Chappington

+1 about fantasy nations, definitely going to have to follow this closely!

Looks good so far! Any chance of getting some zoomed in images?

Turn of the Century The end of the 11th century marked the expansion of Skræligen settlement into two additional towns: Miðrtunga & Smarvik. Miðrtunga was the new name of the middle Abenaki village that had integrated with the Skræligens after the epidemic. It was given the name when it formally integrated into Skrælige in 1062, sending its own heads of household to the Þing. Smarvik was the original landing site of the Norse in 1042 before they migrated north to the Siguan River. Depending on the winds, it was sometime easier for the ocean-going ships to land here, so a few people decided to live there permanently in 1085 and help facilitate these landings. Construction of the Almannavegr began in 1101, a great road connecting Miðrtunga to Skrælingborg through to Smarvik. Storrfloð of 1123 One feature of the Siguan River at its mouth is the fluctuating flow - that is, the river line constantly moved back and forth. This led to frequent floods, but these floods were mostly minor and kept the valley very fertile. In March of 1123, however, heavy rainfall, storm surge, and snowmelt mixed together to cause a great flood, or Storrfloð. The damage was extensive - between the town walls and the river, most buildings were ruined. Some damage occurred within the walls as well, but the earthworks stopped the worst of the flood. The Abenaki village further upstream was less badly affected, but led them to retreat further inland regardless. The magnitude of the damage was partly due to erosion - the clear-cutting of the forest made the ground more susceptible to erosion, which made the flooding a lot worse. This erosion caused by clear-cutting and unsustainable agriculture was a common problem throughout the Norse North American colonies, and this was just an early sign of the damage it could cause. While this fact was not realized by the Skræligens, they did realize the need to act. Construction of the "Floðveggr" began, a great flood wall along the banks of the Siguan River. Most of the wall was a large earthwork with rocks piled ontop, though a portion near the main road from town to the river was further fortified by a massive stone wall. New wooden docks were constructed below the wall so that the ships had somewhere to stay - previously they would just land on the shore, and the longships were light enough to be carried further inland. Growth of Industry and Commerce After the damage of the flood, Skrælige was able to fairly quickly rebound. With the Abenaki retreating inland, more fishing areas opened up. More trees came down to clear land for more farms, and the agricultural output grew. Trade up the coast to Humarvik and Straumfjorð grew, loosely connecting Skrælige with the larger Norse economy. This led to domestic growth as well. Some damaged structures in the centre of town were cleared to make way for a proper marketplace, allowing for easier trade. The growing economy kept Skrælige supplied with goods from the Old World, and propped up a small class of merchants and artisans in town. More resources meant better infrastructure as well - a bridge was built to bring the Almannavegr across the river and into Miðrtunga, rather than just ford through the river as it previously did. The Manntal (Census) of 1200 For the year 1200, the Þing commissioned a "Manntal", or census, of all the people in Skrælige. This would help make sure that taxation was done fairly and didn't miss anyone, as well as help better understand the needs of the settlement. An exhaustive count was completed, giving the first clear recorded population count of the islands (not including the "120 men, women, and children" mentioned in the Sagas). The breakdown was as follows: Skrælingborg: 314 Within the walls: 179 Just outside the walls: 86 By the docks: 38 Vinstrileið village: 20 Hœgrilelð village: 34 Scattered nearby: 14 Miðrtunga: 61 Norðstaðr: 17 Smarvik: 57 Total population of 506, including 12 þrælls (thralls/slaves). The State of the Western Norse World Outside of Skrælige, things weren't quite as great. Population remained stable in Straumfjorð, but declined in Humarvik and Leifsbuðir, and no new settlements were founded. Leifsbuðir wasn't suitable for much more than a small stopover point, and Humarvik was running into conflict with the local Mi'kmaq. Many settlers from these two towns either moved to Straumfjorð or Skrælige, or went back east to Greenland or further to the Old World. -------- You can also read this on the Ministry of Sagas website, or view https://youtu.be/e9chZKS5Wt8. Thanks for reading!

Looks gorgeous, especially love the coastlines and the light rail!

This looks amazing! Looking forward to seeing this develop.

Very cool seeing a snapshot of how Worsaw grew, especially comparing it to .

