The diagonal streets mod

[Andreas Roth 607]

Introduction

 

I'm sure every SimCity player once wondered why Maxis didn't include them into the game: Diagonal streets! Requested numerous times, finally here they are! The German SimForum BAT Team (SFBT) is currently working on a mod that converts the unused ANT (Additional Network Tool, a.k.a. dirt roads) from the NAM (Network Addon Mod) into a network that looks like the in-game streets. That means all the road layouts (straight sections, diagonals, roundabouts) that can be created with the ANT will look like streets.

 

Limitations

 

Please keep in mind that we cannot change the behaviour of the ANT, though. Therefore, it still won't be possible to develop any zones along this network! RCI and civic buildings won't have any road access and must be touched by another network, such as the normal streets or roads/avenues.

 

 

This image shows one of the possibilities to use the diagonal streets. All RCI buildings are orientated to orthogonal (straight) sections created with the in-game streets. Only parks and other lots that don't need any road access can be placed directly next to the diagonal streets.

 

 

This traffic circle (roundabout) may not be perfect, but it surely looks better than the sqared one that you can create with the in-game streets. As you can see, the cars will still circle in both directions, but at least there are no annoying traffic lights like with the in-game roads.

 

 

Diagonal streets look great in rural areas, too. As before, intermix them with normal in-game streets to provide road-access for the farm buildings. This shot was made with the no dirt mod by Pegasus and Swamper77, which removes the dirt below the railway tracks and streets in rural areas.

 

FAQ

 

Q: What do I need for this mod?

A: You will need the latest version of the NAM, available on the Ground Light Rail Mod homepage . You also have to make sure that no other mods that are using the ANT are installed. Currently, I don't know any other mod that makes use of it, though.

 

Q: When will this be ready?

A: Hopefully, a beta version will be available soon. We cannot promise a release date yet, though. Some things needs to be tested first, and since there are countless textures that have to be created, it will take some time. Remember, it's done when it's done.

 

Q: My zones aren't developing! I only get no road access zots.

A: Since this mod is based on the ANT, it doesn't supply any road access. Please try to zone in a manner that your lots are connected to other road networks. Use the normal in-game streets for straight sections.

 

Q: Where is the menu button for this mod located?

A: Unlike the ANT that comes with the NAM, we have changed the menu position for this mod. It can be found in the road menu, right above the streets button. It looks similar to this button, but has an ANT label on it. We won't change this label, since ANT has become the most common name for this network tool.

 

Q: Currently, the ANT behaves like a highway, did you change that?

A: Yes, we did some modding on the ANT files. The cost and speed will be the same like the in-game streets, as well as the capacity. Since there are numerous traffic plugins that come with the NAM, most likely we will include a similar set that should replace the NAM plugins. Unfortunately, you won't be able to use the ANT as highway and for diagonal streets, so you have to decide if you want to keep the current behaviour, or if you want to use this mod.

 

Q: I'm using a street mod, such as trolca's dirt road mod - do I have to remove it?

A: No, the ANT textures are independent from the in-game street textures, so you can use any street mod you like.

 

(more Q&A will follow later, if needed)

[GoaSkin 2]

It may be possible to enhance the existing street network. There are files in simcity1.dat describing which puzzle pieces are to be used when dragging any kind of road/rail. There, the list of pieces is shorter for streets. It may work if we extend this list and reference to the new textures but that needs research. If this is possible, you won't have any ANT-dependant limits.

Thinks like ground highway bridges coming with the NAM are also solved using this way.

[MrVegetable 2]

Date: 5/2/2005 1:51:06 PM Author: GoaSkin It may be possible to enhance the existing street network. There are files in simcity1.dat describing which puzzle pieces are to be used when dragging any kind of road/rail. There, the list of pieces is shorter for streets. It may work if we extend this list and reference to the new textures but that needs research.  If this is possible, you won't have any ANT-dependant limits. Thinks like ground highway bridges coming with the NAM are also solved using this way.

quote>

Going on what you're saying, maybe we could add the coding that lets us build diagonal transportation links into the streets section of simcity1.dat. If we could give it the texture, we could make our own diagonal streets. But first, we need to know what coding make roads and rail and etc. build diagonally. Any volunteers?

 

Mr Veggie

[GoaSkin 2]

I have to do research on it. It was a long time since I regarded these files. But I think we can make it easier by replacing the content of the street section with the content of the ANT section and then just to change the Instance IDs.

