Three Rivers Region

[tchaos713 5]

LOL, Darmok!!!! I was doing the exact same thing until I read your post!!!

*Downloads Goldiva's stuff*

Edit:

Welcome to Page 11!!!!

[Battlecat 14]

Excellent!  I didn't realize you could place this plopable water under bridges!  That explains a lot!  Can't wait to see the rest of this project!

[sebes 3]

Thanks for showing this. I never build a tropical city so was never interested in downloading GDV's set... but those rocks simply rock !

[Rayden 7]

Originally posted by: Darmok Can I take a breath now!

I realized at some point while reading that I was holding it! with my face inches away from the monitor hehehe.....  ;-)

**standing and leaving to get a cup of Java**

quote>

 

Hehe, David's way of reporting his work, makes us hold our breath and get closer to the screen to avoid loosing any small detail. Great work David.

[lardonbur 5]

I have been playing Sim City for a long time, and I must say I am learning a lot from your tutorials. The information you put in your CJ is very helpful. Keep up the excellent work.

[dedgren 830]

So, earlier today we left off here.

Before I move on from Goldiva's Rocks, I'll note for sebes, who asked back on June 3rd...

How do you get the stones in the water on the shores? quote>

...we throw them there.  No, no, actually Goldiva's Rocks, as well as the ploppable 'game" rocks we'll look at in just a minute, plop in game water the same way they do on land.

We'll now return to the Plant Flora submenu and select the MaxisRock2 icon...

 

...what do you mean, you don't have a MaxisRock2 icon?

Well, we'll just have to get you one.

In March of last year, jeronij (the author of that obscure but worth looking for little CJ Simtropia and another some may have heard of, now sadly belonging to the ages, called Sculpting Columbia River) started a topic he called Make your favourite tree a plopable !!!

...jeronij, I am not worthy...I am not worthy...

This thread, and jeronij's incredible efforts in creating a whole bunch of new ploppable trees, literally blasted the Plant Flora submenu wide open.  Jeronij singlehandedly added about 30 new choices to the "game" "same-old, same-old."

And he didn't just add trees!  He made a whole range of Maxis props: flowers, bushes, "burnt trees," and rocks available to be placed with no greater effort than the click of a mouse.

Unfortunately, all the links in Make your favourite tree a plopable !!! are now, as is all too often the case with topics migrated to ST5.0, dead.  Dead, dead, dead.  Demised.  Passed on.  No more.  Ceased to be.

But that's the bad news.  The good news is that jeronij has put many of his creations on the STEX, to (fortunately) include the Ploppable Maxis Props.  You'll find them here:

https://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?id=13359

So, DL away!

...3RR elevator music plays...

We were here.



These rocks are basically boulders of several different shapes.  You have no control other than to click several times in the same places and hope.



I plop 'em in the stream, up on the bank, wherever...  Just move the mouse and...

...left-click, click, click, click, click.

Next, we'll go back to the Plant Flora submenu and get the next size down, Maxis Rock1.  We don't need to go through the download drill again, as these come oackeged together with MaxisRock2.



These I just use like salt on french fries...sprinkle a little here, a little there...  Unlike salt, hoever, these won't raise your blood pressure.

As you can see, they're pretty small. They also, as noted, plop equally well, along with their big brother MaxisRock2, in "game" water.

Next, we'll judiciously plop one of the newest additions to the Mayor Mode ploppables- Logs!

That's right, fallen timber.  Boards-to-be.  Super-size firewood.

I won't even pretend you've already downloaded this one.

Go to

https://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?id=15796

You'll find there the BSC CP PropPack Vol02 uploaded by cycledogg.  He, jeronij, and a few others will get their very own 3RR update dedicated to them (if I live that long- at the rate I'm going here, SC6 will be out by the time I complete Update 12.

Unzipping BSC CP PropPack Vol02 to your plugins folder gives you this new choice on your Plant Flora submenu.

Here goes...

...Whoa, changed angles on you there, eh?  Anything to keep you awake.

We'll plop just a few of these.  They seem to come in bunches, mainly of two and three logs.

They're pretty subtle when used in moderation, but I think they are tremendously effective, as they are so unique, yet so natural-looking.  They can also be placed in "game" water, and I find it really effective to place them partly on and partly off shore of larger rivers just every so often.

Let's hit [ Ctrl ][ S ] for grins, eh?  I know you've been doing it all along, but just in case...

We'll next plop a few "game" bushes.  These come with jeronij's  Plopable Maxis Props, which you DL'd a bit ago if you didn't have them already.

