iGod

Looks really interesting. Nice editing of the pictures as well, really like this bloom effect.

Looks great. Can't wait for more!

In todays update we going to have a look at "Eastwall" and the "University of Eastwall" which is commonly refered to as "Eastwall University" or just "Eastwall". The town was a small fishing & farming community outside "Abbey-Upon-Tyne" and next to the sea. It is rather unsure to date when the University was founded but early records suggest that it was founded 1403 by scholars leaving the "Royal St. George University of Abbey-Upon-Tyne" after a dipute with townsfolk. Since then, the "University of Eastwall" has gained international success and it is now ranked under the 5 top Universitys in the world and contends with the "Royal St. George University of Abbey-Upon-Tyne" for first place in the countrys league tables. It is a rather small University with only 6000 students but has a reputation as one of the leading research Universitys worldwide. The town of "Eastwall" benefits from the University by the tourists which visit the place each year and also the people who want to live in such a famous town. Currently, "Eastwall" has around 20.000 inhabitants, of which 6000 are students. Let's take a look then: A basic overview of "Eastwall" with the majority of the University buildings. The University is the geographical midpoint of the town and all parks are open to the public as well as the students. "St. Andrews Church" dominates the skyline of the town. "King's College" on the left is the main & largest building of the University. The faculties for Humanities & Social Sciences are located here. On the right, we can see "Oxbride College", home to the faculties of Clinical Medicine and the "Clare Library", one of the 2 main librarys. Also "Broomhurst", "Canterbury" & "Tyneside" Halls are located on the "Oxbride College" grounds. On the right, we see "Edwards College" where the faculties for Technology & Sciences are located. "Caius Halls" are located directly behind it and are the oldest halls. At the top we can see the "Darwin Library", the other main library and the "Bodleian Hall". "Clayhurst Court" is the park in the middle which connects "King's College" with "Edwards College" & the "Darwin Library" and bla.. "Cavendish College", location of the facutly for Physical & Sports Sciences. The "Eastwall University" Rugby Union & Rugby League teams are two of the best University Rugby Teams in the country and the Cricket team is always placed under the top 3 each season. Only the football team is mainly mediocre but still plays in the Universitys League 1. The majority of students lives in "Newnham Halls", a complex out of 4 buildings "St Catharines Park" and the beach located on the outskirts of "Eastwall" The outskirts of "Eastwall" with some highrises. Most of the houses in this area are students houses. Even though they are called outskirts, "Eastwall" is small enough that it is all within walking distance. A walk from one end of the town to another takes no longer than 30 minutes. The old harbour. Not very active anymore but once one of the main fishing harbours in the area. But students and inhabitants of eastwall alik enjoy having a walk around here and the fresh and cheap seafoot they can get in the restaurants down here. Appearantly you can get the best Fish & Chips in the entire country here... One of the main landmarks of "Eastwall" are the "Westminster Rocks". Once posed a threat to all ships traveling from "Abbey-Upon-Tyne" to the sea, they are now a very popular tourist destination and also nice to look at. Even a bird habitat was established here. And last but not least, a overview of the entire town. Comments and ratings are, as per usual, welcome and appreciated. Feedback: TekindusT: Thank you for your comment. Well, I can't deny that I got the inspiration from the Tube, and I can really understand what you mean. I might go down there this weekend, really looking forward to it. ImVhOzzi: Thank you. dudkis: It should be this one: www.simtropolis.com/stex/details.cfm - London Underground Sub Surface Station by mcdrye.

This looks really good. Can I ask where you got these University buildings from? I am looking for something like that for ages but can't find it anywhere. Even though small, great update!

Wow. Impressive. Keep the good work up mate!  Just great.

Looks great and to be honest, I was sharing the same dislike of the RHW3. But it looks pretty good what you've done here. Nice update and good use of the RHW.

