Nik-nik

Na, nag, nag. Hurry John. I am almost gone from my current job. hè, hè, hè. Take care my friend, Nik-Nik

Good heavens what a huge mosaic, a mere 51 MB big..... What a job! While writing this message the download is at 50% ...it's ready. Great fall mosaic. I can realy zoom very deep in. Looking at Pim's Cinema complex, Jop agricultal container complex and of course the mansion where my family lives. Wonderful memories. Thanks for these great moments, John. I enjoyed Anduin Valley enormously. Now it's time for this guy to come to the Netherlands: Sinterklaas is coming to town, and the kids are working hard on their list for presents..... Take care John. Nik-Nik

Hi John, The fan is still not made, but the PC is open so there is a lot of warmth given to my living room, save on heating. LOL. well it is only heating up when doing some heavy calculation stuff (i.e. when using Quickpar). 1 terrabyte! Gulp. I just bought a 500 Gig for only 99 Euro = 134 CND, so double it would amount to 268 CND. Well I guess Europe doesn't differ that much from North America (just some currency adjustments I would guess) In the meantime I have totally eradicated my 3 hard drives and reinstalled the system completely. That took about 9 hours but it is operational again and very fast and stable. Stability was a big problem even when not working in SC4. I survived the swimming ordeal and it was big fun. The kids are now making some puzzles and Marjan is out practicing for the Musical Moses she has a lead play in. It will be conducted coming weekend and we are all very excited about it. I hope we will have sold out all tickets (I am responsible for the marketing of the musical). The mini-mosaic is a great teaser. love it. It is like the view from an airplane. Take care John and enjoy live. Please do not forget to PM me when you starting in 3RR) Nik-Nik

2.1 Gig big! Monstrous! Big dude indeed. Make back ups!! The ugly crash monster raised its head this week at mine. It turned out that downloading, unpacking huge files and using Quickpar while the ventilator of the poweradapter is broken is something that even my PC cannot handle. So Windows just said bye, bye and turned the whole system out (not to mention the potential fire hazard, due to overheating system), fortunatelly a day of cooling down the machine worked again, but now I have made a 500 Gig back up to make sure all those precious photo's and films are not lost. Yesterday I went out swimming with 3 boys. Wow they had a great time indeed. Two of them cannot swim yet, so daddy was constantly watching and had 2 kids clinging to his neck. You know, those kids will drown you out of love if you're not too careful.ha, ha, ha. Take care John and make back ups. Nik-Nik

Hey Froggy, thanks for the update. I like that Royal palace! I am glad to see even a part of a golf course near the Royal Palace, I was wondering if Golf was beeing played in Khaled or not. That diplomatic quarter is awsome. Good thinking! I like those huge suburbs and the train station looks fabulous too. Great work and great batting you do. Nik-Nik

Hi John, Thanks for the kind words. The kids are watching Lingo (a letter and word game) on the telly as I write this. Back at the office, my new job hit as a bomb. I have still 6 weeks to go at this firm and I am trying to do my best. AVR Mosaic is coming steady as she goes. Regards to Nacy and take care. Nik-Nik

Hi John, I have the pleasant job of starting this new page 157: Well it is almost Halloween after all. The update was a great one, a true masterpiece that showed the enormous amount of experience you gathered during the development of AVR. Somehow I am relieved that AVR is stopping. All good things come to an end, and some bad things as well. The first is an end to AVR and in speaking of the latter I mentioning my job. I got the job. I will start at a different job on 1 December 2007. The job is about 12 minutes on bike away from my house. We Dutch prefer living almost on top of the job as you may have started to think . I am very excited about this as you can imagine. One thing about new jobs is that I hardly can monitor all those magnificent updates (=one thing I did during lunch breaks at my current job). So hence I have mixed feelings about the end. At home everything is going as it should although we are all excied about my new job (well....all is my wife and I the kids wouldn't care less, yet!). I will PM you to keep in touch. Take care, your friend, Niek (Nik-Nik)

Hi John, Thank you for your kind PM. It brought a smile to me. I have passed the first interview and next Thursday I am up for the second one. It feels right. My experience is that is something feels right it is never wrong to persue it. So I am going 100 % for it. Back to AVR Great update. It shows your style for perfection in a great way. Nice use of SAM. I am getting seriously interested in it but RL keeps me from experimenting with it right now. It will be a future download for sure. I notice you blasted the farm fields and then grew a new one but you were careless with the trees as some pines are in the field (nag, nag, nag I know I am a pain in the you know where........). I prefer that second farm it fits better and the farmroads are not so present as with the initial farm. That Old Tom Road is just.....marvellous. Very well done, John. The Rollercoaster By pass is equal great job! If I may quote from your answer to me: "I guess that not being bound by the underlying constraint of keeping a homogenous look is helping." Tricky statement, I am sure sooner or later your style for perfection creeps back in and you will start to have a homogenous look anyway. Besides that is what makes your work so great. Although I enjoyed AVR, I am now looking forward to your new project. Well, I am off to start cleaning some of the drainage pipes that allow the rain water to spill in the garden. Fall will hit holland hard soon so I better be prepared. Take care John and enjoy the coming week, and think of me coming Thursday 16.00 GMT +1 Nik-Nik

