JBSimio Inc.

[oldrogue]

Well Jon, now I know why I live in Arizona....I mean here where I am might get 6  to 10 inches all winter long...and that's in a "heavy snowfall" year..... ....Once upon a time I lived about a mile from Lake Erie so know what you mean about lake effect  snow.

Love the contrast between the porch light and the dome lights... nice touch.

Hang in there, Spring is only 4 months away

[simdad1957]

We got the same storm here in the Maritimes as you did, only 36 hrs later. We got 24 cm of snow here in Moncton whipped around by 90 km/hr winds. Mother nature threw in a little rain and freezing rain for good measure. What a mess.

You Yanks blame all the cold weather on us Canadians, but I swear that all the biggest winter storms all come out of the U.S. Midwest or up the Atlantic seaboard. I'd rather have a little cold weather than a nor'easter; at least you don't have to shovel it!

BTW Shadow Assassin, there are many words to describe snow, many of them unmentionable. The Inuit (Eskimos) actually have about 20 words for the different varieties and states of snow. Of course with global warming, there are invasive species arriving in the Arctic that the Inuit have no names for at all; honeybees for instance.

[SC4BOY]

haha.. no it only drops by thru us in order to wreak havoc on its way to you after its spent its worst here..
they come usually via Alberta (alberta clipper) or saskatchawan (saskatchawan screamer) .. and dutifully make a clockwise swath thru the US and only get to you if they havent' already blown all out... hehe

[JBSimio]

SA:  There's still a small childlike part of me that gets all excited by the big snow storms.  But, for the most part, I'm with you and would be more than happy to move back south and away from winter.

Duane:  We don't get too much lake effect snow in this part of Michigan... we're just far enough east of that "line."  I just meant the little lake I live on that creates that nice open area for the wind to really grab hold and throw snow at my house!     I'm glad you like the dome lighting!

Simdad:  I never blame snow on you guys up there... just cold temperatures!    Many of the biggest storms we get here come up through Illinois and Indiana actually... just like this one did.  The storms coming out of the northwest usually fall apart trying to cross Lake Michigan.

SC4Boy:  Depends on which part of the country you're in, I guess.   

Anyway... we were able to send the kids home today, which means I am now home myself.  I'll probably have an update to show later this evening.  In the meantime, I took a couple quick pictures to show the state of my yard after all this mess.  Keep in mind, there was no snow cover at all before this started on Saturday night.





Now that I've shown the pictures, I can go shovel myself a path to the house!   

Talk to you later,
JB

[DFire870]

That's exactly why I'm happy living here in Texas. The bad part about almost never getting snow is that we get ice instead, and when that happens, the city pretty much shuts down.

Although, there was that one snowstorm in 2004 where the Gulf Coast of Texas got a few inches of snow on Christmas Eve. Oddly enough, here in Austin we didn't get any while the place where we used to live (Corpus Christi, on the coast) got 6 inches of snow. It was quite a sight when we went down there the day after Christmas, since we saw snow on cacti, palm trees, and the beach.

-- John

[jacqulina]

hello jon i see your still doing awesome work my friend

[Pat]

Jon looking lovely and all.... Im sure glad we dodged the snow fall up here wow but i would kill for more pretty snow like that!!!

[JBSimio]

John:  I remember that from living in North Carolina too.  Even a weather forcast that used the word "snow" would send people running to the grocery store to stock up on bread and milk.  We had one good storm while I was there that gave us about 6 inches of snow and the entire city of around 400,000 shut down for two days... school didn't start again for a week.   

Jacky:  Thank you!  It's nice to see you again!

Pat:  It's pretty... but the drifting is getting out of hand. 

I think it's done... but maybe not quite.  I added the ivy and made a few other changes which I'll explain in a minute:





I brightened the dome lighting just a little bit.  I got rid of the back porch and made the front porch larger.  The reason for the larger porch is the paths.  I realized that every other "main" building for this set uses the wider of the two path sizes for the main entry.  This is also reflected in the way I set up the quad lots.  This one would have used a narrow path in the front, which I really didn't want to do.  Widening the stairs meant widening the porch (it looked really bad otherwise)... so that's what I did.  It still may change... I'm not sure if I'm really happy with the overall look it created.  Beyond that issue, I think this one is just about done.  Any final thoughts?

JB

[SC4BOY]

You have developed quite the eye for this style lot.. nice job.. The front porch is much nicer than the original and the detail is impeccable as usual.. I'd like the dome brighter still, but hey whatever.. .. it is whatever you're after of course.. I'm not a big nightlighter anyways.. and lots of ppl do make em go overboard, so your restrained approach is appreciated..

[Bluebeard]

 

[oldrogue]

I like the overall look of it much better now.  The wider porch seems to fit the "massive" style of the building better.  I really like the great green gooey gob of ivy on the front corner....like it and the building have been there awhile.  Man this set is going to be something when all it's all together and in a city.   Wow....good on ya' mate.

