El-Rail Base Texture--It is nasty

[____----____ 37]

ok so now that i have been a member of ST for a while i have still to find a mod to replace the ugly ugly grass that remains underneath the el rail tracks.  I know there are road top pieces but they are quite a pain to use and crash prone.  

All i am attempting to do here is possibly get the ball rolling on a mod to simply remove the nasty transparent base and add a simple concrete one.  I know people have changed the base texture for the rail network so i am guessing it is possible.  El Rail is used almost exclusively in urban areas and patches of green meadows underneath it ruin the look, any ways this is just a much desired suggestion, thanks for letting me waste your time with this request i just think we need it.

Alek

[Andreas Roth 612]

I'm under the impression that there is no base texture underneath the el-rail at all, thus the terrain texture shows through. You would have to add a custom texture that is dependent on the adjacent zones, so it shows concrete in dense and maybe medium density zones, but only a grass texture or the default blank texture in low density zones and in open terrain. Ideally, the texture should also change depending on the wealth of the zones. I know next to nothing regarding to textures, so you might want to do some research on how creating zone and wealth-dependent textures and how to add them to network tiles.

[prince_of_sims 0]

buddybud made some lots that replaced the EL-Rail base texture. his thread is caled UnderBridge Scenery and is in one of the BAT forums.

@Andreas

do you think a wealth dependant base is possible for elevated networks? i'm guessing you'd have to do this with type 21 exemplars?

[Glenni 1,445]

I do agreee with aleking too though,but is it possible at all? i mean it has worked with normal rail:S

[prince_of_sims 0]

@Glenni

it was possible with normal rails because normal rails use a texture. it was just a matter of replacing it. elevated networks use no such texture, and the only workaround i can see are type21 exemplars, which means creating props, which means that the elevated network will need to be completely flat.

of course, im not a transport guru, so i may be wrong.

[smoncrie 43]

With some networks (streets, roads, one-way, rail) you can specify wealth dependant textures.   Unfortunately, you can not do this with elevated rail.

Some time ago I experimented with using props specified by type 21 exemplars, as suggested by prince_of_sims.   This works for modest slopes, but if it is too steep, there will be a gap between the props.  I have since thought of a possible solution, but have not tested it.  In any case, to make this a useful mod you would need to make the type 21 exemplars and props for a large number of elevated rail tiles and intersections.

[____----____ 37]

thanks for the feedback guys as i do not mod and am largely computer iliterate this sounds like this is a dead end, thanks for your suggestions, I just had to throw this out there. Alek,

oh yeah if a moderator could please delete this thread as to not crowd the forums.

[prince_of_sims 0]

@smoncrie

care to explain this new untested method?

[buddybud 63]

edit.... just realised who started this thread!!! aleking...good to see ya back around.

a solution would be to design props that conform to the slope. stairs that fold down depending on the elevation. this is all done by rendering off center from the 0.0 spot in bat. if this is simply the case i can easily make some props, which i have in the past but no longer have. however they too would be repetetive after short lengths, thats why i intended to build my underbridge stuff initially. and which i will once again persue in the near future.

this is a simple early beta of one of the ideas i had

[smoncrie 43]

Prince_of_sims,

Type 21 exemplars can have the lot min and max slope parameters.   I have not tested to see if you can use them to make type 21 exemplars/props that are restricted to moderate slopes and ones that are restricted to steep slopes.

Buddybud,

I like the idea, but it would not look as elegant if you had to have steps between each tile.   It is also not possible to be as selective when using type 21 exemplars.   It is probably still worth testing props like that, but not until someone is willing to work on the rest of the project.

 

[prince_of_sims 0]

well, i honestly suck at the BAT. so if anyone was willing to render a simple 1x1 flat model for me, i could have a go at the type21 exemplars. i think i've gathered enough knowledge about them from browsing this site to at least attempt something.

[ardecila 124]

Er.. Why doesn't somebody just add a flat plane to the bottom of the S3Ds for the Elevated Rail? Basically, it would be Elevated Rail over Ped Mall, only without the Ped paths, and with a grittier, less pretty texture. Modify the original models, so they overwrite. Puzzle pieces wouldn't be comprehensive enough.

[qurlix 20]

Yeah...that would work! Duh, why didn't I think of that?

My solution was make intersection RULs so that running rail parallel underneath it would make it have textures...but the plane would be a lot easier.

-qurlix

[____----____ 37]

wow what a great response!!

