Commonwealth of Marathon

[evanator]

I stop by Marathon whenever i can, but rarely have the time to post a comment, forgive me!

Everything you've done here is supremely superb, and Marathon is definitely one of the best of the best here on SC4D.  

Congratulations on six months, and all you've been able to achieve in that short amount of time. Can't wait for the next six months!

[kimcar]

  Congrats Dustin for 6 month of great quality MD. You put so much work and energy that you should go for another 6 Btw super mosaic my friend. 

[homefryes]

Wow ... 69 pages in 6 months. That's quite impressive, for certain! Happy Half-Anniversary, Marathon!!
-- Don

[mightygoose]

great mosaic... er..., hapy sixmonthday, this is me not lurking sorry i dont have anymore thoughtful comments....

[woodb3kmaster]

Ah, you caught me, Dustin! I can't lurk today!

Not that I should, though. Your work over these past six months has been truly outstanding! In particular, your superb lotting has inspired me to play around in the LE myself (though I won't try to call attention to my own efforts here, you'll be able to see what I've done in Nyhaven soon enough).

I know I don't need to say it, but keep up the outstanding work! Happy semi-anniversary! (Sixth mensiversary?)

Zack

[rooker1]

Page 69, congrats. 
* Trying to increase my post count to pass that certain someone.
Keep up the fantastic work.
Robin 

[Masochist]

I've been faithfully lurking ever since I made my once single comment way back when...but out from the shadows to celebrate No Lurking Day...okay!

I've been watching everything as it develops; the Portland square, the quay, the stadium, all of it.  And of all 69 pages of this CJ, there's only been one so far that hasn't made my jaw drop, or my face screw up in awe: this one, because you haven't posted yet !

Really...it's amazing the things you're creating in here, and that region!  What an undertaking!   I though my new one would be big at 6x8 large tiles, but 9x9?  That's a task!  I'll be faithfully keeping watch still to see what comes of it; I'm especially excited to see what sort of terraforming you'll do to it (I keep trying to terraform on mine, but the mountains just don't come out the way I want them too...).

Anyways, even if I don't comment as often as I should, know that I'm always faithfully lurking in the background here, waiting for the next update (and the next time my jaw dislocates).  Keep up the amazing work !

(By the way, I posted a link to this MD in the latest post of [my SC4 blog]...hope you don't mind!)

[thundercrack83]

Alfred.Jones: Thank you, my friend! And, small text or not...you caught me! Ha! Ha! Take care!

Maarten (mrtnrln): Thank you, Maarten! I don't know what the celebration will be like come November, we'll have to wait and see! Oh, and gelukkig Bevrijdingsdag!

Matt (threestooges): Thank you for your very kind words, Matt!

Andy2k: Danke schön!

io_bg: Thanks!

Arthur (art128): Thank you so much, Arthur! Without your help, we'd never have gotten this far, my friend.

Thomas (turtle): Thank you so much!

Robin (rooker1): I'm so sorry to hear that you're not feeling well, Robin, especially since you lost your voice! How do your wife feel about that? Now she doesn't have to listen to you! Ha! Ha! Take care of yourself and get a lot of rest, my friend, and thank you so much for all your support, even from when Marathon was a twinkle in my eye! Thanks again, Robin!

bat: There he is—Marathon's top poster! Thank you so much for all your support from the very beginning, and I hope to see you here just as often as you've been for the past six months. Vielen Dank!

metarvo: Thanks so very much, my friend. You've been a faithful supporter and I appreciate it very much! And you give yourself a big hand, too, because without folks like you, we wouldn't be here! Take care!

Jon (JBSimio): Ha! I issued the "No Lurking Day" proclamation just to get you out of the woodwork! Just kidding, my friend—you've always been here for advice, ideas, and support, and I thank you very much!

carkid1998: Thank you, my friend! I'm happy that you like the mosaïc!

Battlecat: Thanks so much!

Luke (Luke09): Thank you, Luke! Good luck with your train station, and with catching our friend bat, too!

