The New Frontier - A Realistic, Natural Growth MD

[carlfatal]

Late congrats to the OSITM and to your election!

What I love in particular is, how you develop the railways, but the whole MD is wonderful, your nature shots are great, and the attention to details is awesome. 

And this Tuscan village - a place to stay. 

[packersfan]

How did you get seasonal trees on your streets?  I have street side trees but not seasonal.  Looks GREAT!

[vortext]

Seasonal Farm Street for SAM. 

[M4346]

Hi everyone!

It has been quite a while since the last update, and a lot has happened, both here in our community and in my own little world down on the southern tip of Africa.

I remember receiving a message on Facebook from Colyn informing me of the passing of our Goddess. I was shocked. I was deeply saddened, and, I was at a loss for words. I fondly remembered many nights of MSN chats, lively discussions, her passion and eagerness to share her immense knowledge and insight, not only of this great game, but also of the community around it, and often too about the world, life, and her unique take on things.

I didn't reply to Colyn. I didn't visit the community. I opened the game and started, in my own way, to create a tribute to her, with debussyman's contribution to it.

I immersed myself in Winterton for a couple of days, and let it be as the demands of work snatched me away from SimCity 4 yet again.

Finally, I had some time - as is often the case with the December holidays - to return to the game and I finished up my tribute, which you will find below.

This does not in any way signal a return to regular updating, and I apologise for reviving a technically dead mayor's diary (even though the region is alive and well in-game).



The town of Winterton looks like any other in the North Coast District, but it's history, and one person intimately intertwined with it, sets it apart from all other settlements in the region.

Winterton is located on the mainland, to the west of Claw Island, upriver from Bradley (where our earlier journey began).

To be sure, the town began like most others in the region, as a concentration of human activity supporting the outlying farms that dotted the New Frontier.

The town got it's name - originally Wintertowne, which later became Wintertown, and in the local dialect was eventually shortened to its current form - because it became the primary hub of activity in the region during winter. Farmers wishing to ship or sell their produce and goods preferred Winterton in the colder months, when the coastal town of Bradley was battered by unforgiving storms and bone-chilling ice. Being upriver, Winterton was more sheltered and spared the worst of the winter's discontents.

But the town's story, it's history, was greatly influenced by one woman. Nowhere is this seen more markedly than around Winterton Plaza in old town.

At the southernmost tip of the town, at the southern end of the plaza itself, stands the memorial to and statue of Saint Barbara, looking out over the river, her final resting place. At the northern end of the plaza stands Saint Barbara Memorial Hall, which serves as the town hall and a gathering place for many of the town's social activities.

At night, the statue lights up a bright pink, a fitting tribute to the town's Saint of Flowers.

A more modern annex was added in recent years to accommodate the sub-council government of the town and render various civic services to the community.

Not much is known about the personal life of the young Anglican missionary, whose first name is all that the local townsfolk and its history records seem to recall. The rest has become intertwined with myth and legend as the years passed.

Barbara was among the first to settle in the town, but in addition to her missionary work, she also brought with her an incredible knowledge of all things related to plants: from growing them to cooking them. She played an incredible role in exploiting the agricultural wealth the region had to offer, maximising yields and advising farmers and housewives (or domestic executives as they are called these days) alike.

Sadly, Barbara met her end in the river that nourished that which she loved most. She drowned one chilly winter's morning in a strong current, the result of melting snow further upriver, trying to save a young farmer whose barge capsized.

Neither were seen or heard from again.

The town loved Barbara and the role she played in the church and the community. She was immediately dubbed their "Saint of Flowers". Many, many years later she was even referred to as "The Mother Teresa of the North Coast" in a public address by the Alderman of Winterton, to which someone in the crowd retorted: They should refer to Mother Teresa as the Saint Barbara of Calcutta!"

Barbara was never formally beatified, despite requests of the local dioscese, but the local parish church, next to the local pub where she was just as much a local, was soon renamed The Church of Saint Barbara.

