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Commonwealth of Marathon

Started by thundercrack83, November 05, 2008, 02:08:19 PM

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art128

Fantastic picture Dustin, Very realistic  &apls I like the fog effect , It's very well done  :thumbsup: The terraforming of the island is perfect, you have spent a lot of time to make the cast ! It's perfect !!
Can't wait to see more development my friend ,
Arthur
I'll take a quiet life... A handshake of carbon monoxide.

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bat

Fantastic teaser there! And looking forward to a new update... ;)

Simpson

Really fine teaser my friend, your city is looking very good. And also very fine effect  &apls
My new city is now here
The région of Kaikoura

Teaser of Lopsas[+ How did I do it?]:Lopsas

thundercrack83

#43



kimcar: Hi! Thank you for your great comment! The terraforming was a bit of work, but I'm happy with the result! Hope to see you again, my friend!

Pat: Yessir, the teasin' game seems to be the way to go!

Earth quake: Hello! Thank you so much!

Arthur (art128): Hi, Arthur! I appreciate your words and your support very much, my friend!

bat: Look forward no more—it's here!

Simpson: Thank you, my friend!





UPDATE 2
See—Walls!
9 November 2008

So, the question has been asked by our good friend Owen (Yoman):

Quote from: Yoman on November 06, 2008, 03:27:41 PM
... Any idea what seawalls you are going to use?

And also our good friend Carmine (CarmineHilton):

Quote from: CarmineHilton on November 07, 2008, 03:50:06 AM
...

Can't wait to see what's up next =) embankments?

In an effort to help answer these questions, and also due to my stumbling—rather fortuitously, given the aforementioned questions—upon a little issue, I've decided to preempt was was supposed to be my original Update 2 with this new Update 2.

So, let's dive in, shall we? This is Tile E, according to the Blueprint Map...([Ctrl]+G! [Ctrl]+G!)...




Here's a look at the eastern shore of Marathon Island.




Currently, I have four different seawalls in my Plugin folder. This first set is the Shore Conforming Seawalls by jeronij...




I am a huge fan of these seawalls! However, for this current application, I think they may be a bit too industrial. So we move on to...




...the JS Seawalls by jaystimson, available on the STEX.

While I quite like these walls, as well, I must admit that I'm not too crazy about a tree at each tile. So, we keep going.




Here, we have the JRJ Breakwater Set, also by jeronij. These are great seawalls, too—but, alas! There are no diagonals, so they cannot be employed here.

Finally, we come to my choice...




...the Marrast Embankment Set by marrast. They are versatile, they have both orthogonal and diagonal, and they seem to fit the overall "feel" that I'm going for.

So there they are—I hope you like my choice of seawalls! Though, if there are any other walls available that I have overlooked, please let me know, and I'll give them a shot.

I also stated that I ran into a bit of an issue when shopping for seawalls. Let's rewind a second to...




...Marathon Island's eastern shore once again.

When originally formulating my plan for the island, I didn't take into account the effect that the height from the island level to the ledge at seawall would have on the retaining walls.




See? The switchback (That's what I would call them, anyway!) staircase doesn't even reach the ground, and as for the normal one, it's about as close to 90° as a staircase can be. I wouldn't want to try walking up them!

So, solution? Well, I found two. But first, some more terraforming. Breaking out the Level Terrain tool...




I begin to create a wider ledge around the island.






You can see where I went a little too close on the diagonal. I hit the avenue place-holder.

Now for the solutions.






Through the use of the Ground Lifter tool, which is part of the Hole Digging Lots package by smoncrie, we raise things up a bit, and get this:




Solution One—a terraced approach.

And for the second...




Solution Two—a gentler slope.

Solution Two does have a few caveats, I'm afraid.






Neither of the larger staircases work with this approach, they don't seem to line up. And for the smaller, one-tile ones...




To line the stairs up, the walls from the top of the stairs break up the continuity, as the blue circle indicates.

So, what does all of this mean, exactly?

Well, I'm leaning towards the terraced approach of Solution One, but the jury is still out. Does anyone else have an opinion? Or perhaps a solution to the issues in Solution Two?

I'd love to hear from you!

Simpson

Wow, this new update is perfect my friend
Your terraforming is really excelent, the last picture is very beautiful. Fantastic work
And also I'm looking forward to the next update
My new city is now here
The région of Kaikoura

Teaser of Lopsas[+ How did I do it?]:Lopsas

Jmouse

Hey Dustin, congratulations on your grand entrance to the Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad world of MDing! That first update is fascinating and tells me something about how you'll approach the overall idea of city design and building. Those first few photos look great, too, so I can tell that following Marathon will be an exciting experience.

