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Isla Bella

Isla Bella

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Requirements/Links
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Mass Transit DLC (probably?)
Waiheke Map Theme
Waiheke LUT
Isla Bella One-Click Required Assets Collection
Isla Bella One-Click Details Collection
Network Extensions 2
Suggested (but generally essential) Mods One Click List ...and I do strongly recommend the Unlimited Trees Mod

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Introduction to Isla Bella
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//Somewhere in the tropics of Cities: Skylines there lies an island...//

Isla Bella, my second map, was inspired by one of my favorite Caribbean islands, Antigua, of Antigua and Barbuda, the island of 365 beaches. I was fortunate enough to visit there again late last year, so with the landscape fresh in my mind, I set out to do a map that riffs on the reality of Antigua. This is not a replica map, and is intended to be "realistic" more or less within the confines of the game.

When you visit this map, you'll see most of the island (making road and rail connections ever so much simpler!) but not all of it. Just pretend it's there. ;)

The Spanish colonized Isla Bella sometime in the 17th century, building a five-sided fort at the entrance to the largest sheltered inlet, St. John's Bay. If you search across the main mountain, you'll also find the ruins of two spiritual retreats, a tiny monastery and a tiny convent, reachable only on foot by toiling up the trackless mountainside through the rainforest. Little else remains of the colonial era.

Before World War I, an entrepreneur laid rail and started to take advantage of the ore deposits on the north side of the island. However, after the war, the demand for ore slacked off and it is barely worked today. Perhaps some enterprising soul will take this on? Nearby lie oil deposits in the northern bays, but you may find the locals rather divided about whether or not to take advantage of this resource, which would surely destroy their beautiful beaches and coral reefs.

On the eastern side of the island, the remains of an old plantation may be seen from the air. This tiny settlement is tucked beside a freshwater spring, where folk still grow bananas. Fishing villages may also be found dotted here and there in sheltered coves around the island. One intrepid group even created their own isolated haven beside one of the larger springs up on the western side of the mountain.

While the mountain catches the rains, there are few large springs on Isla Bella, so it's best not to rely entirely on the small, fast rivers tumbling down the mountainside for your water. Still, there's enough rain to provide fertile land on the flatter parts of the island. Bella has boasted some large farms in the past and may again in the future.

During World War II, rail got laid from the port in the far north of the island (off this map) all the way to the sheltered St. Johns Bay, where Americans built a small military outpost and docks. Nothing remains today but the rail stubs.

Getting into St. Johns Bay by water requires passing through channels beset with riptides and strong currents, rocks and sandbars. Therefore, you will see working lighthouses on many of the points, some of which can only be reached by boat. Large modern ships may more easily take advantage of the bay and find good harbor there.

Isla Bella has all the resources to become an industrial powerhouse--but she is also beautiful, and could become a premier tourist destination. How will you manage her?

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Artist's Notes
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I can't help it! I love trees, plants, and tiny details in maps. This map is NOT in any way a Vanilla map, and you'll need some mods and DLC to enjoy it fully. If you need a Vanilla map, just move along, and thank you for browsing. :)

TERRAIN: Sculpting on top of a terrain generated in World Machine 3.0.

ASSETS: I have tried to split off the assets that are just for the easter-egg detailed scenarios into a separate collection. Still, there are a LOT of assets used in this map. If your computer can handle it, try it with them at least once, just to take a look around and enjoy the tiny settlements and pretty views. Then you can zap them and not worry again.

TREES: As there are almost no "rainforest" assets in the Workshop and certainly not in the Vanilla game, I have had to bow to necessity and use the available broadleafed trees. I imagined that a variety of palms had been brought to the island at various times as well. So, there is rather a large variety of trees and plants in this map. And LOTS and lots of trees. Yes, treeeeezzz, my precioussss...

If there are too many kinds of plant ("tree") assets, just don't subscribe--that's all I can tell you, with an apology. I'll try to restrain myself more in my next maps. I have also tried to use relatively low-poly assets where I could, and will continue to do so.

WATER: I have made sure there is good water movement--sometimes too much!--around the map. Much water flows in St. Johns Bay near the start square, but don't worry, I put drains into the bay and oceans, too. You should be alright to start off and not drown in pollution before you can put in Eco water processors.

NETWORKS: Yes, all the network and interchanges on the map are hand-drawn, for better or worse. My philosophy is to not do too, too much for the player, so the bare necessities are down there within the 25 tiles. Personally, I would use a mod to take advantage of all 81 tiles and get more land out of it. YMMV :)

Enjoy!

--NanoGrrl