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United States of Simerica (USN)--Update 13: My First Cloverleaf interchange

Started by compdude787, July 22, 2014, 05:57:32 PM

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Vizoria


c.p.

Nice. :thumbsup:  I like the curvy residential areas, and the gated parking area near the trainyards.

noahclem

Great update again  &apls  Great railways and nice use of industrial fillers to achieve a realistic-looking layout. If you're having commercial demand trouble you might consider installing CAM (which I recommend everyone do). I'd also suggest switching your water mod to the redone HD version of Brigantine (I can track down a link later if you need it but it should be pretty easy to find on the STEX).

compdude787

Hello everyone. So, it's been exactly 11 months since I last updated this MD and you're probably wondering what happened. I'll explain in a second, but let's get to the replies first:

Quote from: vortext on November 23, 2014, 09:14:25 AM
Nice region you're working on! The pictures are great too, though maybe next time turn on the shadows, it makes the place come to life more imho. The residential area is well done with all the curvy streets! And yay, industrial fillers!  ;D

Keep at it!  :thumbsup:
Yeah, I tend to forget about the shadows. I have them turned off because of the adverse effect on game performance, and once again, I forgot to turn them on for this update! However, I just put a post-it note above my screen with a reminder to turn them on while taking screenshots.

Quote from: Vizoria on November 27, 2014, 03:49:53 PM
Good job, I like the farms and those industrial estates.
Thanks!

Quote from: c.p. on November 27, 2014, 06:29:44 PM
Nice. :thumbsup:  I like the curvy residential areas, and the gated parking area near the trainyards.
Thanks!

Quote from: noahclem on December 01, 2014, 07:58:41 AM
Great update again  &apls  Great railways and nice use of industrial fillers to achieve a realistic-looking layout. If you're having commercial demand trouble you might consider installing CAM (which I recommend everyone do). I'd also suggest switching your water mod to the redone HD version of Brigantine (I can track down a link later if you need it but it should be pretty easy to find on the STEX).
Thanks! If the SPAM was compatible with CAM, I'd install it, but since I'm already using SPAM and don't want to get rid of it, I can't really install CAM. I think I need more neighboring cities around Twin Forks in order to really get my commercial area to start growing. Hopefully that will solve my problem. As for the HD version of the Brigantine water mod, I actually tried it and didn't like how you could obviously see a pattern from tile to tile. I couldn't stand it. I've ended up switching to the Loch Lomond water mod which you guys use in NORO; it looks a lot better IMO.

Alright, here's the update:



Update 6: New interchanges in Twin Forks and what I've done this past year

So, you're probably wondering what I've done all this time. Besides school, my interest in SC4 waned a bit; I think it took a new version of NAM to get me back into playing SC4 some more. I can totally understand how important new NAM releases are in keeping SC4 alive.

There have been many things I've done over the past while in SC4. During December, I participated in the month-long interchange challenge here on ST. I didn't enter an interchange though because I wasn't able to get my city built in time. I also switched over to the Sudden Valley Terrain Mod and the Loch Lomond water mod, both used in NORO. (I don't have any affiliation with NORO; I just like that region and especially like the mods they use) I think that both look better than what I had before.

Also, around the same time, I started a new region called Cardwell. I intended it to be a natural-growth region. Here's what it looks like so far:

6.1


I haven't done much with it because I still want to do stuff with the RHW and this region is not to a point where I can build any freeways yet. So, I've kept working on my other region, Lamont. Here's what it looks like right now: (click to enlarge so that you can see the city names)

6.2


And here's the transport map:

6.3


In June, I did some work to fix the most congested and accident-prone intersection in the city of Twin Forks, this one:

6.4


After much demolition of the area, it has been reconstructed as a partial interchange, which looks like this:

6.5


Also, I redid a lot of the street grid to make it more cohesive. Previously it was comprised of streets that were automatically put in place when I dragged out a large area of zoning, something that I don't do anymore now that I'm a more experienced player. As a result, the streets didn't really fit together, but now they do. I also rezoned a lot of it from high density to medium density because I didn't want so many highrises there. Here's what the area looks like now:

6.6


6.7


And finally, back in September, after the NAM 33 pre-release was available, I used the new features to reconstruct this horrible-looking interchange in my downtown area connecting I-5 to the Crosstown Expressway which leads to the industrial area shown in the previous update. Here is the "before" picture:

6.8


And, after:

6.9


6.10


6.11


You'll notice my first two Wren Insurance buildings in the image below. These will remain the only two, because I will demolish all others. :P

6.12


Downtown Twin Forks is the eastern terminus point for the western section of the Crosstown Expressway, signed as I-120 and US-50. The I-120 designation ends where the Project Symphony highway becomes an avenue as seen in the picture below, but the US-50 designation continues. After traversing surface streets, US-50 eventually meets up with the eastern half of the Crosstown Expressway The avenue represents a gap in the Crosstown Expressway and some roadgeeks regard it as a missing link in Twin Forks' freeway system, mainly because a huge amount of traffic simply gets dumped onto surface streets.

