Commonwealth of Marathon

[Godzillaman]

Great looking extension to the region, let's hope it turns out well...

[bluesinjid]

Wow,and i thought that little island was it!    Well,all I can say is good luck on that gigantic mass of land that will take ages! P.S. The link you gave me was exactly what i was looking for   Thanks

[threestooges]

Glad to help. For my next trick, I shall... leave a comment. Please, hold your applause, I'll be here all week (and then some). It looks, from the previews you've shown here, that you've altered the config file again (moved the medium tiles all next to each other). I'm glad to see it permits merging of previously developed tiles. That may come in handy if/when Greenacre needs to expand. Glad to see progress is coming along nicely. Looking forward to more.
-Matt

[Simpson]

Hi Dustin 

First, a big sorry that I missed all these updates
Second, congratulation for having more than 1000 replies in your MD my friend 

Now I will comment the pictures,

The region is looking fantastic, Marathon Island, is simply incredible 
The update in page 51 is awesone, amazing, fantastic... Also where did you find the stadium? thank you 

I'm looking forward to the next update,

Take care,

David

[thundercrack83]

Alfred.Jones: Thank you, my friend! And thank you for regularly being the first one to comment on things here! I can always count on you! Take care!

mightygoose: Thanks! Spontaneity isn't my strong suit, so I guess going the opposite direction is the best way to go, eh? Hope to see you again!

Arthur (art128): Thank you, Arthur!

Maarten (mrtnrln): Thanks for that, my friend! I think I'll need it!

Emil (emilin): Hello, my friend! It's so wonderful to see you here in Marathon again! Thank you so much for your great comment and your congratulations. It means so much to me, coming from a master such as yourself! Take care!

Battlecat: Yes, it's pretty big. Actually, it's bigger than I was thinking, so we'll see how things pan out! Thanks for coming by!

Corey (Nexis4Jersey): Thanks, Corey!

Alex (Driftmaster07): Yes, I am using Vista on my new computer, and unfortunately, I was unable to get either SC4Mapper or SC4Terraformer to work on it. I was able to do all the map work on my girlfriend's computer, which runs XP, then just transfer the region onto my machine. If you have a computer that's still running XP, my suggestion would be to give that a try! Sorry I couldn't be any more help than that!

Joan (Jmouse): Thank you, Joan! Hopefully we can get through the region before the next ice age, right! Take care!

LE0: I hope so, too!

Luke09: Thank you! The land to the left of Marathon isn't really an island, it's just the spare tiles that I haven't terraformed yet. Don't worry, it won't look like that for long! Thanks for your input, though! Hope to see you again soon!

metarvo: Thanks! You're absolutely right about running out of land on the island, plus the mainland section allows me the freedom to do some rural and suburban stuff that wouldn't have fit in to my vision of the island. But that's another show! Thanks for coming by!

Godzillaman: Thank you so much!

bluesinjid: Thank you, my friend! And I'm glad that I was about to answer your question! Take care!

Matt (threestooges): Hi, Matt! You're right, I did alter the config again, with the help of all your great advice on how things work with it. I found that, with our original one, the Corpus Christi map wouldn't have lined up properly with the medium-tile section being at the extreme western edge. Don't know why I didn't think of that original! Thanks for all your help, and for your support, as always, my friend!

David (Simpson): Hello! It's great to have you back in Marathon, my friend! Thank you so much for your wonderful comment, and I hope to see you again soon!



I told myself that before I hopped into the region end of things in Marathon, I would try to get at least one entire island tile finished from top-to-bottom. Well, I'm on my way, working in Tile G—site of the North Station Quay. Here's a bit of an overview:

I'm not through with the entire tile yet, but I'm getting there. There's also a Maxis building or two, namely the Bureau of Bureaucracy and the Smith Tower Landmark, but I always felt that they fit in with the plethora of great custom content BATs, and I always liked how they look!

