Show us your (Classic) Tutorials

[Josh6 873]

Josh 6's

Airport Building Tutorial ***This does not talk about military or primarily cargo airports.***

By Josh6

*Note- This tutorial relies heavily upon RMIP airport packs by the Airport Team. YOU MUST GO TO THIS SITE IF YOU HAVE NOT DOWNLOADED ALL LOTS. CHECK ANYWAY https://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?p=results

Also, my planes are by Kumba and Tabi. You can find Tabi's planes on this link http://homepage2.nifty.com/tabinohito/newpage12.html

Kumba's planes are on the BSC exchange.

I have seen and heard my requests on how to successfully create a custom airport and to ditch the ridiculously unrealistic Maxis airports.

So I have spent much time creating a tutorial for people who don't know how.

I will use KPHL Philadelphia International Airport as a primary example.

Here goes.

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Table of Contents

1. Types of Airports

2. Airport Placement

3. Runways

4. Terminals

5. Taxiways

6. Transportation

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Step 1- Type of Airport

This is one of the most important parts in building an airport. Without an initial plan of what airport you want, the airport will probably be unorganized.

In my book there are six types of airports.

Ultralight- VERY small airports that house planes like gliders. No control tower. No more than a 100ft runway; usually grass. ( can fit into your sim's backyard)

Airpark- A small airport that is built around a planned community and house private prop planes. Because an airpark has no control tower, the planes navigate with lights. Has small runways. (can fit onto medium sized city; small city would be a stretch)

Private- Usually has one runway; two sometimes. The runways are usually short. There are only small prop planes, jets and charters. (business) NO 747's! (can fit onto a medium sized city square)

Municipal- A municipal airport is in a community and is used by everyday citizens. I would compare it to the Landing strip in SimCity. A Municipal airport supports prop planes and business jets. Usually one runway; sometimes two. Sometimes have control towers. (can fit onto a medium city square)

Regional- A Regional airport is larger than a municipal airport and supports small jets and prop plans as well as some airlines (small jets). The airport has at least 2 runways; usually perpendicular to each other. This type of airport usually has a control tower. (can probably fit onto a medium sized square, preferably built on a large one)

International- These big boys are the conducts for big business in large cities .The number of International airports in a city depends on city size (some cities have two-New York). They hold flights from around the world and from next door. These airports host large airlines cargo transports as well as private livery. These airports have at least 3 runways (sometimes two) and always have control towers (they take up a lot of land- large city square).

Step 2- Placement

As with pretty much all major or international airports, they border bodies of water.

Philadelphia International

This is used for airports that handle cargo like Newark Liberty. The water is used for a seaport for cargo. But that's later.

Not all airports have to be near water but a large airport usually is. (I recommend it for International airports)

Distance From City

Ultralight, Private airports and airparks are usually very close the suburban areas. They should be near small commercial and houses.

Municipal and Regional airports are close to large cities. They should be near commercial areas and should have accommodations for pilots and/or passengers.(hotels, restaurants ect.)

International Airports are always by a large city but usually are far from downtown areas due to noise and pollution risks. If you look at Philadelphia on Google maps, you will see how far away it is from downtown areas. Although some, like mine that you will see later, is right up in downtown areas. International Airports are also close to sporting venues. As I will talk about later, these airports are near large highways. But that's later.

Step 3- Runways

Runways are what I think is the single most important part of the whole airport. You must think of the runways as sacred. They are the means for planes to land in the airport and to fuel your city!

Parts of a runway

Displaced Thresholds/ Threshold- A displaced threshold is the point before the beginning of the runway where taxiing planes roll out onto the runway. Arriving planes are restricted to land on the threshold. Displaced thresholds are primarily found on large airports.

Runway Designator- The runway designator is at the beginning of each runway. There are either numbers, or numbers and a letter. The number tells what direction the runway is facing.

North 360 degrees 36 on runway

East 90 degrees 9 on runway

South 180 degrees 18 on runway

West 270 degrees 27 on runway

Did you know the word news comes from North East West and South?

In real life there are 354 more degrees, but unfortunately, SimCity prevents anything but the four above. The letters (always below the number) show if the runway's positioning. If there are more than one (maximum three) runways parallel to each other, the letter tells if the runway is on the left, right, or in the center. L, R, C

Touch Down Zone TDZ- The touchdown zone explains it selves in the name. They are three thick lines on a precision runway that indicate where the plane is supposed to, well "touch down." I place them 4 tiles back from the runway indicators.