6.13


Why is it like this, you ask? Well, kids, it's time for a very exciting, oh so fascinating history lesson: The eastern section of the Crosstown Expressway that goes on a viaduct over the industrial area was opened in 1947, making it the first modern freeway in the Lamont region. At that time, the expressway ended just west of the bridge and did not go on a viaduct through the CBD yet. The next phase of the project consisted of building the western half of the Crosstown Expressway, now I-120, and that opened in 1952. The Crosstown Expressway was extended further east past the industrial area as an at-grade parkway with traffic signals and that opened to traffic in 1954. However, the city needed voters to approve a new property tax increase to get more money to build the missing link of the Crosstown Expressway, as well as the Southwest Expressway that would connect to the Crosstown (this would run from the downtown area to the southwest, going over the hills and down to the lake located southwest of the city). Residents in the neighborhood that would be affected by those two new freeways formed a citizens' group that campaigned against these new freeways and led a successful effort to defeat this new property tax increase that was on the ballot in the 1952.

So, after this tax increase was defeated by voters, the mayor acknowledged the voice of the people and promised that no new freeways would be built in this part of Twin Forks and even claimed to have removed them from the city's freeway plan. But this was not so. Three years later, this mayor reneged on his promise to the citizens of Twin Forks. In 1955, Congress passed a bill that was soon signed by the Simerican president to fund Interstate highways in Simerica, and of course the Twin Forks city government was like "ooh, federal aid! We can build these freeways now!" and announced that they would begin working with the Lamont DOT to acquire property and whatnot. But the residents of SW Twin Forks were upset by this broken promise by the mayor and protested at city hall. However, the mayor was stubborn and kept pushing forth with efforts to build these expressways. Residents of north Twin Forks were equally upset by the fact that the mayor was not interested in building a freeway to the north part of the city where roads were already more congested than those in the southwest part of town. So, in the 1956 election, that mayor was defeated by a new guy from the north part of town who won in a landslide by promising to build a north-south freeway through Twin Forks (now known as the Twin Forks Freeway, signed as I-5) and no new freeways in the southwest part of town.

The new mayor removed the Southwest Expressway as well as the unbuilt section of the Crosstown Expressway from the city's freeway plan, and put construction of the Twin Forks Freeway at top priority. Construction on this freeway began in 1958 and it was opened in 1960. A connection to the eastern half of the Crosstown Expressway opened in 1961, and the eastern half of the Crosstown Expressway was designated I-105 from I-5 to the eastern end of the elevated section of the Crosstown Expressway. It continues east as the US-50.

What about I-120? Where does that lead to? Well, you'll find out in the next update... (and you won't have to wait another 11 months for it--I promise! :) )
Check out my MD, United States of Simerica!
Last updated: March 5, 2017

My YouTube Channel

noahclem

Great update  &apls 

Cardwell is looking beautiful fully rendered like that. After playing versions of that map for so many years I've ended up falling in love with it--I actually want to visit the RL site now, which is apparently a stunningly beautiful place. Loch Lomond is an outstanding water mod, and I'd say a definite improvement over Brig 2.0. I've actually switched to using Xannepan's Poseidon mod but with my own coloration. Add this to a place in your plugins that loads after Poseidon if you want to give it a try ;)

Both your natural growth approach to Cardwell and your renovation of old regions show an admirable patience I tend to lack :D  You've done a great job both with the new grid and especially the new interchanges! I had a bit of trouble locating everything on regions views but was glad to have those overviews available.

Great to see you back!!

compdude787

Hi everyone. I'm back with another update--this time, it's a video! But first, replies:

Quote from: noahclem on October 23, 2015, 05:43:59 AM
Great update  &apls 

Cardwell is looking beautiful fully rendered like that. After playing versions of that map for so many years I've ended up falling in love with it--I actually want to visit the RL site now, which is apparently a stunningly beautiful place. Loch Lomond is an outstanding water mod, and I'd say a definite improvement over Brig 2.0. I've actually switched to using Xannepan's Poseidon mod but with my own coloration. Add this to a place in your plugins that loads after Poseidon if you want to give it a try ;)

Both your natural growth approach to Cardwell and your renovation of old regions show an admirable patience I tend to lack :D  You've done a great job both with the new grid and especially the new interchanges! I had a bit of trouble locating everything on regions views but was glad to have those overviews available.

