Patricius Maximus

A TWELFTH ANNIVERSARY, A NEW DECADE, AND AN ALL-NIGHTTIME UPDATE ------------------------------------------------------------- TheCrybKeeper: Thank you very much. I intend to continue this journal for the foreseeable future, as long as I have new material to post. That'll certainly be a long time. Goosmoose42: I'm truly touched by your reply, and the fact that the first journal you visited in your nostalgia trip was mine. Yes, I am indeed still here after eleven (and by now) twelve years. TheCrybKeeper: I'm so glad I've set such an example for others, and I hope you'll put your stimulus check to good use . TheCrybKeeper: Too bad . Adamu08: Thank you . It's not exactly desert terrain; it's the game's default terrain texture for high altitudes, which indeed does look desert-ish. If you look closely at the region maps you can see a cliff separating the high-altitude eastern areas from the low-altitude western areas. ------------------------------------------------------------- Well, after a burst of two updates last year for the eleventh anniversary my interest once again faded, only to reignite as the twelfth anniversary this year approached. This is a special anniversary because it is the first one to occur in a brand new decade, the decade of the 2020s. This means that this city journal, Franklin County, has now spanned three decades, the 2000s, the 2010s, and the 2020s. Heady stuff, isn't it? I have accomplished some freeway and urban reconstruction in Hanging Cliff in my latest bout of gameplay, but this year I thought I'd do something different, something I haven't done in a long time if not ever: an anniversary featuring exclusively night screenshots. For our anniversary of darkness we will start with River Bend. Located directly south of North River, River Bend's left bank has now experienced spillover urban development, consistent with my master plan to extend urbanity in a flush corridor clear through Hanging Cliff, connecting North River, Hanging Cliff, and Franklin proper. Below is a nighttime view of the heart of urban River Bend, showing both banks of the river. Notice the left side of the picture (the right bank of the river) was shown in previous updates. The next picture is a view, with west at the top, looking from the left bank over to the right bank, toward the old downtown of River Bend. Notice that the older development on the other side of the bank is much lower density, a stark contrast to the very urban skyline on the nearer bank. The different colors of the buildings give the lower half of the picture a very nice look. Moving over to the north (west is at the top in this picture) we see a somewhat sleepier-looking but still quite tall and pretty skyline. Zooming in, we can see a very urban and modern-looking view; check out how fresh and new those buildings look. I wonder what all those sims are doing in those offices while gazing out over to the opposite bank's skyline and the boats on the river... Moving southward, this time with east at the top of the picture, we see a transitional zone of more mid-rise density. Panning southward (east is at the top) toward the freeway we see perhaps the most beautiful section of the left bank of River Bend, featuring multiple circular buildings all lit up in yellowish tones, among many other urban sights and sensations. An eagle-eyed observer might notice a new roundabout interchange toward the right designed to service this burgeoning section of Franklin County. Last but not least we have a view of the same area with south at the top, showing the area south of the freeway. Notice the neighborhood developing toward the south. Well, that's all for now. I hope you enjoyed the twelfth anniversary update, and I invite all of you viewing this journal to leave your comments, suggestions, and questions. They're more appreciated than you know.

WELCOME TO FRANKLIN COUNTY As some of you know, Patrician City was ended on 31 May 2008. I stated that a successor will come in the coming weeks. This is that successor. In the beginning, there was a region in a galaxy, with an aging star population. One day, a red supergiant star fused it's last atom, and exploded as a supernova: It perturbed gases in the region. A pocket of dust and gas started spinning and contracting. After a few million years, a star was born: Soon thereafter, planets formed, including one in the habitable zone: Comets delivered water, ices, and amino acids to the habitable planet: Soon, all calmed down and oceans formed, and then plant life took over the planet: After 3 billion years and many mass extinctions, intelligent humanoid life developed on the surface of the planet. They constructed cities, empires, and nation-states on the planet. And, so, in a rather small temperate, coastal nation, there was a region called Franklin County. At present, the only thing special about this remote county is the intersection of two highways, Interstate 30 and Interstate 85. This CJ will detail it's development from a rural county in the backcountry into it's final, developed form. Your suggestions and opinions will influence it's development. For now I will post some images of the county. Here is a satellite view of the region: And a transit view: Click on them for full resolution. Please post comments and/or suggestions.

