MrWacko

For some reason, about a third of the one-way puzzle pieces aren't working. I've taken a picture with DrawPaths turned on, to show exactly which ones aren't working. I've already re-installed the NAM (and run Cleanitol) and the April essentials update. Neither fixed the problem. Any ideas on where to start fixing this problem? The pic: In particular I care about the highway crossings, since those I'm using a lot. Of course, any help is appreciated. Please observe the site limit for images, 800x600 pixels. tungston

Could anyone point me in the direction of a functional airport control tower, or anything that serves the purpose of being functional, and very small? I'm looking for something that'll fit into the stuff I've already placed with the RIMP and ACT-VLT stuff, but all the control towers that I've found are for eye-candy only. Edit: CURSE YOU PAGE FLIP BUG!!!

San Francisco's BART and MUNI rail systems use the median extensively. BART runs along the freeway medians of highways CA-24 (20 miles), I-580 (17 miles), and CA-4 (10 miles), on 3 of its 5 routes. MUNI light rail runs along the medians of many of San Francisco's avenues/boulevards, including 19th Avenue, King St/Embarcadero, 3rd Street, Junipero Serra Blvd., and probably more, but I'm to lazy to actually look up the rest. It should be noted that BART is a completely at grade metro system, while MUNI switches between automated subway and manual control on surface streets.

I'm curious to know if standard tunnels function normally underwater. I've already made one in a city of mine, but when DrawPaths is turned on, it doesn't completely connect the two ends. Furthermore, if I take a U-Drive-It through it, I wind up in the middle of the river this tunnel's crossing. I don't care about u-drive it stuff, but it would be nice to know if normal vehicle traffic can use it.

After spending more time than I care to think about downloading add-ons, BAT's, and whatever else that looked good on the various exchanges, I decided I'd start up a city journal of my newest city region, Neo Essen, to celebrate getting back into SC4 after about a year of neglect. So, without further a due, the pics! Region (Overview pic from SC4 Terraformer): The region is a moderately edited version of the Victoria and Sannich Peninsula, by gitbi. Precision terraforming gets saved for in-game, but as you can see, I've already fooled around a bit near the southern end of the region. One year of no SC4 leaves a ton of new toys to tinker with . And now, we get into the real pics, and the story of Neo Essen: Birdseye view. Everything from the Old Wharf to the protested northern developments are visible. The Old Wharf (PEG CDK), the remnant of a forgotten era in Neo Essen History. Since being renovated 10 years ago, land values aroudn the Wharf have skyrocketed. Before then though, they were simply a reminder of a time when Neo Essen was one of the most important shipping cities in the SimGlobe. The northern suburbs, home to the wealthy farm owners. In recent years, this affluent section of the city has come under heavy scrutiny, due to its extreme wealth and anti-growth views. Many of the farm owners in these suburbs have sued, delayed, or otherwise stopped numerous new developments. The powerful Neo Essen Farmers Association (NEFA for short) lobby in the City Counsel against other industries has recently created an enormous backlash against farm owners. The mansion of a wealthy farm owner (BSC Mansion - Uppark Estate; Requires LEX membership), who, rather than spending thousands fighting the urbanization of Neo Essen, embraced it. His three 9-story apartment buildings were rented out well before the opening ceremonies. While further developments have been stalled by the NEFA's lobbying efforts, his popularity among the average citizen has skyrocketed, second only to the mayor. Farm country, to the east of the town center. When the shipping industry collapsed many years ago, the Agriculture industry saved Neo Essen from becoming a ghost town. Now, that same industry blocks a booming economy, with its land ownership covering the majority of the lands surrounding the city center. Even during the night, the Wharf buzzes with bits of activity. Recently, office space has been taking more buildings near the Wharf, but fine dinning and tourism still consist of the majority of the commercial establishment at the Wharf. And so, there's the beginning of Neo Essen. Replies, comments, suggestions, and whatever else you guys feel like saying are welcome, as always. While I may not have tons of posts, I pay a decent amount of attention to the boards, and know my way around the major exchanges.

Double Post. Sorry! my bad.

