17 Regions of Wonder, Terror and Craziness

[smileymk]

Part 7 - Quicksilver City

We're on page 2! Furthest I've even managed to get... Thanks for your support, please keep it up and we might get on page 3!
But I must have a moan...there weren't any comments for Lego City. It's your support that keeps things going here. There's no obligation to comment but it is nice to get some appreciation. Let's try to get page 2 full this week. Thanks.
Anyway, here's update 7:

Quicksilver City - Part 1

Now then, what we have here is a planned one-tile region. It's a large tile, and it's my most developed planned region at the moment. Part of the reason for this is that ALL taxes are set at 0. That's right, 0. What Quicksilver City is is a tax-free city, a haven for residents and businesses alike. (Because of this, the Mayor Name is 'The Swiss Federal Government')
Don't believe me? See this 3,000-resident-stronghold for yourself:


Here's your weekly nightshot:


Within this city, the good and the bad of planning is shown. We'll start with the M1, the Western Bypass through the heart of the city as is. It has 3 junctions of various quality. There's the good:


The bad:


And the crazy:


Next comes the rail system, or rather, the TWO rail systems! Quicksilver City is home to 2 completely independent systems: the east rail and the central rail. This is the northern end of the eastern system:


And the other end:


Yep, conflicting interest there. Here's the central system, so bad it has to burrow underground for most of its (short) length:


That's not the same pic as the one of M1 J2 (the good junction).
On top of this, the planner likes sewage plants. A lot. There's at least 5 in Quicksilver City. Here's 2 of them:


But planning has its good sides. For one, it's managed to produce this beautiful overpass:


And this nice water pump facility:


And this tunnel, providing a useful way out to the west. Who needs sunken walls when you've got industry?


And with that, we now leave Quicksilver City.

Next week, we will return to Lego City. Hopefully it will have calmed down by then.

Until then,
smileymk

[emgmod]

Crazy interchanges! It looks confusing to me right now.

I'm still messing around with the road roundabouts. I wonder if a double magic roundabout is possible.

[sumwonyuno]

Hmm, I was going to say that you are missing dependencies, but it may be dependencies aren't loading first before everything else. 

Heh, I have to agree, the roadway network in Quicksilver City sure is complicated!

[smileymk]

Part 8 - Lego City

I'm afraid this is short, at just 6 pictures, but it's quality that counts!
And I'm happy to see that interest in this has resumed. Keep it going!

Replies

@ emgmod: It looks mental to me too. The residents must be in meltdown! And as for the double magic roundabout, it would probably be a bit daft, given that a magic roundabout is a collection of roundabouts stuck together - but go for it! I'll have a go too and show everyone what can be done.

@ sumwonyuno: I know what's going on with the dependencies (at least with the HSR) and have sorted that issue out. It will be better next time. And I take it you wouldn't want to drive around Quicksilver City... neither would I!

Now let us resume our grand tour of Sim City with Part 2 of Lego City.

Lego City - Part 2

Border Hill, the current town in development, is still very much centred around the army base, but the town planners want to expand. They've done it to the east so far, with developments like this:


The population is now about 625, mostly served by the army. Continuing their commitment to look after their workers is a big part of Border Hill development. This new police station sprung up, further hammering home the message that crime doesn't pay:


They've also been nice enough to provide water for their workers:


But taking care of their workers isn't all good news. When it was found out that the army were planning to use the future landing strip to the west as an air base, the citizens demanded a proper commuter airport to be built in the north - right in the path of the motorway the army built! It lead to this rather pathetic terminus:


They've also run into trouble with the animal rights extremists. The army's low helicopter flying drills have been accused of killing the fish in the crater where these drills take place. Acts like this are the ones being targeted:


And pre-planning has its problems too. A connection to the west mixing with a GLR system produced this rather bad anomaly that cannot be fixed:


I call it Wedge Street (for obvious reasons). And that's that for this week. I did warn you it was short.

Next week we'll pay a visit to Milton Keynes. SimCity's coming home. Metaphorically, at least.

See you there!
smileymk

[smileymk]

Part 9 - Milton Keynes

Much interest for Lego City...not! What's going on? And you did so well for Quicksilver City as well... oh well, rant over, here's a chance for you to redeem yourselves.

