To set things straight before I go further, I'll have to explain how I got here. Around 2005, I happened to happen upon a copy of Simcity 4, the base game, without Rush Hour. Naturally, and like any kid does, I bought it and invested hours > days > weeks into it having so much fun, before I realised all my cities were broke and abandoned. Damn. Anyway, I also happened to lose that copy a few years later. The chain of events that followed lead me to buy the Deluxe Edition (I'm sure it was divine intervention). Since that time, I've had periods of intense interest in the game followed by long hiatuses due to boredom. Over the years, some of the biggest enthusiasm killers have been sites like your very own Simtropolis. I'd be going so well, 25k people and a few traffic problems, so I'd google 'SimCity 4 traffic problems' and see all the traffic solutions avaliable.... to cities with 900k+ Sims. Cya Simcity!

It wasn't until I think last year that I actually found out what custom content was. I downloaded the NAM and a whole bunch of other stuff and boom > enthusiasm upgrade. For a while. That died off eventually though too, there's too much stuff and the dependancies! There's a nack to custom content and I'm getting the hang of it. I don't have the best internet/computers though, so things are slow paced.

My expirence with Simcity over the years has kinda been like the RCI demand graph, with different aspects effecting my interest at different times. I've arrived at one of my enthusiasm periods again, I downloaded some more stuff and after a few days I'd actually build up a city of a few hundred thousand sims. I thought I might try my hand at City Journaling in an attempt to sustain my enthusiasm. A boy can hope. 'Natural Growth' of course has been implanted in my mind for ages now, courtesy of CSGdesign's Natural Growth Journal. Fair warning - I'm not a pro and I don't have extensive custom content. The detail won't be great and I'm not the best story teller. You get that, though. As I was writing this entry, an unintentional metaphor began to form. The metaphor of course is about myself and you guys, the Simcity community who keep the game alive and keep making so much stuff to download I don't even know how to look for it. If you took the time to read this, and you take the time to read the actual CJ entry below this, you'll see the metaphor. I'm not sure if it's actually that funny, but it made me chuckle when I realised. Oh, the irony.

So without further ado, welcome to Khaleen!

Miles away from the nearest loggers cabin or roadside inn lies Khaleen, situated deep within a dense woods. With a population of about 350 people (give or take a Sim), Khaleen isn’t such a bad place to live. Rather, it’s the kind of place you’d be destined to spend your entire life, should you happen to be unfortunate enough to be born within the vicinity.

At it’s bustling center, Khaleen boasts a small elementary school and a local library. There’s also a grocery store, a clothes boutique, a gun store, and a water tower to boot - whats not to love?

----- Continued in the next post. I can't attatch all the pictures? Huh. -----