[cowcorn 11]

I hope this mod will be a seperate file from the NAM and the GLR nod since I already use the ANT as an highway in rural areas. Therefor I don't want to install this mod on my computer despite it is a very good idea. I would not want to be forced to use that mod to use the GLR mod. Don't understand me wrong, you are making a great mod. It just doesn't fit with the use I already make of the ANT.

[jeronij 13]

Great, finally somebody attacked the ANT and gives it a (IMO) much more adequate use !!!. (Maybe some day some one will find the door to open normal development around that tool).

Anyway, keep us informed on the development of the mod, and if you need some texturing, just tell me !!!

 

Sehr Gut Gedacht !!! ( I hope I havent forget my limited German... )

[the7trumpets 10]

GoaSkin - I'm not entirely sure what you are talking about, if you could specify, that would help me.  However, the network drawing tools are something that we have not been able to edit yet.  This means that we will not be able to have the drawing tool draw diagonal lines for the street tool.

 

HOWEVER - I just had an idea, which while being slightly more time consuming than it being an inherent behavior of the network, would be much less time consuming than using puzzle pieces or the like:  I'm almost 100% sure that we could code the RULes in such a manner that if you drew a road which 'zig zagged' in a diagonal direction, the diagonal texture would be displayed.  This would NOT have the limitation that using the ANT places on these tiles.

 

 

Andreas Roth - Great job on what you did.  If you could post the FSH textures you have created so far, I should be able to test the method of using RULes and the default street network.  Thanks!

[Andreas Roth 607]

@cowcorn: This mod will only change the ANT, you can use it together with the GLR mod or without it. Fortunately, the ANT was completely separated in the current version of the NAM, so we only have to replace the ANT plugin file.

 

@jeronij: I will send your offer to frimi, our texture artist - I'm sure he'd be glad to get some help. (Oh, and the German was quite good. )

 

@the7trumpets: The zig-zag-conversion would be a nice feature, however it might be easier to draw a diagonal network rather than tinkering with lots of small pieces that finally change to something different. Anyway, here's a first beta version of the textures. There may be still some errors, and certain textures are missing, but you should be able to recreate the situations pictured in the screenshots above. This DAT also doesn't include any changes in the menu position or speed/capacity of the network yet: Download .

[frimi2 0]

Date: 5/2/2005 5:06:38 PM Author: the7trumpets

....cut....

If you could post the FSH textures you have created so far, I should be able to test the method of using RULes and the default street network.  Thanks!

Not all of the Textures are ready at this time and the existing Files are still under Development. Slightly changes are possible. Sorry for my bad Knowledge of your Language

 

 

EDIT: Take a look at the Roundabout of Picture 2, that is what I mean  :-)

[frimi2 0]

Date: 5/2/2005 3:59:59 PM Author: jeronij

...cut...

Anyway, keep us informed on the development of the mod, and if you need some texturing, just tell me !!!

Sehr Gut Gedacht !!! ( I hope I havent forget my limited German... )

quote>

Thank you very for your offer, but it makes no sense to do the textures at different places, because they have to be adjusted. Not one to one another - all to each other. I hope you understand my scrambled knowledge of your language :-)

[Rymac91 15]

I have cities that use ANT for it's highway like style..what will hapen to them?

[Andreas Roth 607]

Date: 5/2/2005 7:30:41 PM Author: Rymac91 I have cities that use ANT for it's highway like style..what will hapen to them?

quote>

As long as you use the beta mod file I posted above, only the textures are changed to look like streets. The final mod will also include files that change the capacity and speed of this network type, to match them to the in-game streets. So, if you want to keep the ANT as a highway style, you can't use it for diagonal streets.

 

If the7trumpets finds a method for converting zig-zag streets to look like diagonal ones, it might be possible to use the existing street network, but for now, our goal is to convert the ANT. I don't know how many players are actually using it, but at least in the German SimForum, there are only very few people (if any at all) who need another highway style.

[the7trumpets 10]

frimi2 - Attatched are the default game textures for R$ grass, R$$ grass, and R$$$ grass that are used underneath the networks. They didn't exist anywhere in the dat files, I had to cut pieces of the background out of existing tiles and tile them together into the real background immage. I did this when I started doing textures for the roundabouts.

You should be able to simply layer these behind your street textures to get the appropriate wealth level textures, but you will still have to edit/create the alpha map for them, which should be very symilar to the road alpha map. The sidewalk texture is the texture which is placed underneath and shows through the alpha map on developed tiles (the 0x0000001x, 0x0000002x, and 0x0000003x tiles), as well as what is used behind the alpha map on the 0x0000000x tile in medium and high density developed areas.

If you have any questions, let me know. I hope this saves you some time.