Milton Keynes - Part 1

This region is an attempt to recreate my home town, Milton Keynes, England, in SimCity, in true scale and as accurately as possible. Obviously there are limitations, with the grid, lots and whatnot, but what's produced will be pretty close.
There will be BATs but only of the most significant buildings. I'd rather be city-building!
For those of you who don't know where the hell this place is (which will be most of you), it is a town of 200,000 situated about 50 miles north of London and 65 miles south-east of Birmingham (M1 junction 14). It is famous for having more trees than residents, its 300 or so roundabouts and, of course, the internationally-renowned concrete cows.

Yet, the development of the SimCity version so far has focused on the western outskirts. Here's overviews of what's been done:








The area of development is the Wealds and Calverton. They're all hamlets - I haven't got to any MK estates yet (but I'm close).
This is Lower Weald (strangely enough this is the highest of the Wealds):


Moving down to Middle Weald:


And finally Upper Weald:


And Calverton, to the north of Lower Weald:


In case you're wondering, that's it. They're only hamlets!
However, some of MK proper has been built, like Galley Hill Roundabout (V4 - H1), the first of many:


Pavement Ped Mall was used for the redway.
The rural area is very scenic, full of trees, and also has a network of paths. Here's where they cross:


When paths must cross streams, bridges have been built. The ramps for these are the Ped Mall on-slope puzzle pieces. I don't think they look too bad, but judge for yourself:


To finish, attention to detail is very important to me in Milton Keynes, which is why I'm making proper road signs for the town. Here's some of the first: speed limit signs:


And now it's time to leave MK.
Next week, we will see if Lego City can start to be liked.

Until then,
smileymk

[Jonathan]

This will be interesting living 15 minutes from MK, its the nearest town so I know the layout quite well(well the "city" anyway).
The speed signs are bit big though, they could do with a bit of downsizing.

[sumwonyuno]

Nice job!  There certainly are more trees than people. 

[smileymk]

Part 10 - Lego City

Now in double figures! This has lasted well. Thanks for keeping it all alive. Hopefully Lego City will get some interest this week - I feel it deserves it.

Replies

@ Johnathan: Yeah, I guess they are a little big, that will be sorted out. It'll be worth having your input, I can tell.

@ sumwonyuno: There certainly are, and that's just the start...

Now, time to return once more to Lego City.

Lego City - Part 3

The town of Border Hill has grown enormously since it was last showcased - it is now a thriving community of 5,600 residents. With the city being so much bigger, I felt an updated overview was necessary:


Here's the city at night:


You will have noticed the commercial district to the south has turned from a wasteland into something much better. Here's a closer look:


A link from south of the army base (and the new motorway junction) has been built to support the incoming trade:


In light of this growth the transport links have been beefed up as well, in one case leading to a rather interesting motorway journey. Coming south on the M1, it starts off alright, then you pass through Junction 2, and from there it starts to go downhill...literally.


A nasty Parclo AB (to use the jargon) awaits at the bottom. Those who want to use it (which will be a few given the development inside the loops), beware:


For those going straight on, you get this ski jump to look forward to! (Try not to smash into the overpass.)


Scary? You won't want to be on the B2 then, the road this junction serves:


You'd have to be nuts to go down THAT. And yet it's oneway, so you don't have a choice! Ha ha!

A new canal system has also opened - the citizens, tired of fires, insisted a fire station be built on it. That went OK - but the canal didn't:


I'm showing you that so you don't repeat this epic fail. I'll conclude with something a little more successful: a ped mall bridge over a spur of the M1, made with the on slope pieces:


Which brings us to the end of this update.
Next week I shall show you the 3rd Medium Challenge Region once more. (You know, the one with 350,000 Sims in one city.)

See you there!
smileymk

[sumwonyuno]

Heh, uphill is another story! 

[smileymk]

Part 11 - Challenge Medium 3

Lego City has interest! Makes the last 5 weeks worthwhile.
And I do apologise for being so impeccably late - fate has conspired against me for the last week or so...
I'll pay my dues by giving you a three-part update.

Replies

Yes, this is Part 1.

@ sumwonyuno: Don't even go there. The current world record is 45 minutes...

