SC4 Devotion Forum Archives

Mitagra
An Island Nation


A word from me:

Right, having played around with CC for a bit now I've decided to take the plunge and make a start on a proper CJ project. Mitiga will still be visited from time to time for random stuff but this will be my main project from now on (hence why its got it's own CJ/MD). The basic premise is a small island nation with mainly Asian and Eastern Block influences, with small pockets from the other countries and areas (mainly Alaska and Canada).

As with Mitiga the tiles will be played on hard with (NAM set to light when I work out how) with plops saved for services, infrastructure and such and what's built is built. Anyway let's get on with it.


An Introduction to Mitagra:

Mitagra is a small island situated north of Japan in the Sea of Othotsk. Slightly smaller than the island of Biliran, this small chain has recently been discovered and settled independently by people from both nations after agreements on ownership couldn't be met. Very rugged and much like Japan itself the island has, as of yet very little going for it and the choice of independence was a necessity to stop arguments rather than a calculated choice.

Still the Mitagrians are determined to make the most of it and several small settlements have been set up around the islands edges eager to stake their claim on the island. As of yet no national flag has been revealed from the islanders, having yet to even set up a capital or administrative centre of the island but once settled were sure things like this will be sorted out.


Entry 1:
Terraforming

Right, this will be one of what will hopefully be only a few completely Out Of Character (OOC) entries. This time regarding the terraforming of the island. Starting out as a 32x18 map this has taken a while to hand terrofrom but is nearly done apart from the rendering (it did shrink a bit mind you as you'll see in a minute).

Done over the last few days what was originally planned to be a large delta style area in South East Russia, the map slowly turned into a small island chain. Below I'm going to post links to images in a sort of time lapse fashion so you can see how the terraforming progressed up tot the point it is at now. Sorry it's hyperlinks but I can't figure out how to post small images as links.

Before we start I would also like to give a big shout out to the guys in ST chat who have put up with me bombarding them with these images over the past few days, pointing out issues and commenting on the map. Thanks guys!

Anyway on to the images:
http://www.majhost.com/gallery/89James89/Mitarga/RandomFiles/mitarga_map_wip_1.png (http://www.majhost.com/gallery/89James89/Mitarga/RandomFiles/mitarga_map_wip_1.png)
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http://www.majhost.com/gallery/89James89/Mitarga/RandomFiles/mitarga_map_wip_3.jpg (http://www.majhost.com/gallery/89James89/Mitarga/RandomFiles/mitarga_map_wip_3.jpg)
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At this point miester1235 told me that the slopes were way to steep so as you can see in the next image, I tried to rectify that.

http://www.majhost.com/gallery/89James89/Mitarga/RandomFiles/mitarga_map_wip_4.jpg (http://www.majhost.com/gallery/89James89/Mitarga/RandomFiles/mitarga_map_wip_4.jpg)
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The next image shows the west side of the island taking shape.

http://www.majhost.com/gallery/89James89/Mitarga/RandomFiles/mitarga_map_wip_6.jpg (http://www.majhost.com/gallery/89James89/Mitarga/RandomFiles/mitarga_map_wip_6.jpg)
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Next we see the sea floor get flattened due to complaints from iampaschal and the blank tiles get removed from the map and rendering started.

http://www.majhost.com/gallery/89James89/Mitarga/RandomFiles/mitarga_map_wip_9.jpg (http://www.majhost.com/gallery/89James89/Mitarga/RandomFiles/mitarga_map_wip_9.jpg)
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Finally this is where I currently am.

http://www.majhost.com/gallery/89James89/Mitarga/RandomFiles/mitarga_map_wip_11.jpg (http://www.majhost.com/gallery/89James89/Mitarga/RandomFiles/mitarga_map_wip_11.jpg)
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Which leads me to the question do I  need to render the rest of the island or shall we just go from here (I have the area I want to start in rendered) .

Anyway that's all for the beginning of this journey. Hope this first entry doesn't put you off, we'll get to some real content soon.

Till then

James

Replies:

Flatron: Thanks, though I kind of redid the map (after rendering it all. I think I like giving myself work to do lol.)

Franku: Thanks though it's changed a bit. I did render it all though.

vester: Apparently to another island but hey, I'll try and get to actual towns soon.

Gugu3: Thanks, development will come I promise!

art128: Thanks though I redid it (see below)

976: Thanks, hopefully you'll enjoy the new one too!



Entry 2:
OOC: More Terraforming


Now I know this update will probably put a few people off and may even annoy some of you but once I'd tried to start playing on the last map I just didn't like it. The mountains were too pointy and I didn't feel that they were incorporated into the surroundings to well (it was basically flat or pointy).

This has led to why there hasn't been any updates this week, basically I decided to try and create a new map. Doing this led to me trying several different ways to create more transitional maps.

First up I tried a wedding cake tiered approach.

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http://www.majhost.com/gallery/89James89/Mitagra/Map1/wip_2.jpg (http://www.majhost.com/gallery/89James89/Mitagra/Map1/wip_2.jpg)

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http://www.majhost.com/gallery/89James89/Mitagra/Map1/wip_5.jpg (http://www.majhost.com/gallery/89James89/Mitagra/Map1/wip_5.jpg)


This worked well and gave me a large amount of control up until the point where I wanted to smooth them out. At this point I realised that without adding a tier for each height level the whole thing just looked too artificial.

Back to the drawing board.

Next up comes the map I'm currently working on. Deciding that using a tiered approach didn't work too well I decided to change it up and use the Steep Hill tool at a low strength to create a rugged landscape. Slowly through input from chat and my preferences the map below has emerged and is where I am at currently.

