Commonwealth of Marathon

[i_love_lamp]

thats impressive! God knows what magic you have in store for us? (thats what they (shes) said)

[daryl7478]

Hello Dustin! Nice job! My birthday was yesterday.(4-20)

[KoV Liberty]

Nice work! I cannot wait to see more development!

Alex

[Nanami]

Awesome, a nice update!

[thundercrack83]

Please forgive me for the lack of individual replies this time around, friends. I'm a bit pressed for time at the moment as I have a wedding to go to in about an hour or so. I do apologize, and I thank you all so very much for your continued support!

UPDATE LII
'Twas Serendipity, Perhaps?
1 May 2010

Back on April 19, our great friend Arthur (art128) posted—

Robin -> Yes he has, all the updates where we can see suburbs and big forest were taken in that island. (Reply 2420, 2429, 2404, 2415  and much more for example).. 

Anyway, that's a fantastic region view so far my friend, I love the look of it. Nice mix between Marathon central island the big amount of small islands. I really love how the island at the bottom right corner is looking from far ! (PS - You should open the central top tile of the downtown island, the water texture is a little bit different...  )

Take care,
-Arthur. 

Note the red postscript.

Well, Arthur...the other night, I was taking you up on your suggestion and opened up the tile...

...Or did I? Halfway through loading, I got... ...BANG! A crash. So, after my heart began beating again, I realized that the tile which was now "unloadable" was a tile with which I was not particularly happy...

'Twas serendipity, perhaps? Aye, 'twas!

So we delete the tile and open...

...a new city.

Now, if you'll recall how the tiles were created way back in Update I, then you will recognize...

...how the tile is constructed. First, the boundaries are put in with avenues, then...

...in goes the highway. But these are only for placemarkers...

...because we have to use the traffic view to mark so we can...

...adjust the elevations accordingly to match the surrounding tiles. Next we...

...soften the terrain and create slopes using rails...

...and begin carving the coast, with one notable exception...

...the land bridge for an underwater tunnel! Now, we clean up...

...the top end of the tunnel, leaving the tile looking like...

...this! A bit of meticulous cleaning on the coast gives us the final product...

...ready for prime time!

I have to say that I'm much happier with this tile than with the original one, and I can't wait to start putting ideas together to fill it up...which is at the top of my agenda for the next project, I think!

More from Marathon is on the way!

[armagin]

Nice! I used this method of making a region recently and the results were excellent! Thanks for the tips way back what seems like a century ago... always nice to revisit old work and make tweaks, glad it worked out for you!

[thundercrack83]

armagin: Thanks, my friend! I'm so happy that the method worked for you! Take care!



Here's a snippet of the latest...

Props are next, then on to the next section...

More to come!

[i_love_lamp]

Bill Clinton Memorial?

[rooker1]

I'm intrigued.

Good to hear from ya Dustin.

Robin 

[art128]

Nice start with that lot, Dustin ! Can't wait to see more of it !
Also, i'm glad you find the new version of the tile better my friend. I also like what you did with it !

Arthur.

[KoV Liberty]

Nice! Your plugins must be HUGE!

Alex

[Nardo69]

Interesting way to carve your coasts! In Urland I there's a place where I could use that technicque given that a) I am going to have a new pc sometime that is capable to run Sc4 and b) I am going to go back to Urland I.

Nice and huge map. You do love coastal strips, that's for sure!

Take care!

Bernhard 

[canyonjumper]

Looking great Dustin! Curious as to what your BAT looks like!

                      -Jordan

[Nanami]

Looks very good! Great job!

[rdrdrdrd]

reminds me of the Washington monument

[daryl7478]

Nice job Dustin! Even though that is not much, still interesting. One reason I posted here is that so people will refind(a word?) it and keep posting. I wonder why it's been a very long time since your last update,

[djvandrake]

Impressive as always.  I bet that was quite a shock to loose that tile but glad it worked out to your liking. *whew*

[rooker1]

Wow Dustin, it's been a while. 
You are truly missed around here.  I trust everything is going well for you.  I hope we hear from you soon.

Robin 

[thundercrack83]

Whew! It's been so long. I apologize so very much to everyone for the hiatus (unintended, I must assure you), my life has been a bit hectic. But, I don't plan on ending, retiring, or any of that stuff, so if you were worried about that, please don't be. I'm still tinkering in the game, just not nearly as often or for as lengthy a time as I'd like. Here's a bit of proof...

I've actually got a large project in mind that may take quite some time to get together, but we'll see how that goes.

Oh, and Happy Canada Day!

Hope all of my great friends are doing well, and I look forward to hearing for you all!

Greetings from Marathon!

[Cyclone1001]

Wow, that looks spectacular.