Aiming Point- The aiming point is used for large runways. It is two thick white lines that are used for the plane to aim for. I place them two tiles from the TDZ.

Touch Down Zone Markers- TDZM's, as I like to call them, are two and three stripped white lines that indicated the length of a runway. There are usually two two stripe, and two one stripe. One comes after two. I space them 4 tiles apart.

Runway Turn Off/ Entrance- These are used to let your airplanes onto your runway so they can debark on a great journey. They are always at the beginning and end of the runway and are also in between. They connect the taxiway and the runway.

Tip- If you are wondering how I took those pictures without the bottom bar, I used Ctrl+Shift+S (Snapshot hotkey.)There are many other great hotkeys that make Simcity playing much easier. They are on the back of the CD case

Private and Municipal Runway diagram- courtesy of Wikipedia

Large Runway Diagram

Ultralight- Ultralight Runways- Pretty much all you need is an oversized backyard. You will not need any of the RMIP runway tiles because the runways are usually grass. Ultralight airport runways are almost always grass and are very short. (? 30 tiles, you decide)

Airpark, Private and Municipal Airport Runways- These runways are larger than Ultralight airports. You must remember: these runways must be large enough for a Cesena or a Citation (small jet) to take off and land. Uses the RMIP lots unless you can find something else. (? 60 tiles)

Regional and International Airport Runways- Large airports in real life do not only support large planes. Your large airport should have a small runway (like the ones explained in the last section) and large runways. A regional Airport has at least two runways, but I have never seen more than four. International airports are different, they are usually three runways and some airports (Chicago O'Hare) have six. Philadelphia International has four. Three large and one small.

Large Runways can be at least twice as large as a Private or Municipal runway. I would suggest using the wide concrete runways for large runway that have bigger planes. The only setback about the wide runways is that they are not UDI enabled. (? 100 tiles)

Step 4- Terminals

This is also a very important for obvious reasons: your planes need somewhere to load and unload its passengers!

There are three types of terminals:

Modular- A modular terminal is a terminal with "branches" that reach out from the main building to the waiting planes. Ex. Philadelphia International Airport

Satellite- A satellite terminal is a terminal completely dethatched from the main building. Planes can then park all the way around the terminal. But, there must be some sort of connection between terminal and main building. Ex. Tampa Airport

Blue lines are connecting transportation

Linear- Linear terminals are terminals directly adjacent to the main building. This makes it quicker for people to go from entrance to plane and vice versa. Ex. Fort Worth International Airport

Gates

A gate is where a plane connects to the terminal.

I usually put my gates right next to each other.

Tips- Gates on an adjacent terminal should be spaced apart for realism so planes can taxi out.

Terminal Division

Terminals are divided up based on the types of flights they handle. There should not be a huge blob of mismatched planes at any terminal.

As you can see from Philadelphia International's terminal layout, certain airlines go to certain terminals. The airlines at a specific terminal all have something in common. Terminal A for instance, supports international flights. Be mindful in the formation of your terminals that there should be more airlines that dock there than are visible. (Not every airline is there at the same time!) There are also terminals dedicated to the airline your airport is a hub for. As you can probably guess, Philly is a hub for US Airways. (Terminal B/C)

Terminals for small airports

If you want to make a terminal for small airports I suggest using the RMIP lots. Usually small airports only use a couple of small buildings for planes.

Planes for small airports are usually parked on the tarmac (apron).

*Tip- All major International airports are a "hub" for airlines. It means that a majority of the airport's flights belong to a certain airline. If your airport is International, pick an airline to hub!

Step 5- Taxiways

Duhhduhhduuuuuhhhhh!!!!!

---WARNING: THIS IS THE FREAKISHLY TEDIOUS PART OF AIRPORT. DO NOT FOLLOW DIRECTIONS IF THOU IS NOT UP TO IT OR DOES NOT HAVE THE TIME---

You have been warned.

If you have gotten to this part, you either read the previous sections or skipped it. As you were warned, this part in building an airport can take a long time but is very rewarding as far as realism.

Gather round' the campfire kids! Time for a story!

There are two places where the taxiway could begin, so I will chose to start it at the runway. Your plane has just landed and needs to get to its gate. How is he going to do it?

First, your plane takes a turn off (mentioned above) from the current runway. The turn off then leads to the Main Taxiway. (On large Airports there are usually two)

PICTURE HERE

Once on the main taxiway your plane can then go to various taxiway branches that lead to the gate. (Blue lines)

PICTURE HERE

Your plane finds its gate, turns into the gate taxiway and stops to unload its passengers

THE END

Technical Version

That was a really boring story but I hope you got the message. Because we started at the runway before, we will now start in the gate.

