Good day,

Sakada City so far has an interesting layout, and is pretty cool in idea. However, there’s certainly a lot of work to be done here. I like in particular that you’ve put a lot of work into tagging things, even seeing detailed tags about individual house addresses.

Sakada has potential to be a really interesting place in the OGF world, keep up the good work. Excited to see what you come up with.

Also, check the message I sent you, it has the list of counties in it.

Thanks,
Zekiel (FSA Dashboard)

PS:
- You should fix the Inari County relation, it is currently missing a admin_level=6 tag.
- Be careful about names like ‘Little Hollywood,’ as well-known real world names are somewhat of a taboo here. This case is not that serious though, so don’t worry too much.

Definitely just starting.

The incident is truly a saddening situation, and many around the world have been filled with sorrow and remorse.

It is heartwarming, though, to see that the world has unified in that sorrow, temporarily breaking down barriers and setting aside grudges in respect of its architecture and history.

Though the building, physically, is broken and parts of it destroyed, it will forever live in our hearts and souls.

It is not lost completely, so long as we remember.

@wangi, how close do you want the territory to be to South Africa, and which aspects of it? For example, would it be acceptable for it not to be just another Ingerish-speaking country?

Also what’s the deadline for submissions?

@JoJoBa, you can do it, you just have to do it (map).

Yeah, there’s no real way to be good at something, unless you actually do it. Just map, then review your map, then map again.

Here’s a simple equation I came up (partially) with:
time + effort = practice
practice = improvement
therefore, time + effort = improvement

That’s all there is to it; without time, and/or without effort, there is no improvement. Studying good mapping helps, definitely, and the tools exist (like OGF scale helper) exist to help you succeed.

But apart from that, the experience of mapping is what helps you map better and improve. I too want to be 10/10 in all the categories (frankly, I’m quite cynical of myself, giving myself a 2 in every category), so I just map (and make plans on how to map).

Thanks,
Zekiel

Okay, so let me begin with a comparison of Marvin to Canberra, then Melbourne. If my conclusion is correct, at the coast, the structure is less 4-sided in a way, and follows a creative pattern similar to Canberra. Then as you move inland, that structure switches to one similar to Melbourne, which is distinctly a grid city.

That’s not a bad idea at at all (I actually like that idea)!

The good:

As Megacity2005Creator said, you did a good job separating your divided lane highways, that’s something I not only failed to do, but simply neglected to do when I started 😅.

It seems like you actually have a plan for the outside already, as opposed to doing it as it grows, or “winging it”. That’s definitely a good idea, I suggest that you continue to plan in advance like that.

You didn’t start with the motorways, though that might not be totally unrealistic to do with a planned city.

You actually go into detail with sidewalks, paths, and bike trails. That’s something I didn’t do, and it’s good for you that you’re doing it. Just make sure to keep it realistic.

Now for my critiques:

First is scale. The eye and government house inside are much too small, and the buildings outside are much too large. To get a sense of what I mean, look at the scale link. It gives you a good sense of the size of Marvin compared to the OSM scale equivalent (since they’re not the same): Scale Helper(sizewise of Canberra to Marvin) https://wiki.opengeofiction.net/util/map_scale.html?map=C/15/-26.85076/145.92032&map2=OSM/x/-35.30949/-210.87584&pxpt=0.277&scale=15387

I like the natural features in there, but I think that they’re also a bit too large for a heavy urban area, especially one of 5 million people.

Here’s something I say to… everyone: Smooth the curves. Of course, when just beginning to build it, it’s understandable that you don’t completely smooth the curves, it’s good to get in the habit of doing so. Trust me, it will make your city much better.

The coastline: Make it more complex; do something with it. Just a straight line is 1) not a realistic coastline (for the most part) and 2) Not interesting at all. Look at Melbourne and other coastal places in the real world and see how you can make your coastline better.

You should also make your city centre more urban and dense, as that’s simply how cities will naturally form.

As Megacity2005Creator also said, square your buildings, and if you want to go into even more detail, make them interesting. Take a look in my former country’s capital city (though I’m not very proud of it): https://opengeofiction.net/#map=18/-17.51250/21.87667 or a collaborative city my friends and I have been working on (looks much nicer than mine lol): https://opengeofiction.net/#map=16/22.2292/83.8008

Marvin is already a great start for a city, since you have a plan for it. There are a few quirky here and there, so I’ve only pointed out a few. I wish you good luck and study so you can make your city more detailed!

Thanks,
Zekiel

Glad I could help.

I’m not a landform expert myself, so I’ll just tell you what I see:

It looks like two main peaks, and a smaller two on the side of the eastern one. With an island such as yours, I would think that it is a volcanic island (or more). In that case, it would have a large base, I could presume, similar to what you’d find in Hawaii and other small oceanic islands.

I think it is fine.

Thanks,
Zekiel

Okuketsu - Formed from the Japanese word for many (多く), and unity (団結). Well, I’m not a Japanese language expert, but from the history explanation you gave Zhenkang, it, or a variant of it may work.

Oketsu? Not sure.

Thanks,
Zekiel

It’s been an honour to be your neighbour, truly.

Okay, thank you.

Just a question, @Sarepava, but what exactly defines a “trusted user” as you say in your comment regarding the Facebook group?

Hey there,

So Commonia is a free place. That means that anyone and everyone can edit there. I would suggest sending a message to whoever is making those edits and sorting it out, rather than posting a user diary. This is because the it is not guaranteed that the person will see this diary, especially if it gets buried under other diaries.

You can also read this. This link has far more information on OGF Etiquette. https://wiki.opengeofiction.net/wiki/index.php/OGF:Blue_country_etiquette

Thanks,
Zekiel

Congratulations on two years, Zk!

Yes, I’ve redone my capital and nation quite a few times, but I think I’m starting to settle on something (finally!). We can further develop ties, and I anticipate your Chinese empire; you’ve told me it would be relatively close to Beaumontan.

Anyways, congratulations on being here for two years, and may you continue a good career here in OGF!

Thanks,
Zekiel

Hi,

So is it okay? Well most nations are consistent in driving side, and Commonia just happens not to be one of them. Nevertheless, I strongly suggest that you use the right side, to keep the nation uniform. You could do it with left side if you plan to move it into your own territory afterwards, but otherwise, keep it the same.

Thanks,
Zekiel

I agree that Verisimilitude is a complex concept, but of course there should be some ways to compromise, ex. Set a different location as Europe, etc.

I believe there has been a discussion about verisimilitude and the periodic table somewhere…

I personally think that it is possible to achieve history in a similar form to the Real-World, ex. Our Europe would be somewhere else, or there would be some other dominant soft drink.
Yes I do agree that small details will be a bit different from the real world, but OGF is not necessarily a completely different world building project, just a mapping project. The wiki really only exists to describe mapping and a few other things past that.

I don’t know how to word this better,
Zekiel

Okay, understood. I will refrain from doing that then. Thanks for the correction.

It would really depend on which aspect you are talking about: * Language diversity * Culture * Size * etc.

https://opengeofiction.net/#map=19/-17.53922/22.28363

A half-baked naval academy, with a few warships nearby (training ships in the dry docks will come soon), as well as more complex things.