Great to see you back!!
Thanks once again, Noah! I appreciate how much of an avid follower and commenter you've been on my MD! I still haven't tried out the Poseidon mod or that file you posted--gotta do that soon, I suppose. Hopefully, you'll have a better idea of where everything is after having seen this update.

And now...

Update 7: Something big is happening...
Something big is happening near Twin Forks...something very big. Watch the video below to find out.

https://www.youtube.com/v/B21kyzct7Og

This video format will continue in the future, though I will try to make the videos be a bit shorter and will try to talk louder too. :P But I think this is going to be a great new format for my MD and will allow for more frequent updates in the future. It's going to be kind of like what Casper did in his MD, for those of you who have been around long enough to remember that. However, I will still try and post pictures every now and then when I have finished working on a project. All in all, I think this new format will allow for more frequent updates to my MD so you won't be waiting around so long for an update.
Check out my MD, United States of Simerica!
Last updated: March 5, 2017

My YouTube Channel

j-dub

Don't have much to say, but pretty impressive work you got going on. 6.5 should be a great example so others understand how RHW, OWR and Ave can all go together.


compdude787

#28
Hello everyone, and welcome back to Simerica. At four days, this is the shortest gap between updates, which is quite nice if you ask me. ;D

Replies:
Quote from: j-dub on December 11, 2015, 09:38:33 PM
Don't have much to say, but pretty impressive work you got going on. 6.5 should be a great example so others understand how RHW, OWR and Ave can all go together.

Thanks! I did not notice how great of an example that picture was of RHW, OWR, and Avenue coming together. But it could very well be another good entry into the Simtropolis challenge (that's why I'm making this crazy five way interchange, btw).

Quote from: Unconstantean on December 15, 2015, 01:10:34 PM
I love videojournals :D  &apls

Thanks! Glad to hear it. :)

And now...

Update 8: Making Progress on the Five Way Interchange

So, I am making a lot of progress on the Five Way Interchange. I forgot to mention here on this MD that I am doing this as part of the Simtropolis Monthly Challenge, which for this month is NAM Showcase. So yeah, you show off anything awesome you've done with the NAM and then everyone votes on the best picture.

First off, here is the design of the interchange sketched out on paper. This is very helpful as long as you know how much space you're working with as well as the RHW's limitations, and it is something that experienced RHW masters like Noah do with their interchanges.
8.1


The actual design differs in some aspects from the planned design, which is to be expected. Here are some pictures of the progress I've made thus far:
8.2


Here's a closer view of the center part of the interchange:
8.3

The tall (L3) overpass near the bottom of the image was one that I had particular troubles with getting over the freeway in the trench. The fact that L3 and L4 do not have good stability and require extra starters made this probably the most difficult part of this whole entire interchange.

And now, here's part 2 of the video series. This time, it is recorded on a better microphone so that you can more easily hear me and it is edited to remove parts where I either did nothing (I was thinking about how to proceed), or had to redo things I'd done previously (they weren't in the right place or the slopes got messed up). Enjoy! :popcorn:
https://www.youtube.com/v/sYhq_O9IJvg

I recorded Part 3 immediately after recording part 2, but have not had time to edit and upload it yet. I will update this MD as soon as I have uploaded it.
Check out my MD, United States of Simerica!
Last updated: March 5, 2017

My YouTube Channel

compdude787

Hello, and Merry Christmas everyone! I know Christmas was yesterday, but I wasn't able to update my MD at all yesterday (too busy). So, better late than never.

Unfortunately, nobody commented on my previous update. Why? ()what() Thus, there are no replies, so let's move onto the update.


Update 9: Merry Christmas!
Hello, everyone! As my Christmas gift to you all, here is Part 3 to my series of videos showing me building a five-way interchange. Enjoy!  :popcorn:
https://www.youtube.com/v/EJpuMwSrusQ

I think that after one or two more parts, I will have this interchange done. I better do it soon before the end of the month, as I plan on entering it into this month's Simtropolis Challenge, which, as I mentioned previously, is the NAM Showcase. Pretty self-explanatory; just show off what you have done with the components of the NAM. Anyway, once I finish this interchange, Update 10 is going to be a big update. Consider this to be a teaser.
Check out my MD, United States of Simerica!
Last updated: March 5, 2017

My YouTube Channel

Themistokles

Nice to see you're participating in the Simtrop challenge :thumbsup: And Good Continuation, as we say after Christmas here :)
Come join me on a hike to St Edmea!

