Winter Wonderland (S3-21-M)

Winter Wonderland - 
Show scenes with a winter theme - 
Season 3 - Challenge #21 - Monthly (31 days) - 

Results Announced Here!

Thanks to @Mymyjp for the challenge idea.

The ground is frozen by ice and snow,
Falling from above, it's quite the photo.
The sun a subtle golden glow,
Shining o'er the mistletoe.

For the winter warmth is here,
People celebrate with festive cheer.
The smell, sound and sight,
Of the eternal winter light.

Yes, this challenge involves creating scenes to celebrate this special time of year (at least as current in the Northern Hemisphere). You may enter up to 3 images including anything that is associated with winter as a season. From snow to Santa, it's completely up to you. What brings the sense of atmosphere and warmth to these cold winter months? Also, the scene doesn't necessarily have to be a rural landscape -- of course, it can snow on the roads and cities as well. You could really apply this theme to any desired location -- be creative!

As usual, although not part of the requirements, image editing or use of custom content may be used for enhancement.

Suggestion

In SimCity 4, one possibility is to enable a basic winter effect using the "Snow" command in the Extra Cheats DLL. Or as explained here, you can just wait until Dec 25, and the game will do this automatically for the entire day.

See the Possible Ideas section below for a few examples.

This is a  Monthly  challenge running for 31 days.

Submission Requirements

1. The submitted image(s) must incorporate the theme of winter in some form.
    
2. You may use any city-building game -- including SimCity 4, Cities: Skylines, SimCity (2013), and CitiesXL / XXL.
    

3.  You may submit a maximum of 3 images into the challenge album.  

   a. All your entered images will be eligible for voting, however only your highest rated image will be used in the final ranking.
   So basically there are 3 opportunities to gain a place in the results, with no downside to submitting more than one.
   
   b. In the event of images having an identical rating and votes, the earlier submitted image will be selected.
   
   For each submission, you may link a larger version in the description, or post inside the comments section. Please see this post for clarification.
    

4. For the purpose of voting, please check a full title & description are included on your image(s).
    
5. Your image(s) must be created solely by yourself, without any assistance from anyone else.
    
6. To qualify for entry, please ensure your image(s) are uploaded to the submissions category, and comply with these requirements.

Possible Ideas

Here are a few ideas to get you started, just giving examples of ways to go about this challenge:

Note: The following is not a complete list, or a requirement:

• Snow falling
• Snow anywhere!
• Christmas theme (e.g. trees)
• Festive lighting/decorations
• An atmospheric street
• An industrial area in wintry conditions
• People playing in the snow
• Sledding
• Frozen lake/river
• Ski resort
• A winter storm
• Whiteout/blizzard
• North/South pole
• Reindeer
• Santa Claus

Leaderboard Rankings  

A new leaderboard system is currently running for this season. This has been designed to incorporate all challenges, linking with each set of results.

Each place in a challenge has points on offer -- the higher you finish, the more points you gain. Then at the end of the season, prizes will be given out to the top 10 in the final standings, with the winner being crowned the Grand Champion! 

This  Monthly  challenge is eligible for the "Overall" and "Monthly & Custom Content" leaderboards.

Full details and the current standings can be viewed in the following topic:

The winners will be the top 3 ranked images. Reputation prizes will be awarded based on the number of entries, and the overall average rating. See this topic for more info.

For this  Monthly  challenge, rep prizes will be given for the top 5 placed entries, along with points for the "Overall" and "Monthly & Custom Content" leaderboards.

Good luck to all competitors!

I'm working on something as we speak. Stay tuned...

Double posting - but my three are submitted - enjoy!

Thanks for entering!

Some very cool images already, and I suspect there's still a few more to come yet...

Remember everyone is entitled to submit up to 3 images for this challenge.

VOTING NOW OPEN!
Please visit the challenge album to cast your votes!

Voting will be open for 10 days.

Voting Rules

1. Votes may be cast by rating images inside the album.
2. You may rate all entries once at any rating value (1-5). All votes are anonymous.
3. We encourage you not to rate your own entry.
4. Try to vote on all other entries, as this will help ensure the results are evenly distributed.

Suggested Voting Criteria

Here are some ideas to help you evaluate each entry when voting:

• How well does the scene portray the mood and atmosphere of Winter?
• To what extent is the image central to the Winter theme?
• Does the image stand out as being unique or interesting?
• The amount of detail throughout the scene.
• If used, how effectively do any show/ice effects add to the overall visual appeal?

VOTING CLOSED!

Thanks to everyone who entered or voted. The results will be revealed within the next few days...

Results Announcement

Winter Wonderland
Show scenes with a winter theme
Season 3 - Challenge #21 - Monthly (31 days)

 1st Place 

106  Rep
31  Bonus Points
84  TOTAL Points

People gliding, winding, and smiling down the wintry slopes...
 

 2nd Place 

64  Rep
18  Bonus Points
66  TOTAL Points

'Twas Christmas time, in the city...
 

 3rd Place 

48  Rep
13  Bonus Points
57  TOTAL Points

A barren but serene frozen portrait of nature...
 

Congratulations to the top 3!
 

The remaining entries (4th to 12th) are ranked as follows...

The rep prizes have been awarded, with the top 3 images to be placed in the Hall of Fame.

For authors who submitted multiple images, only their highest rated entry has been included in the above ranking.

As this was a  Monthly  challenge, points will count towards the Monthly and Custom Content Leaderboard, along with the Global Leaderboard.

wow number 3! feels gooood