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Dundas Island

Started by Teddy, April 21, 2016, 08:47:51 AM

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Teddy

TABLE OF CONTENTS


1. Intro, Disclaimer, Basic Map, and First Update


Neat pictures (these will come from updates throughout the MD, and are used to showcase the entire MD)

vortext

Welcome to SC4D! Exciting you took the plunge, I hope you'll stick with it! 

As for your concerns; png files are generally quite large and consequently may be slow to load for some. Not everyone has a good internet connection, hence this rule. However, seeing you're using imgur as host it shouldn't be a problem because it'll convert large png to jpg anyway.

Regarding double posting, up to an extend you're free to do so. Just keep in mind a continuous, unsorted barrage of images will likely evoke fewer replies than a couple of spread-out, more curated updates will. As for formatting, I'll admit it's a bit awkward to start an MD off with everything crammed into a first post but you can always edit it later on indeed. I made some changes and added a ToC to my first post as well (here)

At any rate, I'll definitely be re-checking as I'm curious to see how your region will develop. The planning looks promising, and yay for farms farms farms!  :D :thumbsup:
time flies like a bird
fruit flies like a banana

art128

I'm going to post now but don't worry, I'll move it once your update is ready and posted. :)

I'll just make a few notes/guidelines:

> Don't count too much on reaching 1000 replies fast. It takes a lot of time and dedication. It took my MD two years to reach 1000 replies. (started August 2009, reached The Thousand in November 2011) and back then we had more active person than today. I'm not saying this to discourage you at all. I'm interested in your project and I'm always eager to see a naturally grown region.

> We have a restriction on image format and size because there are some users that may come on this website on older machines and not fast internet connections. A JPG picture is almost always lighter than a PNG picture which makes an update load easier for someone with a slow connection. (Just as an example, most of Rural USA have slow connections.) Even I struggle to load a hundred PNG at once and I'm on very fast opitcal fiber. (950Mb/s) As for the dimension, using the resizing tag is a good idea, yes. :)

> As for double posting... Well it's generally frowned upon, but you can do it. A lot of people have done it in the past, even staff members. As long as it's not 5 consecutive posts with a hundred pictures each, you're good. Just try to let some time for people to comment between each update, it'll be good.

As I said, I'll remove this post and move it after the update once you've posted them so don't worry.
I'll take a quiet life... A handshake of carbon monoxide.

Props & Texture Catalog

vortext

#3
Am I double posting now?!  $%Grinno$%

But yeah, to reiterate what Art said: we - moderators - can move things about to allow for formatting. In addition I'd also like to stress realistic expectations regarding reply count: I started my MD nearly 3 years ago and have yet to reach 500 replies.
time flies like a bird
fruit flies like a banana

Teddy

#4

Welcome to my story on Dundas Island. I have a few things that I want to note right off the bat


1 - I did not plan to write this here. My plan was for a "Lets Play" on my 'personal blog' - which is a place I use to swear at random things, write messages too long for twitter, and post my crazy random thoughts. I am only 'trying' to adapt things for this format, and make no guarantee that I will decide this is the way to go, and stick with it. If I do, however, reach 1000 replies, you can assume that I have decided to stick with it.

2 - Some of the 'rules' give me pause. First, the rule about image size and format. For many years now I've been taking full-screen (IE 1280) images in PNG format. I am unwilling to switch the format of all my images, however, I am willing to use the img width tags to keep everything within the lines. However, the rule on "double posting" may have a significant impact on this story. It is this rule and this rule alone that will determine how far I go with this MD. I play when I want to and update when I want to. That may mean that between 7:03pm and 8:11pm on Wednesday the 17th, I will post 50 images, while between 8:11pm on that day and 4:33am on a date 40 days later, I may post 0. I will try to make this fit into the format. One problem will be the early posts. The best way to format things is by starting with a triple post, a table of contents, a hello, and a first update, but I will need to squeeze that into a single post, and, as you'll see below, change it.
2a - If I find that this is fun, but the rules are too restrictive, I may ask for special dispensation; for example, quintuple posting, and in turn, not moving up to the next level until the number of posts made by not-me reach the needed levels.

