emopunk85

Replies Hi guys, i'm back! First of all, i'll deal with replies. Then i'll progress on to the latest update. sparrowsraven: I downloaded the monastery from the STEX. It's called the Schiffenberg Monastery and is made by Kwakelaar. It's a brilliant BAT, and i'm pretty pleased it goes so well with the region. peachpit580: Thanks! Hopefully you'll enjoy the next update. anarchy0029: Cheers, i'm glad people are finding it interesting as well as looking good. fabsies55: I'm really pleased your liking it! Hopefully you'll really like this next update. Right, before I go to the update let me just say this is more of half an update. I realised i'd been working on this next area for so long that i'd be going on and on for ages without posting anything. Also it would be really really long, so I thought i'd split the next area, Cowley, into West and East. This update will be dealing with West Cowley. West Cowley Area The West Cowley area is located just north of the Osbourne area. Once again it is mainly farmland that dominates the area, with the small town of Halsey and severeal smaller villages dotted inbetween. A number of rail lines run through the area, bring travellers from afar through Cowley to the west of Whitefall. In addition to this, the area is serviced by the A14 (dual carriageway), which travels from Cowley again to the west of Whitefall. Reeditch Wood stands out as a major woodland area that has been saved by environmentalists. It provides interesting walks for visitors, and is patrolled by woodland officers from local ranger stations. Once again, I will start with the smaller locations and end up in the small town of Halsey. Four Pines is located just to the West of Halsey. The village was originally named after four pines trees that sat on each corner of the village. However, after centuries of growth there are now multiple pines in the area. A quiet and small village, it serves mainly to provide residential and commercial needs. Providing a local medical centre for both man and animal alike, it is an important part of the rural community. Much of the Four Pines' expenditure is aimed at improving the parkland and round-a-bout displays. Directly north of Four Pines is the village of White Castle, named after the Norman period keep in the area. Constructed by Lord Regnauld, in recent times the castle has become more of a tourist attraction due to the lack of bandits. Maintained by the Whitefall Community Heritage, the main keep is in excellent condition, despite it's outer walls having been either demolished in sieges, or taken apart by farmers for use in walls. We now move closer to Reeditch, and with it see another tower vitally important to the infrastructure of Whitefall. The Reeditch Communications Tower provides mobile phone and satellite coverage to thousands of people in the area. Without it, the nice young residents of this land would not be able to call their grandparents on their new mobiles, and thank them for their christmas presents. The photo also gives us a good idea of the railway network in West Cowley and how complicated junctions can sometimes be . Reeditch itself is not much larger than villages such as Four Pines or Aspen Court. However, it is situated at the meeting point of three rather important B roads, and provides greater commercial services to some of the local residents. In addition to this, many of the richer inhabitants of the area have made this village their home, due to the exclusivity of the area, and the quietness. Next we move to part of Redditch Wood. The wood itself is quite vast, and the photograph any more of it would be pointless as it might be a bit boring looking at trees for several minutes. This image shows the meeting point of the railway line (heading north/south) and the A14 (heading east/west). Lorries travel west, whilst three buses pass under the railway bridge travelling from Reeditch to Cowley. You know what it's like, you wait ages for one bus, and then three come along at once! The small stream provides oppurtunities for fishermen, whilst the small cycle path to the left has planning permission to be expanded into the north and east of the wood. Just south of Reeditch is Aspen Court, named so for the trees that have grown so well in the area. Whilst it seem's like any other village, Aspen Court does contain one of my favourite pubs in the area, the White Swan. It is the brown building ajoined to the terrace house, and serves wonderful ale, bitter and cider, as well as delicious food. From Aspen Court we travel south, and finally reach Halsey. West Halsey provides many of the jobs for local townfolk. All three emergency services are located here, and the small industrial park is vital to Halsey's people. The Baltic Flour Mill was founded in the mid-1800s and many generations of families have worked their. It still provides top quality flour to this day, from grain provided by many of the farmers in the area. As well as providing all the bakeries in Halsey, it also delivers flour to all of Whitefall. The rest of the indsutrial park is made up of a number of manufacturing companies, including an organ builders, and a small high tech company. Central Halsey is where its at... well, for those that like a quiet bit of shopping. Several shops, a cafe and a pub in the green building, provide important services to Halsey. The car park opposite is built on the foundations of an old brewery, which was sadly destroyed when the company went bust. However, the car park has proved vital in attracting visitors to the town, and allowing residents to shop at ease. East Halsey is a much quieter area, with the local cricket and football playing fields providing entertainment for local school children, and the older men and women of the village. The church of St Mary sits on the outskirts of the town, and is an important meeting place for many of the local residents. However, one of the main attractions is Halsey park and flower gardens. Open to the public free of charge, the merry-go-round and refreshment stand provide entertainment on the park walk. Local councillors are starting debates as to whether the park should be expanded into some of the tree land surrounding it, although conservators are not happy at this. However, this is not all of Halsey left to see. Although it is far to the south of Halsey, the Halsey Fire Brigade Air Strip is run by the local fire brigade. It is a vital tool in providing fire facilities from the air, for combatting forest and field fires that may start in the local area. Its importance to the residents of Halsey and other villages is so great, residents from West Cowley have a yearly fund raiser for the brigade. Finally we move east, closer to the city of Cowley. However, along the way is the village of Shoreditch: A not so exciting village, Shoreditch runs alongside both the A14 and rail line heading towars Cowley. It is here that we leave our journey until next time, when hopefully i'll be guiding you around the streets and suburbs of the city of Cowley!