They're not hard to find in the Plant Flora submenu, as the name is a dead giveaway.

Mouse at the ready....go!

These plop really easily- you have to be careful to avoid placing "strings" of them.  Left-click while you move your mouse in the general area you want them, but use a little self-restraint, willya?

The won't take root in water.

I'm going to bag it for the night, folks.  Long day tomorrow in a trial- I representing a little old lady whose plumber decided to invite his entire extended family for the weekend as he worked on a repair in my client's summer rental cabin- she'd foolishly given him the key- and then decided he enjoyed the job so much he made further repairs (complete with family) over the next three weekends.  Sheesh, what do some people think they're doing?

We'll continue this on Friday evening or over the weekend.

Before I go, though...

Mark (Pixelrage): I broke my promise (sorry, very sorry) and didn't make it to your question tonight.  You may want to check your PM mailbox early tomorrow.  You have to promise me, though, you'll check back here anyway.

And, of course

Sign images are from the Manual of Traffic Signs, by Richard C. Moeur.

EDIT:  (9/7/06)  Moved pics to ImageShack

[thetryer 0]

can you help me? i wanted to know if you could send me the file for that....."village battery" power station you did a piece on....that looks pretty handy.....i would appreiciate it...thanks

[Darmok 34]

Hnnn.... **sounds of scraping** hunnnhhh...

**weird plopping sound**

Sorry there had to uglue my eyes from the screen!

Good info in this one too...

For Thetryer

you'll find what you look for here : (the power shed is part of that set)

Nexis Mini Utilities Set Two by mrbisonm

I hope you don't mind me meddling in your CJ David,

I was just passin by and thought I could help.

Take care!

[bat 6]

Great update!

bat

[GMT 389]

great tutorial, tho it looks like some pics are missing...

waiting for more!

[dedgren 830]

Torben (GMT - Greater Columbia River):

I "flushed" and reloaded after I saw your post, and used Firefox.  3RR seemed to be working fine for me, anyway.  Is anyone else having this problem? Leaving for trial, so will have to address it tonight if there are issues.

Thanks for letting me know.

David

[Daddy-O 1]

Thanks for showing me the land bridges. Now why can't I find "Rain Mod" on the STEX?

[ElBarto92 7]

Brilliant, as always, David! I haven't been on ST in a long while (have been a little caught up with RL and my new favorite website, isotown.net), and the amount of information I missed was just overwhelming.. don't know how you do it. Anyway, keep on truckin,' and good luck with that trial, too .

[georgec5614 0]

Hi,

I am new to SC4, and I want to give you a big THANKS for the effort you put in creating the tutorials for this CJ. It has been a great find! I will be trying to put your teaching to use soon as I really start to get away from the 'vanilla' games I have been playing till finding this site. Someone had given me a copy of SC4 Deluxe/Rush Hour a couple of years ago and I had some fun with it, but could never really figure out how to get it to do what I wanted. Now that I know I am going to re-install and get to work!

I have one question that you may be able to answer. At the beginning of the CJ you showed the organization of your Plugins folder. I was wondering how you know which plugins need to be loaded first, and which have to be loaded last. Is there a list somewhere?

[Pixelrage 34]

dedgren: Thanks for answering my question! I didn't have that pack installed. I think that's the one that needed several dependencies that I did not have, but now the problem is solved

[Tommy_Vercetti3 3]

The landscape is so cool. That little bridge even looks cool with the rocks and the logs. Thanks for that tutorial. Looks good.

Good work.

[dedgren 830]

Houston, we have a problem...quote>

I woke up this morning planning to post the concluding sections of Update 10.  However, I've run up against yet another file that I took for granted was generally available somewhere on ST: jeronij's" jrn WaterFlora-V1modijer," which allows you to incorporate those great underwater plants into your shorelines...

...you've never done that, have you?

Yeah, right.

...anyway, its not generally available.  It use to be on the Make your favourite tree a plopable !!! topic, but the links there are all, since ST5.0, dead. 

I wrote jeronij a PM.  He's written me back, and I'll be following up on the situation during the day today.  I think things will work out, but I don't want to continue the surface water tutorial until I'm sure everyone can get the files I use.

So, in the meantime...here's Shameless Eye Candy No. 3.
____________________________________________________

The 3RR heliputer is back out of the hangar, gassed up, and ready to scout out a section of the upper Roaring Fork of the Grand River in one of the as yet unnamed eastern townships.  Here's a high altitude shot of the area we'll be flying over.