Latest update: 7

"In the end, our society will be defined not only by what we create, but by what we refuse to destroy." - John Sawhill

kbieniu7

Hello! Merry Christmas! Well, I need to ask for an excuse, because I lurked there two days ago...

I had no time to see the whole movie, but it's visible, that your highway work is a excellent! To manage such a complicated junction is indeed a hard task. I've never made such one. Bah, I guess, I've never seen such in real life (at least - in rural area...). Sometimes, when I looked ad google maps in the US, my jaw dropped when seeing some huge-sized intersections. In such place (in simcity), I would just make a roundabout, maybe with just few non-collision bypasses (ah, European guy  :D)

And for good luck witj the challenge!
Regards!
Thank you for visiting Kolbrów, and for being for last ten years!

Nanami

Its looks promising from the way I watch your video there... good luck on your challenge and cant wait about the update 10 that you going to show! :)

also happy new year!

compdude787

Hello everyone, welcome back to Simerica. It's been a year since I last posted an update here (well, not really, but you know what I mean). Today is going to be a big update. But first, let's do replies:

Replies:
Quote from: Themistokles on December 27, 2015, 01:43:05 AM
Nice to see you're participating in the Simtrop challenge :thumbsup: And Good Continuation, as we say after Christmas here :)
Thanks!

Quote from: kbieniu7 on December 27, 2015, 01:42:47 PM
Hello! Merry Christmas! Well, I need to ask for an excuse, because I lurked there two days ago...

I had no time to see the whole movie, but it's visible, that your highway work is a excellent! To manage such a complicated junction is indeed a hard task. I've never made such one. Bah, I guess, I've never seen such in real life (at least - in rural area...). Sometimes, when I looked ad google maps in the US, my jaw dropped when seeing some huge-sized intersections. In such place (in simcity), I would just make a roundabout, maybe with just few non-collision bypasses (ah, European guy  :D)

And for good luck witj the challenge!
Regards!


Thanks! Yeah, I know it's pretty big but as I said in my videos, it's at the very edge of an urban area, so having it be super big is justified. A roundabout would be completely overwhelmed in this case. But yeah, putting in a roundabout between two freeways is such a British thing to do. In their case the roundabouts have traffic signals. Really?! Why?!?! That defeats the purpose of a roundabout.

Quote from: Nanami on January 02, 2016, 01:34:05 AM
Its looks promising from the way I watch your video there... good luck on your challenge and cant wait about the update 10 that you going to show! :)

also happy new year!

Thanks, and Happy New Year to you too.

So, now....

Update 10: Five Way Interchange Complete!
So, the Five-Way Interchange is now complete and open to traffic. Here is a video of the last stage of construction:
https://www.youtube.com/v/iDTOZUGqG4E

And here's a sped-up video of the entire construction process. It even includes some bonus, never before seen footage of ponds being built, as well as signs and lights being installed. Enjoy!  :popcorn:
https://www.youtube.com/v/q-Ij95vINxs

Now, time to see some pictures...

This first image shows the very south end of the interchange. (south is down in all these images) This is the I-220, the southern beltway around Twin Forks. It goes south and then east to provide a convenient bypass for Sims who want to avoid traffic in the freeways close to downtown Twin Forks. (well, it will do this once built. I haven't built it yet, but I plan to do so soon). Enough talk, here's the picture:
10-1


This is the central part of the interchange. The L3 overpass at the bottom (the one with all the freight trucks on it) was the hardest to get to work, because L3 is not as stable as L1 and L2.
10-2


The west end of the interchange. I-20 continues to the west, heading away from civilization:
10-3


This is the north end of the interchange. SR-220 continues north and becomes a divided highway with at-grade intersections and is heavily used by trucks to avoid the steep climb over the Peyton Mountains on I-5. It is technically an extension of I-220 but is not up to interstate standards so no interstate route number here.
10-4


At the northeast corner of the interchange, we have I-20 continuing east towards the north end of Twin Forks:
10-5


Finally, at the southeast corner, I-120 starts as a spur route into downtown Twin Forks.
10-6


The interchange has lots of stuff in it. It has light towers all over the place...
10-7


...several ponds, big and small...
10-8


10-9


10-10


...and even a meadow on the southwest side for those sims who are daring enough to bushwack through the woods to get up to it. It provides a nice view of the valley, and more importantly, the interchange. :D
10-11


Here's an overview of this interchange:
10-12


Here's a little history behind this interchange. It was built in stages between 1962 and 1967, with the groundbreaking ceremony taking place on a rainy day on February 6th, 1962. The first phase of this interchange project was completed in 1964 with I-20 opened to the west of this interchange. I-220 and SR-220 opened at the same time; this was the first section of I-220 to be completed. Just one year later, I-120 was opened to the public, connecting with US-50 and the existing Crosstown Expressway a couple miles east in Carlson. And finally, on June 25th, 1967, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held to mark the completion of the interchange and the opening of I-20 east of the Five Way Interchange. The interchange was officially named the Charles Watson Memorial Interchange in memory of a former governor of the state of Lamont who had recently died. But nobody calls it that and it is instead commonly referred to as the Five Way Interchange.

