Ashtabula

[rootbears]

where did you get those power lines from???   

[rooker1]

HEY Don,
It's no surprise to me that you have surpassed 2000 views this quickly.  Your MD, pics and ideas are fantastic.  I'm not sure what I like better, than rail, roads or the little river.  They are all top notch!
I look forward to what comes next!
Robin  

[meinhosen]

Don,

Your Saybrook updates are far and away the best yet.  I'll echo what David mentioned on the previous page about pic 4.0.7 - and add myself that it's very impressive (along with the map(s)) you posted, too.  I'm also a big fan of the how you did the RR crossing in 4.1.2- I like the flow of the roads, streets, and rail.

Looking forward to more!

[WillG_75]

As an Ohio native, I am proud You're scenic settings so good, words can't describe them.

[Sciurus]

It's just impressive, and wonderful too. But, how many time does it take you to do?

Guillaume

[homefryes]

Wow! Unless my eyes deceive me, Ashtabula just missed the top 5 mayor's diaries by growth [linkie] (for the month of April 2009) by 4 posts (includes my posts and your replies)! Totally awesome! Maybe next month we'll crack that top 5! But 6th place for such a young MD feels great, too; and over 1600 views in April as well. Thanks as always for all your support! YOU PEOPLE ROCK!!!

where did you get those power lines from???  

rootbears: well, my friend, I'm not sure if you're referring to the utility poles or to the minitowers back on page 2 [linkie], but they're all my creations. I just want to be certain you realize there are no actual power lines with these in the game; only what your imagination "sees!" If you like them, read on. You will hopefully find this update informative.

Robin (rooker1): thanks as always for the kind words. After seeing the statistics, I'm even MORE pumped about this! Come back again soon!

Your Saybrook updates are far and away the best yet.  I'll echo what David mentioned on the previous page about pic 4.0.7 - and add myself that it's very impressive (along with the map(s)) you posted, too.  I'm also a big fan of the how you did the RR crossing in 4.1.2- I like the flow of the roads, streets, and rail.

meinhosen: I'm glad you like Saybrook and the maps. I will get a Saybrook map posted soon (I hope). That railroad crossing you referenced is also one of my favorites as well, thanks to FARR!

WillG_75: I'm glad I've made you proud!

Guillaume (Sciurus): Well, your question is tough to answer. I am working ahead of what I'm posting (by about 3 posts now, at 2 posts per week). Looking at my files, the quads I haven't yet touched are dated 8 March 2009 (that would be the day I imported the grayscale image to the region and named all of the quads). That means one week from today I'll have been at this for 2 months, and I have just begun work on my 5th quad, Kingsville (25 more to go for phase 1!). If I had to estimate, I'd say I spend anywhere from 5 to 14 days per quad depending on how much land they had. Furthermore, I've taken a little time out for the minitowers and mapping projects. Long answer for a short question ... I hope my answer makes sense!

4.2

4.2.1

I previously mentioned I would provide some "grid-on" pictures to show the placement of my utility poles. I decided to go a step beyond and provide a tutorial with some drawings to give a little more detail into the tips and tricks for plopping them. The following are guidelines that I've adopted based on my preferences for spacing between the poles and other factors.

A. Orthogonal placement

Firstly, there are two important things to note when placing the poles:

• There must be a slight space between the utility pole and any tile that has a "pathed" network on it.
• It is extremely difficult to plop a pole exactly where you want it on most lots (regardless of zone type). This is because of props on the lots (trees, fences, cars, buildings, people, etc.); the poles cannot be placed too closely to any existing prop, and some of the props you might not always be able to see (timed props that come and go during the game's day/night sequence). For this reason, I mostly zone only between the poles, or, as shown in the residential neighborhoods around Ashtabula, I have run the poles behind the residential lots along pseudo-alleyways, as can be seen in real life.

On a simple open stretch of orthogonal road, I standardly place the poles 1.5 tiles apart.


4.2.2 - Pole placement along a stretch of orthogonal road


4.2.3 - Showing the 3-tile distance between every other pole

Note that I do not place the poles directly on the grid line. This allows me to zone in the open spaces as desired:


4.2.4 - Zoning on open tiles between the poles

For residential areas, I tend to run the major supply poles down the side of the major roads, and then run the poles through the neighborhoods between the streets. I can then zone any tile that does not have a pole on it.

I utilize a 7x7 grid for my residential streets (where appropriate). This is a personal choice, and has served me well. The distance in four city blocks works out to be approximately 0.25 mi. (0.4 km), so 16 blocks is about 1 mile (1.6 km).


