Whitefall, Iridar - update 3 is now up. 16-12-09; p20.

[Shadow Assassin]

THIS SPACE LEFT BLANK FOR HEADER (COMING SOON)


CONTENTS:
Update 0: Introduction
Update 1: Nilbasse - Part 1
Update 2: Verona Beach


ABOUT IRIDAR:

A country roughly the size of the United Kingdom, Iridar is located on the planet Gaia, on the continent Valena, a large landmass that occupies much of the planet's northern hemisphere. The southern parts of the continent enjoys weather similar to that of equatorial regions, while the northern parts, where Iridar is located, have a cool, temperate climate. Iridar is located approximately in the middle of the continent, occupying a section of coastline facing the Northern Sea. The ceremonial capital, Imperial City Iridar, is located inland on the fertile floodplains that sit alongside the Iridenne River. The administrative capital has recently moved to Whitefall, while the Imperial City is being reconstructed.

There are thirteen provinces of Iridar, each one under the jurisdiction of the largest city in each province, ultimately being overseen by the Imperial City. For the last six hundred years, each of the thirteen provinces have fallen under the Imperial City's governance.

The cities of Iridar are linked by the Imperial Highway System, largely centering around the Imperial City. Each Imperial Highway is well-maintained, as they form the arteries of the country. Without the Imperial Highways, the country would fall into chaos and ultimately split back up into its individual provinces.

The currency of Iridar is the iridenne (named after the river which the Imperial City sits nearby), where 1 iridenne equals approximately US$1.33.

The current flag of Iridar, with the Phoenix insignia, has been in use for the last hundred years. The Imperial Throne is now largely ceremonial, effectively becoming a constitutional monarchy. However, the Emperor is still required to give final approval on laws that affect the running of the Imperial City, and ultimately, Iridar.

ABOUT WHITEFALL:
Whitefall is a bustling, cosmopolitan city located in the northern parts of Iridar. With its wide boulevards and rolling hills, Whitefall is a pleasant city, enjoying a temperate climate all year round, despite its northerly location. Surrounded by lodgepole and larch pine forests, Whitefall is a very green city, and this is reflected in the city planning design. On the outskirts of the city centre of Whitefall, a large park sits. Nearby, one can find one of the thirteen Imperial Palaces (one is located in each of the thirteen cities).

Overlooking the Central Marches province, Whitefall is the largest city in the province, as well as in the country. The city is divided up into a number of local government areas, each overlooking a section of the city.

As of 3033, there are five Local Government Areas located in Whitefall:

• Whitefall City Council, overlooking the CBD and immediate surrounding suburbs.
• Nilbasse, overlooking the northern part of the western suburbs of Whitefall, concentrated around the inlets of the Lakes.
• Tsenoble, overlooking the southern part of the western suburbs. Is the second largest government area within Whitefall City Limits.
• Hawkesbury, overlooking the southern suburbs and Whitefall International Airport.
• Ashford, overlooking the inner plains covered within Whitefall City Limits. Largely covered in farmland at this point

LOCATOR MAP:
Below, this map shows what areas of the region have been showcased thus far:

WHAT'S COMING UP:
A History of Iridar
Nilbasse (Part 2)



Well, that's Whitefall launched. The current year is 3034 AE, and we will be visiting the various areas, neighbourhoods of Whitefall over well, a lot of updates.

Nilbesse is in the next post - and thank you, Ennedi.

--SA

[DFire870]

Nice start! I love your Whitefall map, and this looks like it'll be a great MD, especially with the bit of backstory.

Looking forward to the first update!

-- John

[Shadow Assassin]

And so, we begin our tour with Nilbasse, one of Whitefall's Local Government Areas. Nilbasse, at this point, is unfinished. However, there is enough content to introduce the area...

First up, we have tile C1, which contains Nilbasse town. If people are wondering about the name, it originated from a comment that an unlucky fisherman made one day. "No bass" gradually became "Nilbasse" over the years as the town grew. There, unfortunately, is very little evidence of settlement before the 2850s, which has given rise to the rumour that this little comment may not be true after all.