A TWELFTH ANNIVERSARY, A NEW DECADE, AND AN ALL-NIGHTTIME UPDATE ------------------------------------------------------------- TheCrybKeeper: Thank you very much. I intend to continue this journal for the foreseeable future, as long as I have new material to post. That'll certainly be a long time. Goosmoose42: I'm truly touched by your reply, and the fact that the first journal you visited in your nostalgia trip was mine. Yes, I am indeed still here after eleven (and by now) twelve years. TheCrybKeeper: I'm so glad I've set such an example for others, and I hope you'll put your stimulus check to good use . TheCrybKeeper: Too bad . Adamu08: Thank you . It's not exactly desert terrain; it's the game's default terrain texture for high altitudes, which indeed does look desert-ish. If you look closely at the region maps you can see a cliff separating the high-altitude eastern areas from the low-altitude western areas. ------------------------------------------------------------- Well, after a burst of two updates last year for the eleventh anniversary my interest once again faded, only to reignite as the twelfth anniversary this year approached. This is a special anniversary because it is the first one to occur in a brand new decade, the decade of the 2020s. This means that this city journal, Franklin County, has now spanned three decades, the 2000s, the 2010s, and the 2020s. Heady stuff, isn't it? I have accomplished some freeway and urban reconstruction in Hanging Cliff in my latest bout of gameplay, but this year I thought I'd do something different, something I haven't done in a long time if not ever: an anniversary featuring exclusively night screenshots. For our anniversary of darkness we will start with River Bend. Located directly south of North River, River Bend's left bank has now experienced spillover urban development, consistent with my master plan to extend urbanity in a flush corridor clear through Hanging Cliff, connecting North River, Hanging Cliff, and Franklin proper. Below is a nighttime view of the heart of urban River Bend, showing both banks of the river. Notice the left side of the picture (the right bank of the river) was shown in previous updates. The next picture is a view, with west at the top, looking from the left bank over to the right bank, toward the old downtown of River Bend. Notice that the older development on the other side of the bank is much lower density, a stark contrast to the very urban skyline on the nearer bank. The different colors of the buildings give the lower half of the picture a very nice look. Moving over to the north (west is at the top in this picture) we see a somewhat sleepier-looking but still quite tall and pretty skyline. Zooming in, we can see a very urban and modern-looking view; check out how fresh and new those buildings look. I wonder what all those sims are doing in those offices while gazing out over to the opposite bank's skyline and the boats on the river... Moving southward, this time with east at the top of the picture, we see a transitional zone of more mid-rise density. Panning southward (east is at the top) toward the freeway we see perhaps the most beautiful section of the left bank of River Bend, featuring multiple circular buildings all lit up in yellowish tones, among many other urban sights and sensations. An eagle-eyed observer might notice a new roundabout interchange toward the right designed to service this burgeoning section of Franklin County. Last but not least we have a view of the same area with south at the top, showing the area south of the freeway. Notice the neighborhood developing toward the south. Well, that's all for now. I hope you enjoyed the twelfth anniversary update, and I invite all of you viewing this journal to leave your comments, suggestions, and questions. They're more appreciated than you know.

Cute little installment with the trolls and such. The forum will be my CJ's primary residence for as long as it exists, but I am cross-posting to the new CJ section now. So far I'm actually getting more reactions on the forum than I am in the CJ section, contrary to my expectation it would be the opposite . I look forward to further dialogue here, and I hope we'll stay in touch with our two journals.

Jacko2110, that's some golf course. Very nice.

