Anduin Valley Revisited

[meinhosen 11]

Cool! I love the look of those farms.

One curious question I have for you: I noticed a RHW in a few of the pics (#3 is a good example), and there's an overpass that you plopped over the RHW. I'd like to see a quick closeup of that overpass to see how you "disguised" the road-over-RHW NAM pieces.

Aside from that, things are looking better than ever!  I'm going to agree with mayormommy, I too like the "erasing the mistakes" effect.  It kinda looks like you're shaking an Etch-a-sketch.

Great work, Darmok!

[Benedict 3,119]

The end result is perfect, as always!

[asturianu 4]

OMG!!!!!!!!!!! This cj is amzing!! Why i didn't visited it before? It's perfect! The result of your custom work on your cj is really impressive. Wow! I will visit again soon, this is too interesant.

See you, Darmok.

Cristian (i'm from Spain)

[Nardo69 51]

Hi John!

I must confess my first (!) TE Lots looks better than I thought as I saw it untill now only in the LE and ingame with old laptop and all Graphic settings down ... I guess I should change the fence though and (learn how to) make my own LOT description ...

I agree with you about the pedriana -as long as the farm size is big enough (which goes to a big part to us who play the game) and as long as not 19 out of 20 farms grow as pedriana (which is basically a question of our plugin folder as there are enough nice stage 3 farms on the STEX) it is fine with me, too.

Good lesson of healing the farm, even me can learn a lot here ...

Take care

Bernhard

[hondo42769 0]

Lookin' good, John! Great work with the mosaic of La Plaisance Estates, simply beautiful. Stunning work, as always, with the farms. I don't believe I've seen that cattle farm in pic #12 before, fits in very nicely there. And, Nardo's cattle loading dock just seems to pull everything together. Nice work pasting "Darmok Farms" on pedriana.

Welcome to Page 131!

[Schulmanator 5,793]

Nice stuff! Your farms always look so good. I need to take some lessons to make mine come to life the ways yours do!

[jacqulina 162]

hi john my friend,i have just about finished christmas shopping yayyyyy,yes the windows are fantastic a lot warmer,and done really quick and well,

wow you have done a very beautifull mosaic i love it.you sure make those pedrianas look wonderfull very nicely done i like what you have done with it.i love the cattle farm where did you get it,beautifull work,i love how you sort out the transport problems,beautifull overview,thats a wonderfull cattle loading dock of nardos,you have placed it well it looks fantastic and yes works well with the third rail,your fences where did you get them please.another awesome update and beautifull pics i enjoyed visiting again.

have a great weekend my friend

take care

[Fallon144 1]

Thanks for the link mate!

Another fine update, I just cant get enough of seeing those amazing terraform skills at work combined with fine presentation!

The farms sure look realistic, and being a frequent user of trains, I also love the railways you've laid out.

Keep up this amazing CJ mate, 131 pages and still going strong!!

[threestooges 0]

I think the kids would give the trains some competition (and the occasional projectile: ball, rock, etc) for noise. . My middle school in Reno was close to the airport. A couple of times a day C-130's would take off and even at the distance our school was they could still make some noise (fortunately only if you were outside). Hopefully there'll be a good sized fence to protect the unwary student near the tracks. The Pedriana's aren't that bad but unfortunately for me, they always pop up on the smallest lots, or in a place that doesn't look good for a large grain elevator. It looks good here though (and I like how it's owner proudly proclaims their ownership on the side). Two questions regarding 08 & 09: What's the farm with the three small dome in the bottom right of 08 and the one ont he left of 09? I like the integration of the farms in 11 and I especially like the new cattle loading ramp. Sorry if this went on a bit longer than usual. I just finished up finals for the semester so I have more time, am more relaxed, and ready to take some time off from school. Maybe I'll find time to get that cj going (yeah yeah I know I've been saying that). Take it easy, enjoy the shopping (it is only once a year after all), and I'll see you around this time next week.

[Livin in Sim 83]

Hi, John, 

I am well, and looking forward to the weekend.  I hope you are relaxing too; are you?  Glad the toe is mending.  I have made a concerted effort to slow down and enjoy the holiday weekends, unlike last year when I attended a quilitng tour of homes (my friend quilts) a concert, and a Christmas party all in one day.  I was exhausted!  We are only doing one thing each day this weekend--the play with the "leg lamp" (A Christmas Story), and The Nativity movie.

