Greenacre

[noahclem]

Really spectacular results with the cliffs Matt     I reserve judgement for now on which is best--the first is top-notch, though there are a couple other contenders. It'll sound like a copy of my last reply, but the rock mod, terrain editing, and MMPs come together really, really nicely.

[Jmouse]

The new rock MOD looks great, Matt. I've installed the brown sandstone version, and I'm eager to see how it looks in game. 37.06 looks so much more realistic. I'm not sure how you managed to get the green areas in 37.07, but they look good. 37.09 looks good, too with the autumn colors. Those seasonal trees really do work well. I like 38.13 and 38.14, too. I'm fond of dramatic angles, and these fill the bill.

This is really a grand update, and I truly enjoyed looking through the photos.
-Joan

[dedgren]

Wow, Matt!  The improvements to the cliff are beyond the wildest dreams I might have had when I made the original comment.  I can see in all the work that some of the sense of precipice-style "cliffiness" is lost (although 38.13 and .14 are pretty impressive when it comes to conveying a sense of abrupt elevation change), but what you gain in adding the fallen rocks and scree and occasional bit of "hanging on" vegetation conveys a sense of realism that the previous pics did not.  That's a nice choice of rock mod- they have certainly come a long way since the limited choices of 2007 or so when I was just starting 3RR.  37.06 and .07 are my favorite pics for conveying the best sense of what you have done overall- they show a really a nice job in breaking up the repetitive textures of even this extremely well-made rock mod.

That's a bravo, my friend, and a K-point for charging back and showing us how it done in Greenacre.


David

[threestooges]

Quick reply:
-Joan: The grassy areas are a result of the slope getting shallow enough that it's on the "flat land" side of things, which shows the grassy textures as opposed to the rock textures. When I was fiddling with the cliff initially I ended up with those spots. They looked lonely as just little patches of grass, so the trees and bushes followed, leading to what you see now.

Just play around with it and see what comes of it. The trick I've learned with terraforming (if there is one) is that nature isn't pre-planned. Pick a story and think through it (river carves valley, etc) or just scribble it out and then think what would happen as a result.
-Matt

[io_bg]

First of all, congrats on the OSITM! The improvements you made in that cliff certainly increase the realism a lot. Nice work Looking forward to seeing more!

[RickD]

Fantastic! I'll take this as a tutorial for improving the cliffs in my MD.

[Kergelen]

The new look of the cliffs with rocks and seasonal trees is really fine. I like the use of rocks and sand.

[carlfatal]

First congrats on Your fourth OSITM!
As i never saw this MD before i had to look first and then the last days i´ve read into it and looked to all pages. What should i say: it was like a journey through the time as You started this MD long before i discovered the game, very interesting and inspiring, so much great ideas and i found a lot i can learn from. 
Something i thought was that Your region is very personal, a landscape to show all the aspects of the game and how to master them - wow! 
Definitely i will come back and look how this island will develop further,
greetz, Carl

[Battlecat]

Not too much to add here, you've really nailed the high detail approach perfectly.  I was looking for something that might be good as a suggestion, but no, everything looks great.  Even better on each revisit!

The seasonal trees look stupendous by the way, having seen them used so effectively, I'm probably going to start using them in Adara before long as well.  Looking forward to the next update!

[bat]

Great new views of that area!
Looking forward to more...

[threestooges]

Replies:
-Robin (rooker1): Now that's a bit of a surprise. No critiques at all? A 10/10 from you? That takes some doing indeed. Hopefully the rest of the updates here will be up to that standard.


-Noah (noahclem): Coming from someone who has been doing some fine work with the flora brushes like you, that means a lot. Glad to hear the results are worth the renovations. I'll be looking forward to further thoughts on the next updates too.


-Joan (Jmouse): Threw in a quick reply to your post earlier, but I'm glad the results pass the test in the aesthetic department. I love it when I can find that perfect angle for a picture. I've still not found out how to produce it though. I just have to wait until I see it. Always good to see you here Joan.


-David (dedgren): Some high praise from one of the premiere players when it comes to landscapes. I'd love to find a way to get a rugged appearance for steep slopes that doesn't look like a scene from Half Dome. Something to ponder perhaps. At this point though, I'm glad I've been able to come to a suitable compromise, and indeed, it's impressive how far things have come since the early days, and even more interesting to think how far they still can go. Always good to see you here.


-Ioan (io_bg):Excellent. Glad to hear it worked out like I'd hoped. Thanks for the congratulations too. This should be an interesting month I hope.


-Rick (RickD): Fine praise indeed when it's consider to be on the level of a tutorial. Keep me posted when you get some pictures posted of new cliffs.


-Kergelen: Welcome to Greenacre and thanks. It always seems like blending several bits of flora together produces the best results.


-Carl (carlfatal): Welcome to Greenacre and I hope you enjoyed the ride back through its history here. It's hard to believe it's been three years already, but it's even more amazing to think that this MD started even a year or so before that, as far as the building and planning (for as much as I plan things here) went. Looking forward to seeing your work around here and seeing it progress over time too.


-Battlecat: Like I said to David, that means a lot coming from a master of flora. If you have any suggestions, feel free to interject at any time. I'm sure there are things that could be improved, but that's something true for pretty much any update or picture. Incidentally, Adara with seasonal trees would look absolutely stunning.


-bat: As always, my friend, good to see you, and, as always, here's a bit more to keep your wait short.


