ST Debauchery!

A bit of background: for the past couple of days, the SC4 Community has been a slightly negative place for me personally. I won't go into details, and I won't answer questions about it--we'll just go with what we've got.

Tonight, though, my morale spiked right back up. Earlier today (or rather, yesterday), I posted the update that introduced this blog, my MySpace Radio Station profile, and my first SC4 video. Yeah. I was happy with this update: it felt like something so totally fresh and new from the other updates I had been doing. There were plenty of links to follow, which lead to more links to follow...it was a nice change of pace.

After posting that update, I somehow found myself into ST's chat room. There were an average number of people in there, but I got lucky: I happen to catch it on a night when everyone was slightly hyper and up to feeling silly; there was a lot more activity for that number of people then their usually is, and I found myself drawn into discussion quite a bit more than usual, as well. Topics ranged from 4Chan to the Olympics to Favorite [Insert Noun Here]; there were smiley wars, fake bootings and out-of-body experiences. I specifically remember a few things:

- Rushman and I trying to help someone find something for his city, and finding out he had never heard of SC4D before we told him of it.
- Glenni posting pictures of CityLife (and me wishing for Cities XL to hurry along)
- Haljackey's stunning revelation that Canada had won not a single medal in the Olympics so far
- Lots of talk on Michael Phelps (steroids, animality, and robot accusations were some of the suspected reasons for his sucess)
- Lots of discussion on cartoons and cartoon channels. Disney, Nick and CN were all thought to be going down the drain, and nostalgia set in as we all remembered our favorite cartoons growing up (Doug, Recess, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Powerpuff Girls, and CatDog, among a truckload of others). I also remember that Yoshiisland and I have a similar taste in cartoons.
- 4Chan and pedobear
- Interchange's locked, deleted and reposted "Confessions Thread"
- Ilikehotdogsalot eating ice cream and Haljackey drinking beer
- Both me and Hal spamming the heck out of the chat
- The aforementioned Favorite [Insert Noun Here]; there were quite a few of these: Ice Cream flavor, 90's song, band, video game, movie, sad movie, action movie, Will Smith movie, CG Animated movie, not-scary movie, cartoon, etc. We'd all try and quiet the chat room, call out a "Favorite" subject, and either count down or just randomly yell GO! I remember deion counted to 5 and went 1, 2, 3, 4...6...and everyone posted. I wish I would've saved that one...
- The pacing; it was a really fast paced chat; didn't have any downtime or slow time whatsoever.
- And me trying to spam 'til I dropped so I could get booted out, only to find out that codythemonkey was dropped from the chatroom himself.

This might not seem so interesting if you weren't one of those who dropped in between 8:00 p.m. and 12:00 a.m. Central Time, but if you were there, you're probably laughing out loud right now. The significance of this night of SC4 community fellowship is that it helped bring me out of my stupor. As I look back on it now...it was a really fun night! For a couple hours, I didn't have to be admin or moderator or anything like that--I could just kick back and have fun without judgement. I think sometimes we forget to do that, and so we sometimes forget how good it feels to do it.

*Sigh*...usually I'll try to refrain from posting something this ridiculous in this blog (I try to keep the professional feel to it). This night, however...I really wanted to write something up to help remember it. So if you are confused, please forgive me; if you were there, thank you so much!

I'm watching you...

Heh heh...isn't that title ominous? Like it's the year "1984" or something....

Anyways, I decided to outline a few of the CJ's/MD's I've been watching/lurking around lately. Mind you, these are relatively new; you guys don't really need me to tell you that I frequent journals like Three Rivers Region or Tierra de la Oscuridad all the time. No, these are some of the new CJ's that I've taken a rather strong liking to, and that I think you should check out whenever you have a bit of time for yourself.

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[The Republic of Osprey], by xlchrisij
created on 7-25-08

The tagline for this CJ reads "The Wonderfull American Styled CJ." As I am a sucker for realistic American-styled cities, I decided to check it out. Needless to say, I wasn't disappointed. The Republic of Osprey is a city journal that is in the Adrian Union, and it really piqued my interest in that group of CJ's. As soon as I saw the very first picture, I was hooked. The city xlchrisij has created reminds me quite a bit of Aleking's work (and in case you don't know, I'm a huge fan of Aleking's work). The dense-but-not-overcrowded CBD is a definite highlight here; it's not big, but it is very beautiful, and it gradually fades out in desity. The bridge that runs right next to it is almost as iconic as Sydney's Harbor Bridge (which, coincidentally, is the style that the Polisbay Bridge is built in).

xlchrisij's photo editing (mainly in the form of SoftGlow) is also done very well; never over done, but noticeable enough to have an impact on the photo. There aren't too many words in the CJ, so you can focus most of your attention on the pictures themselves--this is a lesson I could learn myself ;-). In all honesty, it's one of the best laid-out cities I've seen in a long time, and it shouldn't be missed by anyone.