Froggy, you've made an impressive CJ so far. Very nice usage of the oriental buildings and your own bats! I just love the Emirate towers and that big mosque. I have two questions for you. Where does the royal family reside? Apart from the palace quite some pages back I have not seen any residence. Secondly, Gulf is getting more and more popular, why not in Khaled? Keep this great CJ going please. Nik-Nik

Hi John, "As the end of Anduin Valley is drawing near" as the song goes: "All good things come to an end" . well, bummer, now it is time to switch jobs for me, I have no reason to stay in my current job as I do not need so much free time to check on you anymore...... I am looking for another job, not as far from home as the current one. But that's for another discussion. To the AVR-update: Great stuff. I like the RL updates as good as the former ones. The story on the farms is just great. It is a pity that the third farm field grew corn which makes the land terraced and not as smooth as, for instance the upper and middle field. The train spawning thingy is indeed great. As I am still struggling with NAM, I will refrain from it for a bit longer. It turned out I installed the 2006 version but now that I have the 2007 version, I cannot plop the Avenue roundabouts nor the curvy roads.?!? I will have to ponder on it a bit longer and read some of the NAM threads. As for the weekend: this was a greta weekend. Dull Saturday as the weather was awfull, but Job won his second game and even scored a goal. Pim is getting a cold again and is wetting his bed almost twice a night, so we are quickly running out of bedding. yesterday we went to my mums and the kids just loved their stay at grandmothers. A friend of my mothers visited and we noticed how great the kids reacted to this "grandfather" figure. It's a pity both grand fathers died some years ago. Take care John and we all are looking out for your next project. Nik-Nik

Great stuff Frogface. I only return to ST to catch up with Darmok's AVR but your CJ is a must visit too. I have read through to page 12, so 10 more pages of sheer joy to go. Nik-Nik

Hey John, Very nice update, as told before you have a great eye for detail! I am referring to the road and asylum of course. One thing I noticed that the asylum and the walls have deciduous trees around them while just next to them are the pine trees (coniferous trees), wouldn't it be better to have the surrounding of the asylum complete with deciduous trees? (I am breaking a lance here for deciduous trees, aren't I?). btw nice to see the use of that particular triangle wall piece, never seen it used before. pic 13 vs pic 14: where you able to keep that little knoll (as seen in the roads pic 13) at the end of the street in pic 14 where now the church is? I guess you flattened the area, didn't you? Pic 17 is great, shows also the next area of work I gues. The weekend was realxing, no appointments! Jop won his first soccer game 2-1! He did not score but his passing was great. Take care. Nik-Nik

Hi John, Thnx for pointing out where to find teh curves. I will check it again tonight, must have missed it somehow. No, I see something else now as well, the picto of the new NAM Avenue roundabouts. I do not have that one either, although I installed the latest NAM. Grrrrrrrrrrr! Though I done it correctly, apparently not. This updating and re-installing is getting on my nerves! Great place you've made there. Did you solve the slow loading problem? I still see you're using alot of those pine trees. That plopped Gulf-station is a gem. Love it. Those two grown red's motels look great there too. The weekend was Okay. Jop lost his forth soccer game in a row, but he is still high spirited. Pim was nagging me for weeks to visit the zoo, so we did. And he loved every minute of the visit. He kept on going where he in the past would have started to cough and to stumble, so he isdoing much better now. Marjan my wife went on a sailing day with the teenagers of the church, something she herself organised. When I took the car to the zoo I found out she forgot the.....sail. Fortunately when I returned she retrieved it and she had a great day at the small lakes surrounding the local rivers (Rhine and IJssel). Take care, John. Nik-Nik

Wow, you have a good demand fro R$ judging from that doomed sector. Are those Marrast's buildings? Great use in a R$ neighbourhood, but it would fit better in a urbanised area and not in this part of AVR. Nice to see you changed the curves. Wow AVR now has some nice curves..... some people might want to second guess my perception on 'nice curves' I guess. It's maybe a stupid thing to ask, from me, but where in NAM can you select those curves. I feel so ashamed to admit I have never used them myself, it's like looking for a splinter mote in AVR eye while ignoring the beam in my own (is that also an English expression or is it just my mere literal translation from Dutch into English?; got a decent dictionary now (09/11) Life is good here on this part of the ocean, Pim is doing very well at school and Jop had a massage today that made him very relaxed and so us to. Take care, John Nik-Nik

