Worth the Drive.....

When I decided on this area to make a map, the very first building I spotted that made me say, "this has to be in the map," was Ma's Loma Cafe.  This little diner is a perfect representation of the unique style that you see in the area.  Though I'm not sure most would choose this color palette, I have heard many say that the food is worth the drive.  Since there are less than 100 residents in Loma, most of their customers are doing just that, driving a decent distance for a meal at this business.

This project has pushed me to learn new skills and expand on what I am capable of.  I am becoming more and more confident in modeling and texturing which opens new doors for possibilities with this project and those in the future.  I've still got a long way to go to master it, but I'm happy with how these decorative buildings look for the most part.  I snapped a few pictures from Google Earth for comparison.  This building was built and textured entirely from looking at Streetview on Google Earth.

I've also finished another of the four iconic grain elevators just south of the town of Loma.  It was the largest of the group, towering above the other three.

I've also been tackling the road signs on the stretch of highway 87 that runs through the map.  It's hard to believe that, if you count the small signs as well, there are almost 50 signs on this short stretch of road!  It was a much need addition and completely changes the feel as you travel down the only stretch of pavement that passes through the valley.

When I'm tired of working on structures, I have been continuing to work on the foliages for the four seasons.  With help from who I would consider the top FS mapmaker, BulletBill, I was able to get rid of the horrendous oversatured fall trees and replace them with much more realistic looking foliage.  If you scour the internet and look at pictures, you will see that most of the trees in the area turn a beautiful shade of yellow just before they drop their leaves, so expect to see a lot of that as you are wrapping things up before winter hits.  I find myself hopping from the top of one bench to the valley beneath and snapping pictures of the beautiful landscape that is in the area.

I'm working as quickly as possible to get the map to a point that it is worth another update.  I plan to add another farm as well as another cattle operation before that happens.  There is a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, but still a lot of work left to do.

No Creek Farms