jarnomiedema

I'll probably buy it, eventually.. I bought SC4 straightaway, Rush Hour when it came out and recently purchased it again on Steam. I don't like Origin and there are plenty of features in SC2013 I cannot wrap my head around (we get to build dirt roads, but not farms, we can't terraform, the regions, the DLC, the pricetags, etc.). I'll wait for an ultimate edition to come out someday, after the community has been sufficiently milked for all they're worth on DLC and expansions. While I'm waiting for that day, I'll keep on playing SC4.

Having recently reinstalled SC4, the necessary mods and the hundreds of BATs I missed between my active period on Simtropolis and today, I can honestly say that the only reason I decided to do just that was because of the limitations I could see piling up with SC2013.. The game looks like fun and I'm sure there'll be plenty of people willing to play it, but as someone who's looking to resurrect a City Journal, the new game will only remind my of how limited SC4 was in the beginning. What angers me is that in vanilla SC4 I COULD plant Big Ben or other monuments without having to buy DLC, I could build cities in a massive region on giant scales, I could terraform, save locally, right before I destroyed everything in a massive fireball, I could build farms, and so on and so forth. The new SC2013 looks more like a deeper version of the neighbourhood view in The Sims than it looks like a successor to SC4. I tell ya, after Will Wright left Maxis (probably disgusted by how his vision of Spore was mangled into being 'cutesy'), I stopped caring about EA + Maxis.

Banned because the word 'be' is missing in front of the second 'clever' in his signature..

Neither the UK nor the Netherlands are leaving the EU. Mr. Cameron is playing the rabid anti-EU card in the hopes of picking up some more votes in the upcoming election. Currently he doesn't have the necessary majority in parliament to call for the referendum, so he's hoping for an election win to be able to get the referendum through. But even then, polls are showing that the British people are split pretty much 50/50 on the issue. The Netherlands (where I'm from) has its own radical right wing nutjob calling for a referendum, but that's also not going to happen. While we might grumble and gripe about the EU and the Euro (and there definitely need to be changes), we won't leave the EU anytime soon. Also, dzekins, the EU has done plenty of good: I doubt those factories closing had anything to do with joining the EU. Most likely it would've happened anyway. Besides, I believe you're forgetting the tremendous amounts of subsidies that are transferred from all over the EU to other, less developed parts of the EU in order to realize all sorts of improvements. Yes, the Euro is in trouble and yes, things need to change, but the only way we can accomplish that is by electing the right people, keep voting and keep demanding that politicians are held accountable for their actions and their decisions.