[frimi2 0]

Date: 5/2/2005 7:53:00 PM Author: the7trumpets

...cut...

 You should be able to simply layer these behind your street textures to get the appropriate wealth level textures, but you will still have to edit/create the alpha map for them, which should be very symilar to the road alpha map.  The sidewalk texture is the texture which is placed underneath and shows through the alpha map on developed tiles (the 0x0000001x, 0x0000002x, and 0x0000003x tiles), as well as what is used behind the alpha map on the 0x0000000x tile in medium and high density developed areas. If you have any questions, let me know.  I hope this saves you some time.

thank you very much :-) I have already stolen these Textures (FYI: an Update  is online)

BTW: the alpha maps are the most work, because they are not similar to the roads:

They are smaller sniff ;-) 

 

EDIT: And they have to match to all the other tiles (it's a must)

 

EDIT2: For Updates look at my last Post in Queue

[nooneatall 6]

It's nice to see that this idea is finally being implemented into the game, diagonal streets would make gameplay just that much better...

As I don't have much knowledge about the workings of the game, I am wondering if using street texture MODs

[Andreas Roth 607]

The in-game streets aren't touched at all with this mod, so you can use any street mod you like. As a bonus, you even can have regular street textures when using the ANT as rural highway outside your cities and dirt roads in your rural/low wealth development. The only disadvantage is that it might look odd when you use diagonal streets in between the areas where dirt roads from trolca's street mod show up.

[the7trumpets 10]

a question regaurding IIDs you're using:

From looking at the dat file, it looks like you are trying to conform to the NAM specifications...sort of.

The textures are in the 0x5Exxxxxx series, which is the series which belongs to ANT s3d network tiles. While I can easily agree that this mod should be classified as ANT tiles in its current format, these tiles (with the exception of the elevated highway crossing) are not 3d network tiles.

Instead, the IID markup should be the following:

0x5FNDDD##

Where N is the network (e for ant, 5 for street, etc as described in the interchange tutorial), DDD is the month/day created in MMDD format, and ## are the game required numbers (00-04, 10-14, 20-24, 30-34) which describe wealth and zoom level.

My assumption would be that the currently developed ANT version uses 0x5feDDD## series, and if it works to make them real streets with RULes, I would reindex all the textures to the 0x5f5DDD## series.

No harm intended, this part of the spec actually isn't included in the interchange tutorial, I had to ask Tropod and Redlotus for the consensus about it a year ago. Just trying to avoid heartaches later on

[Andreas Roth 607]

Well, the current ANT textures are in the 0x5Exxxxxx range, so obviously we didn't change anything, in order to override them properly. If the NAM specifications (whoever set them up) require a re-index, it has to be done for the NAM first, since the diagonal streets mod is merely a replacement for [the FSH files in] the current NetworkAddonMod_ANT_Beta.dat file. Unfortunately, both Tropod and Redlotus seem to be M. I. A., so it's hard to tell if this can/should be changed at all. Apart from that, the future of the NAM seems to be kinda unsure, since other mods, such as the ground light rail mod, eventually needs to be implemented in the NAM to avoid maintaining duplicates of the main RUL file... I don't see this coming soon, so we definitely have to think about the future development of the NAM and its add-ons.

[the7trumpets 10]

Okay, sorry to confuse you.  I now realize what the situation is: since you're replacing the ANT textures, and depending on the included ANT RULes which were originally coppied from the Road Rules and slightly modified (0x5Exxxxxx).  Technically that naming structure doesn't conform to the NAM spec, but I will take a brief forray into describing the development and reason for there being a NAM spec to begin with in order to explain why ultimately this isn't a really big deal, and it is better to leave it as you have it now.

 

The NAM IID spec was designed for two purposes:

1. Allow simultaneous development of content by different authors without the need for registering IIDs, since the chance they would create an interchange or tile of the same network on the same day is very small.
   
2. Ensure that the NAM IIDs are contained in a well known range (0x5xxxxxxx) so that people using random IID generators (the BAT, for example) can eliminate conflicts with the NAM before they arise, re-assigning any IIDs of textures and s3ds in that range.

The simplest solution that Tropod and Redlotus came up with at the time was brilliant, basing the IID in a specific range (0x5xxxxxxx), then on the network, and then on the date created.  Now that I remember how all of this came about, the actual IID spec was not decided upon until 'after' the ANT portion of the NAM was experimented on.  The same rainge (0x5xxxxxxx) was used, but the textures were not renamed beyond that, probably because at the time the ANT was thought of as an experimental project, which is why the documentation clearly states that the ANT is in an alpha stage, while the rest of the modd is in beta.