Seeing the irrigation laid out first, with a gap, I wondered if you heard from the dreaded "terrain too steep" gremlins.  (Or maybe they're ground hogs, get it?)  If one had the farsight to start with the irrigation, one could put a road to the farm on that tile if that happened.  You probably have it all leveled just right, but I think I will use that trick.  When I saw the sign on the Plant I started singing, "Ol' McDarmok had a Farm, e-i-e-i..." oh, why am I such a smarty?  I don't want to call you old, but you are Irish, hence the Mc.  Didn't one of your farms in the past have an owner with a play on e-i-e-oh?  I like the setting in which you have put the Pedrianna.  Yes, please do tell about the last two farms, they look like they belong there.  What is the crop that's being combined, is it barley?  Those fields look rolling terrain tolerant.

Well, time to call it a night, I am probably the only person in Anôrien who doesn't go to bed with the chickens.  (Crazy, if you're reading this, no offense.)  Until Friday, John,

May the most you wish for, be the least you get.

--Liv

Edit:  Looks like I'm a squatter!

[GMT 389]

this loading dock is awesome!

waiting for more

[MadTV_Freak 0]

Has there ever been more beautiful work? I mean really... nothing in the world can top this... John, you are Number #1 when it comes to CJ's..

Keep up the EXCELLENT work!

[dedgren 830]

John, hey.

My first real post pretty much anywhere else over the past few weeks and I certainly wanted it to be here.  Just sayin'.

I think you've begun to fine-tune the rural thing beyond any outside boundary I ever thought was possible.  Having spent the summers of my (wasted, heh!) youth on my maternal grandparent's farm in southern Indiana just a stone's throw from a tiny hamlet named Switz City,



my sensibilities as to "farm country" were formed there.

Suffice it to say that, in Anorien, I can hear the tractors and smell the manure.

I have never played around with the rural streets you are using- are they the "Tar-Sealed Streets" I've seen somewhere?  You might recall I've been using a dirt streets mod in undeveloped and rural areas of 3RR- I really like the look of your streets mod and dirt lanes for rural use generally, and am hoping I can come up with some sort of "across the board" scheme (I certainly intend to, in any event) before the first farm is developed in my CJ.

I really like the irrigation ditches as well.  We had one that bisected our farm- the intervening years (my last summer there was in 1969, the year before I went off to college- I watched Neil Armstrong [ linkie ] take his "small step" on my grandparents' Sylvania [ linkie ]  black-and-white) have romanticised my memories- it's pretty apparent my brother Tom and I spent a lot of time wading around and otherwise soaking ourselves from head to toe in what was pretty much 100% agricultural effluent.  Ahhh, the farming life....

Anyway, I just wish the color of the water was different and the ponds didn't have such regular sides and bermlike banks.

...gripe, gripe, gripe...

Jeez, I wish I knew how to BAT.

Bernhard's loading platform and your use of it is outstanding.  We have way too many great trackside creations on the STEX that are marred in placing them by the inability to create single track sidings.  As it appears all the NAM Gods have gone off to Valhalla [ linkie ], I don't think there's much hope that we'll get those anytime soon.

We'll be dispatching Santa your way in about a week or so [ linkie ].  He spends most of his time during the off season sleeping on the lounge sofa in the old folks' home (although there was that paternity suit last summer- sheesh!).  I think the valve job they're doing on the sleigh is just about finished...

Great work, my friend- take care!


David

[jeronij 13]

Hi John, just wanted to stop and say CONGRATULATIONS for your well deserved Trixie !!!!

Enhorabuena amigo ;-D !!.

[sloppet 3]

Hello D#1

Well, thought I would drop in and post a comment, not too long, but not a short comment too... Anduin Valley has won a Trixie, too bad, because there are many better CJ's

And you dont deserve the award. er.. *caugh* I mean.. Congrats!

Now seriously, it's good to see that Anduin Valley got that Trixie, I voted on your CJ you know... And in your recent updates you continue to prove, that you won't get down so fast with this CJ, so keep on doing tis great job, hope to see some really great-unseen pics in here.

Regards,

sloppet - The Broken Man

[Darmok 34]

CSX Dairy Farm Niet Verdiend by Vlakhaas

BLS GA Farm Wheat by barbyw

CSX Farms Vol 01 by Vlakhaas

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Owen - (Owenluby) - Unifire

Hey thanks Owen!

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Bat - Capporth City

Hi Bat,

Thanks for your support man!