The book is a great hit in Chaumont and is mandatory teaching material in all High Schools. The year is 1815 Napoleon Bonaparte, rattled and devastated by his humiliating defeat near the Belgian town of Waterloo, decides to make a radical and controversial decision. Instead of waiting for the British, Dutch, Prussian, Russian and Austrian troops to poor into his country and capture or kill him, he sets out on a journey that will take him to the other side of the world.. On July 14th, the anniversary of the French Revolution, Napoleon boarded a frigate off the coast of La Rochelle and set sail for the United States. Pursued by the entire British navy, the frigate manages to fight off several corvettes before arriving in New York harbour, where the Emperor was greeted by President James Madison. The Bellerophon was the frigate that took the Emperor to the new world. A replica of the ship is currently on display in the capital. The Emperor standing aboard the Bellerophon, watching the American coast rise out the Atlantic Ocean. Embittered by the blows his country had been dealt during the War of 1812, Madison had a score to settle with Great Britain and thus permitted Napoleon to land on American soil. For the first time ever, an Emperor of the Old World set foot in the New World. After months of parties, celebrations and speeches, Napoleon began to step back from public life. There was nothing that could spark his interest anymore, other than governing. Like he had done on Elba, he desperately wanted 'to build roads, fortresses and lead men as they work to better their surroundings'. Despite numerous attempts, he was not permitted to hold any official function within the United States government.. In 1816, President Madison arrived at Bonaparte's New York home and informed him of an unusual decision he had made. Napoleon had been criticizing American politics in several newspapers and was beginning to become a threat to Madison's presidency. A number of wealthy Virginians offered a stretch of coastal land near the town of Bastide, a former French colony, to the Emperor. Madison informed Napoleon that he was allowed to govern it, but only if he stepped away from American politics and never interfere with them again.. This was agreed upon in the so-called 'Chaumont Accord', which formally recognizes the Empire of Chaumont as an independent country bordering the United States.. Diligently, Napoleon went to work with his new passion. He left New York immediately to inspect his new lands. There, standing on a hilly slope overlooking an immense stretch of flat land, he turned to his trusted aide Caulaincourt and said: 'That is where the capital shall be. That will be Mont Napoleon.' As they stood there, Napoleon made several notes on a small map of the area and pointed out where he wanted the villages and cities settled. Many of the cities of present day Chaumont are near or on the exact spot where Napoleon wrote their names down.. In the centre of the flat stretch of land, a small hill was erected to allow the first Imperial Palace, humble in comparison to his great estates in Paris, to overlook the surrounding land. Soon, this wasn't enough anymore. Months after Mont Napoleon was established and growing, word reached the palace that a contingent of British Marines had landed on the nearby shore and were coming for his arrest. The regiment of Imperial Guardsmen that accompanied the Emperor wherever he went were dispatched to the scene immediately and dealt with the British threat swiftly and confidently, but at a high cost. This prompted a new awareness in Bonaparte and he designed a new flag (he used the French flag up to this point.), wrote the National Anthem, began writing a constitution and a set of laws and raised more and more regiments of Imperial Guardsmen.. The National Anthem of the Empire 'Long Live Chaumont' can be downloaded here: http://www.yourfilehost.com/media.php?cat=audio&file=National_Anthem_of_Chaumont.mp3 The Chaumontian Flag. The 'N' stands for the Napoleonic dynasty, the Eagle represents bravery and wisdom and 'Ad Maiorem Imperator Gloriam' means: 'For the Greater Glory of the Emperor'. The First Imperial Constitution. This document has been amended dozens of times since the first draft to accommodate new laws and situations that could not have been foreseen when the document was first written. This is the First Imperial Palace. The building no longer serves the Empire as a Palace, but has been a museum for the past 25 years. The exhibitions vary, but are all related to the Imperial Family. The museum, which sits atop the hill that grants Mont Napoleon it's name, is a great attraction to both tourists and inhabitants of Chaumont. Chaumont was becoming a safe haven for all those who wanted to flee royalist France or were simply looking for a better life. Soon after it was born, the Empire started attracting thousands of people from all over Europe and the United States. Many of these men and women managed to find a nice piece of land for themselves, where they built their homes and started their farms or their businesses. When the Industrial Revolution hit Chaumont, it became one of the most vibrant industrial areas in the southern part of North America and brought great riches to the country, which enabled the Emperor, his followers and his subjects to build palaces, estates, fortresses, roads and railroads. This is Calignac House, the current Imperial Palace. It has been the home of all Emperors since Napoleon I and it is considered to be the inofficial centre of Chaumont's power. On this picture you can see the changing of the Palace Guard. Not much remains of the Old City Centre today, but the most important structures have remained. The houses that used to surround this area have all been torn down to make way for the Great Park. The buildings that remain are: the Church of Saint Sebastian, the old City Hall of Mont Napoleon, the old Imperial Congress building and Mont Napoleon's original marketplace. Napoleon I passed away peacefully in his palace in Mont Napoleon on a rainy summer day in August 1843, almost thirty years after he arrived in the New World. Today, he lies entombed near his former palace and opposite the Imperial Military Academy to inspire new generations of soldiers. The Tomb of Emperor Napoleon I. The Imperial Military Academy. affectionately known as 'Camp