 

It seems that what you are doing so far is simply replacing the textures, so that none of the RULes need to be edited.  To be honest, this seems like the most sensible approach to the IIDs when using the ANT for these diagonal streets, since using the ANT for diagonal streets negates any possibility of using the ANT for another purpose in the same city, and replacing the textures is the easiest way to alert the end user to that fact.  In a sense, you really are replacing textures which have already been defined and released in the NAM.

 

Example:user loads city with new plugin installed, thinking they can have rural highways AND diagonal ANT streets, finding that thier rural highways now look like streets.  Result:Even though the user never read the documentation, they are alerted to the fact that this cannot be done, and they come back to the readme (hopefully) or the forums, and find the answer.

 

Furthermore, using your current IIDs does not hamper the concept of the NAM IID spec, it still conforms to the range of 0x5xxxxxxx, and still allows for additional content to be added to the ANT based on the then current date.  Therefore (this was a mouthful), it does seem sensible to keep them the same.  If all of this didn't make any sense, don't worry.  Just keep doing what you have been, since it is the most sensible approach.

 

 

 

Now, if I get some time here, and try to code some RULes to turn zig-zag streets into diagonal streets with the appropriate intersections, I will change the IIDs, since they would then be essentially 'new' tiles.  They would be in the 0x5F5xxxxx series, to conform to the spec.

 

Hopefully this crazy rambling has served to educate rather than annoy since you guys are doing such a good job at this stuff right now.  Good luck, and keep it going!  Wish me luck with RUL codes, as they usually give me a headache

[frimi2 0]

(grin) Yes, you are right, I simply :-) replace the textures and no, you dont confuse me. Thanks for your interest and good luck for changing the RULes ;-)

[Andreas Roth 607]

Date: 5/3/2005 3:05:21 AM Author: the7trumpets

Example:user loads city with new plugin installed, thinking they can have rural highways AND diagonal ANT streets, finding that thier rural highways now look like streets.  Result:Even though the user never read the documentation, they are alerted to the fact that this cannot be done, and they come back to the readme (hopefully) or the forums, and find the answer.

quote>

You're thinking way too complicated.  No, seriously, I hadn't even thought of this kind of visual feedback that alerts the users the ANT has changed in whatever manner. But nonetheless thanks for your feedback and in-depth explanation regarding the NAM specs. I once read through the NAM interchange tutorial, but I must admit I forgot most of it, so I don't know anymore what is written down there in detail. However, I know the NAM readme quite well (since I translated it into German ), so I surely know how the ANT works.

[6459978. 106]

Date: 5/2/2005 5:06:38 PM Author: the7trumpets

HOWEVER - I just had an idea, which while being slightly more time consuming than it being an inherent behavior of the network, would be much less time consuming than using puzzle pieces or the like:  I'm almost 100% sure that we could code the RULes in such a manner that if you drew a road which 'zig zagged' in a diagonal direction, the diagonal texture would be displayed.  This would NOT have the limitation that using the ANT places on these tiles.

quote>

 

the7trumpets: You beat me to that thought! I'd been tempted to post that idea about a week ago, but since I really don't know how RULs work I was afraid of getting laughed out of Simtropolis .

 

But is it really possible? If it is I would be thrilled! Now, I know that a lot of people want to be able to draw diagonals, but for me, having to zig-zag is only a small sacrifice to be paid for a great reward! I've always wanted to realistically recreate real world cities (ie, my own) but I always hit a roadblock with diagonal streets. But if this is possible....

 

Is there any momentum behind this idea? I know that you [t7t] are already up to your elbows in work... Would this be an easy modification to make? If I could, I would be willing to help. Whatever it takes... (... how about money? would it take money? I'd be willing to pay out....)

[lakeyboy 12]

Anderas, THANK YOU for being someone that is finally making use of the ANT. I don't use the ANT as a highway so it's a great idea. I LOVE those Y street intersections. They are so nice. I would love to see the ziz zag streets turned into diagonals and then the ANT have the dirt road textures.

[GoaSkin 2]

If you want to tune the ANT (which was originally planned by Maxis as a dirt road system for very cheap roads); some settings you'll find in file with IID EBE08CDA.

On Exemplar File C9133286 there are general settings for the traffic simulator; a few further network-dependant settings are also here.

Yet, I've not found out how to make it possible that a ANT connection to a building satisfies the need of a network connection and how to make the ANT usable for pedestrians. By the way the second question may answer the first one. I think a network type which is able to handle pedestrians is what buildings want to be connected to a traffic network system.

