Evergem, The Netherlands

[capo]

sebes: Thanks for your many visits here at Evergem, I'm glad both our supporter groups were in their best behavior at the West End tournament.

Douwe: Welcome back, yes that farm looks familiar. I'm from Groningen, Friesland's evil neighbor Thanks for your kind words and I hope to find a Friesian farm somewhere!

Schulmanator: Thanks, more is coming right up..sorry for the delay!

Khiyana: You are too kind, I put a lot of work in placing every building, tree, path so it's always good to read that it's well liked.

Thundercrack83: Welcome back my friend, don't worry about it..there are so many great MD's out there that I always miss updates as well, there are just too many talented people here on SC4D

Kwakelaar: Thanks for the compliments and I thank you for your megapacks and other works!

Shadow Assassin: Thanks for your visit, yes sometimes I wonder what Biroud will look like in 500 years as well...but we still have a long journey ahead of us. In many European cities there are still buildings of over 500 years old..and when Biroud reaches modern days, it will be no different here.

Paroch: Congratulations to you for posting the 100th post in this MD, I'm glad it's you who passed this milestone . Thanks my friend, as soon as this MD is done I will perhaps send it to the Groninger museum .. Speaking of that museum, here check it out if you will:


Even though it's a very strange building, I still like it a lot. It's so different from things you normally see. I think it would be one of the biggest challenges ever for a Batter, does anybody feel challenged perhaps?

Bat: thanks for your many visits in Biroud!

Serkanner: Real history may perhaps be more interesting but I also have a vivid imagination that needs feeding

Jayo: thanks for your visits, more development is on it's way! You asked about where you could find a road going into town. Which one did you mean exactly so I can give you the linkie?

Strechnitz: A skybox can be purchased for the price of 50 goldcoins. 2 Maidens or 7 donkeys will also be accepted as payment Thanks for your kind words!

FrankU: Welcome to Biroud and thanks for your many contributions about Dutch history. It's really great to see such a discussion about our nation's history develop here. I guess we both do look different at our country, don't get me wrong...there are some parts in The Netherlands I really like..but we aren't blessed with great natural beauty.

Pat: I'm glad you enjoy Biroud, the wait is over...the update is here!

Pikatchoum: Welcome to Biroud and thanks for your kind words!

Tkirch: thanks, yes I always try to keep it as real as I can get.

Tooheys: thanks my friend and welcome back, more new props by KWK (and others) to be seen in this update!

Squidi: thanks for the compliments, yes many small houses to be seen..however with the passing of time, the saying 'bigger is better' has also found it's way to Biroud. That means more bigger housing to come...

Ennedi: Thanks for finding the time to visit Biroud, I know you are a busy man so this means a lot to me. As you can read, the question was no stupid one at all..but an excellent one. We all learn from eachother, that's one of the great things of SC4D I feel. Yes you are right, if only some really nice medieval sailships would exist. I've already taken a look at the Maxis boat, but that's one ugly looking boat I don't want to be seen in Biroud..if you find something nice on your path, please let me know!

Mattb325: Thanks for the compliments, it's really great to entertain others with building and developing Biroud and it's landscape. To me the landscape is equally (or more) important then the city itself, but I'm a bit of a perfectionist..sometimes it's helpful with SC4, sometimes it's a pain in the hiney

Amapper: Thanks for your visit! Yes I completely believe in the saying "Less is more" so that is what I try to do with my cities as well. It's better to place 3 buildings with good thought, then to randomly plop 20 buildings.
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First of all, I'm real sorry for the long wait for a next update everybody. I've been real busy with other things lately and the last week I was suffering from the flu, now I'm all better again I've been working hard on Biroud going through a small agricultural revolution. I'm still not done with all the work, that will probably take another 3 weeks before Biroud will be completely ready for the next historic update (please remember that I have to plop every tile). I really don't want you all to wait that long for the next update (you've waited long enough already) so in this small in-between-teaser-update I would like to show you all what I've been working on the last days...I hope you will like it and it will be a teaser for the next big historic update.

The Agricultural Revolution:
With the invention of poldering new farm land, Biroud is really starting to develop. There is so much food available now that starvation has become very rare, the abundance of food also means a huge economic boost since all the excess food can be sold.  Already there is no more room inside the city walls of Biroud for new homes...so the only place for new construction was just right outside the walls. Of course you miss the cover of the walls when you choose to live there...however living close to the town does offer you protection from the city guard and is preferred by many over living in the fields. Still some small villages are starting to arise not so far from Biroud, I guess these folks know how to defend themselves...

Here you can see the 'explosion' of new homes and shops right outside the city walls:




New types of homes are being constructed by the now more weathy Birouders. Homes are now part of your social status, the more beautiful and big the house is..the richer you are:


The fertile clay soil makes sure of great harvests, here are some examples of the many farms developing outside Biroud:









Thanks for your patience and I hope you will like it!

