MatlockMan
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Everything posted by MatlockMan
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Can I ask what mods you used to get those rail caterneries and RRW viaducts? Also, it was mentioned truly years ago that there were very early plans for triple and quad-track railways, as well as a monorail-based RHSR. Has there been any progress on these features?
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Prologue: A taxpayer-funded drink
MatlockMan posted a City Journal entry in Normanhurst - A NewCity for an old mayor
"A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit" - Ancient Greek proverb The year is 1950, and the sun is setting on the tall towers of Toombul... and apparently, a career. For weeks, whispers have been creeping through the corridors of power - City Hall, the Business Guild, the various unions. Even the papers, who generally don't lend themselves to unfounded scuttlebutt, have begun dedicating little columns here and there on the talk of the town: The mayor is retiring! Not just any old mayor either, but THE mayor. The man who's led Toombul for 25 years, who unleashed the public servants to help rebuild devastated, flood-ravaged low-lying suburbs, who oversaw the biggest expansion of the once-flailing subway system and connected far-flung satellite cities with glistening expressways. When the mayor took charge, Toombul was bankrupt, crime-riddled, its population on the slide. Now it stood as a beacon - over 800,000 residents and growing by the second - with thousands more in dormitory villages. Whichever neighbourhood one ventured, restaurants would be fully booked and stores would be making a good day's trade. Through some miracle, not to mention careful balancing of the wants of workers and businesses, this man, who stood as a constant amid unending change, had turned the 'Bayside City' into the envy of countless mayors nationwide. It hadn't all been smooth sailing, the mayor thought to himself, staring at the mirror, at the greying, tired man. It was two minutes to 6pm - he'd promised the reporters he'd face them at the top of the hour. They certainly didn't help much... and what's worse, they probably think I'm headed to a home... all this speculation, weeks and weeks. He buried his face in his hands for a moment, then faced the mirror once more. No, the ageing mayor still had one last trick up his sleeve. The rumours were half-true, as he was indeed leaving his post after 25 years. After years of seemingly unrelenting tugs-of-war between party factions, interest groups, lobbyists, wireless commentators, the mayor would agree that he'd become a victim of his own success. And while his close confidants knew he had been wanting out for over 18 months, no one knew of a little meeting he'd had a few weeks back. "We want you to build a new city," the federal employee had told the mayor in one of the Drysdale district's countless smoke-filled pubs. "A new one?" "The country's population is growing, and the National Development Bureau has identified this site as one of several places we can grow to house tens, maybe hundreds of thousands." The employee jabbed his index finger on the map placed between them. "It lies at the junction between two intercity railways, a highway and the lower reaches of a major river, and right now it's a farming and fishing village. The Bureau needs someone to spearhead its development." "And that person is me?" The employee sat back in his seat. "You've got a reputation, didn't you think the Capitol would come knocking eventually?" "Not really. What would I need to do?" "Everything. The designation of new suburbs, the provision of a school that isn't just a shack with four seats, relieving congestion along the interstate." The two men had looked at each other for a lingering moment, then the bureaucrat lifted his rum and coke. Vividly, the mayor remembers what came next: "So, are you in?" The man then proceeded to down his taxpayer-funded drink. Any sane person, weathered by two-and-a-half decades of leadership, would be inclined to reject the offer. But leading a city was now all this mayor knew. He'd lost decades, his youth, a marriage, to the job. The mayor quickly accepted the offer, then went back to City Hall as if nothing had happened. Now in front of his mirror, he still saw leading a small community of 2,000 as a sea-change. As he turned to face the door, with the gaggle of journalists audible from just outside, the mayor's thoughts returned to the question he'd been asking himself all day: Am I making a mistake? -
Not sure if this is a silly question or not, but can you use two or more textures at once? Or is it a straight override? Love the textures and would love to use more than one, e.g. using the city railway texture closer to the city core, but then transitioning it to more suburban-friendly textures as the commuter lines radiate outwards.
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Is there such a thing as FARR stations? Would love some
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A city I'm working on at the moment. Just a small surburban stop. Only local trains call here. Peak hour is almost over - the office workers have all headed home. The sun goes down, but the city never sleeps.
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This looks incredible! I'm definitely going to use this for the above-ground sections of my subway/metro lines. Will it be draggable like GLR or plop-only like HRW? I'm useless in all things modding but I offer you my complete emotional support.
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Really feel like I'm getting the hang of RHW now! Still, lots to do...
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Could it be... RHSR????
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No worries, thanks 🙂 How is the NAM team going with RHSR? Is that in the pipeline for a future release?
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Just installing NAM41. I've got a question - in my previous install (NAM40), didn't change any of my mass transit capacities. If I now want to, for my install of NAM41, change the settings to Ultra to buff capacity, is that possible? Or will that bork all my existing stations?
