Quynneth, a natural growth inspired MD

[Shilka]

Welcome to the virtually untouched region of Quynneth!
I started this region after becoming inspired by CSGdesigns CJ, Natural Growth, which you can find on his blog, and ofcourse here at SC4D too.
I've started a SC4 blog myself too, where you won't only find these updates, but also more general SC4 info, as well as some of my ideas and motivations for events in my region. You can find my blog at http://shilkasc4.blogspot.com/

But back to my MD, I started off with an adaptation of the 'Macedon' map by flamesrock, which can be downloaded here.
I adapted the map to my liking by first smoothing the greyscale map. Then I turned the northern peninsula into a set of islands, and added a few small islands too. Then all low altitude plains got smoothed by hand ingame and forests got added, which resulted in the birth of my region; Quynthas.




As you may have read in my earlier blog entries, Gonway Mining co. has shown interest in this region, for its suspicion to have some rich browncoal deposits. Water analyses of several rivers in the area have shown traces of browncoal, and Gonway Mining co. has decided on further investigation, especially as their browncoal surface mine in another region, Gonway mine, is nearing depletion
Having acquired quite some riches with their first surface mine, Gonway Mining company is in the luxurious position to invest heavily in this still untouched region to get new mining operations on the way.

As a first step there will be some reconnaissance from the air to check out the most promising locations. A small plane with geological experts has scouted the region from the air, interpreting landscaping features for their likelyhood of containing browncoal. The following area has shown to be of particular interest;




After establishing this area of interest, Gonway Mining co. has sent in a scouting expedition to conduct research on the ground. Within 2 months some rich browncoal surface deposits were found, and 3 main dig sites were proposed. With the browncoal positions discovered, research has also shown a good possible shipping location, since initially any mined browncoal will be shipped out to neighbouring regions. Unfortunately the nearest possible shipping location is quite a distance away, since the riverbanks on rivers closer by were classified too steep for proper development.




With the initial research and planning stage behind us, it is finally time for the first developments in our region.
Gonway Mining co. has sent out a ship with equipment to prepare a makeshift shipping location, and to start constructing a temporary road towards the first concession at dig site #01, concession lot 457.38722 BL.




Soon the dirt road is stretching far inland, as workers get closer and closer to dig site #01. At some points the workers had to deviate from the planned route, because of swampy grounds, and later on rocky outcrops being in the way of the roads development.




When the first concession at dig site #01 is reached, heavy machinery is making a quick start on removing the top soil. Many trees are cut down and shipped out to neighbouring regions. Waterpumps are installed for lowering groundwater levels enabling Gonway to start mining deeper.




And then, finally the first browncoal is mined. For months on end diggers dig, and trucks run down the makeshift road towards the shipping area, delivering one upon another truckload of browncoal to waiting ships. After a while concession lot 457.38722 BL is very well on its way of being developed.




Though mining operations are running now, profit levels are still low. All personell and equipment has to be shipped in, and equipment breakdowns are hard to fix with spareparts having to come from far away regions. Dispite the start up problems the area looks very promising, so Gonway Mining co. is very much prepared to invest further in the region. Investment plans include a makeshift workers settlement, upgrading roads and shipping location, as well as constructing supporting buildings like a garage and a spare parts depot.
These are still future events though, for now I leave you with the results of first human interference in Quynneth, a large scar on it's surface...

[Battlecat]

Interesting start.  Sounds like a mining town needs to get up and running here.  Looking forward to seeing what you've got planned here!

[nedalezz]

Ohhh great start! The mine looks fantastic, cant wait to see residential development start.

[sumwonyuno]

Excellent start!   

[canyonjumper]

Great start!

         -Jordan

[Toichus Maximus]

Interesting mining technique. It looks especially good at the regional level.  Good work so far!

[tooheys]

Welcome to the MD threads Shilka.

A rather unique start with the mine and the end result so far is looking good. 

It will be interesting to see how you continue to develop the mine and also improve the connecting infrastructure and add a town or two.

Nice work

Dave

[Connor]

Unique and brilliant start.

The mining area looks great from the regional view.

Looking forward to more....

[Tomas Neto]

Very nice start!!! Great work!!! 