Replies Hi guys, thanks for the replies. I'll try and answer all of them individually. roboo1: Thanks! Hopefully I won't need much luck but once I start on the larger cities, where my skills aren't so great, I might need it! ac94: Yeah, I love downloading some of the new BATs that people come up with. Some of the maxis stuff gets a bit tiresome after a while, and I tried to introduce as much British style housing in as possible. manubeas: Thanks for the kind comments! I'm glad you like the transmitters, they are available to download on the STEX but unfortunately I can't remember the creators name. They're the kind of thing that I like to use to bring in a bit more realism to my regions. Getting my farms right are very important to me as well! gmt: Cheers, I will definately keep the quality up in the rural areas! metasmurf: I did mention in my first post that i'd turned them off to make the game run faster, but I realise now to have turned them on for the screenshots would have been more realistic, so expect to see cars next update! psander5: I haven't heard of Emley Moor but I did a bit of research and found out its near Huddersfield right? I'm glad you like everything i've put in the region, if you like Clacton and Osbourne I think you will like one or two things in my next region. Also you may have given me the name for my capital! sc4portugal: I'm glad your enjoying the CJ! I will keep up the work. Thanks for the name suggestion, i'll take it into consideration! Godzillaman: I'm a big fan of the parking lots. They do make commercial and park zones very realistic, rather than just having no parking for cars. ElBarto92: Thanks for the comment, I do enjoy putting the effort into rural areas. I don't think i've perfected mine yet, I still have some design flaws which I want to work out. edmonton_stinks: Thanks! Like I said earlier I do try and put as much non-Maxis stuff as possible. fabsies55: Cheers! The houses do work well with the farms, but also are helpful in keeping the agriculture demand at a high level. NMUSpidey: Thanks, i'm actually quite fond of the way I made the region area images. I'm sure I had the inspiration from an old CJ but I can't remember whose it was. I will definately be carryig on presenting the areas like that, and every so often i'll combine several areas to make a larger view so you can see how they all fit together. I'm almost finished on my trip up north, i'll be returning home tomorrow, and then hopefully I can bring you the next update sometime next week. It will be a big one I can tell you that! Expect a few towns and many more farms, and i'll try and throw a few surprises in as well. There won't be too many skyscraper forests but do expect the capital to have a few large buildings. Thanks for the comments guys, i'll try and update as soon as possible!

Whitefall Afternoon (GMT) ladies and gentlemen. I want to welcome you to my first City Journal, the region of Whitefall. The region will mainly be British and Western European inspired, although i'm sure some American styles will pop up! Credit for the map must go to Shadow Assasin for creating the map, which I believe is inspired by part of Australia, and is available at Simtropolis. I have, however, edited the maps in places to allow me to place docks and harbours easily. As you can see from the image above, the region is currently lacking substance! (apart from the neat powerstation I was practising with in the top left corner). But do not let your hearts sink with worry, work has already been carried out on the region and I can already give you the first area of Whitefall: Clacton Area The Clacton area is located in the most south easterly part of Whitefall. The A339 road runs through the region, passing through to the capital city to the west (more on this later). It is possibly the smallest administrative area within Whitefall, and is run from the small village that the region takes its name from. Mainly a farming area, the region does contain one important part in the entertainment network for Whitefall: the Clacton televsion and radio transmitters: The transmitters broadcast over 100 radio and televsion stations across the south east of Whitefall. Located just north of Holte Hill, the tallest point in the region, the transmitters have become well known landmarks, and can be seen from miles away on a good day. Now we move slightly east, to the actual village of Clacton: Since this photo was taken Clacton has actually expanded slightly to the north, but it is not much larger. Situated in between farmland, there is not much to look at in Clacton. It is mainly an area where those who have retired go to spend their final days, away from the busy life within the cities. The local school is also the home for the Clacton Administrative Council, which runs the area. A few shops are run by the some of the younger residents providing basic facilities for the village. That is the Clacton area. As you can see, it is not very exciting. Nor is it mean't to be, I don't think the elderly residents of Clacton want too much excitement in their lives, it may cause heart trouble! However, I will not end this first post there, for there is one more region to show you for now. Osbourne Area As you can see, the Osbourne area is much larger and potentially more exciting than Clacton! Osbourne is the major town in the area. It is surrounded by a great amount of farmland and smaller villages, as well as the untouched grassland that exists in much of Whitefall. The M5 motorway passes through the area, and junction 10 provides access for the residents of Osbourne to much of the rest of Whitefall without much hassle. However, I will first introduce you to the areas around Osbourne before moving to the town. The Parish Monastery was founded in the late 15th century by Abbot Parish, who settled in the Osbourne area to spread his religious word to local farmers. Over time the monastery became more