city89's City Journal

Cool stadium

This might sound a little harsh but this is a very rough presentation. If you're going to present in a city journal perhaps one should expect such. So, first off, you have significant duplication, abandoned buildings and frankly there isn't a whole lot cohesion. There's potential, but I can't give rep for such a presentation...

Agree that it doesn´t have the refinement and style. Abbandoned buildings are a No, everything must be fresh and smooth. Fifth edition of the ever CJ your still have to learn the basic,s like turning of the grid. Try to cover the story over the whole CJ not all at the top only, As mentioned it´s still only the fifth editon so there´s still room for improvement !

thanks for the in put

Cool stadium

thank you

Agree that it doesn´t have the refinement and style. Abbandoned buildings are a No, everything must be fresh and smooth. Fifth edition of the ever CJ your still have to learn the basic,s like turning of the grid. Try to cover the story over the whole CJ not all at the top only, As mentioned it´s still only the fifth editon so there´s still room for improvement !

thank you

This might sound a little harsh but this is a very rough presentation. If you're going to present in a city journal perhaps one should expect such. So, first off, you have significant duplication, abandoned buildings and frankly there isn't a whole lot cohesion. There's potential, but I can't give rep for such a presentation...

how do i stop that from happening

Cool stadium

thank you

Agree that it doesn´t have the refinement and style. Abbandoned buildings are a No, everything must be fresh and smooth. Fifth edition of the ever CJ your still have to learn the basic,s like turning of the grid. Try to cover the story over the whole CJ not all at the top only, As mentioned it´s still only the fifth editon so there´s still room for improvement !

thank you

This might sound a little harsh but this is a very rough presentation. If you're going to present in a city journal perhaps one should expect such. So, first off, you have significant duplication, abandoned buildings and frankly there isn't a whole lot cohesion. There's potential, but I can't give rep for such a presentation...

how do i stop that from happening

Quite honestly, does the abandoned building problem matter? Not all cities are perfect. Some CJs are about the perfect city and the best outcome you can have for SC4 and that's fair enough. Others are about dilapidated cities, each with their myriads of problems and issues, planned as imperfect perfections, and should be celebrated as such.

The one thing that does need fixing would be the different textures on the highways, and maybe the residential arrows (I don't remember if they can be removed in SC4) but that's pretty much it. It is not a perfect CJ, but it's trying.

Having said that, here are a few answers.

To fix duplication, the easiest thing is simply to download more mods. You may also want to hand-delete some of the identical buildings that grow in hopes something else grows instead. You may want to re-draw each of the lots so that a single 4x4 tile becomes several 2x2 tiles. This may let some smaller buildings time to develop, and give the city a more realistic overall feeling. 

Look at other CJs, and at general articles on the internet about city planning. Try to draw inspiration from those theories and how cities that inspire you are built. My SC4 CJ (that I have given up, sadly, despite its having far more views than my current CJ) was about 1950s towns developing into something bigger - http://community.simtropolis.com/journals/journal/4173-the-commonwealth-of-traebia/.

The big picture was actually just to let the towns develop, without building too much in advance, but I had to micromanage several parts of the region to make them feel more than just a bunch of buildings growing together. To some extent this is what I do in my CSL CJ. However, some cities ARE just a cluster of places put together - though I would agree that giving a more coherent view may work better - perhaps by thinking of how the town would have realistically been built, or even better, building it as you go. It can be a grid city, so long you think of the underlying logic behind its construction.

Abandoned buildings can become vacant for a million reasons, and you must ask whether you want to show dilapidation or not. Abandoned buildings are fine, even high rises. My new home town of Leicester has a high rise tower that has remained vacant for years and is not going to be very easily put back into service. In the closer suburbs, dilapidation might even be expected as people moved to the suburbs and the buildings in the closer suburbs used to be lower-class housing districts in the first place. If your city is undergoing economic stresses, they may hint at the precarious state of the overall finances, which if you want to build a city (and not just build a save file) may even be wanted. You can do updates about the slums and even download lots that enhance this darker side of every town.

A very good way to make a city feel more realistic and alive is to give names to buildings, bridges, etc. Naming things is a way to make a work of literature feel more immediate and real, and toponymy goes a long way. Even better, you can put descriptions and explain the history behind pictures, either metadiegetically, exposition, or narration.

Still, if you do not want to go for a perfect game, and I highly suggest you don't go for perfect cities, use this logic and design flaws of your own. Not all traffic has to be smooth - most cities in the real world are usually defined by traffic jams after all.

Some people make CJs about the game. Others make CJs about cities. Yours has potential to be one or the other, but remember : not everything has to be fresh and smooth if you choose it does not fit your style.