[Pat]

Jon I cant find a think wrong here or add anything at all!!! I do real like how you brighted the lights around the dome as it gives it a better feel i think!!!  Also I dont blame you for getting frustrated with the drifting snow exspecialy if you have to dig yourself out of your home each and every morning.... See you soon - pat

[oldrogue]

And something I forgot to mention.....congrats on the 50th page...but to me, a more mind numbing type stat is over 15,000 reading of the thread...wow....

[JBSimio]

SC4Boy:  Thank you!  To be honest, I'd like the dome a little brighter myself, but the sills beneath the vents are already starting to "glow."  If I add much more, that will really become obnoxious in a hurry!

Bluebeard:  Thanks!

Duane:  Thank you!  I think this is the thickest ivy I've done yet...    There seems to be a large difference of opinion on the porch though.  Everyone here seems to like the large version... most of the BSC prefer the smaller version.   

Pat:  Thanks!  It got just warm enough today that I think the snow will stay in place now...  At least I hope so!

Duane:  I noticed that today too... I'm rather blown away by the idea if I think about it too much though.

Speaking of which... what better way to celebrate the 1000th post than with a big honkin update?       Lots to see and do... so everybody settle down  and let's get to it:  (Sorry... I'm on smiley overload tonight... I'm trying to quit)

I started lotting some of the other buildings this afternoon.  I'm not calling any of these done quite yet... but they're probably pretty close.  I'm still trying to find the line between having enough detail and still leaving things open enough to make them as flexible and "user friendly" as possible.  That seems like it would be easier, but I'm finding out it really isn't.  Every time I add a path I have to ask myself how many people would or wouldn't want that path there... and then decide if it's going to stay or not.  Same thing with filling open space... it would be easy to fill a tile or two with parking, but what if somebody doesn't want a parking lot anywhere near that area?  This is all just my way of saying that these lots may not progress as quickly as normal... and that it's a little tougher than I thought.    (Oops... there I go with the faces again!)

Boiler:





There are cars in the lot... they just weren't showing.  I felt justified in putting a lot here because of the garages and need for staff parking.

Chapel:



This one is probably finished... there isn't really room for much else.  The offset tree came in rather handy here and should work well no matter what kind of path you connect to later.

Student Center:





This one definitely needs some more work.  It still seems kind of empty to me.  I'm just not entirely sure what else to use yet.

Finally... I'm starting to confuse myself with all this.  To avoid a repeat of my brownstone set when I just completely lost track of what I was doing, I started my own set of lists that remind me what needs to be done where.  This page is just for the buildings... 



EC = Eye Candy versions... Func = Functional versions.  So, yes, there will be options for most buildings whether you want functionality or not.  I'm also including prop versions of every building whether I actually use them or not... for all you lotters out there.  As you can see, I still have a lot of red to work through.  And this is only the page for the main buildings!  There are other pages for all the path and road pieces... not to mention the walls and other props that have been or will be made.  Kind of makes me question what I've gotten myself into!

JB

[Pat]

Jon you gotta love opening a can of worms there lol!!! But you know what it keeps you busy errr i mean them monkeys busy  ..... If you need any lotting help im more then willing to give you a helping hand  OK there we go lol naw really I wouldnt mind helping out a friend!!! besides you did a perfect 1000 post honor and hmm anything for the 1001???

[JBSimio]

Pat:  Thanks!  I think it will keep me less confused if I keep with the lotting... I get lost easily otherwise!   

While we're in lot reviewing mode... here's one more shot to take a gander at.  I think all the driveway pieces are finished!



There are one or two props that will be added to a couple of these just as soon as I make them.  There will also be a couple special "entry" drives as discussed earlier.  Beyond that, I think this is the full set.  There are 19 pieces total.  They're all "nuetral" lots... they cost $10 to plop but that's it... no bulldoze or maintainence costs... no extra benefits either. 

A couple other features to mention while we're at it.  I decided to take the BSC parks system one step further with the placement arrows.  Since there are several different entry and exit points, I color coded everything.  There are three colors... yellow for narrow paths, green for wide paths, and purple for driveways.  Hopefully, this will make it a bit easier to line up the more mixed pieces (like where a path crosses the driveway).  Also, these lots will get counted as campus pieces as part of the tracking system that will be part of this whole thing.  Different types of lots will mean different things... but most will count for something.

In the words of BadSim:

To the next...
JB

[threestooges]

Very cool recent updates. The chart really does show how in depth this project is, and with the way you work, all that red should disappear pretty quickly. The only thought I have regarding the offset tree on the chapel is that it prevents placement on roads (but then that's not what it's intended for, and that woul dbe an easy change in the LE if necessary so no worries there). I like the idea of different color arrows. That would be useful on a few lots now, but it'll be worth the wait for yours. Congratulations on 1000+ and I'll look forward to the next update.

[Pat]

  Jon that is wonderful......

[Diggis]

Maybe the student centre could do with some students?  I would suggest some people sitting on benches, or on the grass in groups.

These look great and I look forward to adding them to my cities (If I ever get to play again)

[bat]

Great chapel there and nice parking lots!!