Artimus

Replies: @korver: Thanks! @Takingyouthere: Thank you! I am very glad that you have interest in my first undertaking for my city journal. Also, I am grateful for your advice and experience. You were part of my inspiration in my decision in creating a CJ. Likewise I'll take that wisdom to heart mate. @kingofsimcity: Thanks mate! It will be interesting as I learn new tricks and ideas in making cool scenes. @Scribosilyn: Thank you! @MushyMushy: Domo arigato! Also, I have taken your suggestion and I am now using Imgur to upload my images for this CJ and abroad. @Ln X: I appreciate it! I am happy that you look forward for more. @raynev1: Thanks for your support man! I will be taking my time in making this city journal. I just hopefully don't convince myself to work harder than needed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to the Mistral Isle: The Ocean Highway Belt Hello to all of you once again! Since the introduction of my teaser entry, I have been working on the Mistral Isle for its expansion and future updates. An area I focused on was along the southern coastline pictured below. Indeed, the locals have called the southernmost freeway the Ocean Highway Belt (highlighted in light red). It serves to connect the Mistral Isle from the eastern reaches of the country by road. Additionally, the dark red outline is an alternative route (nicknamed Mt. Nana Pass) but it is still under construction from the Mistralian federal government. Its purpose is to provide travelers from either north or east a route to the Isle. For this entry, we will be taking a look into two small communities that sprung up along the OHB in its wake: East Mistral and Blythe. East Mistral and its Villages: For most westbound travelers along the OHB, the villages in East Mistral go by relatively unnoticed. However, for those who are caught low on gas, these highway bound villages still offer a gas station for any needy highway traveler. Rural cannot be rural enough surely. Continuing westbound, the completed Mt. Nana/OHB trumpet interchange stands by as supply trucks go northbound to the construction sites north of here. Simple but effective nonetheless. (Shoutout to @Haljackey for his wonderful RHW tutorials, those helped me grasped the basics of building interchanges). Reverse view. Blythe: Small Town, Big Beaches Passing through East Mistral, the quaint, quiet town of Blythe is a small time stop and rest destination for those who need to catch a breath after a long trip in the OHB. Also, it is a great place to spend your summer days bathing and splashing in the white sandy beach in Mistral. The local interchange connecting the town and industrial center. Just some local beach-side houses. The land and property value is quite high in these parts for certain. Seriously, who needs a pool when you got the ocean right next to you? Both local and city dwellers flock here to experience the sea and sun at least once every year. Additionally, the numbers a growing steadily with each passing year as well. Alternative view. Additional notes: I am currently planning another entry in the Ocean Highway Belt mini entry series. Originally, this entry was supposed to be bigger, but this was cut down to by 1/3 of the original entry. I felt that it would be a little overwhelming for an entry. Regardless, we will still be looking into more communities and settlements that inhabit the Ocean Highway Belt and as well as soaking up the sun and sea while were at it. Here is a sneak peek for the next entry (note it is a work in progress and it is not the final product) : Have a good one! - Artimus

Well... I have been gone for a looooong time. Still, I have been working on and off on my own stuff from time to time, and this is the latest interchange I came up.

After from what seems to be an eternity from posting anything in over a year, I am back with more ideas and energy for developing Mistral Isle. Here is some few teaser shots to give you an idea of what is to come very soon. Please mind that these shots are what I consider to be polished and done, as there are still other areas I have not shown yet to reach this level of development.

@Haljackey From my personal preference, I like the third option the best for its relative compactness compared to the other two possible options. However, from what I see, it could be more space efficient, but there might be special needs that I may not have known, such as traffic levels. I am just tipping my few cents in and ultimately you decide what is truly best.

The latest "unusual diamond" interchange I was working on today.

Hello again! As you have been informed, today's entry will be a different kind from the usual posts I make in my CJ. Today, I wanted to share some of my recent changes and experiments regarding to how Mistral's roadways could look in the future and whether if that prospect seems to be promising enough that I will keep the changes. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Recreating the Roadways: Using the JPN Sidewalk Mod Interestingly, this change came to be due to some overriding base texture problems with Paeng's Sandstone Texture Mod and RMIP Airport Lots. Finding a solution to this problem was quite tough for me to solve without the help of other people, but it did give me another opportunity to change the sidewalk mod I was currently using at that time to something else. This is when I glossed through the internet for potential listings and the JPN Sidewalk Mod was a definitive answer to that desire. Here are some pictures I took in Birdwater Point to see what the effect it would have on my city. However, one of the sidewalk mod's weakness is that it does not appear on NWM roads as well as some curved roadways. Still, I awfully like the changes it brings. Overall, I have been pleased with this mod. It is especially very good at spicing up urban areas where buildings are bunched up together in close proximity. Indeed, I felt that this can give me the "Mistralian" city look that I always wanted. However, on the flip side, the street version is not up to snuff with the sole idea that this mod can and will blocks people's driveways with fences in my suburbs. That idea will just not fly with me anytime soon. Still, I might have to replace those streets with SAM oriented ones. Do note that I am still deciding to keep the mod or revert that change anytime in the future. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- One More Thing... If you have stuck around long enough to read about my excited ramblings, then I will award you yet another thing I am working on at the moment. Do note that its still a WIP and is still subject to change as I get to grips on how airports work. (I spent two days figuring out what the RMIP lots do in order to get me to this point.) Do leave a comment about your thoughts and thank you for your time! - Artimus