Starting off with a vague and bumpy shape I started to lay out low areas for settlements. You can also see my start a mountain off randomly on the map.
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http://www.majhost.com/gallery/89James89/Mitigra/Map1/wip_1.jpg (http://www.majhost.com/gallery/89James89/Mitigra/Map1/wip_1.jpg)

After getting some feedback ianpaschal showed me the wonders of Fractal mountain ranges and I went a bit crazy adding a long snaking one cutting the island in half.
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http://www.majhost.com/gallery/89James89/Mitigra/Map1/wip_2.jpg (http://www.majhost.com/gallery/89James89/Mitigra/Map1/wip_2.jpg)

At which point it was pointed out that I may have gone a bit to mad with it and the snaking didn't make any sense with the shape of the island. Out came the valley tool and a while later I had  a island that followed the ridge more or less.
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http://www.majhost.com/gallery/89James89/Mitigra/Map1/wip_4.jpg (http://www.majhost.com/gallery/89James89/Mitigra/Map1/wip_4.jpg)

This final image shows where I'm at currently as I slowly make my way around the island adding details and ruggedness to the shoreline and mountain range.
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http://www.majhost.com/gallery/89James89/Mitigra/Map1/wip_5.jpg (http://www.majhost.com/gallery/89James89/Mitigra/Map1/wip_5.jpg)


So there's the first update on the region. Sorry if the terraforming is boring for you I will get to the cities soon, I just want to make sure that if I plan to spend ages on the region that I'm really happy with the map.


Till next time where we'll hopefully see the finished map.

James

NOTE: Please ignore the random green flat tiles. SC4 mapper decided it disliked some of the tiles and wiped them for some reason.

Replies:

vortext: I have considered it but as you pointed out, I enjoy the whole terraforming and region creation process so using a pre-made one, of which there are tonnes of lovely ones (much better than my attempts anyway), would feel a bit like I was cheating. I don't know if that explained it well but you can probably get where I was coming from.

On another note though I've changed the MD up a little bit as you'll notice with a smaller map for now. Hope you enjoy it all the same, there's actual in game pictures of a village/town this time lol.




OOC Introduction

Right, there's been a bit of a change to the CJ/MD. Basically its changing to a region, not unlike Mitiga but with a more detailed back story and (hopefully) general feel to it. Now I know many of you will wonder what happened to the maps I've spent the last couple of weeks working on and there still there, waiting for me to come along and build something on them but for now, the urge to build something small came upon me and this was born.

Having created a small map on a whim more than anything, I've decided that it would be nice to try and emulate my most successful CJ/MD, Principality Of Tantico. With this in mind I've made a small map (12x8 pixels) to build this on. This will share the basic principle of the island nation I originally proposed for this thread, primarily being a Russian/Asian nation. It's located on the east coast of Russia (east of Nakhodka) and will be developed naturally and hopefully provide a fun and interesting project for both you and me.



The City State of Marinko


An Introduction

Welcome all to the City State of Marinko, a newly formed state on the eastern coast of Russia, protruding into the Sea of Japan this small piece of land, measuring approx 72 square km recently gained independence from Russia on account of the fact that there isn't a lot there. Despite the area only having a small settlement at the moment a number, its still home to a multitude of nationalities, including Russian, Chinese, Japanese and a few other European nationalities. Anyway lets get into the actual City State, starting with the national flag and an overview of the actual state. (OOC: I've only got the basic map at the moment as there's not much in the region)

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Entry 1: Settling Marinko

Right let's get right into taking a look at the actual town of Marinko. Founded on the site of a small sheltered inlet, the first and currently only settlement in Marinko, is solely reliant on a small ferry and dirt tracks unsuitable for almost any vehicle, to access the outside world. Though with a population of around 1,150 this isn't too much of an issue at the moment.

The small town itself is concentrating on becoming self sufficient at the moment with most of the industry concentrated on agriculture and fishing. There are a few factories to provide the small state with a few exportable resources but generally, the state keeps itself to itself at the moment as it grows fairly quickly.

Anyway let's take a look at a few images of the town, starting with the site before settlement started.

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A year down the line and this is what it looked like. You can see the important ferry port in the centre and the farm's slowly spreading outwards.

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Recreation wasn't too hard to come by, what with the pebble beaches along the shoreline, a popular place to spend a lazy day.

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Having quickly found out that the area around Marinko wasn't exactly the flattest land to be found, housing started to spread itself out a bit as slopes were encountered. Missing religion, the Russian side of the towns folk had this Orthodox church of St Peter (the decided to patron saint of Marinko) built on an flat are on one of the slopes overlooking the small housing area.

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Several years later the population is as it stands today, around 1,150 people. Despite the small size they do have the basic's there. There's a small volunteer fire department and health clinic and a couple of shops. There's also the current government building sat on top of the cliff overlooking the ferry port. A small but integral part for the growth of the state.

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Finally I leave you with this peaceful scene. A small ford cuts through a stream as a path is cleared through the trees to make more room for the demanded agriculture. Looks like someones taking the opportunity to do a spot of recreational stream fishing though.

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Hope you enjoyed your visit to the budding little state of Marinko and we hope you'll pop back soon to see us.

Till then

James

Replies:

kergelen:Thanks. Yer it is more suited and there's nothign stopping me from developing one of the other maps somewhere down the line. We'll have to see.


The City State Of Marinko Fact File

OOC Fact File Introduction:

Well this is going to be a series of fact files about the city state itself. This will most likely pertain to the city state and it's people's rather than a document of the city states growth. As such there will probably be limited in game content used (though I'm sure I'll make use of it now and then), with these instead relying on real pictures and maps and just general text.