Guillaume (Sciurus): Hi, Guillaume! I was afraid that my "No Lurking Day" in French wasn't going to make any sense, that's what happens when you use Google Translate, I'm afraid. Nevertheless, I knew you'd be here to set me straight. Where would I be without you!? Thank you for all your help, both with my French language skills and with Marathon itself, you've been a wonderful friend here, and I look forward to our friendship continuing! À bientôt!

sebes: Thank you so much, sebes! I am so happy that you've been checking things out here on a daily basis, and it makes me feel even better that you reserving for comments for the "jaw-dropping" moments, too! Now, I just have to make sure those jawdroppers happen more often, right? I appreciate your kind words, whenever you post them, and I appreciate your support so very much. Take care!

Matt (emmotic): Thanks, Matt! I hope we're here for a long time, too! And thank you for your kind words about the cathedral, as well!

Joan (Jmouse): Hi, Joan! Boy, everybody's catching my stall tactics on the diagonals! I guess I'll have to get a bit more clever with them! You've been at the top of support list since the beginning of things here, Joan, and your help and words of encouragement have been such an inspiration in all facets of this MD, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart, my friend. Here's to the next six months!

evanator: There's no need for forgiveness, my friend! You're always welcome here, no matter how often you'd like to stop in! Thank you for your wonderful comments, and I hope to see you again soon!

kimcar: Thank you, my friend! You've been another wonderful supporter from the beginning and I'll never forget it! Oh, and don't worry, I'll keep going for as long as I have ideas, whether the energy is there or not! Hope all is well with you!

Don (homefryes): Thank you very much, Don!

mightygoose: Ha! Thanks so much! That was more than thoughtful enough for me, my friend!

Zack (woodb3kmaster): Gotcha! People have been catching me all day, it's time I get someone! In all seriousness, though, please don't worry about posting here, my friend, you're always welcome, whenever it is! I look forward to seeing your LE work, and it makes me feel so good that you've gotten some inspiration from what you've seen in Marathon. Take care!

Robin (rooker1): Thanks, Robin! Wait...I thought you lost your voice! Get back to bed!

Isaac (Masochist): Hi, Isaac! Wow! Thank you so very much for your wonderful words of encouragement, my friend. No matter how often you stop in, your insight is always inspiring and helps me look at things in a different light! Oh, and of course I don't mind that you've posted a link to Marathon in your blog. It's an honor! Hope to see you again soon!



Wow! 25 replies in 24 hours—you folks are absolutely unbelievable! Thank you all for the outpouring of support, both now and for the past six months! I've said it countless times, but without all of you, none of this would have been possible!

And now, to christen our next six months...and to end the stalling...

Work on the diagonal sections is officially underway! Stay tuned to see more development!

Tschüss!

[Sciurus]

Oh Dustin,

I ask myself too, where you would be without me (but just for my french, because other from me doesn't serve you! ). Just this to say you that your city is beautiful, and I'll continue to stop by there all times I could .
On thing more, you didn't answer my question: could you tell me in what sense you mean the word "lurking". Concealed or furtive, and I then I could do a correct translation

Your french friend, Guillaume

[bat]

Looking forward to more of the diagonals! It looks great!

[art128]

Dustin,
Nice lot there my friend, it looks great with these seasonal trees.
Looking forward to more.

Take care,
-Arthur.

BTW, it's my 2300 post at SC4D and my 80 post in your MD !

[Luke09]

Nice,its loking promissing,and about the train station,well,i just suck on rail,i dont know how many tiles a station need to be far away from other,and they never get used by sims...they prefer my EL-RAIL system.Keep your job Dustin 

[Jmouse]

The mouse is still watching - and liking what she sees! I was afraid the diagonals would give you trouble because they're uneven, or maybe not. In any event, this is one project that is of much interest, partly because of the challenge, and in part because the finished product has such great potential. So keep after it! 

Later...
Joan

[KoV Liberty]

Happy 6 months and one day of your CJ!  Congratulations! 

