The City & County of Honolulu

[Battlecat]

Sounds like you've got good plans ahead!  You really are doing a full scale gutting of the city, can't wait to see how it starts looking once you really get going! 

[Tomas Neto]

Reading what you plan to do, I believe that you have a good deal of work, and certainly we will see a phenomenal job! I'll be here to accompany your project!!! 

[Nanami]

Nice plan. I looking forward for the real work.

[amapper]

Looking forward to your progress on this project.

[emgmod]

Nice job with the terraforming. I really have no idea how far above I am from sea level. Where are you finding this information?

[sumwonyuno]

I assume you've noticed the name change.  From now on, I will be referencing places by their real names.  It's quite unwiedly to constantly need to use two names for a location.  Since I'm redoing everything in the region to be more like real life, might as well use the real names.  The Capitalis chapters will keep their proper nouns.



All of the development in several city tiles have been demolished.  I did not obliterate because I did not want to lose information on where the roadways have been.  The congestion view is helpful to put roadways back in where I want to.  This is a time-saving measure, as I don't have to constantly switch back and forth between SimCity and Google Earth to gauge relative distances among the roadways.



Not all roadways are exactly where they were before.  I've moved and modified the roadways to the south of Punchbowl Crater.  This area is skewed since I have to conform to the game grid.



I've modified the slopes of Punchbowl Crater to be less jagged and cover more area.  It doesn't look so imposing anymore.





***Replies***

Battlecat:  The gutting has begun!   

Tomas Neto, 976, amapper:  Thanks, I know you all will enjoy what I'm planning to do, and I hope it will exceed all of your expectations! 

emgmod:  The nearby address you gave me is 105m (344 feet) above sea level.  Your elevation is higher than the height of many buildings in town.  I'm using Google Earth.

[Battlecat]

I think it's appropriate to have the new name since you're putting so much work into the recreation!  Good start there, I didn't realize that the traffic patterns persist when you bulldoze.  That'll save you a lot of time rebuilding the new road network! 

I think the modified version of the Punch Bowl looks pretty good, it doesn't look as abrupt as the old version on the aerial imagery.  That's pretty subjective though, but I'm looking forward to seeing your interpretation! 

[Nanami]

Nice!
I saw you change the name of MD, it will make this MD more realistic.

[Tomas Neto]

A lot of work you are having now, but I'm sure that will be all fantastic soon! To follow the development of your project will be fabulous!!! 

[KoV Liberty]

Oh I love it! This MD will be more great than it was before!

[sumwonyuno]

Try to find what's special in the picture below:



Here's a bigger hint:



Yes, I've successfully retextured a bus!  To be more specific, I've retextured the NYBT NYC MTA New Flyer bus from the STEX.  Credit goes to Gwail for the model.

TheBus is the public bus service for the entire island of O'ahu.  Oahu Transit Services is a private company contracted by the City to run TheBus.  TheBus fleet has over 500 buses servicing almost 100 routes.  There are a variety of manufacturers and bus lengths that make up the fleet.  Here is an picture of the #57 bus out in Waimanalo:



This bus a different model than what is in the game, but let's just pretend that TheBus has bought that model.

There is a rainbow paint scheme, and I'm working on that.  I need to figure out how to make another working bus instance.



There are articulated buses, and I need to find a correct model first...

Now, forget the last update.  After days of debating with myself, I've decided to scrap the idea of using the old terrain and congestion view.  It wasn't an easy decision to make.  The problem lies with the game grid and how the road network is aligned in real life.

Here is how Capitalis looked:



Here is an O'ahu map from the STEX (with incorrect elevations):



As you can see, the northwest part of Capitalis is fairly accurate.  As you go south and east, the region is skewed.  I was having many problems as the result of legacy decisions back in Capitalis.  As an example, I've obliterated city tiles to flush out the eternal commuters.  So, if I was going to destroy the development, it left me free to do whatever I want with terrain.  If I could do whatever I want with terrain, I could put the landforms in better relation to real life.

The downside is that Downtown was east-west before, but now it's going to be northwest-southeast.  It's either that, or the rest of the island at a compensating angle.  Since I'm BATing virtually all development, I could possibly make things to graphically fit with 45 degree roadways.  30 degrees is a whole other nightmare...  As a tentative plan, I'll be working on the rural areas first.  I'll progress toward Downtown-Waikiki.  This gives me more time to work on diagonal development.

I know it all sounds insane, but at the very least, I'd like to get more area of the island to be like real life.  If I'm only able to do the rural areas, that's fine.  If I can get the urbanized areas too, then  .

I have started to take the region apart.  By the time you read this, it's already out of date.





Note:  I've started to put the legacy chapter pictures on Photobucket.  If you weren't able to see them before, hopefully now you'll be able to.  I'll be doing this whenever I can, one chapter at a time.

***Replies***

Battlecat:  Well, there goes that strategy...  The congestion view stays there until you unpause the game.  The craters on the southern shore should all look much better if I ever get to them.

976:  Thanks, I certainly hope it all gets closer to real life. 

Tomas Neto:  Heh, more and more and more work to do now!  I'm sure you'll enjoy what's coming along.  Though I don't think my rural areas will be as beautiful as yours! 

Driftmaster07:  I'm glad you do!  I certainly know it will be better than before. 

[KoV Liberty]

It looks great!

[Nexis4Jersey]

cool update , are you going to use Cycledoggs terrain mod?

[emgmod]

Congratulations, you learned to reskin something faster than I did. That region view looks messed up, but I'm sure that it's all going to end in a nice, finished project.

[ecoba]

Oh my gosh, the level of detail and accuracy you're putting into everything is really amazing, sumwunyuno.

Can't wait to see some more work from you soon!

Ethan

[Battlecat]

Nice touch adding in TheBus!  It has a pretty distinct style and I just love the name! 

Looks like you've got some dramatic plans for the entire island, looks like you've got a lot of work ahead to bring it to fruition!  I'm looking forward to seeing what you've got on the way!

[Tomas Neto]

Wow my friend, awesome update!!! 
I'll keep watching every development of your MD, because I know I'll see great updates!!

[Nanami]

Nice. The region view just like mine(weird). ^_^

[rooker1]

Another very interesting MD with a mix of real life pics and ingame ones.  There is no wonder for me why you will be spending this month in OSITM.



Congratulations from myself and The SC4D Staff!

[Battlecat]

Congratulations on your OSITM!