This is why I will be putting them in spoiler tags as I realise that many of you won't be interested in the fact file and wouldn't appreciate having to scroll through a wall of text and some images to get to the actual update.

With this out of the way, lets get on with the first fact file. (and yes I'm sorry for the repeat of the flag image but I wanted it in this one for completions sake).


[spoiler]Fact File Entry 1:
On location and national flag


Today we present the first of hopefully many fact files from the small city state. Regarding the location of the city state and its national flag this file will be a small, but important document for the state.

First off is the location. As you will be able to see, Marinko is located on a very small peninsula off the coast of eastern Russia, close to several Asian countries as well, namely China, Japan and both South and North Korea.

The small state was bought for a large amount of Rubles by a well off Russian citizen by the name of Alexei Bogdanov with idea of creating a multicultural haven free of oppression and discrimination. The actual land itself doesn't have a lot of financial worth, with it being a forested peninsula on the sparsely populated eastern coast of Russia so the Russian's didn't have much demands for passing the proposal (the actual terms of the Treaty Of the State of Marinko will be discussed in a future fact file) and the small city state was founded.

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The second part of today's fact file is in regards to the national flag (shown below).

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Created by a Russia art student by the name of Igorek Yagorovick, in response to a request put out by Alexei in conjunction with the announcement of the creation of the city state. Those interested in the founding were asked to put their artistic talents to creating the national flag with the basic guidelines that it was to include the colours of the Russian flag and a representation of the multicultural ideals.

This led to the flag above, a simple but striking idea built around a eight pronged star, representing the multicultural nature of the state. The colours and shapes of the area around the star were deliberately chosen to represent the Russian flag as requested, but not draw your eye away from the focal point of the star (the fact that it also looks slightly Japanese was a unintentional but not detracting side effect).