The Gate- The gate is where the planes are staged, refuel and load or unload passengers.

The blank 1x1 piece is called the gate. It fills in empty space in the gate. Forget the green things.

If you have been experimenting with the gate lots, you would have noticed white lines. Well, if you haven't now you know. Those lines are called staging lines. On the terminal side of the line is where the vehicles that service the airplanes.

The 1x1 yellow centerlines are used the guide the plane from the terminal to the branch taxiway or vice versa. Note- Make the route as straight as possible

The connection between the ramp centerline and the taxiway is called the ramp taxiway junction. Planes need this to get on the taxiway.

The border between the taxiway and gate is just what it is, a border. IMPORTANT! At the end of each taxiway branch in the gate, you must have the ramp taxiway end piece.

At the beginning of the taxiway branch, you're the branch turns into the taxi way. The blue lines show plane movement from and to the branch. Usually, a departing plane taxis the direction of the runway. In this case, my runway is to the bottom of the screen. (Remember, only one plane travel on a taxiway at a time)

Depending of your terminal design, your gates should look something like this...

Next you need to connect your main taxiway to your runway(s).

For large runways, your taxiway should (you don't have to do it) lead into the runway with a displaced threshold. (explained in runway section) Smaller runways like the ones on private airports do not use displaced thresholds. (at least I've never seen one).

Tip- If you have lot Editor (I suggest you have) make the different taxiway textures into props. It will allow you to plop more than just one at a time. It saves a lot of time. Trust me!

Step 6: Transportation

Obviously, people have to somehow get to the airport. No matter how big or small the airports are, there has to be road connections. The larger the airport, the higher capacity road. Large airports usually have highways connected to them. Also mass transit like trains and busses transport people to airports. Philadelphia is a prime example.

Highways

Highways generally go to larger airports. The Dallas Fort Worth Int'l has a highway going straight through the middle. My airport has a highway that splits the terminal and exits from a tunnel under the runway. The highway turn into roads that branch off into the terminals for busses and cars.

*Note- Add billboards along the highway to add realism

Mass Transit

There should also be mass transit like trains that go to your airport. I am not saying any sim will use it, but it adds realism. In my airport, there is a regional train (brown) and an airport tram. (yellow)

Surrounding Buildings

Near your airport, there should be hotels to accommodate passengers and pilots.

Note- There should not be any tall building in front of runways for obvious reasons!

That's it.

Email me at joshluke6@gmail.com for questions

Thank you and good luck.

[Craig-Abcvs 1,595]

Terraforming for coastlines:

https://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=146&threadid=85957&enterthread=y

Pegasus also has a very good tutorial here:

http://simpeg.com/forum/index.php?topic=4861.0

[____----____ 37]

I am meaning this to be sort of an advanced tutorial

in the sense that i will assume some basic SC4 knowledge

 

 

 

First things you will need:

    -Jeronji's plopable water

    -Goldivas Tropical stuff (for rocks)

    -many trees (cycledogg's, pegs, ect )

    -bridge height mod

    -any wall

 

 

The idea is to do the river in the same way you would do a sunken highway

(which has been well documented on the site)  personally i use road tiles to

level my surfaces because they offer precise control of shore and river height

 

 

 

 

I would do this at-least 5 wide as i did since you are going to want to save some space for the trees and rocks.

 

You can place any wall you want, there are so many now that there are lots of options

 

 

On a seperate note one of the nice things about plopable water (imo) is that is takes up an unspecified size which can be hard to gauge at first but does give it a cooler rough look wich will look more curved despite the straight lines we are using now.

 

 

 

 

 

at this point the river has rough ugly edges and doesn't fit in to its surroundings

so placing rocks along the bank helps a little

 

 

 

 

Around where i grew up rivers (Des Plaines) even when in urban area were overcome

with brush and swamp like trees at their banks.  so go crazy with the trees

 

 

 

 

 

if you want bridges they should be easy just go back and fill in the

water the dissappeared and refill some trees

[Mod edit - To make a land bridge please see this tutorial; How to Make a Land Bridge]

 

 

 

 

FINISHED

 

 

 

AK

 

 

 

[____----____ 37]

Date: 9/7/2005 1:12:25 PM

Author: rooker1

Aleking, awesome tutorial. Looks great. I was trying this last night and you are right it takes some practise but I think I have the hang of it now and it will be in my new CJ coming soon. How do you get perfectly level bridges? Is that because of the depth of the river bed? Help please. Thanks

i believe that is the bridge height mod-just search the stex

Alek

[Vandy 110]

Hi, DJGspinNhitz,

 

I would suggest you read the Make your favourite tree a plopable !!!  thread to get information on the origins of Plopable Water as well as the answers to some of your questions.  Also, I would suggest your reading the Plopable Water -- Examples and Continued Development  to read about the continued development and uses for plopable water.

