Welcome to Condor Bay

[threestooges]

Great update! Venice beach it's not quite, but the result is stunning nonetheless. I've seen a skybridge out there (try this) at ST but I don't know how well it works on avenues etc. It might be worth a shot though. I love that you left the slope between the buildings and the freeway open and grassy. It keeps the area from looking overcrowed, it makes it look more natural and, as Jon (jbsimio) said, it's a good way to show passerbys what they are missing. I do think a club or two, and some upscale restaurants would round out the look nicely. 6.10 is a great pic. I like the 'cartoony' effect and it works well with that pic. I also agree with Nardo about the overpass thing. The game ones don't look too bad, but the NAM ones (in my opinion) work better.

In regard to the little commercial strip you are thinking about getting rid of (6.11), I think the commercial area would look good on the upper tier with a park in the lower. It looks like you have 4-5 tiles depth to work with. That could make a nice place for a meandering trail with a playground (though I don't know how much demand there would be for a playground around all that commercial, but hey, why not?). I've never liked the way those diagonal types of commercial zones develop (but I haven't figured a good way around it either) and was wondering if you, or anyone else, knew of any diagonal buldings that would fit that bill.

The mosaic turned out great and, of the showcase pics, 6.18, 6.21 and 6.37 are the best in my opinion. 6.21 nails the sunlight effect and 6.18/6.37 are just very well done pics (contest submissions perhaps?). I still look forward to seeing what is done with the museum choice and its exhibit selection; and now I look forward to seeing what you'll do with the job/employment thing.

Again, excellent update.
-Matt

[Pat]

Isaac so much and with great pride too, I dont know which pic was my favorite in the showcase?  I enjoyed reading the devolpment of Condor Bay and then seeing it all in action WoW..... I think the Tilt Shift turned out pretty good for a diffrent effect IMHO....

[squidi]

thats a very very intressting MD isaac.
i like all the different styles of effects in your pictures. thats very well done
its also intressting to see how you develope your city and i have never seen pictures from the older simcity before 
my favorites are the pictures from the harbour and the beach. i live them

paul

[Pytkowski]

I like this your city climate i enjoj it

[Masochist]

Condor Bay's back online!  I'm really sorry to all of those who commented on my last update made over two months ago for making you guys wait so long for a reply.  Very, ahh, uncool of me ...especially since you guys took the time to give me what's probably the best set of comments I've gotten for this journal so far on any site that it exists (three so far...).

In the meantime, I've been trying things I've never tried before.  In some of the upcoming updates, we'll have a few parks, some nice residential towers and LOTS AND LOTS of suburbs...also a mall, and other signs of suburbia.  And a few other multi-media surprises .

Last thing...in the previous update, I mentioned all the buildings that were along the boulevard of Condor Beach.  There was one building, however, that I couldn't remember the name of.  Well, mightygoose has informed me that it's called Carlton House, and it was produced by onlyplace4.  I sincerely apologize to OP4 for not remembering the name of the building.  I've changed it in the original post, and I'll offer a link to it as compensation.

[Click here to download OP4's Carlton House]

Anyways...that's all.  It feels good to be back again!  Time to get this thing underway again !

Look at the size of some of those comments...

JBSimio -
Wow, very nice surprise seeing you in here !  I'm really glad you liked the beach update, because I definitely liked putting it together.  Yeah...I don't know how I ended up doing it like that.  I guess I take that from Darmok...he always showed exactly what he did, and I always appreciated him for it.  I'm just glad people appreciate it here, too, even though more often than not it results in ungodly amounts of pictures to load .  As for the back of the hotels, I didn't even think of that!  That's a good idea...free advertising.  Didn't think such a thing existed ....

By the way, no need to thank me for the plug in that update...in fact, I should be thanking you for making the school !  That entire school pack is definitely high-quality work...I'm really glad you did it for us.  You'll definitely see more of them throughout this MD...in fact, you'll see hints of them in this update!

Thanks for your comment...I'm glad you stopped by! Feel free to continue lurking now that I've started back up, but don't be afraid to speak up now and then !


warconstruct-
Thank you for the kind words!  I'm glad you liked the beach update, because I liked making it.  Also, I'm glad you're getting something out of what I post...I was hoping at least some people could do something with it .  Yeah, the night mod is Gizmo's...amazing, isn't it?  I love it!  Anyways, I hope you stop by again, I enjoy reading your comments!


kimcar -
LOL, yeah...in the past few months, a number of those pictures have found there way into the Picture Contest (though I have a poor winning percentage with them ).  Thanks for the comment...have fun at the beach!  Don't forget to hit up Ocean's club !


bat -
Thanks, bat!  Glad you liked it!  It was quite a bit to take in, I realize, but I hope it was worth it.  LOL...actually, this update's almost as long (and purely by accident!).  Still, I hope you enjoy it.  Thanks for the comment!


