Three Rivers Region

[Battlecat 14]

Oh wow!  Those waterfalls are spectacular!  What a wonderful addition to the game!

[Molibdo 12]

And... one question... how can you build bridges without water under it?? I've tried a lot of times (doing a big clifts) but it's impossible!!

Thanks!

[bat 6]

Very great!

bat

[dedgren 830]

Hi SoulStealer and Molibdo:

I've done a tutorial on creating "land bridges" in your regions a while ago here at 3RR.  It starts the sixth post down on page 9 here

https://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=36&threadid=74819&STARTPAGE=9#797124

and goes on for several pages over multiple posts.  Look for Update No. 10, Part 3. 

I'd suggest going through the whole thing, as several DLs you may not have are mentioned and there are techniques that are not immediately apparent.

SoulStealer (please be safe right now in your part of the world), the answer to your specific question about water color mod is part of the tutorial on page 10

https://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=36&threadid=74819&STARTPAGE=10#806871

toward the bottom of the page.

Good luck- I plan to do a 3RR index when I'm back from break so this stuff is easy to find.  In the meantime, don't hesitate to let me know if I can be of further help.

[Adley 0]

*subs to thread*

Wow, alot of information in here...

Hmm, no jaw drop smiley any more? Oh well

Just absolutely cool and very educational.

[mightygoose 92]

awesome work mate

[JADsHome 12]

Well thanks very much Dave ! Here I was just looking for a quick tutorial on using the Edmonton Plopable Water mod (I spelt it correctly ;o)) and how to blend it with the in game water.... only to lose 3 hours of SC4 playtime reading your - quite frankly - EXCELLENT, entertaining and informative journal. If there was a scoring mechanism on ST for CJs I'd be giving your efforts 11 out of 10. Thanks for making my wasted 3 hours a comfortable, entertaining and informative waste :-) Now I gotta add you to my faves list - I'll DEFINATELY be back !

Oooh and thanks for the rapids and waterfalls... now I gotta wait for tomorrow to play as its too late :'(

[changhao 0]

Really nice rivers you've created.

But being a $%&^!, would like to know how do you go about adding those rocks & fallen logs along/across your rivers to make them look so realistic?

[dedgren 830]

Hi, changhao-

Thanks very much for making your very first post in the ST forums here on 3RR.  Welcome aboard!

"$%&^!" is a label that, IMHO, has no meaning whatsoever here.  I played SC4 for years before I found out there was any particular method to terraforming, for example.  Don't give the fact that you want to learn something that you don't feel you know anything about a second thought- at least on this CJ (and I think I can speak for several others in saying questions like yours are never a problem).

I'd suggest you go back through 3RR and, at your convenience, review the whole thing.  Yeah, it's 18 pages of stuff, but I think you'll find that I generally don't just do stuff without having first provided an explanation and links to the resources you will need in order to do the same thing on your own

As to your specific question about surface water stream detailing, I have addressed it at some length toward the bottom of page 10, linked here

https://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=36&threadid=74819&STARTPAGE=10#806871

and continue on page 11, linked here

https://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=36&threadid=74819&STARTPAGE=11#807413

Let me know, after you look at those, if there are still any questions you might have.

Again, thanks for contributing your comments on 3RR.

[Rayden 7]

Hey David, if this is the kind of breaks you said you're gonna have, please, have as many as you like mate, I really don't mind

Cheers

Silvio

[dedgren 830]

I have just figured out how to link to the internal HTML post anchors on a forum page...

WOOT!

Here's a link directly to the start of the ploppable water rapids tutorial.

https://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=36&threadid=74819&STARTPAGE=15#828010

Here's one to the start of the waterfalls tutorial.

https://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=36&threadid=74819&STARTPAGE=17#847250

3RR Table of Contents- here we come.

EDIT:  There's now a starter (the first few pages) TOC under construction on page 1- you can get there by clicking the linkie in the sig.  C'mon...try it out.  It's easy, it's fun.  You know you want to.

[changhao 0]

Thanks so much for the reply, David! Really, folks like you have opened my eyes to so many new possibilities of SC4! Hope to be able to churn out something to share with everyone soon~

P.S.: Sorry for the P.M. as I'm still figuring out how to actually send a reply over and navigating over the forums.

[dedgren 830]

I've posted a tutorial of sorts showing how to link directly to a post on a forum page at Mr. Cinatit's pinned topic A Guide To Creating A City Journal.  You can go straight to the post by clicking

https://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=36&threadid=63427&STARTPAGE=3#851206

Later.

[sorchin 18]

Great waterfalls mate. They look so alive...