THE RIGHT BANK GOES SOUTH - HAPPY ELEVENTH ANNIVERSARY ------------------------------------------------------------- To Bobolee and PaPa-J, thank you for the likes. I'm always heartened to see that there are people reading this and obviously experiencing it as a positive addition to their lives. I would also like to use this occasion, the actual eleventh anniversary of Franklin County, to announce that all updates starting from the last one will be cross-posted to Franklin County's new entry in the dedicated city journal section. Don't worry - you will still be able to view updates in the forum, and probably will as long as the Simtropolis city journal forum exists. And, at the risk of repeating myself: HAPPY ELEVENTH ANNIVERSARY! It has only been one day since the last update, but I do have new developments, namely the most important part of downtown River Bend's planned densification has been completed, and the Right Bank (that's the western side) of North River's dense strip of development has at last been extended southward into River Bend, thus creating a seamless intertile area of city. Before we get to the Right Bank, I'd like to showcase the densification of River Bend. First off is the pre-existing situation, which one might call "legacy" FC development since it is obviously very old: Below is the reconstructed area - much nicer. I quite appreciate the skyline following the freeway, not unlike a particular section of Dubai that is pretty famous as far as cityscape photography goes. The diamond interchange has been converted into a roundabout interchange; also notice that the freeway has been doubled in width: Toward the east we see the pre-existing section before: And the reconstructed section after with more density and more modern infrastructure. Notice once again the beefed-up interchange, in this case a larger version of the previous junction. Also notice the leafy-wealthy suburb look worked in - I didn't have the heart to bulldoze the previous low-density development in this case, since it was so pretty, so I made it blend in with the surrounding environment more. One can also spy a tunnel at top center: Below you see the pre-existing bridges and riverfront area: And here you see the same area after my improvements. Notice the doubled width of the freeway carrying over across the river. Thank you to the RHW bridgemakers, though an RHW-8C bridge would be nice - an 8C was my original plan so I wouldn't have to bulldoze so much, but I was unable to locate an RHW-8C bridge in my search on the STEX and LEX. If anyone reading this can point me to one let me know in a reply to this post. Last but not least below is a zoomed-out view of the pre-existing downtown: And the new reconstructed downtown. This part is obviously not exactly complete, but there's more than enough going on here for you to get the idea. The freeway strip is of course complete now: What downtown journey would be complete without night lights? Below is a night view of the freeway strip in downtown River Bend, with west at the top. Quite nice, isn't it? Note the passenger trains toward the left - the line seems to be pretty busy these days. Below is a more close-in view of the gorgeous buildings, with south at the top: Moving toward the North River border we come across a new downtown, the extension of the Right Bank southward into River Bend. Below, the much awaited development: In keeping with recent trends, below is a night view, with south at the top, showing off how vibrant the temples of commerce and capital are in Franklin County these days: That's about all I have for the eleventh anniversary update, which I suppose could be considered part two of a larger undecennial initiative along with yesterday's post. Before I leave I present to you a regional view showing off the seamlessness of the development, and giving you a larger view as I always like to do: Any of your comments, suggestions, or questions are as always welcome.

