Cassey

Thanks for all the comments! Every comment is read and appreciated! ~!~!~!~ latazyo What do you mean by what was with all the road tiles do? I'm not sure what the question means. ~!~!~!~ oreon My original plan was to have a forest there, but decided against it. The size and location doesn't lead well to such a development. I pulled the inspiration for the commercial area starting from the forest, where the trans canada highway after Banff splits a few times and goes around some forested areas. The commercial seemed to work best, as there are a few places in downtown here setup sort of similar to that. ~!~!~!~ GMT The city itself is far from financially stable Um, the income is about $800/month while output is $5 846/month. Remember though, this is in the current version, not with update 2. The road network itself costs $4 100 to maintain, so if you remember that its a little closer. Like I said, this isn't a realistic money city anyway. The highways and such cost all of the first 500k I got. ~!~!~!~ Simmax I was planning on it, thanks though! ~!~!~!~ Darmok Is this the farm you mean? If so, thats this one, or atleast should be. I didn't realise I had downloaded farms yet The avenue will likely become a semi-major route to the next city. I may change it but for now i'm happy with it, so we'll see As for that weird interchange, you'll get to see another one on friday I'll leave it at that Thanks for the suggestion on the parking there. I'll fiddle with the 2 you suggested, to see what I can do to fix it. ~!~!~!~ SC4Noobie I dont know if it'll be pedestrian, but it will be a strip mall like thing ~!~!~!~ Thank you all again! Your comments dont go unread! If you have any more comments, feel free to leave them! ~Cass [edit]Seems much of the HTML has been disabled. Had to go through and switch them to BBCode.[/edit]

Shadow_Assassin The highway curvature is a bit unrealistic, I do agree. One problem with the grid. If there was no grid i'd be a gentle curvature most of the way whenever theres a corner. One of the drawbacks to such a restrictive grid system, but thats not for this thread. As for the farms, yeah, they'll be bigger, but I do kinda like that size. With the side of buildings built to size of land, they are IMO about a good size, but i do know where you're coming from Yes, the hints help ~!~!~!~ SC4Noobie I chose the overpass as a way to separate the residential area from the main route. Its not the prittinest solution by any stretch, but I wanted the separation. ~!~!~!~ Again, thanks for all the wonderful comments! even if I dont reply to you with a message, all comments are appreciated!! And now... Welcome back traveller! In this update, we will be focusing on the residential (and commercial) expansion of the area. You'll also see some industrial expansion. Whether I keep the dirty industry there or move it outside this city I haven't decided yet, though we will see. 2.01 Just some basic terraforming for the farms. 2.02 The agriculture zoned 2.03 ... and after the 'click'. What this 'click' is I'm not sure. I hear a click and farms sprout up *shrugs* 2.04 The dirty industry area. They were crying loudly at wanting an area so here it is for them. Its lowered down, and a retaining wall is raised up by the farms to help keep the air quality more localised. An avenue is chosen to keep traffic flowing 2.05 All zoned and ready. You'll notice the power coming from the farms. I connected the solar panels up to the farms (leaving the windmill for a 'rusty' look) so the power is being pulled through there. You'll see this in a later shot 2.06 The first industries are growing. I left a path for the avenue to follow. It will be filled in later. 2.07 The avenue and terraforming cost the city a tonne of money, so a toll booth is installed on the avenue to help recover some of the losses. 2.08 Here is another new avenue (not the same one as what we've been seeing) connecting into the highway network and up to the residential area. they now have connection to the network for the first time on this map! 2.09 Here you can see the avenue gets branched out, then closes up to cross into the next city. I was having a blonde moment when I first built this, doing the one way streets backwards to how I should have done it. Oops. You can also see the power lines connecting the solar panels to the farms. 2.10 New residential. The road access is from the avenue I just built. You'll spot it later in another ss 2.11 It fills up quickly! 2.12 I am, er, not entirely sure what I was doing with this, to be honest. Why I just didn't make a regular easy access is beyond me. I'll probably go back and correct this at a later date, since i'm not even sure if it works 2.13 Another small commercial sector, built at the access to the new homes. Thats the road I mentioned a couple of pictures up. 2.14 Some more development on the residential areas. Already a home being built when I snapped the picture 2.15 Just an overview 2.16 The industry was crying for some more space, so I granted it to them. Wasn't much added, but enough to keep them happier 2.17 And to finish this off, here is a shot of the median as it currently stands. Residents complained about the noise from it, so trees were added to muffle the sound. The current plan is to develop the median area into a shopping spot, with stores and such on the inside of the median. This wont happen for a few updates yet, but that is the plan at this stage. ~!~!~!~ Thats it for this update! Next update is planned for friday evening! It will focus on the new harbour, which i'm kinda iffy about. It came out decent, but some things are just kind of frusterating about it. More about the issues then. However, if anyone can give me suggestions on how to make the following look more decent, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again, and enjoy! ~Cassandra

