Tales at TeaTime

[metarvo]

You know what they say, "If you fall off a bike, you get right back on!"  I absolutely admire your true SC4 spirit, Derry!  It's a good thing I thought to have some tea with my SC4 session this time.

[kwakelaar]

With flames and smoke even, I am afraid mine will do the same soon.
Best of luck with starting again

[TheTeaCat]

To wet your whistle so to speak

More soon, very soon indeed 



TTC

[rooker1]

Definately wet now. 
Thanks Derry, but when do we get to see more?

Robin 

[djvandrake]

Fantastic!    I really enjoy the look you give your rural streets.  The trees and that fenceline are wonderful.

[TheTeaCat]

Ok As you know its been a while since anything really happened here and what
with all the pc probs I had,it took a while to get playing again.

But with a new region came the choice of what to do with my plugins folder.
Usually its such a mess ( a bit like my mind) that everynow and then I use to
get annoyed for not keeping it in order.

Well this I have a plan, probably not a good one but still a plan lol.

Anyway one evening I was chatting to Matt(threestooges) on msn at some ungodly
hour for me (heehee)and if I recall properly it was abour rural areas and he sort
of set me a challenge to do an area with just maxis stuff.

Now that's a bit of a challenge especially with the fantastic amount of props etc
that maxis provided. So to solve this little problem would mean one thing I'd need
some more farms.

Now this also raised another problem for me, where I come from farms usually have
one homestead/yard with lots of fields, but of course sc4 does things differently
and you have the farm attached to the fields as you all know.

Now I still wanted lots of farms to grow but I didn't want buildings on every
farm if you know what I mean.

So how to solve this - well make some new farms but without buildings and with an
empty plugins I thought and see if I could do just that. More on that another time.

I'll bet you all want to see some pics so here we go

An overview of the tile I am starting on


the town so far



Now before we go any further you will notice some custom stuff in the pics
but most is pure to add some atmosphere to the pics. Even I can't do that
just using pure maxis stuff. Anyway here we go with some closeups


1.3


1.4


1.5


1.6


1.7


1.8


1.9


1.10


Industrial area of town


Anyhow thats where we stand at the moment, hope you enjoyed this little update


TTC


ps notice the new look header?

[threestooges]

Now that makes Maxis look good. I don't recall if it was a challenge as much as trying to get you up and running again as soon as I could (TaTT would be a terrible thing to waste, and this proves it), but for whatever small part I played in this, you're on track to run it home. The farm lots look great in there. The one in 1.3 is a perfect example of the concept, though I'm not sure if such a massive harvester would be needed for such a small tract. The fences are a great addition too, so much so I'll cut you some slack for their being non-Maxis, heh heh. Are they  custom TeaCat? Those, coupled with the wheat farm sloping up the hill in 1.5 combine to make an excellent image. You always seem to do well building on hills. I think my favorite image of the update though might have to be the apple orchard: the slope, the little shed, old truck leaving, something about it just catches the scene well. Looking forward where you go with this.
-Matt

[Nardo69]

Oh boy oh boy oh boy!

Do you know what you did - bad bad Tea cat? You make me even miss playing the game worse than before! I still have these BSoDs, and I ave them only with Sc4 ... 

Anyway - I always thought that Maxis Fields itself aren't that bad at all - especially in hilly terrain. I have made a very early Urland screenshot of hilly Maxis apple tree fields with very less custom content (and no custom content fields at all!). Hopefully I can find and show that one ...

Are these small houses in 1.6 from zero7 / RP200x? I kinow them and they fit. Even though I prefer starting with a connected large region in order to get some presentable rural industrial I must confess that stage 1 farms & houses aren't that bad at all ...

Take care my friend!

Bernhard 

[RickD]

Very nice rural area. I like the slopes and filler pieces. It gives the area a very natural look.

[catty]

Lovely, and the fences just seem to give the farms the final RL touch about them, worth stopping in for a visit as always   

[rooker1]

Ask and Ye shall recieveth.
Great pics Derry, now I have something to strive for in my farming areas.  Not sure if I'll ever get that good though.

Robin 

[metarvo]

Well, if there was a challenge, it looks like you're winning, Derry.  The Maxis buildings and fields look good the way you've used them.  Keep up the good work!