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[Revelstoke], by rusty_777
created on 7-15-08

Revelstoke is definitely one of the hottest CJ's on SimTropolis right now. rusty_777 first reeled me in with his thorough self-introduction (we got to see the "wizard behind the curtain," so to speak), and then had me intrigued by his city's logo (in fact, it spurred me to ask ST's Logo-Creation Team to make one for Condor Bay). What really keeps me coming back for more, however, is the crisp presentation of his city: rusty_777's newspaper is as good as they come, and every picture is presented with easy-to-read labels and descriptions.

Of course, this would be all for naught if it weren't for his city-building skills, so it's a good thing that he can masterplan an urban area as well as anyone. He doesn't hesitate to create realistic suburban sprawl that streteches on for entire city tiles, and his avenues, as sparce as they are, ripple with life. His picture editing is spot-on, and every picture demands its time to be admired. Trust me, if you haven't checked out Revelstoke yet, you're really missing out on one of the best new CJ's out there.

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[Typographia], by etherian
created 5-28-07

This MD on SC4 Devotion takes advantage of perhaps the most unique concept to building a city I think I've ever witnessed: basing them on the style of different font faces. That's right: Garamond, Lucida...font faces. Using the style and history of these font faces (along with the feelings and connotations that are subconsiously attributed to them), etherian crafts out neighborhoods and cities to match. Not only is he a master of the fonts, but he's a great city builder, as well. Even as each font is different, each city still maintains that same "x-factor" that immediately identifies it as his own.

The cities are built on multi-tier'd landscapes, the SAM is used everywhere, and both high- and low-density developments can be found. etherian's use of tilt-shift is also well-done, as each picture that employs the technique is memorable. And then there's that mosaic on page 4...well, you just have to see it for yourself. etherian has taken a truly novel approach to creating this MD, and I daresay this unique aspect is succeeding in all regards so far.

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[Stratton Bay], by Stratton_Mayor
created 5-07-2008

Renamed from Stratton after realizing that there was already a much more well-established CJ by that name, Stratton Bay caught my eye with liberal use of soft 45 degree curves for avenues and freeways. At the beginning, that seemed to be the main thing going for it...until it had to be rebuilt due to an unfortunate glitch. After this, Stratton_Mayor had my full attention. The newly-regrown CBD was a perfect size for a city like Stratton Bay: nice and small, with three stand-out towers. The neighborhoods became more distinct, and the layout was improved. There was also a greater showcase of custom BAT's (always a plus). Everything seemed to be going right in Stratton Bay.

The only thing about it is that the author, Stratton_Mayor, hasn't posted an update since June the 15th. The reason behind the delay remains unclear as of yet, but I hope it is nothing serious. I see so much potential in this CJ, and really wish to see it flourish. While we wait for S_M's return, however, I urge you to check out Stratton Bay. You won't be disappointed ;-).

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Well...that's all I've got. All of those CJ's/MD's come highly recommended by me, so yeah...check 'em out! I may or may not have another CJ-themed blog up soon, we'll have to see. In the meantime, it's 2:48 a.m. where I am. I think bed sounds good.

"Visions of Fordville"

I've made a video for my city journal/mayor's diary. Actually, the video was made a long time ago. but I'm finally unveiling it here. It's basically me driving around in my city (Fordville); it's called "Visions of Fordville," embedded here in high quality. If you go to YouTube to watch it, be sure to click on "View In High Quality" to get the best experience!

If you really want to visit my CJ/MD, check the banners to the left ;-). Thanks for watching!

Rumors of the genre's demise are greatly exaggerated...

I posted this blog on TPP a while ago as a sort-of...ahh, test blog, I suppose. Guess I can go ahead and post it here ;-)

Remember this?



Yeah, that's classic, right there. That's what SimCity used to be...and the great thing about it is that that's all it had to be. Zones are square and placed individually? That's amazing! Only one type of street that can only be laid in two different directions? Awesome! No freight rail? No problem! You learned to love it, you learned to deal with it, and you learned to appreciate it.

Nowadays, though, if it doesn't have 5,000 options, it's no good. No choosing the specific bus routes? Blasphemous! No HOV lanes in the highway? Preposterous! No laying down sewer lines? Nothing doing! Nowadays, if you want to get anywhere with this crowd of city builders, you have to give them the options right out of the box, or they'll move on to greener pastures...ones with St. Augustine, Lemongrass, Fescia and Bamboo all in the same field.