Alex

[thundercrack83]

Guillaume (Sciurus): Hello, my friend! Thank you for your wonderful comments, and as always, you are welcome here as often as you'd like! And my apologies for not answering your early question—by "lurking," I meant viewing the thread without posting in it, so a "No Lurking Day" is asking everyone that views to post as well. Therefore, I guess you can use "concealed" in that context, since by lurking, you'd be concealing your thoughts. Thanks for all your help with it!

bat: Thank you, my friend!

Arthur (art128): Thanks, Arthur! And congratulations on your 2300^th post!

Luke (Luke09): Thank you, Luke! And don't worry about your work with rails, I'm not all that great with them either. Just keep practicing, though, you'll get there. Oh, and Happy Birthday!

Joan (Jmouse): Hi, Joan! The diagonals are certainly making my brain work a bit sideways, but I think I'm getting the hang of it...at least I hope! Thanks so much for stopping by, my friend!

Alex (Driftmaster07): Thank you so much, Alex! And a belated Happy Birthday to you, my friend!

UPDATE XXXVII
For All the Girls Down at Sacred Heart
Part I: Enough Procrastinating!
7 May 2009

"Enough procrastinating," he said to himself, as he stared for what seemed like the thousandth time at a maze of diagonal roads and avenues, wondering just how in the world he was going to tackle the development.

Well, the procrastination is over, and the hour is now at hand. Here we go! Welcome to the Parc du Sacré-Cœur, or Sacred Heart Park for our Anglophone friends. Development is going to be in stages, since I've been doing a lot of meticulous planning. Here's an overview of our first stage:

Forgive the crudeness of the map, I did it in Microsoft Excel using the cells as blocks like a piece of graph paper. In retrospect, I should have kept that grid on, but anyway! We go back...

...to Tile N, the tile in question, with our streets labels for orientation. Getting a closer look...

...we see the spot where the cathedral from images past once sat. Here it is...

...in the LE, and...

...in its place. Nothing new here, but now we move forward! We'll start with...

...the small, but ever so important 1x1, complete with double overlay textures! And...

...plop! We're in place on each side of the cathedral. Now...

...our 2x1...

...now in place, too. Continuing on with...

...our 3x3, but...

...as the asterisk told us, we need two 3x3s, one for left of center, and one for right. Back we go...

...and we're in place! Finally, our...

...2x2...

...and they're in.

Here's an overview...

...and a close-up...

So the initial stage is complete, and with it out of the way, I feel a bit more comfortable with handling the diagonals. The effect that I'm going for is to have all the streets lined with the semi-seasonal trees to give the streets that "tree-lined" effect that is one of my favorite things in real life. So far, it seems to be translating well, to me. Next up, the outer ring!

One last logistical note, one of these days I'll be posting an "Catalogue of Updates," as part of some rearranging I'm planning. Since it is meant to be a stand-alone, I won't be doing any replies in the post, but I'll catch up the next time around. It's not a big deal, but I just want to keep everyone aware, so you don't think I missed any replies.

In a bit!

[dedgren]

Magnificent, Dustin!  The only thing I might dare to suggest is that you would remove the trees that are directly in front of the main entrance so that there's a clear line of sight view out to the avenue.  That's like trying to improve on perfection, though, my friend.


David

[MandelSoft]

Excellent, as usual  ! Wonderfull LE work. I think I'm getting jealous of your skills

Best,
Maarten

[rooker1]

Hey Dustin,
I have to agree with David.  At least thinning out the tree in the front of the cathedral.  Also....maybe it's time you learned how to do prop families.  This is a good way to make a lot with a prop family and place it in different locations and get different variations of the props you choose.  All the trees look a little repeatative... I think.  This prop family thing might be the solution.
It looks to me like you are fast becoming a pro at LE.  It looks to me like the sky is no longer your limit!  You seem to have entered the realm only very few have.  Great work  Maybe at some point I can come to you for some lotting.

Robin 

[metarvo]

Diagonals have long been considered one of the most challenging subjects of SC4, but you have completed this task in an effective manner.  Way to go, Dustin!

[mightygoose]

superb dustin, fantastic effort, but i too agree with david as to opening up the trees directly in fron t of the entrance.