pasternakski

Bates Motel, eh? Hahahahahahaha, you know, you're a very entertaining guy. I knew I was gonna like your stuff when I saw the "burn 'em at the stake" law enforcement lot you did way back when... I mentioned before that I have a "work in progress/test bed" sort of town called Ptolemy Plateau (so named because I got the idea for the terraforming from the Ptolemy Lunar Crater, you know, the one with the second crater on the rim). It's definitely far from complete and certainly not pleasing in all ways, but it has its moments, and has been fun - in an often frustrating kind of way - to do. Once I get a decent level of competency with the lot editor and get done working for a living come July, I need to plunge into BATting so that I can "fiddle" with stuff (like water colors - here, I have three different ones because I am using several different people's creations). In any event, here's an overall screenshot that you might find entertaining. You'll note the fast-growing "squarepants" town down in the valley and the airport obtruding toward the upper right. I'm sure you'll recognize a whole lot of Wild West stuff in here.

As I said on STEX a minute ago after downloading the new city walls, I enjoy SC4 far more as a result of your work, and a hearty "thank you" is in order, as far as I'm concerned. So, "Thank you." I wish I could make a significant contribution like you and the other BAT "legends" around here, but I have had the game for less than a year and have the misfortune of being gainfully employed. Retirement looms within the next few months, however, and I plan to "give it a go" (I'm just now getting to be marginally competent with the lot editor and SC4 tool). One early project will be to "clone" from these walls (which, as I remarked before, have an interestingly pre-medieval look, particularly the square towers) and try to create the elements necessary to build a reproduction of such ancient places as Troy, Athens, Sparta, and the like. South American city bits might be an interesting endeavor, too. Man, I hope I can learn to do good "stuff" like you do. Hats off to you, "pardner." I have a region under development that contains a city with a plateau modeled from the Copernicus lunar crater (you know, the one that looks like it resulted from a meteor strike, but has a big volcanic cone on one side). It's a mining/railroad/resort area, and, of course, I have liberally used your Wild West and mountain resort creations (along with Slaytfork Mill) while piecing it together (none of it is coming from growables, I am being anal retentive and plopping everything at this point - besides, the main "squarepants" city down in the valley would look mighty strange with that stuff popping up in it). I am also using Pegasus's tree and meadow lots and ponds and rivers, Citynut's 3D build-a-lake, coal mine, coal mine workers' town, and whatever else I can lay my hands on. It's advanced enough that I can post a couple of screenshots if you are at all curious about how us maniacs use your artistic creations ... (one of the first things I will do when I figure out how to do it is make all the water I use the same color ... it's really annoying to sit back trying to appreciate what I've made and see dark green water in one place, dark blue in another, and medium blue in the default places - I know, there are several water mods out there for the Maxis water, but I don't like any of 'em; for one thing, they only change the surface, and underneath it's still that same "goody two shoes blue"). Again, as Dobie Gray sang, "Thanks for the joy that you've given me ... I want you to know I believe in your song ... the rhythm, rhyme, and harmony ... bring me along ... makin' me strong ..." (sniff sniff, blubber, god, it's just too beautiful for words ... "I love you, man!").

Originally posted by: JustinHayward Pasternaksi or whatever yer name is Well done - you win the gold clock for being the first to say it .................... DUH !!!!quote> I made it difficult to spell intentionally, my friend, because that way you can tell immediately from a response who means it and who doesn't ... well, there are other reasons, too, but, you know. Look - maps are nothing. Yes, you can spend a whole lot of time on them, but just because you're messing around with her doesn't mean you need to take her home to meet Mom. You open the program, set the size, throw in a picture if you want, render it, and go play it. So what? Who needs 'em besides you? My "fun" comes from terrain-blank regions I can terraform city-by-city. I get to sculpt and shape the place yard by yard into what I want and into what I want to have for a challenge. It takes time, but it's the best way to play, for me. If you're gonna be god, you might as well be god...

The easy solution is to eliminate map posting altogether. I see no need for them, and, as there are so many, the site would save bandwidth that would be better applied elsewhere.

I have never liked the "big" money cheats, but I like landmarks and other nice stuff in my cities, so I looked around for a "mild" cheat. The best one for me is the Tree Hugger lots. The trees are a nice way to improve the appearance of the place (I use them a lot along river banks, then fill in the square corners with the fully-grown mayor mode trees and rocks mod), you get a small park effect, and each lot "pays" you a small monthly income (100 simoleons per single square, 500 simoleons for the 2x2 version).

Ah, yes, the city walls. Below is an attempt I made at using them. I like them a lot, but it's hard to find stuff they match up with. As they are like one of my early girlfriends (simple, short, and square), I thought they had something of a pre-medieval look. See what you think (one thing I would change in the future is the observation towers. They seem rather out of place on these turrets).