Commonwealth of Marathon

[KoV Liberty]

Congrats on 70088 views Dustin!!!!!!!! Edit: And 2080 coments/105 pages!!!!

[thundercrack83]

Joe (JoeST): Thank you, Joe!

Battlecat: Thanks so much, my friend!

djvandrake: That blue building, eh? Hopefully we'll be able to get more of an overview of the area soon! Thanks for your great comments!

Alex (Driftmaster07): Saturday or Sunday! Wow! That's pretty quick, my friend! We'll see if you're correct!

Geoff (calibanX): Hi, Geoff! Thank you for your very kind words and support, my friend! It's always wonderful to see you here!

Guillaume (Sciurus): Thank you, Guillaume!

Tomas Neto: Thanks!

hooha47: Thank you for such a great comment, my friend!

meinhosen: Hello! Thanks so much! As for the fountain, I'm not sure off-hand where I got it from, but I will definitely check on it and get back to you! Thanks for stopping by!

Albus of Garaway: Thank you!

Bobbi: Thanks, my friend!

Ethan (ecoba): Ha! Thanks, Ethan!

bat: Thanks, my friend!

kimcar: Thank you so much!

citycapitalizer: Thanks!

Matt (emmotic): Wow! There it is! Thanks so much for catching that and being out 70,000^th view, Matt!

peter007: Thank you!

Alex (Driftmaster07): Thank you so much, Alex!



So, it seems that we made it! As our friend Matt (emmotic) posted, Marathon has reached 70,000 views! I simply cannot believe it, my friends! All the support here is, as always, just overwhelming, and I thank you all so very much!

In the meantime, one of our friends (forgive me, but I don't remember who at the moment!) asked what the area around the latest Gate project would look like. Well...

...does this look OK?

More from Marathon on the way!

[KoV Liberty]

Perfecto!!!!!! Very good Dustin! And I was wrong... Lol! It was Tuesday but I wasn't too far off, eh?

[peter007]

WoW that's a nice downtown you made it very cool   

[Sciurus]

Very nice, but why so many towers, if you want to do a European city, that's not the style! Around monuments, there's not so may towers, there's more little BATs, like in Paris, or Berlin. CBDs are not so near from old old monuments.
But it looks very very good

Guillaume

[MandelSoft]

Does it look OK? OK is an understatement here. Good is a better description. It looks nice, but it's not perfect. Here are some critics from me:

- The one-way roads around the center square could be connected to each other to make a giant roundabout around the square. This will improve the traffic flow. But that's just me, a dutch roadgeek  .

- Like Guillaume said, skyscrapers are usually not placed that close to old monuments. Usually, these monuments are surrounded by parks or an old city center. Not that the current CBD looks very bad, but an usual setup just looks better. Xannepan's Parisian buildings will look better around this monument (and how about some canals?)

- If you still want to keep the skyscrapers around the monument, then I would add at least some extra props (like trees, lights, people, etc.) on the lot in the upper left corner. It looks so empty!

I hope you can use some of these tips.

Best,
Maarten

[art128]

Great work Dustin, that plaza looks wonderful ! And conversely of what Guillaume's said, I like the omni presence (not sure it that is English...  ) of the buildings around that monument, it looks wonderful.
Guillaume -> I think Dustin isn't creating an European city, the commonwealth of Marathon is located somewhere around the United State, so I guess Dustin is creating an American city.....
Take care,
-Arthur.

[Bobbi]

I feel the CBD area is busy.

Bobbi

[gottago]

Very handsome composition of towers, but your main axis is a bit lost--why not widening the approach avenue from the gatehouse at the bottom to the Brandenburg gate?

Also I agree it would likely be a traffic circle about the main gate/monument. The eclipsed old monument feels right if this is a US-based city--just think of Wall street and Trinity Church in Lower Manhattan, or the John Hancock tower in Boston, looming over an old church. But since you have such an old central monument, and very modern towers, it wuold also be nice to see some older, early 20th century towers mixed in as well--the jump in eras is too neat and too large.

[Battlecat]

Looking good!  Not surprising that an old monument like that would be nearly lost in the urban jungle!  There are so many other historical sites like that in the middle of our urban centers.

[Fabian93]

I also think that the placing of the monument is totally ok here, since Marathon is not laying near to Europe, at all.
It would be pretty unusual for European citys, but that's probably also, because Europe doesn't have too many Skyscrapers (at least not as much as the USA for example).
Just look at the list of the highest buildings in Germany:
List of highest buildings in Germany (german wikipedia)
Most of them are around 130 meters (and standing in Frankfurt am Main), which is not really that huge.

