The Winding River Project

[bat]

Welcome to page 65!

Looking forward to more of these nice farms...

[mrbisonm]

Thank you guys, glad to see you all again, and thanks for the birthday wishes......oh my... another year just passed.



Update 75
             


Thursday, June 8th, 1967
                           Today on this date ... then:

-
- 793 – Vikings raid the abbey at Lindisfarne in Northumbria, commonly accepted as the beginning of the Scandinavian invasion of England.
- 1776 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Trois-Rivières – American attackers are driven back at Trois-Rivières, Quebec.
- 1967 – Six-Day War: The USS Liberty incident occurs, killing 34 and wounding 171.
- 2008 – The Akihabara massacre takes place in the Akihabara shopping quarter in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan
- 1940 – Born: Nancy Sinatra, American singer
- 632 –  Died: Muhammad, Prophet of Islam

[/size]


«« "I have seen a lot of green spaces all over Simland, but this is more than I could have imagined, it is just marvelous. Never would I have thought to see this out here in the Ganoga wilderness." Westwood couldn't help saying as soon as they got out into the open after a day's walk through dense forest.
They all had a difficult day today, crossing the deepest forests ever known to them. But the Ganoga Boys, now known all over town, made it, they finally arrived on the westside of the great marshlands, three quarters down south. They're back on their planned trail. Here the swamps are in full bloom of all kinds of flowering bush and small trees. Of course, it is June 8th, the flowering season, but the beauty of it passes beyond realism.
"Why are there so many flowers out here, while back in the Access and Grasslake areas we only have few of these," asked Charlie and looking at Westwood as if he knew the answer.
"It must be the climate here, protected by the stoke mountains or something", answered Pat Westwood, still looking around the bay filled with tiny islands painted with flowers.
"My father told me that they have a lot of warmwater springs in the area, keeping the whole climate warmer out here during the winter than anywhere else. He said that it can be seen from an airplane while flying over the area during the wintermonths. There's a lot of fog here during the cold months." replies Diarmuid McGormain, being amazed by the show also.
Charlie, "I know that not many have been courageous enough to fly over the area alone, maybe except my father and Gibson, but I once heard my father also mention that there's  alot of steaming springs in this region in the winter, which can be easily seen. When I was younger  I flew over this area with my father, we fished nearby, Uncle Mike was there too, but that was in the summer, like today."
"Uncle Mike?", asked Diarmuid, all surprized looking at his longtime buddy. "Mike Allheimer is not your uncle.!"
"Anyways, I have been calling him that eversince I was born, he's my father's best friend." Charlie added and pointed down to the little peninsula ahead of them, " There's a nice place to drop our camp, I'm bushed."»»

75.01


And everyone headed into the direction of the little protruding rock that reaches out into the lake.
It took them 3 days more than expected to get here, but finally the planned trail around the Ganoga wilderness was picked up again. Now they have to contour the lake's southern end and then head northward alongside all the lakes that are on their way to the bridge where they end their journey maybe in two weeks.

75.02


They were all tired from the day's walk and camp didn't take long to get placed. I'm sure that the snoring of each one of them was heard all over the valley, keeping bears and other predators surely away. Even the fire was left to go to sleep, which usually is kept alive the whole night. The nights are dark out here and tonight was one of those darker nights, leaving no lights except for the stars which could have easily be counted.

75.03


Very early the next morning, Westwood was the first to get up and he was again amazed at the sight he confronted while coming out of his tent. Flowers were everywhere still covered with little drops of liquid crystals from the dew it seemed. They camped closer to the water than they thought, not having realized it last night. The water is clean and clear and Pat grabbed the teapot to get some of that fresh looking water only a few feet away for the morning coffee. The fire was lighted by Cliff Dubold, who became the second to come out of the tent, also having stared at the wild beauty that surrounded them first.
««" Hey Pat", he yelled out, surprized that no echo was heard, "Did anyone get some firewood last night?"
"No, we were all too tired, remember?" Westwood answered while filling the pot to the rim with that fresh looking water and making sure that those small minnows didn't become a part of the morning coffee.
" Oh sh**," could be heard in the tents by the others who slowly woke up after Cliff yelled out for the wood. " Why is it always me", Cliff mumbled and went off to find some dry wood nearby.
"Anyone saw my teabags?" were the last words heard by Diar before breakfast was served.»»