Really like the pictures here! If I understand correctly, this is the "before" stage, before you redevelop areas to be more pedestrian-friendly?

Finally caught up with this CJ - looks amazing! The way the whole region comes together is great, but also the local details - just impressive all around.

Finally caught up with this CJ, and it's really good! Especially love how you handle the terrain differences (though obviously not as relevant on Turtle Island) - it's been a loooong time since I played SC4, but I don't remember it being easy to deal with the terrain

Nice to see Sverland on the map!

Looking very cool, I'm interested to see how this grows. And thanks for including the map! Really handy to track the context of everything going on.

Welcome to Skrælige! Skrælige is a collection of islands off the coast of New England that is currently independent of both the US and Canada. It is also the site of the lone surviving Norse settlement in North America - in this timeline, some Norse colonists end up further south down the coast of North America. The settlement on Skrælige grew a little, but remained fairly small and isolated for a few more centuries. Its rediscovery in the early 16th century was huge news in Europe, but it truly rose to importance in the early 17th century as European colonisation began in earnest. The island of Skrælige is located in North America, just east of New England. This puts it within the Gulf of Maine, home to a diverse marine habitat. Its closest neighbors are the modern US states of New Hampshire and Maine. The name Skrælige can usually refer to both the main island or the larger chain of four islands that it is a part of. The main island may also be referred to as "Storreyn", literally translating to "big island" in Skræligen. The heartland of Skrælige is the Siguan River, cutting a fertile valley through the middle of the island. To the north and west of the Siguan is Fjallvænn, which directly translates to Mountain of Hope. To the northeast of the Siguan River Valley is Mount Skræling, the tallest peak in the country. Finally to the south of the river is Mount Þorr, named after the old Norse god of thunder. To the north of Storreyn is the island of Norþney, the smallest of the four. Norþney is mostly flat, and just under 10 km away from the US state of Maine. South of Storreyn is Miðrsun, and the peak of Suðfjall is in its centre. South of Miðrsun is Suðreyn, the flat-ish island that marks the southernmost part of Skrælige. (Map of Algonquian-speaking peoples at the time of first contact.) The Abenaki are the indigenous people of Skrælige and the surrounding mainland. At their peak in the 17th century CE, they could be found throughout the present day region of northern New England, the Maritime provinces in Canada, and some of Québec. At first contact they relied on a subsistence economy, mostly growing corn, beans, and squash. This was also supplemented by hunting, fishing, and gathering. Pre-contact, the Abenaki were a decentralized cultural group with no central authority, and the tribe on Skrælige was fairly isolated. The main tribal settlement was on the shores of Lake Asærban (the lake within the Siguan River Valley), though a few smaller settlements could be found in both directions along the river valley. Thanks for reading! ---- You can also view this in YouTube form below... ...or read more at the Ministry of Sagas website.

Just read through the whole city journal so far, it's really neat! Looking forward to seeing the redevelopment projects coming up.

Solid start so far, looking forward to see how Hope grows and develops!

Looking great so far! How did you put together that sunken train station in the second image?

Hi all, I wanted to share a new project I've been working on, Piedra Verde. The idea is to try and build up a city organically, over time, with some backstory - hopefully this will result in a neat creation with some realism as well. I've started this in the early 90s - early enough that I have plenty of time to grow the area before reaching the present day, but late enough where I can get away with using most of the vehicles and buildings from the game. (Of course, some vehicles will look a bit too modern, and some buildings a bit older, just go ahead and look the other way ) Piedra Verde (a.k.a. Green Stone) is a set of islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Although it was sighted a few times before the 20th century, there was never any settlement. All anybody knew was rumors about a faint green glow coming from an island in the Pacific. (It turns out that glow is due to rare radioactive ores, but more on that later.) The islands somehow remained unknown until around World War II, and then during the Cold War it was agreed to keep the islands as a mostly secret neutral uninhabited area. Once the Cold War ended, the existence of these islands became more widespread. In the new spirit of international cooperation, an organization was formed to settle this area and investigate the glowing rocks... and profit off of the ores if possible. In 1991, the territory of Piedra Verde was born. In the rush to settle it and construct the original facilities, not that many photos exist of its first year. Here you can see the main settlement - a small port, a couple of factories, and some basic housing. They did at least have a nice football/soccer field though. Here's a closer look at the port area, including the main fuel depot for the settlement. Of course, the main reason for this new territory was the mysterious glowing rock. So far the mining operations haven't actually found much of the glowing stone - the reports of glowing were probably quite exaggerated. There was, however, plenty of coal and iron to dig up, so there was plenty of profit to be made in this new land. With all the new hype, the island's infrastructure is being significantly expanded - construction is probably the second biggest industry on the island. So that's a little preview of Piedra Verde, in the future the territory will get some actual government organization, and they'll be sure to take plenty of pictures.

