Anduin Valley Revisited

[Rayden 7]

Originally posted by: Livin in Sim I'm gonna wait 'til the midnight hour

That's when my love comes tumbling down

I'm gonna wait 'til the midnight hour

When there's no one else around

I'm gonna take you girl and hold you

Do all things I told you

In the midnight hour

Yes I am, whoa, yes I am

...

--Livquote>

 

When I first saw this lyrics, I said, wow, Brian Ferry and the Roxy Music. Didn't know that song was from 1965's Wilson Pickett album. Very nice song.

[Darmok 34]

SimGoober's Multipack 01

Hungarian Corner Building Pecs by haarlemmergold

---

ilikehaotdogsalot

Hi Hotdog,

Glad that you liked it!

See you

---

Bat - Capporth City

Thanks Bat!

Take care

---

Pixelrage

Hi Pixel,

Those fences are Jeronij's you can find them on the LEX at SC4 Devotion, you'll have to register and just do a search with Jeronij's name and you'll find them they're called Diagonal park fences if I remember correctly.

Hope this'll help you!

See you

---

Silvio TWICE - Rayden - Little Italy MD (Now closed)

Hi Silvio,

hehehe... I just don't know why your name popped into my mind when I was preparing the update, I saw that small barber shop and just thought that it needed a small story with it, and your name just came out.... I can picture you, talking about sports news, the weather, snowboarding etc... while clipping hairs away! hehehe... perhaps you'll do that when you retire, who knows?? WINK

Before having a "next" I have to have a first concert, hehehe, and it's not yet schedule, I'll be sure to send you a ticket though! WINK

Went to Montreal last weekend and saw an ES-335 Ice Tea Burst... my god what a beauty! sigh.... if only I could find the money.... double sigh...

Oh well, one of these days I guess. How do they say "Hope manages..." we'll see if it's right.

Have a great week!

Take care

-John

P.S. I didn't know you were a Wilson Picket fan...

---

Alex - homeandaway

Hi Alex,

I'm fine and so is the family, thanks for asking.

You sure can use the overview picture if you want, no problem with that.

See you next time!

---

Owen (Yoman3) - Ankara reloaded

Hi Owen,

What can I say, I'll be in uncharted territory with this "live" CJ thing, never before have I ran my picture reserve dry! We'll see how it works..

See you next time!

-John

---

Bruce - Schulmanator - Schulmania

Hey Bruce,

As I said to Owen, we'll se how that "live" thing goes... I guess I'll have to be patient with my lagging game... and do what needs to be done.

As for playing an instrument, I guess all that's needed is the will to put the required time into it... not always easy but so rewarding!

Take care and salutations to Jr. !

---

Luker01 - Plantation Bay

Hi Luke,

Glad you liked it, and here's that big one, hoping you have a fast connection!

See ya!

---

Mr Ham

Welcome to Anduin Valley Mr Ham,

Thanks for stopping by and come back anytime you want!

See you

---

Threestooges – Matt

Hi Matt,

The post with the banner, must come from Jeroni's street mod... cause I didn't plop it... If you look at this update you'll notice several of those banners... I don't remember the first time I used back to back parking lots, Belfalas maybe... not sure, but in those setups it does look good and add a certain "je ne sais quoi".... As for St-Splineus (pun) church, going there on foot is part of the pilgrimage. As for the use of the word "whelming", hummm... we have overwhelming, we also have underwhelming, then why shouldn't we have whelming! or better yet middlewhelming! I guess we'll have to call Webster's and tell them to get on the ball! (we should patent this new word, we'll make a fortune!)

Nobody was injured in what is now called "The Axe Incident" (that would be a good Novel title don't you think!) and all I'll have to do will be to replace the old handle (my hands are still vibrating from the shock wave though...hehehe)

I hope your road trip will be fun.... I know I've always liked those... with a friend we used to make a 200 miles ride (in a big 1973 Mercury Marquis Brougham with a 429 V8... what a gas guzzler!) the one below is almost an identical twin

just to have a cup of coffee in the city, and then back to our hometown... but at that time the gas was (way, and I mean WAY) cheaper! (45 cents a gallon) We also had all the time of the world on our hands...

Well... hummm.... I digress....

Have a great week, and see you when you come back!

