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Bob's Crack & Josephine’s Expanse (featuring Murray’s Knob)

BACKGROUND:

I did some experimenting of ideas with a map called Goslingburg, which had a canyon section in it that I loved, so decided to expand on that and came up with Peary Canyon. It was always my intention for a vertical map which had beautifully ugly simplistically complicated intersections clinging to the sides of the canyon and plateau access roads shooting up a cliff face or zig-zagging up side valleys. Rail continuously climbs following the contours of the land, tunnels are difficult to dig and like any good surveyor I try to find an alternate overland path instead. Why no trees on the plateau? An aesthetic choice, I wanted the river canyon to be a lush protected microclimate, whereas the plateau windswept and empty. Map is designed to play on the 25 tiles, outside of that meant to just be back drop, detailing reduces in quality except for a little further along the highways. That said, I’d suggest unlocking all 81 tiles, jumping in a car or on a train out in the fog and taking a ride across the map.

BACKSTORY:
Robert Edwin Peary Sr. (May 6, 1856 – February 20, 1920) was an American explorer and United States Navy officer who made several expeditions to the Arctic in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is best known for claiming to have reached the geographic North Pole with his expedition on April 6, 1909.

Peary was born in Cresson, Pennsylvania, but following his father's death at a young age, was raised in Portland, Maine. He attended Bowdoin College, then joined the National Geodetic Survey as a draftsman. Peary enlisted in the navy in 1881, as a civil engineer. In 1885, he was made chief of surveying for the Nicaragua Canal (which was never built). Peary visited the Arctic for the first time in 1886, making an unsuccessful attempt to cross Greenland by dogsled. He returned in 1891 much better prepared, and by reaching Independence Fjord (in what is now known as Peary Land) proved conclusively that Greenland was an island. He was one of the first Arctic explorers to study Inuit survival techniques.

In 1904 Peary, while on an expedition canoeing down the McKenzie River with companion Jacob Earl Murray, discovered the canyon that now bears his name. In a section of the Peary Canyon where several tributaries merge creating a break in the towering mountainous terrain, the pair climbed up the steep sides to survey the above plateau for prospective future settlement. Peary was deeply unimpressed by what he described as ‘the cold, barren, windswept and uninspiring plateau’, going on to name it after his ex-wife, Josephine. Murray however saw more potential and tried to convince Peary ‘it’s not so bad’. The two argued until Peary eventually wagered a bottle of rum that Murray would not be able to camp overnight on top of a rocky outcrop overlooking the Canyon. Murray accepted the challenge and set about climbing the tall pillar and spent a frigid night a top the column. The next morning, albeit after almost catching pneumonia, Murray returned to the valley riverbed triumphant, only to find an empty bottle of rum and one hungover Peary. This was the last straw and the two unceremoniously parted company, with Murray thereafter calling the canyon ‘Bob’s Crack’.

GAME MECHANICS:

Mods, Assets, Props and Trees – network extensions, bridges, pillar, concrete wall, tunnel entrances and quays are a must. I realise the prop and tree counts are excessive, however most are somewhat optional as the map stands up okay just on the terrain features and realistic theme alone. If you want to reduce the asset count in a staged approach, no vanilla trees have been used all, so it is possible to load treeless or with selected trees only, you can unsubscribe in this order:
1) Meadow Grass; 2) Swamp Grass; 3). Surface Rocks, Reeds and Shrubs; 4) Low Tri Pack; 5) Regular Tree Pack; 6) London Plain Tree; 7) Pine Tree Set; 8) Pine Tree (mountain backdrop). All that said, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE stick with the full asset list, it took me weeks of work to detail the map. No matter what I tried, I couldn’t find an easy way to detail the steep slopes, meaning nearly all of the trees were individually planted. I painted myself into a corner with my choices for detailing, mainly thanks to the fantastic creators of the custom assets, they really make the scenery pop and once I started there was no turning back. If your computer can handle it, adaptive prop visibility and dynamic resolution mods will really show off the assets. Apologies in advance, there are some floating reeds and shrubs which are not terrain conforming, also they are in the water in places, so a mod allowing trees not to drown would be recommended.

Traffic – minimal connections/lanes into the start square and other built locations is intentional, becoming part of the challenge of playing this map. I’ve tried to plan ahead and give some unrealistic help, there are hidden double lane subsurface highways in most build squares connecting directly to edge of map. The main highways in the canyon will handle quite a lot of traffic, suggest you don’t bridge any of the major canyon’s, as this can result in cross map traffic going via the plateau, suffocating the limited access. I would recommend traffic manager, as lane selection of merging westbound/southbound traffic in the centre of the map and eastbound/northbound traffic further south tend to cut across and merge into the left lane, which shows the potential for tailbacks once volumes increase later in the game, also the eastern highway turnoff to the start square, some vehicles like using the ramps instead of sticking to the highway.

Rail – the rail line up through the middle of the canyon, although eventually connecting to the start square, is really only for decoration. The start square line exits the map directly to the north. A hidden subterranean line is also available in the large build area across the canyon to the southwest.

Shipping – a short route is available up the river ending at a spot with limited build area for a harbour building or two. The harbour location is tucked in a corner of a square which could be the third square unlocked relatively early in the game. There is a hidden road buried which will give direct access from the harbour to the plateau.

Water and Resources – spawn points on the plateau are only meant to be a trickle, the idea being surrounding flat areas drain into them, developing into creeks and maybe streams before joining the main rivers. I tried to get the spawn levels right, however I know from experience the levels of assets and spawns can differ slightly between gaming machines. In the start square a single trickle will not supply a city, but fear not, a windmill powers a water works hidden out in the fog, there is 360,000m3 water supply and 120,000m3 sewage capacity with pipe connection conveniently under the start square roundabout, you'll need 81 tiles mod subscribed and enabled, but don't need to unlock the tiles. Tributaries of the river up in the north-east corner have unrealistic flow as provision has been made for a dam in a square that can also be unlocked early, look for the indents in the ground with stone markers. Ground resources are a bit of a mix on the plateau, rightly or wrongly, decided to go with the camouflage pattern, should give some industry options up there. You can always the resource painter for more solid blocks or for more usable oil as only have it in the canyon.

SUMMARY:
I put a lot of thought into this map, aesthetic choices have intentionally created challenges for gameplay, but I think I also have provided enough opportunities to overcome that if you choose to use them or not for that extra challenge.

I always welcome feedback, good or bad. Thanks to all the custom asset creators,you make this good game great!

Enjoy the map.