RickD -
Hi, Rick D.  Yeah, the main thing I had to do was be patient.  I really had to cut down on the res. density and...well, you'll see in this update!  Hope you get some ideas...


rooker1 -
Thanks, Robin!  I'm glad you liked it.  I didn't even realize it when I posted this, but almost all of the daytime pictures have some sort of editing done to them.  I really liked how some of them came out...in fact, some of them I consider among my best editing for any picture I've done (not that that's saying much ).  I hope you enjoy this update.  Thank you for the comment!


mightygoose -
Thanks for the info !  It's been changed in the previous update and noted above.


Nardo69 -
WHOA !  Mondo comment!

Oh, yeah.  I've definitely learned my lesson .  I'm usually not a big plopper much when it comes to RCI buildings...I guess I showed my plopping ignorance with this one.  It was crazy trying to get everything back in line; in fact, my CS $$$ is still really low even today...which isn't helped at all by what I put in the next town .  Oh, well.  I'm glad you like the SC3K aspect.  It's sad, because I'm not able to play on Vista.  I can load up my cities, but I'm not able to save or import custom buildings anymore . 

The freeway...it caused me a lot of problems .  I had to figure out exactly what to do with it, and not all the problems get fixed in this update...but one specific one does, and thanks to you, no less!  But you'll see what I mean.  As for that transition, I still haven't figured out exactly what to do with it even after these two months.  I do want to keep that road going past the freeway, but I don't know if I want to put that Elevated highway on that part (because to tell the truth, I'm not a fan of Elevated Highway unless it's in a flat part of the city with development right next to it, and that tiny transition is the one place in the entire city where that doesn't happen...it's frustrating!).

Of course, there's always room for you on Condor Beach!  Feel free to stay at any of the hotels...I think I can pull some strings and get you some discounted rates .  Speaking of those hotels, I couldn't get Embassy Suites to grow in my city yet.  Not only was my city too small at the time, but the other hotels killed the demand.  I'd've been waiting a loooong time for it !  And don't worry, I have a portable hard-drive that I use to back up my stuff with .

Anyways...thank you so much for the long and detailed comment!  It's ones like these (and the next three I have to reply to) that really made me happy to be back (sorry for such a late reply ).  I really hope you enjoy this next update!


paroch -
Thanks for all the compliments ! 

Yeah, I've been waiting for more old-skool SimCity buildings to appear in SC4.  I knew that JaWood had created a few SC2K buildings, including the one you mentioned.  He also made the Professional's tower (which you'll see in this update) and a few others from 2K.  There are less buildings from SC3K, but I know of Insurance Plaza, Federal Building, and more recently Kate Foundation.  I'm hoping more people will recreate more buildings...more specifically, Gold Tower, Justin Brown Plaza, and Corporate Ground Zero.

I'm glad you liked the mosaic and the beach!  You're right, it really is fun trying to put it together and make it fit; finding all the right pieces to go here and there.  If you're asking about the beach pictures and why they don't have the underwater bug in them...well, they do.  But it's easy to fix them so they look right again (assuming you haven't found this out in the two months since I've been here): just go into the "zones" data view and back out again.  That's all...and then it won't happen again until you save your game.  A simple trick...but it gets the job done .

That little avenue piece...ahh, I see what you mean.  I don't know...I haven't really looked at that part of the city or done anything to it in the past two months, so I haven't really fixed it or worried about fixing it...but I see what you mean about it.  I'll see what I can do.

I'm glad you liked this update so much, and I really appreciate the in-depth comments you left...thank you  Sorry it took so long to reply to them, though !  I hope this update makes up for it.


thundercrack83 -
I promise you, I'll try my hardest to make those sunken highways to the best of my abilities!

I'm glad you liked the mosaic!  I didn't think it would come out that detailed, but it certainly did surprise me.  LOL...yeah, I love those palms!  They convey the feeling and purpose of that beach so well.  Good to see that I've helped change your mind about them !

Sorry for the so late reply...and thanks for the time in the "OSITM" section, I really appreciated it, as it spawned so many awesome comments from you guys !  Hopefully this update will satisfy you a bit.


threestooges -
You guys are relentless with these comments...I love it, LOL!

Yeah...Venice Beach is a straight sidewalk with commerce along it and bike trails.  What my beach is really missing, however, are the random people along the walk trying to make a living: the people who make instruments out of bottles, the guy who turns soda cans into model airplanes, and of course the dozens and dozens of tattoo parlors .  Still, they're of the same spirit...at least, I think so .

Thanks for the link!  I didn't know those were on the STEX...I've got 'em now! 

