lablover1

What schools did you use in pictures 3, 4, and 5? They're really awesome looking!

Don't be afraid to use mods! It may seem artificial, but it seems that the only way to create really good pictures is with LOTS of user mods and plopping them all around to make it look real. Unless you are looking for an "all natural" CJ, in which case this is a great start. I like your premise, and the story definitely has potential. Keep up the good work!

Anyone have any ideas on how to improve the realism of the water in the last image? I think it needs something; it doesn't look like its quite complete.

Many of the lines run through scenic areas on the outskirts of the big cities. Here, life is simpler.

Would you mind sharing what power-lines you use?

I really like your using the sand plop to make a curvy path! That was really clever!

Please feel free to comment with any suggestions for improvements. I always love to hear about downloads that can help improve the realism of region.

The main raliroad for Rapture is Taggart Continental. After the earthquake of 2046 which destroyed most of old-town Eden, Taggart Transcontinental (TT) relocated its head terminal to Beaufort City. Although only two tracks are visible, many more run underground, spanning out across the continent. Some head North, to the old cities, some head East, to the new frontier, and many head South, down through the industrial areas. A slightly scenic view of one of the many industrial spurs that link to the main TT line. The amount of frieght hauled around Rapture every day totals in the hundreds of millions of tons. Many of the factories in the south have no other way to ship their goods effectively ove the mountains and steep inclines to the cities of the North. Some of the lines run out East, where there are still many towns poping up as more land is discovered. A coast has yet to be discovered on that side, and new explorers are pushing farther and farther every day. In these new areas, sometimes the railroad and the ferry are the only means of transportation back to the cities of the West.

On the outskirts of the city, farmland abounds. Although Rapture is noted for its many large, well-over-a-million populations, the rural areas on the outskirts might be the most scenic and interesting bits. Old barns and farmhouses dot much of the country-side from when the first pioneers moved out to settle the land. Although much of the area was cleared, forest borders between farms can still be seen in many areas. Towns such as Steerlewitz are very common place. The amount of agriculture in the Outskirts is able to maintain the population of Rapture at 18 million people, with more being born every day. Stone walls lace the country side on the outskirts of the major cities. The Taggart Transcontinental Railroad serves as the main source of transportation in these parts, although many Sims from the city also use the train to enjoy the many scenic vistas which abound on many of the main lines.

Overall, it looks like you have some great ideas and there certainly is potential for an awesome story! I will be following this as the updates proceed. I am, however, not too keen on the sudden line of growth to the west of the circle; the forest and the field in a straight line doesn't look too natural, but maybe you're working it in to the story (radiation perhaps?).

Where can I find a marina like the 5th picture? Is it Pegasus?

Absolutely breathtaking! Don't stop, you definitley have talent for this!!! I am looking forward to more updates and will be watching this CJ closely!

Very very impressive! And a like the touch of blue around the edges on the pictures! I don't know what it is, or maybe its your skill, but I think it makes it look more realistic.

Breathtaking... again!

I'm interested to see what mods you would use to simulate 1000 miles of destruction.....