A rebuild of an interchange that I posted way back. Compared to as of this post, this is about over a month old and which has seen some notable changes, which will be seen in my next CJ update.

Ooooh, this tickles my admiration of urban landscapes over and over again. As usual, extremely well-detailed and crafted to top quality. Good work all round!

A WIP interchange. It is a rework of a previous post I made a while ago and thought it was outdated. MMPing this one is always a favorite thing to do. Might do future upgrades although at the cost of some development could shelve that possibility for a long while.

Replies: @_Michael: Thanks! I'm always trying to improve my highway work through learning what others have done. I strive to implement interesting details in every aspect of my work. @kschmidt: I appreciate your thoughts on my work! I highly encourage you and all other people to comment what you liked or not, and what ways you can suggest some ideas. @korver: MMP is a taxing but worthwhile addition to my work. Sorry about not being able to get myself up after a nasty burnout of ideas and inspiration! @BLANKBLANK: Thanks! I will think about getting this featured if I can. @raynev1: I am honored that my last entry was considered to be the top ten in Simcitizen's Destinations! Hopefully this one will be interesting to see. @Takingyouthere: Yea, I now fully understand the aftereffects of a burnout when I try to play a little too much of SC4. Game has a way to revert yout work back by hours on end. @juliok92012: Thanks! I mostly implement MMP in my screenshots but a bit of the Tree Controller is used as well. I try not to get too crazy with my details! @kingofsimcity: Thank you! I am pretty happy with my flora collection as I am aiming for more of a Mediterranean climate brush. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: First and foremost, I am terribly sorry about my half-year absence in Simtropolis. College was a pain to work through while I was running low on ideas to work on a large city tile that was to be the site of this entry. In fact, many areas had to be overhauled to meet my standards. However, my desire for creating has returned and with a half of year to rejuvenate, finishing the city tile became a breeze once I took a good look on what needed to be done. The city has evolved constantly in some areas, up until it met the quality work I was looking for. I hope that my hard work and revision was worth the wait for those who are following my CJ. With tender love, Artimus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The First of Many Stops: Birdwater Point Greetings fellow travelers! As we approach the city of Birdwater Point, we take the main exit to the downtown area on the right. We take a view of the bustling mini-metropolis in action. The foremost tallest tower is on the right is universally called "The Celestial Tower" as many residents often see the skyscraper reach into the heavens above. In this picture, you can clearly see the city hall and park along with Grant Hill that houses a auxiliary radio tower. As we pass through downtown, we are now heading to the waterfront property of the city. Here we can find some premium offices, sea-side stores selling exotic goods of the sea, a marina, and of course some more beach going goodness! Anyone thinking of an overnight stay? As with any sea-oriented city, there is always a seaport for industrial goods and materials to be imported and exported to other neighboring countries. From electronics to machinery to spare components to raw materials, this port has sizable economic impact on the city itself and surrounding regions. Container Ports are often an approximate measure of economic activity. A part of the port dedicated to raw material handling. An overview of the port: Well, here are some shots that show off some nice details and landmarks that are present in the city. Note that they are not listed in order. Please, take the time to look and feast on the details I put in each image! Consider it a banquet of my latest effort! Coast Guard Base. Industrial Offices and Parks. Some more beaches. The Celestial Tower at night. Edmonton Park. Hampshire Park. Grant Hill. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Some more notes: Working on this entry took me over four hours of compiling and developing. But still, I am in no rush to finish an entry when I feel that it lacks substantial quality to warrant its release. Sadly, I do not have a "direct" teaser for my next entry, but perhaps this next image will lead us to it! (I might mean it literally and/or metaphorically). Additionally, I encourage you to leave your comments and suggestions as they provide a source of valuable info on improvements and inspiration for future use. No comment goes unread by me! Where could that route lead us to next? That will be all for now folks! - Artimus

Hello! As of right now, I am not sure what is causing this tarmac to gain a sidewalk texture instead of the usual concrete tarmac one. I am trying to pin down the root of this problem, but if anyone knows any potential solutions, I will appreciate the help. By the way I am using the AC Team's airport sets. Additionally, I might be overlooking a particular pack I am missing somehow? I'm browsing the dependency list to see if this is the case.