Here's the 2003 update - as I mentioned earlier, I'm planning on spacing out the bigger updates so I can move forward in time a bit faster. For the rest of this decade at least, I do want to keep doing smaller yearly updates though, so here's one of them. The first main event is an unfolding industrial waste scandal. Residents of one apartment building keep getting sick (and occasionally dying), and many suspect it has something to do with the warehouses behind it. There's a cluster of ambulances in this picture responding to some of the latest outbreaks. Critics of the national government use this as evidence that it was too soon to become independent, and that the large industries have too much leeway and too few restrictions. News of this has spread worldwide, which is why the current population has *only* grown by about 400 this year - people are scared of being poisoned in their own homes. Of course, while all this was happening, construction kept going. This is the area we'll be focusing on for the 2003 update. First off, the water treatment plant has massively expanded. Part of the investigation into the apartment poisoning included an inspection of the water purification systems. It was determined that these systems were not responsible, but were nevertheless inadequate for future growth. Across the freeway from Carbon Ridge (the original mining site) is a new development. With traffic issues increasing on the island, people want to be able to live closer to work - miners included. Some new apartments and a new modern high school have been built at the site of an old farm. Nearby are some new shops, including the trendy new Healthy Weeds grocery chain. Apart from the school though, the biggest piece of infrastructure is the new passenger train station. Until this year, citizens had to drive or take the bus to get to the mines. The passenger trains would go straight through the freight station, but nobody was allowed off. Now passenger service has its own dedicated platforms, as well as bridges to connect the station to the mining zone. Finally, some additional pictures of the high school complex. ---- As a bonus, I haven't posted any night shots in awhile, so here's a handful: Thanks for reading!

Yeah, something like that, I want to have a decently sized urban city, but with solid nature nearby as well. There'll definitely be a struggle to balance the tourism industry with more reliable homegrown industry. And yeah, that's my plan, some places for the super wealthy - and the not-so-wealthy will have to stare up at the mansions, haha. As far as the empty space near major roadways goes, there may be future businesses there, but I'm also leaving it open to the option of becoming a full freeway, or at least some sort of expressway.

Welcome to the 2002 update! Population growth has barely slowed, with some significant housing developments completing within the past two years. First off, some new beachfront properties have been added at Verde Beach, the peninsula just south of downtown. There's been a small fire here after some train traffic issues caused massive traffic jams island-wide. The freight line was testing some new train configurations with about 30 cars - needless to say, it did not go well. Some of the charred trees and grass are still visible. Some of the new developments include decks with views of the bay, a pool, and easy access to the beach. Meanwhile, Northridge finally has bus service. An analysis of the whole transportation network revealed that Northridge lacked any transit links with the rest of the island, and this is now fixed with the 10 bus. Next, the suburban area near Underridge has grown quite dramatically in the past two years. Some of this expansion has come on the hillside next to the mines at Carbon Ridge. The view from this suburb is truly epic. Finally, Nueva California is undergoing some massive expansion. The hillside area has filled in with more suburban housing, and the beachfront area is beginning construction. In addition, some larger buildings have moved in as well. Thanks for reading!

Yeah, though since it was haphazardly built in the 90s, it's probably not super realistic... The government here is a bit more forward thinking than most, haha.

