Nova Terina and the Scary Alien Whatever

[TheBluejay]

A MD, probably updated infrequently, with humour, drama, sci fi and a really awful plotline. Written in British English, so please take care and mind your head. Nova Terina, a new settled Ag-World, prospers - until undisclosed events of a far-fetched nature happens! Will my plotline surive?

Introducing....Nova Terina

Welcome! Welcome all, to a CJ! A CJ so ill thought out, even Britain's suburbs can't hope to compare! To a CJ so clichéd that Jordan sues me!
To a CJ written by a person who really can't write introductions
Welcome... To Nova Terina


Click here for a bigger and actually readable version
http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/1062/novaterinamapannotatedj.jpg


Nova Terina is 24 by 55. For perspective, Topal Island is one large city tile. It's a pretty big map (And I plan to add more to it!)


In this MD, I hope to provide lashings of cheesy wit, Sci-Fi goodness and a little bit of stealing from Zelgadis to make it fly! There'll be goofiness, long words, plot lines, drama, space battles, failure to use and correctly!
And because a boring bit is needed: I am using the map Plantation Bay spliced on to something else by NHP, a money cheat of forgotten origin, NAM is installed and neglected, and I'm using radical ordinance for Demand Only! So, without further ado... to the first chapter!

I hereby name this Chapter "Chapter One" and God bless all who sail on her.

"Agricultural World – Ag World – Devesque.                                                           
Planet settled for primarily agricultural use – often stable, peaceful and unexceptional worlds. The majority of planets outside the normal range of climate, FloraFauna or geological values end up as Ag Worlds" Encyclopaedia Britannica



Over what will one day be known as Topal Island, a robot sentinel lands on the newly discovered planet, already named Nova Terina
It's name is Rodney
Up above, a group of humans babble excitedly. If you happened to be up there, on the CNL Calver, and you listened on the greatest minds of the Commonwealth, you might catch snippets of conversation;

"Gravity well within normal ranges, according to..."
"...field, but I'm not so sure. Those instruments...."
"...far colder than average, it'll be Devesque for sure."
"Oh, I have to pee, so baaaddd"



Back down below, Rodney wanders, taking snippets of leaves, pebbles from the shore, the occasional outraged bird. He likes this planet. He likes the calm. He likes the green. He likes the cool. But, soon he has to leave. And he does. He likes his controllers.


And down come the humans! Among them comes a small omnipotent entity, in the form of a bird. A Bluejay, to be exact. This little bird's job, although no one knows it, is to ruthlessly control urban planners, nature and sometimes a curry. Do you have any idea how fun it is to watch human faces as a little aluminium pot of Dahl hops around singing "Mr Sandman?"
So, I'm using these sea walls by... someone starting with an "M". Oldies but goldies! And they really work for Topal Island (where the first city has been founded) Topal Island is all about looking richer, posher, more elegant than your neighbours (as you'll soon see, in my overall plotline OF DOOM)



Down go the zones. I figure I'll take it bit by bit for this city. I'm lazy and impatient, and it's large. Eventually, I'll cover the whole island with skyscrapers and what not, but for now bask in the natural beauty



Yeah, I may be an omnipotent urban planner, but that doesn't mean I'm any good.

Ah, I see a large British community is making their mark. It's a superpower again, you hear? Once they gained access to a tropical planet to grow tea, there was no stopping them!  The FSAS tried to blockade it once. It wasn't pretty.

Up and up roll the inexorable skyscrapers

Next time, governance, plot and a couple more food jokes!

[io_bg]

Great start and very interesting transport layout you've made! Looking forward to more!

[thingfishs]

He likes this planet. He likes the calm. He likes the green. He likes the cool. But, soon he has to leave. And he does. He likes his controllers.

[TheBluejay]

io_bg: Thanks very much! As it happens, I have a secret stash of updates lined up, might as well strike while the Iron is hot!
thingfishs: Such a pretty smile! 