75.04


After the good breakfast the boys decided not to go around the southend of the lake, realizing how little wide the lake was here and which surely would have taken two more days. They had a closer look at the surroundings and were looking for a good path. Everything they saw left them stunning, not realizing that they are probably the first of simkind that has ever set foot on these precious looking grounds.

75.05


75.06


75.07


They found a place close by the camp where the crossing will be quite easy with no deep water and only a very short distance to the other shore. This is where the whole 30 mile long lake is the narrowest, luckily for them. They will be hopping from a mini island to another and then to a pile of boulders to cross the lake to the eastside. On the other side they could see that the forest was not getting easier to walk through, since from this side of the banks it looked like a solid green impenetrable wall.
The journey was undertaken right after Westwood called in by radio to give their daily lifesigns and plans of the day to Mr Gabber. Steve Gibson was the one who answered, having the radio while Gabber was in Frampton in his office. They made plans to meet in two days somewhere on the east lakeside to deliver  merchandise which is soon needed and Steve mentioned a storm warning for tomorrow with rough winds and said that it was impossible to fly over the region while it is windy.

75.08


Now let's go back to civilization and just have a small visit to and around the towncenter of Access.
Kohler buslines opened their first buscentral in town, just behind the shopping mall. the perfect place for it. This is the regional terminal of his buslines, offering 38 more new jobs with a total of 16 busses now that run Access, Sandom and Bluebay and one long distance to and back from Frampton. A new station in Goosebay, a small fishing village north of Bluebay, will soon get its bustation also. The bus already runs through this tiny village, but only stops at the local general store for 5 minutes, well, the only store that is, since the village has only about 130 citizens.
After having spent thousands of §'s for the garage and his new busparking behind the Gabber Center (arena) and having bought out the regional schoolbus buissness lately, Tom Kohler is now up to his neck in debts with this new mainstation, only hoping that everything will work out as it is planned. Tom is still running his taxi, which by now his wife, Jessica Parker, manages.

75.09


With all the civil and criminal pursuits these days, new law offices were built right in downtown, where once an older commercial clothing store stood that moved to the new commercial park near the highway in Valmore. Two super-modern looking small 10 story high office buildings now look over the old downtown and offer a dozen or so lawyers and prosecuters to present and defend Access's laws. The downtown is getting old, some say, especially Mayor Bartlett has been keeping a sharp eye on it. Don't tell me he will be wanting to do changes here also?

75.10


The Access road, Sandom road and Mainstreet intersection right in the middle of downtown, now has a new hamburger stand. Our Fastfood baron, Michael Truex from Frampton now has his second Mr Burger in town and is about to find a spot in the Valmore area of town for a third one. Truex wants to become the king of burgers in the Winding River Valley one day. Well started, Mike.

75.11


Well, what you see below will soon be gone. The whole area, including the shopping ctr, the bank, the Co-op and some other buildings which have become part of the historical town will soon be torn down. The shopping Center has moved to Valmore near the highway and is now 3 times bigger. This area will be an office Center, as planned some 4 years ago. Even Barby's Biergarten new owner is about to ask himself to sell or not to, only one year after he bought it from Barby. Prices are good for landlots in the middle of downtown at this time, which is about to become the center of attraction again with all those new developments around.

75.12


Another buissness man we haven't heard from lately, is Nethaniel Wellington and his Clubfoods which he has again extended with another store in the southwest of town, now covering most of Access with his foodservices. Wellington is a well known buissnessman in town by now, always investing his profits into more profitables. Some are jealous of him, seeing the man expanding into all four directions and slowly becoming THE man of Foods. Now owning three Bake n' sales, one Clubfood and one Simfood Market store, he also owns a big lot in Phloxsince 5 years and one in Valmore that he bought last year, just beside the new shopping Center. Neth plans his future ahead of time. Already closing in on his 40th birthday, Wellington is still living alone in his red appartment block on Mainstreet beside the old church and his first Bake n' Sale, way too busy to find a partner.

75.13


Near the Hydrodam on Fingerlake, a small incident of a 8 year old kid falling off the walls into the maindrinkwater tank for the town, has stirred up the question of security around the area. The kid was saved. The director of the Drinkingwater plant and hydrodam promissed to revise the whole area and see what can be done, but already mentioned that he might as well seal off everything contouring the Hydro Company's property to the public once and for all, which does not seem to please the public, the tourists, nor the mayor and his council. Security first he says. Tourism is only a secondary matter.
Well, that's the way it goes. It takes one incident and then everything will be changed and secured while freedom is slowly diminishing for everyone.