[Jmouse]

Good terraforming job on the tile, Derry. I like the rolling hills and the arrangement of the water. I must say I'm glad you added some "atmosphere" to the farms. Pure Maxis is a bit hard to take now that we're so hopelessly spoiled by quality custom content.

You've done an excellent job of laying out the fence lines and fields, and the country-style streets with a dirt shoulder make for a very nice overall snapshot of country life. I really like the dirt patches you've used in the fence openings – I'll have to figure out how you made those! I'm a little surprised to see structures so close to the water's edge (last photo), but I'm sure you had a good reason.

So glad you're back, and it's wonderful to know you haven't lost your touch...
Joan

[Speedbump Joey]

Tea Cat,

This is my first time posting on your diary. I have been thouroughly impressed with your farm work, not to mention the project as a whole. The screen shots in your latest update was amazing, they have such an organic feel to them.

Keep up the excellent work!

[nedalezz]

I think its safe to say that you have mastered the art of developing rural farmland communities, as evidenced by your latest update. Bravo! 

[Battlecat]

Those are fantastic looking farms!  Wonderful details throughout the area.  Can't wait to see what you do with your shorelines!

[djvandrake]

Excellent work sir, just excellent.  You are indeed the master of rural scenery.

[canyonjumper]

Amazing pics Derry! Very well done!

         -Jordan

[TheTeaCat]

Replies

@ Matt -  Thank you for the shove in the right direction mate I must admit that your little "challenge" was the thing that really kickstarted me back into playing the game. 

As for the haverster in 1.3 , they'd just finished and its gonna be collected later to do another field in the area. So no point in bringing it all the way back to the farm eh?

No they are not custom ttc fences they are the SFBT diagonal filler lots.
Glad you liked the update mate, more of the same pretty soon too

@ Bernhard - What? What did I do now? Oh sorry didn't mean to make you cry. Don't worry I'm sure you find a way to get the game going again and we shall be seeing more of your mastery once again ( and more inspiration for me too;) ).

I am quite pleased with how the maxis fields have turned out here. They do work quite well in certian situations and I am so glad you approve of what I've done here

The house you ask about in pic 1.6 are in fact Maxis stage1's. I think some of them are perfect for what I need at this point in time in the game. I'll often demolish what grows till I get the one I want or till the one the one that works best there grows anyway 

@ RickD - Thanks. Glad you liked the update.

@ Catty - Thank you. Always nice to see you pop in, its not easy to build on the slopes but the overall effect is definitly worth it I think. Glad you liked it and hope you'll be back for more

@ Robin-  My Pleasure Sir. Though I can't guarantee that it will always be so quick. Doing this "little" area is a lot of playing as I like to take my time when doing things. If this is an inspiration for you when you come to do your rural areas then I can't wait to see what you do, knowing your personal high standards regarding the game

@ Metarvo - Thanks a lot. Glad you like what you see 

@ Joan - Thanks you very much for your kind words as always. Please see footnote regarding the terraforming.

I couldn't agree more with you concerning vanilla v's custom content. Although in certain situations "some" maxis stuff can be quite good. ( not very many mind ) Glad you like my little snapshot of rurality and not to worry there is a reasoin for the building close to the water - you'll just have to wait to see what happens there

Good to be back too by the way;)

@ Joey - Welcome and thanks for popping in to say hello Thank you for your kind words they mean alot especially from a new reader, and I am glad that you liked what you've seen so far. Its a huge region even by my standards so lots more rural shot to come. Hope you'll stick around for the ride

@ Nedalezz - Thank you very much. Much appreciated

@ Battlecat - Thanks a lot BC It may be a while before I get to them but don't worry I will and you'll get to see them here one day. Not sure when though the word is as David likes to say ..... iminent 

@ djvandrake - Thank you. It's nice to know you think so and yet many times I feel that what I've done still lacks that "one thing" to make it perfect ( you know what I mean?)

@ Jordan - Thank you. Very much indeed



Now a little bit about the region.
Joan complimented me on the Terraforming but truth to tell its not done by me at all. No in fact the region was made for me by Heblem quite a while ago now but I never had a machine that I could play it on and I can with this new one. So really all the nice words about me terraforming should really be directed to him.

Oh yes, almost forgot, I got this Teaser for you 

Ooooh must dash - thats the sound of the the kettle boiling 


TTC

[Bobbi]

Emmm, is it a pig farm?

Renne