I almost forgot to post this. I'd normally do just an edit, but this fell into the abyss of page 2, so I'll bump it with this. Enjoy the first posted edition of the Neo Essen Chronicle.

Update 5: Anzar Shopping Center, Lucerne Beach, NE-101. Hmm, it's been at least half a week since an update, I think. School really takes up so much time, but there's nothing I can do about it, eh? I suspect a number of us are in school anyways, so I'll stop complaining... The massive Anzar Shopping Center, on the eastern fringe of the city. The shear size and grandeur of the center has overwhelmed some citizens, but merchandise sold is nothing short of top notch. The Anzar Development group has signaled that this is just the first of many new developments in Neo Essen. The back of the Shopping center, with grand fountains, park walkways, and statues of famous Neo Esseneans. Lucerne Beach, just south of the new NE-101 highway. Recent developments near the beach prompted construction of actual facilities at this beach, conveinently situated at the mouth of the Neo Essen River. Newly constructed piers were built at each end of the beach, for marginal amounts of saftey against currents. While their effect is minimal, they offer breathtaking views of the surrounding estuary. The NE-101 runs just north of the beach, serving the airport, and the new eastern districts. <img src="https://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr305/Wethington1/img0014.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket">"> Neo Essen's newest highway, the NE-101. It runs an average of 2KM south of the NE-01, terminating at the Airport. After two months of construction headaches, the new interchange between NE-01, NE-101, and Doherty Dr. is complete, with a variety of subsidiery exits before and after the interchange. No new land was aquired for the expansion of the freeway, a great boon to nearby citizens. Now, there's a giant hole in the middle of the interchange. I seriously don't know what to put there. I've lost my fair share of sleep, debating things ranging from developments, to parks, to just plain old trees. So, I'll turn to my audience. Any ideas for this chunk of land?

This definitely has the potential to change how we do CJ's, that's for sure. This is certainly a very intriguing idea. I look forward to chipping in a few cents (or simoleons) every once in a while. By the way, why do some people start with more?

Hmmmm. Most interesting indeed. Looking forward to when the entire history is posted.

Originally posted by: Tia-may Alongside the convention center, a very nice harbor.quote> Thanks. I actually picked up the convention center over the freeway by accident, when searching for civic buildings. Originally posted by: CarmineHilton Very nice pictures! You have some nice city building skills I would advise on using more streets instead of roads here and there though... With a street side mod beautiful trees will show up which will make the area's much more beautiful But that is up to you of course! Anyway, good luck with Neo Essen! xoxo Carminequote> Already did. Just downloaded jeronij's street addon mod for the SAM. I plan on using it more in the future Originally posted by: jacqulina and an awesome days work too,great story line my friend,very nice scenic pic to start this update lovely beach.the port is excellent tooquote> Thanks! I actually kinda threw together this, since I was a tad more time pressed than I thought i'd be. Originally posted by: kj3400 Uh-oh... that's not good. Nice base, though And I see what you mean about the road. Silly me...quote> Well, we'll be seeing more, fear not. Originally posted by: xV.I.N.C.E.N.T.x I was actuallt refering to that little "chad" of the road that doesn't blend. Great update as well I might add.quote> Chad? Where? Could you give me a point of reference, or a pic with it pointed out? Originally posted by: flyinbird93 sweet change in presentation. looks interestingquote> A change every once in a while never hurts. Besides, this format lets me tell more story. Originally posted by: ArcheanA naval base? And the cops don't know about it? Wow, somethings up. As an ally in the AFDES union, The Chancellery Army is going to be put on stand by if you need any help dealing with this, unless those destroyers are yours. I can send my fleet into blockade the port. I've got two Carriers, two Battleships and Five Cruisers. mike~quote> Neo Essen thanks you, and as information is collected, we'll see. All I can say is Neo Essen's rapid growth left a lot to be desired. Neo Essen doesn't have an official military, which is a problem...

I'm getting a computer upgrade right around when this comes out, so lucky me! This keeps looking sweeter and sweeter. I'm almost certainly getting this when it comes out.

