Boston Central Artery/Tunnel Project (Big Dig)

[Ramona Brie 121]

I would like to provide my services for beta testing, if you want me to.

[Andreas Roth 632]

Originally posted by: blahdy No problem at all Andreas. just to make it clear though, my blunt comment was in no way directed to you I was just venting about why there are people who get uptight about it (you certainly were not, you were just providing suggestions to find a rational middleground, which is very appreciative!)quote>

 

Thanks! I certainly didn't perceive it as an offence - on the contrary. One approach that could work better as a "middleground" might be to use Maxis' lane painting (shorter dashs etc.) combined with your original Big Dig textures in the later releases - even if yours are more realistic compared to the real world (see my explanation above). I figure that the space between two dashes and the length is somewhat standardized in RL, so we could consider the scheme Maxis is using as "standard" for SimNation (although it's obviously based on the US), making the transition smoother.

Anyway, that first rendering looks great in the Lot Editor, and it surely will do the same in the game. I also think you will find enough beta testers easily, and although I don't know anything about pathing, I'd be glad to help you with my modding skills (transit-enabling, menu icon and description, custom UI, maybe a reward script for the Zakim bridge etc.).

[Skyfire2275 23]

...she looks beautiful in lot editor...quote>

You're not kidding... this is EXCELLENT work. I will now wait patiently for the final release.

[Ryan B 35]

Originally posted by: Tracker I would like to provide my services for beta testing, if you want me to.quote>

 

Ditto.  Times one hundred billion million . . . gazillion . . . shubledoodaloo . . . . . yen.

[bewilder2 2]

Looks amazing! I already have plans for what I'm going to do: complex intersections!

[blahdy 21]

Thanks.

User Guide Unveilled

Here is the User Guide that will ship with version 1.0 release.  An early preview is available at the URL below, it is in PDF format.  If you have comments or questions regarding the user guide content, feel free to comment so it can be edited before release.

http://216.93.240.36/~blahdy/stex/big-dig-tunnel-portal/User_Manual_1.0.pdf

And it is now official...:

The Central Artery/Tunnel Project (Big Dig) will be released and supported through joint-partnership with NDEX and BLP (me).  It will be a joint project between the two parties involved to provide better user experience and support.   The User Guide has more info.

[hamsterTK 93]

awesome! thats a cool logo you have at the beginnning.

only 4 more days! you'll definetely see these in my cj in the near future

[blahdy 21]

indeed yup. i asked a few authors of the most prestigious CJs in ST (i.e. woodcounty, etc), and they are all planning on incorporating the big dig

will be very happy to see this in projects like andover island, chesterfield, anwakee county, etc too ofcourse

[ACEfanatic 7]

*speechless*

Uh... I need to get to work on Halsey...

-ACE

[jasperdeman.nl 1]

... ... omg! I am really looking forward to play around with this in my cities! Really looking forward on using it!

Thanks!

[simzebu 20]

I think I need to go into my cities and make an awful-looking highway system now, so I can have something to put underground!

[Meastro444 1]

i hope there will be an aditional elextrification mod for the heavy rail, which has the same looks as yours.

will there ever be another adition to this project? (i dont mean the one already pointed out in the user guide)

at last but certainly not least: AWESOME work

[U3D 6]

18th...19th.... 20th ....21... *faint*

[paperboy15 4]

Woohoo!!! This calls for a round!

[StylinLancer 0]

How about a round of applause! Well Done!

[DuskTrooper 316]

Oh, hoo, that's sweet! I really can't wait for this!

[blahdy 21]

hehe, good to see you again, dusktrooper remember, this project would not have been possible without your effort in freeway transition project!

[ramvid01 0]

heck, even I'm planning to use this in my new region . Great work blahdy

[Kippis05 2]

Awesome work, blahdy! I'm really looking forward to the big release of this thing. It's been a long project in the making, but congrats on a job well done

[blahdy 21]

Okay, the 2nd model, BIGD-T3-GHT1  (ground HW to underground transition) is now completed and ready for rendering.

