The Heartland - Random Images

[thundercrack83]

Outstanding, my friend. Simply outstanding! I love the farms and the industries and the residential neighborhoods, fantastic work! Keep it up!

[Frankie]

Great update! I like all the farm screenies, they look good! My favorite picture has to be the last one, something about the brewery just grabs my attention

[Pat]

meinhosen that was a fantastic update, i loved the rural feel to Grantville.  - pat

[Badsim]

Hi meinhosen ,

These farms surrounded by trees are outstanding , indeed ... sunflower fields ... Ha , I love them so much in RL ....
I enjoy other pictures too ; you're skilled about small/middle towns ...

[kwakelaar]

Excellent looking farms, and the school with the sportsfields also very nice.

[Strechnitz]

Hi,

I've been away too lng, but your updates make the visit worthwhile

That's a lovely update meinhosen. I think I could live in Grantville. no problem. And indeed, it is said before but those farms look good. Damn good.

Strech.

[Yoder7652]

I love the midwestern feel to your MD. You've done a very nice job at capturing the essence of small town living...as always your farms are outstanding.

[bat]

Fantastic pictures of the farms! Also great ones from the city!

[threestooges]

You have nailed american suburbs and have taken farmland to a new level. I like the way you've divided certain farms with fences. It gives them an extra sense of depth. I think, for me, the most impressive shot of this update is the train rolling by the school. It has a bit of everything, and appears to be quite well thought out. Excellently done.

[glepet]

Great lookin' picks meinhosen! Your feel for the heartland is right on.

[jmyers2043]

Hello Meinhosen - I like the Brewery. I think I'll spend some time this evening and hunt it down. Amazing how many nice things are available for download. I am glad for these MD's because I spot things that I've missed.

Also a good idea extending the farm fences. Why have I not thought of doing that 

So, two good ideas from your last update. Thanks!

[guurgkud]

ive been following your MD for a while, and I must say this is AMAZING!!

It is very real and beautiful.  Will definately keep following it

[mattb325]

You've certainly captured the small town USA feel with those last shots, Meinhosen - excellent stuff indeed

[meinhosen]

I'm not going to go so far as to say this might be my last update for a few months, but I definitely won't rule out the possibility that it very well might be...

*makes mental note to self to see if there's internet access at Camp Godforsakenandlostinthewoods*

Thanks to all for a lot of great comments.

Travis - I think I answered the question of the fences in a PM, but for the sake of sharing it with the group: they can be found here.  I would go so far as to say they're a must-have for all rural-loving SC4 players.    The high school complex is yet another idea I got from a fellow MDer/CJer... one who I can't remember at the moment. 

thundercrack - Thank you!

Frankie, pat, kwakelaar - Thanks!

Badsim - Sunflower fields are great in RL, and they're so stinking hard to find here in the US (at least the parts I'm familiar with).  At least I can find them in SC 

Strechnitz - I'm glad I could make a once-in-a-while visit worthwhile    And I'm sure I could set you up with a palatial home in Grantville if you plan on moving   

Yoder, bat & glepet - Thanks for the great comments!

threestooges - Actually, those fences through the fields are an idea taken from Darmok.  A LONG time ago I saw it in his CJ at SimTrop (he hasn't done it since), so I copied the idea.

jmyers - Hope the PM helped in the hunt for the brewery.  I'm glad to see that I can provide some inspiration to the BATter whose work comprises about 99% of my farms.

guurgkud - Glad to see you here!  Thanks for joining along in the journey. 

mattb325 - Thanks!





More fun with the Lot Editor and with Ilive's Reader.



The Cedarville dump.  You can never have enough rats in a city. 



The plaza and fountains outside of the Nebraska Statehouse (seen in the lower middle).



Interstate 180 winds through central Cedarville, eventually merging with Capitol Parkway and heading out to the industrial suburbs southwest of Cedarville.  Here you see it winding through an older section of the city.



Directly west of the previous picture is Cedarville's commercial core.  Lots of low-rise and brick-urban structures make up Cedarville, although many of these are abandoned and being torn down to make way for newer businesses and residences.



Just west of Cedarville's historic railroad station (former Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, now BNSF, now maintained by Amtrak) is this stand of buildings.  Known as Station Square, these are Cedarville's oldest highrises.



Here's another view of Station Square, with the station visible to the right.

This might be my last update for a while, so I hope you have enjoyed it. 

For those interested, I'll be at West Point for the duration of the summer.  I'm not sure yet if I'll have regular 'net access, but I'll keep my fingers crossed that there's a good place down there to get connected.

Thanks for stopping by! 

EDIT

About the West Point thing (aka the US Military Academy): my unit will be running cadets through a summer "Basic Training" program.  I guess "camp" is a misleading term... it's simply the name of the place we'll be staying (similar in concept to, say, Camp Pendelton... which belongs to the Marines) and not so much like, say, band camp. 

Hope that clarifies things a bit.

[thundercrack83]

Your attention to detail is stunning, my friend! I love the sunken highways and the station square, it's magnificent work. Good luck at West Point!

[threestooges]

Yeah, I visit AVR quite a bit myself. Darmok's AVR (Anduin River Valley Revisited, for those who were wondering) is a great place to steal... I mean... get inspiration... for new ideas.

Now then, about your camping trip (if you can necessarily call it that), I hope for the sake of wear and tear on the body that you will be instructing rather than being instructed. Will this "camp" be Westpoint as described at the end of your post, or something more rustic? Also, if you don't mind my asking, what are the nature of your duties at Westpoint?

You are really getting good with your park layouts (and use of the LE as well...that house in the first pic... so simple and so good). The dump is a nice touch too. You don't often see those in MDs too often (much less garbage disposal facilities). I might suggest though, unless it is the look you are going for, you might remove the row effect of the garbage heaps by moving around the trash props. That however, is the only thing I could suggest to make this update better. As I have said before, your attention to detail is amazing: the highway, and downtown Cedarville come to mind. Your selection of structures also adds a nice variety to the mix.

I hope your stay at Westpoint is enjoyable, and that you are able to find some internet access somewhere.

[emilin]

Looks great! I like the sloped "downtown" street best.

[bat]

Great pictures! Fantastic picture of the highway!!

[Yoder7652]

well this one time at band camp.....
hope you'll have some time to play SC4 and be able to upload your images here...this last update is really great. I love the sunken highway at night and the downtown shot with the street changing elevation.

[rooker1]

Love the last few updates, great work, excellent pictures.  I like the use of buddybud's sunken highway walls.  I use those lots alot, I think they are great, hopefully he can get back to making some more stuff for us.  Your DT looks very nice as well, very good choice of buildings.


Robin