psteverific

So, I'm back at it. For the past little while I've been pouring over maps of my province looking for nice motorcycle/scooter routes, and a few days ago I thought "I wouldn't mind designing some of my own in SC4... so here I am. I have to admit, it's a little frustrating getting back into it after so long. I started up several months back but gave up after not too long, because I no longer have my old plug-in files. Alot of the effects that I was able to pull off in the past relied on the use (or misuse, in many cases) of particular plugins. And then there's the dependancies that go along with them. I can't possibly remember all the files I had, and I have no idea of what has been developed since. And when I sat down the other day, I had forgotten how much "prepwork" is involved. It's never as simple as just drawing a nice long twisty road, the road has to come from somewhere, go to somewhere, go through stuff and past stuff. I'm starting out with something pretty simple, on the in-game San Francisco map, because I wanted lots of elevation to have to deal with. As I build, I'll slowly download what i find I need, and hopefull I'll get right back into the game. So here are just a few pictures to get things started. Regional view, I've been developing only one tile so far The town, eventually this will be the buisness district And some of the farmland. in the top right you can see the landfill site That's what I got, just getting started

nice work Vespa City sure seems like an appropriate name, with all that parkland, there's lots of destinations to ride out to and even a few nice winding roads for the scooterists to have a little fun in the curves!

Originally posted by: dedgren A little birdie told me that this issue may soon be a thing of the past. quote> Oh that would be sweet! That's bugged me for a long time

David, good to hear from you again. Actually, I have to say I think my simcity skills have faded quite a bit over the past six months (It was only six months? it seemed so much longer!), but it's slowly comming back, and reviewing Billiardsley Lite and Queenston has reminded me of some of my old techniques. I'm also being hampered by a serious lack of downloads. Right now, tonight, actually. I just laid out an "off diagonal" streetgrid north of the CBD, but then realised that I don't have the gasscooker diagonal houses that suit that layout so well. The "off diagonal" grid looks amazing in region view, and here it will cross over a little bit into two adjacent tiles, once again helping to blur the edges of the tiles Closer up, the streets look a bit unnessisarilly winding with nothing zoned along them... ... but with those Gascooker lots I once had, they actually don't look half bad. Here's a couple of pictures from my old CJ, Queenston. it's actually from when I first dicovered that this works That's how it should look. I can't seem to find those lots on the stex, although I did see the buildings themselves. Looks like it's back to the lot editor for me.

Ok, ok... I'm the fool... I hang my head. Ah, it's all in good fun, Hope to see more of Glendale soon

I've been doing some filling out of Minghella Bay, not anything worth showing... just alot of fussing about. I have made some progress with the downtown area, now named Duffle Bay (AKA #22) I've laid out the beginnings of a street grid for what will be the CBD, I figure I'll establish residential around it untill commecial demand is higher. A small residential neighbourhood just north of the power corridor The only thing of interest here is that I've continued the neighbourhood to the north in Bootstrap Bay. All part of my plan to "blur' the edges of the city tiles in region view. North of that, an Industrial park East of that, another industrial park, and like the residential neighbourhood, the only real point of interest is... ...yeah, that's right, it continues back in Duffleburg. And that's about it... well, I guess i have been expanding the major roads, time consuming, but with little to show for it. Ahh, what the heck, here's a transportation view. See that road that follows the river north? that's the biggest change. that and the northerly bridge. Alright, that's all I got. Slowly but surely, I'll keep updating. EDIT: I just noticed after posting this that the region is still named "New York", I'll have to remember to change that, now that the city has a name and all.

