pquarles

My prediction: Saints over the Bears 37 to 23 (I say this, with pain, as a Chicagoan). Then, Colts beat the Pats, 27-23. Colts take NO in the last game, by no more than three points.

Re: The third picture (terraforming steps) This is one of the main reasons I keep coming back to your CJ: I had never thought of dragging road next to (but not over) the hole-digging lots. And yet it creates a beautiful and incredibly realistic overpass. I learn something every time I come here.

This is probably wishful thinking, but I'm still rooting for the Bears. Their passing defense will finally be healthy for the playoffs, and Cedric Benson is looking better and better. The QB is admittedly a huge question mark--but maybe (please?) he'll find his mojo again. Also, if they lose in the first round, I will change my icon to a splattered tomato. I promise.

My request: A BAT of Chicago's James R. Thompson Center. I looked everywhere for a good gallery of photos, but the best I could find was this: http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=thompsoncenter-chicago-il-usa (click on the link under "Photo compilation" to see more). It's a full-block building (~6x8 in SC4 terms), so it's hard to find comprehensive photos, and that gallery won't give anyone unfamiliar with the building a very good sense of it. But, if anyone in Chi-town wants to take a shot at it, I think it'd be popular. It's an ugly-a** building, for sure, but it's pretty spectacular in its ugliness.

@kurtvedder: I could be wrong, but I think that's Lake Union on the left in that picture. That said, even if it is a reverse negative, it's still a lot more accurate than the view from Fraser's apartment.

Great work on Harbor Island. The screenshots made me flash back to the time I took a wrong turn into the port and spent about an hour trying to get back off the island. Admittedly, half of that time was spent waiting for a freight train to decide which direction it was going, but it's a confusing place. I recommend not going there unless you are a longshoreman. Kudos for including the Green Line. Those plans were scuttled earlier this year, unfortunately (for those of you who don't follow Seattle politics), but it's cool to see it here.

No problem. I'm a fan of this re-creation, so feel free to hit me up for advice any time. I haven't lived there for like seven years now, but I'll tell you what I can. Looking forward to the update.

Which parts of I-5 are elevated? The areas I need the most are from Highway 90 south to the Georgetown / Michigan St. area.quote> That's complicated. It runs along the side of a hill in that area, with the land to east being above the highway, and the land to the west below it. I think some surface roads run underneath it, but others run over it. It's going to be really tough to replicate in the game. Might be easier if the next NAM includes highway puzzle pieces. Can't really help you with the other questions. There's an interchange between the West Seattle Bridge and 4th Ave, but I don't know any of the others. The Waterfront Streetcar, though, is a kinda touristy old tram line that runs between the International District downtown and the waterfront. Only about a mile, and it's not in the area you're working on right now. EDIT 12/15: I checked it out on Google Earth, and it looks like only Lucile St. runs underneath I-5 (in the area in question). All other roads that cross I-5 go over it. Hope that helps.

Wow. I was skeptical at first (what with the aliens attracted to the Space Needle and all), but this is looking really good. You've obviously done your homework, and so far this actually looks like Seattle. Which area of Seattle are you most familiar with?quote> Unfortunately, not the area you're working with right now. I used to work just east of the Duwamish river from West Seattle, so can help when you move in that direction (e.g., there's a Costco with a huge parking lot around 2200 S. 4th Ave). The area I know best, though, is between Main St. downtown and ~65th St on the north side. Also, I'll be d'mned impressed if you can fit the Waterfront Streetcar into this journal. @kurtvedder: one of my sister's best friends lives in Medina. You know a Hannah H.?

I don't live in Seattle, so I don't really have a great idea what you're talking about quote> Broadway is one of the nightlife centers in Seattle, about half-a-mile east and uphill from downtown. The screenshot just sorta reminded me of it. That said, you've come up with a brilliant and hilarious excuse for making a "creative" Seattle. I love it, and will check back frequently. I don't live there any more, but I'm also happy to help out with suggestions and insider-tips if you'd like.

Here's a transportation map of the area of Seattle I'm currently working on...actually turned out a lot more difficult than I thought. Gridding hills can kill.quote> Hills are certainly a b----, and Seattle's got lots of them. Anyway, your work looks great from the transportation map. Can't wait to see the close-ups. (I grew up in Seattle, btw, so I'm gonna have to be picky). P.S. For some reason, I keep thinking that your first screen shot is supposed to be Broadway on Capitol Hill. Am I close?

Ever since a new antenna had been installed on the Space Needle, a swarm of UFO's had taken over all of Downtown Seattle.quote> A'ight, a'ight. I'll believe aliens in Seattle, but attracted by an antenna on the Space Needle? No. The Columbia Tower downtown is like twice the height of the Space Needle, and it of course has broadcast towers on its roof. Unless the Space Needle antenna was made with alien bait. . . ?

Originally posted by: JanYpe Didn't something like this happen before in London? A spy who died of poisoning after he was stabbed in the leg with an umbrella, which had apparently shot a metal pellet full of poison into him?quote> Yeah. Here's a clip from the NYTimes: "Mr. Litvinenko’s slow and inexorable death was among the most bizarre since Georgi Markov, a Bulgarian dissident, was murdered in London with a jab from a poison-tipped umbrella in 1978." The article also says that London is currently on a radiation alert, because traces of polonium 210 were found at the places Litvinenko visited on the day he said he was poisoned. Crazy stuff.