I was thinking about adding some clubs to the commercial area on the other side of the freeway to turn it into more of an entertainment district, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.   I do like the grassy area behind the hotels, as well.  I think that's how it'll stay...I've gotten too used to it.  LOL...I thought the same thing.  I never figured out why, though...I think it might be the way the freeway curves into the picture and provides a sort-of "backbone" to the focus, which is the avenue...I don't know.

That little bayside commercial area/park...maybe you're right.  I think I'll try it.  I haven't actually done any experiments to that part of town yet (not even in the two months I've been AWOL), but I should someday.  A nice, meandering trail to overlook the seaside wouldn't be a bad idea at all!  We'll have to see.  I'm not too sure of how many diagonal commercial buildings would fit in a small space like that, but their might've been one or two released...although I'd expect them to be non-American, if that matters.

A lot of people liked the mosaic.  I thought it was cool, but I didn't think it'd be so popular...although I'm certainly happy people enjoy it!  LOL...all of those except 6.21 have been entered in the contest (along with about three or four others).  Funny enough, the one people called out the most (6.18) was the only one to make it all the way into the Hall of Fame...imagine that .  Still, I think a lot of these are among the best pictures I've ever produced from SimCity 4.  If you're curious (and maybe you aren't), my personal favorites were 6.27, 6.34, 6.35, and 6.38 (which is actually supposed to be 6.37).

Anyways, thank you for the awesome comment, and I apologize again for the late reply.  Hopefully you'll like this update...both the museum and the unemployment are taken care of (at least partially for the latter).  Do come back in!


Pat-
Thanks for the comments!  Yeah, this one was special to me...I got a lot out of it, so I was really happy.  I'm glad you're enjoying it so far.  I like the Tilt-Shift, as well, but mine pales in comparisons to Criquette's on ST...he's got it down!  Anyways, I hope you enjoy this update...feel free to stop on by!


squidi -
Thank you!  I did try some new Photoshopping techniques that I hadn't really tried before, so I'm glad you liked them.  You've never seen picture from the older SimCity's ?  Wow...well, I hope you're enjoying those, too !  SC3K was the game I played all throughout high school.  Anyways...I hope you enjoy this next update, as well.  Do come back in!


Pytkowski -
LOL...thanks for your comments!  I really tried to get that sunshiny feel in these pictures, which I had never done before.  Glad you liked it!  Hope you enjoy this update, as well!

UPDATE 7 - Mayoral Duties
And the frustration they cause...

Well, this update was loooong overdue, wouldn't you say?...but better late than never .

In the last update, somewhere in the middle of all those pictures, I left you guys a teaser of what was to come because of my careless plopping.  Well, if you've actually been reading what I write in each update, I've also been dropping hints at another side-effect of my unfortunate city-building skills.  But I'm getting a bit ahead of myself...supposing I should actually build the afflicted area first, eh?  So here's the construction of the northern part of Condor Beach:

7.1)


7.2)


This is the transportation area of the yet-to-be-built area north of the freeway (the top picture is facing south; the bottom one is facing east).  Take note of the blue pavilion near the beach--that'll come into play later.  For now, notice the absurd amount of avenues, and how the zones for this area so far are all mid-high density res.  The reason for this is because I'm trying to raise my population.  The regional population at this point is about 50,000.  I wanted to try and fit as many Sims as possible into this city tile.

Oh, what a fool I iz.

I wish I had remembered to take a picture of the original zoning plan for this area of town...but alas, I didn't .  So here's the entire area developed:

7.3)


YES!  The town is finally completed, and it's looking so...whoa, what the heck !?

Ahh...something's not quite right here...

7.4)


Another view.  Nice rampant unemployment Condor Beach is facing right now, eh ?  Geez...allow me to explain how I landed myself into this situation.

While carelessly plopping the the resorts along the actual beach, I forgot to take into account the fact that most of what I was plopping had jobs.  Oh, I was fully aware of the fact, of course...in fact, I thought it would help me!  I thought that with me plopping these hotels with jobs, I would easily be able to fill up the rest of the town with high density residential.

Oh, what a fool I iz.

My commercial demand for services crashed faster than SC4 on Vista.  Because I needed jobs, commercial offices tried to take up the slack.  All those nice little shops were replaced with Ill Tonkso's and SG's small offices.  For example, remember Market Street back in the Seaport town?

7.5)


Well...nowadays, it looks like this:

7.6)


Offices abound now.  Hardly any shops are left...which means that hardly any of its original charm is left .

In fact, this whole office epidemic gets pretty bad:

7.7)


Why yes, that is an NDEX BUILDING trying to build next to my beach .  A tall one, at that...in fact, if I'd've let it stay, it probably would've been one of the tallest buildings in town even after Downtown was built.  That's how desperate they are for jobs.