The men on the ship had finally found the new place to found their settlement. They figure that with such open access to the river delta, this site had the potential to become a commercial trading hub. They figured that they stood much to gain from establishing a colony here. The ferry terminal was first to be established upon landing. On the coast, they constructed windmills to power the settlement. The breezes coming off the water kept the blades turning all the time, generating an uninterupted source of power for the settlement. A farm and a few houses were the first structures to be built once the ferry terminal was completed. The farmer found that the earth was good and fertile, and sent word home on the next ferry. Soon, word had spread that the land was good and open in Corraile, and immigrants starting flocking to this newly-opened area of wilderness. Farms sprang up all around the ferry terminal, with plans for more housing along the coast. Coast Road was established as a residential area. Luxurious these homes were not, at first. The contractors expected that over time, this area would come to be one of the most affluent in Corraile. Additional housing was zoned on the other side of the road, with plans to one day make a sub-division out of the farm. As the town began to grow, so too did its thirst for lumber. Slaytfork Mill was established by the Slaytfork Family, the owner/operator of the first farm in Corraile. They recognized the monetary opportunity that they had by manufacturing lumber, and siezed it. The location for the town green was selected, and the area cleared. On what used to be dense forest, a proud church now stood. As more and more people started to move in to town, the death toll began to increase. It was inevitable that a cemetary be added, and a spot next to the church was selected. Several trees were planted on the lawn of the church to celebrate the town's 10th anniversary. In a few years, the town center had nearly doubled in size. While the area was scenic, the steady supply of jobs was almost non-existent because of the instability of the growing season and how it affected the farms. If the townsfolk of Corraile were to prosper, they would need to find a more steady source of employment. A few fledgling industries set up shop on the edge of the coast in response to the demand for steadier source of jobs. The manufacturers specialized in assorted things; clock-making, furniture contruction, toy production. With manufacturing now underway, the town did not have to depend so heavily on what the ferry brought in to port. After 20 years, the settlement has grown into a bustling town with its own port, shops, and industry. As the population expanded, so to do the industrial section. New sorts of industries began to develop, such as fertilizer plants to accomodate the large quantity of farms in the area. After a few years of logging, Slaytfork had begun to clear the land in all directions. The company figured that it had, possibly, another five years before it would have to abandon the mill due to the scarcity of resources in its direct area. Slightly ahead of schedule, the area was cleared in under 4 years. However, the Slaytfork family did not want to give up its claim to wealth so quickly. Because the town was still expanding and consuming lumber at a furious rate, they decided that they would not shut the mill down but would float logs in from upstream. In addition to this change in business strategy, they immediately began constructing something that would help them push farther than any had gone before in Corraile. One year later, Slaytfork Bridge was complete. Spanning the Corraile River, the bridge was the first human construction on the mainland. Wood soon flowed by the truck-load over the bridge and into the mill. The Bell Farm was the biggest ever to be established in Corraile. Shortly after the Slaytforks has expanded into the mainland, so too did the Bell family, a successful merchant family from Ridgeback City. The bought all the land south of the Corraile and west of the Azyre. The land soon became bare around the Slaytfork mill cut. Land where forest had once stood once auctioned off at a premium as ready-to-go farm-land. The Slaytforks continued to profit from Corraile. One day, the Slaytfork Mill burst into flames. The origin of the fire was a mystery, although some suspected that the Slaytforks burnt it down themselves to collect insurance money on an industry that no longer had resources. The fire raged through the area, incinerating industries and farms until the local fire department was finally able to bring the blaze under control. 50 years in, things have certainly started to change. This once wild and untamed wilderness is now teeming with farms and villagers. 50 years after being created, the homes on Coast Road still stand proud. The area, as predicted, has started to attract some richer residents. If only they had city water, and didn't have to pull from the shore... Outside of town, on the mainland, farms were still springing up. The Grimes family decided that they wanted to try farming sunflowers and cattle. They used the wind to power the milking machines and the lifts for the grain silos. More to come! In creating my cities, I try to stay as true to the game as possible, using mods only when nothing satisfactory exists. If you have any suggestions, leave a comment or send me a PM. Please remember to rate!

That's not even funny, you should be ashamed at such a comment... But, you raise a valid point. Check now, is that a bit better?

The North Shore of Rapture is a center of economic power for the nation. Up and down the coast, large cities with vast ports collect goods day in and day out. One of the biggest cities is Helmferth City, with its mountainous skyscrapers which grace the skyline. Farther Northeast, the elevation starts to climb. For some cities, this has caused problems with development. Some cities have dug trench to keep the highway at a level grade for good stretches, while others just make the slope a bit more gradual. Helmferth City is the hub of economics for this region. The downtown is full of corporate offices that stretch high into the sky. The crown jewel of the business district is the Torne` Tower, which is the worl headquarters for Bank of Rapture. Depending on which side of the building your office is on, you will have a view of either the University, the seaport, the airport, or the North End. As the Business District grew and expanded, the airport was relocated to the other edge of the city so as to better facilitate travel. This move made the airport serviceable from many of the adjoining cities. The port is set in the cove at the mouth of the river opposite the commercial district. Many of the skyscrapers from the other side of the river have this beautiful view from their windows.

So, is this a little bit better? I'm not the most creative when it comes to putting bits and pieces together to form something astounding. Any suggestions on what to add/change?