 

Simply put, SC4 reads Plopable Water as if you were plopping a tree in Mayor Mode.  Consequently, if you lay a transit system or bridge directly over Plopable Water, it will be replaced by the transit or bridge.  The Rain Tool can be used to fill a waterway bed, then lay the transit system and/or bridge.  Once you save, exit and re-enter, the Rain Tool water will be gone and you can then plop the water.  This is explained in more detail in post 9/1/2005 7:24:48 AM on Page 1 in the 2nd thread shown above.

 

Plopable Water appears in the Mayor Mode tools.

 

Regards,

 

Vandy

[SamFlash 0]

 

Date: 9/25/2005 5:15:20 PM Author: Madhollander @ samflashjr could you tell me how u figured it out, i cannot seem to get any dammd bridge over my stream

 

After creating the river go back to where you want a bridge and bulldoze a path across the river.  Use the terraforming tool for lowering land and create a small hole in the middle of the riverbed.  It only needs to be deep enough to cause a bridge tool to appear when you drag a road across so don't go crazy with it.  Experiment and you'll get it easily.  Hope that helps.

[Mod Edit - This by tutorial by dedgren will help;  How to Make a Land Bridge ]

 

[dedgren 830]

Hi, Roger-

I have several tutorials and links to ploppable water stuff on the STEX at my CJ Three Rivers Region.  A table of contents is at this linkie

3RR Table of Contents

Ploppable water stuff starts on page 10, ploppable rapids on page 15, and ploppable waterfalls on page 17.

Another approach to ploppable water is taken by Pegasus, a STEX God, whose Deluxe Stream Kit appears at this linkie

PEG Deluxe Stream Kit

A search of the STEX using "pegasus" as the search term will reveal all sorts of other ploppable water stuff.

Folks like sorchin have created add-ons to PEG's ploppable water work, such as different rapids and waterfalls.  Sorchin's add-ons are at this linkie

Sorchin Rapids Filler Lots

A city journal where PEG's ploppable water is used to good effect is jacqulina's Paradise Falls.  Navigate, once you're there, to the most recent pages.  Sorchin's CJ, Developing Macedon, also has excellent ploppable water scenes in the most current pages, and showcase his own waterfalls beautifully.

And then, there's always Three Rivers Region...

Whatever you do, good luck.  Don't hesitate to ask if I could be of further help.

David

[dedgren 830]

Originally posted by ldvger: This method works well over flat ground, but how does one create rivers that run over sloped ground? quote>

Like this?

Your question, and others concerning PW, are addressed in my CJ, 3RR, here [ linkie ].

With a little extra work, slopes are no issue whatsoever.  In the following three pics, also from my CJ, the PW stream flows downward at a fairly sharp drop.

 

So, anyway, good luck!

[Artemka 0]

How to build an intersection of road and avenue without traffic lights

1A

If you have no avenue or nothing at all, then built roads so they would close in adjacent tiles:

1B

If you already have an avenue, tear it to pieces with buldozing one by one tile in a places where you want intersections:

And then built roads so they and avenue's parts would close in adjacent tiles:

2

Join them all with building an avenue:

3

Join avenue's strips with streets:

(It's impossible to build a street in a place where road intersects an avenue.)

4

Result will look not bad:

traffic mobility won't decrease:

and no more jam:

[metarvo 710]

How to Build a Diagonal Elevated RHW-4 Overpass with RHW v. 3.0

Version 3.0 of the RHW has added so much realism and functionality to this great game known as SC4.  Elevated RHW-4, one of the most sought after features, has brought so much to the table.  It can even curve 45-degrees, making diagonal segments possible.  Even so, very little, if any, interaction can be made between the diagonal El-RHW segments and other networks at the present.

#1

For example, here's a situation in which a transit network, in this case an avenue, needs to be built under a diagonal El-RHW.

#2

If one tries to simply drag the avenue under the RHW, this is the result.  It's not something I would want, that's for sure.