Take care

-John

---

Capitol1 - New Zurich

Hi Capitol1

I'm using Jeroni's road mod, and also the TarSealedCountryStreets by rivitoz it must be that.

Hope this'll help you.

---

tommiej

Hi Tommiej,

Glad you appreciate!

---

Chris - DragonAnime - Palm Point - Now closed

Hey Chris,

long time no see indeed! Hey don't worry, we all know how RL can be a W-itch sometimes... hum...

As for the greenery, what can I say I simply love the stuff! So I put it everywhere... hehehe

Have a nice summer, and visit anytime you feel like it, we'll be here, at least for a while.

Take care!

-John

---

Godzillaman

Welcome to Anduin Valley Godzillaman

Hehehe... I don't know about 200 pages, but I guess we'll be close to 150.

Thanks for stoppin' by, come back when you want.

See you

---

Bartonn

Hi Bartonn,

Welcome to AVR,

And here's more!

See you

---

Daniel - Shadow_Assassin - Ensenada - That City in the east

Hi Daniel,

I guess we'll reach the 150 mark when Anörien's finished...

See you

---

Liv - Livin in Sim

Nice one there Liv,

"Wicked" also had hits with Mustang Sally and Hey Joe...

I really like Mustang Sally...

Yeah I must be remebered once in a while to do night pics... I'm never playing with the day cycle on, so I never think to take those "after hours" shots... they do have a charm of their own...

About the frogs, when I was working as a forest ranger, some odd (cough.. cough..) years ago, I went to sleep with their songs almost every night... nothing can beat that to go to Slumber city!

Hehehe... you're the only one who've noticed that the chapel had an unusual patron, as I was looking for a name, I just remembered the infamous "reticulating splines" message we see often, so St-Splineus was born! (What can I say... I can't help it, it's a curse...)

I've queried the residential buildings in pic 9 they're listed as HH22HQ, that's the only info I could find!!! sorry...

I wanted all that sector filled with those, but after blasting and waiting and blasting and waiting.... well  you get the picture, they NEVER grew again in that sector.... perhaps with Silvio's trick it could work I'd have to give it a try I guess... and I agree they're really beautiful.

We had an old barber shop in my hometown, and it was exactly that, a place where people met and exchanged, and secondarily had a shave or their hair cut... And hum.... just to set the record straight, MEN NEVER BRAG! WINK (but we're know to "embellish" reality sometimes... mostly when speaking about fishing trips...) so there you go...

Movie wise, tuesday night, I was watching another one of my all time favorite, "The Straight Story" with Richard Farnsworth and Sissy Spacek, not your usual blockbuster though... kind of a quiet road movie.. I'm still wondering how he never got the Oscar for that one. He was WAY better than Kevin Spacey in "American Beauty"... oh well...

Played the game for a couple of hours yesterday, first time in ages, took about ten pics or so, slowly rebuilding a pic reserve...

Having a park nearby is a great thing, except that once in a while you have a BOZO who think that riding his motocross in the park is fun... such is life...

Have a great weekend Liv, and see you next time.

Take care

-John

PS EDITED FRIDAY MORNING: Finally found it! its Hungarian Corner Building Pecs by haarlemmergold

Enjoy!

---

Pikatchoum - Bluebeach City

Hey Pika!

Long time no see,

Glad to see you, you'll find a link to the w2w buildinds in the Links section and in Liv's answer.

Take care

---

Bernhard (Nardo) - Urland a (mostly) rural coastline

Hi Bernhard,

Yep it's kinda hard to "fine tune" the automata as to get realistic traffic visually speaking.

I just wanted small parking lots to go with the apartment building, and I didn't want them either in front or in back, I once lived in an apartment building that had them in front and back.... sheesh... depressing, I'd rather have some grass, so it was the solution I came up with short of creating underground parking space.

Silvio's Barber shop is in fact Dan's Barber Shop by SimGoober, unfortunately I just can't find it anywhere!!! perhaps it's in a pack or something....

About the pics I've played a bit with the game yesterday and took about ten or so new pictures... slowly beginning to renew the reserve!

Any info on Istambul will surely be appreciated by my colleague, thanks for your efforts.

Well that's it for now!

Take care

-John

PS EDITED FRIDAY MORNING: Found it at PEG site it is in a Multipack... SimGoober's Multipack 01

Hope this'll help you

---

And now dear readers, here it is, the last update before going "real-time"....

