Following the Springfield Guide
There's a few threads about this. A few people are doing it. I think it's an awesome idea. I molded mine after my own town, but if I was to ever spend any time on a second town, I'd do it this...
Forum Discussion
UPDATE DECEMBER 2013
Before we get into it, I just wanted to thank the mods for making this thread a sticky. If you're new, and you don't know what that means (like I once was), it means this thread is now stuck to the top of the showcase sub-forum. I'm honoured that my meticulous planning deserves that kind of attention, but I also want to remind anyone else who is copying the guide, you are more than welcome to update your progress along with me, in whatever format you choose. I think that creating a TSTO version of the guide deserves more than just one person's input. I didn't make this guide after all. I'm just working with it.
I am also thankful for the increasing amount of feedback. To show my appreciation, I will be leaving a little gift for guide follower's to download on Christmas. :wink:
--
The starting item for this month was the King Homer skyscraper, left over from the Halloween event. Not only is this not from Springfield, it is not even canon. I didn't even know where to start. Mr. Burns mentions the tower is in Downtown Springfield. Looking at the guide, there are two Downtown Springfield's separated by the river. There's the trendy side, and the cracky side, and despite it's monochrome appearance, this building looks kind of trendy... Plus, if King Homer was on crack, he'd be able to scurry up that tower with ease.
http://i.imgur.com/09257Uh.jpg
On the guide, there are a bunch of restaurants on the left side of the double lane road, that I've been able to copy in the game. The only in-game building on the right side is the Frying Dutchman, and I've had no choice but to put that on the Squidport, just a bit south. The right side definitely needs something to fill the imbalance.
On the top left of the above image, you will see Tiffany & Co, from the Season 10 Episode "I'm with Cupid," where a bunch of characters follow Apu around, because his Valentines plans are making them look bad. You can see Apu enter a large concrete building at the bottom floor, to purchase some diamonds. Tiffany and Co. is on the guide, close to where I placed King Homer's building, As far as I'm concerned, that is all I needed to repurpose the last bit of Halloween, and fill up some empty land at the same time.
You also might be wondering how I can keep this building with a giant ape that looks like Homer, and justify repurposing it as Springfield canon... Simple. On the guide, just across the bridge to the northwest, right below the escalator to nowhere, is the Springfield Primate institute. I'm not going to bother watching the episode with the Primate Institute. I'm just going to assume that something similar to Rise of the Planet of the Apes happened there, and everything fits conveniently. :D
--
Speaking of the cracky side though...
http://i.imgur.com/fzerzJn.jpg
This is Junkyville, Which I made from scratch. I had to make it on the boardwalk, because it is located directly east of Squidport. Since I had an abundance of free boardwalk tiles, I spent a good chunk of my monthly cash buying up lots of water expansion, just so I could place them all.
I built this peninsula first, hoping I would eventually be able to fill the right side with the Burns Casino, which I'm assuming will be boardwalk-based. With the left side though, I used fences to create dull and shoddy looking buildings. I know some people think buildings made this way look ugly, but this is Junkyville, and that is the point. I made these building to resemble a rendering plant, strip clubs, a grow-op, and all sorts of run down establishments. Its a seedy underbelly paradise.
--
Half way through the month, I accidentally tapped the last tile on the Squidport entrance, and that was it for tiles. I am now maxed out, and the tiles I have now are all I have to work with. Fortunately though, there was exactly the right amount of tiles, that I needed to finish this:
http://i.imgur.com/SIlDryW.jpg
This way I'm hoping anybody visiting my town, who knows about the guide, and sees this, will hopefully get right away what I'm trying to do, instead of just assuming I have the most random town-building priorities ever.
--
Level 37 gave us the Van Houtens. I was very happy to get this update, because Milhouse is my favourite character, and having Milhouse's parents means more Milhouse. Kirk's Bachelor Pad fits perfectly between the Wax Museum and the Duff Brewery, as it is seen in the guide. The marked up $253,500 price tag was well worth buying right away. Also, The Cracker Factory will fit nicely, directly south of the Duff Brewery. When we get a Gil sale, that will be a top priority item.
http://i.imgur.com/vQLdI10.jpg
I am not particularly enthused about the Office of Unemployment though. It's not really worth much, besides wrapping up the Kirk quest line, It doesn't give us any characters, and yet costs over $300,000 marked up. The worst thing about it, is its incredibly awkward for me to place. I mean yes, technically, I have the room after shrinking veterans park one street space, and shifting the Noiseland Arcade, but I also need to fit the Aztec theatre in there eventually.