Here's an example i've found... the Trinity Church in the middle of New York (for me it's a monument..) It's totally hidden by the massive skyscrapers.

(Click on the picture for a higher res.)

(just my two cents).

Anyway... a great update again, the CBD is looking really good, Dustin   

Fabian

[djvandrake]

I think it looks great.  From a street perspective it would be fantastic to happen upon that gate.

I really like your attention to the diagonals.  They always drive me batty and I work to clean them up, but I've got a way to go to get to your level of integration. 

[ecoba]

OK? That word should never be used in Marathon. It's outstanding, Dustin.

Ethan

[Tomas Neto]

Nice work again Dustin!!! 

[io_bg]

OK? That word should never be used in Marathon. It's outstanding, Dustin.
Ethan

I agree completely!

[Leodido]

Very nice I love what you do  

[jimbo_jj]

The past few hours I read through about the first 30 pages of this MD and I ... well ... just cannot believe what you've been able to do! There are just so many great pics and I have whole ... comprendium of new ideas for how to plan my new region. I wish I had noticed this MD much sooner than I had but I will follow it now as long as it is still going.

In relation to the most recent pic, nice skyscraper shot. Always a fan of downtown pics. Awesome work!

[bat]

Great new picture of that wonderful looking plaza! Nice work on the Commonwealth of Marathon!!!

[thundercrack83]

Alex (Driftmaster07): Thank you, Alex!

peter007: Thanks!

Guillaume (Sciurus): Hello, my friend! Thank you for your input, as always! You are definitely correct about European cities, too. Though Marathon is based more on cities in the northeastern United States, it never hurts to have more than one influence! Thanks again and take care!

Maarten (mrtnrln): Hi, Maarten! I love your ideas, thank you so much for sharing them with me, my friend! I will most certainly be looking at the area with more detail and keeping your ideas in mind for revisions! Thanks so much!

Arthur (art128): Thank you, Arthur! I'm so happy that you like it, my friend!

Bobbi: Thank you!

gottago: You hit the nail on the head with your Boston and New York references, my friend! Excellent eye! Colonial Philadelphia is always in the back of my mind, too, being from Pennsylvania. Also, I like your idea of widening the avenue at the bottom of the gate, too! Great thinking! Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope to see you again soon!

Battlecat: Thanks, my friend!

Fabian (Fabian93): Wow! Thank you for your comments and your handy information, Fabian! You were thinking the same thing that I was with the area! Take care, my friend!

djvandrake: Thanks so much! Diagonals can be a bit of a pain, but nothing that a bit of time and patience can't overcome. Good luck!

Ethan (ecoba): Ha! Thanks, Ethan!

Tomas Neto: Thank you!

io_bg: Thank you, my friend!

Leodido: Thanks!

jimbo_jj: Hello and welcome to Marathon! I'm so happy that you are finding things helpful and interesting here, my friend! I do hope that you'll stick around for more, and that we'll see you here often! Thanks again for coming by!

bat: Thank you so much, my friend!

UPDATE XLIV
Why Finish One Project...When You Can Start Another?
Part II: Welcome to "The ABQ!"
1 September 2009

For those of you who can remember all the way to UPDATE XLII: Why Finish One Project...When You Can Start Another?, Part I: Introducing and Planning, you will recollect that there was a quay project started in Marathon before yours truly began employment (what I like to refer to as "The Great Denouement!"). Well, after almost two months, this project is now complete! Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce "The ABQ"—Acadie-Bathurst Quay!

Located on the southeastern shores of Marathon Island, appropriately between Acadie and Bathurst Avenues, the centerpiece of the ABQ is...

...the Marathon International Monetary Exchange (MIMEX), one of the largest stock exchanges in the world...

...with 2,337 listings and $788.4 billion (US) in 2008.

The Acadie-Bathurst Quay / Int'l. Monetary Exchange Metro Station sits between the Exchange...

...and...

...the Jean-Raphaël Gaumont Museum of Art.

Finally, here is a look at the entire area, with the cityscape fitting in behind the quay:

So, there is another quay quomplete complete here in Marathon! I do hope that you like it, friends! As for where we will be headed next in Marathon, I do not know. Only time will tell!

Until next time!

[woodb3kmaster]

Dustin, you've put together another winner. The ABQ is marvelous, just like everything else you've built in Marathon! You've combined top-quality lotting with innovative uses of special buildings, and I have to say, I really like it. I do have one question, though: What's that large glass building in the top-right corner of the mosaic, with the wall that seems to be facing the camera directly?

Looking forward to more,
Zack