Since I was bored I was passing through, so here are some more replies. Update will hopefully be posted tomorrow ~!~!~!~ kristinaswan I let the contractor know. Unfortunately, I dont think they listened We'll have to see about that in the future ~!~!~!~ Darmok The terraforming can be frusterating, as i'm discovering with my harbour. Its a huge harbour, so a lot of work was needed to get a flat region. The train and highway needed to be moved to make space for it. And yes, there will be a connection in the southwest corner with those 2 highways. There will also be one more highway heading out to the north which wasn't included in the original transit overview, but will be added. I really just wanted to get a rough idea of what will be where, so I'm not having to destroy too much of my work to make space for another major artery. ~!~!~!~ dedgren The major highway network is actually roughly all mapped out on a piece of paper and a printed copy of the region right in front of me. The one heading out the right of the region will become a coastal road and run the entire length of the coast. It will likely be dropped down to a typical 2 lane highway, if i can get that NAM mod to cooperate so they can connect up. The one that goes out the bottom right leads to the true core of the city, and loops back up and out down there as well. Down the left side it hooks down and through a more residential sector and to a connection to get to the bottom island there. The ones heading out the north part, the furthest left stays along the coast for the most part which will lead to a smaller city at the rivers mouth. The one on the right leads along the western face of the mountain range. Like I said before, I didn't want to worry about building up too much and having to destroy a huge area to make room for another major artery. The CBD is modelled after areas you see in some of the inner city communities you see here. While they may not be as loopy, they provide basic services, a restaurant, ice cream, dry cleaners, etc. As for the roads, i guess i took some inspiration from a huge community in my city. Due to the ability to shortcut through it (since its right on down town) the city has erected barriors and one ways and all sorts of fun to keep you on a main road. However, if you do not know the region and you stray slightly or get lost in any way (since there's no markings beyond the typical signposts), even with a map you're basically screwed because of the one ways and barriors. There are places in there where its a turn into a side street with no exit capabilities, having it completely blocked off and turned into a 1 way. Its fun trying to drive it, not. As for more shopping, yes, theres an area set aside that will in the future be developed into more a strip-mall idea, or a road of commercial stores, whatever you want to call it. ~!~!~!~ See you all tomorrow. The update will be happening in the evening, if i can get it finished after work. ~Cass

To all: Thanks for the kind words of encouragement! Also, welcome to Naural With any luck, this region will grow and become something more Everyones words means a great deal to me and encouragement! I may not reply specifically, but your words dont go unnoticed ~!~!~!~ SC4Noobie Since i'm hosting these on my own personal server at the moment, if the server goes down for a reboot (since my friend is hosting it for me and he does a lot of coding, so it happens) the pictures wont show up, but try again shortly and they should. I'm not convinced that this solution will work in the long run, so we will see. ~!~!~!~ Micah Those boxes were really annoying, because like none of the trees I wanted to use there would work. I had originally wanted a pine tree forest over the lots with the path and other trees around, but without the dependancy I'm stuck. I'll find it eventually, just had to change my plans ~!~!~!~ Update 2 is in the works and will be released either tomorrow or wednesday, depending on my free time. It will contain shots of some expansion in the residential area, as well as expanded agriculture and some dirty industry ~Cassandra

Very nice! I really love how you PSed your avvy onto the building, looks real there! Amazing port building. Looks real! I get to try my hand at it later Keep the updates coming, i can't wait to see what you have in store next!

