Boston Central Artery/Tunnel Project (Big Dig)

[blahdy 21]

lackeyboy:  All signs here are made using Roadgeek Series E's.  The gmax's viewpoint may alter the presentation of some font though as they are textured.

BigDig 2.0 lots will also have a new version of LCS (lane control signs).  The new LCS now provides consistent level of lighting and clearer presentation of its signage details -- you can more clearly see the green arrow during night time, where as previous version of Big Dig lots, it looked quite a lot blurry:

[SC4Noobie 5]

This is getting even better! Can't wait!

[ilikehotdogsalot 311]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH -spazz- I CANT WAIT FOR THIS! Keep up the awesome work!

[KingSimCity 3]

Great .. no awesomee!!!!!!!!!!!! WORK yet I was wondering if there is a way to change what the signs say.

[blahdy 21]

Thanks all

KingSimcity: may be... i doubt any of changes will be visible anyway at the level of zoom SC4 provides.

The bridge-on-tunnel stack on-ramp is now 100% completed.  Just needs to be LODed then handed off to modding for testing.  The LODed model will be tested at Walnut Creek airport thread.

[NicolaiS 8]

You have done it again!!! Making me drool all over my desk ... It will be an honour to have these in a city.

[MadTV_Freak 0]

Blahdy... is there any possible way that you can teach me your skills , LOL, jk

Keep up the EXCELLENT work!

[Haljackey 17,398]

Most amazing Blahdy... you're actually changing the meaning of simcity... I never thought that was possible!

You get a 20/10 for this extraordinary stuff!

[bwatterud 7]

Wow blahdy, your attention to detail is incredible. Even though a lot of the details won't be visible at most zoom levels, this stuff is absolutely awesome. wow

[Alfred.Jones 2]

That onramp look fantastic blahdy! What is planned now?

[MiniMark 7]

Amazing Work. Very detailed! Can't wait to see what's in store next

[blahdy 21]

Lane-painting completed.  Modelling for curved-offramp is done.  I've put directional arrows like in SC4, because I noticed that several big dig lot users in CJ section are confused with regards to direction.  Sometimes they would put an on-ramp in place of off-ramp and vice versa.  Hopefully these arrows and entrance signs on ramp models will ease some of the confusions

Likewise, on-ramp model is pretty much completed as well, just need night lighting work now:

[Sim shady 12]

i have nothing but respect for you blahdy. the stuff you do here is beyond amazing, and it has simply has changed the way the game is played. When these are released i will be giving a 10/10 though you deserve more.

[MiniMark 7]

It looks like your traffic light sign is upside down. Unless its meant to be like that

[Alfred.Jones 2]

You are insane Blahdy!! Nice idea with the arrows and the transition to the oneway road is perfect! as SIm shady said, You deserve more than 10/10!

[blahdy 21]

Thanks to MiniMark and Swamper77 for spotting the error:  The 'signal ahead' sign being upside down has been corrected:

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And side render of on-ramp.

BTW, some people seem to like the black colored sign posts.  If there are enough user requests, I may duplicate this on-ramp model and repaint the sign posts using black, then release two different versions (one with blue, one with black).  Let me know of what your thoughts are.

[ACEfanatic 7]

My response to these new models is not appropriate for a PG-13 site such as this.

But DAMN, blahdy.

-ACE

[dmscopio 225]

good god~it is awsome! good job!

[MiniMark 7]

I wish this was UDI compatible. Those would be the days ! Keep up the great work. Your quite welcome by the way

[blahdy 21]

Btw, the above on-ramp will be released in two versions:  The existing version having the blue, 90-degrees angled sign posts, and the 2nd version having black 90-degrees angled sign posts.

There are more black angled sign posts in Boston than that of blue (with exception of rounded highway sign posts, which are all blue), so good to have both in-game.

Here is the black version:

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non-render:

[Shinnie02 17]

I seriously cannot wait for this...I'm drooling over this creation. I can now finally fufill my true plans to my city and create my high tech city ive been dreaming of...

[Alfred.Jones 2]

Everytime I look at it I am amazed! It look excelent!

[tommiej 0]

Amazing!!!!!!!!!! this is the best BATting there is!!

[Andreas Roth 629]

As usual, that's some amazing stuff, blahdy! I have one suggestion for the signage of the on-ramp, though. Wouldn't it be better to turn around the second signpost, like I indicated with my red line? When a driver enters the on-ramp, his view will go like the green arrow, and it would be very hard to read what's on the sign when it would be placed in the current position. I think this error came from your work process, where you created the off-ramp model first and then simply turned around the signposts. The position makes sense when you come from inside the tunnel, but obviously not the other way round...