So this is a side effect of my poorly planned plopping.  It's going to be something I'll deal with for a while...especially since my next large commercial area doesn't come until pretty far into the next city.  Still...it does have it's upsides:

7.8 )


This area is finally developing as I wanted it to.  Nice mid-rise commercial buildings .

Anyways, back to the unemployment situation.  I noticed something in the middle of the pandemic: my residential demand didn't go down.  How did I figure this out?  Well...it became sort of obvious when they tried to build these along the freeway:

7.9)


Nice huge towers...immediately plagued by unemployment.  Gotta love my citizens : even when all around it, all the high wealth apartments are being abandoned:

7.10)


7.11)


...they still build those things.  Unbelievable .

Time to fix this....

My plan of action for this was...contradictory, so to speak.  I needed to get rid of the unemployment, so I had to...ahh, desaturate the residential zoning while trying to alleviate the lack of jobs by building industry.  Doing so, however, would do nothing to help drive the demand for commerce back up...I'd need more residential to do that.  Which means I'd have to hurry up and move on to the next town so I could take advantage of the abundant amount of suburbs and apartments I was planning for that part of town.

Some people might ask why I didn't just make the commercial area I already had more dense.  The reason for that is simply because that's not what I wanted for that area.  I didn't want any large towers in this part of town except for the resorts on the beach (hence why I got rid of the NDEX building that tried to grow).  In fact, I didn't want to touch that commercial area at all...I thought it was perfect as it was.  My stubbornness left me in a tight pickle, I realize, but I wouldn't budge on it .

Anyways...I built up some industry and desaturated the area.  Here's some of the industry (mainly along the western edge of the region, along the avenue that connects this town with the seaport):

7.12)


7.13)


And here's how northern Condor Beach looked post-desaturation:

7.14)


Yeah, I left those res towers there.  I didn't want to delete them because I was afraid of their effect on my population.  They'll be gone after a while, though...in fact, there'll be a few different things that'll take their places before I find something that I like (courtesy of Maxis, no less!).

This is where my last update on ST left off, but I think I'll go ahead and give you guys the entire update.  Lord knows you guys deserve no less.

Anyways...after getting my city on the road to recovery, I thought it was high time for me to try and fix a few things here and there...aesthetic things, mainly.  First thing's first: there's a certain road bridge over the freeway that has been irking me more than all the others ever since I built it.  You can see it clearly here in this picture of the mosaic that I posted last update:

7.15)


See that nice jagged downslope?  What to do about it, then?  Well, Nardo69 had the answer: using the underground road pieces by buddybud to take that road out of the picture.  Because one side is higher up than the other, I figured I'd use the downsloping tunnel on the commercial side of the freeway and the level tunnel on the beach side...so I did:

7.16)


Looks nice!  YES!  But does it work properly?  Can cars still get to the beach?  Well...:

7.17)


I'd forgotten about that little bug .  If you place a transit-enabled lot (like a bus stop or these tunnels) next to a freeway or bridge, the transit types that are allowed to use it can do so to get onto that bridge/freeway where they would otherwise not be allowed to...and that's what they're doing here.  I didn't put an offramp there because I didn't want freeway traffic on that road...so this doesn't fly with me.  So I place the tunnel on the commercial side one tile away from the freeway...and this is what happens:

7.18 )


Give me a break!  I didn't change the other side because no one was using the other side...and now they do .  Well, easily remedied:

7.19)


Much better!  That's how it's supposed to work!  Here's a better view (with a better tower on the side):

7.20)

Ugh...St. Ritzy's slightly ruins this

So now that's done, and it looks a thousand times better.  What's more, while I was working on that, the town was further trying to right itself.  Those two tall towers were replaced with what was really needed, and the dilapidation seemed to be on the out and out:

7.21)


Nice!

Now it's time to tackle another little project: the beach museum.  The thing about this museum is that it's been in the city for a little while now...in fact, it's been there since the beginning of the update.  Remember the blue pavilion I told you to remember?  No?  ...go back up to picture 7.2.  There's a blue pavilion at the top of the picture, see it?  That's actually Havoc Art Museum, and until threestooges said something about being interested in which museum I would choose, that was the beach museum.  How lazy of me....

But thanks to threestooges, I decided to give a it a bit more love and care, and put it in its rightful spot.  Here's where it's going:

7.22)

You can see it there at the top of the picture surrounded by houses and things like that

Let's see how it will fit, then mold the land to it.

7.23)

Check the LBT single-road-tile parking textures...