Now we move on to Part 2 of this update. That was quick.

The Double Magic Roundabout

I did promise emgmod, who asked if a double magic roundabout was possible, that I would try this ridiculous idea for myself, despite my concerns that it was daft, given that a magic roundabout is just a lot of roundabouts stuck together.
My creative side led to 2 potential designs. This is the first, known as the 'clone' design (owing to the fact that one magic roundabout is 'cloned'):


The second one is the 'layer' design (because there are two distinct rings, one on top of the other lake a layer), which I prefer, because it is more efficient and more aesthetic, despite the fact that it uses twice as many roundabouts and is four times as mad. Traffic light lovers, look away now:


OK, crazy projects that won't ever get used over, let's move on to Part 3 - the actual update, which you've all been waiting so patiently for.

Challenge Medium 3 - Part 2

In the ultimate quest to reach a total regional population of 30M Sims, The City has undergone some slow expansion, seeing its population rise to a respectable 372,000 Sims. This new industrial park is one of the reasons why:




Even more recently, a new area has developed to the east of the new industry metropolis:




But that alone has not been responsible for the population rise. Those of you who were paying attention to the first instalment of Challenge Medium 3 will remember that there were 2 distinct areas of high-density development.
Well, a bunch of plots in the south decided that they were going to get in on the act and form their own rival district of density. It doesn't compete, but it's there:


This has caused the development of these gleaming high-tech factories in the east:


Which in turn has seen the city's monthly income rise to a whopping $108K - without cheats! Alright, I do have a $50K cheat in there, but it is listed in the expenses column, so it doesn't count. Here's the proof of the $108K:


To finish, I'll show you a couple of the techniques I've used to make this city work.
The first is an infinitely useful method to combat congestion on roads. Because the density of the city prevents road widening, roads, when congested, are turned into one-way circuits that act as relief roads for a large area:


Notice the area it covers. That's why it's so effective.
The second technique is a way for me to know when to expand The City. Because I only build new estates when one fully develops, it's important to know which areas have already developed completely and have had new areas built as a result, in order to avoid incorrectly developing The City. My way of doing this is to put signs in the developed estates like this one:


See how it says 'Full'? This makes it very easy to identify completed areas and thus makes expansion very easy.

And that's it for this week.

Next week (alright then, later this week), we'll return to Milton Keynes. Much has gone on, I assure you.

Until then,
smileymk

[emgmod]

The Double Magic Roundabout

Why don't you post it in [urlhttp://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=252.1240]Show Us Your Intersections[/url]? Those industrial goods look like they clog up the roads a lot. Why don't you build some freight trains?

[smileymk]

Part 12 - Milton Keynes

Had a look at the views count - 1158 views! That's pretty big. Keep that support going! And thanks for paying attention.

Replies

@ emgmod: I have posted the D.M.R. there, and you can check it out for yourself. As for the freight trains, there is an extensive network - did you not see the stations? I think that your observation occurred because freight trains just don't appear that often compared to lorries - both in the game and in real life.

OK, time for the update.

Milton Keynes - Part 2

When it came to expanding Milton Keynes, it was simply a case of following the map and deciding which part to do next.
In this case, it was 3 estates that ended up getting built. The first was the southern half of Stony Stratford, a semi-town on the north-west edge of MK:


Next was Calverton End, just south of Stony:


Finally was the Northamptonshire hamlet of Passenham, just outside to the west:


If you're wondering where all of the development is, a lack of demand means there isn't any yet. Wait until I get to Galley Hill and put in the schools there.
And yes, Passenham is in Northamptonshire, not Buckinghamshire where MK is. The boundary is formed by the River Great Ouse, which I've faithfully represented. It would have been wrong not to carry on beyond it:


(It's where the thick blue line is.)
Power and water are, of course, very important. But on my map I saw a building on a rural path that had 'Wind Pump' next to it. I thought 'what the hell is that?'! I doubt any of us have heard of such a thing - well, here's my interpretation:


The power lines are underground here.
Now, going back to Calverton End, you'd think that the H1, being a grid road, would end in gracious MK style with a roundabout when it reached its western terminus at that estate. Wrong. It unduly crashes into Tudor Gardens at a T-junction - a truly pathetic ending for MK's most pathetic grid road:


