Re: Santa Barbara County - Update: The End.

[Battlecat]

That's an excellent looking zoo!  Great job!

[Skimbo]

I like this zoo, good update

[planetechef]

great job over there, the way you built this zoo is pretty nice, love the paths idea, the industrial zone is also very nice and i enjoy to see the new NWM here, i still try to understand every pieces  well done on this two last updates 

[nedalezz]

That has to be the most realistic and indepth zoo I have ever seen done in SimCity. Just WOW

[EDGE4194]

Raphael- great job using jeroni's modular zoo. I haven't used it since it was released back in the day, and glad to see someone putting it to good use. Fantastic job on the creek channel in the previous update.

[canyonjumper]

Awesome first zoo Raphael! Looking forward to more from you

                -Jordan

[daryl7478]

Nice zoo Raphael! I wonder if you're going to do another MD after this. I hope it's another place in California. I have some suggestions. You can either do the Monterey/Salinas area(that's where I live) or SF Bay Area. I would be VERY thankful that I have my area in the focus.
Just a suggestion,
-Daryl

[RickD]

Rebuilding the CBD

Sorry, no real update today. I am doing some serious background work in the next weeks. I do not want to leave my MD inactive for too long so I will grant you a few behind the scenes views.

If you followed my MD from the beginning you might remember that the city tile with the CBD on it was infected by the Prop Pox. I decided to go on with this MD anyway which meant I would have to rebuild the CBD from the ground. This is what I am doing at the moment.
If you are not familiar with the Prop Pox, I strongly suggest you read this thread. It is long and not easy to understand but it could save you a lot of trouble.

To make sure the Prop Pox does not strike again it was not enough to just bulldoze the city. I had to delete the file that held the city tile and import a freshly rendered empty tile after I deleted the offending props known today. It was not easy to render the new tile as I had to find a Windows XP machine that can run Terraformer. All PCs I have are running Windows 7.

14.1

This is how the region looked before.


14.2

And now there is a tile full of nothing right in the middle.


14.3

This is the empty tile I have to rebuild.


14.4

First I receonnected the main transit networks.


14.5

This is the area where the CBD will be located. The close meshed layout of the grid is inspired by Portland, OR.


At the moment I am struggling to get the region functional again. After importing the empty tile, demand in the whole region dropped to the bottom af the sea. All demand graphs showed maximum negative. It is not easy to get everything working again. It involves careful plopping of commercial jobs and zoning way more industry than I want to.
I really hope I can get the region functional again.

It will take some time. Especially as I am not playing very much at the moment. My girlfriend had to work every weekend during summer. Now that she has some free time we are enjoying the rest of summer together.



Replies:

nickie, Tomas Neto, Battlecat, Skimbo, planetechef, nedalezz, EDGE4194 and canyonjumper:
Thank you so much for your comments. I am glad you liked it.

daryl7478:

Nice zoo Raphael! Wink  I wonder if you're going to do another MD after this. I hope it's another place in California. I have some suggestions. You can either do the Monterey/Salinas area(that's where I live) or SF Bay Area. I would be VERY thankful that I have my area in the focus.

Hey Daryl, actually I was thinking to do San Francisco before I decided to play on the map of Santa Barbara. There is still much to do there so I am not really thinking on what to do next. There are so many great maps out there.
I have never actually been to California but I am planning a trip to LA and San Francisco next year. I wanna rent a car and drive along US 101. It is great to know some Californian people are reading my MD.

[daryl7478]

I actually live along US 101. In Salinas to be exact. Good luck on your trip! Also, JBSimio and woodb3kmaster live in California too.

[Skimbo]

Damn PropPox, but I can't wait to see some nice pics of the new CBD

[travismking]

To make sure the Prop Pox does not strike again it was not enough to just bulldoze the city. I had to delete the file that held the city tile and import a freshly rendered empty tile after I deleted the offending props known today. It was not easy to render the new tile as I had to find a Windows XP machine that can run Terraformer. All PCs I have are running Windows 7.

I run terraformer on windows 7 all the time ... any reason it doesnt work for you?