THE RIGHT BANK GOES SOUTH - HAPPY ELEVENTH ANNIVERSARY ------------------------------------------------------------- To Haljackey and PaPa-J, thank you for the likes. I'm always heartened to see that there are people reading this and obviously experiencing it as a positive addition to their lives. I would also like to use this occasion, the actual eleventh anniversary of Franklin County, to announce that all updates starting from the last one will be cross-posted to Franklin County's new entry in the dedicated city journal section. Don't worry - you will still be able to view updates in the forum, and probably will as long as the Simtropolis city journal forum exists. And, at the risk of repeating myself: HAPPY ELEVENTH ANNIVERSARY! It has only been one day since the last update, but I do have new developments, namely the most important part of downtown River Bend's planned densification has been completed, and the Right Bank (that's the western side) of North River's dense strip of development has at last been extended southward into River Bend, thus creating a seamless intertile area of city. Before we get to the Right Bank, I'd like to showcase the densification of River Bend. First off is the pre-existing situation, which one might call "legacy" FC development since it is obviously very old: Below is the reconstructed area - much nicer. I quite appreciate the skyline following the freeway, not unlike a particular section of Dubai that is pretty famous as far as cityscape photography goes. The diamond interchange has been converted into a roundabout interchange; also notice that the freeway has been doubled in width: Toward the east we see the pre-existing section before: And the reconstructed section after with more density and more modern infrastructure. Notice once again the beefed-up interchange, in this case a larger version of the previous junction. Also notice the leafy-wealthy suburb look worked in - I didn't have the heart to bulldoze the previous low-density development in this case, since it was so pretty, so I made it blend in with the surrounding environment more. One can also spy a tunnel at top center: Below you see the pre-existing bridges and riverfront area: And here you see the same area after my improvements. Notice the doubled width of the freeway carrying over across the river. Thank you to the RHW bridgemakers, though an RHW-8C bridge would be nice - an 8C was my original plan so I wouldn't have to bulldoze so much, but I was unable to locate an RHW-8C bridge in my search on the STEX and LEX. If anyone reading this can point me to one let me know in a reply to this post. Last but not least below is a zoomed-out view of the pre-existing downtown: And the new reconstructed downtown. This part is obviously not exactly complete, but there's more than enough going on here for you to get the idea. The freeway strip is of course complete now: What downtown journey would be complete without night lights? Below is a night view of the freeway strip in downtown River Bend, with west at the top. Quite nice, isn't it? Note the passenger trains toward the left - the line seems to be pretty busy these days. Below is a more close-in view of the gorgeous buildings, with south at the top: Moving toward the North River border we come across a new downtown, the extension of the Right Bank southward into River Bend. Below, the much awaited development: In keeping with recent trends, below is a night view, with south at the top, showing off how vibrant the temples of commerce and capital are in Franklin County these days: That's about all I have for the eleventh anniversary update, which I suppose could be considered part two of a larger undecennial initiative along with yesterday's post. Before I leave I present to you a regional view showing off the seamlessness of the development, and giving you a larger view as I always like to do: Any of your comments, suggestions, or questions are as always welcome.