This simple design was happily received due to its simplicity easily adaptable nature for other uses (naval flags, area flags and so on) and was soon seen flying from the states tiny government building in Marinko.

~~~~~~

Right so that's it for our first fact file. As said up the top its a bit brief but its a start. Hopefully you'll join us for the next fact file where we continue to bring you information on this small city state.[/spoiler]




Entry 2: Villages and Streams

(OOC: Sorry this update took so long, getting a MMP scene that I',m happy with is apparently a very time consuming business for me lol.)


Right well today's look at Marinko is centred around the growth of the small town wince we last visited, mainly concentrating on the satellite villages that have sprung up with several other images  thrown in for good luck.

Starting in the heart of the town, we take a look at the town centre and beach. This also shows the new school house as well as how close the beach is to the ferry port (the yellow fenced area in the bottom left),  the only way in and out of the town. As such, please be careful if swimming off the beach here.

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Moving out of the town centre, we take a look at some of the abundant small farms that cover most of the appropriate land around the town. Used mainly for food by Marinko's citizens, the rest is exported and makes up a large part of the tiny nations exports.

As with everywhere in Marinko at the moment, dirt tracks are formed by constant use. The small government is looking into whether they need to be upgraded but for now there leaving it be.

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Next we come across one of the two smaller villages that are located around the main town. Due to its small size, this village located just to the west of the main town and only featuring a couple of houses, doesn't actually have its own name, really being just a easy convenient place to have a home near the farm they work on.

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The next village however is a little bit further out and larger than the others in the area and as such has its own name, Svetnal. As you can see, most of these villages have grown from single farm hand houses, built on the edge of farmland for work ease.

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Now for a little bit of nature to add to this entry. In the last image you may have noticed the stream in the top of  the image. Well here is where the spring for said stream is (OOC: its the same one that we saw forded in the other update so I need to redo it there to match this water), just up from Svetnal.

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Finally we leave you with an updated overview of the area, now home to around 2,500 citizens. You can see the two villages we visited this update in the bottom left and the top right respectively.

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Anyway we hope you all enjoyed this entry and look forward to you joining us next time when we come back with more news form Marinko.

Till then

James



EDIt: Does anyone know if there's code for spoiler or hide tags on this site?

Replies:

Gugu3: Thanks!



Fact File Entry 2:
The Marinko Murasaki Rose

This fact file pertains to the purple flower that can be seen in large swathes in this update. Read on to find out more.
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Found to be native too the area and rather widespread across the state, this flower has become the national flower of Marinko.

A hardy, thorn-less, purple rose, this species seems to unique in that, like most of the other foliage in Marinko, it's practically evergreen and has a very short out of bloom season being in flower for large parts of the year.

It also appears to be rather dominant in that if introduced to a new area, it will quickly spread and become the prevalent species of flower. It does however seem to suffer heavily outside of the micro climate that Marinko has (more of this in a future fact file), hence why it hasn't been found outside of Marinko yet.

With the species ranging in size from small flowers the size of bottle top to the more common fist sized flowers, this flower is sure to remain a prominent part of the Marinko landscape.




Entry 3: A Growing Town



This entry doesn't really have a overriding theme, with it just looking at the continued expansion that has been seen around the small town over the last few years and some of the beautiful areas that are found around the town.

Starting off with these images of housing expansions in the town itself. These images show the geography of the area fairly well, with a Japanese inspired terraced look being employed to make use of the uneven ground around the ferry port area. These housing areas, located behind the church, provide lovely views down into the bay.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.majhost.com%2Fgallery%2F89James89%2FMarinko%2FEntries%2FEntry-3%2Fhosuing_estate_2.jpg&hash=3b0944589ba3af6004a2e02fba7edb9639c392fd)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.majhost.com%2Fgallery%2F89James89%2FMarinko%2FEntries%2FEntry-3%2Fnew_hosuing_estate.jpg&hash=7f693c660c5bbfafaea8b5f5e2b0b07ade538c7b)


Also inside the town, small time fishing has become a viable method of earning a living what with the increased demand for meat due to the growing population. Every day a number of small fishing boats can be seen off this small dock, with residents also use the beach opposite the recreational one to try their luck at catching dinner.

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Now for a small overview of the growing satellite settlements of the town. From top right to bottom left we have the afore shown Svetnal, the smaller village of Chayling and the largest of the three, Oska.

You can also see the stream from last entry and the Marinko Murasaki Rose (the one shown in fact file 2) growing in the forests that surround the farm land and villages.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.majhost.com%2Fgallery%2F89James89%2FMarinko%2FEntries%2FEntry-3%2Frural_settlements_overview.jpg&hash=80a7500ed9865fa997d84c69e0cfde99d0ef5604)


Moving onto a image that shows the Murasaki Rose off better we come across this large meadow that can be explored via the small dirt track through it. A lovely place for a stroll either towards the spring or Marinko itself.

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Finally an overview of the area as it currently stands. In it you can see the areas we visited in this entry and also see how much its grown since the last overview. It also shows that the space to grow outwards is becoming limited and as such, plans are already under way to found other settlements around the state.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.majhost.com%2Fgallery%2F89James89%2FMarinko%2FEntries%2FEntry-3%2Fentry_3_overview.jpg&hash=484515228bbf208d39e4e792d909e61e3d4e9353)


Anyway that's all for now. Hope you enjoyed the quiet entry.

Till next time

James

Replies:

vortext: Thanks, glad your enjoying it!



Entry 4: Hard to Port


Well as stated last time, we were running out of room in Marinko. As such this update will concentrate on one of the newer settlements to spring up along the coastline, Uskopoit Gavan.

Built in a natural harbour just south of the town of Marinko, this fast growing settlement has been built with the sole purpose of being the nations main port. As such the project was the most expensive nation outlay so far with this port eventually opening and replacing the ferry terminal in Marinko as the only way of getting goods in and out of the nation.

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As you can see, the still fairly small port is equipped for the mainly agricultural based exports of the nation. A small grain dock shipping out the farms excess goods while a bulk barge dock takes the majority of the crates and other exportable goods. Although situated in a deep channel suitable for freighters, the port, currently is served solely by coastal barges (though the Marinko Ferry and Shipping Company does own a sea worthy barge that takes goods to Japan several times a season) that take the goods to the nearby Russian port of Vladivostok to be shipped around the world.