Chapter 2: The Second Oldest Profession
"Following CL, GT made a surprisingly quick tradition from non-functioning democracy to dictatorship. The government of the time was largely unpopular, but high living standards amongst those who really mattered meant the establishment could comfortably expect to keep power for a long time yet. GT's mercantile and militaristic aspects only increased following CL, allowing it to make a real killing off arms sales – often literally." Excerpt from "Terina's Inferno"


Colonisation is going as well as could be expected for an Ag-World. With all those exotic, fascinating paradises out there, why would you even give the time of day to Nova Terina? Can you even give a planet the time of day? Is that even possible?
However, Topal Island has passed the 100,000 benchmark, meaning it's time for a Government! Yay!

As always, competition for Plantary Capital is fierce, but my sources (ketchup on strategic tables in the fanciest Johanesburg cafes) inform me that most of the support is for Topal Island, but many ISHC Offcials are waiting on polls of the colonists. Partisanship is rife, as always, and the Liberals don't want a Conservative capital (and vice versa)



Governmental Plaza! Imaginative name, no? The House of Congress (main building) will be filled with fat, white, middle aged men, chosen from the districts of Topal Island. These Congressmiddleagedmen will then choose the President of Topal Island. As you can probably tell, Topal Island is already gearing up to be the Capital!



The complex is surrounded by the headquarters of Topal Island's greatest corporations - Many of them are multi-plantary, so they can afford to build big. However, critics argue it simply illustrates Topal Islands already large rich/poor divide and the dominance of corporations in the Government. Hopefully, the elections running right this minute (yes, right now! Now!) will change this. Contenders include the Right Honourable J.C.Billder, Irma Scamyu and Charles Pallin IV.



Obligatory night shot. Nightlights make everthing pretty!



Coffee sales have reported to be up by up to 300% in Topal Island. Leading experts are completely bamboozled by this, but they are still very vocal about it. Before we go to our in-studio Scaremonger, we have early reports that the ongoing elections are showing a significant right-wing-swing...



Overview of Topal Island so far. I'm expecting lots more skycrapers, a seaport or two and some more parkland to fill it up, but please make suggestions and contribute birdseed. Even Gods need feeding, y'know...

[Myself.or.?]

Just send over a nice cup of tea. 

God save the Bird (that would be himself, would it...) 

[canyonjumper]

Interesting! In that last pic the skyscrapers look so out of place I'll keep up with this one!

          -Jordan

[TheBluejay]

 Myself.or.?: *Slurp* Ta muchly! Sounds like a good national anthem 
canyonjumper: Oh, I know, it's definatly not the most amazing region pic, is it? Hopefully it'll all balance out soon

MiniUpdate: Spaceport!

Colonisation continues to go well, but starliners have got tired of avoiding hillocks, large trees and over-enthusiastic xeno-biologists. The solution?
A Spaceport!

Although the Planetary Spaceport is due to be situated on the mainland, Topal Island certainly needs a good landing area right now. While it may soon be a minor landingstrip, for now it is the high point of Nova Terina FtL transport and technology




Behold! St Aubin Spaceport! As you can see (unless you're blind, in which case, how are you even reading this?) St Aubin is capable of handling around 3-4 large cargo & passenger ships at once, as well as several shuttles. The walls are to prevent incineration, pulverisation or salinatisation (alleged) by the ships engines.



Overhere, the admin building, parking and passenger processing area. You can also see one of the two large cannons that defend St Aubin from attacks. This is the most recent spaceport built in the Commonwealth, and the post-Hoover Dam incident reforms are clear to see...



Over here is the satellite launching area, once of the control buildings and the second BFG style cannon (officially the Fujitsaw-MassDriver, but seriously, no one actually says that) Satellites are still launched the old fashioned way, and form the back bone of Node (tm) Communications



And to round everything off, a nightshot. Seriously, nothing cannot be made pretty by nightlights. It seems like of the shuttles is preparing for lift off down there. Hopefully, this one won't collide with an enthusiatic xeno-biologist (or me). Those people get everywhere! So hard to clean up....