#3

So, it's time for a little demolition.  It's strange how construction starts with destruction, isn't it?  Please don't try to recreate #2.  Instead, start with #1 and build the desired transit network up to the elevated RHW-4.  Then, bulldoze the El-RHW tiles closest to where the center of the transit network going under the RHW will be.

#4

Now, it's time to get out the Diagonal GLR-in-Avenue piece.  Build one piece in each of the two openings in the El-RHW, so that each piece fits neatly within the opening.  Build two more pieces on either side of the first two, to form a square.

#5

Bulldoze the two pieces nearest to the center of the transit network that will pass under the El-RHW.

#6

Drag the desired network that will pass under the El-RHW.  An avenue is used here, but Road, OWR, Rail, etc. could also be used.

#7

Build Diagonal OWR-over-x puzzle pieces over the network, making sure that the arrows line up properly with the El-RHW stubs and that network x matches the network that you just dragged.  If network x is a 1-tile network, such as a Road or Rail, OWR-over-Blank Terrain puzzle pieces can be used to fill any gaps.

#8-1

#8-2

There it is, a diagonal El-RHW over Avenue overpass.  It is functional, according to the Route Query tool.  This technique can be extended to make a diagonal El-RHW overpass for other networks as well.

[ArchangelMichael 51]

I noticed a thread about this subject and thought that players who do not care for the NAM overpass ramp puzzle pieces could use this info.  Additionally, those who are just discovering NAM might not at first realize what the "on slope" puzzle pieces are for.  So, here's a tutorial about one of many methods for using them.

To duplicate what you see here (excluding the terrain & rock mod, sidewalk mod, and the retaining walls), you will need:

The latest version of NAM

For Windows

For Mac

Ennedi's slope mod -- I used the "Mount620" version for this tutorial, but if you want longer, smoother slopes you can choose one of the other two variations in the set.  Be sure to read the very informative readme and use only one .dat at a time.

Hole digging and ground raising lots by Shadow Assassin -- these are the only ones compatible with Ennedi's slope mod.

The "on-slope" and "x network over x network" puzzle pieces included with the Network Addon Mod can be used to create portions of your transit networks that are elevated 15 meters.  I believe this height was chosen as the standard because it is the same height as the in-game elevated highway, elevated rail, and monorail.  You can apply the concepts covered in this tutorial to any of the NAM puzzle pieces, not just the avenue pieces.  Let's get started!

STEP 1: Choose the 15m ground raiser from the Miscellaneous Transit menu and plop two of them four tiles apart, then drag three tiles of road across each one:

You should get two mounds with a perfectly flat tile in the middle of each like this:

STEP 2: Now demolish the 3-tile road strips and lay individual road tiles to flatten a 2-tile area at ground level between the mounds.  Do not use street tiles -- see Ennedi's readme for details.  Then lay a road tile on the flat terrain on each of the mounds you created to anchor them, then another to raise the adjacent terrain to the same 15m height:

STEP 3: Hit Ctrl+R to select the avenue tool and begin dragging the network off the mound from the terrain next to the two anchoring road tiles.  It is important to leave those two road tiles there for the time being so that the terrain they sit upon remains flat (anchored).  The farther you drag the avenue, the smoother your slope will be.  When the gradient stops changing, the slope has reached its smoothest point:

STEP 4: Repeat on the other side and you should have your overpass approaches:

STEP 5: Now demolish the single-tile roads, draw a length of avenue between the approaches, and select the avenue NAM puzzle piece from the Roads menu.  Hit Shift+Tab once to cycle backwards to the final piece in the series, the "Straight Avenue OnSlope Puzzle Piece."  Use the Home and End keys to rotate the puzzle piece so that it lines up with your avenues and plop it:

STEP 6: Repeat for the other side, then hit the Tab key until the puzzle piece changes to the first "Avenue over Avenue" puzzle piece.  Place this over the ground level avenue between the on-slope pieces, rotating if necessary -- sometimes it looks like a diagonal puzzle piece for me, but a rotation squares it up.  If it remains diagonal after rotating, you Tabbed one too many times; hit Shift-Tab to select the previous piece (this will make more sense in-game).  Your overpass is now functional:

STEP 7: You can then dress it up with retaining walls so it looks all fancy and makes your Sims want to live next to it:

Remember that there are tons of other ways to implement NAM puzzle pieces -- this is just one depiction.  Check out some City Journals for inspiration, then fire up the game, use your imagination, experiment, and have fun!

[Craig-Abcvs 1,595]

This is a great thread but it is getting a bit large and buggy so it is now locked as 'read only'.

Craig - abcvs

CBC Moderator