Welcome to my CJ. This is my first CJ anywhere, as well as my first major region/city in SC4. As such, you all get to watch and see as I develop and how my region grows as I discover new tips and tricks. But first, i huge shoutout to everyone who has written one before. Although a huge thanks goes to jeronij with simtropia, Darmok for Anduin Valley, and Shadow Assassin for Dynasty and The Savannah Way. Those 4 inspired me greatly to start my own region. The region will feature a few mods, and they may come and go, but here are the major ones: NAM Super Demand Ordinance Transit Supermod[Better Pathfinding, 10x speed, hi-capacity increase (Perfect, while my machine can handle it, makes it hard for me to alt-tab out to the desktop Industry Quadrupler While I have many other mods, and tonnes of buildings installed, those are the major ones that alter gameplay. Also note that money is not an issue, as I'm going for beauty, not for keeping a balanced budget, so money is basically unlimited. Also, 10x speed increase, while unrealistic I do agree, it makes more sense than having no work zots on a high rise residential a block away from down town (yes, i've had this). If you're going to work in the subburbs, you'd live in the subburbs. But I degress. Without any further ado... WELCOME to Naural! Naural is a beautiful map from MallowtheCloud. If you wish to have this region it is available on the STEX. I chose to go this route since i would lose interest in trying to terraform the 'perfect' region. I added trees to various parts, and left the plains wide open. You can see it below here. If you want, click on it for a full map. The image is about 600KB though. Our first city is Anioma, using a large city tile. Its located near the bottom tip of Naural, and is sort of the transition tile from the rural towns and farms of the foothills to one of the main cities in Naural. So shall we begin? Welcome weary traveller to Anioma. As you can see from this birds-eye view, the region is relatively flat with only a few foothills to the north east. A beautiful piece of land, is it not? 1.01 Here we can see the preliminary layout for the rail and highway network that will run through the city. It was decided that the highways were to be elevated for the entire time they are within Anioma's limits, to help ease conjestion during peak hours 1.02 This is the south east corner. Current plans have a harbour forming along here, to be the major hub on the eastern coast 1.03 The south west corner. Here is the finished network from the same birds eye view. This preliminary layout will give the city planners a rough idea of space. Changes are expected to the highway and railroad routes in the future. 1.04 Here we see the beginnings of the terraforming process on the first residential area in Anioma 1.05 This is the terraforming for the last of the farms from the neighbouring land 1.06 The road network has been laid down for the residents, now that terraforming is basically finished 1.07 The pathways for the homes are setup. Citizens in Naural are encouraged to keep in good shape and to exercise lots. Cities are also going to remain very open and green, providing ample walking opportunities whether it be a lunchhour stroll, or an evening jog. 1.08 Some more pathways are finished and trees are pla...WAIT...who ordered these boxes?? They're supposed to be trees! 1.09 Well, the contractor chosen to do the park area there was quickly dismissed and the city finished it. As it turns out, the contractor had ordered the trees online for less, rather than going to a local nursary. Wanted to make every extra penny profit. (probably also bought the trees used, rather than new) 1.10 Zoning has been finished on the residential sector. Note the solar power that will be used to power this area. 1.11 Heres the finished agriculture zoning. A few more farms will be added on top of this in the next update 1.12 After the click 1.13 After the click ~~ Theres the first update! I hope the coding works. I'm testing out my own image hosting solution, and if it isn't too much of a strain on the server, i'll keep it. If not, i'll find another solution. Please feel free to leave comments, suggestions, ideas! I'm always looking for new ideas and suggestions to make my areas better! (also, i know what some of you are thinking: "did she ever find the problem with the trees in the boxes?" and the answer is no. Sadly, I haven't found the dependancy I'm missing yet, but i'll let you know once I have). ~Cassandra