[TheBluejay]

No replies? Meh, your loss.

Chapter 3: By The Sea, Mr Todd, There'll Be Smog

"As with many First Settlements, Topal Island (and later Greater Topal) developed into a thriving metropolis. Unlike the majority, however, it shunned the world of High Finance and developed into a planetary mercantile centre. Even before CL, GT's blend of respectable governance and harsh policy made it ideal as a trading power. Today, Topal Island enjoys a powerhouse economy and high living standards – provided you stay in the right places..." Excerpt from "Topal Island: A Diplomats Guide" (non-published)


The election results are in! Of the 50 seats in Topal Island, 34 went to the right-wing Topal Federalist Party, 6 to the Social Democrats and the rest to Independants, giving Federalists a powerful majority. The TFP (sounds like a filesharing network ) chose the prominent industrialist George Oncompetent as the first President of Topal Island. Being an industrialist, he abruptly changed Topal Islands focus from High Finance to a Mercantile Centre (using the Civ VII Ethics menu) and promptly authorised something rather large.



Have you worked out what it is yet? Indeed! a whopping great seaport! Built facing the mainland, the port will offer protection from harsh seas and house all of Topal Islands industry. Oncompetent also is championing the "Fresh Start" scheme, a plan to build low income housing estates close to the port, allowing easy access to enployment. Unsuprisingly, the Social Democrats have already lampooned the project as The "Lets Move All The Filthy Poor People Away From Our Nice City" Project. Of course, this is all complete partisanship and has no bearing on reality, as usual.



Construction goes on.... I love Pegs seaports. They always look fantstic! And the less said about my transit network, the better...



There we go! You can also see the first "Fresh Start!" estate. Lets swoop in for a closer look (I am a bird, after all. A bird with a camara.)



As you can see, all that talk about "filthy poor people" and whatnot was a massive exageration, pure dirty politics. How can people fail to prosper in such lovely conditions? *Accepts money from TFP* Don't worry about the box in front of the Borstal Reform School, it's just the new inmates arriving



The port is capable of handling vast amounts of cargo at any given time, and a ready supply of galley slaves hard workers from the nearby estate means that the port functions more or less 25/6.




Night shots. Yet more proof that everything looks good with nightlighting.



And too finish off, have a shot of the Island. It's starting to look quite good, if I do say-so myself!

[Myself.or.?]

Well then, always liked what birds do...  (you don't speak german, do you?)

You're island is coming along just nicely, but I think it's time to actually start the mainland. All those "much needed and highly treasured (as in 'guarded really well!') natives" (just read the flyer of the TFP) have to come from somewhere. I really think "those .... .....'people' " (as I heard members of the same party saying afterwards at the bar) should have a place to call home. And all the goodies they're trading do have to come from somewhere...

As far as your infrastructure goes, just waiting to see how it's gonna cope with more traffic. The port does look quite well and the bay to the south of TI might even attract some cruise liners.

Long live the Bird!!!

(by the way  "HAPPY EASTER"  )

[TheBluejay]

Myself.or.?: I took German for two years, and I have absolutely nothing to show for it. Haben sie meine dodo gesehen? As for the mainland, how right you are. I shall get right on it. In fact...

"%&^@:{*&£$@!!!!" Guy who stubbed his toe

   GTNC News Anchor Droopy Mc Saggerson:
'A veritable flood of immigrants is arriving at St Aubin Spaceport, coming from areas affected by the Solidarity movement. Officials say that St Aubin can barely keep up with the strain, and it's uncertain how long the port will be able to function at this level of activity. Despite the nature of these immigrants, media and the authorities appear hesitant to brand them refugees. One source close to the Social Democratic Party suggested "it may be denial that this sort of thing could possibly happen in the present-day Commonwealth. This sort of thing simply doesn't happen."