4.2.5 - Placement in residential neighborhoods

Note that in these neighborhoods, 6 utility poles span a 7-tile stretch. This spacing is closer than the spacing shown in the first example; quite often the poles in dense neighborhood are placed closer together than they are in open areas. This also allows fairly even spacing at street crossings, and also allows for intersecting power lines to cross in the middle the street grid:


4.2.6 - Intersecting lines in the middle of the residential block

B. Diagonal placement
Diagonals are a bit trickier.


4.2.7 - Layout of poles on a diagonal road

Diagonal placement does allow a bit more flexibility with the distance between the poles, however. Standardly I place 5 poles across a 6-tile stretch, but making adjustments as needed is easy; it is not too noticeable if I need to stretch that out to fit a particular situation (to align the poles between curves or at an intersection, for example).


4.2.8 - No-plop areas designated by the red hash marks

What one must notice is that the poles cannot be placed any closer to the road if you wish to have any tiles suitable for zoning. The poles cannot be placed in the no-plop areas as shown above (because of the road pathing); if you utilize the available alternating tiles and place the poles at a 1x1 distance, you eliminate most possibilities for zoning where the poles are.


4.2.9 - Zoning in open tiles between the poles

C. FAR placement
The most difficult to place are the poles along the fractional-angle roads (FAR).


4.2.10 - Poles along FAR

I found the simplest way to position these poles is by following the FAR pieces exactly. As shown in the next diagram, alternate poles are 3 tiles apart offset by 1 tile, just as the FAR pieces cover a 3x1 stretch:


4.2.11 - 3x1 distance between every other pole

Though the linear distance between these poles is a bit larger than that of straight-line poles (as shown in the first example), the difference is not really obvious, and it all works together visually.

Just like with diagonals, there are no-plop areas associated with FAR.


4.2.12 - No-plop areas depicted by the red hash marks

With this particular placement option, we do have zoneable tiles, however.


4.2.13 - Zoning between the poles

One of the goofy problems with this, however, is that just about any lot that would fit in this space (residential and commercial alike) will likely have a building right *smack* in between your poles, thereby the [imaginary] power lines run right over the building! Totally unrealistic, but it simply can't be helped, unless you prefer to run your poles behind all of the zones and well-away from the road. I do not prefer that option, but the choice is yours.

With FAR, there are varying options for placement that still employ the 3:1 distance ratio:


4.2.14 - Optional placement showing no-plop areas

Comparing the previous two images, you can see just a slight shift in the placement. This option still allows us to zone in the tiles between the poles:


4-2-15 - Zoning between the poles

You still get the wires-over-the-house problem, but I just ignore it!

Now, the third placement option raises a zoning issue. Can you tell what it is?


4.2.16 - Third placement option


4.2.17 - Tiles unsuitable for zoning, denoted by the X's

These seemingly available tiles between the poles do NOT support zoning of any sort. In this case, the southbound road path does not cross the tile adjacent to (immediately to the left of) the available tile. Because of this, nothing will grow on this lot, or, if it does, it will immediately abandon because it lacks a full road connection.

There is, however, an alternative zoning method (tested thus far with residential only) that will usually work with all FAR situations, depending on R§§§ (high-wealth residential) demand. Zoning 3x4 low-density residential areas (hold the CTRL key down and drag to do this) will work here. Another great feature with these 3x4 lots is that there is usually plenty of room to position the utility poles where you want them on the lot.


4.2.18 - Low-density 3x4 residential zones along FAR

The advantage of the 3x4 zones is that (in my experience) nothing else will grow on these but 3x4 R§§§ properties. If you try zoning 3x3 lots (with the CTRL key down), it will very likely split into 3 separate 1x3 zones, leaving one to either not grow or abandon due to the lack of a road connection. I will show a picture below from one of my test quads to show the 3x4 R§§§, as I don't have any of these zones currently in my region (since my region has no R§§§ demand as of yet).

And just to show an example of navigating the poles around a curve, here's a FAR-to-diagonal transition:


4.2.19 - Navigating a curve

So, I hope you have found this as informative as I have! Looking closely at the last picture above, I have now realized a possible way to prevent having non-zoneable tiles along FAR between the poles. I have many instances in Saybrook that reflect option 3 (above) and cannot zone any of the tiles (except 3x4 residential), which is frustrating. This may not work in every situation, but having studied this to make the tutorial, I may be able to redo some of my problem areas.

If you are at all interested in having my utility poles for your own use, you may let me know here or via PM and I'll send you the link from which you can download them. They come with a detailed readme file, and you can install some or all of them, based on your preference.

Following are some in-game examples of utility pole placement with the grid turned on:


4.2.20 - Some agricultural lots have room for poles


4.2.21


4.2.22 - Here I employed a junction on the mainline poles with the transformer pole on the agricultural lot


4.2.23


4.2.24 - Crossing a FAR or diagonal road will usually require an extra distance between poles; it's often that way in real life as well ... it's just not as easy to notice from the ground!