5.00 AM........ Master of the time lords you are John. ha, ha, ha. Anyhow I seem to getting used waking up early, as this morning I was up and ready at 6.00 AM and was at work (95 km drive away) at 7.40. That made the rest of the company look very surprised I tell you as normally I arrive just before 9. Corps du Monde. That Exhibition was here in AMsterdam as well some months ago. Was it good? As my kids are too young to take them there (else they will have nightmares for the rest of their lives) I never came round to visiting it. Taker care and, judging from your early rise, I think you are trying indeed to fit 48 hours in a day. Nik-Nik

Hi John, Love the mosaics! The graveyard is very well done. Nice detail that cross! That closeup pic 03) shows also very well the jeronij wall. They fit there quite well. I wonder why you did not use the special curved road for the curves in pic04 too. You use it in the road connection just before the bridge as seen in the mosaic. LOL that Pub/pool hall etc. in pic 5 is a good choice. Plop or grow? That stream is well done. I see the horses and Llama's already like it. The weekend was hectic, Jop had to play soccer on Saturday morning and we agreed to meet at 07:30. Gosh that was an early rise, it felt like mid-week. Jop dis his best but could not match the opponent who had 3 very good players. So they lost with 10-0, fortunatelly at age 7 you forget these things quickly. Fortunatelly the weather was great and we had a lot of sunshine. So the parents enjoyed themselves. My wife left me for a brisk walk with a friend so I had 3 boys for myself the rest of the weekend. We had fun, but I am glad I can get some rest now at work, LOL. Take care John and enjoy life. Nik-Nik

Hi John, I am glad that you recharged the batteries; Great update. I am starting at pic 17. I know what at was pointing out, but consider that a long train was starting from the second Rayden transfer and needed to go to the left. It could move quite well before but now it has to cross two switches in a short while, I am not sure if that is preferable. On the otherhand, I may be thinking to deeply about the switches now. Pic 6. The bridge + texture. Need I say more. Nothing to do about it I guess, only thing is that the water on the right side of the bridge behaves in a very peculiar way Pic 6 compared to pic 7 and 8. Notice that the wild horses are replaced by Llama's! LOL. I ove the grass field in pic 11. Very well done that mansion! Pic 16. I would try to replace that 2 story high building (gray walls brown roof). It misfits between the other homes. So what's going to be placed between the church and the residentials? Can't wait for the next update. Nik-Nik Nice to hear you had a great meeting with Pinchman. Yeah this community is indeed full of great people you being one of them (not sucking up!). About the grocery bills I was amazed to learn that my family as a whole consumes more than 10 liters of milk a week. Time for a bigger fridge.

Hey John, It is nice of you to limit the updates during the time i was in France. France was great. We first went to th Vosges : http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massif_des_Vosges Unfortunately it was wet and cold and my wife was eaten alive by small midges (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midge_(insect)) so we had to leave. We decided to drive until we meet the sun. So we ended up in the French Jura (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jura_mountains). The kids were on grasshopper-hunt all day so my wife and I had a lot of time to relax. For the first holiday Pim was not constantly hanging around my legs and went out himself so we were very positvely surprised. Being outdoors 24/7 is just great. Unfortunately we had to get back for my vasectomy (three is enough). Anyway back to AVR. The double yard looks very good now and the strange junction (that you noticed too) has been modified. Great work indeed John. Love to see more soon. Have a great summer's end. Nik-Nik

TGIF. RL has me by the throath but I am just taking as small break to look at AVR. I love pic 23. But seriously that trail in pic 25 and 26 is just one of those perfections that you are renowned for, John. Just absolutely gorgeous and good thinking! I love the stream, please do not say it's dedicated to my boots. lol. That carbonated water tank with the cryoplant is a great combo especially with all those SG drink-plants around. I notice a lot of traffic at the gas station, must be a special discount day. Anyway, about that trail, what trail did you use? Is it SG pine trail without the pine trees? I like to use that one but it always has those pines in it. This will be my last reply in 3 weeks as I am going on holiday this weekend. We are going to camp near to my work so I can get some work done next week too, and then next week Thursday or Friday (19 or 20th) off to France. Take care John and keep my seat at AVR warm in the meantime. Cheers! Nik-Nik