I'm so sorry to hear that this CJ has been closed, I just found it, and I'm really impressed. You have a beautiful sense of scale, and I love all the references to real cities... so the Danforth runs through Greektown, does it? Anyways, I guess I'll catch up with you over at SC4D, Good luck with your next project

Thanks for the comments, all; Greekman, it's nice to know I wasn't forrgotten... and yeah, if I wasn't such a putz at making maps, I'd definately be building a recreation of Ottawa. Still not much progress, I'm finding myself focusing in on that one corner still. Farming has been filled in to the south, and that one corner is staring to have a much more finished look, at least from region view And I've recently added the Edmonton Transportation Mod, so the transportation view is much clearer I've established a new town, Minghella Bay in the south. Still needs work, but it's getting there I'm viewing this as sort of a cottaging destination, so nearby I've sparsley zoned for small houses... no water, so they should stay as small cottages And finaly, an overview of the area That's all so far, I'll continue to update.

Progress has been slow, and punctuated with extended periods of searching for various downloads, but it is coming along. I've gotten some of the main roads established, connecting the tiles where future settlements will go. I've even established the "downtown" area (currently labeled #22), but it's far from a bustling metropolis yet. Back in the west, the farms are slowly expanding around Louts' Haven and the escarpment I'm really liking these lodgepole fences, best part is they already have seasonal trees, so I can leave the lot editor out of it And the regions very first landfill site has been established. And that's all I got will update soon

Originally posted by: Flann Where do i find the Columbus terrain mod? I've seen so many people use it, yet I can never find it.quote> Somehow, I've had trouble finding this in the past as well. Just happened to stumble upon it this time... here https://www.simtropolis.com/stex/details.cfm?id=13804&v=1

I've started working on a road system, but I got distracted and expanded the farming area around Lout's Haven. Somehow, I wasn't really feeling it, so a few downloads were in order. Started with some seasonal trees, and one download led to another... That's better! Cycledogg's columbia terrain and peg's brigantine water really bring the region to life In louts' Haven, some seasonal trees among the hedgerows Farming has spilled over into the tile to the east (currently labeled "25") . I like to try to overlap a farm or two along the edge of the tile, as shown below I made sure the farm that grew in the area Outlined in red (can you even see that thin red line?) was the same type as the one on the other side of the border. I employed the "terrainquery" cheat to make sure they lined up perfectly, but you could simply count off the tiles as well. That's all for now, I'll update soon

It's been some time since I've played the game, But I'm now at it again. Unfourtunatly, since I'm on a new system now, Billiardsley and Queenston are no longer, as is my plugins folder... so I'm starting fresh. Downloaded the latest NAM, went through the modds section here and downloaded what looked right to me... and a train platform. that's it. No terrain mods, havent got my terrain height mod yet, and so much more. I have go the simtropolis dvd's (one and two... is there a third yet?), but i haven't looked at them yet. Anyways, I've started a region using the default New York map, just to get back in the swing of things. Not much done so far, just a basic rail system. but here is my start... it's good to be back. I couldn't resist starting a little town, Louts' Haven The dotted red line will be the main "highway" through this part of the region, it will be upgradded as needed. Those wind turbines are just a temporary fix, until I work out the electricity network, and get a few downloads. here's a close up of the main drag, and that little train platform. Gotta say I really don't care for thedefault freight station... so tiny! And here's the east side of the map, just a basic rail network here I intend to put the main power station on the island in tile #16, and I have connected rail to the area to include some industial zoning in the future. And that's all I got. I'll probably work on the main roads through the region next, which will help me choose where towns and hamlets should be located. love to hear any comments, mabee sugestions for downloads that I would have missed over the past year and a half or so

I like the approach you are taking, and it seems to be working out very nicely

Perfect, just as I had hoped. I'm still very motivated to get things sorted quickly though, to me the 'random events', such as building a highway system sound like the funnest part of this challenge. Which got me thinking, for someone who is a bit more competativly motivated than myself, waiting it out could be a bit of an advantage. Starting out after a few 'random events' have been called would make it much easier to build the perfect region. Don't get me wrong, it dosen't matter to me, I'd only be getting in for the fun of it, but would you want to have some kind of safeguard?

Oh boy, would I ever like to get in on this! I don't have SC4 running on my new system yet, but hopefully I can get it going again. Could take a while, though... Will late arrivals be accepted?