Adara - Update 184 - March 26, 2012

[ecoba]

Wow, you've made some good progress here , my friend !    The amount of detailing that is put into your work is simply amazing !


Ethan 

[art128]

It's always good to stop by your MD, Battlecat ! The last update you've shown us is really great ! I like the general view of the farmlands, it's simply awesome how your way to make them is perfect and also they fit perfectly in this diagonal area ! Can't wait to see the fillers for the diagonal field, because the texture you made is simply awesome ! 

take care,
-Arthur.

[Battlecat]

Skimbo: Welcome to Adara!  Thanks very much, glad you like the details.  There's just one small touch up I want to make to the texture and it should be good!

Cyclone1001: Thanks!  Ironically, I actually work for the planning department of a city near Vancouver BC.  I do all the mapping work.  It would be a pretty huge challenge to recreate even a small city in Simcity 4.  Our population is about 15,000 but it's a farming community that covers a bit over 8500 hectares.  In fact, it would take 8 large map tiles to recreate the community.  Could be interesting to try some day though! 

Tomas Neto: Thanks very much!

Une_ame: Just the repeating pattern along the tile edge.  I just need to break up the repetition a little bit.  Other than that I'm pretty happy with it. 

TiFlo: Thanks!  Glad you like how it turned out!

sumwonyuno: I'm really happy with how it turned out as well, glad you like it! 

Jordan (canyonjumper): Thanks very much!  You should enjoy today's update then!

Ethan (ecoba): Thanks!  I'm having a lot of fun detailing the shorelines!

Arthur (art128): You just slipped in as I was preparing to post today's update!  Glad you like how everything is turning out!  Sorry I don't have the rest of the diagonal textures to show today, I forgot to bring the flash drive that has them with me this weekend.  I'll have them done for next week though.  Thanks for stopping by! 

Update 121
Greenwood – Shoreline and Farm Details

Here we go again!  If things go according to plan, I'll be back to the regular weekly updates for the foreseeable future.  This map tile is taking longer than any other I've done before, but there is less area given over to mountains on this map. 

Sadly, I left the flash drive with my texture folder at work for the weekend so I didn't get a chance to finish up the diagonal farm textures.  Those will have to wait until next week.

121-1: First I just need to quickly detail these farms. 


121-2: I've discovered that using grass to blur the edges of some farm types works just as well as diagonal fillers. 


121-3: This pair of farms needs some attention quickly as well. 


121-4: I tried to create a subtly difference in style between the two farm fields here, mostly just for the sake of variety. 


121-5: Here's an overview of the area of new farms now that it's done, well almost done anyhow.  Just ignore the incomplete diagonal farm for now. 


121-6: Today's big job will be detailing the river shoreline from the river mouth through this entire shot.  It's not easy to take in progress shots of this type of detailing, so I'm just going to show you progressive shots of finished areas. 


121-7: First of all, the stream delta itself.  I tried to mimic some of the styles on the other side while keeping it subtly different at the same time. 


121-8: Goldiva's rocks worked quite nicely.  They apparently place quite densely.  Combined with the brown terrain texture it actually looks quite good. 


121-9: Just for a bit of variety I've added a grove of dead trees.  I ran the sand and gravel quite high up the shore for this shot. 


121-10: It's really tight to detail this run with the farm so close to the shore.  I'm really trying to squeeze in some variation in the width of the shoreline.  I'm also still experimenting with a variety of brushes to see how it all turns out. 


121-11: Just pulling out a bit further, here's the entire area in shots 9 and 10 above. 


121-12: This area is further downstream near the end of the farm.  Cottonwood trees are an important shoreline tree in the climate I'm replicating.  It's pretty much the only tree that grows in any numbers near the Fraser River since it has a strong root system and tolerance to being flooded out. 


121-13: This is where I ran out of time.  I think I'll push some cottonwoods right down into the water in a future update.  That of course will require dropping the water level. 


121-14: Here's an overview of the completed area.  Hope you like it! 


And that's a wrap.  Here's an interesting tidbit for you all.  Everything you see in today's update can be done without changing the water level at all!  Thanks for stopping by, see you next week!

[art128]

Awesome detailing my friend ! That river shore is simply awesome !

Take care,
-Arthur.

[ecoba]

Again, the detailing along the shore is fantastic ! The differences in the groves of trees throughout the region really does versalitise (?) the area.

The farms are looking wonderful as well, I especially like the density of the farms in this plain.


Ethan

[RickD]

Great work. It is interesting to see the unfinished farm in the pictures. It shows what difference your detailing makes.

[Skimbo]

Your detailing is just fantastic

[ScottFTL]

I'm always amazed by the level of detail in your work.  It is truly inspiring.   

[nbvc]

Great work.

[Jayster]

Wow! Your eye for detail in rural areas is fantastic! 

[kalvar]

every time I see this region, but I like the detail you have, I look forward to the next update.

[Cyclone1001]

That is one nice river... I can't believe you actually work and do stuff almost similar. Have fun with it!