and more insular. However, with the dawn of the internet age the current monks realised the potential in selling their own produce, including their famous oranges, to fund the maintenance of the monastery and abbey. Many of the villagers and townsfolk of the area travel to the abbey on a Sunday morning to attend prayers. However, the monastery is still closed off to all except the monks and their religious order. Just to the south of the Monastery is a varied range of farmland. Although not very exciting, the farmland does provide the backbone of the Whitefall food industry. These farms are just to the South of Shorey Park: Shorey Park is located at the intersection for a number of B roads that carry freight from the farms. It is also popular with the populace of Osbourne at weekends for those trying to escape the busy life. The park boasts a number of lakes, and the local gazebos and ranger station provide refreshments and entertainment for visitors. Entry to the park was made free several years ago after the Osbourne Administrative Council passed law allowing all local parks to be free to residents. Half way between Osbourne and Shorey Park is the small village of Alfrick: (the north part of the village is on the previous map) The village provides houses for many of the farmers around the area. Alfrick Church was constructed in the 12th Century, and the village slowly (very slowly) grew around it. The wealthy Mullberry family live in the house with swimming pool, having made a fortune as real estate agents over the years. We now move closer to Osbourne and focus on an important part of the area, junction 10 of the M5 and the Osbourne Recycling facility: This photo was obviously taken on a very quiet day! (actually I turned off the cars in the game to allow it to run a little faster) Usually the motorway is heavy with traffic heading towards the capital city to the west (seriously I will get to that part!) Rubbish lorries and recycling vans often from the other direction to deliver waste to the local recycling centre. The centre proccesses many tonnes of waste every day, much of it being recycled into reusable objects. A brand new technology allowed the centre to put any waste that cannot be recycled into massive chutes at high velocity heading deep into the ground. However, scientists are unsure what happens afterwards. According to news reports, rubbish and junk from Whitefall has been found floating in the Pacific ocean on the other side of the world by fishermen from Fiji and other local islands... Finally we move onto Osbourne, and we will start in the centre of the town: St Martin's chuch sits in the centre of the town, opposite a number of offices that have been constructed over the past few years. Cricket is one of the most popular past times in Whitefall, and Osbourne has its very own cricket club, although they do not perform very well in the National Cricket Association League. Osbourne C.E. Secondary School has strong ties with St Martin's, and provides education for the teenagers of the village, as well as boasting impressive sport facilities. Small houses are dotted around the area, although larger estates are located in the West and East of the town. This second image of central Osbourne, just East of the school, shows another of Whitefall's most important past times, association football (known in some parts of the world as soccer). Osbourne United Football Club is a small but improving club in Division Two of the Whitefall Football League. The rest of the area is dominated by industry and one of Osbourne's two police stations. The industries are mainly manufactures of small household goods, although a few high tech industries have begun to pop up. East Osbourne is slightly more built up than West Osbourne. A number of shops run down the main highstreet, with apartments and terraced houses to the north. The local library is also located in East Osbourne, providing thousands of books to local residents. Local park land provides residents with rest and relaxtion at weekends. However, there is one final part of Osbourne that needs to be shown: No town would be complete without its own local Tesco supermarket, this one being on the outskirts of Osbourne to the South. Providing much of the food for the town, the famous supermarket has begun to rely more and more on produce from local farmers. The store provides for much of the Osbourne area, and many jobs, and whilst your wife is shopping why not go and visit the Toyota garage located on the other side of the roundabout?! The garage is the biggest in the region, and has been having good business. More industry is located on the outskirts, this time with less manufacturing and slightly more dirty indsutry. However, the town has not suffered from any pollution effects. So there we have it, that is Whitefall up to this point (I am working on more do not worry!) As soon as I have another update ready I will post it, although it may not be until next week as I am away for the weekend. However, I will all leave you with a piece of homework to take away with you. As I mentioned earlier this region will have a major capital city. I have only chosen a location for where where it will be (if you look on the map you may realise where), and have laid roads towards it. What I need you to do, my avid readers, is to choose a name for the city. Try to come up with an English name (not American English, sorry chaps across the pond). After the next update, if there are enough suggestions and I have chosen my favourite, I will announce the winner. I'm not sure what the prize will be, i'm afraid it may just be your name as a person or place within my region! Good luck! Finally, I wish to thank the people that make some of the excellent BATs that I have been able to place into this city journal, as well as the creators of the Network Addon Mod. Their wonderful work will be shown off more later on. Thankyou for reading!