Patricius Maximus

Exactly, Deep Thought. The Xbox-360 cannot support a city simulation because it does not have a mouse or mouse-like tool.

Some nice far-out shots there. Looking forward to the next update.

Either Paris or Geneva. Paris because it is already the center for international measurements, and Geneva because it is on neutral ground and the site of the Geneva Conventions. I'd lean towards Geneva myself.

Humbug! Fighting crime in that manner is one of the first steps towards a totalitarian state. I t is also not effective at 'reducing crime', as it does not eliminate the cause, only the effects. It's like treating joint stiffness from the flu with aspirin -- it will not eliminate the cause, and it's still there. If you want to reduce or eliminate crime, you must eliminate the causes of crime.

Glad you're back. I like the new highway. My 550th post!

OIL EXPLORATION BEGINS REPLIES: un1: 1) Thanks. 2) If the two governments can agree on terms, it is certainly possible. binobi: 1) Thanks for your interest. 2) No farms are planned for Franklin County. Franklinites aren't really into agriculture 3) Residential population is 14,586 deathtopumpkins: 1) Corrections have been made. 2) Glad you like the 6-lane highway. Schulmanator: Really? Glad you think so. rusty_777: Thanks for your compliments. Goldfish4209: Don't know where I got it from, but it's a Ringleschot SP. sedimenjerry: Thank you. Glad you like the growth. FatalRook: Thanks for your input. Meastro444: Thank you. jacqulina: Thanks for your compliments. jjune4991: Glad you think so. Hahayoudied: 1) Glad you like the RHW. 2) Urban areas are a problem for it. You have to use Maxis Highways, or demolish wide swaths. I've done both, and a compromise I've found is using a FHW-RHW collector system. You can see more in The Patrician Showcase. edmonton_stinks: 1) Well, if you don't want to miss it, don't blink 2) It certianly does. It looks more like conurbation to me. supercity124: It seems to be. In a place called Forest Basin, an oil man has established camp. He is there to drill for oil. Most others in his field consider it a long shot, but he is intrigued by the presence of coal in East Valley and certain geological features on the plateau. He has yet to ask permission to drill, since he does not know which county to ask permission from. His area may be under the jurisdiction of East Valley or Franklin, depending on the final agreement. However, the East Valley Assembly has given him full permission to drill in their territory. Franklin has yet to consider the case. Meanwhile, in the far north of Franklin County, in North River, a person has come into the area and set up a tourist center and a house for himself: The new location may attract more tourists, and more businesses. Lastly, in East Franklin, a new housing development has been built along the road from East to Central Franklin: Also, the commercial development has expanded in the incentive area for development: The two developments are moving closer to the point of contact. It is only a matter of time before Central Franklin and East Franklin conurbate: Here is a regional view for easy reference: Click for FULL resolution. Please post any of your comments, questions, or suggestions.

They're obviously trying to be realistic quote> Curved roads and square buildings create a disparity in realism that ruins the experience for me. The problem is disparity in realism with that screenshot. The buildings look like something out of SC2000, and they look pretty cool. If they weren't on a square base and if the game was not masquerading as a Simcity it would be of some interest.

Nice update. Also, They need an armed guard with a machine gun at that Chicken King.

mitsos: It's better now. I'm sure the traffic flow will be more efficient. It's better to have a few high-capacity junctions than many little ones. Also, you can change that overpass in the top right by using the avenue diagonal puzzle pieces. For my personal use, I have devised a new classification system for parclos. It's based on the Ontario system, and neatly describes every parclo I have with three-character efficiency. Here's how it works: First Letter: ‘A’ is used if there is 2 full loop ramps in opposite quadrants. ‘B’ is used if there is 2 full loop ramps in adjacent quadrants. ‘C’ is used if there is only 1 full loop ramp. Second Number: 1, 2, 3, or 4 is how many quadrants the interchange contains. Third Number: 0, 1, 2, or 3 is how many quadrants contain only directional ramps and no loop ramps. Some examples are used in this post. For easy reference, some of them are also labeled with the Ontario classification. Here is a new monster interchange which consist of a cloverstack and a diamond mixed together with C/D roads to prevent weaving: A three-level stacked roundabout: Avenue-Avenue Volleyball interchange: A roundabout interchange. This one is most efficient in traffic flow: A compact urban diamond interchange: A parclo interchange with one side diamond. It is a C32 under my classification: Another parclo. It is an A20 under my classification. It's Ontario classification is A2: Here is the same Semi-Directional T seen before with signage and beautification: Lastly, a freeway terminus with roundabouts: Please post comments and/or suggestions.