[canyonjumper]

Wow Battlecat, you continue to stun and amaze with the amount of detail in your work! You were right, I did enjoy this update! Great work!

                Your friend,
                               Jordan

[Tomas Neto]

Yeah my friend!!! Another great work here, very nice update, really awesome!!! 

[Battlecat]

Arthur (art128): Thanks very much! 

Ethan (ecoba): Glad you like the results on the shoreline.  I'm trying to keep a consistent theme while still adding local variety.  Seems to be working quite nicely.  I'm particularly happy with the farms in this area as well; it's been nice having a lot of space to work with. 

RickD: Thanks, glad you found it interesting!

Skimbo: Thanks!

ScottFTL: Welcome to Adara!  Glad you've been enjoying your visits!

nbvc: Thanks!

Jayster: Welcome!  Thanks for your kind words!

kalvar: Thanks for stopping by! 

Cyclone1001: It is a little disconcerting at times having similar hobbies to my work.  I certainly do have fun with it!  Thanks for visiting!

Jordan (canyonjumper): Glad to hear I was right!  Thanks for your kind words!

Tomas Neto: Thanks very much! 

Update 122
Greenwood – Final Farms for this Side

Today I'm going to get the last farms in place and detailed on the Greenwood side of the river.  There's still some detailing and a small patch to fill in up in the mountains but I'm getting close to finishing this one up.

122-1: First I thought you might like to see the results of the recent work on the diagonal farms texture.  I wound up having to scrap the first version and shift the textures a bit so it would be easier to make good diagonal fillers with consistent behavior.  This shot is from me testing how well the various pieces tile.


122-2: So here's the farm, it's time to add the end and side fillers. 


122-3: Naturally, putting everything together reveals to me that I've forgotten another piece.  Unfortunately, my time is extra limited today so I'll have to finish that later in the week.  I'm still debating if I need to tweak the textures a bit more. 


122-4: Moving on with the bulk of today's update.  This is the last block of farmland that needs development on this side of the river. 


122-5: Here are farm zones I'll be growing.  Well the initial layout anyhow.  I wound up amalgamating a couple of the smaller blocks. 


122-6: And here we have the final block of farms that I'm happy with.  I had to demolish a bunch of inappropriate farms today. 


122-7: I've realized it's a lot easier to do all the fence work in one shot.  Then I only have to do the zoning view redraw once.   It makes life a lot easier especially since the redrawing takes a long time now. 


122-8: Time to move into the fine scale details.  And for your amusement I've got before and after pictures today.  I've already put the road edge cleanup into place here. 


122-9: But the area looks a lot more alive now.  For those who are interested, the road at the top of the page goes into areas I worked on in updates 107 and 108. 


122-10: Next I'll move over this way.  As you can see, I've already put the power poles into place.  It's another one of those things that's easier and faster to do in bulk. 


122-11: But there's still room for a lot more detailing.  My mouse was starting to act up at this point so I might go back for another cleanup pass here next week. 


122-12: The fields turned out quite nicely though.  I know the odd shaped fields aren't strictly realistic but I figure it still looks good and it allows me to be a bit whimsical on occasion. 


122-13: Moving along, this is the third and final section of detailing I'm going to have time for today.  I've already tweaked the fields of the farm near the highway. 


122-14: Here we are afterwards once again fully detailed.   I really never get tired of this. 


122-15: Here's a close up shot of the gravel access trail.


122-16: Wrapping up today's update, here is a look at the entire area now completely detailed. 


That's a wrap for today.  I'm not sure where I'll be heading next time but I've got three options on my plate.  There's a patch of undetailed forest up behind the wind farm that I've got some ideas for, there's the shoreline right here by the farms I just finished and then there's the other side of the river which is a pretty big block of land as well.  Guess we'll see what happens next time.  See you later!

[rooker1]

 Great update.
I may not post often here but recently I have been paying much more attention, trying to following along and collect as many ideas as possible.  Your country/river side looks great and I am trying to incorporate a few ideas from here.  
So thanks in advance.

Robin

You posted just before me.  This update was fantastic as well!

[Jayster]

The way you do all your rural areas was the main reason why I deleted one of my cities. It was nearly all rural and I didn't like it. Once question though, are you using anything else besides the Rural Renewal Stuff along your streams? Besides the various rock sets. Great job as usual! 

[kodlovag]

I just read Update 119 about how to make transition of ploppable water into the game water. I learn new techniques every day. Thank you for showing. I will apply it in my new region.

[nedalezz]

I really think they need to officially give you the title of Rural Development Master, because update after update, you continue to push the envelope in terms of developing realistic rural areas in SimCity. This update, ofcourse, was no exception. Great work!

[canyonjumper]

I really think they need to officially give you the title of Rural Development Master, because update after update, you continue to push the envelope in terms of developing realistic rural areas in SimCity. This update, ofcourse, was no exception. Great work!

Ditto

             Your friend,
                            Jordan