powerdc

Jacky, it's been far too long since I last dropped into Emerald Falls. I see you've lost none of your skills, your landscapes are as beautiful as ever. A lot of journals/MD's these days include natural content and I think you have played a big part in this. Hope to be back sooner than later. Cheers Dave

Found ya . Good to see you back with a CJ Linda. We miss you, but you seem to have found a great audience here. Must say, that is some of the best work I've seen you do, love the pics. Anyway, just passing thru, will try to pop in now and again. Cheers Dave (tooheys)

Cape May, New Jersey?

Hi Alex, good to see you running with a new CJ. I will be watching to see how you interpret the land down under. Nice start with Perth, it's one of my favourite cities. For those who say that Perth is reasonable flat, try running from the city centre to Kings Park. Also, Perth does have a segment of elevated hwy although it is pretty rare throughout Australia. Alex, scale is always a problem with a project like this. To be honest I don't care too much about this aspect, I'm just looking forward to see how how your cities turn out and how you incorporate the landmarks. One thing to rememeber though, this is Australia so there is a pub on every corner. While I'm here, abcvs, be nice to us Aussies or I'll tell them what you Kiwis do with your sheep!!. Cheers Dave

CJ CLOSED A-topia My First City Journal By powerdc Surprisingly the founders of A-topia came across a corner of the world that had miraculously been untouched by mankind. Amazingly this discovery occurred present day, who would have thought that such a large unsettled expanse could still exist. It would surely be a haven for all manner of flora and fauna but development would soon put an end to that. So in the middle of nowhere the town of Aabenraa would be established. For the founders, the land was heavily wooded. There was only one option: Slash & burn. So the land was cleared and the first few blocks were set down. Infrastructure was built to allow for future development. How you might ask, well with generous donations from a Korean cement company. For exclusive supply rights in every town, they would help fund all development (hey, an easy cheat, they pay lots of taxes, but you have to do what you have to do to further free trade) We think it’s cement. Nobody in town reads Korean. So now we have sims, we need to feed them. Luckily, there was a farmer or two in the group, and with no form of entertainment currently in town, they bred quickly. Already more little farmers are being trained in cow milking, chook beheading, pumpkin carving and more importantly, hops cultivating. The future seems assured. So that’s my initial report. Next, we will see how the town has developed now there is something to eat and we will cross to our first neighbour, Aba, which is is industrial based. This is my first CJ so I look forward to all your feedback. Hopefully all the pics are formatted OK. If not “HELP”. Until next time powerdc Edited: 04/30/2007 at 02:15 PM by powerdc

Thankyou everyone for your comments, they are all appreciated. However, in the end I stand by my previous post and will close A-topia. OK, I should have been around here more often quote>Bernhard, don't be silly, You dropped by when you could and provided some great advice. I have remembered it all and will make sure that I don't have traffic lights along my highways in future I mentioned a few regular visitors before, but I must give a special thankyou to Jacky. I don't know how you do it, but there is hardly a CJ I have viewed where you haven't commented. You are a legend and I will be watching PF2. Glenni that's not a bad crystal ball you have there, although the bulldog goes by a different name. I have commenced a new CJ elsewhere but this isn't the place to advertise it. To those who may stumble across it, feel free to drop in, you will always be welcome. And my final wish: This CJ is closed and this is my final post on this thread. Further posts will only move other CJ's down the list and you know what I think of that. So please, let's end it here. I will be around and perhaps someday, A-topia will be resurrected. It hasn't been scrapped and is just sitting there in waiting. Cheers to all Dave

What can I say, it's time to close up shop. This is a great site but it's just too big. The current CJ forum in my opinion just doesn't work. I don't care how good or bad a CJ is, everyone is trying their best. They all deserve a view but this isn't helped by: -spam CJ's to promote your main thread. -multiple replies by authors between posts -multiple posts by readers between updates. At the moment if you haven't had a post to your CJ for 5 days, your CJ is sitting on Page 5. The only way out of this hole is to update but the thing is, unless you're well regarded and have a history on site, and don't get me wrong, reputations are well earned, you can post an update and disappear from page 1 and into the wilderness within minutes. Personally, as a new CJ'er, I don't think it's worth the effort to build a CJ and post it here. Unless you update daily to maintain a presence, and not many can do that and also maintain quality, you are soon forgotten. Look, I have no real answers, and I guess I'm having a bit of a whinge. But I think there really needs to be some sort of rating system put in place. You've probably gathered I am now posting elsewhere, but a site this large creates some unique problems and I think this will be a huge challenge going forward to keep this site viable. To the Moderator's, please don't take this as critcism, you have a huge job and to monitor each thread is almost impossible. To those who have been regular followers of A-topia: jacqulina, homeandaway, Nardo69, Mike the Mayor - thankyou for your support and assistance. I may not have a CJ but I will still be hanging around to see what you're up to. What would you do without a the occassional Aussie smart#### comment. Cheers to all See you around Dave

Yikes, what an update. Great work Alex, there's some nice pic's there. I like the overviews, that's a good looking city. How are you going to follow that up? Looking forward to see what you come up with. Cheers Dave