A NEW AND COMPLICATED INTERCHANGE REPLIES: NMUSpidey: Thanks. Glad you like the updates. deathtopumpkins: 1) I agree. Very ingenious. 2) It was quite a construction job, as are all MIS cloverstacks. 3) Left exits have their place, but I avoid them when possible. dfnva: Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it. sedimenjerry: Interesting information. Thanks for the compliment. Here is the 75-85 and 20 interchange: It appears to be half-stack, half-turbine, with some minor roads mixed in. Sedimenjerry was right -- it is pretty complex. A small update today, but a hopefully interesting one. Here is a new interchange, which is a stack and a turbine mixed to prevent weaving: It's pretty complicated , but later I'm going to beautify, develop, and sign the interchange. Please post comments and/or suggestions.

the world superpower taken utterly by surprise?! quote> 1. You overestimate the power of the United States. Something like 9/11 had never happened before, and there was no hints of a ramming into the Twin Towers. 2. The US was taken by surprise in Pearl Harbor...

In the general games category, there are no meaningful classifications of "hardcore" and "casual" gamers. However, when you are looking at a genres and sub-genres, the differences are there. In the following definitions, I'm talking about genres, not gaming in general: "Hardcore" gamers are the people who are mostly long-time fans of the genre, and desire complexity in the sequels to their favorite games. They also have higher standards than non-fans, and expect the developers to listen to their feedback. "Casual" gamers are typically either new to the genre or are not as involved as the hardcore group. They tend to have a passing interest in the genre, and tend to pick up game boxes that catch their attention. They may not be fans of a specific genre, or are fans of many genres. They are more or less the opposite of the hardocore. Simcity tends to attract a mixture of hardcore and casual gamers, with hardcore comprising about 2/3 of the fanbase. There is no unseen demographic waiting to get their hands on a simpler Simcity. Simcity 4 attracts anyone who wants to build and manage a city and/or a region. In my area's stores, SC4 has actually outsold SCS in the past few months, demonstrating that there is not much of a market for a simpler Simcity such as SCS. When Maxis was developing the Simcity series, subsequent versions were pretty much upgraded, listening to the feedback of the fans of the series and genre. That is the reason that SCS was a total flop. I have given my opinions on the two demographics. Lastly, I'll say that I said in the poll: A hard core player who wants complexity in all of my games. - Patricius Maximus

NEW MODS AND NEW EXPANSION REPLIES: deathtopumpkins: 1) They did? I can't find it after 35 minutes of searching. Could you provide a link? 2) Zoneria turns off only zones. Tastyzots turns off zots. Goldfish4209: 1) The widening is designed to be done in sections as traffic patterns dictate. 2) Thanks a lot for that mod. I love it! No more jagged edges. Santos16: Franklinites do a pretty good job of it. Meastro444: I'll certainly look into it. wallasey: 1) There is lots of traffic moving from North Franklin to the turbine. Traffic patterns in Franklin County are a little strange 2) That is just the East Valley city limits. Negotiations are proceeding to finalize the division, but it appears that East Valley will get most of the high ground. Polls are closed and results are in. A big thanks to all who voted. Here are the results: Franklin County is now a metropolitan area, Central Franklin will expand, and I-85 in North Franklin has been widened to 6 thru lanes. The deregulation of North Franklin was, in my opinion, sensibly rejected. Here is a picture showcasing the new rail mod suggested by Goldfish4209: I believe I'll certainly keep it, as it is vastly improved over the Maxis rail. I reccomend it to anyone with a rural or suburban rail system, like myself. First the new widening of I-85 will be shown. Here is the beginning of it north of the Franklin diamond interchange: It goes north into North Franklin, paralleling the rail system: Ramps diverge from the 6-lane freeway to form the North Franklin diamond interchange: And the ramps converge again. The one and only reason of the compression to 4 lanes diagonally is the limited, orthogonal only functionality of the RHW-6 at the present time. It has been told that diagonal RHW-6 will be coming in the future, possibly with v21: Interstate 85 widens to 6 lanes once again, and diverges in the approach to the turbine interchange: The Central Franklin businesses have taken immediate advantage of the development incentives and built new stores in the area: Westward, the peninsular development has expanded also: Lastly, here is another picture showing the new rail mod: As always, please post any of your comments, suggestions, and questions.