As you could probably tell, the ports shipping facilities make the place a god send for factories and warehouse owners and its construction kick started a surge in these trades as can be seen here.

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This of course led to a surge of housing being built in the area despite the lower quality of life than in Marinko (there is no school or medical facilities in Uskopoit Gavan meaning the below mentioned problem affects this too) with mainly prefab and quick to build houses springing up.
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Much of this was put down to the quality of the transport connection between Marinko and Uskopoit Gavan which, despite only being several kilometres away, due to the muddy and very basic track between them, was almost impossible to get to in the wet. This factor is also being looked into due to growing complaints from farmers about not being able to get their goods to Uskopoit Gavan via land.


Now for the overview of the town, which despite the pollution and transport problems is still growing faster than Marinko itself (Uskopoit Gavan currently sits at around 2000 sims) utilising the flatter land and links to the port.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.majhost.com%2Fgallery%2F89James89%2FMarinko%2FEntries%2FEntry-4%2Fentry_4_overview.jpg&hash=abb78f1103cdda745bd2282a7a99ec1ec58724c9)


Also finally, for those thinking that the gravelled beaches of Marinko were bad, think yourself lucky there not like the ones at Uskopoit Gavan where your more than likely to get a piece of glass in your foot than a tan. Still some people like to attempt to fish (though yet again your more likely to catch a passing barge than a fish) amongst the industrial detritus that finds its way here.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.majhost.com%2Fgallery%2F89James89%2FMarinko%2FEntries%2FEntry-4%2Findustrial_beach.jpg&hash=c5dec8831ef406ead9b8aa5c3893c0e8ad1d37dd)


Till next time

James

Replies:

vortext: Thanks I'm glad you like the beach and your correct, it is much more fun with CC!

FrankU: Maybe but I've never messed with the Lot Editor lol  :P




Entry 5: Romanovik


Well today's entry is brought to you from Romanovik, the newest town here in Marinko. Built in the Bay Of Paschalka at the mouth of the river Rume on the opposite side of the peninsula to Marinko town. As a small fishing town, properties in Romanovik quickly became very sought after thanks to the calm, sheltered waters and peace and quiet.

A quiet, mainly Russian settlement who's main income is from fishing, the small town has a small number of trawler owners working from it as well as several smaller fishing and recreational boats. Due to the distance from Marinko, the town also has its own church and a small school house as well as several areas to relax in.

Join me now as we take a look at the growing fishing town.

Starting at the bridge into town, we cross the river Rume as it cuts the town in half. As you can see the river itself is rather shallow and slow running, perfect for a spot of quiet fishing (as can be seen on the left hand side of the bridge).

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Next we move into the centre of the town, where you'll find the small church and the beginnings of the crude seawall, designed to protect the houses along the shore (despite the settlement being in a calm bay the ground still needing shoring up a little bit before it was ready for construction).

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.majhost.com%2Fgallery%2F89James89%2FMarinko%2FEntries%2FEntry-5%2Fcentre_of_town.jpg&hash=9afcb6c1cf841f24f802be426212b351a86df720)


Moving on we come to the heart of the fishing town, the fishing docks. As you can see, we have several trawlers here at the moment, awaiting their crews to resume their work. Also in this shot you can see one of the towns biggest employers, the Romanovik fisheries, built and owned by Vasillia Avanov, the towns most successful trawler captain (you can also see his blue and white trawler docked).

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Next we have a overview of the area we just took a look at. There is more of the town to the east on the other side of the river and I will have to get images of that for you next time.

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However I can show you this small tower located on the east side of the river. Perched atop some small cliffs this tower gives commanding views the town and the bay it sits in, also providing nice quiet walk up to it.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.majhost.com%2Fgallery%2F89James89%2FMarinko%2FEntries%2FEntry-5%2Ftower_overlooking_romanovik_bay.jpg&hash=25a960bad8ca28dcce2641bcdf2ca34147fa686a)


Also I've got a random image of the river Rume for you as it cuts itself a small valley on it's way to the Bay of Paschalka.

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Finally I have a link to a overview of the entire nation so far. Not a lot of growth to see (OOC: and apologises regarding the different seasons with the trees), but at least it shows that Marinko is growing slowly.

http://www.majhost.com/gallery/89James89/Marinko/Maps/Marinko/entry_5_region_view.png (http://www.majhost.com/gallery/89James89/Marinko/Maps/Marinko/entry_5_region_view.png)


Right that's all for now.

Till next time

James

Replies:

Sim.Rico: Thanks, nice to see you over here as well.

vortext:Thanks and don't worry I've reworked the water so the transition is miles better than before. It won't be shown in this or the next entry I'm afraid but after that I'll get round to showing you. Feel free to pester me if I forget as well lol. As for the riprap its quietly concealing the fact that the land show's slightly under the actual marina lol, but shhhh don't tell anyone!

Gugu3: Thanks, hope you stick around and continue enjoying it!

kelis: Thanks, hope you check back in on the MD from time to time.


____________________________________________________



Fact File Entry 3:
Languages of the State.

National Language:

Now, given the fact that the small state is attached by land and is mostly populated by Russian's you'd be forgiven for thinking that the national language of Marinko is Russian but no. Given the large amount of other nationalities that populate the state, the national language is actually English.

This was chosen to be the national language after it was decided that a brand new language would have been unwieldy and not practical for such a small nation, especially when most of the nations occupants communicated with eachother in the English tongue anyway due to their second language educational backgrounds.


Regional Differences:

However, despite the English language being the one taught via the educational system, a number of different dialects can be heard used, depending on the area of Marinko your in. In the fishing port of Romanovik, and other predominantly Russian populated settlement's, you'd still be more likely to hear Russian being spoken than the nationally chosen language, as opposed to the small settlements of Nomyto and Atsuka where you'll hear mainly Japanese. 

There's even a developing form of Marinko Mandarin which is being spoken by a group of Chinese citizens mainly in the village of Chayling, where the different regional Mandarin dialects are merging into one.

Aside from this there is also a number of languages spoken by the smaller minorities of other nations that make up the population of the State of Marinko as you'd expect to find in most countries who have received immigrant's.


Loss of National Uniqueness?

Although question's has been raised by a number of citizens revolving around the loss of cultural and national uniqueness at the use of English as a national language, the argument is not supported by the majority of the populace who feel that the choice is soundly made.

The individual languages of the citizens are still being taught in both after school classes and the homes and the use of English allows the nation to easily communicate with most of the world, hopefully paving the way for easy integration of future trade partners and diplomatic relations.