LEFT BANK RISING UPON THE BEGINNING OF THE TWELFTH YEAR ------------------------------------------------------------- HAPPY ELEVENTH ANNIVERSARY! Yes, I know it's one day early - the anniversary isn't until the second of the month - but I have the update early this year . There may be more material soon, and if so I will post that then - ooh, a more than annual update schedule? How ambitious of me . The dense strip of development as detailed in my years-ago master plan for future development of Franklin County is what I have been building recently - more specifically the east side, or left bank (since downstream faces south the east side is to the left) of the Franklin River. Below is a picture of the new downtown Left Bank (of the North River city tile), shot during the golden hour. Note that generously proportioned roads are used as the backbone of the city's transportation system - indeed in game it doesn't even have mass transit, though buses and subways will be added if necessary, perhaps connecting to the right bank's high-speed rail line. I also would not altogether exclude the possibility of high-speed rail lines along the eastern side of the downtown, particularly if new less dense development appears further afield toward the northeastern plains of the county. Ground light rail inside the avenue medians could easily connect the eastern mass transit backbone with neighborhoods further toward the waterfront. Possibilities, possibilities... Further south from the Left Bank's core, one can see how dense development arrays itself around avenue roundabouts, bearing a superficial resemblance to lily pads in a pond. Note how the arterial roads in the newest developments are efficiently cleared of any connections with homes or businesses, instead only connecting to local streets. Skipping north of the center of town one can see that high structural density continues much further afield northward. Also notice the complete lack of traffic lights - all junctions are handled with yields or roundabouts, thus enabling traffic to flow freely across the city. Having sightseen the city in the reddish hues of sunset, time has gotten away from us and night has fallen. One by one the offices, residences, and hotels brighten up, forming into a man-made lightscape - quite beautiful in my opinion, especially gazing westward as we are here: Below is a gorgeous close-up of one of the most aesthetically pleasing parts of Left Bank: Pivoting ourselves to the Franklin River, we can at last gaze upon the waterfront in its full glory - notice the apartments arrayed in a strip along the seawall in a pattern characteristic of desirable riverfront real estate (east is up, the new development is toward the top of the image): Downstream we can see another view of the Left Bank's downtown: Pivoting our gaze northward and with day having broke, we can see another view of the northerly portion of the Left Bank's downtown: Looking more closely one can get a good view of the rush hour traffic characteristic of the new area: Even more rush hour traffic may be seen from this view - and much to our consternation traffic jams uncharacteristic of the country are starting to appear. Perhaps tomorrow Franklinites may have a chance at relief, since the government's annual term is up - they'd better hope, or else their transportation system's much-vaunted reputation as being arguably the world's most effective may become a national embarrassment. Interim measures are already being considered, though if it does not trend worse most are inclined to let the issue go for now. We close our downtown tour on this day with a sunset shot of one of the more aesthetic roundabouts of the downtown area: Zooming way out and looking eastward we can see a good big picture of how everything looks with regard to the central and southern portions of the new strip. I will let this image speak for itself: And secondly, the central and northern portions: I will close by giving a good in-game view of the traffic situation, centered in the northern portion of the Left Bank looking southward. You can also see that more than 100 000 sims have been added on with this development alone - as I said in previous updates there is a population explosion going on in this stage of Franklin County's development: Last but not least, to anyone wondering this is how the new development looks at the regional level - notice that I haven't added anything on to the other city tiles, but one can visualize how things will turn out if my designs reach completion: Well, that's all for the undecennial update, which is also by my official count update number 420, a nice round number. When I have significant new developments I will try to post a new update promptly. Here's to a twelfth year much better than our eleventh, and to the twelfth year of Franklin County being one of its best yet. Any of your comments, suggestions, or questions are as always welcome.