[blahdy 21]

Andreas:

Thanks;  I've had the same concern during the design phase of the on-ramp and I actually placed the approach sign on both locations -- the current position, and the red line position you described.  However both locations did not actually compromise the visibility of the signage itself as well as lane control signals, primarily due to the higher height of the approach sign.  So after conducting that test, it looked better to place the sign where it is, instead of shooting it more diagonally (red line location), since either location give off pretty good visibility toward entrance area.

[Yoman3 5]

Great work my friend. This awsome. I think the best part is the transition to one way road. Much smoother than you had it before. Maybe you could do taht to all the lots in 2.0?

[blahdy 21]

Originally posted by: Yoman3 Great work my friend. This awsome. I think the best part is the transition to one way road. Much smoother than you had it before. Maybe you could do taht to all the lots in 2.0?quote>

yes and no... 

Technically, all of the lots in Big Dig 1.0 will be eventually trashed and replaced by 2.0 technologies.   The only 1.0 stuff that won't be replaced as far as I can tell at this moment are unreleased ones that are still under work and the original short 4 tiles long on-ramp.  (Unreleased items as in Zakim bridge and sunken transition lots).

All of the Big Dig 2.0 lots, including the bridge-on-tunnel stack ramp will have smoother asphalt<->concrete transition plates installed on them prior to release.

As for what's coming up next:

Ground highway transition/tunnel portal (BIGD-T3-GHT1) is one good example of Big Dig 1.0 lot that will be replaced: it is going to be completely redone from ground zero.

And yes, for those who had been waiting with anticipation: There will be Avenue-to-Underground transition.   By the time 2.0 is fully completed it will take months, so we might do a different release cycle this time -- we may mod and release completed lots one by one, instead of doing a full-blown release.  But it's under consideration at this point.

To summarize some of new changes Big Dig 2.0 brings in details and realism:

Tunnel superstructure:

- Splines are now used to rapidly form everything foundation releated.

- More details such as fire exit doors, vents, jet fans, etc are added.

- Smoother road transition to SC4 land.

- New revised concrete texture to look very similar to real-world counterpart.

Upgraded Overall Aesthetics and Presentation:

- New revised sign-posts to provide better accuracy to their real-world counter parts.

- 90-degrees angled sign posts resized and revised to provide more accuracy.

- Rounded blue sign posts are being revised as we speak.

- New street lights built using splines to look very similar to their real-world counterpart.

Upgrades to Intelligent Transportation System (ITS):

- Overheight Vehicle Detection System (OVDS) equipments added.

- All ITS equipment model installations are now done accordingly to recommendations from Federal Highway Administration's ITMS (Integrated Transportation Management System) guidelines with regards to minimum spacing, installation locations, etc.

- Three different types of Variable Message Sign / Electronic Message Board (VMS).  Existing VMS model has been completely redone from scratch to provide pin-point accuracy to its real-world counterpart.

- Completely redone Lane Control Signs (LCS), upgrading to modern LED-based sign -- provides clearer detail and higher light output in both real-world and in the model presentation.

- Overheight barrier ball bearings / metal strings installed at entrance sign posts.

[Yoman3 5]

O goodie!

[Sim shady 12]

I like that idea better (releasing as you finish them one by one). then we will be able to enjoy stuff like a steady diet of caramel sundaes. Hope we don't get spoiled

[Andreas Roth 629]

Originally posted by: blahdy Andreas:

Thanks;  I've had the same concern during the design phase of the on-ramp and I actually placed the approach sign on both locations -- the current position, and the red line position you described.  However both locations did not actually compromise the visibility of the signage itself as well as lane control signals, primarily due to the higher height of the approach sign.  So after conducting that test, it looked better to place the sign where it is, instead of shooting it more diagonally (red line location), since either location give off pretty good visibility toward entrance area.quote>

 

Well, to be frank, I don't really care if the sims could see the sign more easily in another position or not, but I think your decision on the placement looks odd. Ideally, any overhead sign should be aligned orthogonally to the lanes, which yours IMHO doesn't. Maybe it's only my mind playing tricks, because of the SC4 perspective, but let me elaborate:

The yellow, green and blue lines that are meeting at the curb are the imaginary coordinate system for that point (where the tangent touches the part of the circle that forms the curve). Now if you look at the red line (which is parallel to the yellow one), you'll see that the signpost looks off-axis indeed, but "the wrong way". As I said, I don't really mind the viewpoint of the sims in this case, but my personal impression, which tells me "it looks wrong".