Buddybud of course i had a feeling that you would take at least some interst in this idea

those pics u posted are the exact type of thing i was thinking that would look so much better in an urban environment.

qurlix, ardecila, smoncrie: It is great to have you all taking an interest in this idea, you have all done so much for this game and it is really nice to have you taking at least some interest in something completely asthetic, thanks a bunch guys.

prince_of_sims, glenni: glad you both like the idea, wiosh i knew more about modding myself but i am slowly learning reading through the volumes of info on the site

ALEK

[nycsc4 5,250]

looks good, never noticed the grass before though.

[smoncrie 43]

Ardecila,

Since wealth textures don’t work for elevated rail, changing the original model would change it everywhere; in rural areas, next to farms as well as down town.  It might also be noticeable if the sidewalk changed in an intersection, e.g. from wealthy to medium under the tracks.   If one uses type 21 exemplars one can have the appropriate texture in each of these cases.

Prince_of_sims,

For appropriate textures one could use the original Maxis textures darkened by 30% to compensate for the colour change in type 21 exemplars.  You can find these textures in simcity_3.dat with IIDs of 0x08W0000Z, were Z is the zoom (0-4) and W is the wealth (1-4).

You will need at least 4 Type 21 exemplars for each different network tile; each with a different combination of LotConfigPropertyZoneTypes and LotConFigPropertyWealthTypes.

Edit: You will need to merge these type 21 exemplars with the original Maxis type 21 exemplars.   They would need to use the same IID to replace the originals and include both the new base textures and the traffic lights, etc.

The props should specify Orient to Slope True and PivotPointPosition 8,0,8.  If one uses Resource Key Type 3 and kSC4BuildingModelRotationProperty True, one can use a single S3D for each zoom.   For non-intersection network tiles you could steal the Ped Mall model from NetworkAddonMod.dat.  Its IID is 0x55267200.  You will need to change its IID and texture.  To allow for moderate slopes, modify the model so that is slightly longer in the direction of the tracks.

[_MostlyHarmless 17]

I suggested this a while back and was under the impression that it is too much work than its worth. Would be pretty cool though, I hate that grass under the el.

[Dr. Neitchskrimfrauwnmoya 7]

Good idea! That would be very cool if this porject could be done!

I know this project is in its very early stage and that its feasibility is not completly sure yet so it might be a little bit too early to already make requests. But anyway : that would be cool if the same could be done for elevated highways. There could be parking lots under them because the ones I've seen in RL all had parkings under them.

I hope to see more development on this project. I wish I could help but I don't have any knowledge concerning this. That's too bad.

[prince_of_sims 0]

if i can get around to finding time to mod... it's absolutely possible, if i can get it to work, to replace the textures with parking lot textures. but i seriously doubt it'd be possible to make them funtional.

EDIT

in the meantime, anyone interesting in trying to mod this, let me know. i can help you out with Type21 exemplars.

[Dr. Neitchskrimfrauwnmoya 7]

Originally posted by: prince_of_sims if i can get around to finding time to mod... it's absolutely possible, if i can get it to work, to replace the textures with parking lot textures. but i seriously doubt it'd be possible to make them funtional.quote>

 

There is no need to make them functional. Only eye-candy parking textures under the highway would be really good. And if car props could be added and also other props like fences and other junk, that would be excellent!

[prince_of_sims 0]

that's a lot of props... making them all slope oriented would be hard...

[ardecila 124]

Originally posted by: smoncrie

Ardecila,

Since wealth textures don’t work for elevated rail, changing the original model would change it everywhere; in rural areas, next to farms as well as down town.  It might also be noticeable if the sidewalk changed in an intersection, e.g. from wealthy to medium under the tracks.   If one uses type 21 exemplars one can have the appropriate texture in each of these cases.quote>

Yes, but then the props will not conform to slopes perfectly.  Unless you know something I don't?  Apparently you know something, given the "PivotPointPosition" thing.  Does this offset the prop from its footprint?  Up until now, I've been using Resource Key Type 4 to do that.

[vistla 3]

I hope that this thread/project doesn't get lost or forgotten about, as I would really like to see this on the STEX someday.

[prince_of_sims 0]

there's no progress on my part and there won't be until June 2007. sorry.

[____----____ 37]

Originally posted by: vistla I hope that this thread/project doesn't get lost or forgotten about, as I would really like to see this on the STEX someday.quote>

 

so would I,  and i heard from a little bird it just might but be patient.

AK

[buddybud 63]

as soon as i get time i will tackle this as best i can....

[prince_of_sims 0]

If you can make the BAT models into props, buddybud, I'll see if I can find the time to tackle creating Type21 Exemplars. Might take me a while though.