WELCOME TO FRANKLIN COUNTY ---------------------------------------- Franklin County - it would not be exaggerating for me to say that this journal I created on the forums on June 2, 2008 is one of the longest running city journals in the history of SimCity 4. I did not seek to write an epic, but where countless others came and went, Franklin County was there, and it is still here. By the time ten years had elapsed I had amassed four hundred and nineteen updates, good for over a hundred pages in the forum. Now it is eleven years, and I am still at it. From this day forward, in observance of the eleventh anniversary of Franklin County's creation, I am also making any new updates available here in the dedicated city journal section. Here in this beginning entry you will find content relating to the whole journal, as well as links back to the forum, where you may see the previous four hundred and nineteen updates. This entry thus may be updated from time to time. Franklin County - Page 1 Franklin County - Page 102 (Update 419 and later)

LEFT BANK RISING UPON THE BEGINNING OF THE TWELFTH YEAR ------------------------------------------------------------- HAPPY ELEVENTH ANNIVERSARY! Yes, I know it's one day early - the anniversary isn't until the second of the month - but I have the update early this year . There may be more material soon, and if so I will post that then - ooh, a more than annual update schedule? How ambitious of me . The dense strip of development as detailed in my years-ago master plan for future development of Franklin County is what I have been building recently - more specifically the east side, or left bank (since downstream faces south the east side is to the left) of the Franklin River. Below is a picture of the new downtown Left Bank (of the North River city tile), shot during the golden hour. Note that generously proportioned roads are used as the backbone of the city's transportation system - indeed in game it doesn't even have mass transit, though buses and subways will be added if necessary, perhaps connecting to the right bank's high-speed rail line. I also would not altogether exclude the possibility of high-speed rail lines along the eastern side of the downtown, particularly if new less dense development appears further afield toward the northeastern plains of the county. Ground light rail inside the avenue medians could easily connect the eastern mass transit backbone with neighborhoods further toward the waterfront. Possibilities, possibilities... Further south from the Left Bank's core, one can see how dense development arrays itself around avenue roundabouts, bearing a superficial resemblance to lily pads in a pond. Note how the arterial roads in the newest developments are efficiently cleared of any connections with homes or businesses, instead only connecting to local streets. Skipping north of the center of town one can see that high structural density continues much further afield northward. Also notice the complete lack of traffic lights - all junctions are handled with yields or roundabouts, thus enabling traffic to flow freely across the city. Having sightseen the city in the reddish hues of sunset, time has gotten away from us and night has fallen. One by one the offices, residences, and hotels brighten up, forming into a man-made lightscape - quite beautiful in my opinion, especially gazing westward as we are here: Below is a gorgeous close-up of one of the most aesthetically pleasing parts of Left Bank: Pivoting ourselves to the Franklin River, we can at last gaze upon the waterfront in its full glory - notice the apartments arrayed in a strip along the seawall in a pattern characteristic of desirable riverfront real estate (east is up, the new development is toward the top of the image): Downstream we can see another view of the Left Bank's downtown: Pivoting our gaze northward and with day having broke, we can see another view of the northerly portion of the Left Bank's downtown: Looking more closely one can get a good view of the rush hour traffic characteristic of the new area: Even more rush hour traffic may be seen from this view - and much to our consternation traffic jams uncharacteristic of the country are starting to appear. Perhaps tomorrow Franklinites may have a chance at relief, since the government's annual term is up - they'd better hope, or else their transportation system's much-vaunted reputation as being arguably the world's most effective may become a national embarrassment. Interim measures are already being considered, though if it does not trend worse most are inclined to let the issue go for now. We close our downtown tour on this day with a sunset shot of one of the more aesthetic roundabouts of the downtown area: Zooming way out and looking eastward we can see a good big picture of how everything looks with regard to the central and southern portions of the new strip. I will let this image speak for itself: And secondly, the central and northern portions: I will close by giving a good in-game view of the traffic situation, centered in the northern portion of the Left Bank looking southward. You can also see that more than 100 000 sims have been added on with this development alone - as I said in previous updates there is a population explosion going on in this stage of Franklin County's development: Last but not least, to anyone wondering this is how the new development looks at the regional level - notice that I haven't added anything on to the other city tiles, but one can visualize how things will turn out if my designs reach completion: Well, that's all for the undecennial update, which is also by my official count update number 420, a nice round number. When I have significant new developments I will try to post a new update promptly. Here's to a twelfth year much better than our eleventh, and to the twelfth year of Franklin County being one of its best yet. Any of your comments, suggestions, or questions are as always welcome.

Cool ramps. It's always an interesting challenge to squeeze in a full set of ramps into these sort of spaces.

It's always a pleasure to see all these. The work all of you have posted is magnificent .

Oh, I'm really bad about this - I can't remember the last time I've completed a region without deliberately making an effort to do so, and even then I usually regretted it. For some reason the regions usually feel complete to me without developing all the tiles - indeed much of the time I don't even complete a given city tile I am developing, though I often fill it in with woods or parkland if I know not what else to do with it. Most of the regions I start I also get bored with after I start them and complete the terraforming and perhaps some limited development. This in turn leaves my corpus of regions in my game seeming much more wilderness-y than I ever intended when creating them. Unlike some people here I really like connecting a large number of cities, though. Interesting to see how this tendency is so common but manifests itself so differently. I agree that it is fortunate for people like us that there is no predetermined end goal in the game .

I quite like this city journal's theme, quite creative and whimsical. Your city building style is simple but effective enough, and I don't see region-wide grids all too often, so it's something of a refreshing change of pace. Keep up the good work, and don't change your style. As one of the few apparently left here with a forum-based city journal along with you I say we should stick together, though I'm wondering whether I should start a branch of my CJ Franklin County in the dedicated section just starting with new content, with a link back to the first 10 years (yes, 10 years - even I have a hard time believing it sometimes, as if I were in a sci-fi time warp or something) on the forum . I'll be keeping my forum-based CJ current in any case. This is an interesting thought I just had, though one I shouldn't clutter your CJ with any further. Good luck on your future city-building endeavors .

