heitomat

At the moment, it's in the middle of the night in the capital. And it will be for about another week. Real life is hitting me hard nowadays. First of all, I have two very important exams coming up. You see, I am a master's degree law student in my final year, and after 6 years at the university I'm really looking forward to finish in style. Also, my computer suffered from what I'd like to call an "unfortunate event", meaning it got more or less covered in soot.. Luckily, I've got it thoroughly cleaned, and now it seems to be back in business and fit for fight. The cleaning process put me back a bit, though.. I promise to return with new and (hopefully) interesting updates from Victoria County soon. And because it's only fair, I leave you with a night shot from the Central Station area. Sweet dreams. - Eivind *EDIT: Corrected the appearance of the mosaic.

I have never liked dealing with seafronts in SimCity 4. I had a hard time making those land-to-sea transitions look realistic, the Maxis seaport was awful, and I never found the right lot to plop to fill all the tiles along the coast. Lately, thanks to the many great posts by fellow Simtropians, I've realized that it isn't always necessary to put something on every single tile of land. A little flora and rocks will do. Less is more. This update is not a good example, though.. In this update, the focus is on the small suburb of Suffox. It is situated just southwest of the City of Victoria, and houses the main port of the capital. I felt that the original port was way too small to serve a capital, and an expansion was needed. And why not invite you to join the process? It must be said that I basically demolished almost every trace of the old city center to make room for the expansion. I also reconstructed the rail system. The update is all about seaport construction. Thus, the city is not in any way finished, and - the grid is on. This is the area after terraforming. I used PEG's Leveler to make sure that the coastline was perfectly level. I basically use three different custom seaport sets. From left to right: PEG CDK3 Seaport, PEG CDK3 and PEG CDK Industrial Seafront. Something to have in mind is the different depth of the lots. The difference in needed space on land is one thing, how the lots overhang the sea is another. This is only important if you want to make smooth transitions between the styles, though. This time, I will only use the two CDK3 sets. Adding slopes and retaining walls. And that's it. Now, the different seaport lots have been placed along the coast. In addition to the mentioned PEG seaport lots, I threw in some seawalls. But it is still a lot of empty space. Let's zone (and plop)! There you go. Suffox Seaport has been expanded. In this picture NOB's LNG set is easily visible to the right. The HKABT Modern Terminal lots (the containers and the large office building) are also easy to spot. I also added some truck stops from paeng's magnificent set. Because the city is still developing, not all zones have buildings on them yet. Still, the seaport itself is finished. Now that construction is done, let's have a look at a few close-ups. This is NOB's LNG set. The HKABT Modern Terminals building and container yard, Suffox Lower Railyard in between. I noticed the rail tracks in the container yard (not transit enabled), and thought: "What if I made a connection to the CDK3 Seaport using GLR tracks..?" This is the result - eyecandy only, of course. And finally: A container ship passing Drake Islands Lighthouse. (This is not even in Suffox, but I like the simplicity of the picture, so why not..?) Hope you liked it. - Eivind

In 1958, in the dense forests surrounding the little village Hatfield, construction began on an airport capable of handling Victoria's growing needs. After World War 2, it was time to rebuild the nation, and do it in style. The airport was no exception. Construction site of VIA, Hatfield During the years as Victoria grew, so did VIA. It has been upgraded and expanded several times, the last time with the construction of the domestic Terminal 3. Today, it is by far the largest airport in the country. VIA is a hub for national airlines WestJet, SouthWest Airlines and Northwest. Overview of VIA, facing east Cargo Terminal Terminals 2 (top) and domestic Terminal 3 International Terminal - Terminal 1 As it is said in the commercial: "To the world via VIA". - Eivind

Fantastic scenery! And you've managed to fit the dam just perfectly. Great work. I love the grey pylons you are using. They look very realistic!

I [i]do [/i]like this one! The presentation is original and very well executed.

[img]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-yoaIaJktJ60/TOccrqoRRYI/AAAAAAAABNU/StegyQlCSr0/s800/Replies.jpg[/img] [b]hahei[/b]: Thank you very much! The cranes are part of [url="https://www.simtropolis.com/forum/files/file/23978-container-terminal-lots/"]this set[/url] by [b]FrankU[/b]. [b]TowerDude[/b]: Thank you. I was afraid they were all too dark, but at the same time I didn't want them any brighter.. [b]Benedict[/b]: Thanks a lot. The lightning effects are all courtesy of the great BATs.. But thank you. [b]Ion_Cannon[/b]: Thanks! Sometimes it's a real pain to get the right warehouse to appear, but when it does it's all worth it. [b]Zulu2065[/b]: Thank you, I am glad to be of inspiration! [b]Schulmanator[/b]: Thank you very much, my friend!