  Edited August 19, 2015 by Linoa06  

Cool stadium

thank you

Agree that it doesn´t have the refinement and style. Abbandoned buildings are a No, everything must be fresh and smooth. Fifth edition of the ever CJ your still have to learn the basic,s like turning of the grid. Try to cover the story over the whole CJ not all at the top only, As mentioned it´s still only the fifth editon so there´s still room for improvement !

thank you

This might sound a little harsh but this is a very rough presentation. If you're going to present in a city journal perhaps one should expect such. So, first off, you have significant duplication, abandoned buildings and frankly there isn't a whole lot cohesion. There's potential, but I can't give rep for such a presentation...

how do i stop that from happening

Quite honestly, does the abandoned building problem matter? Not all cities are perfect. Some CJs are about the perfect city and the best outcome you can have for SC4 and that's fair enough. Others are about dilapidated cities, each with their myriads of problems and issues, planned as imperfect perfections, and should be celebrated as such.

The one thing that does need fixing would be the different textures on the highways, and maybe the residential arrows (I don't remember if they can be removed in SC4) but that's pretty much it. It is not a perfect CJ, but it's trying.

Having said that, here are a few answers.

To fix duplication, the easiest thing is simply to download more mods. You may also want to hand-delete some of the identical buildings that grow in hopes something else grows instead. You may want to re-draw each of the lots so that a single 4x4 tile becomes several 2x2 tiles. This may let some smaller buildings time to develop, and give the city a more realistic overall feeling. 

Look at other CJs, and at general articles on the internet about city planning. Try to draw inspiration from those theories and how cities that inspire you are built. My SC4 CJ (that I have given up, sadly, despite its having far more views than my current CJ) was about 1950s towns developing into something bigger - http://community.simtropolis.com/journals/journal/4173-the-commonwealth-of-traebia/.

The big picture was actually just to let the towns develop, without building too much in advance, but I had to micromanage several parts of the region to make them feel more than just a bunch of buildings growing together. To some extent this is what I do in my CSL CJ. However, some cities ARE just a cluster of places put together - though I would agree that giving a more coherent view may work better - perhaps by thinking of how the town would have realistically been built, or even better, building it as you go. It can be a grid city, so long you think of the underlying logic behind its construction.

Abandoned buildings can become vacant for a million reasons, and you must ask whether you want to show dilapidation or not. Abandoned buildings are fine, even high rises. My new home town of Leicester has a high rise tower that has remained vacant for years and is not going to be very easily put back into service. In the closer suburbs, dilapidation might even be expected as people moved to the suburbs and the buildings in the closer suburbs used to be lower-class housing districts in the first place. If your city is undergoing economic stresses, they may hint at the precarious state of the overall finances, which if you want to build a city (and not just build a save file) may even be wanted. You can do updates about the slums and even download lots that enhance this darker side of every town.

A very good way to make a city feel more realistic and alive is to give names to buildings, bridges, etc. Naming things is a way to make a work of literature feel more immediate and real, and toponymy goes a long way. Even better, you can put descriptions and explain the history behind pictures, either metadiegetically, exposition, or narration.

Still, if you do not want to go for a perfect game, and I highly suggest you don't go for perfect cities, use this logic and design flaws of your own. Not all traffic has to be smooth - most cities in the real world are usually defined by traffic jams after all.

Some people make CJs about the game. Others make CJs about cities. Yours has potential to be one or the other, but remember : not everything has to be fresh and smooth if you choose it does not fit your style.

Well, let's get one thing off the table; these are opinions, and as people respond and comment (as they so desire to) I am inclined to do the same.  To me, abandonment does matter. Perfect? What's perfect? I am not sure there is any definitive way to determine what constitutes a perfect city. I made the comment I did and stand by it, one may receive both criticism and compliment here....

  Edited August 20, 2015 by gviper  

Exactly. Matter of opinion. You gave yours, I gave mine, even though none of us are entitled to anything.  (funny how opinions work, huh?)

Not something to get worked up over really.

Those are two different conceptions as I clearly said (that's what juxtaposition and non-restriction are about), different paths for the OP to choose from, regardless of personal opinions.  This is a discussion, not a debate, there is no need to "put things over the table", no reason to see a personal attack where none was even suggested. 

 

  Edited August 20, 2015 by Linoa06  

Agree that it doesn´t have the refinement and style. Abbandoned buildings are a No, everything must be fresh and smooth. Fifth edition of the ever CJ your still have to learn the basic,s like turning of the grid. Try to cover the story over the whole CJ not all at the top only, As mentioned it´s still only the fifth editon so there´s still room for improvement !

Exactly. Matter of opinion. You gave yours, I gave mine, even though none of us are entitled to anything.  (funny how opinions work, huh?)