very nice Its going to be interesting to see this island unfold. It already looks great! Also, thanks for the warm welcome I remember playing SC2k like 7-8 years ago now, maybe longer (yikes! i'm only 20!) and loving it. Never really got into SC3k, though i do own it, but i'm loving SC4! I've been downloading like mad from STEX, and have a huge backlog of zips to add. Wish i could easily unzip them, but i'm so picky on organisation that its easier for me to do them one by one. Just one quick question. In your cities, how often did you plop buildings down? or were most organically grown, and bulldozed if it didn't grow what you want? [edit] forgot to mention that i'm going to check out those other 2 CJ's next [/edit] See you again! ~Cass

Um, wow *eyes pop out* i just spent the past like 5 days reading this CJ from the beginning. Well, not reading all the comments, if i did that i wouldn't even be past about page 30, but wow! I can't believe how beautiful and extravagant your region is. I was awestuck with some of the pictures from all regions. Your work has inspired me to do my own region, and I learned how to terraform from you (I've only had the game a week too, lol). I could ask so many questions about how things are done and how you did this and that, but not right now, plus i'd have to re-read the thread to find all of them. just one question, can I have your plugins directory? See you again! ~Cass

Originally posted by: zane900 You basicly are asking us how to play the game. We can't explain all of that in thousends of posts.quote> Actually, if i was asking you how to play the game, I would have. I just asked for tips on how to fix a bad situation, which I managed to do. Thanks for the tips all of you. They have helped a ton to get my city running better. Its still not perfect, but better than it was.

Actually, your tips helped greatly. I have NAM and a bunch of other mods, like Transit Supermod, and while Perfect mapping kills my system, Better seems to be alright. Along with that and some more efficient bus stops and other things, the sims can get around better. I also built a few more schools, making sure the coverage is well there, and built some museums and librarys. When my city was smaller I had all of them, but i guess i forgot about them as I grew. I built them and let the game run on fast mode for awhile, and built more industry. I'll try to sift out the different types later, but for now just making sure all the sims have better jobs. My population has also boomed with some more high density building near the core, its over 160k now. Thanks for the tips

I just recently got SC4, and being away from sim city for great stretches of time (Last one i really played was sc2k, like 7 years ago now, or so) i've sort of become rusty. Plus with the added complexity of commute times and road congestion and such, i'm struggling to get my first city to succeed. I'm thinking of just wiping the entire thing and trying again, since i'd like to do a CJ on my experiences. With that being said, I'm having major trouble remembering how to grow a city organically. In my region the city I'm trying to build is going to be a major commercial hub for the region. I started by defining a down town area, building industry fairly far away and residential a safe distance away. I guess it was sort of like trying to kick start a major metropolis, however, it sort of fizzled out. I was forced to rebuild much of the industry closer in, as well as commercial. Roads became saturated quickly, with everyone in the city hitting the same road at the same time, or atleast appeared to be saturated. So I built another residential area, and made a few commections and the downtown commercial area slowly began to grow. I would add on and build more, with the downtown area expanding and basically overtaking both residential areas (yes, its huge) and the more demand grew, the bigger buildings i would build. I realised I made a huge mistake when I built a community of high-density apartments fairly far and the roads and avenues got saturated. I had built highways by this time, but the access roads from the new communities of high rises were so saturated that it didn't matter. I rebuilt the roads, not wanting to tear down the population. I started rebuilding down town into a grid like most, 6x6 squares with various sizes of buildings just waiting for high rises, but it wasn't much good. A couple higher rises went in, but they were flagged by long commute times. I built high-density apartments around the core, while fixing the road network to be a grid, but even those buildings would be flagged as no work, when there's businesses within a couple squares. So any tips on either salvaging this situation, or tips on how to start over and get a good growth city going, where I can work and experiment with terraforming (which is a lof of fun, especially what some people manage to do in the CJ's) and road mods to make it working better, without suffering from the bad commute times. So should I try to salvage this city (only 135k people) or wipe it and start fresh? Thanks!