---

Well that's it folks, from now on, AVR is on a "real-time" basis, updates will be done when there's enough material for one. Don't know when that'll be.  Perhaps it'll be the kick in the pants I need to get back to the game on a more regular basis, I guess we'll see....

Not knowing when I'll do the next one, I'll take this opportunity to thank you all Anduin Valley readers and supporters for the incredible support you've shown me for the last 28 months...

Ahhh, 'nuf said, Thanks,

and until next update, remember....

Take care and enjoy life

John - aka Darmok

[jacqulina 162]

hi john my friend i seem to be behind with your updates thats very naughty of me,i had a few probs with my plugin folder thats why i havnt updated yet and a little builders block lol,whenever i see dhoppeii on line i do say hi to him,i like the honeydo word its cute.awwwwwwww sorry about your hand i hope its doing ok.your only as old as you feel wink wink.hey so long as your having fun playing and learning the guitar thats what counts.yes i do think the modification to the falls worked out well,it took some time to slowely do it without disturbing what i had done around them,i thought you might like them nardo was a great help.

your updates are awesome my friend,you sure are doing beautifull mosaics,i love how you are using the trees,excellent lawns you make and gardens,beautifull little church nice job there.awesome overview shot and global.

very nice job on the roundabout,excellent industry and residential but you allways do a great job with them,i love the work you have done near the riverbeautifull work and pics.

take care

have a great weekend and week 

[luker91 0]

haha id have to say the "big one" was well worth the short wait caused by my internet... i reallly like the imaginative transportation ideas at the roundabout...i think it turned out very well... and dont worry, whenever the next update is, ill be waiting!

[Silur 3,304]

WELCOME PAGE 146

ANDUIN VALLEY Unique CJ

This is like a Bible for me ....

[Shadow Assassin 336]

Nobody was injured in what is now called "The Axe Incident" (that would be a good Novel title don't you think!) and all I'll have to do will be to replace the old handle (my hands are still vibrating from the shock wave though...hehehe)quote>

Certainly can't hack it, John. (Yes, the pun was intended).

And so, we close one chapter of Anduin Valley, and open a new chapter, the final chapter. Here's to many weeks of good updates, yes?

Very good update. I suppose it's made all the more special because it's the last 'prepared' update.

[dedgren 830]

Speaking as someone who has done a CJ in "real-time" from day one- it can be done, John.  And my guess is that you will do just fine.. I have 146 pages of AVR to back me up on that.

Your 5-25 update was one more in a series of incredible masterful efforts you've shown us these past few months.  If I ran things I'd have pinned your CJ a long time ago, and made everyone who wanted to start a new journal certify that he or she'd read every page.  The comments, too.  You get the best comments of anyone out there- they speak better than anything else of what's going on here.

Hope your summer's off to a great start, my friend!

David

[bat 6]

Another beautiful update! and I can wait for the next update!

bat

[homeandaway 1]

another stunning update my friend, that realsim is shown once again!, i really admire you protective work and shall always be looking forward to seeing more!, take care ~alex~

[Elgegutt 0]

My computer crashed last week, but i managed to rescue my SC4 files=p It sucks to loose so many files tough, but its also i little nice to have a almost clear hard drive=p Plenty of space. Being online again i could look at your CJ Darmok, and no suprise, the last update was wonderful=) I have learned a lot about the game from reading this journal, but now I feel like everything i do in the game is a copy of something you have done before. But I guess some more playing will help me find more of a style of my own.

Again: Fantastic CJ, I cant wait for another update=D

[Schulmanator 5,787]

John, you give great stuff at 2 levels. First, it is a joy to see the pix as you develop things. But, you also give some great ideas on HOW to build as well. I am always looking for great ideas to stea... I mean inspiration!

I am eager to see AVL.... Anduin Valley Live...

NOT a Lorne Michaels production!

[Darmok 34]

NEWS - NEWS - NEWS - NEWS - NEWS

This is posted from my wife's PC, Sunday may 27th....

Sorry for the bump people. but I had to inform you on some development.....

I didn't have any PC problems for two years now..... well, now I have....