Hal, you can always use the 'howdryiam' cheat

You can see how well gun bans are working in N Korea and Cuba. You can also see how well handgun bans are working in other nations as well.quote> Yes. The US or any other country can become oppressive like those two countries. If no one has a gun, then the government is free to do whatever it wants without fear of retaliation. This is a dangerous thing. Chicago, which is close to where I live, has the some of the highest violent crime rates in the nation. Why? Because criminals know that law abiding citizens in Chicago are banned from owning a handgun, so they can't defend themselves. All those kids shot this year so far, the handgun ban hasn't saved them. It only means that the gangbangers and common thugs can get their hands on "ILLEGAL" weapons, and use them with relatively little risk of being fired upon themselves. So please tell me how a handgun ban has made Chicago safer? Really, I would love to know?quote> I agree with this argument. Same with both criminals and government. If there is no risk of retaliation, they can do whatever they want. Note here, how, with the exception of the 18th amendment (which was subsequently repealed), all of these amendments either guarantee rights to the people or standardize workings of the government. There are no amendments which limit the rights of the people. And that is very important. It's also another reason why the second amendment must standquote> Yes, it is. Oh and on a more personal note, using the image of a murderous thug like Che, shows poor judgement. He was neither a hero, or a patriot, just a very smart, violent thug like Stalin, Castro, Saddam Hussein and others like them.quote> He's just a picture people put on T-shirts. Che in my opinion is vastly overrated. He didn't really do much, except become associated with Fidel. Also, from the Current Events rules: -Remain on the topic of the thread you are posting on -Do not critisize a person's sexuality, religion, race, culture, ideas, or opinions. While it is alright to disagree with somebody, it is not alright to personally attack another member. -Displaying hatred towards a specific country, race, religion, gender, government, group, or sexuality will not be tolerated. If you do have hateful opinions, please keep them to yourself. -Treat other people[religions, cultures, beliefs, races, etc.] the way you would want your self[religion, culture, beliefs, race, etc.] to be treated.quote> - Patricius Maximus

I think that the jet crash was the primary, if not the only, cause of the Twin Towers collapse. About the third tower, I can see both explanations. There was no conclusive, undisputable cause found to date. Fire could have weakened the steel, then again it could have been a clever demolition. However, I lean towards the fire theory with the third tower. I believe that the Twin Tower collapse was caused by the plane crash and resulting fires. If so, then why would the CIA, FBI, or other organization go to the trouble and expense of wiring an insignificant tower to explode at the same time? That makes no sense to me. I cannot completely discount a theory of operational cooperation between the US government and Al Qaeda. If so, it would have to be so secret that the theory's factuality would be highly improbable, but not impossible. No one can deny that Area 51 exists, but it took 30 years for it to come out into the public eye. So, I'd say operational cooperation is possible, but highly improbable. As for the entire 9/11 incident being caused by the US government, I think it is almost impossible.

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THE CROSS-REGIONAL FREEWAY - PART II REPLIES: deathtopumpkins: 1) Well, it was just a miswording. I'll proceed to edit that. 2) I thought that curve looked realistic myself. More like a racetrack than a curve. 3) They do work in tight spaces. Most build the RHW interchanges with the surface street as the overpass. It is also possible to build them with the freeway having an overpass. This saves space. 4) No, it does not. However, the planners looked far ahead and thought an interchange may be on it in the future. I did take a look at the 64-264 interchange in Norfolk. It is one of the most unique I've seen: It has a cloverleaf in it combined with semi-directional ramps and C/D roads. The Cross-Regional Freeway enters Clearview proper with a half-roundabout interchange: Click for full resolution. It then passes into a tunnel and goes under most of the city: It reemerges and links up with an elevated highway to form another collector/express system: It then goes out of Clearview proper into East Clearview, which is more suburban than the rest of the area. Furthur east, it intersects with another freeway with C/D roads via a large cloverleaf variant: Going furthur eastbound, a parclo interchange provides access to the suburban town: Going out of the suburban town, and into the Dixon area, we encounter a useful transfer from express to collector lanes: Furthur east, express and collectors total 12 lanes. Note the extended RHW-6, which will prove of use when the area develops and the next RHW is released: Construction crews are working on connections to the Dixon area. Please post comments and/or suggestions.