#1

The Roaring Fork enters the area at the bottom left, continues along the northern boundary of the township, and, after a large S-bend, exits the township to the north just short of the eastern boundary.  It is one of the region's pre-eminent whitewater rafting rivers, as you'll see.  Wolf Creek, a tributary stream, flows into Roaring Fork from the south most of the way through the S-bend.  Interregion (I)-60 is the freeway running east-west south of the river.  You can see I-760, the outer east regional bypass heading south from its junction with I-60 along the top of the pic.

Another feature in this pic is the Quartz Creek Mine spur, which climbs into the Panther Hills south of the river, then crosses Roaring Fork on a steel arch bridge and leaves the region to the north on the way to the mine.

Here, through the magic of a little bit of trick photography, is the underlying terrain of the area.

#2

The Panther Hills are foothills of the Northern Range, which one sees in several of the northernmost townships of Three Rivers Region..

Dropping our altitude a bit, we see the start of flatwater at the western edge of the township.

#3

The road on the right of the pic is the old Panther Hills Stage Road, which has been paved only a short distance into the township.  It is little used since the construction of I-60 about 20 years ago during the freeway-building boom of the 80s.  There's a great deal of pressure from conservationists and outdoor enthusiasts to have the whole northern area of the township designated as wilderness, but development pressure from the areas to the west coupled with land that is both cheap and scenic will make doing so a fight.  As you can see, there is little access from the road to Roaring Fork in any event due to the steepness of the canyon walls.

A little further up the canyon.  The river, in some sections, is only a few yards wide here.

#4

We'll drop the heliputer a bit further into the canyon...

...careful...

#5

There are almost continuous rapids here, but the stretch is not near as rocky as the upper river.  Cliffs rise straight from the river's edge.  No take-outs for your raft here...

A little further upstream, Roaring Fork broadens.  The rapids continue, though, and many rocks just under the surface challenge even the most experienced river runners. 

#6

The river again narrows...

#7

...and the cliffs rise ever higher.

Heading further upstream, we reach the gigantic arch of the Quartz Creek Mine spur RR bridge.  The rail line was laid up to the mine in the 60s when the large, pure deposits of upsidasium there were inadvertantly discovered by Professor B. Moose to be of almost incalculable national security value.  Unfortunately the program was cancelled later that decade...

#8

Above the RR bridge, the river again narrows.  The current here is quite swift, and there are Class 5 stretches of whitewater through here.

#9

Inexperience has killed several river runners in this area.  On the other hand, it has been run at least once by some unnamed fool in an open canoe.

A ways past the bridge, we reach the bottom of the S-bend.  The flatwater stretch here along with a relatively level north side shore at the base of the cliffs makes this a popular overnight camping area for rafters.

#10

Further up the S-bend, the heliputer reaches the outlet of Wolf Creek, which descends to the Roaring Fork through Wolf Creek Canyon, which is unrunnable.

#11

Another shot of this area.

Hey, there's still some gas in the tank...lets take a short detour and fly up the creek...

#12

...after the break.  Back in a while.

EDIT:  (9/7/06)  Moved pics toImageShack

[jacqulina 162]

awesome updates i love how you have planned your cj and lovely pics

[Yoman3 5]

Holy crap taht update was good looked like yellowstone. LOved the bridge and the creek part!!!!!

So could I also have this pack taht gives you alge?

[dedgren 830]

Break's over!

When we last left the 3RR heliputer, it was suspended in cyberspace a few hundred feet over the outlet of Wolf Creek into the Roaring Fork of the Grand River.  Let's rejoin that flight, once again in progress...

#13

Turning to the south....

#14

We look up into Wolf Creek Canyon.  As noted, it is unrunnable, with frequent drops over falls of 15 and 20 feet.

The floor of the canyon rises quickly .

#15

A short ways on, we reach the head of the canyon.  Wolf Creek becomes a countryside stream from this point, running through a shallow swale for several miles.

#16

Let's climb a few hundred feet and take a look at this overall area.

#17

There the other end of the Panther Hills Stage Road, which winds south along the creek to its end on Regional Trunk Road (RTR) 28, which replaced the Stage Road in the 20's and was in turn supplanted by I-60 about a half-century later.

Ahhhh...progress. 

Here's where Wolf Creek flows under I-60 and RTR-28. 

#18

I'm not real happy with the appearance of either of these "game" bridges, and they likely will be replaced at some future point.