The fact that there is no need to spend the government's budget on developing the new language and printing popular works and texts in this new language also means that a large amount of funds are saved for other areas so overall, the majority of the population feel that the cultural loss is far less than the cultural gain.






____________________________________________________


Entry 6: A rubbish solution (part 1)


Well I know I told you all we would be remaining in Romanovik last entry but a problem has arisen since then that we needed to sort out. This problem goes by the name of 'Trash' and it's recently reared it's dirty head.

You see, up until now the state had been handling it's rubbish by either shipping it out on any available space on  the barges, or burning it in place of wood in the many wood burning energy production plants used by the state.

This however could only account for so much of the trash, and with a steadily growing population count, recently it's started to get out of hand. This combined with the increased educational level's of the population (due to said population being mostly concetrated in the town's of Marinko and Romanovik, both of which have good access to education) which has led to a higher demand for job's other than farm labouring or fishing, has led to growth in Uskopoit Gavan and a new town being settled called Sepelostov. This is where we are for today's entry.


A very fast growing industrial town, this settlement has grown around one of two garbage docks, recently built in the state (the other one is in  Uskopoit Gavan, which we will hopefully take a look at in the next entry) with this one being built to serve the growing Russian facing side of the peninsula (mainly Romanovik and a few other villages).

As your about to see, this settlement has around 3,000 Marinkoans currently living in it, despite the pollution levels and lack of healthcare and education, currently making it the second largest town in the state (after Marinko town itself). It's also the second largest harbour in the state, which is why, due to this and being close to the recreational facilities in Romanovik, it's so popular regardless of the drawbacks.

Now let's take a look at this town.


Firstly we arrive in the harbour area, where you'll find a large number of factory and dockyard work available. You can also see the large garbage dock in the centre as well as a smaller port, similar to the one in Uskopoit Gavan, but served only by coastal barges (usually taking freight to Uskopoit Gavan to be distributed from there).
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.majhost.com%2Fgallery%2F89James89%2FMarinko%2FEntries%2FEntry-6%2Fsepelostov_garbage_and_freight_docks.jpg&hash=c2ec413e1254f8de939a97001f7af82ee070c843)


Here's a closer image of some of the factories providing the growth of the town.

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Moving out of the harbour area we can see the use of cheap retaining walls and a small commercial centre tot he town. It also has a church which is more than Uskopoit Gavan can claim.

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Here we see some of the nicer housing in the area, hugging the uneven ground at the rear of the town.

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Now let's take a look at an overview of the town. As you can see it's fairly compact and centred around the harbour but there's plenty of room being eyed for future growth inland.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.majhost.com%2Fgallery%2F89James89%2FMarinko%2FEntries%2FEntry-6%2Fsevelostov_overview.jpg&hash=0425a9c17c846407211664e9fb6f87f83525d23a)


Finally I have a mosaic of the area leading from the centre of Sepelostov to the tower at Romanovik point (accessible from both towns by a dirt path).

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.majhost.com%2Fgallery%2F89James89%2FMarinko%2FEntries%2FEntry-6%2Ffromm_the_church_to_the_cliff_mosiac.jpg&hash=46596ebad9b49dfe562fd9d4d85f6223b39c1268)


(OOC: Basically this is a cross border thankyou mosaic for everyone's continued amazing support of this little project of mine. You may also notice that  the cliff has changed from last entry. This is due to a slight mishap with reconciliation of the tile.)


Well that's all for now. Join me next time when we take a look at where the rubbish is shipped too and why.

Till then

James

Replies:


bendict.: Thanks, I'm glad your enjoying it and that it's growing in popularity. I love playign the game but I'm happy that others enjoy my work too.

isii94: Thanks, I'm glad you like the landscapes and the MMP's. They take a while but there worth it.

As for the slope mod I don't use one. I tried but I found them too restrictive. I like using the landscaping tool and elevated rail to smooth things out. I know it's not perfect in places but I prefer it to having to build really long roads to go up a slope.





Entry 7: A Rubbish Solution (part 2)


Right, last time we left off we'd just finished looking at the garbage docks in Sepelostov and as stated, this entry will take a look at where the garbage ends up.

Namely here.

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Built to meet ever increasing energy demands and the need to dispose of the growing trash being produced by the state, Shrouvosk Waste To Energy Plant is a government owned power plant situated on the undeveloped side of the Uskopoit Gavan harbour. Built here due to wanting to contain the pollution to the already polluted Uskopoint Gavan area, this waste to energy plant is where nearly all of the states trash ends up, which after being sorted through at the attached recycling centre is burnt to produce the energy currently powering Uskopoit, it's surrounding villages and most of the town of Marinko.

This relatively modern, government owned plant represents the states biggest financial investment since Alexei bought the state, and has the facilities to produce energy from both incineration of combustible materials, and through the use of gases such as methane (produced in the small building behind the dock and stored in the tanks until needed). This, together with the recycling centre, means that the state has no dependence on landfills at all and a high reclamation and recycling rate.

Just outside the plant you'll find a small amount of factories and warehouses, built for the process and storage of the recycled goods. As well as housing some of the offices for several businesses and state companies, related to the plant alongside a couple of shops. (OOC: Also built to try out some new seawalls I found)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.majhost.com%2Fgallery%2F89James89%2FMarinko%2FEntries%2FEntry-7%2Fshrouvosk_industrial_site.jpg&hash=e5f7f9835c4cab8bb1e79e7b1e6c444f1ac758de)


Further up the road towards Uskopoit, you'll find the small village of Shrouvosk. Settled as a place to house the plant workers, this small village isn't the nicest place to live, though it's convenient for work.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.majhost.com%2Fgallery%2F89James89%2FMarinko%2FEntries%2FEntry-7%2Fshrouvosk.jpg&hash=5a4b352c178ba7f18a0df7c362daa3d81b038ad0)


Finally we finish our rubbish entries by taking a look at the area around the plant. You can see Uskopoit in the foreground, with the smog and greenery providing stark contrasts to eachother across the river.

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That's all for now. Join me next time when we take a look at some of the other places in Marinko via a coastal journey.

Till then

James

Replies:

vortext: Thanks, glad your enjoying it and that I'm developing my own style!



Entry 8: Uskopoit In Flames!


Despite last time saying that we'd take a journey through the state as it currently stands there's been an incident in Uskopoit Gavan that we need to take a look at. It appears from this following report that over the last few months things have generally spiralled out of control in the states largest port.

Citizens in Uskopoit Gavan finally made their thought known a few weeks ago when suspected arson caused a large swathe of the small port to be destroyed in a large fire. Below are several images taken of the inferno as the small fire force in the town fought a losing battle to keep the flames under control, only succeeding when engines from Marinko arrived to help. (OOC: Sorry for the emergency symbols on the screens. I wanted to make sure I caught the action and didn't have time to try and get rid of them.).