DIFFICULTIES RESOLVED - THE UNDECENNIAL IS BACK ON! I am pleased to report that, following what I deemed to be the best advice from my fellow SimCity 4 enthusiasts, I called EA customer support, and within an hour the joint efforts of myself and two Indians (to think that some people complain about the service one gets from India ) had deposited SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition to my game library on Origin, where I promptly downloaded and installed it without a hitch. Since I redeemed my pre-existing game code I also obtained the digital copy free of charge - to anyone reading this my advice, as I usually say (though not before on here), is to save all of your original game packaging, because it may well save you a lot of trouble one day as it did for me. After a curious false start or two when I had to reboot my computer, SimCity 4 loaded as I have come to expect on my previous computers. It ended up being fully functional, and I promptly got to work city-building for the whole latter part of my day today. I only wonder why I don't play more often, since I enjoy it so much more than I usually remember. My evening bout of new construction was so successful that I actually already have more than enough material for a new update. I will be delivering it to you in plenty of time for this journal's eleventh anniversary on June 2; indeed it is likely I will be early this year, which is certainly much better news than I was expecting to deliver as of the last post. Please post any of your comments, suggestions, or questions.

Very good. I quite like the new widened highway - looks quite muscular.

I very much like your highway widening, Haljackey. It has a muscular look. And British Sausage, I've always had a soft spot for the taiga - well done. I like most of the other people's work too that they have posted. Keep up the good work, everyone. Even though I play the game only very occasionally these days, it's always a pleasure to drop in and see these things.

MORE TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES In the interests of transparency and openness to all who may be interested in reading this city journal, I would like to update you on my preparations for my once-again-seemingly annual update. As I said almost a year ago I'm not nearly as interested in the game or this journal as I once was but I am loathe to give it up altogether. Indeed recently as summer is approaching I am wistfully looking forward to opening up the game again. This is where the technical issues start, seeing as my previous laptop's plug socket sort of rotted off completely last winter - the plug would no longer connect at all, and indeed for years it was on the brink. So I started using my newer and more advanced laptop (of a similar model to my old one) that I had in reserve for some time as my new daily computer, for obvious reasons. The new computer runs Windows 10, and after customizing the look of it to resemble my much-loved Windows 7, complete with Classic Shell, I was very satisfied. Not so satisfactory was moving all of my personal data between computers again and having to back it up, which always miffs me and this time I had finally had enough. So I moved to an external hard drive that I share over my home network so that I can access all my data from any device and never have to worry about that issue again - this is what is sometimes known as a "personal cloud". Both of the routers I have had over the past year support this by the simple expedient of plugging it in, though with my new router it took me a while to figure out to turn on Samba . I have since learned to back up the network drive on my new computer very regularly, since power outages, which unhappily are not uncommon where I live, have a nasty habit of corrupting my data when the folder is open on one of my computers. Well, after these issues were solved, a mere couple of months ago in fact, everything was functioning very well. My data was safe, accessible from any device in my household, and I was (and still am in fact) very satisfied with my new computer. I even quite appreciate the nighttime reddening and dimming feature Windows 10 has - it has been a considerable help getting me to sleep in the evenings. Then today happened. I try to run SimCity 4 with the disk in my drive, and it cannot run no matter what compatibility mode I select. I later learn that SafeDisk support in Windows 10 is no longer supported so SimCity 4 can no longer run from the disks I own, which is obviously quite a bummer considering I was going to play, work on my dense ribbons and leafy suburbs, and show the results to you, dear readers, today or the day after tomorrow, in honor of this journal's 11th anniversary. This is where I am as I write this post, researching what I should do and considering various workarounds of this problem. These include command-line overrides (or whatever they're called exactly), trying to get a free digital copy through Steam or Origin with my game code, or as a last resort buying a digital copy. I am quite miffed and irritated since this means yet more work on a personal computing system that I thought I had at last set up to run like a well-oiled machine. I have no idea how long this is going to take, so it is possible the next real update may not be coming in time for the anniversary on June 2. I will try to get it up sometime in the near future. Thank you for your patience with this, and to any fellow Windows 10 users attempting to run SimCity 4 on it for the first time, you have my sympathy. Any comments, suggestions, or questions will be welcome. P.S. - I still really like how my Photobucket pictures are still working, and I adore my Amazon-based image hosting at least as much as I did last year. That incident with the image hosting is what actually in part inspired me to modernize the information technology systems I use in my daily life. I only hope these new systems will be able to effectively deliver me my game and you readers a new update. P.S.S. - Duco, I almost forgot to thank you for your nice reply. It was indeed a happy anniversary, and I hope you enjoyed the latest update as much as I did.