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Mayormommy - Nightmare Islands: Life on all levels

Hi Mayormommy,

I agree about the Pedrianna, but as far as I'm concerned they don't grow that often, and if they grow where I don't like 'em well, I send them back where they belong! Like Ahhhnold would say... "Hasta la vista baby!" hehehe....

Always good to see you MM

Take care!

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Meinhosen - Ralston Metro Area

Hey Meinhosen,

Here's the requested close up

hehehe I really like the Etch-a-sketch metaphor, and it brings back some memories...

Take care

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Benedict - The Mayors of Ellis Valley

Hi Benedict,

Thanks man!

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Asturianu - Lloyd, Ontario, Canada

Hi Cristian,

Welcome to Anduin Valley

Don't worry about not visiting before that, there's so much CJ in Simtrop, that it would be a full time job just to visit them daily!

Glad you appreciate AVR, do come back anytime you like.

Looking forward to reading you again!

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

Hi Bernhard,

Thanks for the loading dock, it fits perfectly, and I would not change the fences I think that they go well with the railway itself.

I agree about the Pedrianna, see Mayormommy post.

Take care my friend.

John

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James - hondo42769

Hi James,

Glad you liked it, and Nardo's (Bernhard) cattle loading platform did indeed improve the look of that sector.

The farm is CSX Dairy Farm Niet Verdiend by Vlakhaas .

The Darmok sign was just a little something I did on the spur of the moment.

Thanks for the welcoming to page 131, and see you soon!

Take care

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Schulmanator - Schulmania

Hey Schulmanator,

Thanks, and as far as the lessons are concerned I think we all learn from one another, on the farm topics my inspiration came from Dhoppeii, Nardo69, Jeroni'j and Meinhosen to name a few.

Kaplah!

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Jacky (jacqulina) - Paradise Falls

Ho Jacky! (Perhaps I should say Ho Ho Ho... wink )

On the shopping topic, lucky for you, I'm writing this tuesday and I still have a few presents to buy.... God help me!

I remember when we last changed our windows.... what a difference!

About the cattle farm, it's CSX Dairy Farm Niet Verdiend by Vlakhaas , and Bernhard did a great job on the cattle loading ramp! As for the fences he used, I can't say, we'll have to ask him.

Jacky, I wish you the best Christmas ever, may the coming year be good to you my friend!

-John

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Fallon144

Hi Fallon,

Glad to help! And I'm still amazed at the fact that this CJ is still going after almost two years!

Thanks for your support Fallon,

Take care

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Threestooges – Matt

Hi Matt,

Good to see you man!

Yep, kids always loved trains and tracks... and you forgot to mention the "flattened penny" trick! WINK

I agree about the Pedrianna growing everywhere, but they do have a no-nonsense look that I like.

The farms you're asking for are:

CSX Dairy Farm Niet Verdiend by Vlakhaas

and the other one is BLS GA Farm Wheat by barbyw , though if you meant the hydroponic one, it's Hitec Hydroponics but it's no longer available as a standalone, it's now part of a BSC Farm Pack this one I think... CSX Farms Vol 01 by Vlakhaas not sure though... Good news about school, I hope you'll have a good time and relax a lot!

Starting a CJ, hummmm... now where have I heard that before???

And about the shopping bit, thank God it's only once a year, if not I would not survive!

Was good to read you again my friend.

Have a great christmas time and see you soon!

Take care

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Livin in Sim

Liv,

I think I'll be relaxing only when the shopping will be finished.

I really don't like crowds, and christmas shopping should ideally be done in july...

Call me a kid at heart, but I just love seeing christmas decorations, the trees, the lights, all the cooking, visiting family and friends, the music, (not in he stores though). Only sad thing is that we don't have snow this year!!! Well an inch or two but that's it... I guess the snowshoes will stay in in the attic for the holidays! Your comment about the "Leg lamp" intrigued me, so I went and Googled it, I found a site selling that lamp, autographed by the actors! Never saw that movie... I'll have to look for that! But forget it about placing that lamp in the living room! Our son would steal it! LOL

On the irrigation topic you'll see more about it in this update.

Hehehe... no problem with the "old" McDarmok.... after all when I was 15 I thought that all people over 30 were "old" so yeah I guess I am (cause the 30's have gone by... and then some...)! LOL

The crop on the two farms... well... one is wheat, the fact that it looks like slope compliant is simply because the crop has not grown yet on this pic, the other one has no crop at all it's only pasture for the cows, and as far as I'm concern chickens (no offense to Crazy) turn in far too early for my taste, I'm more a "late night bird" nature, playing guitar " 'till broad day light! " hehehe.... no no no I'm not Bill Haley! but I do play music later than the chickens.... though I still have to see a chicken with an Stratocaster! WINK

Merry Christmas to you and family Liv!

