Pretoria Metropolitan Area

Argh, that last mosaic just finished me.  And to answer the initial question : no, there can never be enough tree cover !:-)) as long as the trees are varied in types and colors and go with the assumed latitude & longitude of the region... which is the case here. That little Woodside neighbourhood is a delight. I'll be sad to leave Dresden.

Question : what are those parkings with no lines but a nice stony grey texture I see popping up in CJs ? OK, the first one seems to go with the Holy grace Church, but the second one (the pict. right after that one) and the third & fourth one (Jamieson School and  Small Industrial Park pictures) ? That's definitely not the IRM mod nor Paeng IND mod either. Is it an auto-lot ? If not, how-where can I get it ? (she asked, greedily)

Amazing amount of detail as usual! The amount of thought you put into your cities is just astounding.

If you don't mind my asking, do you know where you got that police station in image 13 and that brown-roofed warehouse on the left side of image 14?

I think this is your best work that I have seen. Very nicely done. Can i ask: The relots that you have done of the IRM filler peices (the glass version instead of the concrete). Can you tell me how to do this? I know how to use the LE to change base textures, but I have only ever done this to replace the file I am modifying, and the IRM filler peices with the concrete are great, so I want to edit them and save as a new lot. Is it as straightforward as just giving it a new file name or do I need to edit other things so the new lot appears properly in the menu?

Woah long question - sorry, if there is a tutorial for that, and a tutorial for making a lot with jobs into a pure eye candy LM lot, i'd be a happy camper! (there are no tutorials for that as far as i can tell...) 

Fantastic update as always. I feel happy everytime that I see a new update from Dresden. I really like to watch all those pictures, almost every time I need to take a closer look to see all those details, such as tunnels, pathways, railways, bridges over highways and railways... I really like it.

I would like to say that... I hope some day you start a new region in a new region map, with a bit more of space and more shore zones, you could built a fantastic region !

 

ohh and I gave to you one "like", can I ask now for a water tower with the name of my region, SAITAMA ?

Greetings

1. Ever neighborhood should have that many trees, too many people cut them down

2. Wowie Batman, what a water tower, we should investigate this TMT Inc

3. Foot Paths plan and layout really like it

4. Mod for avenue curves filler grass you use?

5. FLUPS and tunnel work, and the I assume relotted transit enable peg park trail tunnel(if I got that right) Brilliant!

6. Mosaics - I mean at this point if you don't continue to give us more beautiful mosaics we will revolt or something jk I love mosaics and yours are always so detail filled they require being scrolled through slowly so they seem to go on forever.

There is no such thing as 'too much trees'

Lovelly pictures again. It's great to see your city has so much different faces.

edit: After viewing a second time, why is there people throwing toilet paper on trees ?

Some lovely suburbs, i like the greenness of it all, shame about the city, i have had issues before, but at least you have showcased so much of it on here. 

Suburb neighbourhoods, tiny space used upto the max for RHW,Rail and roads ! Bike and footpatn interconectivity very nice, well done !

  Trees are great and plentiful and can never have too many trees . great update , love all the details . It might take awhile to absorb all the amenities , but well worth it . Very well planned and even looks out for those that don't drive . Some RL developers and city planners should take notes from your entries . We need more stars to rate the cj entries , 10/10 

The work that you've done here is just breathtakingly fantastic. Keep it up!

Phew, you guys and gals are really making me work today on these replies But it's all good.
 

@tariely Agreed, as long as it's varied there can never be enough. It'll be sad to leave especially since this city had the most variety of zone types of all cities I've made so far. From highrise hubs to the sprawling suburbs, grungy industrial to posh neighborhoods, large interchanges to pristine parkland, sigh* Most of the other cities I've built and yet to cover are generally much more urban. There's a few cities on the north part of the region I've yet to make, so I think I'll try to replicate the same mix up there.

"she asked, greedily" lol love that It reminds me of a couple of fictional char like the Misaka clones or the Elcor from mass effect. No secret source this time The parking lots are indeed from the IRM mod(HT & D), just a simple relot with the wall's removed.

@MushyMushy Thanks! And sure np, that's actually why I figured it would be good to start numbering my images to make it easier for people to ask 
The police station can be found on the German website simcityKurier. The warehouse is also another one of Simgoobers creations found here https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=1141 The version seen in the CJ is relotted.