Caesar', after the statue of Caesar Augustus, the man who created the first regular army in world history. Napoleon II, the oldest son from Bonaparte's third marriage (his first after coming to the United States) succeeded him to the throne, at the age of 27. He carried on his father's legacy and the country continued to flourish. Mont Napoleon grew larger and larger and soon gained the nickname 'Pearl of the New World' due to its great beauty and splendour.. A turning point in this development came on April 14th 1861, two days after the bombardment of Fort Sumter. Secession had spread through the United States like wildfire and several Southern states had stepped out of the Union to form the so-called Confederate States of America. Even though Chaumont had abolished all forms of slavery in 1821, there was still great sympathy for the Confederacy, due to Chaumont's proximity to Virginia and North Carolina. But there was an even larger motivation to join the Confederacy in the form of the tariffs that President Buchanan had put in place to prevent cheap Chaumontian goods from flooding the American marketplaces. These tariffs were causing the downfall of the economy of the Empire and lead to a high unemployment rate, which in turn fed the hatred and anger towards the United States. As said, on April 14th a turning point in Chaumont's existence had been reached. In an unprecedented session of the Imperial Congress, there was a unanimous outcry for Chaumont to join the Confederacy. And so it did.. The Bombardment of Fort Sumter caused a shift in Chaumontian politics. In an unprecedented session of the Imperial Congress, the Senators voted unanimously for Chaumont's entry in the Confederacy. During the war, Emperor Napoleon II made himself very popular among the people and representatives of the other Confederate States. So much so even, that many people were starting to call upon the Confederate Congress in Richmond to reshape the political structure of the Confederacy and put the Emperor in charge as a permanent figure, instead of having a constantly changing head of government in the form of a President. Unfortunately, the Confederate Congress ignored the pleas and never voted on the matter. It was eventually dropped, but not before news spread across the continent of the immense bravery and incredible stamina of the Chaumontian soldiers. The Chaumontian Battle Flag served as a regimental flag for the Confederate Guardsmen. On July 3rd 1863, the entire nation suffered a tremendous blow when news reached Mont Napoleon that the Crown Prince had fallen at Gettysburg. It has been rumoured that the Emperor briefly considered an abdication in favour of Antoine, his second son, but that has never been confirmed and is still being denied. The death of Crown Prince Napoleon III. Chaumont continued to fight, but the realization of fighting for a lost cause began to sink in fairly quickly after Gettysburg. The once prosperous harbours of Chaumont had seized to function due to the Union blockade and the Imperial Army was gradually suffering more and more losses, both due to casualties as well as desertions. On January 10th 1865, Union troops entered the Empire for the first time since the country's independence. On the hills of Montereau, the two armies collided. Despite the fact that the Union troops were crushed by the Confederate Guard, a large contingent of troops managed to march past along the road while the battle raged on. Mont Napoleon was besieged and fell two months later, while the Imperial Army joined the Army of Northern Virginia to fight another day.. The Battle of Montereau was fought on January 10th 1865. This picture is from this year's re-enactment, on the 140th anniversary of the battle. One can clearly see Chaumontian re-enforcements arrive from the north, but to no avail. The majority of the Union Army marches past the battle, while the Chaumontian troops, while victorious, seem unable to break the Union lines. Soon after this moment, the Union lines did break, but by then more than two-thirds of the entire Army of the Potomac had entered Chaumont. Fort Alexander played a pivotal role in the battle. A view on the Battle of Montereau from the perspective of the Chaumontian reinforcements. As you can clearly see in this picture, the Army of the Potomac vastly outnumbered the Army of the Seloire. It was only due to the extreme ferocity and stamina of the Confederate Guard that the Chaumontian troops were victorious in the end. This picture shows us the Chaumontian left and the Union right flank fighting eachother to the death. The Confederate Guard's bravery, while admirable, was futile in the end, as the Union troops managed to occupy Mont Napoleon. The devastation in Mont Napoleon after the siege by Union Troops. The Emperor was present at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9th 1865 when General Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to General Grant. The Emperor surrendered the Imperial Army on the same day to the same man. Grant informed the Emperor that he was 'free to return home' and that all Union armies were under orders not to arrest or kill him. On the road to Chaumont, the Emperor's carriage ran into President Lincoln's carriage and the two men met. Lincoln ensured the Emperor that Chaumont would be permitted to exist as long as it would never take up arms against the United States again and that he could go in peace. General Robert E. Lee signing the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia. Emperor Napoleon II stands beside him and waits for his turn to sign the surrender of the Chaumontian Army, which he's holding in his hand. Upon hearing of Lincoln's death, the Emperor is said to have sunk into his seat, weeping for the man that had saved his country from annihilation and for the uncertain future now that his Empire was at the mercy of those who would seek retribution for the assassination. Lincoln's death brought sorrow to both the United States and Chaumont. Moments after news of Lincoln's assassination reached Mont Napoleon, the Emperor ordered all flags at half-staff and a state of national mourning for an entire week. Fortunately nothing happened, but the country was in a gigantic mess. The economy had been devastated by the blockade and large portions of the male population had been killed. It took the country over twenty years before