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What train station is that? Looks great
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I'll fill it in with some terraforming eventually. The base terrain was done using a BMP generator.
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Thank you, I'm really looking forward to it. A seaport will be the next big thing to go in, I've always sucked at them but let's see how we go.
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Grade separated rail junction! Will allow a much more frequent service.
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Working on something new
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So I've been playing SimCity 4 a bit, since a recent patch of NewCity seemed to crash a heap. But another update rolled around, and so I've filed another update to my CJ, this time showcasing a busy route through the city.
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Entry Three: A Journey down Fort Wayne/Hayward/Church/Park
MatlockMan posted a City Journal entry in Normanhurst - A NewCity for an old mayor
"First rule in government spending: why build one when you can have two at twice the price?" - S.R. Hadden, Contact (1997) What just happened? As the Mayor's slow train came to a halt in Central station, his mind was still racing. Two billion dollars - no strings attached - to keep building. He'd better use it wisely. ... A new day dawns, and now it's 1956. Normanhurst's population has swelled to nearly 130,000! Aggressive expansion has brought new homes to the region. During the economic downturn, many turned to farming. There was an explosion of new farms in outer regions, but demand has outpaced supply. But with the recession nationally all but over, big business has taken a keen interest in Normanhurst. Congestion is however a-brewin' on the city's major thoroughfare. Named Park Road for most of its route, it's actually four distinct roads that all began separately but were linked up as Normanhurst's population has soared. The mayor's planners can give us a tour. The main road, at this stage called Park Road, cuts right down the middle of Normanhurst's outer industrial areas, starting at an off ramp of a local expressway. Despite being three lanes in each direction, this interchange is frequently packed with commuters and freight trucks. What a nightmare! Upgrades will be needed. The road then continues through industrial parks... ...slipping below Chattanooga Road... ...into suburbia, where it becomes Church Street... ...then into the City, where it becomes Hayward... ...and then finally as Fort Wayne, it crossed the river to meet up with another expressway, the Normanhurst Bypass. Its route through the city is illustrated below: As you can probably tell, the road carries a lot of traffic. It also dissects a number of other busy thoroughfares from across the suburbs, meaning rush-hour is an absolute mad scramble. At Chatanooga Road, the intersection has had to be grade separated to keep traffic flowing, but it has only bought a little time. Further upgrades to the entire route are needed, potentially grade separating it and making it an expressway between Ringroad One and the beginning of Church Street. Town planners think widening the road even further, to the intersection of Fresno/Fontana, would require too many resumptions of neighbouring properties and would effectively split communities in half. What do you think should happen? -
Sometimes the best way to start a new city is to just sit back, take your time, get it just how you want it...
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Thanks so much @SneakyDeaky and @11241036 , added those to my city
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Hey, I was wondering if anyone had any W2W medium density $$$ buildings that were 1x2? As in, one tile wide on the road, 2 blocks deep. I have one particular Japanese-style building of that description which seems to overwhelm my cities, so I figure more variety is needed. Anyone know any?
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New beginnings
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In this picture, what's the terraced skyscraper on the far left?
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Generations of Early Expansion ~ Part 2
MatlockMan commented on Daeris's City Journal Entry in Uncovering the Junon Vale
This is really incredible. I can't wait to see where you take this!- 6 Comments
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My latest NewCity diary entry. I'm having a lot of fun with trying (and failing) to get the CBD to develop.
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Entry Two: Get to know Normanhurst
MatlockMan posted a City Journal entry in Normanhurst - A NewCity for an old mayor
"The locals have dubbed the popular spot "Burger Boulevard," after a number of fast-food franchisees all purchased lots along the busy Park Road." - NORMANHURST COURIER, 1954 We'll have an update on the Mayor's journey interstate shortly, but first, let's take a look at how Normanhurst is developing. By 1954, local traffic along major thoroughfares had reached such levels that it necessitated the entire city (now close to 50,000 residents) to be encircled by a grade-separated ring road. Development is now beginning to take off on the western and northern shores of the river, while industrial zones are developing further from the banks. In the city, the newly-established local paper has reported that residents have dubbed small neighbourhoods nestled around Central Station after prominent local families like the Chilcotts and the Belmonts. These small enclaves are becoming dense little communities. Meanwhile, development in the CBD remains slow; there isn't yet demand for development of larger offices. In coming years, new plazas and parks will hopefully drive up property values. A view of the city at night: Transport view. South of the city, the newly-minted suburb of Warwick Farm still has half of its original farms... for now. It's slowly being eaten up by the seemingly-unstoppable growth of Normanhurst's suburbs and industrial zones. Overall, Normanhurst is coming along well. Attention is going to turn toward suburbs north and west of the river for a little while hereon.