[Strechnitz]

Great update Capo!

For a teaser update you spoil us with so many beautiful pics.
And it is good to see Biroud developing so nicely.

Strech.

[bat]

Biroud is a nice looking town! Wonderful "teaser" update! Great farms, too!

[Ennedi]

Hi capo,

That's really beautiful update! 

The most amazing thing for me is your patience and excellent intuition with collecting these buildings and other details. I know you plop a lot, but to achieve your goal it is the only way. These city views are most consistent I have seen from a very long time.

I like very much that you not only made fields using farmfields textures, but also the ordinary grass from the terrain mod. It adds mauch realism to these scenes.

I don't know if everything in these medieval cities was such well ordered (maybe more in Netherlands and Germany than in such countries as Poland  ), but the impression is fantastic!

One question: I'm interested in two textures visible on the third picture, between houses: the street texture and the stone tile one (in fact these are two stone tile textures). Where did you get them from?

Edit: Thank you very much FrankU and Sebes for very interesting answers for my question about the freshwater! 

[paroch]

Oh, I've been waiting for this one!!!!

You've got something very special here in Evergem.  You say in your post "thanks for your patience" but seriously it is YOUR patience that shines through here.  We all play SC4, so we can all appreciate how long this must have taken you to produce. 

The pictures are brilliant (as we knew they would be).  I found myself looking for things that are out of place..... where is the water tower?..... where is the power plant?..... where are the power cables?..... there must be a car he missed!!  But no.  The only slight, small, tiny thing I can see are the two "food court" umbrellas in picture 3 - but this is where you give us a beautiful story about how the garden umbrella was invented in the Netherlands in the 17th century 

Seriously they are all great.  As a football fan I like pic one.  You can see the Trade Tower and De Stal and I even spot a new pitch outside the city wall.  Is this an early football rivalry??  And is that a monestary next to the football pitch at the top of the pic??

In pics 2 and 3 I love the stone bridges over the river and the roads with the stone walls.

And the farm fields...... are they ploppable??  If so, I NEED those ploppable fields

The flatness of it all is so very Nederland (certainly from an Englishman's viewpoint any way).  And in the last picture the stables are a very nice touch.

Bravo Capo - 11 out of 10!!!

(Do we really have to wait 3 weeks for the next update? just one picture at a time will keep us going!!!)

Oh, and that museum in Groningen is a bit different!!!  Was the designed taking some illegal substances!!!  Great RL pics btw, a very Dutch sky line - flat with gables, church spires and water! 

All the best,

Paul

[kwakelaar]

That is a wonderful teaser, and doing just what is says, I want to see more!
But this is already very interesting to see, the new parts growing up outside the walls is looking quite realistic, and your farming areas are very diverse with all the different types of farmfields.
And it is funny to see you have even dug up my first ever release on the STEX.

[sebes]

Capo this is awesome update. Your first picture, about the expansion of Biroud-outside-the-Walls  (Biroud-Buiten?) is amazing:  it's like a Google Earth shot back in time  
In the second one, the stone bridge and the little square in the top right corner catch my eyes. I hope you can zoom in on that square in your real update (consider me teased   .) The third picture is great, especially after reading Paroch's comment  
And about the last 3 with the farm fiels and country drives: how Dutch can the game get??? Well, I am sure you will have more surprises for us in the next updates... so will just leave it here and enjoy the pics once again...

[FrankU]

Capo, man! This is beautiful....
Your pictures are really great.
So, you plop everything. I already asked myself how you got the people walking and the game functioning without streets and roads.... It must indeed be a lot of work.

This is maybe the moment to complain about one or two things that we all miss when making a dutch landscape:
1. Knotted willowtrees (knotwilgen) and Poplars (?) (Populieren)
2. Canals with grass borders with (or without) reed growing along them. PEGs streamkit is nice, but it misses the typical dutch character where the grass more or less directly meets the water on almost the same level.

In your pictures I see a lot of non dutch trees like redwoods etc. I won't blame you though.

But I am happy that you showed us more. And wait for your next moves.

[capo]

REPLIES:

Strechnitz: Thanks and welcome back! After plopping for many hours I sometimes get a little SC tired, but when I read all these friendly comments in the MD, I know it was all worth it. I'm happy to entertain you all with my work

bat: Thanks bat, you are always quick as a......bat when it comes to replying I'm glad you like the farms, I do so as well.

Ennedi: Thanks my friend and welcome back, yes it does take a lot of time plopping and in the Lot Editor but it's well worth the effort I feel. I do hope to be manage to grow buildings, but I guess we will have to wait for a few centuries for the invention of railway and later cars...oh what a revolution that is gonna be for Biroud I have the CSX fields and SG Revised fields installed and the options they give you when it comes to fields is purely amazing. Thanks guys for all the fun things to play with!