Now to level out the land...:

7.24)


...and fill it back in...:

7.25)


And voila!  T. S. Museum and Pavilion is now open for business !  (Actually, I was thinking of naming it the LCM museum, as well.  Which one do you think is better)?  The parking lot is connected to the road that leads down to the ferry.  Ahh...oh, yeah...I added a ferry a little while ago to compliment the one on the other end of the beach.  Heh heh...guess I could've mentioned that before .  Oh, well.  Anyways, the land where the museum used to be was developed into more houses:

7.26)


7.27)

Diagonal grid!

That's most of what I did.  A few more random pictures, then:

7.28 )


This is an industrial zone in the northeast part of the city tile.  I don't know why it hasn't developed (because it was made to help with jobs during the unemployment scare), but it didn't.  I'll keep it around to help alleviate potential future problems, should any arise.

7.29)


This is just a random neighborhood I found in Condor Beach.  You see this?  In one picture, THREE TP'd TREES!  But don't worry, I think we're close to finding the mastermind behind all the vandalism.  It was reported that he goes by his underground pseudonym JJ...

7.30)

Facing north

The significance of this picture is the direction of the avenues.  The one going off the eastern side of the map (towards the large city tile called Fordville) is the beach boulevard.  I thought I'd point that out, because the beach avenue is actually one of the most important thoroughfares in the city (running along the Ace River all the way to the northern edge of the region) and I thought you guys would want to keep up with it.

So after all of that, here's the northern part of Condor Beach:

7.31)

Upgraded the towers that used to be next to the freeways, you see!

...and the entire city as a whole:

7.32)

So there we are!  It took a few months, but the second city tile, Condor Beach, is finally done!        

The city population right now is somewhere around 55,000, and the region population is about 67,000 sims.  Here's a transportation view so far:

7.33)

Still a long way to go...

That's it for this update...next update, we venture into the first (and perhaps only) city tile without a significant hill, mountain, or body of water to hinder development...which means the entire thing gets developed!  Here are a couple things to look forward to:

7.34)


7.35)


7.36)


Man, it feels good to be back ...thanks for reading !

[Pat]

Issac thank you for creating this wonderful MD to read!!! Ive gotten my fixxx for a week and I expect I will need anther in a weeks time lol.... No I truelly understand it takes time to get stuff done even when RL is kicking in...  Its great to see you around and please dont forget us again or I will cry     See you soon!!!

[threestooges]

Good to have you back. You must be feeling pretty good as it looks like you've put together a marathon post... so much to comment on. There's nothing to apologize for, everyone gets busy (I have finals coming up in a week). Great work on resolving the unemployment crisis. I think, with the exception of a few towers looming around there, the area looks better with the desaturation. Though you have developed the area, I'd still be interested to see the zoning map to see the density mix.

I think the overpass fix (7.15-7.20) turned out great. Enough speed on that old road and you could fly to the beach. The results of the remodel turned out great. I may give these lots a try myself (I have a few spots that could use some help) and it's good to know about the proximity thing. I think the extra space between the entrances and the highway looks more natural, especially considering the width of the grassy area itself. Interesting to note that the unemployment started to work itself out over the time spent on the underpass (possibly some jobs created through the construction process).

I think the museum fits its current spot perfectly. Its old spot looked a bit out of place. With the houses right up next to it, it just looked crowded in there. On the beach, it really stands out; a feature kind of like the Santa Monica pier. The vacated area looks better with houses anyway. I think that T.S. Museum and Pavilion suits it well. LCM is nice (or perhaps LCMS) but it's missing something... (and I'm not talking about a least common multiple) it's just missing that ring (probably fell off after the last knock on the head). It'll make a fine educational and recreational facility.

The last overview looks like the city turned out well. I'll be interested to see how the next tile develops. Will it be a grid or will it take on a different style? I know the flat area lends itself to it, but either way it should be interesting. Good to see you back to the MD thing, and back with a bang.
-Matt

[bat]

It's wonderful to see here a new big update from you! And it is a fantastic one! Some great pictures!
Looking forward to more...

[thundercrack83]

Welcome back, Isaac! I'm so glad you've brought your work back to us here, my friend, as I'm a big fan!

This is another fantastic update here in Condor Bay. I love the way you how us the trial and error of building and re-building. particularly with buddybud's tunnel pieces. Your work is both entertaining and educational!

I will definitely be looking forward to seeing more of Condor Bay, my friend!

Take care,

Dustin

[Nardo69]

Glad I could give you the right hint for that road, even more that fixing that problem did help you to overcome your dilapation problem. But I must confess, sometimes letting a map run at slow speed while doing nothing or concentratinng on small details like that underpass does help the simulator to balance things out again. I whitnessed this effect several times, too!

BTW 1:
I used these lots mostly for railway underpasses with the effect that I almost never had the bug appear at all  ... You just have to be careful that you do an alternative route when using the BuddyBud's Undergropund Lots - as the simulator still regards them as Subway = Mass Transit and especially rich Sims don't like to use Mass Transit at all    

BTW 2:
The pink one of those Res towers is one of my favourite Residential Towers - the Cobb Oceanic. I am normally glad when I get this baby growing!  (But then again I rarely zone High Density at all  )

Great to have you back anyway!

