Entry 2: Michaelshaven

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Entry posted by 11241036 · February 21, 2021

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michaelshaven

Michaelshaven, 2nd entry

First, let's have again a look at the last picture from Entry 1, for explanation purposes:

Today, I'm going to work on the still somewhat empty hillside space shown on the bottom right of this picture.

We'll start with the upper river area, just above the dam. Agricultural zones are beginning, and this is the most suitable place for utilities, such as a recycling center and water pumps.

The area is rather hilly, but still, along the river, some apartments have developed.

Further uphill, another area with more modern apartments.

A bit more to the north (on the left of the former picture), the rich people are living. I discovered that the Hansaviertel-Buildings by SFBT make really good apartments for such a purpose. And the view downhill is really great.

If we continue uphill, we visit the former village of Oberried, which has been swallowed by Michaelshaven. That, however, explains why there's sort of a second old town quarter at this remote location. The old town is located close to the Basilika (the church) which is still one of the most popular locations for weddings and pilgrimages.

And a close-up of the Basilika unserer lieben Frau in Not (church of our beloved Lady in need; its actual name is Onze Lieve Vrouwe ter Nood, and it is available on the STEX):

If we continue further to the east (at the top of the next picture), we get close to the borders of Michaelshaven. I had serious trouble with the landscape designing. I've been plopping 1x1 grass lots all over the place, mixed with my own forest lots, to create pockets of forest, but this does me no good in large areas or close to cliffs. To compensate, I'm placing MMP's at the edges of the forests. This also results in two different "types" of grass on this picture, the Maxis bright grass and the one from my terrain mod. Somehow, I even like it; I like to think of it in a way that grass in a city is being better cultivated than at the outskirts; although it still looks kind of odd.

My main reasons for this are: I need something for transitions between any lot whatsoever and empty grassy areas. This has been the only way I could think of to make such a transition believable. Also, I like to use my ploppable forest lots because they come with a forest floor base texture covering the grass. Grass rarely grows in forests, I need a way to cover the grass, therefore.

This is a close-up of the fishing harbor, I already showed it off in the "Show us what you're working on" thread, but this time, the nature is complete:

And an overview, complete with the river estuary (north is at the top of the picture).

Hope you liked this update. Next up on my list: Completing the section to the very northeast of this city tile, where there's a small village, completing the island with the old town, and starting the work on the city tiles to the north of Michaelshaven. See you soon!