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The Winterton College, a major landmark in the more exclusive Winterton Heights, is also closely associated with her legacy, specialising in botany, agriculture, horticulture, and of course, viticulture.

The college mascot, fittingly, is the Goddess Barby, in many ways the feminine version of Bacchus, the Roman god of wine and agriculture. A lifestyle that most students seek to emulate...

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Winterton Heights is wholly owned by the Winterton College Trust, and as such is an access-controlled area, despite much of the land having been sold off to private citizens as sectional titles. The residents, who seek privacy and a sense of self-importance, prefer it this way.

To the north of Winterton Heights, over the hill and through the forest (marked as much by the indigenous deciduous trees as by the 'alien' spruces flourishing thanks to human introduction), lies the suburb of Highgrove.

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At the heart of Winterton lies the commercial district, an odd mix and match of old and new, reflecting the town's historic roots and its contemporary significance in the region. The latter revolving more around tourism and educational activities.

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The central commercial district is surrounded by predominantly residential areas made up largely of houses constructed in the late 19th century.

The local schools (elementary and secondary) play a significant role in eastern Winterton - being close to Winterton College - and the area is known as the Schools District.

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The area adjacent to the Schools District and north of the commercial heart of Winterton is popular with families with school-age children. Considering this, and it's beauty and tranquility, it's not difficult to see why.

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Winterton West, while similarly residential, borders on the old industrial part of town, and is thus home to older townspeople and those working in the remaining factories, which played a major part in the town's early development.

Despite it's colourful history, today the town most importantly stands as a tranquil tribute to their Saint of Flowers, the Mother Teresa of the North Coast, their Saint Barbara, a local hero, and to some, even a Goddess.

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[art128]

Welcome back M.

What a wonderful tribute to Barbara. The town is very colorful and gives a really joyful atmosphere.

[Akallan]

Beautiful!

[compdude787]

Welcome back! And I like how that town is a tribute to BarbyW.

[Swordmaster]

Fitting tribute!

I've gone through it all just now. Very enjoyable read, and some really creative things across the different towns. Always good to read an MD by you Marius.


Cheers
Willy

[Vizoria]

Great mosaics and you built your city upon some great terrain as well.

[juguesal]

Beautiful pictures !!!     

[kbieniu7]

Nice to see you again The pictures itself are great, like all those yours single-family-housing, but the background make each of them very moving.

[M4346]

Thank you very much for the responses and lovely comments everyone, I really appreciate it

It's good to 'see' all of you again! It has indeed been a while! We've been advised that the parliamentary committees start meeting again on Tuesday (26 January), so it'll be up and down to Cape Town on a weekly basis for me again soon!

In the meantime, here's a little WIP (teaser), part of a broader revamp of my MD: Benhurst Dam!

The dam is a a regional irrigation dam for the vast stretches of farm land along the North Coast.

If anyone knows where I can find a 'water effect' like those Jeroni made that I can plop IN the water, that would be awesome 

[compdude787]

Nice dam! Looks like you'll still need to put in irrigation canals coming out of the reservoir behind said dam.

[Vizoria]

What an imaginative use for that dam!

[Bipin]

Indeed, that dam is damn good!

[Swordmaster]

Revamps are always good. Interesting scene; looking forward to seeing what you got planned.


Cheers
Willy

[kbieniu7]

Nice shot, good to think about such things in regions However... this island looks a bit funny for me. In such small reservoir, just in the middle? 

[mattb325]

Lovely to see you back - I hope the parliamentary year doesn't keep you  away from the game for too long 

[M4346]

Nice shot, good to think about such things in regions However... this island looks a bit funny for me. In such small reservoir, just in the middle? 

I was thinking the same. And, to be honest, it came before I thought of it as an irrigation dam lol.

I'll definitely revisit it! Like I said, it's a WIP.

Thanks!

[M4346]

The people in the New Frontier are a religious bunch... the landscape is dotted with little chapels, churches, synagogues and even a cathedral or two.

Sadly, the region has no significant Muslim population to speak of, as yet. But, that might be changing soon...