[PhilsCafe 8]

Hello David.

It's been awhile since my last post in 3RR. I'm sorry 'bout that, I've been very busy through the last couple of weeks. So were you, obviously, with 3RR updates. I had to go as far back as page 9, where I've last posted in here... and I'm flipping thorugh the pages as I'm typing.

It's great to see that you preserved your CJing style. I like your tutorials very much. They're very helpful, even to 'experienced' people like me. I actually didn't know that one could change the brush size of the god mode terraforming tool until recently. I'd also like to thank you for pointing us to the rain tool. I've never seen it in action before.

I also enjoy your eye-candy shots. Grand Island looks beautiful (page 10).

Wow, I love Roaring Fork (page 11... oh, it even continues on page 12). Very nice valley's, a beautiful piece of nature. Too bad I've already planned my summer vacation (Southern France). Great job with that mountain rail line (page 12), great solution for the road crossing.

On page 14, another series of eye-candy pictures. Very nice pictures once again. Johnston's Corner is a nice little settlement and it is located in the scenic environment of Wind River. One thing was bothering me though: Why did you use elevated highways in such a rural setting? Wouldn't ground / rural highways blend in better? At least that's what I'd expect in areas like these...

On a general side, it's fun to read all your little hints, quotes and travel tips by the way. Talking about travel tips: Beautiful photos of BBNP there. I love Elena Canyon. Despite of its beautiful name it very much reminds of the canyons you're doing in your region. Just that yours are greener... . And I'm really thinking about chcking out that ploppable water. I didn't have the opportunity to use it yet, but the more I see it in 3RR, the more I'm thinking it could be a nice touch... especially with your own addition to that project (page 15): The surface water rapids look beautiful. Great job on these David.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park: Excellent pictures. The toiletts in the caves... that's crazy. I've gotta go there some time . Now that's great...

Another series of beautiful eye-candy pictures (Hotham Sound, page 15)... the water front, the yacht club, the shore... very nice details man. You're "nature building" skills never cease to amaze me.

... well, now I see why you used elevated highway in Johnston's Crossing: Any correalation with your vacation in Texas and building that piece? Great job with the mountain road... they're really hard to do, especially to let them look good.

Sorry for that rather long post... I felt like I had some catching up to do . Anyways, I'm looking forward to more of your amazing work. And I hope to be there to post then...

Take care and have a great time David... and enjoy the break.

- Phil

[blahdy 21]

wow... you really are blasting the limits of the game in terms of achieving extremely beautiful and spectacular natural views. I'm speechless. keep up the great work!

[Molibdo 12]

dedgren, thanks a lot for the tutorial (and for the link! )

Beautiful region... impresionant region...

[dedgren 830]

Well, the break's about over...

In random OT news, my youngest daughter departed for the Peace Corps last night.  She's enroute to Philadelphia today, then on to two years in northern South Africa assisting in a rural school system.  It's karma for me being a lawyer, I think.

We all went out to see the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie.  Is it anyone else besides me who finds Johnny Depp's take on pirates as swishbucklers less than up to his usual high standards.  Oh well.

...Arrrrrh...

The Big Dig for SC4 is out!  Also known as the

BLP NDEX Boston Central Artery and Tunnel Project

blahdy and crew have achieved something transport-wise that may well rival the NAM in ultimate significance to the game.   Its a painstakingly and almost perfectly done addition to the game.  Bravo, folks! 

I note my thanks to zzsim for putting a nice mention and link to 3RR in his sig.  A few of you have done that now, and if I've missed thanking anyone, my apologies, and I will be keeping a sharper eye.

____________________________________

So what about 3RR at this point?  It seems I've spent months on surface water stuff, culminating in the rapids and waterfalls on the STEX.  It's funny, the two uploads started as an afternoon's "what if?" sort of project.  They've been moderately popular, as evidenced by the number of DLs (thanks to all who've done so), but I really see very little evidence of any more than a few folks putting them to use.  No problem, though- that's not why I came up with them in any event.

So here's what I'm going to do.  Over the next few weeks, I intend to complete all of the regions basic terraforming and lake, river and stream detailing.  I have a few more ideas as I'll go along for short updates, but nothing like the huge tutorials of a few months back.  I'm then going to work on a really detailed system of maps, hopefully using techniques pioneered by folks like battlecat in Terra - an evolving region, Shadow_Assassin in his "Where am I?" insets in The Savannah Way and, last but not least, our old friend sloppet, who also does extremely nice inset maps, in Anwakee County.

____________________________________

sloppet and I, by the way, are having a bit of a dialog about CJing...