[Stray Cat]

A very promising and open start to the MD Shilka.  I will enjoy following this one and look forward to see where you take it!

Great opening too.  Thanks.   

Cheers!

Scott

[M.M.Malwin]

Very good start, I love the story! Good luck for the future, I look forward to more! 

[penguin007]

Interesting storyline there and I love the constuction of the mine

Will

[Shilka]

@ everyone:

Thank you for the warm welcome, and I'm glad you all seem to like the terraced surface mine. I'm aware the first update wasn't much more then basicly a hole in the ground, but I'm happy you apreciated the storyline around it.
Following the natural growth concept, I can't promise you any idyllic countryside, masterpieces of city (pre-)design and Feng Shui settlements.
I can however offer you a natural, logical build up with roleplaying elements leading up to developments. Though my screens won't be a display of beauty, I do hope you will find the coming updates interesting, with a supporting storyline, and hopefully inspiring to others, in the same way as CSGdesign's 'natural growth' has inspired me. Have fun






It wasn't that long ago that Quynneth was an untouched region, but the arrival of Gonway Mining co. has changed that. After the construction of the first surface mine Gonway has further invested in the region.
Dirt roads have been upgraded to concrete roads, building materials have been shipped in, contracters have been contracted and construction of several projects have started.

One of the first things Gonway has invested in, after upgrading the existing dirtroad from the shipping area to the mine, is creating an industrial area near their first concession lot 457.38722 BL. A garage and workshops have been built, as well as some storage facilities for equipment and spare parts.
Next to that a main pumping station was built. At first all groundwater pumped from the mining area was released into the nearby forests, but the amounts of pumped up water have increased so much that a special designed spillway had to be created to ensure the water wouldn't just flow back into the mine through the soil.
Once the surface mining endeavor was well supported, construction was started on a brown coal powered power plant, which has been completed by now. Work is still commencing on constructing powerlines heading south to hook up neighbouring regions. This is all part of a grand scheme to reduce costs, since once the powergrid will be completed, the transport of electricity will be a lot cheaper then transporting the browncoal itself, and in the shape of electricity the energy will be easier to sell as well.




At the same time work had started on creating a workers community to the south-east of concession lot 457.38722 BL. Main reason for creating the settlement was giving the surface mine workers an opportunity to stay over during weekdays, drasticly cutting cost for transportation of personell.
The miners quickly realized the advantages of staying over during weekdays as well, being able to start on their 'after-shift-beer' hours earlier then if they had to travel home first. This caused an explosive growth of the workers settlement, which eventually would hold near to all miners during weekdays. This even caused so much strain on the concrete access road that it had to be upgraded to a wider asphalt road, and the settlement had its diesel powered generators replaced by being hooked up to the powergrid stretching south.
Although the workers settlement never has been officially named by Gonway Mining co., amongst the workers it quickly became known as 'The Sheds', which was actually a pretty accurate description of the general housing quality at the settlement.




Ofcourse work on the mine itself continued too, and with a large workforce at hand work has also started at the second concession lot 564.42856 CD. Within months the outlines of the new mine were clearly visible;




With the increased winning of browncoal there was also a much needed upgrade for the shipping location. What once was not much more then a sandy flattened riverbank, had now turned to a sturdy concrete construction allowing several browncoal hauling barges to moor simultaneously. Right next to it Gonway Mining co. had constructed some supporting facilities, a concrete mixing tower that is being extensively used for the roadworks going on, warehouses for storing building materials and some workshops providing maintenance and repair facilities for the barges and other equipment used in the shipping area. Which had been named Innit Industrial by this time.
With shipping facilities nearby, lots of work to be done and landprices as low as they can get, more bussinesses decided to build at Innit Industrial. Carpenters, roadworkers and even a browncoal powered metal workshop flocked to the region of opportunity.




Since Innit Industrial was now bustling with activity, its harbor continuously facilitating browncoal barges, Gonway Mining co. decided on constructing a seperate passenger ferry pontoon well to the north of Innit Industrial, so passenger and freight ships wouldn't interfere with eachother. With this new beachhead created, connected by road, some workers decided to buy a small plot of land near the ferry pontoon, and had their girlfriends / wifes come over. If you are going to stay here all weekdays, you might as well stay all together. Next to that, land was so cheap here (except for the browncoal concessions), that now workers were able to buy some land at a fraction of the cost outside of this region. More and more workers had their families move over, and a small village called 'Landing' sprung to life.