Let's try to keep the interest up here this month. I had hoped to have this up over the weekend (and a bit more of it) but on the real life side of things I recently got promoted, which came with a new office, in a new building, which resulted in needing to wrap up all the outstanding projects at the old office in the course of a week. Long story short, long days, and little SC4. There's going to be more this week, but I wanted to at least get things started with this:

There was a stretch of track, just down the hill from our last update, where the trains just rocket through on an intercity path.



With a desire to update and upgrade the rail opportunities in a city where traffic is steadily increasing, a commuter station was built above the tracks.



Keep an eye out. Later this week I'll expand on the renovations of the network. Also, ignore the little bit of black there on the tracks. That's a by-product of a bit of railroad R&D that's in progress.
-Matt

[noahclem]

A big congratulations on your promotion Matt!       I hope you enjoy your new office and position 

Very nice pictures and good job with the grade-separation. Those walls and Mattb325's new sunken station fit perfectly. Having the light- and heavy-rail stations adjacent makes for a nice little transport hub and the pedestrian overpass is a great touch as well. I've got a suspicion of what's going on with the R&D and I like it!

A couple small suggestions:  First, I would lot some walls onto that police station that's poking out next to the tracks. I've been really happy with the WFK ones (I think they're called WFK Old Walls but I'm not 100%, they're the ones used on Kazuki's RBP walls anyway) and I think they'd match those highway walls nicely. Second is just a little preference I have for TIA stations: I prefer the ones where the median area with the tram rails widens at the station to have enough room for passengers to wait without being in the path of trams or cars, such as the BSC SFBT GLR Tram Mod (remove the included automata files if you want to keep your existing light rail trains).

I'm excited to see more of the area and whatever else you've got in store for us next! And best of luck with the new work!

[Yan077]

Congrats for the OSITM, truly well deserved 

Fine work on the cliff, and always a pleasure to stop by your MD 

[bat]

That's looking really nice!

[Jmouse]

Congratulations on the promotion, Matt, and I'm pleased to know there is another kind of promotion in the works for you as well. I won't wish you the best of luck in the courtroom. You don't need it. You already have the skill and talent to excel.

I'm not nearly as knowledgeable as Noah about all things transport, so I can't really comment in that area. But the photos look good, and I like the idea of the commuter station.

When it comes to updates, be sure to keep your priorities straight. Fun first, and if there's any time left over, you can do a little work if you want to.
-Joan

[threestooges]

Replies:
-Noah (noahclem): Thanks Noah! It's going well so far. It means getting up a bit earlier due to a longer commute, but all things considered, it's been going well so far. Curious what you know of the R&D efforts.

As for lotting walls, I'm absolutely rubbish when it comes to much beyond basic lotting. Start adding walls to the mix and yeah... if you have any thoughts (or lots) I'm always up for something new. I like the SFBT stations as well. I just hadn't gotten around to getting the avenue pack yet.

Funny you should mention keeping the automata too. You'll see why here soon (as in, in the time it takes you to scroll down to the update).


Yan077: High praise from an MD'er like yourself. Hope the updates live up to expectations for the month.


bat: Thanks bat! Glad you like it.


-Joan (Jmouse): Thanks Joan! It's been working out well so far (see reply to Noah). Now for the next update, I took a bit of inspiration from you (and Arne) and now have realized something I've been trying to get around to doing for probably the better part of a year now. Greenacre's getting a light rail facelift.


So, as some of you may know already, Greenacre is located just off the southern California coast; out there past Catalina and all, but still a fair jump from Hawaii. In construction, it was inspired by several places I've lived. One of those areas: the LA/Southern California area was once known for a top-notch and remarkably expansive light rail system (well, a couple: the LA Railway, and the Pacific Electric were the primary players).

Anyway, there was a time when the Pacific Electric stretched all the way into the Orange Empire (now known as the Inland Empire of California) which is around San Bernardino and Riverside for those still following. The streecars, some capable of travel up to 70mph, would roll along through the orange groves and other fields. They provided a link between cities that hadn't existed before, and played a large part in shaping the LA area into what it is today.

38.03


Now, that same heritage has arrived in Greenacre.

38.04


After obtaining and restoring some older cars, and having a few new ones made to complete the replacement, the older cars on the line were replaced by the Pacific Electric Heritage Fleet in regular use throughout several cities in Greenacre.

38.05


The design is based off the old Hollywood Car body style, with a lowered middle to allow easier access to the car. Specifially, Vester Enterprises, producer of many varieties of streetcar design obtained plans from PE717, which currently resides at the Orange Empire Railroad Museum, and used it as the basis for Greenacre's fleet.

38.06


The Greenacre Chamber of Commerce hailed the new cars as a benefit to tourism as well as to the transportation infrastructure itself and extends its thanks for the delivery of the cars. Greenacre officials (from GDOT) relate that they are proud to help keep part of rail history alive as they press forward with plans to expand the system.

More on the transportation upgrades next time.
-Matt

[Sciurus]

Nice evolution. I like the idea to build a station there, it's practical for the commuters and they do not use their car.


Guillaume

[Jmouse]

That's an interesting bit of history, Matt, and it adds a lot to the essence of this update. I love those tram/train cars, too. Of course, Vester Enterprises is known the world over for quality workmanship. And it does not surprise me one bit that you chose an historic car as the model you wanted to use.

Very entertaining update this time...
-Joan

[RickD]

The streetcar looks great. And your short story about the Pacific Electric is also very intersting. I will try to find more information about it on the web. I like reading about these things, even if it is rather useless knowledge.   

[noahclem]

Beautiful tram update Matt    I really like your custom skin and the bit of history is a very nice (and surprising) addition