GRV Challenge - Additional Images

[jmyers2043]

Am I brave or foolhardy? You decide as I chose to start building on Tile E. Hope that future challenges will not make me regret this.

Tile E

Aerial view of town. Where Whiskey Run meets the Grand River.




I don't use plops and sometimes I am rewarded when things grow right. Jesstar's ACME Boiler Factory anchors the industrial zone alongside the GRV Line.




A bustling commercial district is a perfect setting for buildings by Deadwoods, JMyers, SimGoober, Bobo662, JBSimio, and Matt325. The impressive steeple of St Mary's Presbyterian Church can be seen for miles around. I had a fire and had to build a small fire department.




Ok - I just heard a collective gasp. Jim Myers has a bunch of Maxis R$ homes.      Low wage Sims like working at dirty industrials and farms. So I encourage low wage earners until all my countryside is finished. Over time I grew tired of the yellowish Maxis grass. You've heard of the Mondo Mod? Well call mine Mondo Lite. I altered all the grass textures of the early stage low density Maxis homes to a CycleDog grass texture that is one shade greener. I also changed all the slopes of these lots so that I do not have that 'digging' effect into the hilly terrain. Surprisingly all but one of these small Maxis homes have foundations. Some good and some not so good. But hey, at least I don't have that ugly Maxis brown box thing or lot foundations walls. The street tree mod is by SFBT.




I've never done a Mayor Diary - so I started the challenge with little or no eye candy. I enjoyed making a Lovers Lane at the outskirts of town using ChrisAdam's gravel path. Where many Sim teens have spent a moon lit evening. Although, the mayor has yet to find a solution for the refuse that a few locals have deposited in the woods. Knock me over with a feather - I've found a use for Jeronij's plop garbage. Residential homes by SimGoober and Cycledog. The Somy homes relotted by Barby, Spa, and Wouangaine.

[mrbisonm]

No, I don't think you will regret this, I hope.....

Wow, nice going, really nice, route 10 going right through it. Keep it up

Fred

[mattb325]

The town looks great! I really like what you have done with the Maxis lots, subtle, but a huge improvement - I always disliked that straw coloured grass as well. The bolier factory looks perfect next to the rail-line with the security fencing lining up nicely!

[dedgren]

Jim- nice self-contained small town supporting a couple of old "smokestack" industries.  It'll be great to see where you take it.


David

[Rayden]

Nice work Jim, I also hate when zonning, the land getts deformed and still don't know why that happens. It happens just when you zone 1x1 or 1x2. Usually if you zone a 2x2, that hardly happens.

No, I don't think you will regret this, I hope.....

Wow, nice going, really nice, route 10 going right through it. Keep it up

Fred

Do I see that little sparkling at the corner of your eyes?

[mrbisonm]

Do I see that little sparkling at the corner of your eyes?

Nahh, I don't think so......

[jmyers2043]

Some images from Challenge two.

Regional view:
I decided to work on tiles D and F where Route 10 connects the communities along the southern banks of the Grand River.




Dillardsby - Tile D

Aerial view of the Dilardsby business disctrict and suburbs


One of the JMyers farms revisited


Dilardsby sanitation department working through the night (Don't tell the governor)



Loucaster - Tile F

JMyers plays the game - and - well - agriculture plays its part. I don't prevent Maxis farms from growing. I merely redid them to my specifications. The farm at the lower left makes use of the SimGoober Hops field and is part of my new series of Hop Farms.


The Loucaster business disctrict where Route 10 makes a sharp turn to the south. Small businesses are done by JBSimio, Yticmic, SimGoober, Deadwoods, bobo662, and JMyers2043. Loucaster also boasts the first strip mall. The building next to Karaoke Bob is vacant. Anyone reading who wants to open a small business can PM Mayor Jim. He'll be glad to give you a good deal on a lease.


Mayor Jim can be a benevolent mayor when he wishes. The first park in GRVII sits along the banks of the Grand River in the town of Loucaster.