With lot's of women residing in the village, two of them, Thelma Frunnik and Louise Glibber decided on starting their own bussiness to batlle the inevitable boredom amongst the women. Thelma started a shop in hobby materials, such as beads, paper, paint and all sorts of other crafting materials, whereas Louise started a lapdance school. Both concepts turned out to be highly succesful, resulting in the first commercial development of the region.




One of the surface mine workers, Bill Dunce, didn't have a wife, nor a girlfriend. Nearing retirement, and no one to spend money on, he had aquired quite some money. Not being the kind of man to live in a town full of women, Bill decided to buy quite a large patch of land along the road from Innit Industrial to the mines. He set up a home near a small pond, that turned out to be full of fish. After retiring, he also cleared some land and began a second career as a hobby farmer, not able to sit still after a life of mining. And so he spent his time, fishing a bit, farming a bit and generally being happily retired.




Bill Dunce, being a likable man, was regularly visited by his former coworkers. Whenever visiting they noticed Bills happyness, enjoyed fishing with him, and getting some free vegetables to take home with them as well. The workers quickly started longing for a similar place, with some peace and quiet, a nice place to fish, and away from hobby materials. Lapdances were ok though.
Coincidentally, not far from Bill Dunce's house there was a much larger pond, you might even call it a small lake, and it was filled with fish, eager to be cought. It didn't take long for the first workers to buy some land there, and soon several houses had been built at the waterside.
Unfortunately this didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the workers. The plots of land near the lake quickly sold out, and within a year or two the whole lake was surrounded with housing. Next to fish, the lake was also swarming with flies, leading to the name of this new settlement; Fishenflies.




So, in a few years time, where we'd expect only to find a scabby workers settlement next to a mine, a lot more had come to existance. New settlements, not only occupied by miners, but also by carpenters, car mechanics, road workers, lumberjacks, barmen and others. With each house being built, each bussiness being erected, more people were needed to maintain and supply for them.




Ofcourse gonway Mining co. had a big influence on developments. As we speak, Gonway is having talks with SNB (Sim National Bank) to arrange cheap loans for any farmers, lumber companies or other supporting parties willing to settle in the region. All part of the bigger scheme of reducing costs for Gonway Mining co., and SNB being a large investor of the company.
With any new development in the region having a great chance of profitability, and increasing profitability of the ones already there, SNB is very willing to supply funds to any interested parties. With acre upon acre of land to be made profitable, there are huge amounts of money to be made by any bank prepared to take some risk.

As we await new developments, I'll leave you with an overview of the current area being worked upon. I hope you've enjoyed the update, and will tune in for the ones still to come!

[Battlecat]

It's a very well thought out project, good to see there's a proper loading port there now!  Nice addition of the three small urban developments.

[canyonjumper]

Very nice! Those little villages look great!

            Your friend, Jordan

[nedalezz]

This certainly is a great MD to watch. Every development has a story behind it, which is very entertaining and really puts the reader in touch with the MD. Great work.

[penguin007]

Nice update I like the natural lines you're creating with the roads

Will

[planetechef]

very nice, i have a stupid question  what exactly is "Natural Growth" ? does it mean then you don't use any cheat and you let your city growing by himself? sorry if it sound very stupid from me  but i'm very curious about this.

[Shilka]

very nice, i have a stupid question  what exactly is "Natural Growth" ? does it mean then you don't use any cheat and you let your city growing by himself? sorry if it sound very stupid from me  but i'm very curious about this.

Well, the only stupid question is one that doesn't get asked

I got inspired by CSGdesigns Natural Growth journal, and I couldn't explain any better what natural growth is as he explains it at his blog: http://www.csgdesign.com.au/blog/what-is-natural-growth/
It's a good read, and a full answer to your question

[calibanX]

With the women on this island trained in lap dancing I think this place will become quite popular. It could become very well known for it's 'friendly' inhabitants.

Geoff