I'm not saying I can't make it work. I just don't really want to make it work at the moment. I'm going to wait 2 levels for it to go down in price, to a more affordable $160,000. I am in no hurry. A lot can happen in between two levels. It will be during, or after the Christmas event. Maybe we will get another strip of land that I can use to space this area out with, and maybe with the Gil sale I will buy the Aztec theatre, which is another top priority item, and then I can put this area together in a way that I am satisfied.
--
And since we're on the subject of Gil sales and top priorities, I have made a list, from top to bottom of my most-to-least wanted items.
080 Aztec Theatre
090 Sprawl Mart
180 Stu's Disco
090 Springfield Pet Shop
070 Springfield Observatory
070 Try-N-Save
150 Planet Hype
170 Springfield Sign
150 Cracker Factory
100 Springfield Museum of Natural History
200 Kamp Krusty
150 Sherri & Terri
040 Burns Limo
075 Boardwalk Fountain
120 Film Set
085 Arnie Pye
040 Channel 6 News Van
040 Tire fire
120 Jimbo
050 DMV Limo
040 Police Car
030 Worldwide Broadcast Dish
030 Piece-of-Crap car
160 Open Air Stage
030 Ambulance
060 Hot Tub
030 Southern Cracker Fountain
150 Mt. Krustmore
100 Asia de Cuba
120 Ferris Wheel
100 Krusty Fountain
040 Basketball Game
110 Lard Lad Donuts
100 Eyeballs of Death
045 Miniature Warhead
045 K9 Officer
040 Robby the Automoton
I've colour coded them, to outline how important they are to me. Red items are the stuff that I've been waiting to buy for a long time, and without them, I am not satisfied with my town. Obviously most of the red items are buildings on the guide that I am missing. Green items are stuff that I really want, but it's not the end of the world if I don't get right away. They are mostly things that I think would make my town look more like what what I've envisioned, and increase my cash multiplier, which is nice, but still those are secondary goals after completing the guide. Blue items would be nice, but I can totally wait until the Gil Sale next May before I bother with them. They are simply decorations that would be nice to have.
Any regular premium item not on this list, is not a priority at all to me. In total, the Red items add up to 1500 donuts exactly. Adding the green items would be 2450 donuts in total, which is 50 donuts more than your standard boatload of donuts. Last year's Christmas Gil sale was reportedly 3000 donuts for the standard boatload price. If I get one Christmas sale boatload, I will still be 300 donuts short of getting everything on this list, including the blue items..
This list does not include limited time items though. Santa's Village is definitely a red item, and same goes for P.Q Butterfat's Ice Cream Parlor, if its available next Valentine's day. I cannot just assume that buying one boatload will cover me until a spring Gil sale. If I can get a Christmas boatload, I definitely won't be buying blue items any time soon. Buying the right green items will be the tricky part, because who knows what limited time items I will want from Christmas, Valentines, Saint Patricks Day, and Whacking day. If I buy all the red and green items immediately, I'll only have 550 donuts to cover me for all of those events.
This is what I think about, folks.
--
Fortunately I already know that I want nothing from this limited time Thanksgiving update, that came out shortly after Level 37. I bought one Scratchy balloon, to put in the back of my Krustylu Studio. Thats it. None of the other balloons make sense to me. Having Macy's day parade balloons of in game characters, in game is breaking too much of the fourth wall. I don't need it.
http://i.imgur.com/kfr9HaX.jpg
I also don't need this Mayflower boat or this casino. The casino isn't even from Springfield, so spending donuts I don't even have yet is out of the question. And maybe the Mayflower might look nice to the west of my Squidport, but that is a blue item, at best. I'd rather have the S.S. Springfield and the Burns Casino. And don't even get me started on Lisa's costume. I don't want to say that this is a terrible content update, but it is certainly is not for me, and certainly not for what I'm trying to do.
--
But beyond that it was a fairly decent month, wedged between two major holiday events. I'm glad I was finally able to get a proper panorama done, and that I was able to focus more on expanding in the south. I am anticipating that December will be huge, with monumental changes done to my town. I am fully ready for donuts now. Thank you to Coffeemars for your offer of assistance with that, but it's no longer necessary. All I need is a decent Christmas Gil sale... Not that the Black Friday Gil sale wasn't decent, but I already have the Brewery.