"This is an Overground Train bound for Eastwall Station. Calling at: Edgefield Station, Allerstone South Cross, Ladybank, Carling, Leuchars and Eastwall. Please mind the gap." One of the typical announcements when taking the overground in "Abbey-Upon-Tyne". Since it is the biggest city in the county of "Tyneside", public transport soon became an issue. During the 1860's, the city started to experience a significant upturn in the number of people moving in the city. Most of them moved to the many suburbs within the city boundarys. This itself was not much of a problem but soon the streets just became jammed with all sorts of traffic. Most notably were these issues at Stretford Road, the main arterial road to the city centre and "Knightsbridge" & "Charlottebridge". During the early 1870's & 80's a new transport system was planned and build. It was mainly a tram network but it already reduced the amount of traffic significantly. With the rise of modern technologies such as electricity, underground railways could be build and soon were. The oldest part of the "Abbey-Upon-Tyne Underground System" is the stretch which connects "Knightsbridge" with "Bluestone" via "King Edward Station" and therefore providing an essential link through the city centre. The newest generation of trains ("1997 Stock") are silent, comfortable and fast. Most of these operate at the "Jubilee", "Bishop" & "Bethnal" lines. But taking the train at the "Southern" or "Allerstone" Line can be quite an adventure. There are still trains from the 1960's operating on these lines. During the past decades, the underground & tram system got extended massively as well as the integration of the old suburban trains into the system during the 1970's. The newest line being build was the "Jubilee" line which was opened in 1997 and was the first direct connection between the majority of underground line & the "Tyneside" line. It was one of the biggest construction works which have been taken place in "Abbey-Upon-Tyne" since the Tunnel which was build was to be construced under the "River Tyne". But now it shortened the time of travel from the city centre to "Fenchuch" from 45 minutes to only 10 minutes. Let's have a look then: This is the current map for the public transport in "Abbey-Upon-Tyne". The entire system, including overground, tram, underground & bus is run by "AUT - Transport" a company created during the 1960's to build one efficient organisation to run the system rather than the 6 different companys that each operated their own bus, tram (and sometimes as well) underground fleet until the 1960's. (PS: I don't know why but I somehow can not draw in photoshop ~ so I needed to use paint but it still looks alright I think.) As well as the "normal" transport map, there is also one showing al the connections possible from the mainline (The stretch of stations between "Edgefield" & "Cathedral".) "Lockerby Station". A typical commuter station with a bus depot, underground connection & a rather large parking lot. Besides the importance as a commuter station it is also important for the "BMW Factory" which is located on the right of the station. A lot of workers use this station to get to work everyday. Not as interesting maybe but here is is anyway. "Haymarket" which is located just behind the "Franciscan - Abbey". Due to the system being run by so many companys for so long, there are some quite obscure things about the stations, most notably that there are a number of stations which are located only a 1 minute walk from each other. Therefore, a number of stations needed to be shut and are now Ghost stations. They still do exist but the trains simply drive through them. The oldest underground station in "Abbey-Upon-Tyne". "Knightsbridge" is the name of the railway bridge. Here you can also see a overground train just approaching the bridge. In the park just right of "Knightsbrige Station" is another Ghost station, "Charlottebridge". The closeness to the other station made this underground stop simply unfeasible and it was therefore shut in 1972. Sadly enough, this is one of the two last sub-surface stations in "Abbey-Upon-Tyne". And the last station I'm showing you is the end of the "Bishop" & "Valhalla" lines, the station "Valhalla". In itselfs it is a rather unspectacular station but "Valhalla" is one of a few war memorials in "Abbey-Upon-Tyne". But it is by far one of the most impressive ones. The "Valhalla" is the "Monument to the Battle of the Nations " and was used to celebrate the war victory in 1913. But now it is to remind us of the fallen of all wars who may have reached their final destination and gained eternal peace in the hall of heros here in "Valhalla". A very popular tourist destination when visiting "Abbey-Upon-Tyne". Comments and ratings are, as per usual, welcome and appreciated. Feedback: Jamonbread: Thank you first of all for your support throughout this CJ. I am happy that you like what I am building here and I must confess that I really like this picture too. The Bluejay: Wow, thank you for your comment. Glad you seem to like it TekindusT: Thank you as well for your support. I don't know why but I have suddently this really strange urge to build railways everywhere in my entire city & region ~ as long as it pleases you guys. CHR: Thanks for your comment. I try to create a as realistic railway as possible. It seems that it somehow works. Retep Molinari: Thank you as well. I actually got the idea for this station from a RL one: "Berlin Ostkreuz". dudkis: Thank you as well for your comment.

Proposal 1: B & Proposal 2: If you have the space, I'd go for A. But if space is a scarce resource in your region might as well take B. Great work again and fantastic update. Looks so good!