Don't worry I think that the hard drives are OK, it looks like a fried Power supply and/or motherboard.... (sheeesh mucho dinero either way...   .) as my tech is closed on Sundays, I'll have more info this coming week, I just hope that the HD are OK. Last backup was over a month ago... (oops...)

So I'll keep you informed as soon as I can...

-John aka Darmok

[jacqulina 162]

hi john,omg thats what i had too my friend,i hope everything is ok for you.and i do hope your hard drive is ok.looking forward to hearing more info.take care

i will keep my fingers crossed for good luck

[Nardo69 51]

Sorry to hear that! Cross my fingers that everything is going to be alright again - I do know best about hardware problems ...

Did you try to connect your hard disk to your wife's computer or have they different connexctions (SATA / ATAPI)

Take care my friend!

Bernhard

[tommiej 0]

bad news!! i really hope the HD is ok, because else, don't think about it..

hope you can fix your problem!!

[Livin in Sim 83]

You know the day destroys the night

Night divides the day

Tried to run

Tried to hide

Break on through to the other side

Break on through to the other side

Break on through to the other side, yeah

We chased our pleasures here

Dug our treasures there

But can you still recall

The time we cried

Break on through to the other side

Break on through to the other side

Yeah!

C'mon, yeah

Everybody loves my baby

Everybody loves my baby

She get

She get

She get

She get high

I found an island in your arms

Country in your eyes

Arms that chain us

Eyes that lie

Break on through to the other side

Break on through to the other side

Break on through, oww!

Oh, yeah!

Made the scene

Week to week

Day to day

Hour to hour

The gate is straight

Deep and wide

Break on through to the other side

Break on through to the other side

Break on through

Break on through...

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah...

All right, we're breakin' on through here, at just before 3 pm on the Tuesday after Memorial Day, summer is officially here, guys and gals, and it's just one of those perfect days, skies are mostly sunny in Anôrien, light winds 5-10 out of the northwest, 23 degrees, with a slight chance of evening showers.  We're looking for more of the same for the rest of the week.  At six AM tomorrow morning KLIV 94.3 will be going off the air for extensive transmitter maintenance due to lightning damage.  At this time, we are not sure when we will return to the airwaves, but hope it shall be soon.  Now a word from our sponsor, The Will Wright Institute of Gaming...

John, terrible news about the computer, sorry, and hope you'll be able to get it fixed.  I was excited about the real time mode, but will wait patiently.   

Your pic "from afar" is quite believable.  Yeah, nothing beats the feeling you get when you decide to chuck it all and start over, and when it's not too premature, it usually turns out better.  Your second attempt is much more aesthetic.  You've solved it rather inventively.  City planners can come up with some such original solutions when faced with similar situations.  Your "side areas" benefit a lot from little additions.  How odd that the big white building popped up, demand dictated, no doubt.

I have posted a couple pics in the SUYA and farms thread, as Robertson is done, well maybe a bit fine tuning, but now on to the large city.  I hope to post more of Robertson here and there in the next few days. 

Do you do Memorial Day in Canada?  If so, hope you had a nice holiday weekend.  I took a few days off before summer craziness starts.  Next thing for which to look forward is a trip to the Tetons and on to Seattle in August.  Or as far as we can get until we run out of gas money. 

Til  Friday, then, you can be sure I will be here, if only to pop in...

--Liv

[Cleaner475 150]

sorry abouyt the bad news - hope you fix it - I'll continue to watch this CJ

[godwin1020 1]

mmm, i can smell a old place, where i used to get my inspiration to my very own CJ which did not last long at all. Feels great to come from time to time,, which i also find a lot of differences,, especially from MT. Well ok apart from click, plop and associates are still up and running, working its way through the entire region.... great job man, now you are the biggest and best CJ. Nice recreation and terraforming, still, as usual. i mean i can see the photos... finally haha

two requests,

1) how about showing some recent photos of MT?

2)a regional overview will just be magnificent

^^ bunnies thunbs up!!!

EDIT: Gd luck in ur computer promblem

[Darmok 34]

---

Jacky - Return to Paradise Falls

Hey no problem Jacky, and that's one thing I want to tackle before doing any other project in SC4, cleaning up and organizing the Plugin folder, it's more a mess that anything else right now... and maybe that's my problem... perhaps you're naughty, but I'm messy.... hehehe...