Whatever the reason for this wave of new immigrants, The Topal City Housing Department can barely keep its' head above the water. ISHC Offcials are hurrying along construction of a new city on the mainland, christened New Babelyia. Despite its recent incorporation, it is already gaining significant levels of support in committee meetings to choose the capital.
This has been Mc Saggerson, keeping you informed'

Well, thank you Droopy. Now, lets show you New Babelyia!



The site for New Babelyiais where the two rivers meet. Since Topal Island switched its focus from finace to piracy trading, the city is intended to be the finace capital of Nova Terina



You know, I would like to say that the transit network here will be sane, efficient and easy. I would also like to say that the Gare du Nord was incredibly suitable and just lept out at me as a choice

I would be lying twice, of course. But that station is so big a pretty, I just had to use it (It's not like the rural terminus of Il Santum is going to want a station big enough to fit 67 buses, 26 sumo wrestlers, a herd of elephants, 7 olympic swimming pools and Gordon Brown, I suppose) I was looking at some other CJ's on SC4Dev, and I think I might just have got a little ambitious. Well, the monstrosity is here now



Embankment rail! Great in theory! Painful in practice. The twin domes on either side of the station  are excellent examples of the nostalgia movement in architecture right now. Widespread problems today? Build like it's still yesterday!



And too my suprise, the zoned areas veritably zipped along! Well, no suprise, considering the hordes of immigrants coming from the Western Rim. How did they even get to New Babelyia, anyway? Plot hole!



So I wanted New Babelyia to contain more 'old' architecture than Topal Island. Naively, I allowed New York buildings to grow. Locals are already calling this area 'The Mash.'



These night shots are becoming a habit, no? But the night lights, they are so pretty....



Night falls on one of the less fortunate parts of town. Many of these towers house people running from the turmoil and violence of the Western Rim.

BONUS!

These pictures didn't get taken in a vacuum, you know. I fluttered over to Topal Island to see if anything had happened. Turns out of George Oncompetents old buddies from his exploitation of slaves days (then again, politics being what it is...) Paul Reynolds, has been terribly busy on Southern Bay. He made his thousands in an Asylum, millions trading nutter futures and now his billions in land development. Bought the land for an absolute song (what are friends for?) and built, well, better to show you



Yay for water fronts! Lets take a closer look *swoop*





Yes, Yes, I know. I'll kick the habit soon, I swear.

[nedalezz]

This is like the Dubai of MDs, everything is so extravagant! Its very original, and very tastefully done.

[rooker1]

Super start.  You have me interested.

Robin 

[TheBluejay]

nedalezz : Oh, high praise indeed! Thank you very much! Although I doubt "tasteful" is the word I would use...
  rooker1: Well, I'm glad you are enjoying it! Thank you very much!


So, today is the big announcement! Which city will be Capital? Topal Island or New Babelyia?  Crowds of people have gathered outside Topal Islands Congress building, and 4 people have turned the TV on at New Babelyia's Tempory Government HeadQuarters (they had to climb on top and adjust the ariel first)

So, who will it be? Well, ISHC Capital Committee has chosen the media personality Ross Bioanker

  Ross Bioanker: Thats me!

To break the exciting news!

Ross Bioanker: Better put it back together then!

*crickets and a tumbleweed*

Ross Bioanker: Tough crowd, heh heh!

Just one that has taste, dear.

Ross Bioanker: Huh? Who said that?

*bird keeps quiet*

Ross Bioanker: Anyway... The competition. has. been. fierce. for this accolade! of being the C.C.Capital of the bountiful planet of Novah. Treena. On one hand, you have the trading of powerhouse of Topal Island!

*Topal Crowd Cheers!*

Or the *snickers* sophisticated New Babelyia.