Well, I made sure that BSC Texture Pack v1 was installed into my Plugins folder. Currently, I am using Paeng's Texture Mod, which is the definite source of the problem with the override. However, as of now the SimCity 4 Lot Editor will not save those airport lots I need to edit the correct base texture due to this error "Failed to open SC4LOT file." I am still scouring the forums for a solution to this problem...

That seems to be case until I installed the Lot Editor and started to edit the base textures of the affected lots. For an idea I came up with, I backed up my current Plugins folder and stored it in a separate location. Then I made a second Plugins folder except that I only copied the Aerospace Consortium folder (The airport lots I am currently using). I open the Lot Editor again to see if anything changed, and what happens next is that the correct base textures was somehow restored instead of the incorrect walking sidewalk texture. I did this test twice (with same result) and now I am very sure that something in my plugins folder is conflicting with some of the custom airport lots. Still thinking of what is the exact root of this problem...

Wow, I do love the sense of rural America that you have made in this entry. Its a bit like time travelling back in a time-capsule to a virtually bygone era.

Here is my first gif showing off Downtown Birdwater from day to night.

Extremely space efficient setup while maintaining viable functionality is one of your hallmarks in this CJ. Could not be more proud of you despite all of the difficulties you went through. Kudos to you and your achievements!

First off, here is some teaser pictures for my first city journal. Hope you'll like it! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Additionally, I will be taking this city journal at a comfortable and slow pace. Since I do not have Photoshop or any professional image editing program, these pictures will be taken at screenshots from Steam unless there is a better way. I hope you will take this fact easy as my photo quality is not going to be as high as I want it to be. Nevertheless, I always wanted to create a city journal since joining this community over a year back then. After some internal debate and some inspiration from fellow members here, I finally gathered my courage to create one so that I had something to share to the wider community here. Perhaps you'll like it, don't like it, or you may even become inspired by it! Regardless, it has been one of those things I wanted to do for a long time. Anyway, thank you for checking this city journal out! Have a good one! Artimus

Replies: @korver: I appreciate your comment! I always strive to excel at my MMP work in this journal. @Ln X: Haha, I promise you that the beaches are only going to get better with each little experience I learn. @kschmidt: Thank you! Yes, I am thinking about implementing more ploppable buildings rather than the growable ones into my work. @_Michael: Thanks! This next one will surely elaborate on this theme! @raynev1: Always thankful for your comments! I guess this makes Mistral Isle the #1 place for sim beachgoes around Simtropolis perhaps? @kingofsimcity: Thanks! I am always fascinated with creating idyllic small towns and beaches, those are always themes I like to play around with when I start the game. @Takingyouthere: I agree, I like scaling things to realistic levels. Indeed, one of my focuses on this CJ is realism, both on scale and scene alike. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Continuing along the OHB: Longbeach Greetings to you all! For what it seemed to be a looooong while, I have stopped playing SC4 in order to take a break from a near burnout I was experiencing. But as time progressed, my interest in continuing my CJ had waxed and waned until I was invigorated with the reminder of the reason of starting it in the first place: to share my work with the rest of the community. Additionally, I had a life long goal of actually finishing a region in SC4 and so that only added my excitement in coming back to create again. Without further interruption, I present the next entry in this CJ. Further east from Blythe, we hit the outskirts of Longbeach, a small suburban community that sits along the beautiful beach line south. In actuality, however, Longbeach is part of the greater Birdwater city area, but for this entry we will explore its scenes and views. We hit a local interchange that leads to the original main street of Longbeach. Since then, the community has grown to encompass the surrounding areas in support of the neighboring districts. Main Street. Below Main Street is the beach houses along the shore in the dawn of morning. We keep going along eastward, often taking in the rows of houses and farmland, which has started to recede in favor for more suburban housing. Some more additional interchanges taken from dusk. This is the second interchange, a rather interesting diamond variant unique for this situation. At night... Third interchange along the OHB. Similar angle, but at night. (The Nightshift has begun.) There is always fun in the sun and water in Mistral. (I apologize for the jagged edges on the waterline, for I am not sure how to fix that.) Lastly, here is some more pictures for you to enjoy. Some Additional Info: The next entry after this will be bigger in scope and detail, but will consequently require more time to create, polish and finish. However, I am not very far off from finishing the neighboring city east of Longbeach, and the entry will probably be in during the end of the year, if not next year at January. For you to keep on your toes, I have three teaser shots for what might be hinting in the next entry. *wink* *wink* That will be all folks! - Artimus

Birdwater Point at night.