You see Dan once in a while.... I should write to him it's been a real long time since I had any news.. I know his band is quite popular by looking at his MySpace page.

My hand is OK really, just a sore knuckle. Guys always like to be pampered, so once in a while we do crazy things to get some attention... WINK (I really believe that we never grow up...) My guitar playing is OK I guess, practicing some Cat Stevens song these days, "Father and son" and "Morning has broken" that last one I really like! but some of the chords changes can be tricky! But so beautiful.

Have a great week Jacky, and see you soon.

Take care

-John

P.S. Thanks for caring, the PC problem was not as bad as I first thought, even if it remains a TOTAL mystery to this day...

I'm monitoring it VERY closely, and SC4 backups will be made weekly...

---

Luker01 - Plantation Bay

Hey Luke,

Thanks man, and hopefully the next update should be soon...

Take care

---

Silur

Hi Silur,

That's a very kind compliment! Thanks!

See you

---

Daniel - Shadow_Assassin - Ensenada - That City in the east

Hi Daniel,

Hehehe.... heh! I sure couldn't hack it afterwards, the only axe I had left was a (very) small hatchet.

Well, seeing what's left to develop, I'd guess something like 10 updates maybe... hard to say...

We'll play it by ear from here on...

See you!

---

David (dedgren) - Three Rivers Region - MD

Yeah, well... I think I'll be able to manage a "real-time" scenario, it's just that this way it's hard to keep a "regular" schedule.

The summer should be good, we have a couple of projects, time will tell if we'll have the time (and simoleons of course...) to do them all... WINK

Now if I could only sort out my lag problem.... (well the game, not me...)

Thanks for the encouraging words David, really appreciated, and speaking of "real-time" I still wonder how you can achieve so much things... how many hours do you sleep???

As a matter of fact do you sleep at all??  WINK

Bye for now my friend

Take care

-John

---

Bat - Capporth City

Thanks Bat!

See you

---

Alex - Homeandaway - Seoul South Korea

Hi Alex,

Thanks for your good words!

---

Elgegutt

Sorry to hear about your PC problems, but they are a fact of life, the question is not "will it crash" but rather "WHEN will it crash...". We have to manage our hard drives accordingly and backup often...

(yeah, yeah... look who's talking you didn't backup for a month)

Oh enough already!

Where was I???

Oh yeah, backups... well what can I say s**t happen!

As for copying one's style, don't worry about it, you'll develop your own style sooner than you think!

I was inspired by a lot of CJ'ers in Simtrop history, Jhippolito, Paletexan, Jeroni'j, Dhoppeii, David (Dedgren), Bernhard (Nardo69), Alek (Aleking), Meinhosen, Jacky (Jacqulina), and so many more... taking some ideas here and there, using some new technique, etc... and without thinking about it, you blend all this together and you have your own style...

But I must admit that your comment is quite a compliment for me, thanks...

As for the next update, I'm still working on it... perhaps next week... I have something around 20 pictures taken...

Take care.

---

Bruce - Schulmanator - Schulmania

Bruce,

Steal... hummm... borrow all you want my friend no problem there, I do it all the time!

Say hello to Schulmanator Jr for me!

Take care

---

Bernhard (Nardo) - Urland a (mostly) rural coastline

Problem's solved Bernhard.... well, I shouldn't say that, because we still don't know what have happened, let's say that the PC's functional...

I couldn't connect my HD's to my wife's PC, mines are SATA and hers are IDE the MOBO is an old one without any SATA connectors.

Anyhow, PC's working, but I'm monitoring it closely, I really don't like intermittent problems.... it's like the Damocles Sword .... when will it fall?

My friend Richard send his thanks and salutations for your hints and tips... they will be very helpful..

Take care

-John

---

tommiej

Thanks Tommiej!

And as you can see the PC is now OK! (even if we still don't know what have happened!)

See you

---

Liv - Livin in Sim - (Nibishookee County... hopefully...) 

Hi Liv,

The Doors, good choice!

The cover story for the transmitter is a very good idea...

As you have read by now, the PC is now OK,(hearing Rod Serling voice...) "even if the whole thing remain a mystery...." hehehe...

Be sure that I'll be monitoring that PC very closely for the weeks to come... I don't like intermittent problems...

The next update will probably be next friday if all goes according to plan. Lot of things to do in the upcoming week, but I think I can manage it.