Gaining some altitude once again, we look down at the upper creek.

#19

Wolf Creek forks here into two small streams that aren't named.  Rumor has it that the local kids know just where to fish in this area.

Another view of the area upstream of the forks.

#20

We'll gain some altitude and turn back to the north and Roaring Fork.  One last look at the Wolf Creek headwaters...

#21

...and another trick pic to show you the underlying terrain.

#22

Note the railroad embankment at the upper right hand corner.  That's the spur line up to Quartz Creek Mine rising into the Panther Hills.

[ n. b.  The artifact trees are cycledogg's redwoods - they appear before most other stuff when SC4 refreshes.   I'll be removing them when I detail the rest of this area.  ]

So here we are back over the S-bend, way up in the air...

#23

...hey, you...yeah, you...drivin' this heliputer- I'm going to need an airsick bag if you don't take us down a bit..

#24

...oh man!  Too late.  Did you have to make that turn like that?

...wipes face on sleeve...

Who said this CJ didn't have everything?quote>

That's better.  Just upstream from the outlet of Wolf Creek, large rapids are once again encountered on Roaring Fork, which is much shallower this far upriver.

#25


These are no day at the beach to run- but camp and a blazing fire, as we've seen, is not that far ahead.

The rapids continue, and...

#26

...as Roaring Fork leaves the township to the north, a stretch of flatwater marks the boundary.  Upriver from here is pretty wild, and we'll take a look at the put-in point in a future eye candy post.

#27

As we rise out of the canyon and turn back to the west, we get a good view of where I-60 and I-760 diverge.

#28


One last closer look at this interchange from the heliputer and...

#29


...we're outta here.

Later!

EDIT:  (9/7/06)  Moved pics to ImageShack

[mightygoose 92]

same post twice in the same post??

[hamsterTK 93]

holy spacepope! you really put a lot of detail into the natural enviroment. You fill my head with ideas thats going to cause my plugins folder to explode because of all the cool things i saw that im going to go download right now

[dedgren 830]

Ooooops...fixed!

[jasperdeman.nl 1]

Superb updates! It is all looking beautifull!

I can learn alot from your stuff Keep it up!

[mattb325 28,880]

Wow - not only great terraforming skills, but you actually show us the tricks, so 'we can try this at home'...! Excellent!

[cinnebar 0]

David, that's not shameless eye candy but eye popping and mouth drooling.  You've proven yet again how much is possible one can do in this fantastic game if one just simply has the patience and tenacity to work it out.

I'm very impressed and amazed with your excellent tutorial and the skills you have to not only show but tell simply and beautifully!  It's not eye candy at all!  Keep up the great work.

[Rayden 7]

Hey David, beautiful update this was. You really have the touch for landscaping.

[psteverific 8]

Wow... that is trully jaw-dropping work right there... I've been scrolling up and down for some time just now trying to take it all in.

You've really shown me a whole new way to look at smaller streams and creeks, something that I've always kind of ignored in the past.

I'm actually anxious to add some creeks and streams into my regions now... thank you for that.

I look forward to your next update.

psteve

[sandrasim1 2]

Originally posted by: cinnebar David, that's not shameless eye candy but eye popping and mouth drooling.  You've proven yet again how much is possible one can do in this fantastic game if one just simply has the patience and tenacity to work it out.

I'm very impressed and amazed with your excellent tutorial and the skills you have to not only show but tell simply and beautifully!  It's not eye candy at all!  Keep up the great work.

quote>

 Couldn't have said it better myself.

[Darmok 34]

Upsidasium! 

That's it, just for that the update was worth it!

And I guess that's the ingredient missing in the construction of the highway

bridge in pic No 18,  I ran into the same problem when trying to correct a

bridge in Bruinen Fjord, it always looked like it was never aligned correctly, and I tought that it was because of my setup.

Huuh! Maaan! you had to wipe it with your sleeve! Shoulda used the sicksak!

On a more serious note, seeing how in pic. 21 and 22 you made your creeks gradually "fade out" if I may say so, can I ask if you have found a way to make them "disapear" or simply go underground, I've experimented a bit with it (seeing how you worked I've decided to try), look at the pic below, and so far it's the only way I've found to try to "hide" the source.

Where you see the rocks at the end of the creek, the terrain has a very steep slope.

Have you any other technique you could share?

Anyhow, those were hellacious (thanks Mr Thesaurus) updates.

Oh BTW, how the Lady vs Plumber, case went?

Take care