So here's the current transit map, not including the outer parts of the island. For a place with only 20,000 people, it has quite a complex transportation system. There are 5 different types of transportation - ferries, trains, buses, trams, and cable cars. However, unlike some metro areas with this sort of complexity, everything is managed by one organization within the government, allowing the different modes to operate as one larger network. (If you're interested, there's also a 4k*4k street map here: https://imgur.com/I2ylE0l) To start though, we'll be looking at Piedra Verde's ferry system. Ferries work quite well here, directly connecting some outer islands, as well as getting around the mountainous terrain of the island. In the centre of Piedra Verde is the Ferry Building, the hub for all water traffic. Ferries currently connect downtown with two outer suburbs/towns: Beacon Rock (background) and Sandy Bay (foreground & behind camera). While Sandy Bay also has a rail line (more on that later), the ferry has easier access to the low-lying marinas and beaches. The next main transportation mode is the train. The green-colored trains run on the Nueva California & Airport line, connecting both sides of the mountain range via a massive tunnel and then continuing on through the city to the airport. These trains are a bit dated and in need of an upgrade, and are usually packed full of people. When you see the alternative, a dangerous looking mountain roadway, it's not hard to see why people usually choose the train. As mentioned earlier, Sandy Bay also has rail service. It's definitely not as popular, but it gets a fair amount of usage. Buses play a critical role in Piedra Verde, giving alternative routes both within the centre of Piedra Verde and beyond. Below is the 9 bus, a shuttle service serving Sandy Bay. The 7 & 8 buses operate similar services for Beacon Rock and Nueva California respectively. (Nueva California is growing quickly enough that it will probably need more bus service in the near future.) Some buses operate express routes between central Piedra Verde and other areas. Below is the 2 bus, providing a connection for employees in the oil fields of Tarcliff. This was originally a service of the oil companies there, but eventually became the beginning of the transit network. Below are two buses - the 1 (Carbon Ridge Express) in the back, and the 5 (a local bus) stopped in Carbon Ridge. The local buses tend to be long bendy buses, given the high demand within the city. While this has been shown before, here's the main bus station. It's the main hub for the express buses - the 1 & 2 mentioned earlier, as well as the 6 - Airport Express. The main train station is about a block away, and the 3 & 4 buses stop nearby. A shot of the 3 - Portridge bus: Another main line is the Underridge Tram. Right now it goes through some fairly rural areas, but the land nearby is going up in value fairly dramatically. The tram connects downtown, Southridge, and Underridge together, pretty much circling the entire city. Finally, a shot of the cable car system. Thanks for reading!

Really like this concept, looking forward to where it goes next!

Thanks! And no worries, still more frequent than my updates are, haha Barsalargonia - that's a name I haven't heard in a long time! Glad that you like this one too - and definitely agree on the natural growth. At the very least, it just makes it so much easier to imagine the history of the place, since I'm literally building it as I go. Yeah, the natural growth is just my favorite way to play the game. No promises on activity though - my goal is to keep this one going to the end (ideally well past the present day in-game), but no promises on the frequency of updates ---- What I can promise, however, is a smaller next update - one that focuses on the diverse transportation infrastructure of Piedra Verde. Still have to actually build a map & do some development in order to get a 2001 population estimate, but that's what the next update will likely be.

Piedra Verde has entered the new millennium, and gained its independence - a suitable reward for surviving Y2K. Most development this year has been focused on building up, not out, though there is sure to be more outward development soon. The Sandy Bay suburb has expanded somewhat, with the addition of a second ferry stop. The main attraction is on the peninsula, where some lovely parks and beaches have been built. The centerpiece is a set of three art deco hotels, bringing architecture from the past into the new millennium. Next, a small port has been setup near the airport, with the hopes of unclogging ship traffic in the main port. The aviation officials nearby aren't too pleased about the cranes (they're currently investigating the issue), but otherwise it's a much welcomed addition to the island. Thanks to the new port development, some of the downtown fuel infrastructure has moved. This land was a prime location for new development, centred next to the train station and close to the docks. Some shopping centres and two large dull office blocks have been built, but the main attraction is the new tallest building - the Millennium Tower. Piedra Verde is hopeful to expand its technology sector (on top of the Californium research facilities), and this will definitely help. Finally, the Portridge neighborhood has been densifying somewhat as well. Piedra Verde is looking forward to the new millennium, and the opportunities (and dangers) that will come about from its independence.

Right? The ones in all the last 3 images are https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1200329421. There's also some apartment complexes by KingLeno, including https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=860320757.