Wow, I always loved your region views. They just look so impressive. Looks fantastic how the city develops along the river and the costal line. Great work again!

I really like the 1st picture. The church blends in well with the setting and the diagonal walkway you created looks really good too. Great work.

Hey man, I had the exact same issue as well: www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm PS: Set SimCity4 to use only ONE core...very vital...

Wow, great update. Reminds me a bit of the Rheintal. Looks great. But I can't stop thinking about the signals you use on your railway line. Did you do them yourself with the SFBT props or can I find them somewhere? The only criticism: Some of the buildings in the town look way too american (eg. the red one with the clock in the 3rd picture). Besides that, great update and amazing good work.

Thanks for the reply. Worked fine.

In todays update we will return to the city which started it all. Since our last visit here, the city has developed a lot. New boroughs were build and more and more people move to "Abbey-Upon-Tyne". "Allerstone" belongs to the kind of boroughs, everyone likes. Right in the heart of this borough just south of the city centre are many tourist attractions located. But this borough offers more to it's visitors, for example visiting the largest Islamic community in the country and plenty of parks & places to relax. Students and business people live next door to each other and if you look around, you might even see a famous person walking down "Bronstone Avenue" to go shopping. If you are looking for a place to shop in "Abbey-Upon-Tyne", "Bronstone Avenue" is the place to go. Located in the heart of the borough "Allerstone" it can coquet with it's vast amount of high class stores like Gucci, Prada & Hugo Boss. But it is also a very historical & touristy area. Most notably are the "Bronstone Park" with the "City Castle" which is where the National Archieves are located & The "Everley Central & Memorial Cemetery". The area around the "Bronstone Gates" is famous for it's nightlife & club scene, but you may should avoid the streets around "Redfern Station" at night times. Other architectural highlights within "Allerstone" is the "Allerstone South Cross Station" (or just "Allerstone South") and the "Abbey-Upon-Tyne TV Tower", located next to the station. Let's check it out then: The National Archieves & the "Bronstone Park", located just left of "Bronstone Avenue" The "Everley Central & Memorial Cemetery", just opposite the National Archieves (I'm not really good at mosaics...). In the middle you can see the mausoleum where the most famous inhabitants of the city are buried. The "Victory Column", the most central place in "Allerstone". According to the legend, this is the place where the former King "Edward XII." gained victory against the rebels of "Teutonia" in 1843 after a 2 year war and rough peace to the countries. His body is also burried in the mausoleum. The column itself was only build in 1878 to honour the king. The area around "Redfern Station". It is quite a nice place during daytime and in the evenings. But at nightime the place attracts junkies and most clubs here are notorious for being quite rough. Moving towards "Bronstone Gates" you will eventually pass the more expensive & famous clubs. The plaza itself is verya very popular meeting point for the youth of "Allerstone" & "Abbey-Upon-Tyne". The Tv-Tower, which is located near "Allerstone South Cross Station". "Allerstone South Cross Station" from another angle. Opend in 1880 (and since then having numerous renovations), it is now the most used public transport connecting station in "Abbey-Upon-Tyne" with around 140.000 passengers passing through this station daily. The "Allerstone Motor Works", a BMW Factory in the west of "Allerstone". The buildings on the right were actually build in the 70's to provide homes for the workers in the factory, but with the expansion of the industrial estate and the decline in living standards, most of the workers decided to move out of them buildings and find houses & flats elsewhere. Most of the flats in these buildings are now empty and the city is just deciding on what to do with these buildings and the land they are on. And just a random picture of some construction works. (This is actually really old but I like it anyway). Here I tried to recreate a extension of the Motorway from a lower level to a raised one. To be honest, it is the only motorway stretch in the entire game I've ever seen which is properly used by the sims - I get around 20.000 people using it daily. Not exactly the bet idea with the Motorway changing to an ordinary street ~ Comments and ratings are, as per usual, welcome and appreciated. Feedback: Jamonbread: Ye, I really know what you mean. These buildings are from so many different sets that I actually do not even know which building belongs were...we defo got some french, german & eastern european W2W's here. To be honest, I think they fit together very well, it is just the different hights which makes them looked missmatched. Especially the french ones are very high compared to other W2W buildings. Thank's for your comment. k50dude: I send them you in a mail. But if anyone else is interested in them, please PM me and I will send them to you. Thanks for your comment. TekindusT: I don't really like that church too. But the only alternative would have been a cathedral the size of Notre Dame or larger. This is the smallest, biggest church I could find and I did not want to oversize it. Anyway, glad you like it. Btw, same goes for you as I already said at k50dude's comment. If you would like to have the tenements, PM and I will send you the links. Thanks for your comment. Other entries: RQTect777: Glad you like it. Thanks for your comment. The dirt track comes of a farm series I found on the LEX. Can't remember which one though.