And here's another Irish toast for you

"A toast to your coffin.

May it be made of 100 year old oak.

And may we plant the tree together, tomorrow."

Take care

-John

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GMT - Greater Columbia River

Hi Torben,

Thanks for your support mate!

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MadTV Freak - Sweetwater County

Hey MTV,

Wow, what can I say besides thanks! It's always comforting to know that our work is appreciated.

But seriously, lot of CJ in Simtrop are great and deserve our praise!

Again thanks for the VERY kinds word and the enthusiasm!

Take care

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David (dedgren) - Three Rivers Region

Hey David,

Glad to see you my friend, and about the fine tuning, let's say that you're responsible for me to turn to the, no no no, not the dark side.... sheesh.... but the "super detailing" side of the game, after seeing your river beds I think I went a tad overboard with the details, but I really enjoy doing it this way, it's a slower pace but much more fulfilling.

And talking about childhood I spent mine on the north shore of the St-Lawrence river, not much farms, but lots and lots and LOTS of trees! So, I think I know a thing or two about (really) small towns.

And if you do indeed smell the manure, know that it's the finest in the area, having won the "Best Manure of the year" awards 3 year in a row! (Or so they say in the brochure...) (Must have been written by a lawyer, it was 13 lines too long by the way....)

Yes it's the Tar road mod, that's one thing I'd like we would be able to fix, that is to be able to put a set of street, be it Tar, asphalt or dirt, that doesn't change appearance every two lots...

Your recollection of Neil Armstrong first step made me smile, It reminded me that I also saw it on a black and white set, it was the one my grandfather's gave us, and old Electrohome 20 inch!

I agree about the "regularity" of the ditch sides, but I guess that it would be hard to create a set that have an more irregular look without conveying a repetitive pattern in the end.

I agree about the comment on Bernhard work on the cattle platform.

And glad to know that you're sending the "Old Man" doing his annual duty!

If you know him personally, would you be so kind as to ask him if he could manage to drop, yikes! strike that word, place a 25 years old Talisker Linkie . under the proverbial tree!

Enjoy the holiday period my friend, wishing you the best!

Take care

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Jeroni - Simtropia

Hola amigo!

What a nice surprise!

Thanks for your congratulations. It's really appreciated my friend!

Please give my best to your family.

And may you have the best christmas ever.

John

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Sloppet - Anwakee County

Hi Sloppet,

Good to hear from you, and to see that you're not loosing your touch! hehehe....

I hope you still enjoy visiting AVR, and that you'll like what will come in the following updates.

Thanks for the congrats my friend.

Enjoy the holiday period and may the next year be good to you!

Take care

-John

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And now dear readers, without further ado, here's....

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Thanks to AVR readers, I wish to all of you a very good holiday period and may the coming year bring more understanding and tolerance between people that's what we mostly need.

And here's the Mystery Link Of The Week , nothing big this week just a small thing before christmas.

See you next year!

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In the meantime

Take care and enjoy life

Darmok

[Benedict 3,119]

Thanks for another update on how to achieve perfection! Are you ever going to show us your talents at creating a big city? And have a great finish to 2006 - I'll be waiting patiently to see what treats you have for us in 2007.

[dedgren 830]

A wonderful sign off for 2006, John.

More later...

[meinhosen 11]

Hey, thanks for the closeup. Now that I know how your terraformed that overpass, I'm going to take it as a good lesson and apply it to a couple areas here and there in my own cities. I like the use of the roadsigns and highway walls, too.

Nice job on the farms. You do amazing work on the terraforming and the little details of the farmsteads.

Really great work, and Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays!

[wouanagaine 83]

Checking my calendar, no we are not friday

So I thnx you for the gift and wish you a happy xmas and new year

PS : Like the cow buble

[jacqulina 162]

i hope you dont mind i used one of your pics to make this card for you.

ho ho ho my friend wink,

you are going to have to catch up with the shopping lol,it is a lot of difference i really like the new windows and so much warmer,thankyou for the links,that would be great if you could ask about the fences,thankyou.

john my friend i hope you have a wonderfull christmas and a great new year.

wonderfull step by step,i love how you do that,excellent terraforming,what a beautifull result,that little wooden bridge is beautifull where did you get it please.hey catch that cow lol,excellent farm,i love the trails,yes i like the second try at your trails.beautifull end result.

happy holidays.