it would experience any form of economic growth. In 1892, the 76 year old Emperor Napoleon II, who had lead his country through the greatest peril since it's formation, died, three years after his beloved wife. He remained in tight control till his death and it was revealed in his last will and testament that the crown would pass to this third son, Julien II, instead of to his second son Antoine. No-one knows why to this day and it is a secret known only to the Imperial Family. Antoine was killed three years later during a military inspection when a cannon-salute went horribly wrong. If a threat to Julien's throne existed at all, it no longer did.. The tomb of Emperor Napoleon II is a popular tourist attraction nowadays. Every year the current Emperor pays a visit to the tombs of his predecessors. Two days ago Napoleon VI visited this tomb and crowds are gathering to see the flowers he left. In front of the tomb is a statue of his close friend and comrade in arms General Robert E. Lee. The death of Prince Antoine and Chancellor Henry Chalise. Emperor Julien II managed to get the Chaumontian economy running again and brought in many foreign investors. He strengthened the ties with the United States, Canada and many European nations. Great Britain didn't recognize Chaumont until 1901, just a few months after Queen Victoria's death, who had always opposed recognition. Napoleon IV, Julien's first son, married Catharina Romanov on the same day that her country mobilized for World War One, July 30th 1914. Their first son, as tradition requires, also named Napoleon, was born one year later. In 1917, Catharina was informed that her entire family had been murdered by communist rebels. She was heartbroken. Catharine retreated from public life and it took the Imperial Family a long time before they managed to persuade her to step back into the spotlight. Chaumont remained neutral during World War One, though the majority of the population supported the Allies. The death of the Czar and the entire Russian Imperial Family. The news sent shockwaves through the Imperial Court and prompted the Emperor to immediately increase the amount of money allotted to the Imperial Guard and the Palace Guard. The 1929 Wall Street Crash hit Chaumont hard. Due to it's neutrality during World War One, the country's economy didn't grow much and wasn't really back up to speed by 1929. Investors withdrew their money to pay off their debts and unemployment started shooting through the roof. Emperor Julien II was so disheartened by this situation that he abdicated in favour of his son. He died three years later after a long illness.. The Wall Street Crash hit Chaumont particularly hard and almost caused the downfall of the Imperial State. The rise of communism and national-socialism in Europe was of growing concern to the Imperial Family, while similar political parties sprouted up all across Chaumont. Soon, Emperor Napoleon IV declared that hard measures had to be taken in order to ensure the survival of the Imperial State. Several political parties were banned and their leaders were arrested and imprisoned. The followers of these political parties frightened into believing that the same could easily happen to them. The Communist Party of Chaumont was tackled particularly hard, most likely because of the personal involvement of the Empress. The National-Socialist Chaumontian Workers Party, directly affiliated with the German Nazi-party, was dismantled and all of its members were arrested as enemies of the state. The arrest of Alain du Barry, the leader of the Chaumontian Communist Party. Du Barry was released in 1942 per request of the Ambassador of the Soviet Union. He remained under house-arrest till his death in 1982. During World War Two, Chaumont fought on the Allied side. In the interest of good relations with the Soviet Union, a number of Communist political prisoners were released. The Imperial Guard fought alongside British, Canadian, American and Polish troops at D-Day and on the 27th of August 1944, Chaumontian soldiers marched through Paris, two days after the city had been liberated and more than 129 years after Napoleon I had escaped from it. The war effort from Chaumont was minimal in comparison to the other Allied powers, but in recognition of Chaumont's dedication to fighting Nazism, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a close personal friend of Emperor Napoleon IV, lifted all of the remaining tariffs against Chaumont. Chaumontian soldiers of the 22nd Marine Division aboard an American landing craft. This picture was taken moments before these troops disembarked at Juno beach. The victory parade on the Champs Elysees featured troops from all Allied nations, including Chaumonts finest. This unfinished portrait of Franklin Delano Roosevelt was donated to the Imperial Gallery by the Roosevelt Foundation and is one of the main attractions in the museum. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Emperor Napoleon IV were close personal friends and can be seen here during a parade in Mont Napoleon shortly before the end of World War Two. Ever since World War Two, Chaumont has continued to develop as a prosperous nation on the east coast of North America. Emperor Napoleon IV died in 1952, leaving the throne to his 37 year old son Napoleon V, who ruled for a mere seven years before dying himself. The Empire was subsequently run by Empress Victoria as regent until her son Napoleon VI turned 18. This event took place in 1966. Napoleon VI has ruled ever since. Chaumont has been reprimanded by the General Assembly of the United Nations and Amnesty International for its unreliable democratic process, the influence of the military, the lack of press freedom and Emperor Napoleon VI's unwillingness to relinquish any form of power to the democratic institutions. Chaumont has been able to escape sanctions due to a strong Chaumontian lobby near the highest political figures in the United States and Europe which ensures an everlasting friendship between America and Chaumont and Europe and Chaumont.. The official state portrait of Napoleon VI. There.. Phew.. That was the first official update of the City Journal 'The Empire of Chaumont'. I hope you've enjoyed this little history lesson.. The next update will feature pictures and maps of the region and details regarding Chaumont's political structure. See you then!