Heh heh...it sounds like I'm about to go on a rant that sounds like it should begin with "Why, when I was your age...." Truth is, besides actually being 'your age' (or perhaps even younger), I very much identify with the above group of fanatic custo-mongers. I mean...I don't really need to lay down my own sewer system, but I wouldn't mind having a few extra street and road options to play with. Still, the point is that we're looking for something to give us every single thing that any single city might have somewhere in its limits, because this is what we're almost able to do with the SimCity 4 we have today.

In other words, SimGoober killed the urban simulator.

That's right, I said it! We, the ST crowd, the core fans of the genre, have been spoiled rotten by all the great custom content makers: SimGoober, the NAM Team, BSC, Pegasus, NDEX and Tonkso, NHP, BLaM, PDA, Goldiva, wouanagaine, SOMY, NOB...all of the stunning custom content they create and all the game-breaking modifications they've made to SC4 have created a game that has no equal in the genre, and may never get one. You can almost literally think of a place in the world you'd like to emulate in your own way, and you'd be able to get a satisfactory representation of your ideas and dreams into the game. You can use the exact same custom content as someone else and come out with cities that, were they to exist on Earth, would be separated by thousands of miles and perhaps an ocean or two.

This is the SimCity we know now. This is the standard by which all other city building games, past, present and future, will be judged upon. And this is why the genre is in serious trouble.

The bar is set so high thanks to what we're able to create now that even [Sergei Bubka] would have trouble clearing it. Almost everything we can do now in SimCity should be possible in any new game, or at least possible for us to easily add it on. It would take more than just getting rid of the grid and giving us true wall-to-wall buildings; it will have to be almost absolutely customizable, hold attention easily yet be challenging enough to not seem patronizing, and be able to stand the test of time that SimCity 4 already has (last year, in its fifth year, it was still among the 10 best selling PC games for the year). It's almost absurd to think any game can match what we have...heck, SimCity 4 can't match what we have anymore. But that's what we, the core fan group, will demand of our future games, and that's what those games will have to provide if they want to even approach SC4's level of reverence. This is what SimCity: Societies didn't do; this is what SimCity Creator looks to be lacking; this is what everyone is hoping Cities XL will finally be able to provide. How the latter two will fair has yet to be known, but you can be sure that they, like SC:S will be judged against the SC4 that we all know and love today(NAM and all). Of course, everyone knows it's ultimately in vain; I can't even imagine what type of game it might take to usurp our game as the king of the city-building genre.

So yes...thank you, SimGoober and Ill Tonkso and Pegasus and Jeronij for creating content for this game that make it so awesome that it's virtually untouchable. Thank you Wouanagaine and Tarkus for making tools and mods that let us do things we should've never been allowed to do for another 2-3 years. And thank you, oh spoiled conscience of mine, for wanting to have the option to customize every single flyover in my highway interchange in any way I desire, no matter what the situation.

Heh heh...customizable highway interchanges. Another thing that we can do in SC4 now that we shouldn't be able to. When did it become that specific? Remember when we didn't even have highways at all? Remember when there were only about 30 different buildings all together? Remember when one of the most exciting things of the game was getting your first C-TOP and R-TOP?

I do. In fact, I still play SimCity Classic from time to time....

But I play SimCity 4 Deluxe oh so much more ;).

It smells like disaster...

Oh, boy...now I've gone and gotten myself a blog. Another one. Nice. And what is this one about? SimCity 4? Wow...yeah, not simply a little strange.

I suppose if you're reading this, you probably got here by way of TPP or some other SC fansite like that, which probably means you know me already. For the sake of the poor souls who Googled "SimCity 4," "city-building games," "internet sewage" and mistakenly clicked the link to this blog, I'll go ahead and introduce myself. I'm known in the SC4 community as Masochist (or simply Mas). My real name is George, but I don't much care for it, so I'd rather go by Isaac. I'm a college student who is majoring in Psych, and, as is slightly obvious by this very blog you're reading, I'm a huge fan of the Maxis urban simulator known as SimCity 4 (I own the Deluxe Edition).

The reason this blog exists in the first place is because the webmasters of a site called The Planning Pages (the aforementioned 'TPP') wanted the staff to write blogs and articles. I've written a blog or two, but I was hoping to get a bit of comments and feedback on it...thus the reason for this Blogger blog (I will, however, continue to write general articles for TPP).

So that's what's going on. I can't say for certain just how often I'll post in here, but I'll try and make it often enough that people don't forget about it. Of course, the previous statement assumes that someone besides myself will actually read it. But hey, I'm allowed to dream, aren't I?