[luker91 0]

happy holidays to you as well...nice update... i really enjoyes how you showed how to deal with hilly terrain and irrigation...ive learned to deal with that as well from an earlier update of yours...lol looks like someone is in need of a barn or a fence or something... see you in the 07!

Luke

[purpledaddy 6]

I can't remember if I visited here earlier or not, but your journal is awesome.  I can see why it got CJ of the year.  I especially love your step by step descriptions of your game play and great up close graphics.  Have a wonderful holiday season. -Al 

[hondo42769 0]

John, what am I gonna do tomorrow?!? Granted I'm getting my AVR fix a day early, but I'm quite certain that my mind is conditioned to expect it on Friday! I guess I'll just have to come back and pretend I'm experiencing de-ja-vu (sp?), lol! Seriously, great work with this end of the year update. I, for one, am very appreciative of the details you show. Nice solution with the irrigation ditch. If you hadn't pointed it out, I doubt anyone would notice what you had done there. To me, that shows that you have created a bit of realism in that the eye is seeing what it expects and thus, it does not draw attention to it. Man, I can't believe you didn't turn off the grid in #15! What a disappointment, lol! I like the pic you provided for Meinhosen. Looks like you placed Jeroni's slope conforming fences on a transparent base texture in LE. I'd be very interested in how you did that or where you obtained the transparent texture. Obviously, I have way too much time on my hands today, so I will try to stop rambling on here.

I hope you have the most merry of holidays! Thank you so much for AVR, and I can't wait to see more of your inspiring work in '07.

James

[Schulmanator 5,793]

Great update and thanks for the tips! I have been flattening some as of late and have stumbled upon some of the same techniques.

Happy Holidaze!

[Nik-nik 3]

Hi John,

It has been a while since I checked on AVR.

Pim fell from the stairs last week Wednesday and of course it shook us all quite a bit, we needed to stay one night in hospital on Thursday for observation but were quickly fired on Friday (Wednesday evening we were still at home). Of course RL at work also took over and the huge amount of work the preparation for Christmas diner gives my wife and me. Luckily Pim did not suffer long from his fall and the subsequent concussion and went back to school yesterday, phew!

So now I can chech on AVR again.

Wow 2 updates. JUMMY!

I like that grain storage silo (looking up Pedriana at google gives me quite nice pictures of Lesa Ann Pedriana and she has two nice silo's but I do not think that's what Nardo and Mayormummy relate to), one every now and then is not a big problem but 10-20 are I agree with the gentlemen.

I love that cattle ranch. I guess that boy who is now playing with his kite (pic 12) is responsible for setting the cows loose?

I love the way you handled the problem with the fields and that new cattle loading dock is great can I download it somewhere? (BTW thanks for that WW barn, I always skip the WW lots and hence I missed this one, thanks a lot!)

being of an extreme conservative mind I opened AVR on Friday. Guess what, you posted on Thursday your update..... now I am realy confused....aaargh and that right before Christmas....aaargh.....cool down Nik-Nik!!!!!! It's Friday, and I enjoy your second update.

Love the way you handled the kink; I realy, REALY had to look good to see the first one, you are a perfectionist John. Glad though you noticed the cow (well the kid did).

Love the train station too.

Have a great Holiday season John.

Nik-Nik

[pvarcoe 0]

Wow, a fabulous update!

What a ton of great detailing. I love it.

The close in shots showing terraforming tips are very usefull.

You can't have too much of that (at least it's hard to imagine).

I really liked the culvert bit.

And the use of roads, dirt trails and trees intregrated with the farms is un-surpassed (sp)

You are the best at this; Anduin Valley remains the "how to do rural right" showcase.

Best to you and yours this Christmas and New Years.

Phil

[RushHourFreak 1]

The last update is just awesome, so informative about the steps of the terraforming, so many arrows and great descriptions there. This is awesome, the little streams are also beautiful and the farms are very pretty too. You'll have to do a "wanted post" to the lost cow, lol, moom, ha!

Happy Holiday to you too. Enjoy

RHF

[bat 6]

Happy holiday, happy christmas and a great new year!

Excellent "last" Update in the year 2006!!! Fantastic details and work!

bat

[Shadow Assassin 336]

Aww, it's the end of the year already?

Merry Christmas to you, Darmok. I probably won't be around until next year, on account of having a lot of fun with my presents.

Here's to hoping you've got plenty of stuff to keep you entertained in the next few weeks.

--SA