*NB Official coughs*

Ross Bioanker: And the offical decision is.... *opens envelope* New Babelyia?!? What - ! I, I mean...
congratulations, New Babelyia!

Clearly, this announcement didn't quite go the way Bioanker planned expected... Someones head will roll, but they won't find out who chose New Babelyia (cough Godly Veto cough cough)

The reaction in New Babelyia is overwhelming.

*NB Official* Oh dear. Well, we'd better build a government building, then?
*NB Offical 2* Get a better TV....

Hmm. Lets leave them too it.




Well, they certainly move fast! This spectacular gothic Parliament building is surrounded by parkland and places for diplomats, ministers and MP's to stay. I certainly envy them (I'm renovating and extending my nest right now. Thought I'd add a hot tub )



And here is some medium density prettiness for you all. In fact, have a boatload of pictures of my new bit!







And my favourite:



See those pretty, non-Parisian corner buildings? Usually, they spam grow in skyscraper districts, so I thought I'd put some over here where I actually want them. Did a single one grow? No sir! GRRR. Buildingplop cheat to the rescue.



On the other side, New Babelyia Financial District. As you can see, bankers are busy scamming the little old ladies who live in small cottages. "Low density?!" I hear you cry. "Where?!" Well;



Nova Terinas first suburbs! Okay, they're neither very big or very suburban, but space is limited. It'll be a while before I get to suburbs.



Overview of Nova Terina.

NEXT TIME!



Nothing thats anywhere near as exciting as this picture

[Battlecat]

Fantastic looking region.  You're doing a great job building up the heavily urban style of growth! 

[TheBluejay]

Battlecat : Thank you very much! Your comment was perfectly timed...

Chapter 6: Far From the Madding Crowd

Just to spite Battlecat.

"Rumours about a large swamp monster terrorising the seat of Il Santum have proved to be entirely false after the Mayors wife was found in a trap set by vigilantes" NBT Report

Today we swoop away from the cities and flutter to pastures new! This is an Ag-World, after all (did you forget) Now, lets fly calmly towards the seat of Santos County, Il Santum (thats il,  not LL) tum te tum tum... Oh look, the remains of a xeno biologist!



Yes, large photos today. Anyway, you can see railways snaking towards Il Santum quite clearly, which means the Realism HoundTrolls will shortly appear and rip me to shreds for having visible railways. Enjoy this update while you can!



Oh, it's pretty! Il Santum is the Administative Centre for Santos County, and a good sized town to boot. It's pretty unimportant, but it's fertile and a bit of a breadbasket (or at least will be) and it's vaguely pretty, so it gets an update all of its own.



Suburbs and farms and railways, oh my! I'm intending Santos County to be pretty dense with the ol' farmland, with the Dales and the Dissapointments being much more sparsely populated.



And there's a high-streety bit



In fact, two!



And some pretty middle class homes. Il Santum is pretty wealthy for a dead end back water town, it's the Tavistock of Nova Terina.



Il Santum glimmers alone in the wilderness.



So I've been fiddling about with FAR and have come the conclusion that I hate the gosh darned thing, however, it looks good. Would you lot, my esteemed readership, consider FAR worth the effort? I'm not sure...
How a bird can fiddle about with railway tracks in beyond me, but I manage it.

Edit: Just to clarify, I'm disliking FAR because I'm A: A lazy cow-bird and B: A clumsy, lazy cow bird. The set itself, as far as I can tell, is perfect. However, me having no hands, it makes FAR quite fiddly to use, and for quite a mild reward (from my POV anyway, realism hounds will disagree. Nice doggies...) so I'm not sure if I should "go full FAR" as they say (Do they say that?)

Edit 2: I spelt edit wrong.


I have edited your post.
You may have had a hard time using it, but show a little respect to those that have worked very hard on creating it. 
Robin - Global Moderator.

[dedgren]

So I've been fiddling about with FAR and have come the conclusion that I hate the gosh darned thing, however, it looks good. Would you lot, my esteemed readership, consider FAR worth the effort? I'm not sure...