Hey, like the use of PEG's stuff, lol. Beautiful work as always, good to see the cabin up and running again. It must take you just as long to do your replies as it does to work on PF2. One complaint though, I didn't catch any fish, guess I'll have to go out again. Cheers Dave

A-topia My First City Journal By powerdc REPLIES The Big Z: Yeah, I've had that problem as well. I don't think it's your computer. I don't know if it's this site or ImageShack? Thank's for the comments. Schulmanator: Appreciate the comments. Thank's for dropping by. cleaner475: Thanks again for the comments. Update 12 Arcamon Here's some final pic's from Arcamon. The first avenue roundabout in the region, when mowing the grass, council workers must take regular breaks to avoid dizziness. Not the guy on the mower but the one leaning on the shovel watching him go round and round and round and.... round and round and ........ This mayor obviously expects to be around for awhile. He's built statues of himself and his mistress (sorry I meant Mrs) right out front of his mansion. No more for a few days. See you then Cheers Dave

Wow, I'm a couple of updates behind, but that factory and warehouse complex in your 26/5 update is impressive. That factory is one of the best industrial models I've seen. North Rokeby looks good, you really do these rural suburban areas so well and these are my favourite pics. Keep up the great work Cheers Dave

There's been a few updates since my last reply. I can see your terraforming is moving along very nicely. Some stunning pic's there. Twin Ridge looks great, a nice leafy rural town. Keep up the good work, look forward to more. Cheers Dave

Yikes, you work quick, miss a day and I'm three updates behind. The region looks good and I like the work you've done in Belsiare. Thats a fine looking city. Look forward to seeing more. Cheers Dave

A-topia My First City Journal By powerdc REPLIES cleaner475: Thanks for the comment. Yeah, I might have gone a bit overboard with the transport but I expect to a have a very large commercial population working here. Will have to wait & see. sebbyb07: Glad you dropped by and thanks for the comment. Update 11.2 Asabotsy Here's a couple of shots of the completed stations in the middle of the island. Plenty of more work to do, but at the moment demand isn't high enough to start plopping skyscrapers. Will need to establish some residential areas first. While I'm here, attached are some pic's from the nearby area of Arcamon. Arcamon Across the river from the Army base (highlighted in an earlier update) the town of Arcamon has taken root. That's all for the moment. I have a population I need to grow to get the metropolis off the ground. Until next time Cheers Dave

Nice update. I would suggest that anyone still living in town, reserve their cemetery plot now. The cemetery is probably full of people who collapsed jogging around that wonderful lake. Nice Academy, especially that middle building. Look forward to more. Cheers Dave

Nice follow -up. I like the layout of the town and they way you have used the streets for the main routes only. This gives the area a more rural feel with all the roads. In the last date IMHO I think the farms look a lot better, hope you agree. One hint if I may, the river bridges actually conduct electricity so as long as there is a powered lot or electricity pylon at either end, you don't need to run wires across the river. Watching out for the next update. Cheers Dave

Great start. I love developing rural areas and the more farm variations the better. I agree with 'snotbowst', there are heaps of farms on the STEX but you really need to keep track of what prop packs you have downloaded as there are lots of dependencies. However it is worth it if you want to improve your rural areas. Just a couple of suggestions, you don't need to surround a farm by roads, as long as one side or part of one side has road access you can plop trees around the other sides to seperate the farms. A lot of roads are not necessary in a rural setting as the job levels are pretty low. Also if the terrain permits, try to include some lakes or irrigation canals. In my opinion this will help you achieve even more realistic rural areas. Anyway, just a suggestion, hope this helps and look forward to more. Cheers Dave

Nice update, rural areas are my favouite to develop and these pic's look good. Like the rockface along the rail line. Looking forward to the next update. Cheers Dave

Great work with the terraforming. Will be watching to see how this develops. Cheers Dave

Looking good Alex. Bring on the pic's. Cheers Dr Dave

A-topia My First City Journal By powerdc REPLIES homeandaway: thanks Alex, glad you like. Looking out for your new start with Seoul. Update 11.1 Asabotsy Here's a few more pic's as I put the transport system in place. Let me know what you think. Cheers Dave

A-topia My First City Journal By powerdc REPLIES jacqulina: Thankyou Jacky. If you want, I can organise for a drill sergeant to let you join in for a run around the obstacle course if you wish. I'll watch, my heart just ain't up to it. Thanks for the comments. Update 11 Asabotsy Asabotsy is the name of my planned metropolis. It is on on a large tile and given the way I work will take a while to develop. I am showing here a few pics taken as I start work on landscaping and installing transport. This area will be the highrise commercial district with the main rail and fwy access being thru underwater tunnels. I hope you will not find this too boring but I will be developing surrounding areas as I move along which will provide some more interesting pics. I know this may be boring to some, but hopefully it may show some of the more inexperienced what is possible. I think there is a good tutorial on site that shows how to create underwater tunnels, this is where i learned and I think its still around. Hey, I'm no expert but if anyone has any questions regarding underwater tunnels feel free to ask. Nardo69, I hope you notice the gentle slopes leading down to the rail tunnels. Cheers Dave PS: Could somebody please tell me how to change the Topic Summary when I do an update.