Well, you've finally equaled some of the stranger ramps I've created .

Well, even in your map if you look at concentric circles going out from central Arnhem (let's say circles with radii increasing by a quarter kilometer each) it goes from all urban at say half a kilometer to perhaps half urban and half rural at 2 kilometers to predominately rural at 5 kilometers. That's an example of what I'm talking about - farmland at a given distance from the city center, more so than the actual urban-rural fringe being gradual as opposed to sharp, though that too is apparently far more common in the places I've traveled to than where you have traveled to. Of course in the other towns in the area there's a very sharp transition as you suggest. I'll acknowledge that in my experience has been like yours in small towns, which tend to have much sharper transitions than sprawling metropolitan areas. For a given value of small town, anyway - I've been through many places that are more like a glorified cluster of houses (and maybe a service business or two) than an actual town, and in those places the transition becomes very gradual again (perhaps on account of there not being a definitive center). Settlements of similar size in Europe I understand tend to have their housing and businesses all directly adjacent to each other rather than scattered throughout farm fields. I personally reserve the word "village" for these denser settlements that are more common in Europe.

Not bad. Turnarounds are quite convenient in real life in my experience, so I usually place lots of them on my highways (freeways are a different kettle of fish). Of course the fact that I only allow Michigan lefts on my highways might also be a factor . This is all part of my longstanding "reduce conflict points of the traffic" initiative. For the same reason there's a de facto moratorium on traffic lights, instead roundabouts being favored for major intersections. The poor drivers would probably freeze in shock if plopped in North America, with all the traffic lights and direct left turns on divided highways, but I digress.

I adore rural and natural landscapes, but I don't like farms that much. Rather I usually like to go directly from urban landscape to thick woods - I suppose none of my regions will be exporting foodstuffs anytime soon, with the possible exception of fishing and maple syrup . But they have more than enough services and high tech industry to trade for all the agricultural goods they want anyway. As for terrain, I usually go for either a complete flatland sandbox (the default configuration), or a subarctic region dominated by low-lying mountains.

I second the consensus here. Solid blocks of suburbia in real life give way to a patch of farmland here, a patch of open woodland there, steadily growing in size and frequency as you move further out from the city center, until the subdivisions become islands of housing in a sea of farms and woods, gradually (in my experience very gradually) tapering off to farms and open land only once you are well outside the urbanized area. In megalopolis situations the subdivision islands will never fade out altogether, instead transitioning back to a more suburban landscape as you approach the next city. The shape of suburbia varies a lot too - it's not a concentric ring around downtown in most cases, instead it goes out 10 miles in one direction and 30 miles in the other, usually dictated by topography, transportation corridors, and the presence of pre-existing towns. Many a small town has been swallowed up by the commuter belt over the decades and centuries.

THE RESTORATION HAS FINALLY HAPPENED Well, I have to take some of my antipathy towards Photobucket back. I have news that will elate my readers - after more than a year my city journal pictures have been released from the deepest, darkest bowels of Photobucket's dungeon. The "hostage crisis", as one might call it, has been resolved in my and your favor. My thanks go out to the people at Photobucket who were responsible for this most heartwarming development. Drink in the Glorious Restoration of Franklin County to its former greatness. Who knows? You may not want to leave after you've had a few drinks of the good stuff .

Gotta love parclos - they're so elegant, particularly this one. Not my style (anymore) personally since I subscribe to the school of traffic engineering that says "free flow über alles" which precludes the traffic lights essential to the bigger ones, but I still appreciate them. A free-flowing parclo would mutate into into either a cloverstack if you used directional ramps or a roundabout-parclo hybrid, where the traffic lights are replaced by roundabouts. Would still work quite well, though it's not the same beast anymore in the strict sense.