Yep sometimes we have to do Tabula rasa as Aristotle would say, or with a clean slate in common english, to achieve what we want, easier too!

I went to the SUYA thread and had a look at Robertson.... can't wait to see more of it, that meandering river look gorgeous, and the whole setup is beautiful, it has a very natural and "hometown feel"... I don't know how to better explain it than this, I really like it. Also looked at your pics in the farming thread , that small knoll that lead to the bridge is pure genius!

We do have a memorial day, it's the 11th of November, one of my uncles fought in WW2. Even if one is against war and all the military establishment, I have the utmost respect for those who actually went and fought, because most of the folks who did so, where just ordinary folks that were caught in the events and did the best they could. Let's hope that one day we'll be mature enough as a specie to stop that madness... (OK OK 'nuf said on this...)

Weekend was good, didn't play on the PC (obviously...) HAD to practice my guitar a little more... wink...

Yeah gas money.... very soon we'll have to take a mortgage to be able to fill 'er up! sheesh....

Bye for now Liv, and please post more pics!

Take care

-John

P.S. I just couldn't resist to put some reference to your work.... hehehe, hoping you don't mind.

---

Richard - cleaner475

Welcome to Anduin Valley Richard

Well as you can see PC problems have been fixed (sort of')....

Come back anytime.

See you!

---

Godwin

Good to see you again,

hehehe... I had forgotten about Click Plop and Associates... but yeah they're still very much in business!

Sorry to say that new pics of MT wouldn't show any changes, I did not open the city in ages...

But your idea of a regional pic is a good one! As I don't have an update ready, the region picture will help alleviate the absence of Anorien's pics.

Take care

---

No update this week, it's coming up though... but as suggested by Godwin, here's a region pic[, in fact I thought about also showing the first AVR region shot alongside so we can compare... /B]

Click HERE for the full resolution picture 1626X544 (around 884kb)

And here's the very first  AVR region shot...

---

Working (slowwwwwwly, darn lag....) on a new sector, perhaps 20 pics taken but still not enough to warrant an update, but it's coming!

See you soon

---

In the meantime

Take care and enjoy life

John - aka Darmok

[bat 6]

Awesome region shots!! Looking forward to the next update!

bat

[your_adress_here 11]

It's gotten so... big...

[Rayden 7]

** gulp ** I'm glad your HD didn't suffer with your sudden PC problems. That way I'm sure I will keep enjoying coming over here every Friday

Btw, do you still remember this, 46 pages before:

Originally posted by: Rayden

Click to enlarge (big file, over 5 Mbytes)

Silvioquote>

It will have to be updated with this new image/frame of yours.

[The Big Z 103]

Wow, Darmok, still wonderful as usual! I love the "before and after" shot of AVR. Truly amazing what you've done with this region! I can't wait ot see some more!

[ilikehotdogsalot 308]

wow! now that is what i call an impressive region shot! it sure looks like you spend many hours on that, the cities are just flawless! it's just incrredible looking at your first region shot, and your current one, so much progress! your last update was sure awesome aswell, looks like a very realistic city you have created, can't wait till the next update

[pvarcoe 0]

Fabulous region shot John.

Very neat seeing the comparism too!

Last couple of updates were very good (as always).

Notice you are working in real time now (is there really such a thing?)

Just looked at the animated gif Rayden posted.

WOW!. I hadn't seen that before, but that is really cool.

Enjoy and take care.

Phil

[luker91 0]

great region views.... the region has grown quite a bit since you started and one can tell that your experience and profession of the game has grown as well... very nice my friend cant wait for more!

[Schulmanator 5,787]

Awesome! Love the region pic. It looks so realistic. Hang in there!!

[SpecialEddie 3]

The region spot is looking pretty spiffy! But I see some bare mountains--get to work on those!  It seems like you haven't touch those tiles for years...

Well, anyway congratulations on avoiding hard drive failure! I'm glad this masterpiece is safe.

-Eddie

[Cleaner475 150]

a big and bold region - thats what I like glad you added that region shot - I suggest you do what SpecialEddie said as they can add a lot more to the region in many ways

[mightygoose 92]

i bet your lying to us and thats actually a map of middle earth and you intend to do all of it.... over like the next 30 years..... its the kinda wow factor you have....