Boston Central Artery/Tunnel Project (Big Dig)

[Norwegian Neko 12]

Too true.

Definitely going to install this once done!

[blahdy 21]

Originally posted by: zilfondel Too true.

Definitely going to install this once done!quote>

cool

Only thing I don't like about this model is that the road texture looks too bright on North side view, but I'm still reviewing options on balancing it out carefully between realism vs. look.

One of the reasons why this model is so detailed is b/c the textures used in this model, even for sign posts, and road surface texture, have been photoshopped out of real pictures I took of an actual Big Dig I-93 on-ramp.  The road surface texture looks very real on South side view, but light reflection on North side is driving me crazy (although, technically, if you look at a real one from a building window during bright sunny day, you will see the same reflection effect in real world..)

[ILL Tonkso 1,239]

Heres the basic UK motorway overhead sign texture (used in my overhead signs upload). They look pretty simple here but look much better ingame..

I couldnt really find any pictures of the birmingham roads, but i guess they would be pretty much the same as these with the differant road sign. Theres a really good onw in Liverpool too but i couldnt remember the name of it lol (wow im usefull )

[aldara6166 109]

Glad I could be of assistance...can't wait to see this project released.

[mightygoose 92]

tonks what about the dartford tunnel i know the side walls are black but its prett darn close

[blahdy 21]

Okay.

I'll add UK Localisation version to release engineering cycle after the US 1.0 release is done.  It may take a little while though after original US-BOS stuff is completed.

[DuskTrooper 316]

Originally posted by: blahdy

Originally posted by: zilfondel I'm going to $%&^! about it not matching the asphalt texture used in the normal simcity roads. There, I bitched.quote>

Real-world Big Dig on-ramps do not match road texture with asphalt on the street either.

These models are being created with reality in foremost mind over cosmetic looks on Sim City 4.  You will see asphalt<->concrete road surface changes a lot on lot of newly constructed highways (at least here in parts of the United States), so it's a fact of reality being brought onto SC4.

But, no hard feelings.. quote>

Hey, you could at least use a modified version of the highway texture(lane adjusted).  That would make it look much more real to life, and would allow it to fit into the game better.

Looking good, though, and I'll be sure to download this as soon as it is out!

[blahdy 21]

Originally posted by: DuskTrooper

Originally posted by: blahdy

Originally posted by: zilfondel I'm going to $%&^! about it not matching the asphalt texture used in the normal simcity roads. There, I bitched.quote>

Real-world Big Dig on-ramps do not match road texture with asphalt on the street either.

These models are being created with reality in foremost mind over cosmetic looks on Sim City 4.  You will see asphalt<->concrete road surface changes a lot on lot of newly constructed highways (at least here in parts of the United States), so it's a fact of reality being brought onto SC4.

But, no hard feelings.. quote>

Hey, you could at least use a modified version of the highway texture(lane adjusted).  That would make it look much more real to life, and would allow it to fit into the game better.

Looking good, though, and I'll be sure to download this as soon as it is out!

quote>

Agreed... I'm still looking at options to see how to better improve the road texture issue..

Thanks for your comments!

[purpledaddy 6]

However it's going to work they really look realistic in the photo.

[blahdy 21]

Okay folks...

I have now readjusted the road surface texture to get rid of the light reflection issue, and make it more coherent with SC4 default highway texture while keeping it look like a realistic concrete texture...  Additionally, Type-2 class A on-ramp has been properly LOD'ed:

And I hate that Maxis bug that keeps slightly distorting the image projection of any BAT (you can see the fault lines if you look close up)... also seems to affect large buildings made by others that I've downloaded from STEX..  oh well... little thing, but who cares.

[sloppet 3]

insane! That's a really awesome BAT!

[lrfox 2]

The ingame screens look great and dead on accurate.  keep it up. I am from MA, but go to college in Maine, so next time i'm in MA is May 7 for the Sox game, i'll be sure to look extra hard at the real thing for a comparrison.  keep it up though, this is an incredibly ambitious project and is looking perfect so far. it's nice to see big names posting in here too, it took a while, but it seems you're finally getting the attention you deserve.

As far as the textures, i'd say go with your gut. i agree with you on the realism and how it contrasts with the highways and roads, and to understand that it really doesn't look stupid, you have to see it first hand (which you can in many American cities... Boston, Washington, Baltimore, New York to name a few that i've seen).  again, screens look great and i can't wait to see it.


^ it's not quite a tunnel transition, but it is new highway vs. old highway on 93, just south of the financial district. the color change is noticable and very real.



just another shot that shows a tunnel ramp and backs up the accuracy of the project

[mightygoose 92]

hawg damn

[blahdy 21]

Thanks for the thoughtful response + support, lrfox

The picture you posted that has tunnel transition is probably I-93 northbound right after the southbay interchange as it transitions into underground highway from elevated.

some interesting tid-bits..

You will actually see some slight differences between that tunnel portal picture shown above and the on-ramps you saw in this BAT project (Type 2 Class on-ramps).  That's because the on-ramps in this page are based on on/off-ramps in Atlantic Avenue within the financial district -- they are actually using different boats (the concrete superstructure w/ walls is called boat by Bechtel/Parsons), where as the on-ramp in downtown has diagonal wall near the top with concrete tabs/hooks to mount the overhead sign; and the entrance portals near south interchange uses different kind of boat because the tunnel isn't deep underground in that particular area of the highway.

[choco1 4]

That is one amazing bat!  I can see myself using that because it looks simply stunning.

It would be cool if all the roads looked like that.  It really looks like a realistic tunnel enterance I've seen.  Great work!

Choco.