PowerPoint is just another dud by Microsoft! How can you stand using it for this bloody presentation? IT RUINS IT!!!

Holy!, that's a lot. Talk about a way to celebrate entry into the AFDES. Fireworks and all. I'm going to have to start giving people blank shots of areas around my city, just in the hopes that some people will propose developments and such.

Last Transmissions of Police 3 Pilot: "Its so nice to stroll through the wilderness instead of wandering through endless streets in search of get-away cars. Lucky I managed to pull this shift!" Surveyor: "That's because you're not doing any work. You're flying this tin can around so I can do the regional survey, dam it all..." Pilot: "It can't be that bad. Take a few pictures here, record a few waterlines here, and ..." Pilot: "Are there any buildings on Sheridan Island?" Surveyor: "No... That's odd... Those shouldn't be there." Pilot: "Holy... Those are destroyers or something! Who's are they!" Surveyor: "You're the law enforcement officer. You're supposed to know that!" Pilot: "Is that a missile ship?! I'm getting us out of here NOW!" Surveyor: "They're scrambling all over the place down there! I don't think they like us... A MISSILE!!! MOVE!!!" Pilot: "To any receiving station! This is Police 3, Going Do ... AAAAAAAGH ..." Radio: ...*static*...

While my home town of San Francisco is awesome, and was once seriously considered for the UN HQ, I'd have to say that there is no one specific capitol of the world. There are continental capitols, like say Brussels for Europe (HQ for the EU), and niche specific capitols in certain industries or in politics (New York, London, Tokyo for their economic weight). I trust you get what I'm saying. If we were to go by neutrality and number of international organizations in the area, I'd go with Geneva. It's a part of perhaps the most neutral country in the planet.

Originally posted by: ArcheanWonderful cities. You do well with your sunken highways and overpasses. I never thought about a sunken highway through an industrial park. I just have them in my metro areas. lol I learned a thing or two from you! Keep up the great work! mike~quote> They're useful all around. Of course, the walls I use are awesome in almost any situation, since they're clean cut enough to work in res, but bland enough for industrial. Got to thank buddybud and Jeronij for those walls Originally posted by: Jill Jacobsstill looking great. I really like the sunken avenues. You made the retaining wall flow perfectly...which can be hard to make them fit perfectly together. Keep up the good workquote> Thank you. All in a days work as they say. Originally posted by: jacqulinaexcellent growth going on there my friend,i love the marina too.very nice work and pics.quote> Thanks. Originally posted by: fabsies55yea your cj is good. your region is nice and i like how you showed the fire in the forest and then showed how much had been burned down. if they had a mod or something it would be awesome if there was like ashes and burned trees everywhere? some aspects of your city and suburbs remind me of mine but i like it. and your city is better in some apsects as well. well done and keep it up.quote> I'd love to get my hands on such a mod too. But alas, there isn't one. The trees do leave stumps when they burn, but that's about it. They certainly aren't visible from such a far away zoom, that's for sure. Originally posted by: kj3400Your CJ is impressive. Lots of development. In your last pic, your one way road is facing the wrong way, though, and I never really did like the default highway texture, but impressive nevertheless.quote> The other textures I've seen look a tad to fancy for my tastes. But, I'll keep it in mind. On the one-way roads, I don't see any facing the wrong direction, and I turned on DrawPaths just to verify. If you're talking about the one way roads in the bottom left corner, then there's supposed to be one leading away from it. That's a proper road, not an on/off ramp. Originally posted by: flyinbird93nice update, everything is still looking very well placed! that convention center rocks, does it normally allow passageway to go underneith?quote> Yes, that convention center does. It only occupies a 1x3 land area, but the prop is 8x3 in size. Perfect for, say, plopping over a highway. Originally posted by: xV.I.N.C.E.N.T.x Great update! I love the shore-line details. Makes all the difference. You have a lot of interesting road networks that even I didn't know can be done. Love the NAM. Look forward to seeing how you will fix the one-way roads going to the exits.quote> The shoreline, my harbors, and the traffic intersections are perhaps the areas I spend the most attention to. It's always a treat to actually figure out how the heck something's getting from A to B. See kj3400's reply for one-way reply. In short, I think you're mistaking it for an on/off ramp.