4.2.25


4.2.26


4.2.27


4.2.28


4.2.29


4.2.30 - Note the poles I was able to plop on the church lot


4.2.31


4.2.32


4.2.33


4.2.34


4.2.35


4.2.36


4.2.37


4.2.38 - Example of a 3x4 R§§§ lot along a FAR road with utility poles plopped on it (yeah, sometimes the trees are right in the way of the [imaginary] wires)

-- Don

[thundercrack83]

Congratulations, Don!



- The Staff

[homefryes]

I just knew I should have waited until tomorrow to post my update! My sincerest gratitude to the staff for this great honor!

-- Don

[metarvo]

Congratulations on getting OSITM, Don!  Truly dedicated planning has brought Ashtabula a long way, and another fine example can be found in this tutorial.  Keep up the good work!

[meinhosen]

That was a great explanation of how you place your powerlines and zone around them.  And you have the well-deserved award of being nominated for and receiving a place in the Special Interest section for the month!  Congrats and good job! 

[Jmouse]

Congratulations, Don, on receiving this well-deserved honor! And thanks for the tutorial. I've not had occasion to plop any poles yet, but now I'm encouraged to give it a try.

As always, looking forward to seeing more of your outstanding work...
Joan

[Sciurus]

So, for the answer, it's a bit difficult for me, french, to understand. But it goes...
For the city, congratulations to have been entered into this famous forum
Oh, I forgot a thnig: your city and your tutorial is beautiful and excellent, congrats again

Guillaume

[beutelschlurf]

moin Don,
congratulation to you, you deserve it! 

b_schlurf

[Orange_o_]

Congratulation, your method of work is always so interesting. Even if I do not post regularly, I follow the evolution of your country 

[thundercrack83]

I'm in awe, Don. Completely in awe. I'm not even sure what else to say!

It's going to be a great month here, I can feel it!

Dustin

[bat]

Congrats on that award! And nice work on that tutorial! Nice MD!

[ashton23]

Congrats to you  !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Swesim]

Thanks for the tutorial, it was interesting to read.
I´m looking forward to more of Your wonderful rural pics.

[homefryes]

metarvo: Thanks! I'm glad you liked the tuturial.

meinhosen: Thanks; I'm glad you found the tutorial useful.

Joan (Jmouse): Thank you! I hoped people might be inspired by my tutorial.

Guillaume (Sciurus): Thank you for the kind words.

beutelschlurf: Thank you; I'm honored and humbled!

Orange_o: I'm so honored to know you've been stopping by! I, too, have been secretly checking up on some of your amazing work as well.

Dustin (thundercrack83): one more huge THANK YOU to you and the Staff for the OSITM honor bestowed on Ashtabula! It's a shame I'll be away the last week of the month! I'll try to squeeze a few extra updates in before I go!

bat: Thanks so much! I'll have to stop by Capporth City soon!

ashton: Thanks my friend!

Sweism: Thank you; wait no longer for more rural pics, as they're here!

4.3 – Saybrook, it's a wrap


4.3.1 - Saybrook - loading quad

*whew* It took over 35 years to develop the farm land in Saybrook, and there are still more areas I wish would have filled in. But ...


4.3.2 - Saybrook - Mayoral adviser's warning

... I've reached a point now where the residents are getting unhappy with me, so they've pretty much put a moratorium on any further development! Guess they showed me!

I put together a full mosaic here. Kind of fun to do, but I don't think I'll do it for all quads. Due to its size, you still don't get to see it full-sized (perhaps if I had broken it up into smaller chunks and put them together on a web page, it would have been better ... but I don't think I'll bother at this point). Click the thumbnail to view the larger image.


4.3.3 - Saybrook - full mosaic reduced (click to view the larger image)

Here is an east-west mosaic that mostly follows South Ridge West (State Route 84). This is one of the really nice things about FAR, in that it's hard to follow straight and diagonal roads across from one end to another without a lot of serious zig-zagging.














4.3.4 - Saybrook - east-west mosaic

Here's my original map. I realize now that I totally missed a creek and swamp in the southeast corner of the quad! Oh well ... I guess this creek will end at the Austinburg/Saybrook line (I forget to include it in Plymouth as well)!


4.3.5 - Saybrook - original map

And now you can compare the original map to my Saybrook map. My region map is updated (click the button below) with a link to the newly created Saybrook map (remember to click on any of the four thumbnail maps to view their respective full-sized maps).



We'll head over to Kingsville next time, where I've already begun some preliminary work.

I've really struggled with whether to post this or not, but I feel I should. On a tragic note, a dear friend of mine lost her life over the weekend due to a negligent driver (Daily Herald and Chicago Tribune). Please be cautious when driving; don't allow yourself to be distracted while behind the wheel! [stepping off my soapbox now]

-- Don

[Sciurus]

This is magnificent

Guillaume