With new technologies springing up from the expanding laboratories in the North-East, near-space flight was soon readily accessible for many citizens of Rapture. In the high plains north of Eden, the Bondercraft Airebase was constructed. It took nearly a decade to build, and went over-budget by nearly $25.2 million. That did not matter to the company that financed the construction, Thurston Enterprises, because they were certain that this airbase would be able to turn a profit since it was the only one like it in the country. The following is the news article as reported on the 14th of March, 2037: - As I stepped out of my cab, I was greeted at the door by a woman in a green outfit. Set in a '50s style, the outfit made her look like a stewardess from those fancy flights you see in old movies. She greeted me with an enthusiastic, but generic, "Welcome! Here at Bondercraft Airbase, we are pioneering the aircraft of the future by testing new technologies that we help us go higher and higher! May I show you around a bit?" We walked down an oppulent concourse. The company had spared no expense when they built this place. Beautiful vistas of the surrounding area shown brightly through ever window. I had been told that the airbase was situated on 30 or so acres, but that Thurston Enterprises had purchased nearly 500 acres of the surrounding area. As we reached the end, the young woman turned and smiled again at me, "Please follow me to the end of the terminal. Do you like what you see so far? It's breath-taking, isn't it? All of these windows are constructed from triple pane glass for more eco-friendly heating and cooling." "There are two terminals through which we load the planes. Currently, we are in terminal B." Now this is what I was looking for! Outside of the terminal, a huge shuttle was parked next to me, waiting to be launched. I could not believe that technology had come this far! "Currently boarding is flight F972, bound for uper-atmospheric free-fall. This near-space shuttle is meant to simulate the effects of weightlessness. We have not quite been able to perfect space flight for our customers, but we are getting there." "In total, there are 4 shuttles available, as well as many commercial flights. Our Control Tower is state of the art, with radars and tracking computers comparable to the military's. We have multiple storage tanks for fuel, as well as our own fire crew incase of any incidents." Well, I was thoroughly impressed. The future looks promising, and I like the looks of that!

Beautiful downtown area. Very impressive with tons of mods and add-ons! This is awesome work that must have taken hours! Amazing, and great job!!!

Just putting the finishing touches on this jewel of the West Coast. Look for updates soon.

Yeah, I stole your name for one of my cities. With 350+ cities in the region, its hard to come up with names. Your CJ was one of the first I read when I was creating my CJ; I liked the work that you did and named the city after it. Hope you don't mind. I can change it if you'd like.

The West Coast of Rapture has many densly-populated cities, leading out to farmland in the hills. Beaufort Bay is at the mouth of the Winifred River, which runs from the inland sea. This is one of two bays on the West Coast, with the Caspian Ocean out to the left. The metropolis that has sprung up around Beaufort Bay has many boroughs. The first and most interesting borough is Aurora. Named after the S.S. Aurora which sunk in 1912 on the coast, this section of the city reached its hey-day in the 1950s. Now, the high-end appartments are a bit run-down, but the streets still show some veiled splendor. On the other side of the Bay, across the Justin Winifred Memorial Bridge, the city has sprawled a bit, mixing its medium and high density residences. The suburbs jut out in places, sometimes blending in with the natural lines of the city. The business district is off to the left. This is one of the more oppulent business districts in the Bay area, featuring a clear view across the Bay to the Beaufort Port. Winifred Coast, which continues past the second borough and directly abutts the Capsian Ocean, is home to one of the biggest shipping ports on the West Coast. The Winifred Coast also provides most of the power for the Bay area. One of the citie's which the large Nuclear Power Facility generates electricty for is Celadon. www.simtropolis.com/cityjournals/

When I created Rapture, I wanted a region that was so expansive and diverse that I would never have to create another region. The map that I used did not provide me with the diversity that I was initially looking for. Because it took nearly 12 hours to render on my computer, I did not want to start again. Instead, I created small chunks and blended them in with the original landscape. To create these subset mimi-maps (that's what I call them in my head), I created a new region and rendered it using the map that I wanted. For the West Coast of Rapture, I found a map on the Exchange of a bay area (Puget Sound, WA), and rendered it seperatley. In order to import it into the main region, Rapture, I had to go through and name each one with a number system that I could remember. I went from top left to right and down, naming them 1 through - for each city size. This helped me to import the cities without having to guess. Although it is daunting work depending on the region size, when done the city will have to be obliterated unless you give them real names (Or maybe you don't care, in which case, build away!). I took the opportunity when naming each city to plop some trees around, making the un-built cities a forested section of the region. The big expansion for Rapture was the River Region, out past the North/East Coast. This area was based off of a blown-up map of the Washington, DC area, with what I beleive is the Potomac running through the center. For this, I created a new addition to the region. In order to do this, I had to change the config.bmp. I simply added space and filled in colors according to what size cities I wanted. Then I went through the same process as with the West Coast above.