Firefighters attempting to control the raging blaze.

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The aftermath
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As you see the outcome wasn't to pretty. The fact that most of the buildings were made mostly of wood didn't help with the report stating the complete destruction of 22 buildings and further damage to around 30 others.

More devastating news though was the loss of 8 lives to the blaze. Memorial services were held in the church in Marinko (due to Uskopoit not having a church of its own).

Several months later, Uskopoit was once again hit by unrest, this time on a much larger scale as what started out as a few people protesting, turned into a hundred or more rioting. Rather luckily a new police force had been instated after the suspected arson that caused the above fire, still the new, small and poorly trained police force was pushed back by the rioting crowds and a number of fires were started, before a Russian military Ka-27 'Helix' helicopter from a Udaloy II destroyer patrolling just outside Marinko National waters was launched to help, at request of the Marinko government and Police Commander.


Unfortunately the crowds only dispersed once a rioter was shot and killed by a Russian marksman on the circling helicopter after the rioter attacked a police officer with a pipe. Afterwards several more were arrested and a number of injured form both sides required medical treatment, though with the crowds dispersed, the firemen could get the fires back under control.

Here's an image from the circling helicopter of the rioters clashing with police officers.

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As you can probably guess, tensions are still high in Uskopoit Gavan, though the police force is currently keeping it under control. A number of people including the states founder, Alexi Bagdenov and his son Gregoric are both known to have voiced their disappointment at how the situation was able to get so bad, though with funds strapped in Uskopoit it's not known how this situation can improve.

With elections also coming up soon, a change will probably be seen, ousting the currently small government, made up mostly of Russian born citizens based on the states unhappiness at the situation and conditions in Uskopoit.

Thankfully that's all to report on these incidents. Join me next time when hopefully we'll actually begin our tour through the small state.

Till then

James



(OOC: Basically this all randomly happened while I was working on the Uskopoit Gavan tile and I just had to include it. As mentioned above, apologies for the icons in the screens, but I hope you enjoy this random and slightly worrying entry.)

Replies

Sim.Rico: Thankyou, your care packages were happily received and don't worry the, displaced people have all found new places to live so its all good.

warconstruct: Thanks, though none of the citizens of Uskopoit would agree with the beautiful bit lol though the port is always busy. The fire wasn't planned at all by the way, it actually happened randomly in the game.




Entry 9: A tour through Marinko (part one)


Right so today we make a start on the tour through Marinko that I mentioned we would do a little while ago. Starting from Uskopoit Gavan we will work our way around the coastline through the expanding towns and settlements that line it.

Part one will be showing Uskopoit Gavan and Marinko Town, though first we will start with a overview of the region.

http://www.majhost.com/gallery/89James89/Marinko/Maps/Marinko/entry_9_region_view.png (http://www.majhost.com/gallery/89James89/Marinko/Maps/Marinko/entry_9_region_view.png)

I'll also be showing a regional overview at the end of the tour so we can see how the state grows during our visits to the different towns and places.

Anyway let's make a start in Uskopoit Gavan. A lot calmer than the last time we visited, you can see that the town's council has apparently tried to better it after the disturbances shown in the last entry. Unfortunately, this attempt at betterment doesn't seem to have addressed any of the real issues the citizens had raised (namely healthcare and education), instead concentrating on bringing in more taxes in a thinly veiled attempt at making it a more appealing place.

This can be best seen in the states first commercial estate. Otsuka Commercial Estate is located on the road between Uskopoit Gavan and Marinko Town, just south of the village of Otsuka. An attempt at providing some classy retail therapy for both towns, you can see in the following picture that it failed, with the properties instead being bought by low wealth businesses and offices dealing in everything but class. Still at least it provides some retail therapy.

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Next up is a large mosaic of Uskopoit Gavan, taking you from the new farmland spreading north of the river Usk, down through the small village of Upper Auko and it's sister village and small port, Lower Auko (which interstingly enough, although being one of the smallest ports in the state has the highest export percentage of the states port, with 95% of it's traffic being recycled goods shipping out to the other ports in Marinko).

Continuing down through the mosaic, we come to the rapidly expanding north side of Uskopoit Gavan and out through to the grungy Uskopoit beach. The park you can see, a little bit of green in the mud and concrete that is Uskopoit, marks the spot where the fire started several years ago and stands as a memorial to the 8 people who lost their lives. As you can see the area around it has changed quite a lot since the fire.

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Finally a overview of Uskopoit Gavan and it's surrounds.

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Next we move on to Marinko Town and its surrounds.

This area has grown a lot since the last time we visited it with a number of new villages springing up around the states capital, eager to make use of the education and healthcare provided in the town. First off we'll take a look at a image showing several of these new villages.

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Starting at the top of the image you can find the large villages of Kriolatov and Hengku who are slowly growing into one. To the right of that you can see the tiny village of Siricoyta, half covered by trees and then below that is the top right corner of Marinko Town itself. As you can see farming is still a big employer in the area, though most of the people work in the growing factories in Uskopoit or the new commercials buildings popping up all over the town.

This can be seen best here at the point of initial colonisation for the state. Gone are the old factories that had been abandoned as industry moved to Uskopoit, instead having been replaced with these new commercial ventures, slowly creating a central point in the town. Of note is the old power station located here. With it being shut down due to the power provided by the Shrouvosk Waste to Energy Plant being ample to supply the town, this old furnace is no longer needed. It's undecided as to what to do with it but a number of people are talking about having it converted into a museum or eatery of sorts.

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Another new commercial point that has proved to be very popular with the locals is the Bogdanov Bakery. Run by owned by Alexi's daughter Lidiya, this bakery and café is easily one of the best places to eat in the state and as such very popular.

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Another popular point in Marinko Town is the old St Peter's church, Seen here you can see that, although the church itself has remained unchanged the area around it hasn't and new, cheap row houses sit next to it, as more people try to cram themselves into the limited space. A commonly occurring theme across the state.

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Now we get to another mosaic, this time showing the Marinko Town area from the tiny afore-seen village of Siricoyta, through the heart of Marinko Town, with it's old church and government building overlooking its redeveloped commercial sector, through to the clean and popular beaches and out into the ever present farmland.