3 - Always be re-checking this topic if you are interested. I'll frequently be editing my posts, especially for the first few pages. Updates may change place, and, in fact, this entire post itself will be changing places to my "second post" as this one is replaced with a "table of contents". As such you may find certain updates changing places, as I edit and re-edit posts to keep a good flow. This will, of course, be dependant on replies. I've done similar stories about other games (in that case, called an AAR) where I had enough replies that this was not a problem in most cases.

4 - The entire region is planned out, and planned in a very unique and different way. If you've come to see skyscrapers, you've come to the wrong place. My plan is to let my region develop "naturally" and as such, everything starts with farms. Farms farms farms. Don't expect much but farms for the first little while. It will take quite a bit of work to actually farm the entire Island, and I will need to farm the entire Island (due to the way demand works) before I can actually start building the first real cities and towns.



INTRO:

Welcome to Dundas Island



The first few (dozen? hundred?) updates will be me showing you exactly "how" I plan to develop the Island, and the 'rules' I will be using to 'guide' development.

I also want to note that I am working with another community on this, and many of the city names come from their members, while others are takes on real-world city names in the area. For example, the capital of PEI is Charlottetown, named after Queen Charlotte. Hence on this Island, the name is Victoria, named after another Queen.





FIRST UPDATE:

After a few hours of work, I have this

though I admit, I've not been paying full attention, as, I have been watching videos.
Right now I'm claiming each tile, naming it, and filling it to the brim with trees. This matches the state of the real Prince Edward Island when it was first found by explorers from Europe.

The process will continue, with more tiles being named and claimed until I'm satisfied the coverage is adequate; at that time, I'll start filling them all with farms, and, at that juncture, be able to better explain how I'm planning to carry this forward.

The current process is as follows

Open tile.
Smooth tile.
Fill with trees.
Claim and Name.
Set to use all building styles at once.
Save and exit.
Repeat.

This has stopped because I've run out of names. I'll consult with the community (that I mentioned earlier) and as well look at my usual list of names for cities (Eglinton, Lawrence, Dundas, Kipling, Islington, Etobicoke) most of which come from the Greater Toronto Area, where I used to live.

Teddy

#5
Thank you for the above posts. If I'm allowed to start with a triple, that'd be best. I didn't expect responses this quickly.

As for JPEG, I'll see what I can do. This should not be a problem. I'd prefer not to do so, but, I can live with doing it.

I'd also like to share that I live in Rural Canada, and my download speed is about 6, so I do understand limited speeds, but I also knew, as short as a few years ago, Americans who were forced on dial up, as that's all they had, and my father lives in a dial-up only area as well.

Also, I am not expecting to reach 1K posts in a month, or even a year. Rather this is my way of saying that it will take me a lot to commit to finishing (I have a bad habit of not finishing things)

Lastly, I will edit this post to be the final in a triple-post after the first update (which should be soon)


EDITED TO ADD

a mini update. I started our first town.


This is the result of the first few settlers arriving.

As you can see, after some time, they've built themselves a little parliament


APSMS

I'd only add that minimizing the UI (either the button in the bottom left corner, or use NUM LOCK, which is the Keyboard shortcut) and using a water mod would be the best ways to enhance the pictures and still maintain that mostly vanilla experience. The default water is terrible, even though the terrain textures are not, and tend to spoil more of the image than it should.

Keep in mind the double posting rule was designed to prevent spammers seeking to top the rankings because MDs are ranked by post count. Typically, if no one has commented and it's been three days or so, it's more than fine to double post with new content. Just feel it out, and test the waters; there's no reason to feel restricted, and exceptions can be made in extreme circumstances, as long as communication remains open. The staff at SC4Devotion are willing to work with you as long as you work with them, and I think you've seen this; just keep it up and you'll do fine.

For the same reason, it's frowned upon to reply to every single comment with another post, which is why most MDs (and CJs) combine replies into a single post, to avoid irking the moderators and site managers by artificially bumping their Journals to the top of the ranking pool.
Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.

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compdude787

Nice start so far! Natural growth regions can always be quite fun!
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Last updated: March 5, 2017

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