75.14


Also at the hydrodam, this time below the dam, the area was permanently closed today for all those sports anglers and fishermen that came here on saturdays and sundays to spend some time enjoying the pleasures of being away from their daily stress, leaving behind a lot of mad fishermen. The danger of taking other changes to get a new incident like the 8 year old boy is about to be eliminated. Some folks say that their freedom around Access is getting more and more limited and restrained, seeing that more and more places are closing to public access.

75.15


This week a special award was given to the owners of the Access Wine producers, which were chosen this year for the goldmedal for the best tasting wine of Simland. The Vineyard is on the other side of highway 15 near the new hospital, the only farmland that is still well and alive in the town of Access. Their vines grow on the southside of the beginning of the hills, which makes them just perfect for the growth of the grapes.
Maybe it is because of the nearby official dumpsite of Access, that have the grapes give their special taste, some smarta**es say.
The Yard belongs to the Streicher family, which originally came from Strassbourg in Alsace/France (former Germany). They were one of the first to establish a wine producing farm in this area back in the fifties and have brought along the family knowledge of centuries of winemaking. Now well known and appreciated all over Simland also, the Streicher family has started another big plantation (vineyard) in the nearby hills of southern Access. More than 2000 little saplings were planted this spring.

75.16


And now for some "smalltalk" and/or rumours in town.
- Johnny B.Badd was hold in the townprison for 48 hrs last week, having driven a car and causing an accident while being drunk in downtown Access. At the same town he was interogated for having been seen with some smalltown drugdealers by the underground police inspectors of town. Now that he knows he is being watched, or let's say, his vendors are on the policelist, Johnny decided to change plans again and come up with something more secure for him. We will hear about this sometime soon.

- Although Alex Puto greatly denies all these rumours with Katie Panskyy, it was proven that he spends more time with his girlfriend now than on his work, even sleeping over at her place more often than at home. Alex is definitively in love, no doubt anymore.

- A man in Bordertown, north of Simland, got fired just because he received an electrical shock while reparing a broken phone in a private home and which burnt down the house. Having worked for this phone Company for more than 10 years, he was surprized to be fired because of an accident like this which was not his fault at all. The man packed his things and moved out of town immediatly, some say that he found a job in Sandom, which has the local phone company of Access also.

- George Westwood, Pat's twin brother, was elected today as the president of a new organization, the Access Historical Conservation Association.(AHCA) His time guarding and renovating the old little first church of Access brought him the possibility to become one of Access's first historical Conservative VIP.

- Greg Badger today changed his life while leaving the fulltime army and get incorporated into the reserve army only. This way he will have more time for his veggies and fruits, he says, which are taking more and more of his time. He was also seen earlier this morning at the bank in Access, holding a loancontract in his hands.

And for the last and not least news of the Winding River Region, a new village was today officially named, the fourth municipality in the Winding River Region. Holland has grown from a few farms to a village of about 200 in the last two years. It has the biggest sheepfarm around and some turkey and chicken farms that hire a good part of the population. The village started to grow slowly some 5 years ago, when a feedmill was built in the vicinity. Today they asked for independance and the Administrtaion Office in Lakestead granted their demand to become a new independant municipality.
Holland is very scenic, just below the Mount Totem in the Maybee County in the upper left of the regional map.
Maybe one day a nice hotel will find its way to the area, that also holds one of the highest small waterfalls already known as the Totemfalls. Only a small hikingtrail gives access to the wonderfall cold water falls, which also offers a great view of the winding river and the whole flats of Access. We get to that later.

75.17


The county of Maybee, named after the immense quantity of bees found in the area during the warm month of May, still has a lot of forests, some of them hard to reach for the moment. The village is the highest situated municipality of the region so far.

75.18


Again, that's it, hope you enjoyed the story and/or the pictures. I will shortly be back with more of the regional news and developments around Access. We also get to see some new places, such as Holland and its scenic mountainfalls and a place called Brokentree, that is out in the east somewhere where the highway 15 is about to hit solid land again after the Ganoga bridges and continue towards the neighboring region, plus three new characters coming to town. Bob Mangarten from Bordertown (new to Simland), Anne Bradley from Goosebay and Dirk Kujit from Kujit in the Nardician Isles will become part of the story. (the last two places can be found on the link below)

Have a nice weekend

Fred


Complete Simland's Map as reference to find the details, towns and regions of the Winding River Story (all white rectangles represent a region that I have and play with for this MD)

http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/1553/6910simlandmap.png

[NASCAR_Guy]

love the new town Freddie

[threestooges]

I'm not usually one who really likes altered SC4 pictures. The game as it is stands out enough to not need alteration to make it look good. However, the effect that's achieved in 75.07 really works for me. The details that fill the area seem to be enhanced by the angle of the image.