It was early. Very early. Or late.. Dieter's watch told him 04:00, and already the warehouses in Ingeln were bustling with life. He reversed the Maersk trailer towards the gate. Only two stops this morning; the airport and Weneer. Fair enough. Then he could take the A-1 and the A-21 to save some time, as long as he got started before the morning commute in Victoria.. The forklift driver loaded the trailer with professional precision. Dieter was amazed. To manoeuvre a semi in between the containers at the seaport in Weneer was a piece of cake to him, but he had never understood how the truck drivers managed to load the trailer that quick and perfect. After a relatively short while, Dieter headed for the B-11. He headed for the Ingeln motorway entrance. The B-11 was definately the fastest alternative. Luckily most of the cars surrounding him seemed to head for Kempler. Dieter had been driving goods under contract with Maersk for 5 years now. He was quite happy with it. As a child, he could sit by the kitchen window in his childhood home for ages, just watching the trucks drive by. Sure, the work hours could be quite heavy, especially getting up to drive at 4 o'clock in the morning.. Still he loved it. The sound. The feel. The chance to be left alone for a couple of hours. Soon he entered Hansmarkt. The lights from the distribution centres lit up the area around the A-1 entrance. The A-1 was desolate, and Dieter stamped on the gas. The engine roared beautifully, as the semi-trailer slowly accelerated onto the motorway. Driving through Victoria this morning was a charm, and shortly Dieter arrived at Aaden Kreutz. At rush hour this junction could be a living nightmare, but it was still too early for most people. Dieter slowed down and chose the right lane leading to the A-21, heading for Weneer and Marienhof. The intercom started to squeek. It was Dispatch. - When you're at the airport, a woman's voice said, they've got something for you to take with you to Weneer. - Copy that, Dieter answered. Dieter drove straight through Weneer Kreutz and chose to "Continue to follow the A-21", as the woman on his GPS would have told him, had he used it. At the Marienhof Goods Terminal, he could see the Maersk plane from his loading bay. He loved seeing the Maersk logo on the plane. And on his trailer. And the warehouse buildings. And the ships. Dieter had always been a lojal employee, proud to work for this company, and just the sight of the logo made him smile with satisfaction. Just as back in Ingeln, the forklift drivers worked in an extremely high pace, like ants around him, and soon he was ready for his last stop; Weneer. Weneer was as impressive as it always was. Arriving at the seaport's goods terminal when it was still dark had always been one of Dieter's favourites. The cranes, the containers, the large ships and all the lights.. It was truly an amazing sight! Even though it was barely 6 AM, Dieter had never felt more awake. And alive. And proud. Thank you for reading! - Eivind

Fantastic! Amazing! I love the cable car. The clearing of the forest and the rocks underneath adds to the realism (a lot of these here in Norway). And the last picture is mindblowing! Imagine SimCity actually looking like that..

Fantastic city! I love the diagonal transit network. And you already know I am a huge fan of those buildings! Amazing.

Great update! SimGoober was one of my very first favourite creators, to put it that way. His commercials, feauturing real life companies and shops, sometimes with a solid amount of humour added, added to the realism in any city. However, I use less SG stuff now than before. Of course, this has nothing to do with lack of quality or such, I simply find a number of the BATs a little too American for my Euro region.. Still, I bet there are quite a few SG bits in my cities, such as the bus stops (like on [b]Yoshiisland[/b]'s pic).

@Ee99: Those are very interesting pieces! Did you make them yourself, and are they transit enabled with proper pathing?

A touching, honorable, humble, and original update. Very, very good! We will never forget!

Your entire region is a piece of art. The development looks incredibly realistic! I love your naming of the streets and your elevated rail network. It really adds to the realism. Great work!

[img]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-yoaIaJktJ60/TOccrqoRRYI/AAAAAAAABNU/StegyQlCSr0/s800/Replies.jpg[/img] [b]Adrianor[/b]: Thank you very much. Unfortunately, as I want every building to grow, achieving the "right" look seems to take ages sometimes.. [b]jmarshall[/b]: Thanks a lot. I'm glad you like the open spaces, I had several tries until I was satisfied. [b]Benedict[/b]: Thank you, friend. The entry is a little Skimbo-insipired. But the crown of the entry is your map! Hang in there to meet Dieter, coming up in the next entry!

The Victoria Overground is an extensive tram network in the city of Victoria. As the name suggests, the Overground is different from the Underground as it runs almost solely in daylight. As of today the Overground has six different lines. Together, these lines cover all the central areas of Victoria, and some of the lines have been extended to serve neighbouring boroughs and cities as well. The Victoria Overground is administrated by the Victoria Transit Authority. Other means of public transportation include the Underground and ordinary buses. Below are a few pictures from a few areas of the Overground network. Altstadt, Herbertstrasse, close to the medieval city centre: Neustadt, Embankment, just below the Parliament: Near Ebertshohe is Ebert Hausmann Dome, an indoor stadium and conference centre: Just north of the university, the lines O2 and O4 cross the Nordlinie rail and the A-1 motorway: St. Addieline hospital and station: Finally, I proudly present an overview map of the Victoria Overground, kindly made to me by Benedict. Thank you, my friend! I promise more transit related updates in the future! Thank you for visiting Victoria County. - Eivind

I have always loved how you mix screenshots with real life pictures. This update is no exception. Great work!

Really amazing..! I like how some of the skyscrapers are angled. It really adds to the realism.

That's a great downtown! I love the skyscrapers in contrast to the older W2W buildings. Looks very realistic! Great work! And you can never go wrong with the Allianz Arena..

Hmmm. Very interesting! I look forward to some screens.

I will never forget! The "What you've seen so far" was a great idea, and I really can't wait for your next update. Those cooling towers look awesome!

These are all amazing! @Jmarshall: May I ask what residential BATs you are using? They seem to fit the surroundings beautifully.

Incredible pictures; great colours, razor sharp detail and interesting motives. I love the small rowhouses, and the night shots are epic!

This CJ has been of great inspiration to me from the very beginning. Just as I prefer "unpolished" real-life pictures the most, I found it fascinating that someone actually recreated a darker reality in SC4. But not only have your pictures been mindblowing. Your stories have also accompanied the pictures in a magnificent way, giving them life, soul and a deeper emotion. Thank you!