Perhaps the most obvious trademark is the northern end of Seven Mile Beach. The sand here is white, the water is enjoyable. Despite Whitefall's northerly aspect, the water temperature is a comfortable 22C in summer, but not so comfortable in winter, unfortunately. The entire LGA has approximately 150,000 people living in the area (census 3032), with 35,000 living in the immediate area.

Of course, we have beautiful trees in Nilbasse. The Council has taken care of those trees to ensure that the city is protected to some extent from the cold winds that may come blasting down from the north. It does not snow often in Nilbasse, but when it does, it is duly enjoyed... even though many unprintable words which are often used to describe snow are temporarily added to the local lexicon.

The town park, which incidentally, is the dead centre of town. Market Square was originally located here way back when markets were popular, at least in Nilbasse, but now has long since been replaced with a very nice park... and a cemetery (that includes the church, by the way). Nilbasse Town Hall and Courthouse is also located in the nearby area, an ideal place for locals who have nothing better to do than write irate letters to local papers to complain about the latest "silly" council law that recently has been passed.

Nilbasse Town Centre, with a strict height limit in place to protect the amenity of the area. Of course, the fact that the tallest building in town is approximately 100 or so years old still hasn't passed the notice of the lawmakers...

Note that the area isn't finished. Neither is the next upcoming area: Nilbasse Lake.

Nilbasse Lake is located immediately to the east of the town centre, with an interesting take on development, where Floridian-style development was all the rage 30 or so years ago...

The Lakes Shopping Mall, a small, motley collection of shops that provide for the nearby citizens of the area. A roundabout was recently placed here to alleviate traffic congestion. Suffice to say, it worked a little too well... people are having a lot of fun going around in circles.

Another shot of the surrounding area. These old houses opposite the school are due to be replaced with something slightly better, people hope. They look kind of worn out... it was alright for the area sixty years ago, but now... nah. "They gotta go," one local complains. Incidentally, that same local also writes letters to the local paper complaining about that same thing.

An industrial park off the Lakes Way, nothing special, mostly warehouses and a bottling plant or two (possibly a storage facility for Fukitol(TM) Herbal medicine as well... but they are only rumours).

Nilbasse Keys, one of those styles of development that were all the rage 30 years ago. A law was passed soon after this area was built, prohibiting the construction of any more Floridian-style develoments, where every house has a waterfront (and possibly a direct view of the neighbour's bedroom... but that depended on whether or not the house was a) opposite another house with nice, big bedroom windows, b) whether the neighbour was good looking enough, and c) whether the neighbour had their curtains open/closed). Fortunately, not many houses met the criteria for the above.

So, Nilbasse Keys. What do you think? Would you move there? Would you buy a house in a known erosion danger zone? And that last question's actually on the brochure. You'd be surprised at how many people are actually willing to do that. Then again, they're the sort of people who have more money than common sense...


And that's update 1. More updates coming soon.

[Pat]

SA I love your new Start here and I agree it cuts off the clutter by changing the name of your current MD to a new name to reflect a new begining and this way you still can refer back a few pages if you ever wanted to lol...

[Yoman]

Looking great there SA, though some people on Seven Beach might be nice, even if they aren't swimming. Looks like a common North American town.

The inclusion of the Florida style developments is also interesting. Hey, if the neighbor was good looking enough I'd buy a house

[iamgoingtoeatyou]

I haven't visited in a while, but this update from what I can see looks fantastic s.a! Your work continues to improve I like the Floridian style development, very familiar for me

[Filasimo]

wow great update there SA i like how you did the beach and layouts 

[bat]

That's a very great start there for this new region! Great first pictures of Whitefall!!
Looking forward to more of it.

[gmavignier]

Amazing work as usual Shadow. I have a suggestion though: could you not rename your CJ after every update? That make it so hard for me to update my favorites.

[Ennedi]

Your maps are fantastic!  I would like to have a half of your skills in this field 

National symbols are very nice too. All introduction is very professional.
Your pictures look excellent too (as always  ). Very good idea with white sand - there is a beach mod with white sand too, can you tell me why did you decide to use the ploppable stuff?