Later...
Joan

CarmineHilton

Well, you could re-lot the stairs and save it under a different name so that you have the stairs that have the small fence on top and a staircase that fits in the middle...
Anyway, I'm sure you'll come up with something :)

Can't wait for your next update, Dustin!!



xo

Sheep49

Good update! Glad you've chosen Marrast's seawalls. They're really universal :D

Now, to your problem... (I can post my opinion, right? :P)
I would choose the first option. It looks really nice, clean and realistic. I think, though, that you should make several lots for the middle way, so that it won't be so repetitive and pretty boring. ;)

BTW, where can I find those retaining walls if I may ask you that question? Help would be highly appreciated ;D

Good work Dustin! I'm anxious about what you're going to prepare now... Maybe some downtown shots? :D
Piotr
Polish support forum - Cafe Poland * SC4Wiki! * My BATting thread

I am he, as you are he, as you are me and we are all together... - I Am The Walrus, The Beatles

rooker1

Great update Dustin.
I like all the retaining walls that you experimented with and adding in the links to them was a fantastic idea. (Piotr  ::) )
I have found myself using several different ones in my MD, even next to each other sometimes.  All it takes is a little tinkering around to see which ones will work for you.
This MD seems to be moving at full steam.  I can't wait for the next update.
Robin  :thumbsup:
Call me Robin, please.

metarvo

The terraced approach looks best in this situation, IMHO.  At least the stairs line up correctly this way.  As far as terraforming goes, I am in the process of doing some myself, in a new city tile.  It sure is hard, though.  That's why I have a lot of respect for what you are doing, Dustin. :thumbsup:
Find my power line BAT thread here.
Check out the Noro Cooperative.  What are you waiting for?  It even has electricity.
Want more? Try here.  For even more electrical goodies, look here.
Here are some rural power lines.

turtle

Very nice update. I would go for the terrassed version as well. Would it be possible to only have the terrasses where you need the staircases? I don't have much experience in using these walls, so maybe this is a stupid question? Anyways, it would give some variations to the uniformity of the walls to do this.
My name is Thomas...

Yoman

Hey Dustin,

I think I may have another set of seawalls that might prove useful. http://blog.livedoor.jp/gurry/

Hope that helps, and I like Solution number two, but I think number one will be more versatile and would work better :P.

Owen

Earth quake

Wow, excellent work Dustin, really impressive and more realistic :thumbsup:
I like the terraforming. :thumbsup:
Nice Update My friend.  &apls

kimcar

Very interesting again how you build it. Great choice of seawalls and embakment too. Like some i do prefer solution one , it`s more realistic that way. Looking very good btw &apls &apls

emilin

Hi Dustin!

I didn't notice that you started this journal untill now. Sorry about that.

I must say that I think you really have something great going on here. I very much like these in detail description of the building process. And your skills are undeniable. &apls &apls

I don't really have an opinion on the different seawall solutions... but my initial thought was that you should try MAS retaining walls for longer slopes (it might be solution no 4 if they work out as I think they will).

Anyways, good luck with the continuing work on Marathon (great name, by the way), and I'll be following this with great interest...

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NASCAR_Guy

The Terraced approach is your best choice.
Show us what you look like http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=1142.0

Just call me Dave

bat

Nice work on these walls! And it looks good now! ;)

Looking forward to the next update, Dustin...

art128

#57
great terraforming Dustin, It's excellent  &apls good choice of seawalls  :thumbsup: By my opinion , I chose the first solution, but i think the terraced approach should be bigger  ;) but it's my opinion  ;D
looking forward to the development of the island !
Arthur

BTW, 1500th post =D
I'll take a quiet life... A handshake of carbon monoxide.

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thundercrack83




Simpson: Thanks so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it! Come on back!

Joan (Jmouse): Hi, Joan, and welcome! It is indeed a "Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," isn't it? Though, I can't seem to find Milton Berle anywhere—Or Phil Silvers, or Mickey Rooney, or Ethel Merman! Thanks for stopping in, Joan, and for your support, not only here, but everywhere!

Carmine (CarmineHilton): Hey, Carmine! Re-lotting them is definitely an option! I'll have to look into that. Thanks for your help!

Piotr (Sheep49): Thanks for your insight, Piotr, and your kind words!

Robin (rooker1): Hello, Robin! There are a lot of options for the retaining walls, I may have to take up your idea of using different ones! Thanks for stopping by, my good friend!

metarvo: Hey! As I said, I'm leaning for the terraced approach, too. Good luck with your terraforming, too!

turtle: Only use the terraces where there is stairs...that's a fine idea! I going to play around with that! Thanks so much!

Owen (Yoman): Hi, Owen! I've got the walls by Gurry in the queue for download—I'll check them out and take some pictures. Thanks for your suggestions and support, my friend!

Earth quake: Thank you!

kimcar: Another vote for solution one! Thanks so much!

Emil (emilin): Hello, and welcome, my friend! I am deeply honored to have you stop by here and give your support! Your words mean so much to me! Hope to see you here again!

NASCAR_Guy: I think so, too—Thanks for stopping by!

bat: Thank you, bat!

Arthur (art128): Bigger terrace, that could work in places, too! Thanks for your suggestion, and congratulations on your 1500th post!




Boy, so many great suggestions for the seawalls, I've got a lot of ideas to work through now. But, no matter which direction I head, there's a pretty big obstacle I'm going to have to endeavour...




We'll endeavour somewhere I've never endeavoured before...(not at length. anyway)...Next update!

Thanks again for coming by!

Pat

Dustin fantastic update and I soo cant wait to see what you do with the LE!!!!  :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

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