Take care my friend (and don't forget to make Backups!)

Bernhard 

[Pytkowski]

The city has own climate

[warconstruct]

Ah you is back my friend, it is with my greater pleasure than I viewed your update! I must say that it is has the height of my waiting !   

Without context I adore your beach my also your suburbs, it are very well arranged and as you have it say with much park and of parks your inhabitants will have a very beautiful framework of life!

Your industrial parks are very quite carried out and with logic they are separated from the centre town far from the hotels from luxury  What is very well thought, I congratulate you!

The sights general that you proposed to us are very beautiful and your area advances well (compared has Trieste)en effect you developed beautiful grid systems, structured very well 

I say to you has soon for your next update!

Paul

[paroch]

Hey, I'm glad you're back.  Condor Bay was one of my favourite "new" MDs here and then you went quiet on us

I can tell how much work has gone into this update and found it veru interesting to read.  I've had massive unemployment issues in my current city, again mainly driven because I was trying to achieve a look that it "just so".  So well done for sticking with your city plan - it was well worth it.

The beach pavillion/museum fits just right there - splendid.  And the beach itself really is the jewell in this city's crown.

And thanks for the detailed response

I look forward to next time.

Paul

[Masochist]

Pat -
LOL, it does feel good to be back!  Real Life sometimes does kick me in the rear, but it's nice to come back in here and see what's going on.  I'm glad you are satisfied with my product; I was afraid that that last update might be an overdose !  I don't think I could ever forget about you guys here !  Thanks for the comment...hope this fixxx is worth your while !


threestooges -
Thanks!  It's good to be back, trust me !  I know it was quite a bit...just about as long as the update before it !  Didn't mean to make it so long, actually, but it's really two updates fused into one (because I was in the process of posting the first update here when my computer sporadically shut off, and that was basically the start of my absence).  A lot to take in, I realize, but I have faith in all of you .

I think you're right.  The desaturated area looks much better than the original tower-dominated area.  The only problem I have with it is the abundance of TerraCotta Mews...they pop up everywhere !  I'm happy with the way that underpass turned out; it looks so much better than the overpass that it replaced.  Now you can hardly notice it until you get up close, which is a good thing.  I'd recommend those lots to anyone !  Heh heh...I guess I should've just let it run by itself that entire time.  I've noticed that SimCity tends to sort of work its own problems out sometimes (this being one of them).  I'll get you that

LOL...funny thing, I was thinking about plopping Peg's Oceanography Institute out there on the beach, but I wanted it to be a museum, so I decided to stick with the Pavilion...though I do have a question for you: do you think it might work better as a pier?  That seems like an interesting idea.  Hmmm...I might try it....  LOL, yeah...I think I'll stick with T. S. Museum - that seems like it could actually be someone's name.  I'm glad I did end up moving that museum; that revamped neighborhood looks interesting with the diagonal streets criss-crossing like that (that hardly happens).

This update won't be so long.  Most of this tile will be suburbia, so most of it won't be a strict grid.  There will be one area, though, that has to be...but you'll see why.  Thanks for really long comment, and all the ideas therein !


bat -
Thanks!  It feels good posting again!  Hopefully I'll be able to keep posting updates regularly, instead of taking breaks here and there.  I'm glad you liked that huge update, and I hope you like this one as well!


thundercrack83 -
Glad to be back, trust me !  I'm glad you liked the update!  Huge, wasn't it ?  LOL...anyways, yeah, that's my style.  If something doesn't work, I have to keep tinkering with it until it does...I just happen to take pictures while I do !  I wouldn't know how else to present this MD if I didn't....

Anyways, I really hope you enjoy this update.  It won't be anywhere near as long as the last one, but still pretty good, I think.  Thanks for the comment, Dustin!


Nardo69 -
Thank you for the advice!  It turned out well...it looks so much better than it did!  But yeah, it was just the game working itself out.  I love it when I can look like a hero without doing any work whatsoever !

I've never really needed to use the underground railroad (whoa...what an odd, unintentional pun...)...actually, there are a lot of transit pieces I've never used before that I've wanted to.  Hmmm...I never thought of that before, but it makes sense.  Oh, well...there are plenty of ways to get to the beach.  The rich sims can find a slightly longer way around .  The Oceanic is really cool (actually, all of cobb's buildings are amazing)...but I couldn't let it stay.  Not with the city failing as it was.  They needed other stuff (and right now as it is, the demand for R$$$ is waaaay in the negative), so I had to give it to 'em .