Hi John, What a great update again. The Coca-Cola plant is well fitted with the additional parking lot. Good thinking there. Superb combo the sugar plant and the Ol' Brewery. Pic 16 is magnificent, so you thought too judging from your banner. Pic 14. Eagle Eye, John! The big secret is out now. Great reason to have that Pepsi plant next to the Brewery. LOL. One point of critism, why no parking lot as with Coca-Cola? I also notice that you do not use a lot of public transportation. Why is that. Judging from the Live Earth movement nowadays, public tansportation is a must. I had big fun the other day when I went out fishing (with nets) with the boys. We caught a frog or two, which immediatelly jumped out of the net of course and some sticklebacks. But as Jop suggested to fish a bit more down stream I wetted my boots as I sunk in the sand underground. As soon as I poored the water out of my boots Pim thought to have an unplanned bath. Of course Jop wanted to do the same as Pim now got a lot of attention. So at the end of the afternoon I returned home with wet feet and two wet boys, but man did we have a lot of fun! Wishing you all the fun too. Nik-nik

Originally posted by: dedgren I'm encouraging lurkers to say hello once in a whilequote> Hello! Davidquote> David you're a tease! Great update John. I just love your technical updates. What's the lag problem again? About pic 08. that smooth curve in the road is that the new NAM? I haven't played SC4 since it was released so I am not familiar with all the new goodies. Take care, John. Nik-Nik Pim had a great birthday party, even one boy in a wheelchair was attending but it was such fun. Now the room is full of cars, stickers, Knex and Magnetix that Pim got. Well as long as he's happy I try to ignore the mess.

Hi John, Yes it's Friday afternoon, only 2 hours to go before the weekend and what a great start of it with a new Live update of my favourite CJ: AVR. It's sounds like I am posting for a job at KLiv.....LOL What a great update again. Nice rail yard and also the industrial area, even if it is plopped looks fine to me. Original use of the parking lots! Ahh, that water tower site. What a great picnic area you've made. It blends perfectly in with the surroundings. Well done and well chosen! The kids have their final weeks at school now. Pim had a bad case of cold the other day, but unlike other times he recovered very fast. The new alternative medicine he has must be working OK for him. This was the reason that I decide to pay that doctor (an iridologist (I had to look it up in a dictionairy)) also a visit. So another 2 and a half weeks and then we pay Playmobil Land in Germany a visit. The kids are nagging my head of to go there. But I prefer France (remember the crêpes discussion). At least I ahve an argument to keep them quit on the back bench. I will just cry out that I will turn the car and head for France if they are not quite, or something like that. Hèhèhè. I have a hard time in RL (booking some cargo shipments to india) so I have got to go. Cheers and have a great week! Niek-Niek (well that's a change!)

Here's my two cents: I like the scrolling over the city as seen in the video. I like the combination of various societies within one city or region. I like the idea that different mentalities form different structures. I like the zoom function. I dislike a whole bunch of other stuff, but seriously guys that is not what this post is about. Nik-Nik

Originally posted by: spoty101 good question what is a dive bar?quote> Wikipedia says: A dive bar, or simply a dive, is a drinking establishment (or sometimes a restaurant) with a dated or ramshackle appearance and atmosphere. In a dive bar, the drinks tend to be cheap and of low quality. Anyway, being a 39 years old marketing executive I am following this whole discussion with great interest. I am married and have 3 sons, the eldest is 7 years old and loves laying down waterpipes and powergrids in his SC4 town. Does he want a new version, well maybe he is attracted to the candy houses, who knows. But it is sure that the current SC4 can be mastered by him and the need of simplicity is in his case irrelevant. To quote JanYpe: "We must be brimming with talent around here apparently." Yes, we actually are. I guess ST is one of the most professional forums on SC4 around and I am sure the gaming industry also is following discussions we have here. Does this imply that they are following our wishes and demands? No, SCS is an example of that. It is well known that alienating the current fans is a dead sin and will cost EA some hard gained installed base. I do agree also with Jarzai: "IMO its simply geared towards casual gamers who, by far and away, make up the largest gaming market/audience segment. Its a game that can be picked up and played with ease, with a very gentle learning curve. Nothing wrong with that kind of game, or gamers, at all. And honestly, who can blame EA/TMill for trying to reach that audience with its big bucks to spend which brings financial security. I can understand and respect that." On the otherhand Villagemayor did knock the hammer on the nail (or is that a Dutch expression?) with: "The only ones that have done well are Rollercoaster and Zoo Tycoons because there is a sense of realism." In my opinion EA gambles on a bigger financial gain with a more simplified game but they seriously need to remain a sense of realism else the game will not sell and the project will fail. Nik-Nik