I made 2 signatures this month, and I'm sorry to the other 2 people waiting, but I work 3 Jobs now, so it is not easy to find the time. Like someone else on the forum said, I am like one of the oddballs, like Gil or Squeaky Voiced Teen, who work all over town. Although I can certainly identify with those guys, I probably identify most with good old Raphael, the sarcastic salesman. This game will not be complete without him. Anyways, that is it for the month of November. Until next year!
http://i.imgur.com/IAPUt3K.gif
http://i.imgur.com/TruhNO7.png
Before we get into it, I just wanted to thank the mods for making this thread a sticky. If you're new, and you don't know what that means (like I once was), it means this thread is now stuck to the top of the showcase sub-forum. I'm honoured that my meticulous planning deserves that kind of attention, but I also want to remind anyone else who is copying the guide, you are more than welcome to update your progress along with me, in whatever format you choose. I think that creating a TSTO version of the guide deserves more than just one person's input. I didn't make this guide after all. I'm just working with it.
I am also thankful for the increasing amount of feedback. To show my appreciation, I will be leaving a little gift for guide follower's to download on Christmas. :wink:
--
The starting item for this month was the King Homer skyscraper, left over from the Halloween event. Not only is this not from Springfield, it is not even canon. I didn't even know where to start. Mr. Burns mentions the tower is in Downtown Springfield. Looking at the guide, there are two Downtown Springfield's separated by the river. There's the trendy side, and the cracky side, and despite it's monochrome appearance, this building looks kind of trendy... Plus, if King Homer was on crack, he'd be able to scurry up that tower with ease.
http://i.imgur.com/09257Uh.jpg
On the guide, there are a bunch of restaurants on the left side of the double lane road, that I've been able to copy in the game. The only in-game building on the right side is the Frying Dutchman, and I've had no choice but to put that on the Squidport, just a bit south. The right side definitely needs something to fill the imbalance.
On the top left of the above image, you will see Tiffany & Co, from the Season 10 Episode "I'm with Cupid," where a bunch of characters follow Apu around, because his Valentines plans are making them look bad. You can see Apu enter a large concrete building at the bottom floor, to purchase some diamonds. Tiffany and Co. is on the guide, close to where I placed King Homer's building, As far as I'm concerned, that is all I needed to repurpose the last bit of Halloween, and fill up some empty land at the same time.
You also might be wondering how I can keep this building with a giant ape that looks like Homer, and justify repurposing it as Springfield canon... Simple. On the guide, just across the bridge to the northwest, right below the escalator to nowhere, is the Springfield Primate institute. I'm not going to bother watching the episode with the Primate Institute. I'm just going to assume that something similar to Rise of the Planet of the Apes happened there, and everything fits conveniently. :D
--
Speaking of the cracky side though...
http://i.imgur.com/fzerzJn.jpg
This is Junkyville, Which I made from scratch. I had to make it on the boardwalk, because it is located directly east of Squidport. Since I had an abundance of free boardwalk tiles, I spent a good chunk of my monthly cash buying up lots of water expansion, just so I could place them all.
I built this peninsula first, hoping I would eventually be able to fill the right side with the Burns Casino, which I'm assuming will be boardwalk-based. With the left side though, I used fences to create dull and shoddy looking buildings. I know some people think buildings made this way look ugly, but this is Junkyville, and that is the point. I made these building to resemble a rendering plant, strip clubs, a grow-op, and all sorts of run down establishments. Its a seedy underbelly paradise.
--
Half way through the month, I accidentally tapped the last tile on the Squidport entrance, and that was it for tiles. I am now maxed out, and the tiles I have now are all I have to work with. Fortunately though, there was exactly the right amount of tiles, that I needed to finish this:
http://i.imgur.com/SIlDryW.jpg
This way I'm hoping anybody visiting my town, who knows about the guide, and sees this, will hopefully get right away what I'm trying to do, instead of just assuming I have the most random town-building priorities ever.
--
Level 37 gave us the Van Houtens. I was very happy to get this update, because Milhouse is my favourite character, and having Milhouse's parents means more Milhouse. Kirk's Bachelor Pad fits perfectly between the Wax Museum and the Duff Brewery, as it is seen in the guide. The marked up $253,500 price tag was well worth buying right away. Also, The Cracker Factory will fit nicely, directly south of the Duff Brewery. When we get a Gil sale, that will be a top priority item.
http://i.imgur.com/vQLdI10.jpg
I am not particularly enthused about the Office of Unemployment though. It's not really worth much, besides wrapping up the Kirk quest line, It doesn't give us any characters, and yet costs over $300,000 marked up. The worst thing about it, is its incredibly awkward for me to place. I mean yes, technically, I have the room after shrinking veterans park one street space, and shifting the Noiseland Arcade, but I also need to fit the Aztec theatre in there eventually.