On the subject of road endings, I thought I might show you this nice dirt road ending. It's rather odd, but quite scenic:


I tend to play around with UDI a lot here, particularly on Free Drive. Whilst doing so I noticed a couple of strange things.
The first is what happens when you use your horn. I found out that it makes people go crazy! Look at the screaming woman in this picture, which happened after use of the horn:


If you can't see her, I think she's just underneath the bus. She might be hiding in fright.
Also, whilst in the country, I noticed animals. Fair enough, except these weren't the animals you'd expect in rural Britain. Since when did brown bears and antelopes live in Britain?


To finish, I'll show you how to make a street neighbour connection.
Alright, it's not doable, but you can make it look like it goes on by making use of the SAM, and its starter pieces, as I've done with this wood yard in Lower Weald:


A nice way to conclude the update.

Next week we go to Silver Lake (the 3rd Silver Hills region) for the first time.

See you there!
smileymk

[Jonathan]

Did you know you could delete the tiles on the SAM starter pieces which have white backgrounds? And it won't delete the other tile.
Like it all very much so far 

The MK grid system although weird at the edges is just great, a couple of weeks ago I had to go into Aylesbury everyday for a week and it was so infuriating, and quite confusing to MK

Jonathan

[sumwonyuno]

That street layout sure is wavy!  The development is going to look interesting once the Sims start building.

[Battlecat]

Nice work here, I've missed more than a couple updates it seems!  I like the way your suburbs are coming together there!

[smileymk]

Part 13 - Silver Lake

Wow! Milton Keynes will clearly be a winner here.

Replies

@ Jonathan: I do know now! Thanks for the tip. As for the grid system, it is a brilliant piece of city design and one of the reasons I like living there, and I'm not slating it - but it could be more complete at the edges. That's the only improvement I'd make to it.

@ sumwonyuno: It sure is. That's what happens when you build on a strange alignment (blame the A5, M1 and West Coast Main Line). But development will be good. When it happens.

@ Battlecat: I update every week, so you need to pay attention or you miss out on the fun. And glad you like the suburbs.

OK, show's over, let's crack on.

Silver Lake - Part 1

I felt you might like something a little different this week.
The 3rd Silver Hills region was a by-product of my Silver Hills City Building Contest, which took place on Simtropolis last summer, and lasted for, well, not very long. (In fairness, there were only two contestants).
This map was just about outvoted in favour of Map A (which took the name 'Silver Hills' for use in the contest, but rather than let the other 2 maps go to waste I decided to develop them in the future.
The result for Map C is Silver Lake, so called because of the big round lake that exists in the centre.
The region is one large tile, with development too big to fit into one shot, so you're getting two.
Here's the western half:




And the eastern half:




The area is mostly agricultural for the moment, with workers living in suburbs - medium density is planned only for the inner circle around the lake, whilst high density isn't planned at all.
Here I'm not following a map, so my suburbs tend to be less crazy. Here's the western suburb - notice how well the SAM works here:


The eastern suburb is much bigger, but only carries about 35-40% of the total population (which currently stands at 298):


Rail is used to great effect here, but unlike in my other regions, it is comprised of an as-yet-unbuilt main line of 2 tracks, with single-track branches elsewhere.
Here passenger and freight traffic is kept separate. But the desire for connectivity leads to interesting STR junctions, like this:


The main road, the A10, has been built though, as a high-speed dual carriageway. Entering Silver Lake, the road takes a Border Hill-style climb in the middle of a roundabout interchange:


Once it has passed this it climbs to the top of the hill, before beginning a sweeping yet gentle and dead straight descent towards the centre, where it stops a few tiles short of the lake at this roundabout:


Tunnels are critical to the functionality of the city, with it being so mountainous. Here's one of the shorter ones:


But there is also a place for land bridges, where appropriate. The ring road contains this one, called the Deep Gorge Bridge. Well, it crosses a gorge, which is deep (ish), so...


That bridge, with Silver Lake's tallest mountain (1,048m) in the foreground, is a fitting way to conclude the update.

Next week we're going to... well, actually, we're not going anywhere. We'll stay right here at Silver Lake.

