Pabbicus

That was very helpful, thanks! If there are already maps, that saves a lot of hassle. I'll make sure to detail every step of it once it's underway. Not sure if anyone will follow it, but I think it will be nice to document the undertaking of an exact recreation of a major metropolitan area. The city itself is marked most importantly on maps by the overchange that happens downtown between I-4 and SR408, so I might just start off on a map by building those highways across the region. I'll probably have to make a lot of BATs, honestly. I'll need the major facilities like the UCF Campus, the hospitals, and the most important buildings downtown for starters. Gated communities I'll need to find walls for. The trouble, and the reason I pointed them out, is that they make up the vast majority of housing in Orlando and the metro area. I live here so I go through a lot of residential areas, and typical streets and row houses seem to only exist in the ghettos(the "number streets" as they're called, and Parramore, in the southwest,) in any number larger than a small pocket. Might take months, or more. Still, I'm going to do my best to get started soon and take a few hours a week or so to do work.

Yeah, I was planning on that. 16 km^2 is as big as it gets, which I do think gets the city center. It's a big metro area though. Any idea what the big region's size is? When I pull data off google maps it automatically creates a flatlands-style region with all the features in it. I'd assume it's somewhere around 100-200 km^2.

I'm planning on making a to-scale, as-exact-as-possible replica of the city I currently live in.(Orlando, Florida.) I'm sort of taking an inventory of what I need at the moment. RHW, I think some rail expansion collections, a lot of BATs that fit the feel of suburbs and such. A few things are bugging me, however. What would you say is the best way to recreate a gated community in SC4? I can get some bats for the right condominium feel, but are there good gates and such to base it on? Another thing; what kind of scale should I be taking the maps at? I can pull maps from google earth data(which is a pain in the ass due to the sea level disparities, but I can manage,) but I'm not sure from what level I should take the shots to get sim city to scale streets the right width. What is the best way to make large streets? Not a lot of things qualify as "avenues" in Orlando, since there aren't many widely-divided streets, but there are a lot of roadways with 6 lanes which aren't really highways, either. Lots of transitions from 6 to 4 to 3 to 2 lanes, as well, and I'm a bit worried about that. Any tips on getting extra-wide streets? Favorite puzzle piece sets? Road curving; I'll need to use modding for that, right? A lot of roads here are built to curve around lakes. That's not very well supported by SC4's mechanics. Any favorites or suggestions for curves? If something else comes up, I'll post more about the challenges and progress I make. I realize it's probably going to take a long time, but it seems like a fun challenge.

I've been trying to build an overpass with MIS to fully connect my RHW to an avenue not too far behind this picture. I can't get anything to work, and I feel like I'm missing something very simple that I can't figure out. I'm just trying to make sure my RHW is properly connected by elevating one side to do a simple overpass/underpass for the inside exits. How should I be doing this differently? Edited image size. Please use 800x600 max. -CaptCity

Can we go with towns based on historical periods? If so, Lewiston, Maine around 1969-70 is both urban and rural, and rather quaint as all places in Maine are. 3 bridges to Auburn, functioning rail systems, though passenger service was a bit limited, and a string of large mills and factories near railyards, along with the rather active downtown area at Lewiston's highest ever population of around 41,700 in 1970. Bath's tram lines are rather interesting as well.

I got an error. Pic is attached.

Thanks for the reply. I've had SC4 for a while, but only recently felt like looking for addons and mods for it, so I found this site as #1 on google results, and decided to join.

Downloads keep stalling and dying on me, is it frowned upon to use flashget or other download accelerators to continue downloads that fail, or will the site mind?

I have no modding skills, but I would like to present a few of my favorite buildings from Orlando, Florida. The Premiere Trade Plaza at Orlando is the first building I'd like to showcase. I can't find every angle, but it is accompanied by another beautiful building, Solaire at the Plaza. This is both buildings in daylight. http://www.tornadopromotions.com/images/plazaorlando1.gif http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/9/9/3/7/4/ar119929153947399.jpg http://www.orlando-executive-suites.com/Orlando-Executive-Suites-Include/WinShowPic.asp?id=2665&typ=Bu_Photo http://img467.imageshack.us/img467/1678/dsc4463edited1ic4.jpg http://maps.google.com/maps/api/staticmap?markers=icon:http://www.emporis.com/application/gfx/maps/emporism.png|shadow:true|28.540521,-81.378667&maptype=satellite&size=430x300&sensor=false Here's my favorite building in the city, the Dynetech Center. http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3186/2661429118_898d10a0c5_b.jpg http://projectsmagazine.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/buildingfloors.jpg Here is the Bank of America center. http://www.world-guides.com/images/orlando/orlando_bank_america.jpg http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2066/2491728754_8668e03dae.jpg The building you see next to it is the Orange County courthouse, another beautiful tower in the city. The roofs to the Bank of America center are all reflective glass, on overcast days they appear gray, they're usually blue. Next up is the SunTrust center. http://www.macquarie.com.au/au/property/images/mof_suntrust.jpg Another building that I'd like to see is the federal building across from CNL Bank. I enjoy looking at this building, it's just all around pleasing aesthetically. http://www.modernismmagazine.com/preservation/uploaded_images/AmericanFederal_vintage-copy-749042.jpg Speaking of CNL bank, that is on the far left of this image. The middle is the Orlando City Hall. The right is Akerman Senterfitt. http://www.floridatrend.com/img.aspx?image=images/photos/09-03/cnl_orlandocityhall.jpg&size=460 The VUE at lake Eola is another building that might be good to add. At 35 stories, it has the most floors in Orlando, though it's 15 feet shorter than the Bank of America center. http://www.orlandocondoloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/the-vue-at-lake-eola.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3224/2525193943_299299dbaa.jpg?v=0 http://verticallivingorlando.com/img/vertical_living/vue.jpg I would just like to see something from the big city I live in. At least, I hope, we can all agree that the Dynetech center is absolutely beautiful.