Sorry to see the dam area closing off to the public, but then again, I'm not sure I'd want to be eating the fish that live in the waters at the lower end of the dam. That water looks a bit off, even while being fed from the dam.

I like the downtown core in 75.10. It's really changed over the years, and the development looks very natural. Interesting to hear that the incoming crop of attorneys are part of the renovation catalyst. While I'm thinking about it, I'm not sure I recall having seen the courthouse for the area.

Fine month you've spent here for OSITM Fred. Nice work, and I'm looking forward to seeing what's next.
-Matt

[mrbisonm]

NASCAR_Guy, glad to see you again here, starting to wonder.... Thanks.

Hey Matt, thanks for the comment. I never, or let's say hardly ever use special effects on my pictures. What you see in pic 75.01 to 75.07 are the colours of the game, no effects nor any photoshopping (except for the writing.
Like you, I do not see any reason to alter the pics, they look almost better as they come than photoshopped.
I have mentioned once before somewhere that there is a courtroom in the Townhall and a small prison, some cells, in the Police's basement also. The problem of a missing courthouse is on my list for the next update. I heard that the lawyers, prosecutors and judges are starting to nag about the fact that the room inside the townhall is getting a little too small for all the new lawcases coming in. It will be an interesting update and Mayor Bartlett has a foot somewhere in trouble......Hint: Spending the taxmoney for something they don't really need is not always wise, especially when a courthouse and other things are becoming an emergency.

Thanks again.

Fred

[Ramona Brie]

Have you considered the NAM retexture mod? To see your roads as they are reminds me too much of vanilla SC4.

[lak47]

Fantastic update! Thats some of THE best detailing I've seen in a long time! I've got this watermod you're using, and I'm learning how to detail even more, and these pictures of yours are like a lesson in themself 

Holland looks like it could be prime camping area, with all the lovely nature surrounding it.

[rjet13]

Well, I have been a lurker on the forums for awhile, but I just saw the need to respond here.  I have read all of this, and I can say that this is the most detailed MD I've seen for a map of this size.  Even taking the time to draw up the map of the country shows me how dedicated you are to this.  The story line is very creative and unique.  I was wondering if I could have a character in the story?  Maybe you could PM me what I would need to send to have a character added, if that is possible?

[threestooges]

Looking forward to seeing the update. Mayor Bartlett is making some bold moves. Should be interesting to see them all on the table.

As for the pictures, the colors of the game do indeed stand out. Have the perspective/dimensions of the picture been altered? the "viewing angle" as it were, seems a bit different in them from other images.

[mrbisonm]

Maybe you could PM me what I would need to send to have a character added, if that is possible?

A PM with all the info needed to become a godfather/mother of a character in this story has been sent. Welcome to the WRP (Winding River Project)

As for the pictures, the colors of the game do indeed stand out. Have the perspective/dimensions of the picture been altered? the "viewing angle" as it were, seems a bit different in them from other images.

Colours, dimensions, perspectives, nor the angles of these pictures have been altered, but as you say, they look different, now that I myself had a good look at them. Allt hese pictures came right out of the SC4 Album and were, as usual, resized and transformed to jpeg's with irfanview. I guess it might be the colours of these mayorplops or props I was using together with my watertexture who causes this effect.

fred

[Gringamuyloca]

I chuckled to myself when I saw the map in 75.02... looks like the map of my life!   

Sounds like the Ganoga Boys are having quite the adventure and the way you describe it, I think it must be from places you have known in your RL travels.

I agree with threestooges about 75.10 ... it is a fantastic picture with a 'unique' perspective... gotta love 'happy accidents'
and with lak47

Thats some of THE best detailing I've seen in a long time

Along with your engaging writing, another thing I really enjoy about your MD is the fact that you don't photoshop everything.  It's nice to see photos presented 'naturel'.

Sad happenstance out at Finger Lake...

Well, that's the way it goes. It takes one incident and then everything will be changed and secured while freedom is slowly diminishing for everyone.

Strange how the 'safer' we become, the more 'constrictive' life can be.   

I'm loving the sheep farm in Holland... perfect scale in this view for sure!

Thanks for sharing the local gossip...   it's made for a satisfying read on a dreary weekend.