Very nice suburban area, I have the feeling something new comes to us 

[Air6]

As usual amazing work. I really like the beach but it seems to be deserted 

[figui]

great start here! nice update.
wonderful maps and pics. i also like the beach area, maybe it was too early so noone had arrived

mauricio.

[ManuelR]

Ah, these pictures are beautiful. I don't know why I like it so much. Maybe I like it how everything fits together.

[Shadow Assassin]

Woo, 6000 views. Now, this is probably update 2 in a sense... the locator map has been updated to show what's new in the region (see the top of page 15). I've started another city tile, B2, also known as Verona Beach.

Verona Beach is part of the Nilbasse Local Government Area. Its suburban boundaries end at the south end of the dunes on Verona Beach (the beach shown in this update, not the suburb), at the river to the east, and the inlet to the south. It is home to 18,000 people at this point in time (probably 20,000 or so by the time the suburb is finished.). One thing to note is that I am basing populations not on city tiles, but individual neighbourhoods which may or may not follow the city tile boundaries. Whitefall at this point is kind of fragmented into three major sections across three city tiles: the town of Nilbasse, the suburb of Nilbasse Keys and of course, Verona Beach. The average suburb in Whitefall is approximately 14km^2 (not necessarily within the same city tile, though - Nilbasse actually spans two tiles), with a population of approximately 25,000 to 50,000 per suburb. There are exceptions, though...

Once Nilbasse is 'solidified' (ie. the different suburbs are joined together into one contiguous mass), a street map will be released.

Once you approach Verona Beach via the Lakes Way from the north, you will see the following kilometre marker:



These kilometre markers are generally only used in outer city areas, though they may occasionally be found within suburban boundaries where there may be no destination signs nearby. Another 5 kilometre marker can be found approximately halfway between Nilbasse and Tsenoble, also on the Lakes Way.


At night, nothing much happens in Verona Beach, apart from people heading home. There are a large number of holidaying facilities inside Verona Beach, including a hotel, caravan park and a number of houses that are rented out for holiday hire. It is not far from Whitefall, so generally, not many people hire those holiday homes unless they are from out-of-province. However, approximately 10% of the homes in Verona Beach are holiday homes owned by families for weekend getaways.... even though Whitefall CBD is 16km or so away.


The beach. It is a quiet night, not many people are out walking. People often watch the twin moons set every so often. Verona Beach is patrolled at the south end during the day, with plenty of access points from the road that runs the entire length of the Beach.


The dunes, located about halfway up the beach. There are plenty of grasses here, with a dense covering of trees towards the road. The tree cover is quite common on Australian beaches, where low trees and shrubs about 1m high grow in a dense network of branches and leaves, and it is impossible to make your way through such a thicket, short of using either a flamethrower or machete (I prefer flamethrower. It's more fun, and it doubles as a barbecue... not that I've done it).


An example of one of the beaches in Whitefall. (This is taken in RL pretty close to the location of where that beach is on the unedited version of the map)


I suppose it is request time. I can't find any appropriate shrubbery... so... can it be created? Please?  I'll probably make a collection of lots especially for the creation of these Australian-style beaches, with a little rest area, showers, tourist information billboard, and of course, low bushes!



Replies:

Pat: It's good to have a fresh start on a conveniently located page. Yeah, it's good to have a topic that everybody knows where it is... Ta for visiting.
Owen (Yoman): I agree there should be people walking on the beach, but keep in mind, sometimes the beach isn't always used. I love those sea breezes, though... As for that neighbour thing, there's a black market going on in high-powered optics at the moment... I wonder why.
iamgoingtoeatyou: Thanks! Glad to see I'm improving...
bat: And you'll see more of it! Thanks for visiting.
gmavignier: Thanks! Well, if you've got this CJ saved as favourites, I suggest using the built-in favourites in IE/Firefox... unless you're talking about that inbuilt subscribe function (thought it would refer to just topic location rather than name...). The only reason why the topic name changes is to keep people apprised of when there's an update. The original post, however, has just Whitefall, Iridar as the subject line.
Ennedi: Thanks! The white sand... why it is ploppable is for one simple reason: I like using white sand, but I don't like having white sand on every bit of shoreline. So, I plop the sandy beaches, but have Cycledogg's Moab beach on rivers. It's more realistic that way... I'm sure you'd agree from a realism standpoint that it works out better in ensuring terrain works together well. As for the suburban area... hm, we'll wait and see, hm? 
Air6: I know, it needs people! I just forgot to make a sand lot with randomwalk pedestrians, and yeah... It could do with a little more "nightlife" too, now that I think about it.
Mauricio (figui): Could be a quiet day at the beach, everybody's busy... Surfers here are known for getting up at the crack of dawn (ie, 5am) to do some early morning surfing.
ManuelR: That could be it...

Well, more coming on the way. I should squeeze in one more update before the end of the year. I'm actually not doing anything for Christmas... LOL.


--SA

[bat]

Fantastic pictures of Verona Beach there, SA!
And wonderful looking beach.

[Pat]

SA fantastic UPdate!!!  I love the beach and the RL pics as well...

[beskhu3epnm]

Holy crap dude. Where did you get all of this skill?

First off, the text is hilarious, I loved reading it. Still chuckling over it hehhaha! The idea with the keys development in update one looks magnificent. The beaches look fabulous, the white sand is incredible.

Worthy of a new name, I think. Great work here!

[ManuelR]

I love the first picture with the malls at night.   Question: the pools in the second picture. I don't see them on my houses, is this V2 of this housing set?

[Shadow Assassin]

Just a little preview of Tsenoble, Whitefall. It isn't finished. The reason why it's being built now and not later is simply because I need some way to fill the commercial demand. After a period of instability, I'm proud to say that Tsenoble is turning out extremely well. I will get rid of those drive-in theatres when there is more development... it may require a re-config of the grid here in the centre of town.

High density development is centred around the rail station, much like it is here in Sydney (the State Goverment is dealing with land issues now, as incompetent they may be, they sure do know how to cram people into tall towers... Syd's population is expected to reach 8 million by 2020... and we're running out of land).

Using Chatswood Town Centre, located in north-eastern Sydney, approximately 10-15km from the CBD, as an example...


You can see that Chatswood town centre, like Tsenoble has become, has all its density concentrated immediately around the train station. The result is a clump of commercial buildings sticking up from an otherwise low-density area, as seen in this picture below:


While Tsenoble, as an example, is a little more extreme in the height difference, it doesn't look as bad from a perspective like that of SC4, than it does from the ground level. Unfortunately, because there are practically no buildings between 15 and 30 stories on the STEX, the difference between medium and high density is more extreme than it normally would be in real life. For instance, when changing zone density from low to medium, there is initially a smooth transition. But unfortunately, SC4's stage system throws that in disarray eventually, for instance the game will place a Brink Real Estate next to small mom-and-pop shops... and the result looks odd (for an example, look next to the stadium in my picture). The CAM has helped with this problem considerably, spacing the stages further apart, as well as adding new stages (9-15)... but there are still some extreme changes, especially as the city grows. Historicalising certain key buildings to ensure the integrity of the skyline in proportion to the rest of the city is almost essential.

More pictures of Nilbasse will come when the city is built up more.


REPLIES:
bat: Thanks!
Pat: Heh, thanks.
Travis (beskhu3epnm): Thanks... For the skill, I've been playing since SC4 came out, alright?
ManuelR: Thanks! The pools... actually, I find it interesting that the average density of pools increase the closer I get to the beach... LOL. These houses aren't all Maxis: some are the Four Square set which can be found on the STEX, some are SimGoober.

Who knows what will come next?

[tooheys]

Nice work SA. Going back a few updates, I really like the layout of the avenue roundabout

The quays are nicely done and the white beaches, brilliant.

Whitefall is looking good.

By the way, I work at Chatswood in the taller of the Vodafone Buildings (2nd from left).

Cheers

Dave