@MissVanleider Thank you! that's high praise indeed

My guess is there was tutorial but it's probably buried somewhere in the forums. I'm probably not the best person to ask since I don't know all the proper technical terms, but I'll still give it a try. Most of the time it's as simple as giving the lot a new name and it should appear in the same location of the menu as the original lot. However some lots just won't show up in the game using this procedure. Other times a relot of a file will replace the orginal lot even if you renamed it. I have no idea why these things happen, but when it does in order to relot those buildings you have to start off from scratch using the model file and make a completely new lot. However you don't have to worry about all that in this instance as I can confirm that there are no issues with relotting IRM filler pieces, the new lots you make will show up just fine in the game.

The only issue is that they will also have the same name in the in-game menu and if you plan on making several new lots from one lot(say 9 new lots for example) they will get randomly ordered within 10 spots on the menu. If you like to work with an organized menu things can get really jumbled up in a hurry. Simcity lot files have two different "exemplar files" in the lot file where all the information for a lot is stored. For anything that you can plop you don't actually need a "desc" file since that information is inside one of the "exemplar files" in the lot file itself. But for some reasons in growable lots the two are separate and a "desc" file is needed.

One of the "exemplar files" contains the lot information(data on which props are used in a lot, maximum slope the lot can build on before retaining wall show up, etc) and the other contains the building information(like capacity, flammability, power usage, pollution etc.) When you make a new lot and rename it you are changing name of the file which contains the lot information. This is the name the file goes by when using the lot editor but not the name it goes by in the game(why maxis why???) In order to change the name of the lot in the game you have to edit the "exemplar file" which contains the building information. To change this information you need a program like the ilives reader In that file you have to edit the "building name" but sometimes there is no building name, so then you have to change the exemplar name which otherwise wouldn't change anything. And in other cases you have to edit the "LTEXT file" to change the buildings name in the game. Could things get anymore convoluted? To properly change what order the files show up in the menu you have to edit either the "Item Order" of the "Plop Cost" and often both. Item order is usually the first means by which files are ordered and then items with the same item order will go by their plop cost with cheaper items appear first on the menu.

Basically it's not an easy thing to work with especially when you first start using these programs. But if your ok with not controlling the order or name of the new lots your making from the IRM filler pieces then all you have to do is edit and save them through the Lot editor.

@kelistmac Appreciate the comment, especially coming from someone who has the same kind of eye for little details as I do. And you just noted my regions biggest weakness, it's scale. This wasn't too much of an issue when the region was first made all those years ago but now with the ever evolving NAM and all the newer more realistic mods available, it's become a delicate balancing act trying to fit as many details as I can plus keeping the population and job level within a specific range while not making things feel too compact. I'm quite pleased with the suburban areas I've made but they are admittedly smaller than I'd like them to be and it's something I can't really change without completely changing the mountainous character of the region. A new region sounds tempting but it also sounds daunting considering how much time I already spent working on this one.

RE: the water tower - consider it done
Only question is how to deliver the product. Because of the custom nature of the file I'm not sure which is the best method. I could send the file over pm but if your not comfortable with that then I can upload it onto the exchange instead.
 

@philforhockey51 Thanks Phil but hey, don't you dig too deeply... there might be some skeletons in the closet! By the filler do you mean from image 27? The textures show up because I used the 45 degree FLEX curve and not the regular curve. It should be in the same menu item from NAM 34 "road curves" just two tabs below the regular 45 degree curve.

lol about the mosaics, it's become an unbreakable tradition and yup you got it, relotted and TE enabled peg park trails, form and function combined

@feyss TY for the regards, Dresden definitely has the most diversity of all my cites. I'm gonna miss it and it's going to be tough to replicate.And good point, definitely about time I enacted the "no toilet paper sale" ordinance. 

@tankmank Thanks and yeah it could of been much worse, thankfully the glitchiness is only happening now.

@kschmidt Glad you liked it

@raynev1 Thanks and agreed. Good thing is is most developers in my city(and I hope in others) are finally starting to get it and make more livable communities.

edit* Forgot to answer you question about retaining walls from the last entry. There many that I use, the stone looking ones are relots made using the prop walls found in @T Wrecks IRM I-M Filler set. I'm still working on new additions to the set but if T Wreaks is agreeable I could release my relots of them once completed. Though I'm contemplating the idea of updating my terrain mod again though, which would make many of those textures obsolete especially when used with the terrain grass for NAM mod. People have asked me where I found the concrete walls but I could never find the source. Thankfully someone did, you may have noticed already as it was recently posted on the 'can't find it thread' but here it isagain; http://hide-inoki.com/bbs/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?p=1112#1112 Again, relotted those with different texture combinations.

@Bipin Appreciate the comments.

Impressive! And some very pleasant looking neighborhoods. Are you trying to make me move there? It may just work!!

1. Agree on the trees. One can never have enough. They're good for the environment too.

2. Absolutely love the pedestrian path network. That's something one sees way to seldom in CJs (and IRL, too, for that matter).