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Finally we have a overview of Marinko Town and the villages to the east of it, easily showing the growth that they've seen over the years as well.

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Well that's all for this entry and part one of our tour. I hope you enjoyed it and will join me next time as we continue to tour.

Till then

James

Replies:[/u]

M4346:  Thanks and don't worry about being brave, just jump in have a go. It's great fun and pretty rewarding at the end.



Entry 10: A Tour through Marinko (Part 2)


Welcome back and today we continue our tour of the state by visiting Tonraqa, a small town, built around a inlet and quite possibly, the opposite of Uskopoit in every way.

Whether its the peaceful village of Kovda shown here, or the bustling town itself the quality of life is the amongst the best in the state.

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Owing to the farmland that surrounds the town and the large commercial and recreational centre brought on by the small secluded beach, the area is very popular and has all the amenities that Uskopoit lacks. Below we can see some of the more important parts of the town.

Starting at the ferry port, this small terminal is one of the most used terminals in the entire state owing mainly to the shopping and recreational areas of the town. Boat traffic however is limited due to reasons you'll discover in a minute, hence why the marina isn't bigger for the popular destination it is.

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Another popular area of the town is this farmers market. Used by the farmers around the town to sell straight to the public, this is a popular place on Saturdays and Wednesday when the market is held.

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The main draw for Tonraqa however, is the small beach. Easily maintainable and sheltered this beach is generally busy throughout the summer months where sometimes it can be hard to find a spot.

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This next image shows a zoomed out overview of the actual town of Tonraqa. In the bottom right you can see the rocks locally known as Old Man's Teeth, which together with the narrow entrance to the small bay is the cause of the traffic issues. You can also see the rest of the town, including the farmers market and its commercial beach front.

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Finally for this part of the tour we'll take a look at an overview of the area around Tonraqa with Kovda in the bottom left and Tonraqa in the centre.

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That's all for this entry. Join me next time when we take a look at Nielsovskiy, the next stop on our tour.

Till then.

James

Entry 11: A Tour through Marinko (Part 3)


Welcome back to our tour where today we visit Nielsovskiy and its surrounds. A tiny little town that mostly keeps itself to itself, the area is actually the furthest away from a large settlement, despite being in the middle of the state. This is reflected heavily in the way of life here, most of all in the sparse settlements and the tracks that are even more dangerous than most of the other dirt
roads in Marinko.

Firstly however, we start this part of the tour in the town of Nielsovskiy , the main settlement in the area. A small, quiet town nestled in the trees that dominate the state could be easily missed if not for the shops that line its main street and the docks. Here's a image of the area showing just how dense the tree cover is and how sparse the houses are. You can also see the mouth of the river Ielsov in this picture.

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Also shown here is a image of the small harbour with its ferries that serve a very important role for the area around Nielsovskiy as you'll see in a minute.

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Moving on we get to the what is commonly known as the worst road in Marinko. Dangerous to traverse even when dry and deadly when wet or icy, this road routinely claims several lifes a year despite only being several kilometres long as drivers get stuck or overturn on the rocky roads.

Starting in the tiny village of Zeverikay and ending in the larger village of Algish, this road is well known throughout the state for its dangerous tracks. Despite this however, people still travel it to get from the east of Marinko tot he north and west. Below are some images where you can (just about in places) see the mentioned track starting in Zeverikay and finishing in Algish.

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As you can see, the track is well deserved of its reputation.

The final image in the ones above show Algish, a small village which unusually has its own tiny port. This isn't due to over funding or odd growth but a necessity for travel links, the ferry being the only way to travel between Nielsovskiy  and Algish during the rainy or icy months of Marinko's climate, where the track isn't traversable and the small pontoon ferries are the only link (though in some cases not much safer).

Finally for this entry we have the usual overview of what is the most rural area of Marinko so far.

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And that's all for today.

Hope you've enjoyed this look at Nielsovoskiy and its surrounds and you'll join me next time where we visit Nomyto and Atsuka.

Cheers

James

Replies:

vortext: Thanks, I'm glad your enjoying the composure of the images. I'll try and get a closer look for you in a future update but its achieved through the use of the marsh RFR water I think.


Entry 12: A Tour through Marinko (part 4)


Welcome back for today's leg of the tour, this time visiting the cliffisde village of Nomyto and the religious centre of the state Atsuka.

Starting in Nomyto we come across a tiny village of nearly 180 inhabitants nestled on the top of the cliffs. As you can see from the photo's below there isn't a whole lot in the village itself just some houses surrouynded by farmland, though the Nomyto lookout provides a little bit of recreation and draw tot he area.

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Looking at the overview of the area you can see just how rocky the area is with the island of Farukon (Falcon in Japanese) Rock and several smaller un-named islands jutting out into the sea.

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Moving on to the much bigger settlement of Atsuka we come across the religious centre of the state. With the states being rather small, most of the churches that already exist are Orthodox Russian ones, with other religious groups meeting in halls or using the orthodox ones. This however isn't the case in Atuska as the towns central location and good ferry links meant that the states first Christian church and Temple for the Asian population has been built.

Atsuka temple
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Christian Church and School
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Atsuka Orthodox church
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This combined with a decent amount of healthcare and education has led to Atsuka being quite a well off place with the religious buildings offering a different draw to that of Romanovik and Tonraqa and as such the place has a marina and several nice shops on its waterfront.

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With the area being in the centre of the state though (coastline wise) it still needs to be provided with supplies and lacking a dock of its own this falls to the tiny dock in the village of Levot shown here, where small ships can drop off and pick up goods from Uskopoit and Sepelostov.

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Finally for this entry is a overview of the area surrounding Atuska where you can see the village of Levot at the end of the river and the unshown village of  Hoyashi at the rivers mouth.

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Hope you enjoyed part 4 of the tour and that you'll join me next time for part 5 where we near the end of the tour.

Cheers

James