[Splime]

That's a nice town... and let's just say my sanitation department uses a similar technique... 

[jmyers2043]

Images from Tile K. The only thing plopped in Hogback other than necessary utilities, and the required statue for the challenge is the SimGoober Coal Mine (see the official challenge 4 screengrabs)

Hogback Mountain looking from the North.


Farm zones. There are some open spaces where the slope is too steep for a field tile to be zoned. Even so, after zoning I had to delete about a dozen orphaned zones that didn't touch other field tiles. I also had to delete some field tiles due to no road zots. Mostly by one's and two's but there were a couple clusters of 8 or so. That's ok because it opens up some areas in the woods and adds variety.


Ponderosa trees in three stages of growth. Stump, medium height, ready for harvest. It takes 44 game years to complete the cycle. 


My favorite tree farm is the Spruce Pine Timber forest because the Spruce pine is darker in color as compared to the lighter green Ponderosa Pine. Timber forests hug the coastline and HWY 276 heads to parts unknown. 


Another aerial view of the town of Hogback. This time from the west.


Shamless plug of my Truck Dump freight rail station. My intention is to have a companion lot to the SimGoober Coal mine as a means of transporting loads of coal to ... Hmmm ... parts unknown? 

[zzsteven]

Your building farms on the mountains? Just shakes head and mumbles to self long long ways to go...
zz

[soulchaser]

I love the tree farms

[Nardo69]

Nice work - especially that freight station. I just would remove that switches in the middle of the station between the two main raisl - it just makes no sense there. these switches should be located at at least one head of the station in order to enter and/or leave on the right track (left track if you use left-hand-traffic respectively)

Bernhard 

[kwakelaar]

This is just such an understated beauty. You manage to make this look so easy and logical, I am very impressed by what you are making here. Still using a lot of Maxis original content and it looks all new.

[Livin in Sim]

Jim, you needn't wonder about your building ability, your towns have that down home feeling, enhanced by your ability to just BAT something up when you need it.     The tree farms were a nice alternative idea for ag.  Other industry has been worked in nicely, and I've gotten a kick out of your presentation.  It's fun to see you solve the requests of the other players.  All in all, it's been an entertaining sojourn, thanks and good luck in the contest.   

Bye for now.
--Liv

[jmyers2043]

MrB said in another thread ...

differences between the two sides

I like this short break as I am able to get back to the business of making the two sides different.

Tile A - Kilburn - The JRJ Communications Tower as a stage 1 farm growing at the top of a hill. It is surrounded by the Ponderosa Timber fields.


Tile A - Kilburn - This sawmill has been sitting unfinished on my HD for two maybe three years. I got back to it today. This family run mill grows as a stage 3 timber farm and employs 36 Sims. Pictured again with the Ponderosa timber.


I am debating whether to add some more architectural elements or leave alone and lot as is. I've got just the spot to put this Coal Tipple in Tile C ..

[jmyers2043]

Bumping my thread . . . but hopefully you'll forgive me.

This is a beta lot of the Rocky Creek Coal Company. I've got of couple more interesting looking coal tipples in me.  Stay tuned.

I went a bit bonkers with tree planting and a couple of bushes planted themselves (upper left) on the lot. 


This is a Plop lot (Land Mark) with about 125 I-D jobs.


I think I need a few more lights on the lot.


Small mining town in the city of Goldsborough - Tile C . . .

[Pat]

Jim I want!!!!!!!!! WOW stunning simply stunning!!!

[jmyers2043]

Thank you so much Pat. I appreciate your comments. Maybe I can interst you in the coal mine below? Whereas Rocky Creek is a Drift Mine. The Faller Coal Company is a shaft mine. This one is a PLOP I-D with 380 jobs. I think that I'll make one that functions as a freight rail station too.

Tile A - Kilburn...Working away at the northern resources. . .

Beta Lot . . .



Beta Lot. . .

[girlfromverona]

That coal mine looks amazing! Good work. 

[Pat]

Jim breathtaking wow!!!