A NEW AND COMPREHENSIVE VOTE REPLIES: deathtopumpkins: 1) Thanks for your compliments. 2) Yes, they are overhanging props. 3) I certainly do know. In this CJ, I prefer the shots to be "unpolished", aside from the zoneria cheat. **ATTENTION** This CJ is now about 10 pages long. As most of you know, when a thread gets to that size the page flip bug kicks in and does its work. What it does is that the first few posts of a page will be "hidden". If the last page button is clicked, it will show the previous one. What we can do to avoid this is to simply change the STARTPAGE number in the address bar if you think some posts are "hidden". Example: changing a 9 to a 10. This will enable you to read the "hidden" posts. Already on SR-330, shops and housing has been set up by immigrants eager to make something of themselves in Franklin County: The road has become a popular drive for tourists who want a more intimate look at the forests than they would get on the Interstates. Meanwhile, Central Franklin has continued to overflow into East Franklin. Also, a new road has been built connecting the southern half of East Franklin to Central Franklin: Lastly, some Franklinites have gotten together in a meeting and have come up with many new proposals for the citizens to vote on. 1. Merging all areas of Franklin County areas, excluding East Valley, into one metropolitan area. East Valley will break off as an independent county. 2. Enact plan to expand Central Franklin. 3. Deregulate all development of North Franklin. 4. Widen Interstate 85 in North Franklin to 6 thru lanes. For easier viewing, here is a diagram detailing the proposals: Please vote in the new polls. All the proposals will be voted on seperately. As always, please post comments, questions, and suggestions.

A nice "teaser". Well done

City2TheMax: I'll take the advice about the line drawing in the future. Also, I like long overpasses. They add a sense of realism, don't you think Here is a mosaic showing 2 volleyball interchanges hooked up with C/D roads and transfers with no weaving: I'm restructuring many close interchanges like these with new C/D roads and transfers. They are of good use to have close interchanges with no weaving. Please post comments, suggestions, and questons.

THE CROSS-REGIONAL FREEWAY - PART I REPLIES: jacqulina: Thanks. Rictiovarus: From others here at ST, Kurumi.com, CBRT.co.uk, and a few other minor sources. sedimenjerry: 1) I just noticed that! Glad you pointed out that @ sign. 2) It is ironic, but I've seen some SPUIs in suburbs. 3) I have looked at those interchanges, and they're some nice ones. deathtopumpkins: Thank you. I didn't intend to replicate it in SC4 Schulmanator: Thanks for your compliments. I'm glad you think so. Continuing the gallery of real life interchanges, we visit some in Atlanta, Georgia. Here is a variant of cloverleaf that is common in the eastern US. It has the same function as a cloverstack, but is less obtrusive and has left-turning ramps. A high capacity, unique interchange: Another rather unique interchange with a loop ramp: A partial Directional T variant: In this update, I will showcase the western half of the Cross-Regional Freeway, which was built recently partially out of existing freeways. The yellow line on the map marks it's course. As Patian County expands eastward, so to will the freeway, until it gets at the eastern boundary of the region. It starts in the west with a spectacular cloverstack interchange, which was shown in an earlier update: It continues eastward until it hits Clarksville, an industrial area. It intersects with another freeway via a volleyball interchange: Continuing, many streets and a rail go over it: About a kilometer to the east, a parclo variant connects the freeway to an avenue: Passing into North Vicksburg, a compact diamond connects it to another avenue: Furthur eastward, after passing over another freeway, it merges with a third freeway to form a brief collector system: The collectors merge into the express lanes, and the Cross-Regional moves into the Clearview area, crossing into the city limits of West Clearview: It goes into a tunnel, and emerges 500 meters eastward as a sunken highway: Before entering the Clearview city limits, another parclo interchange connects the freeway to an avenue: The second half will be shown in the next update. That's all for today. Please post comments, suggestions, and questions.

I like the way that the newer cities mix skyscrapers and forests. It creates an inviting and good-looking sense of openness. I should try it in my urban areas. Also, where did you get those short and curved highway walls in the third picture? Looking forward to the next, and probably interesting, update.

EAST FRANKLIN AND RIVER BEND EXPANDS REPLIES: un1: Thanks. See you on 10 July... deathtopumpkins: 1) It probably would be good for FAR. 2) The bridge does look good there. 3) They are electrified, as you will see in this update. Meastro444: Thanks for your comments. edmonton_stinks: Thank you. jacqulina: Thanks for your compliments. wallasey: Thanks. The strip malls do look good if they're built on the right place. FatalRook: Thank you for your comments. Glad you're looking forward to the next updates. Development in Central Franklin has broken through city limits and entered East Franklin: Note the SAM parking lot textures: Northward, the development that conurbated with Franklin proper has expanded with a new subdivison: Meanwhile, in River Bend, a new development has been built next to the electrified rail line: And a view of the entire area: Lastly, the real estate developer living in Forest Bluff has carved out a subdivision out of his land, providing more housing for new residents of Franklin County: That's all for this update. Feel free to post any of your comments, suggestions, or questions.