3. You've lay-outed your city so realistically! Everything flows together seamlessly.  You manage both the small painting creating detailed spaces, that give a city its distinct flavour, with the smallest brush and the big picture with the huge brush, creating transit network and neighbourhoods. What more can I say... just never stop!

@Schulmanator haha! I'll give a 20% discount on the price of any home for sale, hows that?

@Themistokles Thanks for the compliments! I've always had a good eye for transportation networks and crafting an interesting city layout, but my cities were definitely lacking in the small details for the longest time. After taking a look at many JC's & MD's over the past year I went about trying to correct that deficiency and the end result is the blend of both that you see today. I still have a couple more cities yet to show in the region that are currently undergoing that transition.


@kelistmac
I'm please to announce that the production and delivery of your water tank is complete, please check your pm

There's been a few minor improvements in texture on the tank and removal of a couple of dependencies. Also hope you don't mind that I change the color of the text to green, seems like it would be more fitting for your region.


Again if anyone else is interested in getting a custom built water tower for their city (any name and letter coloring you'd like!) just let me know on here - all for the low cost of a single like! (resorting to bribery? aren't I just awful ) Won't be releasing this on the exchange for now due to the custom nature of the file and because it's not rendered in the best quality. That is, I used gmax and not 3ds because 3ds won't work for me. A long explanation of my problems working with that program are here. Eventually I'll try to tackle the issue again but right now I'm in city building & CJ work mode not BAT making mod. Also I know the demand for something like this isn't very high but even having to do 50 requests would leave me completed swamped for a week or longer, hence the ridiculously high price, lol. And lastly it's obviously not some spectacular can't miss BAT, but rather just a little something to thank those of you who follow the CJ

Brilliant work, what mod are you using for those white sidewalks along the streets and roads?.

Request To: TMT Inc.

One Water Tower  - Red Lettering - reading: Mountain North, or MTN North if it's easier.

Payment: Continued 'Likes' for content

Really though that's pretty cool of you to do this

Thanks for the tip, you saved me soooo many headaches when it came to avenue curves

@Xander Dax Thanks mate! The sidewalk mod that I'm currently using is jeronij's which can be found on the LEX here; https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=115

@philforhockey51  Thanks Phil, I know you'd be good for it in any case and always glad to be of help.

And btw, the production of your new Water Tower is complete! I went with MNT because I wouldn't have been able to fit mountain on both sides without significantly shrinking the lettering making it much less visible to your sims who are likely to use their new tower as a local landmark.


You can expect to receive delivery of it very shortly, just doubling checking that it works right. Last thing you'd want is a water leak!


 

 

this was just brilliant. very well done. i really like that zigzag walls down to the tracks. and the bridges and viaducts looks just so good.

Great use of that pedestrian bridge, beautiful low density neighborhoods.

Absolutely love the lush green residential areas. I rather like that Catholic school as well, that's a nice BAT choice and the surrounding lots fit very well. I must hunt that out as I haven't seen it yet.

The final mosaic is pretty good as well!

@MissVanleider,

To answer your question MissVanleider, it is as simple as pressing "Save As" and giving it a new name. You do not technically need to do anything else to get it to show up in-game, especially if it is something like a park or landmark. takemethere described the process pretty well. The LE can read from anywhere in your plugins folder but when saving, can only write to the root folder. That means that any lots that are within the root /plugins folder will be overwritten when you press save; likewise, any lots in sub folders will not be overwritten and you will get a duplicate copy.

Whenever you do a "save as," the LE will copy as many stats as possible over from the lot you started form. That includes names, costs, jobs, menu location, etc. A new lot will only have a different icon in the menu. If you want to change these, you can use the reader, but there is a more user friendly interface called LEProp. You can change icon, Menu titles, menu descriptions, etc to find it easier in your menus. The downside is that you can only change one thing at a time before you have to save, close and reopen...it is a little buggy and can remember only one or two operations at a time, but the learning curve is smaller than the Reader. I am happy to help you (or anyone else) out. Feel free to send a pm if any questions. 

@takemethere

I am with taeily: one can never have too many trees in a suburb. Fantastic update!

neat work

@sucram17 Glad you enjoyed those parts of the update as they were some of my favorite things to build.

@MilitantRadical Thanks man and yeah that bridge really comes in handy for making long pedestrian connections.

@Belfastsocrates Appreciate the compliment also I've asked for your help in finding buildings so I'm more than happy to return the favor. The catholic school might be hard to find as it's part of a set and goes by the name of the Peace Church and School. Here's the link; https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=682

@nos.17 & @Urban Constanta Thanks for the compliments guys!