The Heartland - Random Images

[Giligone]

Oh crud, I just noticed that I'm late for work (good thing I'm in charge...)

Late fore work... in the army? Sounds like trouble.   Looking forward to that update. That teaser is really good!

[threestooges]

John (Darmok), If I recall correctly, (and I'm sure he'll correct me if not) the curves are found in the rail puzzle piece selection. Just keep hitting tab (they are close to the end of the group).

Meinhosen: Nice little pic you have there. Did you make the park yourself or is it from a pack? Either way, it looks great and fits in very well with the downtown area. You've used jbsimio's stuff really well. It all blends together so well to show age and growth over time. I'll look forward to the rest of the update.

[meinhosen]

Personal Replies:

Darmok - Nice to see you here, and thank you for the kind words.  threestooges gave a pretty good response about the railcurves- I'll add that if you hit [SHIFT] + [TAB] you'll find the curves a lot quicker.  Just make sure that you have the RHW uninstalled, and you'll find the curves no prob.   
On a side note, about PEGs streams - those took about an hour to plop... the longest part was transitioning between all the different lots and pieces.  I think it was worth it. 

Giligone - Late, yes.  In trouble, double yes.  Lotsa pushups... yes- my arms hurt.  Was it worth it, yes. 

threestooges - The park is one of my own- it's actually Barby's Rosewalk with a SimGoober pond (and a few extra tiles) added.  If you like it I can type of a list of dependancies and attach it in a zip file to one of my posts here.



I've been using this small town as a testbed for a bunch of new lots I cooked up over the past month.  You've already seen the small park, I'll point the rest out as we go along:



Seen above is a series of 2x5 and 2x6 lots I made in order to mass-grow/mass-plop smalltown CBDs.  Obviously JB's work is prominent, but I've also used a couple of Maxis buildings, too.  Spa has some nice buildings that I'm working with, so hopefully those will work their way into circulation.



I liked this mix of buildings a lot, and with the addition of a few storefronts to JB's stuff, there is a nice breakup to the monotony of having several of the same building in and around the city.  I'm very impressed that his (JB) stores accomodate the Maxis storefronts as well as they do, and as I said, it creates a nice look to the front of the buildings.







These lots are an old discovery of mine- 4x5 and 4x6 R$$$.  These large lots almost guarantee that if there's demand, only the specifically sized lot will fit on a properly sized zone, meaning that you can always get the lot you want.  I took some time and tinkered-with/added-in a few of SimGoober's fantastic mansions (replacing the so-so Maxis ones), changed a few props (CP seasonal trees, not seen above), and began testing.  I like the look.





The football field you see is a blend of two lots I picked up off the STEX a long time ago- a nice football field by a BATter whose name I forget, and a small soccer stadium that's been on the STEX forever (stat-wise, it's just a smaller version of the minor league stadium).





Enjoy!

[Swamper77]

It makes me happy to see people enjoying the new freight truck automata I assembled I like the look of your region so far. Keep up the good work.

-Jan

[Cali]

awesome pics, very detailed.it has a suburban feel to it

[thundercrack83]

Clarkburgh is a very beautiful little town, meinhosen! You have definitely managed to capture the essence of a small American town! Great job!

[emilin]

You rock! Is there something you can't do with SC4?

[Nardo69]

I like  Clarksburg. Even though I am more into Gascooker's BAT's right now (lot of bulldoze work as they are 2x2 and 2x3 ...  ) I must say these huge mansions together with your streetsıde mod do look good!

Great work with JB's BATs - I like them even though they are a bit too "american" for my "european" style.

Mz favourite one is the pic before the last pic. I love the natural flow of residentialş to commercial to industrial - all low rise, all fit together.

I enjoyed it a lot!

Take care my friend!

Bernhard 

[Heinz]

zniehadajet - Thanks for the visit.  I'll have to highlight the Greene County Tourism Bureau (Cedarville) for you so you can find all the sights and attractions.

i don't know what you mean with "highlight"-ing, but it sounds like it will be good.  everything you put up here is a delight. 

your cities, they are all functional? how's traffic? doing well? it's one of the roadblocks i often hit in developing. my networking is a D or worse. 
urban-suburban-rural... you do amazing things. definitely will drive to the heartland for those inspiring updates

hen

[Giligone]

Spectacular! What a pituresque little town. Those downtown lots you put together are really nice! I never would have known you mixed maxis buildings with someone elses, they just work so well.

Lol, Its good that it was worth it to be late, but you probably don't want to get on your CO's bad side... 

[threestooges]

Sorry to hear about the results of your slight delay (but it's good that you are at least satisfied with the choice). Although the park looks great, it is a special piece of your city and was made for that spot. I doubt I could do it sufficient justice (though I could try). If I feel the urge to get one, I'll do it by biting the bullet and learning how to make a good lot (something I've been trying to get around to). However, if you do feel like sharing something, I wouldn't say no to that automata mod that you were mentioning (to get my trains hauling a bit more freight). It may just be that I like trains, but the 4th pic is a great small town shot. With the transition from industry to commercial, coupled with the age of the buildings and the train rolling through the center of town (as many old towns grew around their lines), this pic is not only well shot, but also well designed. Lastly, what automata do you use for the santa fe SD-40 (at least I think that's the name of the locomotive)?

[kimcar]

  Nice work you done . I like what you did with JB lots. Great pics too.

[bat]

Wonderful pictures and great overview of this area!

[kwakelaar]

This MD has a great feel to it, and I really like the way you have layed out the city.

[Cali]

i like the neighborhood layout, about 8-10 houses ber block. it seems realistic.

[rooker1]

Another interesting update, great work.

[sebes]

Lovely pictures again!

I do'nt like griddy towns in general, but will glady make an exception for Clarksburg CO, although I think the road along the coast should be a little more curvy... and follow the coastline.

The stores and mansion are fabulous.

[Badsim]

Clarkburgh is a very beautiful little town, meinhosen! You have definitely managed to capture the essence of a small American town! Great job!

I'm trusting this opinion . So thanks and congratulations for that .
Myself trying to capture the essence of something else ... it's a very pleasant travel .

[Pat]

patfirefghtr - thanks for the compliments.  I've enjoyed seeing your MD (I'm looking at working a few of your ideas into mine).  Thanks for stopping by.

awwwwwwwww shucks lol wow to think i've inspired ya's thats sooooooo cool.
well with that i cant wait to see what you work in and btw are you active?
that teaser was just mean btw and i want to see more - pat

[pickled_pig]

You're doing a great job creating realistic Middle American small towns.  I like the ideas you have about lotting (the 6x4 mansions and the CBDs); even more because I suck at the lot editor and have only created one successful lot with it.

-aaron