Mind Scape

[Battlecat]

Congratulations!  That port shot looks great, can't wait to see what you've got planned!

[rooker1]

Hello All,
It really gives me great pleasure to be in OSITM once again and I hope I can keep you all interested in what I hope will be special.  I especially like to be here at this time of year, it being SC4D's birthday month.
I would like to thank everyone that has taken the time to stop by and comment over the last month or so.  It's really nice to read everyone's feed back on my works.

This month you can expect the usual from me as well as the unusally.  Watch for the surprises and prizes, contests and competitions, puzzles and brain teasers and most of all watch and enjoy my SC4 pictures.

And to start the month off.....
Here's the area we are going to look at today with the "zero sealevel.dat" in my pluggins to start.
111.1

Once I'm done with the area, I save game remove "zero sealevel.dat" and reload game and this is what we have.
Wow, that nuclear power plant gives off alot of pollution.
111.2

I find it alot easier to lay down flora and other stuff alot easier.
111.3

111.4

As you can see here, most of the trees have died because of the pollution.
111.5

111.6

What do you all think of how it turned out?


And here is a teaser.


I hope you enjoyed the pics and the rest of the month.
Robin 

[threestooges]

My major criticism, based on how nuclear plants are supposed to operate, is that short of a meltdown and/or disposal of the spent fuel rods, there should hardly be any actual pollution. It's essentially the same system as a steam locomotive, a heat source heats the water, converts it to steam, and turbines are turned with it to generate electricity. The steam then cools and condenses back into water. The nuclear materials (taking the place of the flame of a steam locomotive) provide the heat. Properly operating, those materials shouldn't escape. As a result, the images are visually impressive, but I think they're inaccurate.

Great work with the sea level trick though. It makes the land-water transitions much smoother. Glad to see you got it all working. Also, I'm looking forward to what's in store for those bridges you're showing there. Those are a nice touch from the past.
-Matt

[mightygoose]

Adding to the above, my criticism would be that nuclear plants are never served by just streets, they always have either rail or substantial road connections due to the transport of heavy equipment during maintenance & construction.

that water trick is indeed brilliant, maybe you should make that file available.

[Jmouse]

Congratulations Robin. You've already made this an historic month by making your fifth appearance in OSITM. It's something no one else has managed to do, so it makes you and Mind Scape unique.

I think this will be our best and most exciting anniversary month ever! 

Joan

[marsh]

Very cool. I love the flora around the powerplant. I do agree with the others however. There would not be that much pollution. But it looks awesome never less! And congratulations on your 5th OSITM! 

,marsh

PS: Could you possibly make that sealevel trick available for people? (Or maybe just for me cause I'm so special! ) Joking of corse. 

[rooker1]

 I think this thread by Dealey has been over looked.  Tutorial: Diagonal, neighbor connecting, intersecting bridges
At the end of his first post you'll find the files needed to make diagonal bridges and neighbor connections, but also in these files you'll find the "zero sealevel.dat".

I have also bumped his thread and everyone else should do the same for this great piece of work.

Robin 

[thundercrack83]

Un...

Un...

Unbel...

INCREDIBLE!

Absolutely and utter genius, Robin. There's a reason you're one of the premier players around here, my friend--and those pictures are just one of many examples.

Question for you though...where can I procure that muddy water? It looks fantastic!

It's going to be a great November!

Dustin

[TheTeaCat]

Nice way to start off your time in OSITM Robin 

Some very impressiver shots you've shown us. Though I must admit the "Greenie" in me balks at the pollution. Your Environmental Deptartment need a bit of a kick I think 

Love the deatailing of the waters edge though, well done on that.
Definitly looking forward to what you have in store

Derry

[Nardo69]

Aaah, now I know where Blinky came from ... 

Nice shoreline, next time I use Maxis Water I should copy you need to try the small .Dat from Daeley, too! 

Interesting railway area - makes me curious of what's coming (guess you might have known this before!  ) But you might add the missing Buddybud - prop and clear that ZOT untill then ...

Take care my friend!


Bernhard 

[rooker1]

Hello Matt,
You are absolutely right, now lets see what I can do about that.  Thanks for stopping by Matt, it's always great to hear from you.

MG, I think I got you covered, I hope you enjoy that little modd, it works wonders.

Joan, thank you very much for that wonderful compliment, I really enjoy being unique and I hope everyone enjoys m MD and the pics as much as I enjoy playing the game and putting this stuuf together.

marsh, I like things to be dirty, I am tired of everyone making their cities all beautiful with lots of parks and rich people, I have always tried to do just the opposite.
If you look below your last post you'll see the link you are looking for.    Great little tool.

Hey Dustin,
Thanks for the nice compliments.
Here's where you can find that. JRJ Rural Culverts And Water Effects
Some really great stuff in there.

Derry, I'm sorry to hear about your Greenie, I hope it doesn't hurt when it balks. lol Yes the Environmental Department is always on me for all the pollution in my cities, but they all make a lot of money and that usually shuts them up.  Great to hear from you Derry and I look forward to hearing your thought on these pics below.

Bernhard, I trust you, your wife and The Little One are doing great.  When it comes time for that train/bridge post I look forward to hearing your thougt for sure, but you are missing the importantance of that pic.  It is just a work in process and in the pics below you may be able to figure out what I have been able to do with BuddyBud's work and a few other fantastic pops.