That's the idea, JJC. But meh. I'll make sure to chip in my two cents for the elections. Is it just for one department, or are all of them up for re-election?

Update 5: Marina District Cont., Convention Center Grand Opening Geeze, school takes a lot of time. Hopefully it's just the first few weeks of teachers deciding they have to give tons of HW. If not, well I'll manage. So, as some of you may have noticed, the previous update was the Marina District, but it coincidentally didn't have any Marina Pics. Well, I have to save some of the (theoretically) best for when I have a shortage of time, like when School starts. The mouth of the Angora river, and the recently constructed Neo Essen Marina (PEG OWW2, requires PLEX membership). With Neo Essen's graceful waterways and islands, watersports grew in demand. The Old Wharf was out of the question for marina housing; Neo Essen didn't want to ruin a valuable chunk of history. Thus, the Neo Essen Harbor was built. The Angora River (PEG Pond Kit, requires PLEX membership), recently restored after being nearly sucked dry by farmers. The river is now flowing so strong, the marina had to reinforce the boardwalk crossing it. On the far right, more Marina District developments can be seen. a The newly constructed Bishops Point Convention Center (City Convention Center, by xyloxadoria), was built in conjunction with a NE-01 Highway upgrade. The highway runs directly under half of the convention center, with the main parking facilities and plaza on the opposite side of Adeline Blvd. Ironically, the first convention held at the convention center was the yearly NEFA meeting, chaired by the newly appointed president, Carin Abramson. Her views are largely pro-growth, and pro-cooperation with other industries. She has begun talks with various other industrial leaders over a joint Ethanol program, designed to reduce the colossal petrol imports that keep Neo Essen running. Road engineers had an engineering nightmare trying to squeeze in the neccesary number of exits and on-ramps, while keeping the integrity of the shoreline intact. However, after some inventive road alignments, everything was preserved. To the north, a roundabout (CAMeLot Counter, Requires LEX membership, CAM) with a memorial to one of the founders of Neo Essen. With NE-01 extending farther south, the old route was added to Doherty Dr, as the Doherty Expressway. Due to space constraints, it is not possible to go directly from NE-01 Eastbound to the Doherty Expressway without a stoplight. Morning commutes to the industrial district are unaffected, and Metro service is being extended to the industrial district as we speak. So, after double checking those annoying javascript links of annoyance, everythings fine. Enjoy!

Nice beginning! I like how you're telling us a chunk of your cities history with most of the pics. The pics though seem to be a bit pixelated. If you've got full res pics, but aren't showing them here because of the 800x600 limit, then give us links! Link each picture to your original, so we can see em in their maximum glory.

Those beaches are very good! Who's lots or mods do you use? I've been hunting for a beach mod for ever, but can't find one that does irregular coasts. I'd love to get a link or something for those beaches.

Very interesting region. I like the snow capped mountains in particular. Also, could you point out exactly how you managed to turn an NYC (or is it NY State?) region into that? It must have taken a lot of work.

Originally posted by: deathtopumpkins Well, that certainly got the thread active! I've been offline working on an essay for my english class, but I'm here now. About chatting about a CJ Union: I might be able to secure a chat site for us. Anyone noticed the unofficial Cities XL live chat site? Well the guy who runs it, Romaq, and me have talked on forums for several years, and know each other pretty well, so I think I could get him to let us use his chat site (http://www.esperurboj.com/babili) for a little while to talk, though I guess a private topic would work just as well. EDIT: I went ahead and took the liberty of setting up a private topic. The members list includes me, Ntq, TimeMaster, Patricius, un1, and Archean. PM me if anyone else is interested. Check your private topics after you read this if your name's on that list.quote> Wait, a CJ union? SimCity's equivalent to, say, the EU? That'd be interesting. Interesting enough for me to PM you to get more info.

Are there any beach mods that accommodate irregular coastlines? By irregular, I mean as many shapes as possible, not just straight and diagonal. Thanks! Also, is there a bridge mod that literally makes ANY height passable by water automata?