Enjoy your stay.
smileymk

[smileymk]

Part 14 - Silver Lake (again)

Hey, what happened? Silver Lake is better this week, I assure you!

Silver Lake - Part 2

You'll be pleased to know that I finally found out why the suburbs wouldn't develop - they were in 2x1 plots. Once they were split up into 1x1 lots, growth shot up and the city is now home to over 8,000 people.
Alright then, it wasn't just that. There was some expansion in the east:


And the west:




I thought that suburb would look better at night. In addition, development continued along the ring road. Notice the road tunnel:


Of course, you can't just expand like that without putting in the infrastructure to cope.
First we'll start with an interesting rail junction in the west. The problem: a freight branch to the south needs to connect to the main freight line (remember freight and passenger rail are separated in this city), but a Y can't be used because the passenger line is in the way. The solution - a railway trumpet interchange:


Naturally, I don't do waste in cities, so the loop is filled with a suburb.
In the east, extension of the rail line meant the construction of the Deep Gorge Rail Bridge. This was thought to be easier and cheaper than slicing it through the mountain on the right. It looks a hell of a lot prettier too, especially with its road cousin:


Planning for the future, a commercial powerhouse is planned between the A10 and the road to the western suburbs in the central bowl of the city.
A CBD like this needs a nice train station to go with it. The brief here was that it had to serve 2 lines (4 tracks), be small, and look impressive. The one chosen from my extensive list (obtained through a typical raid of the STEX) was this one:


The station is connected to the western suburbs both by rail and by road.
To finish, the Mayor, being tired from all of this generosity, the likes of which will never be seen by any real politicians (barring a revolution), decided to choose a rather secluded place to spend his free time: on the southern edge, at the end of a street, next to the trains:


That's it for this week.

No doubt you're getting bored of Silver Lake now, so we'll go back to Milton Keynes next week.

I'll be there with my roundabouts,
smileymk

[emgmod]

Building winding roads through valleys is fun, especially when there's development around it. I like that rail junction you have there.

[smileymk]

Part 15 - Milton Keynes

Phew...Silver Lake wasn't in vain...

Replies

@ emgmod: It sure is, and it also adds depth, realism and challenge to boot! And glad you like the rail trumpet. It probably would be bigger in RL, but the idea is there...

Cracking on...

Milton Keynes - Part 3

You'll remember from last time how Stony Stratford wasn't developing (or anywhere else for that matter). It's developed now, and now holds 5,000 people. This is partially down to the completion of the central commercial area of Stony Stratford - like the real thing it's a good old English high street that went a bit beyond its bounds:




That, and the fact that a little bit of the industrial part of Wolverton Mill decided to butt in:


And the wind pump was modified to make it work:


And finally, that garbage disposal facilities were provided (I know, not at all accurate, but it will have to do until we get to New Bradwell or Bleak Hall):


Of course, Stony Stratford wasn't the only estate that wanted a piece of the action. Galley Hill, to the southeast, was completed and is now a thriving suburb:


I've used the large primary school to represent middle schools here as a) there aren't any decent British middle schools available to download (as far as I'm aware - if anyone would like to link me to one it would be appreciated), and b) it actually looks like the real thing (to an extent).

Milton Keynes is well-known for its trees, but there are some areas that don't have any. Like this field with a lake in the middle:


One thing that has been added this week is connections. This shows where this part of the A5, the main road north-south through Milton Keynes, running as a grade-separated dual carriageway throughout, comes into line with Queen Eleanor Street, the Stony Stratford bypass. Notice the Euro Road Textures mod that was installed to make it look more British, the overpass and 2 of my latest 3 UK road signs - the roundabout signs and the destination signs (there to give greater detail):


I'll conclude by showing you the last of my new road signs. Queen Eleanor Street has a speed limit of 40mph, unusually for MK (it's usually 30, 60 or 70.) This is faithfully replicated with my new 40mph maximum speed limit sign:


(Hopefully you can see it.) And that's a wrap for this week.

I think that we haven't been to Skaledale in a while, so we'll go there next week.

I'll be waiting,
smileymk

[emgmod]

I'm now wondering how you managed to get multiple SAM sets working at the same time. Even if it would look a bit messy, I want to learn how to do it.