That is quite a large update. I really like "Tally Island" and the "Scolly Isle" you show here. Although the downtown in pic 2 look a bit missmatched, this is really great work. Keep it up mate!

Wow, that looks really cool. How did you get the roads to have such a natural feel to them? Did you use a lot of FAR pieces? Anyway, great work and as the other said, take your time. If the rest of your CJ will be as awesome as this map than take all the time you want! Great work.

Try writing it as one word maybe?! ("tastyzots"). Great update and looks really nice. But what is with all these massive black squares on the pic? And may I ask what is that pink illuminated building in the centre of your city? Is a realy eye-catcher. Good work.

Looks fantastic. But I would have loved to see more & a bit more zoomed out pictures. Keep the amazing work up!

The city itself is actually not that old. Founded in 1051 as a little settlement of the Franciscan Order it soon became a village with many inhabitants. Coal and Wool products have always been goods witch "Abbey-Upon-Tyne" exported. In the 16th century coal became the main export good, but also ships were build near the river "Tyne". Since 1974 "Abbey-Upon-Tyne" is the administrative centre of "East Lombardia". From 1642 to 1665 the "Fransican Abbey" was build, which also gave the name to this town. Before that it was known as "Pons Aelii". The "Caroline Pass" is the oldest and still most important connection from "Abbey-Upon-Tyne" to the nation. Crossing the "Newcastle Massif", it is one of the highest passes in this country, at the highest point about 2300m high! So let's take a little look at the city. This is a view at the old town. At the left is "King Edward Station", the main station and at the right you can see the "Fransican Abbey". This is the other side of the river, the borough "Tyneside". Still in development since the main development took place on the other riverside. This is the "Sowerby Sports Park", with the "Admiral John Stanton Stadium", the "Adam Cook Arena" and a training place for the Footballers of the "A.U.T. City FC". The large building at the back is a mixture of everything. Administrative building, a small hospital wing, hotel, meeting rooms, etc... Downtown "Tyneside". I tried to do a sort of "Art Deco" approach to the downtown area. But I can't really...err..."feel" it. Any suggestions of how to improve this area? It somehow doesn't feel complete to me. A small part of the "Caroline Pass" Maybe more next time?! Feedback: Innovations: Thanks, I wanted something unique and I haven't seen lot's of "mountain" CJ's around! And living in the German Alps I though that would make a good addition. Djohaal: Cheers mate. You actually brought me to the idea of going back to basics and see what happens. mgmg14: Thanks, hope that too! bwong: Me too, me too! Paul5: Thank you. Well, there you go, next update. froelich131: Cheers! Mayor Dylan Thomas: Lol, thanks. The castle is "Burg Eltz", can be found on the stex, https://www.simtropolis.com/stex/details.cfm?id=18928 stoney525: Cheers mate. But you ain't seen nothing yet dannymc92: Guess where I got that idea from. Can you see some similarity between the historys? *shocking!* Blakeway: Thanks mate. lol. But why aren't you working on your own city first?! (Just kidding...) Hope you like it so far. Comments are, as per usual, welcome and appreciated.

Looking pretty cool and a very interesting idea. Just a few questions: Will it be SC4 or CXL? And when are we gonna see some of that city? But good effort.