Oh, and since everything was plopped, the repeated buildings were done deliberately to give the impression of either multiple similar buildings in a complex, or one "big" building. When working in a large urban setting as with Marathon, I've realized that there's two options—have a 35 GB plug-in folder or repeat buildings. As much as I'd like to avoid it, I have to choose the latter, unfortunately! But it forces me to be a bit more creative, so that's OK, I guess!

Oh, and I've come across a bit of a problem with building a "Level Highway" bridge with the Maxis Ground Highway...

No matter how I adjust the height for ferries, etc., the disconnect between the end of the bridge and the highway proper is always there. Here it is from another angle...

If I'm missing some kind of well-known bug, please let me know, then feel free to give me a good slap! If not, though, does anyone have any insight as to the problem? I'd really appreciate it!

Many thanks in advance!

[MandelSoft]

Ah, this bug is an usual bug from the standard Maxis bridges. I suggest that you use another bridge type

[Simpson]

Hi Dustin !
The first picture is really incredible, maybe one of the best picture of SC4 I've ever seen  
This picture must be sure an HoF picture   I'm looking forward to the next update my friend

Take care,

David

[Sciurus]

It's incredible, I can't believe it, because I remind the images you showed us, when you built the station, what a transformation

Guillaume

[mightygoose]

its to do with the fact that the maxis highway models actually float above the ground slightly, whereas the bridge doesn't NAM highway bridges take care of this issue, so you would have to use them, other than that PS'ing is the only way to cover this problem up....

[Haljackey]

Yep that bug is known for the "level highway" ground highway bridge.

The easiest way to fix it is to turn it into a elevated highway, and use the "on-slope" pieces at each end to turn it back to ground level.  Judging from the terrain you have at the ends of the bridge, an elevated workaround should work perfectly.  You'll just have to extend the lower terrain you're using for the seawalls a couple tiles back where the highway is to get a proper fit.
-Another "quick fix" would be to build something in front of the glitch to block it from sight.  I use this from time to time, but if you're rotating the camera in game this will only fix it for one or two angles.

Anyways I love the first picture in this update!  Also I never knew you could move a region like that in your last update.  Its interesting how you can break it up into differently sized city tiles too.  Nice work!

Best,
-Haljackey

[Luke09]

great pics...your cj(or md) is great!i just like your anti-grid(i think its grid but not maxis grid right? ),and about the bridge problem(what is the meaning of issue?is the same of problem?)i dunno what to do,cause im not a very good terraformer,planner,and well..im not a great sc player ,but whatever,keep it goin

[JBSimio]

Hi Dustin,

I've been away far too long (perhaps you had already noticed that) and missed quite a bit again.  Since there are way too many updates for me to even attempt keeping track of, I'll just concentrate on the last few bits here.  I really like the idea of merging your map in with a larger region.  I'll be very interested to see how it all comes together.  I really like the way the train station area came together... it's a great mix of buildings there.  (The stadium quay came out very nicely as well)

Hope all is well!
Jon

[art128]

Really great picture there Dustin, The station are looks very well done and quite thought.
As for the bug, I don't know but I think Hal' is right.. I have the same bug, so if Hal' is right, you can add me to thanks him. 
Good muck to finish the G tile, can't wait to see a general shot of that tile.

Take care and can't wait the next update,

Arthur.

[KoV Liberty]

No my XP stopped a long time ago. Thanks though!

Alex

[Sheep49]

Awww... I'm behind with the updates once again. Not good! I gotta work on that.

As to your problem - I know what you're feeling. It happens to me very often. Not only with that Highway Level bridge, but also with other kinds. What's funny, however, is that most of the time it happens with the original Maxis bridges... Back to the subject... Have you already tried rising the part of the land there a little bit? I know that would eventually make some problems with that avenue overpass, but at least the drivers on the highway won't suddenly get crashed into the big, bad piece of land.

As to the pic or update itself... good one! Looks very green and peaceful. The choice of buildings is great also. I wouldn't have thought to use ITS' BATs next to some typically American ones, but it looks pretty awesome. BTW, I see actually 3 Maxis buildings Bureau of Bureoucracy, Smith Tower and the Maxis' fire station hidden on one of the road corners. It looks good on that location I have to say, however.