Please sit back, realx and enjoy these pictures and tell me what you think.

This is a little longer than my usually quotes, but when I first read this I thought that this made perfect sense.

Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them – work, family, health, friends and spirit ... and you're keeping all of these in the air.
You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls – family, health, friends and spirit – are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or evenshattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for Balance in your life.
How?
Don't undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others. It is because we are different that each of us is special.
Don't set your goals by what other people deem important. Only you know what is best for you.
Don't take for granted the things closest to your heart. Cling to them as you would your life, for without them, life is meaningless.
Don't let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past or for the future. By living your life one day at a time, you live all the days of your life.
Don't give up when you still have something to give. Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying.
Don't be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect. It is this fragile thread that binds us to each together.
Don't be afraid to encounter risks. It is by taking chances that we learn how to be pave.
Don't shut love out of your life by saying it's impossible to find time. The quickest way to receive love is to give; the fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly; and the best way to keep love is to give it wings!
Don't run through life so fast that you forget not only where you've been, but also where you are going.
Don't forget, a person's greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated.
Don't be afraid to learn. Knowledge is weightless, a treasure you can always carry easily.
Don't use time or words carelessly. Neither can be retrieved. Life is not a race, but a journey to be savoured each step of the way...
–Brian G. Dyson
President and CEO, Coca-Cola Enterprises during his speech at the Georgia Tech 172nd Commencement Address Sept. 6, 1996




Robin 

[mightygoose]

A) nice to see someone using M-tel, very underrated mod that is incredibly useful, the zero slope retaining wall foundations are brilliant too.
B) the prison is exceptionally detailed, i love the little silt pile next to the fire pier.
C) the railway tunnels looks superb. 2 questions, where did you get those tunnel entrances and where did you get the blank brown lot.

[threestooges]

Nice detailing on the prison and surrounding water area Robin. I don't recognize the bushy green stuff in and around the water there. Whatever it is, it's been used to good effect. The basketball court was a nice touch to the prison complex, and I like the way you used the seawall's natural high berm as the wall for the complex. Nice touch. I think, from the second picture, the water might not be deep enough for the size of the ships parked there, especially if there are plants visible just above the waters surface a few meters away. It looks great, but I would suggest making the area near the wall a touch deeper, or shifting the docks away from the wall a bit more. Also, the picture with the highway bridge is excellent. The only problem is that it's actually a bit below the road level. There's a visible drop where it starts. You might want to rebuild it and give it a touch more elevation. It's a slight side effect of the zerobridgeheight mod. Something else that's appeared throughout the update that continue to catch my eye, are the game-created retaining walls, like on the road up from the harbor, and near the bridge. They seem to be often overlooked, but can provide some excellent pictures when properly used. Looking forward to what's still to come.
-Matt

[rooker1]

Hey MG,
Yah I really like the Mtel pcs by marrast, I have used them often before in the past.  I happy to hear that you like the details around the prison.  As for those tunnel pcs, they are Glenni's found on the STEX.  I'll link them tomorrow.

Hello Matt, I have done alot of fixing because of your opinions, hopfully you'll see semething this month that I won't need to change.

And now for todays' pics.....








That's it for today, enjoy.
Robin 

[threestooges]

hopfully you'll see semething this month that I won't need to change.

I sense a challenge.

Heh heh, in all seriousness, these pics look great this update. I like the addition of parking lots, something that seems to be oft overlooked in many urban areas in the game (and occasionally in RL too). I also like the dirt path in the grass in the third pic. Arguably, in that same pic, the parking lot of the building top-center is isolated due to the ramp, but it's easy enough to imagine that it shares a lot with the building to its right and that the cars enter under that awning there, like that green one is doing.

You do a good job with an urban environment. It's dense without feeling cluttered or unrealistic. Any tricks you use or rules of thumb?
-Matt

[Pat]

Congrats on OSITM  Robin and looking great here as always my friend 

[Utvaw]

I like the layouts you use in your cities, they look very realistic.  Something that's hard to do correctly.

I do have one question, what is that building with the blue glass walls used in these past few updates?

[TheTeaCat]

Very nice work indeed Robin, but you gotta do summat about those palm trees 
especially the ones blocking the entrances to the car parks 

Seriously though excellent building skills with just the right mix of everything - well done

Derry

[rooker1]

Hey Matt, thank for stopping in again.  You know I always love to hear your opinions on my works.  As for tips and tricks.....well I very carefully choose my pluggins and try to make sure that everything will fit together pretty well.  I think that's the best start.

Pat!!!!! Great to hear from you.  I hope all is well for you and thanks for stopping in.

Utvaw, I'm really glad you like what you see and I hope to hear from you more often.
Is this what you are looking for?

Unfortunately I can not remember where i got that one from, but the info I do have is....."Citibank Bydgoszcz" is the query and I named the folder "Aras" which is the author.

Derry, Yah I know...I hate them too.  I recently added something that made my "no palm" modd stop working and I need to move that file to a Z folder that should do the trick, but thanks for reminding me.

And MG that link you need....
NDEX Tunnelpack AVENUE version by Glenni
NDEX Tunnelpack ROAD version by Glenni



Now it's time for today's update.








So Matt this update was for you.  How does it look now?


That's it for tonight, see you all tomorrow.
Robin  

[mightygoose]

great work,



i believe this building is on simcity polska under commerical???