MeMyself&I

in beautiful downtown . . .

A totalitarian target.

30 meters? Seriously? You could drive a 7 story tenement under that! Maybe 8 if it's from Boston

Solely bordered or entrenched irrigation systems on farms are indeed common but only if they're on relatively flat land. Anything over a 2% grade renders them all but useless as a stand alone irrigation system. Many farms, including the Finger Lake wineries here in Upstate NY, use some trenches to catch overflow and channel it to a pond or lake where it's filtered slightly for salt and metals and then pumped back uphill to be used again with it's nutrient and bacteria rich water. Overhead sprinklers or drip lines are much more efficient for two reasons; 1) they water directly and quickly on the crops making them grow a good canopy faster which is crucial in NY where the seasons change dramatically and quickly unlike say, California, where there is almost zero chance of frost or deep freeze the majority of the year and, 2) most of the fields are planted on hilly terrain so ground water tends to not soak into the roots as quickly from ditches because it's moving downhill. Watering from the top gives crops more time to soak water before it runs downhill as opposed to flat farmland where ditches can hold water and the crops soak from the roots up more efficiently. Either way is fine in game though as both systems are definitely commonly used depending on the region. The overhead irrigation systems would be more eye candy for sure but might also be harder to make. I'm not sure about that but I'm no modder either. You guys would know the work load much better than I would. Agreed. I've never seen poultry farms where the houses are perfectly aligned anyway. Usually haphazard and uneven, especially on sloped terrain and especially when there are a bunch of separate structures as opposed to several bigger or one large one. Perfection and symmetry in chicken coops isn't usually a priority. They do need to be level though and normally have to be off the ground considerably because the birds need dry dirt to avoid mold and mildew in the straw so you normally step up into a poultry hut, but @matias93 suggestion for eliminating the foundations probably would do the trick for aligning them better to look more aesthetically pleasing, looking at the photo that was posted. I think they look really good! I also love the SAM rural streets for agricultural lots.

Now I have to watch "Man in the Iron Mask" again! Thanks for that! I grew up working a dairy farm here in Upstate NY and I've always lived around farms. Lots of them around here. I agree with @raynev1 that animal farms, particularly dairy farms, would be a very welcome addition. As far as realistic props in farm fields; very common to see pieces of equipment or farm implements sitting in a field, such as; combines, hay balers and wagons, tractors and plows, dilapidated silos or bare foundations of them, grain sheds or small water structures (towers, pumps, towable irrigation pipes and sprayers, corn bins) in place of structures. Access roads are simply a must. Small dirt tracts winding through and around crops so farmers can move equipment through fields. Some animals like deer, rabbits, raccoons, and birds are typical as well as scattered trees, haystacks and bales, scarecrows of all sorts and, of course, lots of different types of fences. Prop families of some of these in place of buildings would definitely be more realistic in random fields as opposed to actual buildings. Houses, barns, silos and other large structures are typically close to each other - within walking distance, usually - and always with road access for trucks. Most of the wineries here around the Finger Lakes region tend to have nicer houses with small farm stores or even cafes to serve their wines with light fare on main road access. They typically have smaller barns without silos (no animals so no need for grain or feed to store), extensive fields of grapevines with little clutter other than lots of irrigation equipment and always have ponds, streams, or small lakes either on or bordering on the fields. Lots of waterfowl on wineries too because of this. Not much in the way of equipment other than trucks, usually with large tires for muddy terrain. We're talking about American farms here, of course, so I'm not familiar with European farming but I can't imagine it's a whole lot different other than probably much larger fields, generally speaking and, mixed commodities as opposed to being just a dairy farm, for example. Dairy and swine farms tend to grow lots of corn, mostly to feed the animals as opposed to selling the crop so you almost always see at least cornfields on animal farms. I don't know if any of this helps or not but I think you could definitely make some very realistic prop families of some of these things to use on farm lots. I use Jestarr's excellent animal MMPs that you linked to in the above post on my farms and they're very realistic both in looks and scale. Best cows and pigs I've seen but, it would be great to see some lots with them there already because they don't always plop where you want them to. It would be nice to see more variety of animal MMPs and not just for farming either. For the life of me I can't find any dogs or cats anywhere! What's a farm without dogs and cats to keep the vermin and predators away? I really like what you've done here and what you're doing going forward. I love farms and have them on some scale in almost all of my city tiles. Sorry if this was too much. Thanks for doing this!

@Simmer2 I'm dying to see that roundhouse released! Every shot you show makes the anticipation more intense!!

No way! Those are too cool! Are they automata?

Agreed. I think that looks pretty darned cool, actually! A nice imperfection that we see quite often IRL, almost like the concrete is busted up and the dirt beneath is coming through.

a towering spire . . .

That's quite the sweet drive! I couldn't help but laugh out loud when the cars went flying off the bridge at the beginning though!

Togas for parties, kilts for WAR!!! Deadpool or Punisher?

I highly recommend watching this entire series of tutorials on YouTube from @rsc204 that answer a lot of questions and issues you are experiencing in the NAM from using slope mods to wide radius curves to leveling areas to laying out road and street networks. It's a wealth of information from one of the top NAM gurus and it's extremely well done and easy to follow. Made all the difference in the world to my game when I first started using the NAM. And definitely garner any and all help and advice you can pick up from @Haljackey as his work with the RHW and various network interchanges is quite extensive. You've already watched some of his awesome series on YT but, do yourself a favor and watch these tutorials as well. Great info on slope mods here along with very helpful hints and tips to making un-level areas work: And invaluable info on other things NAM related in this series:

Yeah, no kidding! That's perfect! BTW, I'm really diggin' that waterfall below the footbridge along with the observation deck. Is that in your CJ? I don't recall seeing it but maybe I missed that entry.

Suddenly, the welder . . .

Great interview! I always look forward to @Prophet42 popping into a forum discussion or game with clever comments and helpful advice. A wealth of knowledge with great wit and fantastic taste in music too! Thanks for the recommendations, btw.

a pumpkin again.

The SPAM should give you ag demand even in an established city tile if you have demand for ID and R$. Biggest problem is finding room to build them in an established city tile but, if you can swing it, they will work fine, unlike the Maxis farms in the vanilla game. They also give you a couple of different size farmer's markets and the state fair reward too if you can grow them enough. Lots of great add-ons for it as well so make sure you check out the PLEX files on the STEX.

Great interview! Thanks, @rsc204, for all the help you give and the knowledge you share. My game is dramatically better because of what I've learned from you, from the technical advice and troubleshooting to your NAM tutorials to the "push" to learn to use the modding tools myself. An interesting glimpse into the man who selflessly devotes a lot of time and effort into making the game better for everyone

The Sesame Sea

I agree with matias93. I immediately thought of a dozen places I could use these in my cities! Thanks for doing these

I have to say; I had a ball "driving" through that interchange! Thanks for sharing the layout as well. Your work is very inspirational, as always! Thanks for sharing!