[RickD]

This will be one of my bigger updates (if not the biggest) with 27 pics but I love railways so I took some extra shots. It is actually my first attempt at a railyard. I admit that it took a while until I figured out how to use the modular pieces. Especially that every piece needs road acces otherwise it will abandon and/or catch fire. And I could not find any filler pieces. I hope the result isn't too bad.

The Railyard

15.1

The railyard is located in the suburbs of Goleta.

15.2

It consists of two parts and is crossed by two roads. The railyard interrupts the street grid but not the road grid. The two road overpasses are necessary to keep traffic flowing. It is considered to convert them to one-way roads, one for each direction, to handle congestion.

15.3

The eastern part of the yard. There are 4 through-tracks and a spur line serving the industrial area above the yard.

15.4

The western part with a social housing project next to it.

15.5

On the western end there is an old but well maintained roundhouse. It is still used for the switching engines.

15.6

Goleta Yard Gate 1 and 2 at the first swith to the left. The level crossing over San Marcos Pass Road is a nightmare for the cardrivers. Imagine several long freight trains per day and frequent passenger trains passing over there. It can be a long wait.

15.7


15.8

Goleta Yard Gate 3 and 4 on the two rightmost tracks. The middle ones are Goleta Yard Through 1 to 4, the two tracks on the left are Industrial Spur 1 and 2.

15.9

Directly behind Gate 2 and 3 is a modern logistic center.

15.10

The yard begins right behind the logistic center.

15.11

A commuter Rail station serving the suburbs.

15.12

This is one of the two road overpasses over the rail yard.

15.13


15.14

Passengers on the platform can watch the busy operations while waiting for their trains.

15.15

Closer shot of the entrance elevators to the platforms and some parked engines and waggons.

15.16

Railfanners like to set their cameras up on the overpasses to film the trains.

15.17

Tis is the second overpass. It has an additional ramp which provides access to the railyard.

15.18

The overpass from another perspective.

15.19

The stream has been put underground when the yard was built. It was cheaper than building and maintaining lots of bridges. The yard was once even larger. There is now a park where a repair shop for engines once was.

15.20

Here the stream vanishes in a tube under the rails.

15.21

Parked engines at the end of the Industrial Spur.

15.22

Some industrial facilities are located along the yard.

15.23

Including a power plant

15.24

and Storage Tanks.

15.25

Parked engines and waggons.

15.26

The Industrial Spur with loading docks.

15.27

Some decommissioned waggons.


Thanks for reading. I am looking forward to your comments.



Replies:
daryl7478:

I actually live along US 101. In Salinas to be exact. Good luck on your trip! Also, JBSimio and woodb3kmaster live in California too.

Cool, had to check it out in Google Earth. Seems you have some rail there, too.

Skimbo:

Damn PropPox, but I can't wait to see some nice pics of the new CBD

Thanks, it is only this one tile (for now).

travismking:

I run terraformer on windows 7 all the time ... any reason it doesnt work for you?

I mixed it up. I tried SC4Mapper and it didn't work. So I assumed Terraformer wouldn't work, too but never actually tried it.

[travismking]

excellent railyard

p.s. sc4mapper works if you change your my document folder from c:\Users\ to somewhere that doesnt contain \U in it. theres a thread on it somewhere

[nedalezz]

WoW!!!!! 

That is one of the most realistic railyards I have ever seen done. I really like the housing projects next to the railyard as well, it adds a very realistic touch to it, I thought.

[kodlovag]

Beautiful region!
I also like the railyard combined with the industrial area. Very realistic.

[rooker1]

 That was a fantastic update. 
Lots of great details, and you know me, I like a good industrial area more then most and yours included rail!

Robin

[Battlecat]

Superb job on this railyard.  It looks amazing and very realistic as a canyon of industrial through suburbia. 

[nbvc]

Great railyard with a lot of details.

[emgmod]

Fantastic railyard! I love how it manages to fit in everywhere.

Where did you get that passenger rail station from?

[TiFlo]

Beautiful railyard! And nice layout of industry and residential around. That last shot is great!