Thanks for the comment!  I hope you enjoy this update, as well !


Pytkowski -
LOL...you mean with the way there's snow in the hills and the beach is sunshiny with palm-trees and such?  Yeah, I thought that weird, as well... ...but no one's said anything about it yet, so I thought I could let it slide !


warconstruct -
Yeah, I'm back !

I'm really glad you enjoyed that update!  I thought it might be too much...but I guess you guys can handle it.  That puts me at ease....  The beach is really my favorite part of the city so far...it's the first (and so far only) thing that gives the city its character.  The suburbs...well, I'll get heavy into parks in this next city, trust me ;-).  I'm glad you like them, though.  LOL, yeah, I can't have those factories near the beach!  That would be pretty bad.  You'd have smoke over the beach and palm trees!  And that big hill does make a really nice natural cut-off !

I can't wait to show you what goes on in this upcoming city!  If you want a hint, head off to the "Show Us Your Parks!" thread and find my latest post ...that's coming up in a future update (not this one, though).  I do hope you like this update, though.  Thanks for all the compliments !


paroch -
Heh heh...sorry about that!  Needed to take a break, but yeah, I'm back and raring to go now!  I'm glad you liked this update.  It was huge...but it was worth it, no doubt!  I was fortunate enough to actually get through it...I know some people don't.  But then again...the game just sort of worked itself out, so I didn't really have to do much at all !  I'm happy that you liked the way the museum turned out; it's really strange, but then again, it's really a nice addition to the "most famous beach in town."  You're right...it is the crown jewel (at least, so far it is).  As I told warconstruct, it's the only thing that gives the city any character (besides the seaport, I suppose).  We'll see how long that lasts, though ....

Heh heh...thank you for the detailed comments !  It's why I like posting here at SC4D...really in-depth responses.  Anyways, I hope you enjoy this update, as well!

UPDATE 8 - A Blank Canvas
Mas's mille-post milestone!

And now, for my 1,000th comment here on SimCity 4 Devotion (), I'd like to introduce you guys to the third city tile of the region Condor Bay, known as Western Fordville.

8.1)

Outlined in red...

Western Fordville lies to the north of Condor Beach, and to the west of the big Fordville tile.  It has perhaps the largest amount of development real estate of all the tiles in the region (except for the aformentioned central city), yet ironically it has perhaps the least amount of interesting landmarks .

8.2)

Western Fordville as it appeared in SC3KU

Most of it is just industry and residential, though there is a major satellite commercial office district here (The Rigel District) that landed there because of the traffic generated by the meeting of Continental Highway 50 (the east-west expressway) and Beltway 450 (the freeway that goes 3/4ths the way around the region).  Still...nothing really noteworthy was planned for this tile...so I had to just go with it .

The first thing I did was get the freeways laid out, and start with some of the avenues:

8.3)

So many avenues...

The industrial area on the west side of the beltway is the first thing that gets developed.  It won't look so good to begin with, I'll admit to you, but it'll get better over time.

8.4)


This is how I laid out the streets at first.  Then, after a visit to [AK's CJ "AK"] on Simtropolis, I noticed how a lot of the warehouses and factories had their own block, and that was the look I was going after.  So I decided to try and optimize it so that certain sized buildings would grow in certain spots, while also allowing for different sizes to be zoned:

8.5)


Only slightly different, but it will work.  Between the beltway and that first avenue I put commercial zoning to separate the industry from the residential.

The railroad bothers me, though...it's just there.  I ended up just running it off the edge of the region because I was so dissatisfied with it...but I'll see what I can do with it (and how to make up for it for Nardo69) later.  For now, though, here's a bit of what grew in that industrial area:

8.6)


Well...I like it, at least .

Anyways, why not take a trip across the beltway, then?  This is a large area of relatively flat land, ideal for residential planning...which is what will go there.  It's actually a good thing that I won't get any commerce for while: my CS$$$ demand is still in the negative from the resorts on the beach.

8.7)


Have to fill in the streets between the avenues.  As you can see, however, I left a few gigantic blocks empty; one will be a park, one will be filled with a big lot that I hadn't decided on yet, and one is perfectly fitted for one gigantic lot to come.  But that comes later .  Notice the gridded area where the commercial zoning will go.  That will be filled in in a future update...haven't figured out which one yet .

8.8 )


Streets, bus stops and necessary civic services, including yet another of JBSimio's schools (and I'll use another one in this town, as well).

I think now would be a good time to show some specific examples of how exactly I zone suburban residential zones.  It's usually one tile at a time along winding streets.  I'm trying to get back to the way I used to zone inner-city suburban areas...I don't know how I managed those without thinking, but I can't seem to do them anymore and its slightly frustrating.