It's real easy to create those farmfields in the Lot Editor, all you need to do is edit the Maxis 1x1 park with farming textures and props. And with the awesome-o props that SimGoober uploaded with his revised farm fields, you can now make ploppable farms that take time to grow and be harvested. That man deserves a statue in my town, together with Kwakelaar

paroch: Welcome back my friend, I'm glad you liked the last update. lol no story of the invention of the food court umbrella's this time, but it does make me wonder where and when this thing was invented ...Next stop for me will be wikipedia I guess That idea of an early football rivalry is actually a good one, I just felt that the people a bit out of town deserved a team as well, but thanks to your suggestion I already see a whole new plot ahead, thanks! Those are monastary pieces yes but it's not quite finished, I haven't given the building a destination yet...and there are still empty tiles around for me to fill..so more suggestions would be more then welcome. Perhaps a West End Tournament museum where VV Biroud performed so well??? Perhaps not with the rival team playing their matches right beside it.

I created the farm fields in Lot Editor and LEProp, It's real easy to make and I'd be glad to show you and others how if you want to? I could create a small tuturial if needed, I'd be glad to help. I'll try to update more as I work along, so you don't have to wait for another 3 weeks don't worry

kwakelaar: Aaah yes, the old church. I read on the STEX that it was your 'first one', but it really looks great and it's perfect for this medieval settings (like many of your buildings and props). I guess this MD is actually a showcase of your work Thanks for dropping by and your kind words

sebes: Yes that area in the top right corner is a new shopping area for Biroud in the making. I'm not real sure what it will look like when it's completely done, but I promise some zoom-ins for you in a future update. I'm happy you liked the update! Biroud-Buiten sounds like a nice name for the area and perhaps the name of a future railway station ("over enkele ogenblikken arriveren wij op station Biroud-Buiten, denkt u bij het verlaten van de trein aan uw bagage"). I noticed that you also saw my picture in the picture competition with the windmill at the lock, I figure it's one of the most Dutch pictures I ever made of my town. I'm curious if you as a fellow Dutchman agrees. I'll upload it in this MD as well

FrankU: Thanks and welcome back to Biroud, yes I admit...I am a plopper and ashamed of it it's something I normally dislike doing in my towns but the only way to really dig into Biroud's history. It's no fun seeing a population of 0 now Biroud has really grown, ah well..perhaps some day someone will create a horse mod to change the cars with, that would truly give the game a new dimension. But like most big changes, it would probably be very hard...

Well to keep it look real, I have to use other trees that normally don't grow here just for eye-candy purposes. The knotted willowtrees would be an awesome addition, perhaps if all us Dutchies ask jeronij real nice, he will put one in his (hopefully) future tree pack Yes I miss those canals you described as well, even though  there are many great canal sets out there, none really look like 'home'.



Ok as promised, the pic from the picture competition. I think it's such a typical Dutch scene having a windmill next to lock with the small housing right next to it, it was real fun to make this area:

[bat]

That's a really nice rural area there! Great picture!

[paroch]

Hi Capo,

I am sure you will find something suitable for the empty spaces!

As for the farm field tutorial - well if you get the time I would definitely be interested.  Your coast line tutorial inspired me to try some different things, so who knows what could happen.

And the pics you posted of the cottages and the windmill farms are brilliant.

All the best,

Paul

[XoX]

wonderfullll!!     
but it's just plop?

[tooheys]

capo, I love working with farmland and these are some of the best rural pics I have seen. Great detail and
I'm sure a lot of work went into getting it just right.

Brilliant 

Dave

[Schulmanator]

Simply delightful pix! You have a variety of buildings which work together in perfect harmony.

[JanYpe]

Prachtig werk. 

My own Dutch city has been on hold for ages, but seeing this makes me want to start again. Great explanation of polder creation by the way. Keep it up!

[amapper]

Those pictures are so life-like! You really do a fantastic job at putting in detail. I like all the foliage and especially those stone lined paths.  Are they TE and where did you get them?

[Shadow Assassin]

Very nice, the town's definitely growing.

Have you thought about going into the Lot Editor and making a [asphaltwege] lot with one stone wall removed, another with no stone wall that matches the existing pack you've already got? This might allow for some more flexibility.

[cjwalter78]

Looks great, I love how the area looks so planed but yet not. I really can't explain it but it looks great. I love the city and the outer areas. Its great! post more please.

[tkirch]

I'm gone for a week and two great updates.

I just love the stone around the streets just adds so much more to the views.  Its incredible.

You can see the painstaking patience you must take to place everything just right.  I love the windmill, it is just so perfect for the spot.

EXCELLENT!!!!

[emilin]

Awesome development. I wish I had more time to go into detail about all the wonderful stuff you are doing here, but today I will settle for a big round of