I posted this

https://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=36&threadid=78023&STARTPAGE=33#854018

He posted that

https://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=36&threadid=78023&STARTPAGE=34#854819

Jeez, slop.  Raw nerve?  I'll say it here on my own CJ.  Anwakee County is brilliant.  You are brilliant.  I just don't want to go to Iowa one day and find you slumped over your computer with smoke coming out of your ears.  That's all.

____________________________________

Anyway, back to mapping.  If anyone would like to point me to any other CJ where really nice maps are being done (there are certainly others, I just wanted to note three that think are particularly well done), I'd appreciate it.

I'll use the maps as a basis for developing a more or less detailed regional plan, which I will then implement in the region.

We'll see.

So, a little eye candy to move things along.  These are just, once again, sort of random from an undeveloped township I'd been working in.

#1

The general area, noting major roads and a few features.

#2

Same area with the trees and stuff removed so you can see the underlying topography.

#3

Don't you just hate the "bunched fabric" effect when you lay roads on a diagonal?

#4

So get rid of it.  What are you waiting for?

#5

I've always loved roads up mountain passes.  Here's R-231 climbing to Broad Pass.

#6

Something'll be out here along R-16 someday...want to bet?.

#7

The I-760/R-16 interchange just to the east almost insures it.  Can you say, "path of growth?"

#8

Moseying south over I-760, Perch Lake comes into view.

#9

A shot of the topography here.  "Trophy" home development, perhaps.  East Peak, on the left, might know...but won't say anything about it.

#10

Burnt Bear Islands and the mouth of Manitou Creek.  Nice bay for resort development or a Regional Park.

#11

Another angle, along with lower Manitou Creek.  Sentinel Ridge is at the bottom center-left of the pic.

#12

Burnt Bear Islands.

#13

Southwest of the islands.  Looks like good northern pike and walleye fishing.

#14

Yet another surface to "game" water transition near the mouth of the creek.

#15

Manitou Creek drains a large valley on the easter side of the Wyler Mountains.  Hope there's nothing valuable up in the headwaters- it would be as shame to see much development here beyond the transportation corridors that necessarily transit the lower valley.  The two upper bridges (railroad and R-231) date back to the early 1900s.

#16

There are some pretty large rapids west of the R-65 high bridge.

#17

Several sets, in fact.

#18

Another angle, with the old stone railroad bridge also in view.

#19

Ouzel Cascades, where Manitou Creek drops almost 100 feet, is directly to the west of the R-231 bridge.  It's a bit of a hike to get back up in there, but well worth it.

#20

The roar of the cascades can be heard from the bridge, which is lightly travelled these days.

#21

Ouzel Cascades.

That's it for today.  Have a great rest of the weekend.

Later.

[seemurray2 21]

That is a brilliant looking transportation layout on an excellent, beautifully crafted terrain, well done!

[____----____ 37]

very nice looking terrain i would enjoy cruising those hills with the top down

later buddy

AK

[Sim shady 12]

wow spectacular terrain! looks good...you are the master of these ploppable streams. Look forwards to seeing more terraforming

[anubis89 107]

great terraforming! great looking ploppablewater streams!

where can i get this amazing looking water mod?

also the rail bridge in the 18th pic?

[jacqulina 162]

awesome work so pretty you sure have done so well with the rapids and waterfalls i have yet to try them

[justanothersim86 83]

Great work as always. Especially the rapids.

[mightygoose 92]

this is great work mate

[ElBarto92 7]

Bee-yu-tee-ful, David, and glad to see that the break is over. Check out my sig, just put 3RR in it! Hope to see some more updates soon, and maybe even a tutorial or two (not trying to be pushy or anything ) Until next time, Andrés..

[tchaos713 5]

Really nice work, as always...

I am very glad that you are back from your break, David. I was beginning to miss this CJ.

[Goin2Chicago 4]

excellent update! the landscape looks great and i really like the burnt bear islands. can't wait for more!

[dedgren 830]

Hi anubis89:

Thanks for your posts here!

The ploppable water has been the subject of an ongoing tutorial on my CJ and is addressed starting here

https://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=36&threadid=74819&STARTPAGE=10#806871

The stone railroad bridge



is one of several new 'game' bridge skins by jeronij.  He's not put them on the STEX- they're available through this link in his sig.

http://www.newspringfield.de/simcity/nam_new_bridges.zip

Get them before they disappear; that's my recommendation.  Not like it's happened before...

Good luck!

[sanantonio 0]

Those are some great shots of the river...very impressive. My favorite pic, though, is #12...I like the attention you paid to the little guy. Keep it up!