The model has been upgraded with the latest last minute technology upgrade package, including improved overhead signs, new lane control sign textures and traffic surveillance camera.

Unfortunately due to incriment weather (max outside temp. 100 degrees F today), we are going to have to delay the rendering of the models for another few hours or up to a day.  Motherboard on the rendering machine triggers overheat alert and shuts down the system when CPU is working at full capacity during this hot weather.  Thunderstorm is coming soon to cool the weather down, so hopefully that will get us back on schedule.

[WeirdOne 0]

Amazing work bladhy!

Just have to ask, in one of the real-world pictures you posted, there was a curved off-ramp. Are there any plans for that? I hope so, because those are by-far the coolest!

[blahdy 21]

Originally posted by: WeirdOne Amazing work bladhy!

Just have to ask, in one of the real-world pictures you posted, there was a curved off-ramp. Are there any plans for that? I hope so, because those are by-far the coolest!quote>

In Short Term:

The Y-stack underground interchange will be curved just like Zakim bridge's Leverett Connector.  Even the road surface will be curved, where left side will be slightly higher elevation than the right side.  There is a design diagram done to implement the Y-stack in gmax, but it is inappropriate time to release that to the public.  I will announce this when modelling work is started shortly.

In Mid-Term:

There are also considerations happening in the background to make long curved on/off-ramps just like those you saw, yup.

[simzebu 20]

Yeesh. I suddenly feel guilty about my A/C. Hope it cools down for you!

[blahdy 21]

thanks everyone for your support!

This project has been long indeed, let's just hope we won't run into serious delays/problems like the real-world one has...haha.

I believe the Zakim bridge was the hardest of all, given it was done with limited gmax knowledge at the time.  With over 1 million polygons and model file itself taking over 52MB, it will probably take 2 days to render   Which is why this will need to be done separately later and could use some optimizations using splines and vastly improved and more efficient modelling techniques.  Once rendered though, it should be pretty small in file size to fit in STEX (since rendering just takes picture shots of each camera view).

The weather has not yet improved yet, no rains yet and temperature is still around 90 degrees and humidity is still pretty high.  Even with AC on (it's a portable one, so doesn't have a lot of power), room temperature is high enough that motherboard will again trigger overheat shutdown.  So I'll have to continue to wait until temperature drops down to normal levels before I can resume the rendering.

While I wait for the weather improvement, I've made a final snap change on the BIGD-T3-GHT1 model.  I've changed the sign-post on the approach entrance sign to a slightly thinner one, to make it more resemble closer to the real world version. (thankfully, non-rendering work doesn't take enough CPU to cause it to overheat)

hopefully it will rain soon enough to cool down this madness

[U3D 6]

*does rain dance* HABAHGAMAZUKAA HABAMGAMAZUKAA BUHH BUHH BUHH....... o_o

I don't think it worked T_T

[Sim shady 12]

lol i live in texas where we consider a summer day at 90 degrees fantastic...normally its around 105 here. yes. horrible.

[shasta 1]

Yeah, 100 degrees down here in Texas is the norm in the summer months (1/2 the year). You get used to it after a while.

[Ramona Brie 121]

And for me, 113 (!) today. I'm in south Phoenix, but I have AC (it's 80 in the house right now). It's worse to the northwest...I've seen Lake Havasu hit 120 and Bullhead City 117. 1996, PHX airport had to shut down because it was 122. The hottest it ever got in the state was 128, I believe in Lake Havasu. I've heard of 123s in Yuma. I'll have to dig up my AZ Weather Extremes report so I can fish it out.

[bmag_20 61]

gotta love the hot temperatures. They have been screwing up my computer as well. I'm in eastern canada and we've had 90*F for the last week but with humidity here it takes it up considerably, making it feel around 102*F. So not only is it hot but very, very sticky. It also doesnt help when we get the smog that moves into the region from New England/Southern Ontario.

- Blahdy, love the tunnel entrances, I can't wait to put these into my regions! Bring on the rain!

[collgab 10]

wow, totally awesome!!! that looks incredible can't wait to see it in game =D