[blahdy 21]

Thanks

The ground highway-to-underground highway model is unfortunately not satisfactory and being remodelled again.  It's being revised to look more similar (but not same as) as the I-93 north entrance at the Zakim bridge area.  You can see the work being started in gmax, below.

The remodelling work will "upgrade" this model to become a Type2-class model, where its concrete superstructure (known as the "boat") is similar to that of Type2-class on-ramps you saw previously.

[blahdy 21]

Work to 'upgrade' the groundHW-to-undergroundHW transition model to Type2-Class is under way.  You can see that the entrance portal area has been completely remodelled to look more thinner and more modern.

When completed, this model will be for 6-lane highway (3 each way), designed to plug into SC4's 2-tile wide highway.  I am going to fix the interface adapter area at the bottom with the SC4 model provided by ardecila when superstructure upgrade to Type2-class model is done.

I am thinking about making a second transition model, that widens the lanes to 10 total (4 on each side, 1 HOV lane on each side), then merge into SC4 highway at the end...

Gmax shot of new Type2-class upgraded entrance area:

[blahdy 21]

And here is a new concept to make Rural Highway Mod more realistic with a concrete median divider on it..

This model is 3 tiles wide... i'll have to see how this concept looks like in-game... i'll post in-game shots shortly to see if this works out well.  If it does, I'll get this included with the package when the completed product is released to STEX.  (Currently, I'm thinking sometime in July is when we can expect to see this project released to STEX as version 1.0)

[blahdy 21]

Seems to look pretty good than I thought... I don't like that large space in the middle of the highway, but it's much better looking than RHW tiles placing concrete walkways whenever you put grass right next to them   I suppose you could call that large middle space 'reserved lane' or something.

I like the guardrail at the side, right next to the sign post.

The "reserved lane" in the center obviously is closed to traffic, so you see the red 'X' light under that middle area.

A different view:

Another side of the overhead sign. 

Terminus of the median, with impact attenuator in case someone crashes into the terminus.

Overview shot:

[sloppet 3]

it looks great b!! awesome work!

[simzebu 20]

"Holy freaking God!"

This stuff is amazing! The only thing I would change about the median would be a grass base texture. Or perhaps one that matched the RHW texture. But other than that all of this stuff is great.

[mightygoose 92]

that is fit but with the ten laner cant you just make it like 4 tiles wide to interface with four one way roads, or something so we can start them ourselves rather than just going straight from highway to megaway

[Andreas Roth 629]

Wow, this project is looking better and better each time I visit this thread! I'd say you should release the BAT models of the signs, so people can change the textures to their liking, i. e. for localization purposes.

[Ryan B 35]

As a representative of the GHSDP ( ST's highway sign people ), I second Andreas' motion.

Excellent work with everything here!

[Cjah 15]

Wow I'm quite impressed with the improvement,but couldn't the middle be dusty and kinda warn road with tires and rims on the ground.....kinda like LA or make it into a carpool so the red arrow could mean closed to one pessenger traffic or something....

[lrfox 2]

Keep it up. It's great to see Boston represented this well, and in a very useful and ambitious project. the new screens look great. The rural highway reminds me of suburban highways in our area... down on route 3 south of the city, and like 128 around gloucester. Grass wouldn't look bad, but again, i think it looks good the way it is.

[blahdy 21]

Thanks everyone for kind comments

Cjah: I agree with your comment 100%.  My only problem is.. the Rural Highway Mod creates a wealth-based walkway on the side of the road surface (which is unrealistic unfortunately).  I'd love to create a carpool lane, but then it would look quite weird with a small inch of walkway right next to it... although I'll have to give it a try sometime though... it may not look too bad on 2nd thought..

Andreas Roth / ryanb_sc4:  Certainly, i'll definitely consider it after 1.0 release is done.  Nothing localization-related can be done until we have a stable release of all components first anyway ;-)   I appreciate your comments too!

simzebu, lrfox: Thanks; yea, grass might be another to try out to see how it looks.  My dilema goes to that walkway that's created when you place a grass or something right next to RHW tile.. so it may look inconsistent if you put grass on it.. we'll see though

Progress update on Type2-GHT model (Ground Highway to Underground transition):

One of the walls is nearly completed and work to interface with SC4 ground highway tile is underway.  Many thanks to ardecila for providing the ground highway model.  PS:  Does anyone (ardecila?) have a gmax model of elevated highway?  Would love to make it transition with elevated highway nicely too..

[Ryan B 35]

Holy. Mackinaw. In the words of Rick Jeanneret, " We are not worthy ". There are too many adjectives to describe this - I'm going to spin the Adjective Wheel:

* spins the wheel * Stupendous!

[lrfox 2]

^Oh wow, i never thought i'd see the day when a Nextel commercial was quoted in the Simtrop forums, but i must say that it's fitting.

As for the project, the tunner transitions look great, and an elevated highway would be nice, but even if you cant, it's not too terrible to transition from the raised-to ground level- to tunnel transition. You're comment about the grass makes sense, but that's fine, the one you have already is perfect for the 'burbs. i'm gonna cut this one short though as i'm late for a marketing final. everything looks nice.

[WeirdOne 0]

You project looks wonderful! I think it's great that Boston took the lead in relieving congestion in...rather unorthodox ways and I'm glad that now we too can incorporate something like that into our games. It's a wonderful addition.

I do have 1 small request, hopefully you would be willing to consider. I absolutely adore those signs that you made. They're fabulous. Would you be willing to make a over the street ploppable version of the big ones for avenues, roads, etc. Most of my downtowns are wall to wall and street to street and therefore I usually don't have that empty one space to place signs and would be greatly appreciative for such an ammenity.

Keep chugging, the project is amazing. - Demo.