The interchange recently received a major upgrade between 2010 and 2012, with many ramps being retrofitted with smoother curves and overpasses receiving seismic upgrades and other safety upgrades. This will prepare the interchange for another fifty years of service to millions of commuters, truckers, and travelers.

For those of you who stuck around to read all this, here's a little treat for you: a huge mosaic showing this wonderful marvel of complexity.
10-13

Click HERE for full-size image (WARNING: Huge Image, 42 MB)

Hope you all enjoyed this update and I'll see you next time.
Check out my MD, United States of Simerica!
Last updated: March 5, 2017

My YouTube Channel


Vizoria


kbieniu7

Massive! But, if you think about some wild ponds, you should have thought about some drainage system and retention ponds for that interchange :D
Thank you for visiting Kolbrów, and for being for last ten years!

Swordmaster


Nanami

Thats a complicated interchange! nicely done!
additionally these cosmetic stuff (lights and signs) really eye catching.. :)

compdude787

Hello, everyone, and welcome back to Simerica. It has been a while, hasn't it? I got a new monitor with a 1600x900 screen resolution, so now pictures are no longer a mere 1366x768. Well, let's get the replies in:

Replies:
Quote from: Alan_Waters on January 17, 2016, 01:42:31 AM
Grandiose!!! &apls &apls &apls
Quote from: Vizoria on January 17, 2016, 04:18:29 AM
My, my that's quite the interchange!
Thanks, Alan and Vizoria!

Quote from: kbieniu7 on January 17, 2016, 06:15:01 AM
Massive! But, if you think about some wild ponds, you should have thought about some drainage system and retention ponds for that interchange :D
Those are the retention ponds btw. But you're right; you can't really see the drainage system. It's there; it's just that these pictures were taken right after a heavy downpour and the ponds were pretty full and they were covering up the drainage culverts. That's why you don't see them.  :D

Quote from: Swordmaster on January 17, 2016, 04:57:16 PM
Wow! That's extremely well done. KP for you.


Cheers
Willy

Thanks for the Karma Point! Much appreciated. Too bad I later lost it by saying something really stupid.

Quote from: Nanami on January 18, 2016, 01:02:55 AM
Thats a complicated interchange! nicely done!
additionally these cosmetic stuff (lights and signs) really eye catching.. :)
Thanks! The lights and signs sure are important in increasing realism. It's always the little things that matter most.

So, now....

Update 11: New farms, new skyscrapers

A few rumors have been flying around in the Lamont region about some changes that the so-called SimGod (that's me!) made to his plugins folder. Being an honest god, the SimGod would like to confirm that these rumors are indeed true. One rumor that has been flying around has to do with the recent commercial building boom taking place region-wide. This is epitomized by the construction of the Tiberian Thanefirst Tower in downtown Twin Forks:
11.1


11.2


Also, another rumor that's been spreading is that all the SPAM farms suddenly disappeared one night and were replaced with Simgoober's farms because the SimGod didn't like how unrealistically tall the corn and wheat crops were. This is partially true, but the real reason to this is that the SPAM was not compatible with the CAM. Oh, and Simgoober's farms look a lot nicer, especially the tulip fields.

Here is an overview of the town of Farmville before and after the change, showing how these new farms look compared to the old ones:
11.3 - Before:


11.4 - After:


I-5 running through the farmlands in Farmville:
11.5


And just south in the town of Sleepy Hollow, you see these beautiful tulip fields while driving on I-5 during the right time of year: (well, kind of. The SimGod is a bit obsessed with covering every square inch of vacant land with trees :D )
11.6


As a result of this proclamation from the almighty SimGod, it is hoped that many Sims will come to believe in the SimGod's existence because, as his followers say, it's completely logical that these changes couldn't possibly have happened on their own without his influence. A massive decrease in the amount of atheist sims in Simerica is predicted.

Oh, and last but not least, here's a plan that outlines future development of Lamont's freeway and railway network:
11.7


I'm going to try to get back to doing videos, too. Stay tuned!
Check out my MD, United States of Simerica!
Last updated: March 5, 2017

My YouTube Channel