[mrbisonm]

I chuckled to myself when I saw the map in 75.02... looks like the map of my life!   

Well, I don't know if you saw the complete regional map yet, but here are two in x-large sizes, very detailed.

this is a 1965 map, detailed...
http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/2638/1965windingrivervalleyn.png

this is a 1966 map...
http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/8523/wrp1966.png

..and soon a 1967 map will be uploaded.

Talking about maps and regional pictures. This is the regional map of the Capitol City, Lakestead, also giant sized. We talk a lot of it during the story, it is where the Simland Administration Offices are.

http://www.imgnook.com/7FKo.png



Once finished all the regions that take part of this MD, I will upload all the 13 maps, which can be seen on the map (simland) below. Regions that I play in for this MD are in white framed rectangles. There's three missing, not yet finished the regions.
All my regions are totally handmade (tile by tile) and very few (2 only) downloaded and severely terraformed to my likings.

simland map
http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/1553/6910simlandmap.png

The regions that are part of this MD (Winding River Project) are:

- Bluebay
- Snake River Bay
- Nardician Islands
- Goose Bay
- Lakefield
- Winding River (the Main map for this MD)
- Sandom
- Chadelaine
- Isle Lake (which is the source of the Winding River)
- Frampton and Beecherfalls
- Reverant
- Winding River Outlet
- St-Halo and Roy

I am working on an update that should hopefully be ready by the next weekend.
The Ganoga boys will meet Steve Gibson in an unexpected way and who
came and brought supplies with his hydroplane, then Slye is building a railroad? Hm...?
A new road comes in from the east coast (from the Winding River Outlet) through the mountains and 3 4 new characters have their first appearance in the story.
Plus a bonus look at the waterfalls in Holland, just a tiny glimpse though.

Have a nice week and/or vacation
Fred

[bat]

Great 75th update there! And the region(s) are all beautiful!!!
Looking forward to the next update...

[Reikhardt]

Those nature scenes are fantastic. Given me an urge to create some more river scenes myself     

[KoV Liberty]

The story keeps getting better every week, even though I'm more of a lurker now, I'm still around..

Alex

[CabraBuitre]

I love seeing these settlements grow into villages, grow into towns, and now grow into cities!

And still, the natural areas are pristine too!

Keep up the good work!

[NASCAR_Guy]

NASCAR_Guy, glad to see you again here, starting to wonder.... Thanks.

SC4 has been pretty much unplayable for me lately (Keeps crashing after about 5 years in game)

So I haven't had much interest in it lately

[frostwolf]

Is that farmland on the East side of Willow Ponds in the '66 map? Guess that bridge is finally getting finished.

[mrbisonm]

bat, yes, 75 th update already and not even 10 % of the region developped.....hm..... Thanks for leaving a comment.

Reikhardt, if you upload pictures of your river scenes, let me know with a linkie.

KoV Liberty, like I said before, lurker or not, as long as you leave a comment once in awhile, your character Alex Puto and Vito Scaletta will keep on being in the story. Rumours are that Vito has become friends with that Johnny B.Badd....like I said....rumours.... 

CabraBuitre, Thanks, hope you like the way Patrick Westwood has taken the charge of the group that discovers the Ganoga Wilderness.

NASCAR_Guy, I understand, a continous crashing game can be frustrating. It happened to me before and it took me months of gathering the "courage" to decide to make a general clean-up in my plugins to find the problem. Good luck, glad to see though here and there. Racsan will be in the next update, but not always good news make the first page..... Michael Truex however, starts getting his things going. 

frostwolf, Greg Badger is debting himself in, it seems....lol. I wonder what he's up to with all that new land he bought.
Yes, on the 1966 map eastward of the Willow Ponds is some partial farmland, the first year that agriculture is invading the other side of the lakes. Well, it will be said in the next update, if or if not the bridge has been finished, but I know that machinery is already crossing it to start the other bridges on the far end of the Ganoga waters. I included a small glimpse of that area, (picture below) the way it looks now, as of June 1967.

I am on vacation right now, having fun fishing, swimming in the lake, sleeping, eating well etc, then next week, I will be gone for a couple of days for a real vacation (hotel, again doing some fishing, sleeping, eating well and swimming in the pool this time...lol...what a life). But surely after that, an update will be uplaoded with some new characetrs and some "wild" info of the region.
Have a nice week ya all.

Fred

[nbvc]

Great updates. I like the lakes and the hydrodam.