Here's an example of how I used to do it (from Power City):

8.9)


I'm trying to emulate that style, but it doesn't quite come out how I want it .  Nowadays my suburbs seem too...unnecessary, actually, with all the winding streets I randomly throw in:

8.10)


8.11)


Meh...it's only a small gripe ...and with the Street-Side Mod in place, it's hardly noticeable anyways .

Here's what the neighborhood looks like so far:

8.12)


Already almost half-way done with the entire tile !  I started zoning just a tiny bit near that northern commercial area (by the freeway).  It looks terrible now, but just you wait - it'll end up being a high-wealth residential area with nice looking towers, you'll see.  But that's a bit later.

Did you notice that one of the three big blocks was filled in?  No?  Well, one of the three big blocks was filled in...with the in-game university.  Oh, how I despise that thing!, but it was all I had.  But since one was filled in, why not fill in another?

8.13)


What's...what's that in the corner there?  Why, it's the LBT Mall!  That's right: you can't call it suburbia until there's a shopping mall .  And look at what that 1300-CS$$$-jobs-creating building did to my commercial service demand.  So then, why did I plop it?

Maybe I'm cra-zay?  Possiblyyyy....

Of course, it could simply be that it seemed like a good place to plop a mall, what with the freeway wrapping around it and its extreme proximity to an abundance of homes and (in the future) commercial offices.  That might be it .

Whatever the reason, it's there, and it killed my demand.  Doesn't matter; it didn't stop me from zoning more commercial areas anyways (they do really want offices, after all):

8.14)

Why is that toolbar in the picture!?  Oh yeah...it's a zones picture.  Nevermind...

8.15)


Ah, ha!  There are some nice towers popping up along that freeway (just as I said) !  They'll help alleviate the CS demand crisis I'm experiencing.  I also streamlined the last "big block" (which, if you use process of elimination, will become a future park) to make room for even more housing.  Here's a nice, random overview shot for the suburban area:

8.16)

So who remembers this picture when I posted it before UPDATE 2?

(That's about the third or fourth time I've posted that picture in this CJ so far).

I do believe that's all for this update.  Next, I'll work on that park a bit, and then we'll go north of the freeway where some interesting things develop :

8.17)

Oh, it's MURDER!

That's it!  Happy Cinco de Mayo, everyone !  Thanks for reading !

[thundercrack83]

Another magnificent update, Isaac! I just love to follow along with you as your building these city tiles. It feels like I'm right there with you as you're doing it, while you try things, change things, and finally situate them how you want them. I love the placement of the mall, too--I can't count how many malls I've passed along highways in my travels. Very realistic!

Keep up the fabulous work, my friend! I'll be back to see what's next!

Dustin

[Pat]

Isaac just simply wonderful and yes Im happy to be getting my fixx of Condor Bay... Ive fallen in love with it as it gives back from the good ole sc3k to sc4.... I just simply admire your skills and the time you put into doing Condor Bay!!! I cant wait till the next update and till then.......

[paroch]

That is a really great update there.  It's so interesting how you tell us what you're thinking and what you're trying to achieve.  I can't beleive it took me so long to find this update and also that it's attracted so few comments.  Sometimes there is no justice in the world!

I'll be looking out for more (and you're almost in the best sellers now).

Paul

[bat]

Great work there on update 8! A lot of very nice pictures!

Looking forward to more...

[nerdly_dood]

I like it!  In particular, I like how your Maxis content blends well with your large amount of custom content...some people just HATE m=Maxis content, and although it makes their city more unique, it decreases variety somewhat.

[threestooges]

You should be careful about thanking me for the long comments, you might just get more of them. To answer your question, and sorry about taking so long to get back to you with it, I think a pier would be a great addition there. I would leave the museum on the beach and have the pier extend out from there. A nice little commercial type pier (as you would see around Santa Monica or something like that) would compliment the area nicely and give the tourists another thing to do (and to spend money too).

First, in regard to the update, congratulations on 1000th post. The suburbs look like they turned out pretty well. The density of the avenues seems a bit high, but it works in a way. Looking at the pic you posted from Power City, that seems to be the main difference I see between the street setup. It looks like you had many more streets per road/avenue than you do here, but this will certainly help with transit times and capacity. Whatever the mall did to CS demand, I think it's worth it. It's in a great place and looks good too. I noticed a stadium on the narrower end of where the park will be. Will this be tied in with the park? Moreover, will the park and stadium be tied into the college facility or will it be for a separate, city/regional team? I'll be interested to see where the last pic lead us. Have you planned out a little story, or are they just getting ready for Halloween?

At any rate, Good update, and I'll be interested to see what's going to develop next. I should also congratulate you now. As this is th 99th post, the next one will be sending you to the Best Sellers category. Movin' on up. Congratulations in advance.
-Matt