I had something to do with creating the FAR, and would welcome your input as to anything that might stand improvement.  Your pic actually doesn't show any FAR pieces- there are wide radius switches and curves, although I was involved with those, as well.  Identification of some specific issues you have would help.  I'd be happy to take a look and let you know what might be done to address them.  It's all about making the game better, as far as I'm concerned.


David

[nedalezz]

I must say, that is a PRETTY little town, surrounded by eye candy farms! Not to say your urban areas dont look good - they do, especially how you did the Presidential Capital Building.

[TheBluejay]

nedalezz: You are too kind! I'm pretty pleased with the Parliament too!
dedgren: PM reply, too lazy to copy-pasta

Chapter 7: Worthy Ideals

But first, I am incredibly pissed off with Imageshack. It's just eaten a bunch of my pictures, don't ask me why. I've gone roundand replaced them, but I might have missed a couple. Give me a poke and Imageshack a slap if you do see some I missed!

"Ardeco is a pretty, liberal and incredibly unimportant University town. It's not possible that the Seftons could have -" Last tranmission from the CNL Calver

Railways have begun their iron crawl across the landscape of Nova Terina, and in their wake come the Humans. The next county seat has appeared! Well, not quite yet. Wait for it...wait for it....

WHOOSH!
*smoke*



And in a puff of zoning, Ardeco appears! Ardeco is/was/will be (depending on your perspective) a smallish University town on the Abbot River. Through it runs the Santos Line, reaching from New Babelyia and terminating at the mysterious black void which really makes no sense. Got that? I will be testing you later on, so take notes. *Puts on bird sized mortar board*



And what better place to start than Ardeco University? These days, Universities tend to germinate their own towns, rather than the largest cities acquiring them. And darn hard to set up they are, too. Unknown university, new planet, no students? Why on earth would you go there? Head to an established one on an established planet, thats the way to go. However, Ardeco is luring in students with good teachers, unusual courses and the occasional net.
This is my first foray into the exiciting world of seasonal trees, and I have to say they're really rather pretty.





Just across the river, a lake of cheap terraced houses provide lodgings for Students for whom dorm life holds no attraction. Like those with a sense of smell.



Not that all terraces are cheap Student "crash pads" oh no. Here, the reaction against hi-rise apartments is easy to see! A sea of brick and stucco, with ensuites and sizeable gardens for the children.



More terraces. Ardeco is very much a medium density town. However, every town has a centre, otherwise they're breaking various mathmatical laws. Shall we go see Ardecos? No? Well tough, I'm in charge here. Don't make me get out a cattle prod, move it!



Here we are. As high risen as we're ever going to get here in Ardeco. Don't you just love that train station?



Annndd... a night shot to finish. Terribly pretty.

[RickD]

The night shot is nice!

And I had some troubles with imageshack, too. In my case sometimes pictures are uploaded two times. Guess that is still better than vanishing pictures, though. 

[TheBluejay]

I'm getting slow with this, aren't I? Well, I'm also revising for my GCSE's, so I have to prioritise!

Here's a selection of pictures and captions to show you I actually have been doing some stuff



A slightly ugly clearing!



A rural idyll!



A teeny tiny town for middle aged people and older only!



Now, not every one in the countryside arr tractor is poor. As you can see, some peopleare doing quite well for themselves! The owners of this farm are from one of the Dynasty like families so common in the Commonwealth, and make a small bit of money from selling ice creams and cakes from the small cafe-shop next to them. Some people dig the whole organic rural homegrown stuff, y'know?



Ardeco University has scraped together enough money to replace the old fence will some walls, far prettier!
I will never find out why the BSC Parks team insisted on having grass a slightly different shade to the Maxis grass that most other parks use. I don't even think it looks any better! (Not that BSC Parks aren't pretty great )It's throughly odd, don't you think?