I'm not saying I can't make it work. I just don't really want to make it work at the moment. I'm going to wait 2 levels for it to go down in price, to a more affordable $160,000. I am in no hurry. A lot can happen in between two levels. It will be during, or after the Christmas event. Maybe we will get another strip of land that I can use to space this area out with, and maybe with the Gil sale I will buy the Aztec theatre, which is another top priority item, and then I can put this area together in a way that I am satisfied.
--
And since we're on the subject of Gil sales and top priorities, I have made a list, from top to bottom of my most-to-least wanted items.
080 Aztec Theatre
090 Sprawl Mart
180 Stu's Disco
090 Springfield Pet Shop
070 Springfield Observatory
070 Try-N-Save
150 Planet Hype
170 Springfield Sign
150 Cracker Factory
100 Springfield Museum of Natural History
200 Kamp Krusty
150 Sherri & Terri
040 Burns Limo
075 Boardwalk Fountain
120 Film Set
085 Arnie Pye
040 Channel 6 News Van
040 Tire fire
120 Jimbo
050 DMV Limo
040 Police Car
030 Worldwide Broadcast Dish
030 Piece-of-Crap car
160 Open Air Stage
030 Ambulance
060 Hot Tub
030 Southern Cracker Fountain
150 Mt. Krustmore
100 Asia de Cuba
120 Ferris Wheel
100 Krusty Fountain
040 Basketball Game
110 Lard Lad Donuts
100 Eyeballs of Death
045 Miniature Warhead
045 K9 Officer
040 Robby the Automoton
I've colour coded them, to outline how important they are to me. Red items are the stuff that I've been waiting to buy for a long time, and without them, I am not satisfied with my town. Obviously most of the red items are buildings on the guide that I am missing. Green items are stuff that I really want, but it's not the end of the world if I don't get right away. They are mostly things that I think would make my town look more like what what I've envisioned, and increase my cash multiplier, which is nice, but still those are secondary goals after completing the guide. Blue items would be nice, but I can totally wait until the Gil Sale next May before I bother with them. They are simply decorations that would be nice to have.
Any regular premium item not on this list, is not a priority at all to me. In total, the Red items add up to 1500 donuts exactly. Adding the green items would be 2450 donuts in total, which is 50 donuts more than your standard boatload of donuts. Last year's Christmas Gil sale was reportedly 3000 donuts for the standard boatload price. If I get one Christmas sale boatload, I will still be 300 donuts short of getting everything on this list, including the blue items..
This list does not include limited time items though. Santa's Village is definitely a red item, and same goes for P.Q Butterfat's Ice Cream Parlor, if its available next Valentine's day. I cannot just assume that buying one boatload will cover me until a spring Gil sale. If I can get a Christmas boatload, I definitely won't be buying blue items any time soon. Buying the right green items will be the tricky part, because who knows what limited time items I will want from Christmas, Valentines, Saint Patricks Day, and Whacking day. If I buy all the red and green items immediately, I'll only have 550 donuts to cover me for all of those events.
This is what I think about, folks.
--
Fortunately I already know that I want nothing from this limited time Thanksgiving update, that came out shortly after Level 37. I bought one Scratchy balloon, to put in the back of my Krustylu Studio. Thats it. None of the other balloons make sense to me. Having Macy's day parade balloons of in game characters, in game is breaking too much of the fourth wall. I don't need it.
http://i.imgur.com/kfr9HaX.jpg
I also don't need this Mayflower boat or this casino. The casino isn't even from Springfield, so spending donuts I don't even have yet is out of the question. And maybe the Mayflower might look nice to the west of my Squidport, but that is a blue item, at best. I'd rather have the S.S. Springfield and the Burns Casino. And don't even get me started on Lisa's costume. I don't want to say that this is a terrible content update, but it is certainly is not for me, and certainly not for what I'm trying to do.
--
But beyond that it was a fairly decent month, wedged between two major holiday events. I'm glad I was finally able to get a proper panorama done, and that I was able to focus more on expanding in the south. I am anticipating that December will be huge, with monumental changes done to my town. I am fully ready for donuts now. Thank you to Coffeemars for your offer of assistance with that, but it's no longer necessary. All I need is a decent Christmas Gil sale... Not that the Black Friday Gil sale wasn't decent, but I already have the Brewery.
I made 2 signatures this month, and I'm sorry to the other 2 people waiting, but I work 3 Jobs now, so it is not easy to find the time. Like someone else on the forum said, I am like one of the oddballs, like Gil or Squeaky Voiced Teen, who work all over town. Although I can certainly identify with those guys, I probably identify most with good old Raphael, the sarcastic salesman. This game will not be complete without him. Anyways, that is it for the month of November. Until next year!
http://i.imgur.com/IAPUt3K.gif
http://i.imgur.com/TruhNO7.png