And no problem with any building repetition - with your creativity and imagination we won't probably even realise it half of the time

Keep up the great work! I just can't wait to see more!
Piotr

[bat]

Nice overview picture there of the train station! It looks beautiful!!!

[carkid1998]

Hi again!!
I have caught the recent updates, I just haven't posted!

That is yet another bug brought to you by MAXIS!!! It's the same with Bridge to tunnel conversions.

[Pat]

OMG WOW Dustin this is amazing what you are doing here with merging Common Wealth and Corpus!!!    I would like to see a different bridge in use there where you are having that bug issue as that should clear it up...

[turtle]

Hi Dustin,

I feel like it's time to leave a comment here again, i've been lurking for a while. I really like what you've done with the areas around the trainstation and the stadiums. you have made it look very realistic, which is something I can't do with big cities. Also, the incooperation of Marathon Island to the region looks really good. I wish you good luck in the monster project you've set out. Do you intend to develop all of it?
Once again, thanks for continuously sharing your experience with us I appreciate that you don't just present the finished product but show us the whole process.

Thomas

[thundercrack83]

Maarten (mrtnrln): Thanks for your help, my friend!

David (Simpson): Wow, thanks for such a great comment! Hope to see you again soon!

Guillaume (Sciurus): Thanks! I think the area is finally starting to come together, too.

mightygoose: Thanks so much for your input. I guess I'll be looking for a way to get around it!

Haljackey: Thank you for your help! Sounds like the level highway bridge is out, eh? Oh, well—we'll figure something out! Take care!

Luke09: Thank you, my friend! It seems that the issue with the bridge is a bug in the bridge itself, so I guess it cannot be helped. But we'll work through it, I promise!

Jon (JBSimio): Hi, Jon! It's great to see you again, my friend! I'm glad that you're all caught up and I even more glad that you've liked everything so far! Hope to hear from you again soon!

Arthur (art128): Thanks, Arthur! I think you're right on the bridge, too.

Alex (Driftmaster07): Sorry, my friend! Hope you can find away around it!

Piotr (Sheep49): Hey, Piotr! Welcome back to Marathon! As for the bridge, I tried everything you can think of, short of slamming my head into the wall! It just didn't work out, unfortunately. Oh, and I'm glad you caught that Maxis Fire Station in the picture, too! I wanted to get that out of there but forgot. A fire broke out in the game while I was playing and had to plop one to put it out. Next photo, it won't be there...unless I forget again! Take care, my friend!

bat: Thanks!

carkid1998: Hello! Thanks for coming by!

Pat: Thanks, my friend! It looks like we'll be exploring different bridges, so you'll get your wish! Take care!

Thomas (turtle): Hi, there! Good to see you again! I'm glad you've enjoyed things thus far. I don't plan to get as much of the region developed as I can, though, that is always a much more daunting task than it seems before you set out to do it. Rest assured, though, any development will certainly be showcased here! Hope to see you again soon!



So, it seems the bridge issue is a bug! Well, no matter—just another obstacle we have to overcome, right? In the meantime, though, I've been up to a few smaller, more non-descript items:

I made a new frame in Photoshop for the pictures!

It features the city logo from the maps and the street signs shown in earlier updates. I also designed it to take up less space than the transparent black bar model so there's more of the picture visible. Hope you like it!

I've also...

...gone back into the LE to work on a 14x4 park section that is needed. Boy, I forgot how addictive the LE is! Oh, and don't worry, the picture above is a work in progress, nowhere near finished!

Finally...

...I've been putting pen to paper on the region end of Marathon, in the midst of putting a bunch of CDs onto my new 120 GB iPod. Of course, what you put down on paper doesn't necessarily come out in the game, but it's definitely a great place to start, and I think I'm moving in the direction I want to. There's still a few areas I'm a bit foggy on, but this is only the first of what is likely to be multiple rough drafts.

If I toiled over the names of Marathon's streets for hours, what kind of time do you think I'll put into this!?

More to come, friends!