In todays's update we're gonna take a journey along the M24 South. South of "Abbey-Upon-Tyne" and "Upminster", the small town of "Blackley" is located. With its 80.000 inhabitants it actually can be classified as a city but since it has no cathedral (only the "St. Johns Church"), it remains as a town. The name of the village comes from the sheep race "Blackley Sheeps" which used to be breed here. Now "Blackley" can best be described as a commuter town. The "M24 South" is the main connection between "Abbey-Upon-Tyne" and the city of "Burton" where most of the inhabitants of "Blackley" do work. "Blackley" itself mainly lives of the tourism and the farming industry. Countless little B&B's have developed in "Blackley" and had, up to now, no competition from larger hotel companys. The people who come to visit this town especially like how the charm of a big city combines with the rural ambience found here. Or at least that's what they think once they passed by the "Red Hill Estates". Build in the 60's & 70's to give home to the many commuters they soon became a crime hotspot and are now the most unsightly area of "Blackley". Besides this area, "Blackley" offers a lot of variety for the tourists who come and visit this town. There is the "St. Johns Church" main attraction of the city. Or how about a walk down "Newcastle Road" from the Church to the Main train station? And if that ain't enough, you could go to the hamlet of "Byfleet" to visit the fun fair and have a hike through the rural forests. Also in terms of sports you won't be led down. Tourists and natives alike can go to the "Yew Road Stadium" and watch a game of the "Blackley FC" or go to the "Red Hill Rugby Grounds" to watch how the new rugby players train and play. All these attractions are easily accesible with the tram so tourists can leave their cars behind, which is also adviced since parking spaces in the town centre are very limited. So let's take a look: The town centre with the "St. Johns Church", the main station and "Newcastle Road", leading from the train station to the church. You can also see the main tram hub just of "Newcastle Road" inbetween the buildings on the left. Suburbs in "Blackley". Here in "St. Johns Wood", the people value the vast amount of trees & parks, making it a really nice neighbourhood to live in. If only "Leicester Road" weren't located here it would be an even nicer place. It is one of the main feeder street from the centre to the M25. More than 7000 cars daily! "Red Hill Rugby Grounds" which were only placed here about 5 years in an effort by the town to make the "Red Hill Estates" a more desirable area. An overview of the "Red Hill Estates" just north of the town centre. Even though they are still considered a crime hotspot, crime rates went down by 2.5% in the last year. Some might argue this is due to the drastic no tolerance strategy the police carries out, while others consider the renovation and the creation of more parks & recreational areas to be the reasons for the lower crime rates. The Hamlet of "Byfleet" with the fun fair. An overview of the town with the southern parts. At the top you can see the hamlet "Byfleet", the "Yew Road Stadium" and the "St. Ann Hospital". As you can see, the church is the dominating part of the skyline and since the city is located in a very flat area, it can be seen from far away. And the northern parts with the "Red Hill Estates" and the "Oakwood Industrial Estate". Comments and ratings are, as per usual, welcome and appreciated. Feedback: dudkis: Thanks for your comment CTMandR: Thank you for your comment as well. I really tried to make it look realistic and as good as possible. k50dude: That's one of my favorite ones too. Thanks. wakkaolaf53: The highway textures? Wait...got the link somewhere...*hardcore searching in progress*...that should be them: www.simtropolis.com/stex/details.cfm - The amazing Higway ReStyling Mod V.03 by mrtnrln Daan300: Thanks. I dunno why, I really got into the more rural side of the game lately. schulmanator: Thank you for your comment. I tried my best to let it look a balanced and nice rural area.

Hey Guys, Alright, lately I really got round to use the FARR puzzle pieces for roads & rails. Now my issue is that I want to use them in inner city parts as well as in the rural areas of my region. Only problem is though that I can't seem to find buildings which fit the shape of these puzzle pieces. It therefore looks really awkward if I try to build a 90° Rail curve in my inner city and I then need to fill it all up with trees or let it remain as a green spot in the middle of downtown. Does anyone know any good buildings that will fit the shape of the FARR pieces or another way to utilise the unused land that I will create when using these puzzle pieces? Cheers for you help! PS: SimCity4 + Rush Hour. And yes, I was already looking at the STEX & LEX to find some buildings but I don't seem to find any.

Thanks for your help guys. @MasterBuilder: Good idea but that was exactly what I was trying to avoid, but thanks again. @Jamonbread: Would be cool if you could find out the name of that CJ for us, cheers again. @CaptCity: Thanks, these were really useful lots!

I'm with heitomat on the tram-in/on-road to EL-over-road think. Would be a cool and useful addition to the game. And thanks for all the work you guys do here! Great Job.

Epic update and seriously good work. I really love how you integrated the Irrigation channels, makes it look even better. Keep the good work coming.