Jade Bight 16: Zetel
The Jade Bight 16:
Zetel
Thank you for dropping in on yet another installment of The Jade Bight! I'm very happy to see we've developed a bit of a following among the members, and I'm quite pleased you seem to be enjoying it. We do get quite a few views, but I've noticed the feedback has dropped off. I had hoped we would receive more advice and possibly a few suggestions as to how to proceed with the region. I do, of course, have definite ideas for future development -- but a tad of wild inspiration would not go amiss. I even tried (out of desperation) a few trivia facts to inspire some ambitious soul to comment -- with no result.
But that is neither here nor there.
After enjoying the equestrian delights of Nordholz, we board a southbound train and travel in first class comfort the few miles to the quiet little village of Zetel --
ZETEL:
VILLAGE DETAIL:
Zetel is another of the small "service" maps of the region and, as such, the village offers a source of power and provides trash removal services for it's larger neighbors. Zetel is also situated between the major port facilities of Emden and Wilhelmshaven and carries the main transportation lines linking the two cities. In addition to highway and rail links, Zetel has continued to expand on both sides of a third main transport artery -- The Ems-Jade Ship Canal. The canal was finished early in the last century and was designed to provide a safe water transport route inland of the North Sea while stimulating growth and commerce in the low country regions. The small river port on the east end of the village, combined with the rail link, provided the stimulus to bring industry and progress to the sleepy hamlet. To my knowledge, no one has yet portrayed a major ship canal in a game map (at least not one spanning more than a single map).
ADMINISTRATIVE DISTRICT:
Here you see all of the administrative needs of the village gathered together in a central location and linked by a nice park system -- not too fancy, but well-kept. Once again, "Mattb325" has provided us with a "council Chamber" (Warringah) to serve as a City Hall. These "chambers" are absolutely ideal to use on the small maps or even in local neighborhoods of the larger maps. They are just big enough to look "administrative" while not being overly ostentatious for a small town.
TRANSPORT SYSTEM:
Passenger
Freight
The passenger station is located just off the main highway on the road into town. It is fronted by a large parking area shared by the business district. I thought it a nice way to "double-purpose" the, more or less, wasted spaces of parking. I just finished reading an article discussing the study of parking in large cities as well as the migration of "millennials" to cities. It predicts that even as "millennials" move in from the suburbs, at least 1/3 of all parking in major cities will be removed or re-purposed. The study finds that "millennials" do not like to own cars and will soon change social driving habits. Imagine that !!
The freight station is a combination of download (for the freight capacity) and filler lots, some of which have been re-purposed for railroad use.
MAIN BUSINESS DISTRICT:
CERULEAN PARK DETAIL:
CANAL STREET:
Here we have a shot of Canal Street. (Where else -- ? Alongside the canal!) Notice the park frontage along the ship canal, as well as park or wooded areas on either side. It was supposed to be some of that high-dollar real estate along the water, but don't look for mansions in small towns or villages. The $$$ wealth residential from Maxis, with a few custom download lots to add a bit of variety will do nicely for up-scale neighborhoods. Mansions should be reserved for that "One Percent" we hear so much about.
WEST END:
No -- it's not the London Theater District. But it is the west end of the village with a little business goin' on and a cozy little residential area.
SOUTH SIDE POWER STATION:
Pretty much everything was supposed to be on the north side of the canal, but as time went on, it became apparent that the village would have to sprawl to the south bank.
For the purists among you -- there are bridges across the canal to the west and east of Zetel. It was not deemed necessary -- or even desireable -- to construct a large and ugly bridge in such a picturesque little village.
SOUTH SIDE 01:
We have provided the necessary amenities to the south bank -- fire services, employment, etc. And an attempt was made to use the wide, sweeping NAM curves to fill up some of the space without making it look too systematic.
SOUTH SIDE 02:
I have attempted to portray a wooded area, somewhat sparsely populated, not heavily built-up, and not crowding the banks of the ship canal. After studying many pictures of German canals, especially the Kiel Canal, it was obvious the canals were largely bordered by rural areas -- wooded, farm fields, or the occasional business or home. Not much industry -- and certainly none outside a large city.
Here we have a small, outdoor cafe perched on the bank of the ship canal. (Front view.) It provides a sunny, open area where locals might spend a Saturday afternoon over a good meal while watching the ships go by. It is typical of several I found in pictures. There is also parkland along the canal as well as "natural" areas. And I draw your attention to the path running through the woods between the apartments and the cafe. Show me a neighborhood cafe without a path through the woods, and I'll show you a Health Department violation!
SOUTH SIDE 03:
Yet another shot of a small neighborhood on the edge of town -- the path leads to the park and nature spaces along the canal.
FANCY SOUTH SIDE PARK:
The pictures I studied turned up several examples of parks and over-look spots that were created during the construction of the ship canal -- some with fairly impressive statues. This was supposed to be another high-dollar housing area with a fine park, but the homes just never developed (probably because they were isolated on the south bank).
NORTH SIDE COFFEE SHOP:
This is a coffee shop on the north side of the ship canal. It is easily reached from the heart of the village, as well as being conveniently linked to the "ritzy" Canal Street neighborhood by the park.
NEXIS TRUCK MANUFACTURING:
I wanted a single large factory to be the industrial focus of the village, and hit on this one. It was compact, the right size, and I was planning to use it in another map -- so why not test it here? AND -- when I plopped it down, I discovered this thing has got to hold the RECORD for re-lotting !! I swear it has THE MOST prop buildings and pieces "mashed and pushed" together to make a single complex that actually looks like something ! (lol - lol) You could run a raffle contest to guess how many structural props are combined on this lot! 
RIVER PORT:
The Ems-Jade Ship Canal is wide enough for two ocean-going vessels to pass one another without difficulty. It is not wide enough for large vessels to change direction (reverse course). When there are serious accidents, the ship's captain will endeavor to move his vessel against and parallel to the bank. If they fail to do so, it is possible the vessel will swing beam-on and block the entire channel.
The in-game canal was made wide enough to simulate the reality. Two large ocean-going ships can pass one another -- with care -- but the ship canal is not wide enough for anything else. The PEG scows, however, are the perfect size for use in the ship canal. The directional turns in the canal have mostly been eliminated from the map design, but will be handled a bit differently on the Wilhelmshaven map.
The small river port was designed to take advantage of water transport. No small village on a canal would be without a commercial landing of some sort. Since Zetel is a small village, the port is very small. It was an idea to see what could be done with the available game lots and a few custom re-lots. I will expand this theme a bit when I get around to making maps with big rivers to work on. An inland city on a major river will have to have major river-born commerce and a port system to go with it.
That concludes this week's journey of exploration through The Jade Bight. I do hope you've enjoyed this little trip.
All advice and comments are most welcome (except when complaining about my fetish for obelisks 
- lol-lol). And if you've got an idea for me to work with -- don't be bashful about saying something. The more the merrier !!
With the publication of this installment, I will be going on a brief hiatus. I have been working on some special projects for a friend, and this has cut back my time spent actually building a city. The major port of Emden is the current work in progress, and it has a lot of details to be worked out. The fact that I gave up tobacco after 50 years seems to have hurt my productivity as well. I think nicotine was my version of "speed" !
I don't know how long this is going to take, and I may very well wind up publishing Emden in "pieces" just to "keep my hand in", so to speak.
Coming soon ---
EMDEN
-
7
17 Comments
Recommended Comments
Sign In or register to comment...
To comment in reply, you must be a community member
Sign In
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In NowCreate an Account
Sign up to join our friendly community. It's easy!
Register a New Account