Not something to get worked up over really.

Those are two different conceptions as I clearly said (that's what juxtaposition and non-restriction are about), different paths for the OP to choose from, regardless of personal opinions.  This is a discussion, not a debate, there is no need to "put things over the table", no reason to see a personal attack where none was even suggested. 

 

Everyone is entitled to it´s personal style or taste or way of expresion ! Eye catching pictures with the grid turned of by the G key do look more inviting, if one likes abbandoned or repetative buildings it´s a personal taste. Spartan style with the maxis only mods is a choice or necesity if the NAM and RHW are to difficult handel. Some stay with their choices, some change them, it´s all up to what one´´s likes !

Cool stadium

thank you

Agree that it doesn´t have the refinement and style. Abbandoned buildings are a No, everything must be fresh and smooth. Fifth edition of the ever CJ your still have to learn the basic,s like turning of the grid. Try to cover the story over the whole CJ not all at the top only, As mentioned it´s still only the fifth editon so there´s still room for improvement !

thank you

This might sound a little harsh but this is a very rough presentation. If you're going to present in a city journal perhaps one should expect such. So, first off, you have significant duplication, abandoned buildings and frankly there isn't a whole lot cohesion. There's potential, but I can't give rep for such a presentation...

how do i stop that from happening

Quite honestly, does the abandoned building problem matter? Not all cities are perfect. Some CJs are about the perfect city and the best outcome you can have for SC4 and that's fair enough. Others are about dilapidated cities, each with their myriads of problems and issues, planned as imperfect perfections, and should be celebrated as such.

The one thing that does need fixing would be the different textures on the highways, and maybe the residential arrows (I don't remember if they can be removed in SC4) but that's pretty much it. It is not a perfect CJ, but it's trying.

Having said that, here are a few answers.

To fix duplication, the easiest thing is simply to download more mods. You may also want to hand-delete some of the identical buildings that grow in hopes something else grows instead. You may want to re-draw each of the lots so that a single 4x4 tile becomes several 2x2 tiles. This may let some smaller buildings time to develop, and give the city a more realistic overall feeling. 

Look at other CJs, and at general articles on the internet about city planning. Try to draw inspiration from those theories and how cities that inspire you are built. My SC4 CJ (that I have given up, sadly, despite its having far more views than my current CJ) was about 1950s towns developing into something bigger - http://community.simtropolis.com/journals/journal/4173-the-commonwealth-of-traebia/.

The big picture was actually just to let the towns develop, without building too much in advance, but I had to micromanage several parts of the region to make them feel more than just a bunch of buildings growing together. To some extent this is what I do in my CSL CJ. However, some cities ARE just a cluster of places put together - though I would agree that giving a more coherent view may work better - perhaps by thinking of how the town would have realistically been built, or even better, building it as you go. It can be a grid city, so long you think of the underlying logic behind its construction.

Abandoned buildings can become vacant for a million reasons, and you must ask whether you want to show dilapidation or not. Abandoned buildings are fine, even high rises. My new home town of Leicester has a high rise tower that has remained vacant for years and is not going to be very easily put back into service. In the closer suburbs, dilapidation might even be expected as people moved to the suburbs and the buildings in the closer suburbs used to be lower-class housing districts in the first place. If your city is undergoing economic stresses, they may hint at the precarious state of the overall finances, which if you want to build a city (and not just build a save file) may even be wanted. You can do updates about the slums and even download lots that enhance this darker side of every town.

A very good way to make a city feel more realistic and alive is to give names to buildings, bridges, etc. Naming things is a way to make a work of literature feel more immediate and real, and toponymy goes a long way. Even better, you can put descriptions and explain the history behind pictures, either metadiegetically, exposition, or narration.

Still, if you do not want to go for a perfect game, and I highly suggest you don't go for perfect cities, use this logic and design flaws of your own. Not all traffic has to be smooth - most cities in the real world are usually defined by traffic jams after all.

Some people make CJs about the game. Others make CJs about cities. Yours has potential to be one or the other, but remember : not everything has to be fresh and smooth if you choose it does not fit your style.

thank u so much and god bless u and your cities

Exactly. Matter of opinion. You gave yours, I gave mine, even though none of us are entitled to anything.  (funny how opinions work, huh?)

Not something to get worked up over really.

Those are two different conceptions as I clearly said (that's what juxtaposition and non-restriction are about), different paths for the OP to choose from, regardless of personal opinions.  This is a discussion, not a debate, there is no need to "put things over the table", no reason to see a personal attack where none was even suggested. 

 

Didn't get worked up at all, but your initial comment deserved a response since it was presented as a bit of an indictment against what I said when you wrote: "does abandonment really matter?"