are a number of potential minor grids that could make recreations somewhat easier.  Everyone who builds a SimCity Tokyo makes a SimCity Shinjuku, and as the tight central skyscraper cluster of Shinjuku is on a modern, master-planned grid, it can be convenient to rotate the map in SimCity about 11.15° clockwise to align the SimCity grid to the Shinjuku grid.  Alternatively, the grid of the central business district of Marunouchi between the Imperial Palace and Tokyo Station can be aligned to the SimCity grid by rotating the map 15.10° counter-clockwise, and this will generally also roughly align closer with the castle's front moats, the grid of Asakusa, the grid of Shinbashi, the Akasaka Palace, the grid of central Yokohama, and perhaps the processional road of Kamakura.   The largest grid spans Koto Ward and includes numerous gridded canals and aligned artificial islands.  Depending on the grid orientation you choose, you will get different part of the region at the extremities, and some might be more important than others--I found by accident in one orientation aligning to Marunouchi that I could squeeze in Mount Fuji on a 31x52 large city map, though I had to also sacrifice Narita.

Similarly, London can be rotated 10.00° counter-clockwise so that the SimCity grid aligns to the grid of the skyscraper district Canary Wharf, the most prominent planning grid in the city and also interwoven atop a dockyard grid of waterways.  This also closely aligns to the Palace of Westminster.  In such a rotation, you might gain more of towards Hastings,  but will likely lose Mersea or Midhurst, and Heathrow Airport's conveniently east-west-aligned runways will get shifted.  I ultimately wasn't able to do this rotation on a 31x52 map, as I lost too much of the Isle of Wright and Portsmouth, which I though were more important geographical features.  Canary Wharf for me will just have to be re-dug and re-channeled, or, perhaps, on behalf of the traditionalist architectural leanings of our new King Charles III, outright demolished.

BTW, you can use Google Earth Pro's ruler tool to draw lines that will show compass headings.  The ruler tool can also be used to measure out a region and fit the program's window to that measured area, making a convenient tool to quickly plan out the scope of a map and compare alternatives.

 

[thecitiescenter 3,025]

On 6/18/2023 at 5:12 PM, Odainsaker said:

These upcoming maps are looking great!

Something to consider with Tokyo is that very little is properly oriented north-south.  The city was originally a castle town where the town's small gridded districts were largely oriented to the castle gate approaches.  There are many grids that wrap around the center.  As the "Low City" on the lower elevations expanded, some of the grids became more oriented north-south following first traditional and the later modern practices, while the "High City" on the hilly elevations surrounding the castle to the west became dotted with large estates reserved for the samurai elite where radial proximity to the castle mattered.  As such, there is no best overall grid orientation for SimCity, and most street layouts on the SimCity grid will be rough approximations, though there are a number of potential minor grids that could make recreations somewhat easier.  Everyone who builds a SimCity Tokyo makes a SimCity Shinjuku, and as the tight central skyscraper cluster of Shinjuku is on a modern, master-planned grid, it can be convenient to rotate the map in SimCity about 11.15° clockwise to align the SimCity grid to the Shinjuku grid.  Alternatively, the grid of the central business district of Marunouchi between the Imperial Palace and Tokyo Station can be aligned to the SimCity grid by rotating the map 15.10° counter-clockwise, and this will generally also roughly align closer with the castle's front moats, the grid of Asakusa, the grid of Shinbashi, the Akasaka Palace, the grid of central Yokohama, and perhaps the processional road of Kamakura.   The largest grid spans Koto Ward and includes numerous gridded canals and aligned artificial islands.  Depending on the grid orientation you choose, you will get different part of the region at the extremities, and some might be more important than others--I found by accident in one orientation aligning to Marunouchi that I could squeeze in Mount Fuji on a 31x52 large city map, though I had to also sacrifice Narita.

Similarly, London can be rotated 10.00° counter-clockwise so that the SimCity grid aligns to the grid of the skyscraper district Canary Wharf, the most prominent planning grid in the city and also interwoven atop a dockyard grid of waterways.  This also closely aligns to the Palace of Westminster.  In such a rotation, you might gain more of towards Hastings,  but will likely lose Mersea or Midhurst, and Heathrow Airport's conveniently east-west-aligned runways will get shifted.  I ultimately wasn't able to do this rotation on a 31x52 map, as I lost too much of the Isle of Wright and Portsmouth, which I though were more important geographical features.  Canary Wharf for me will just have to be re-dug and re-channeled, or, perhaps, on behalf of the traditionalist architectural leanings of our new King Charles III, outright demolished.

BTW, you can use Google Earth Pro's ruler tool to draw lines that will show compass headings.  The ruler tool can also be used to measure out a region and fit the program's window to that measured area, making a convenient tool to quickly plan out the scope of a map and compare alternatives.

 

Hey man, meant to reply to this much earlier but work has been nuts this week.  Wow thats a wealth of info on the history of Tokyo, I didnt know thats how the city was planned.  Im considering releasing several versions at various rotations now that Ive read what you posted.  I may, work on it in the next few weeks (for a specific reason which I’ll reveal later).

As for London u got me laughing I can only imagine Don Flaminco going around bulldozing entire neighborhoods… in all seriousness tho, Heathrow was important for me so I left out the rotation but Id consider releasing a rotated.

Thanks for the tip on Google Im gonna try it w Tokyo!

[hugues aroux 3,779]

.. just to say: great job, and that little detail about applying a rotation when necessary, well done!.. well, I'll stop making maps, my next one will be one of yours. Thanks in advance!

[Ke|is 3,333]

Awesome work dude ! Can't wait to test all the maps that you are showing lately. The quality is even better !!

I am looking forward for the Hong Kong map. It seems to be very interesting too 😁

[Phoenician 8]

Thank you for posting these.  Are any of these ever posted with greyscale.jpg and config.bmp?  Would love to try some of these regions, but alas, no access to a PC, just Mac.

[poshbakerloo 186]

WOW that London map... I hope I can download it soon

[thecitiescenter 3,025]

12 hours ago, Phoenician said:

Are any of these ever posted with greyscale.jpg and config.bmp? Would love to try some of these regions, but alas, no access to a PC, just Mac.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention.  Let me see what I can do.

[thecitiescenter 3,025]

If anybody needs it, here's a Google Maps overlay for my Milan map that can help you with reference points:

[Ulisse Wolf 4,399]

9 minutes ago, thecitiescenter said:

If anybody needs it, here's a Google Maps overlay for my Milan map that can help you with reference points:

Amazing map. Now players will be able to build the world's first highway

[Propfam 2,286]

May I request a map for Jakarta? Probably with its metro area. @roe99 actually made it first back in 2011, but his mapping skill wasn't that great. He couldn't remove bumps caused by roads being lighter than the rest of the grayscale.

[thecitiescenter 3,025]

51 minutes ago, elfrjz said:

May I request a map for Jakarta? Probably with its metro area. @roe99 actually made it first back in 2011, but his mapping skill wasn't that great. He couldn't remove bumps caused by roads being lighter than the rest of the grayscale.

Already in the queue 

 

 

[Propfam 2,286]

1 hour ago, thecitiescenter said:

Already in the queue 

 

 

Thanks! Fingers crossed!