Well, it's been a long time since I posted here and a long time since I checked out the Simtropolis forums.. Glad to see so much has changed and yet so much has stayed the same! I'll definitely need to come back more often to see what's going on around here! Anyways, I have something to share with you all: last year I was seriously considering resurrecting Chaumont. Eventually, other things took over my time and other interests pushed aside any time I thought I might have for Simcity 4. Now, more than a year later, I've decided that Chaumont will not be resurrected anymore. Nevertheless, while the thought of resurrection was on my mind, I did make a bit of an 'ad video', with which I hoped to blast off the new topic! So I thought: why not resurrect this dinosaur of a thread, show this video, see what people think about it (maybe even reminisce a bit about the good old days) and then let it die peacefully again. Also, what better way to get ready to launch the New Year than by looking back on good old times, right!? Enjoy! The Return of Chaumont

Well done, Gingerblokey! This looks very realistic and very British indeed.. Great job and I'm looking forward to more.. I think that last shot is especially beautiful..

Lovely.. I'm going to Atlanta between the 24th and 31st of May and I expect to see a working American city when I get there!! Unbelievable, my first trip to the U.S. and I get an empty city!

Originally posted by: Godzillaman So if Osama goes through with this, he'll be killing innocent people just because of an insulting cartoon? Sounds like a bit of overreacting there...sure, it was insulting, but do innocent peoples blood have to be spilled? That's like a fingernail for a freakin' arm...quote> True, but terrorists aren't exactly known for their logic and reasonable thinking.. They tend to overreact once something happens that doesn't suit their fancy. It's their 'thing'.. As for Osama Bin Laden and his threats, I stopped taking him seriously a long time ago and, while I agree that underestimating terrorists is a bad thing, I'm fairly certain their capabilities are constantly overestimated. It's pretty clear they're desperate when they start using mentally handicapped people as martyrs..

Originally posted by: fukuda The Pope also complained that an increasing number of people in the secularised West were “making do without God”.quote> I'm doing quite well without any God or Gods in my life, so he need not worry about me.. Complaining on the other hand.. You know how often I can keep on complaining about the silliness of people who still believe in an invisible man in the sky keeping an eye on you 24/7 for the rest of your life? Mr. Pope: complaining doesn't help. Helping people helps. If the Catholic Church sticks to charity without trying to convert every single person they try to help, maybe then I'll get some respect for the institution.. At the moment, I have no respect for it whatsoever..

I have to admit, this looks like one of the better 'Dutch' cities! Great job with that.. If you don't mind a little bit of criticism, I can really recommend you to download a tram skin off Simtropolis.. There are plenty of skins on the STEX and most of them really look much better than the old Maxis skin.. Personally, I used this one: https://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?id=18577, but like I said; there are plenty of good ones! Again, it looks great and I can't wait to see more!

Well done, Pip! Cytheria looks very impressive.. I can't wait to see and hear more of this impressive CJ.. Keep up the good work!