On puzzlepieces the CheckTypes settings tell which vehicle types (incl. pedestrians) can use the tiles by referencing to an usable RUL setting. On Lots it can be declared on the transit rules or in the LotConfigLotProproperties-Settings (15th REP), but where are RUL settings linked to a tile of drawable networks? Possibly, pedestrians are unsupported on dirtroads/ANT and if we change that, buildings may grow up beside.

[frimi2 0]

After several days work (and, with alpha, more then 1100 textures) I cannot see street textures anymore.  The package contains all necessary textures, in order to work with diagonal streets.  However still the special parts are missing (for example: crossings with a diagonal exit). Also the railway transitions are still under development.

The work is not done yet, but in the next days I have to do some other things, because normally my eyes are blue, now they are grey - street grey ;-)

But now for this unfinished Package:

As Andreas already explained, there are some restrictions with the ANT.  The most important is that no buildings grow. So you have to use normal streets(roads/alleys) as in the picture.

Red stands for ANT, green for normal street.  As you can see:  It works.

http://img222.echo.cx/img222/5552/anttip2nb.jpg align=baseline>

 

And here you can find the package

 

EDIT: The ZigZag is also under Development, but that needs also time

 

EDIT2: For Updates look at my last Post in Queue

[the7trumpets 10]

man, I really hate to tell you this frimi2, and even more so I wish I noticed before you did all the work on the alpha maps.

First of all, outstanding job. Unfortunately, your alpha maps place the sidewalk immediately next to to road surface, while the street texture alpha maps place the sidewalk away from the street, with grass inbetween the street and the sidewalk. In the US, we call these 'tree lawns' because it usually has grass on it, but it's not big enough for anything more than one tree. This is also the area where the light poles are mounted.

For exammple, if street texture 0x05004b34 was placed to the north of your diagonal street texture 0x5e004d34, the sidewalk would stop and continue in a different place. On some of the diagonal textures like 0x5e000834, there isn't as much room for the sidewalk as on the orthagonal textures. This means that you would have to either make the alpha map like you did, with the sidewalk next to the road, or make it away from the road, but narrower.

It seems like you opted for the 'create the sidewalk next to the road' approach. This is fine with me, but if this was your intention, the textures which connect diagonal textures to orthagonal textures and intersections between diagonal and orthagonal street textures need to be changed so that the sidewalk morphs slowly from the 'away from street' style to the 'next to the street' style. Hopefully that makes sense.

Basically, any textures which have one side that an orthagonal street enters/exits on need to have thier alpha changed in order to look seemless. I'm guessing that the reason you didn't spot this is that you have tested it in medium or high density situations, where the 0x######00 texture is used, where the entire non-street area is sidewalk.


[edit]
one more thing: to be nice to those who don't have tons of graphics memory, maxis compressed all but the smallest 8x8 FSH files, and left the 8x8 files uncompressed. It looks like all your textures are uncompressed at the moment.

[Superstar 69]

What a cool idea, Simcity was missing a little diagonalness in it. Though roads are grea but bridges would REALLy change things though that won't hapen...can't a guy dream

[frimi2 0]

Date: 5/5/2005 3:21:47 PM Author: the7trumpets man, I really hate to tell you this frimi2, and even more so I wish I noticed before you did all the work on the alpha maps. First of all, outstanding job.  Unfortunately, your alpha maps place the sidewalk immediately next to to road surface, while the street texture alpha maps place the sidewalk away from the street, with grass inbetween the street and the sidewalk.  In the US, we call these 'tree lawns' because it usually has grass on it, but it's not big enough for anything more than one tree.  This is also the area where the light poles are mounted. For exammple, if street texture 0x05004b34 was placed to the north of your diagonal street texture 0x5e004d34, the sidewalk would stop and continue in a different place.  On some of the diagonal textures like 0x5e000834, there isn't as much room for the sidewalk as on the orthagonal textures.  This means that you would have to either make the alpha map like you did, with the sidewalk next to the road, or make it away from the road, but narrower. It seems like you opted for the 'create the sidewalk next to the road' approach.  This is fine with me, but if this was your intention, the textures which connect diagonal textures to orthagonal textures and intersections between diagonal and orthagonal street textures need to be changed so that the sidewalk morphs slowly from the 'away from street' style to the 'next to the street' style.  Hopefully that makes sense. Basically, any textures which have one side that an orthagonal street enters/exits on need to have thier alpha changed in order to look seemless.  I'm guessing that the reason you didn't spot this is that you have tested it in medium or high density situations, where the 0x######00 texture is used, where the entire non-street area is sidewalk. [edit] one more thing: to be nice to those who don't have tons of graphics memory, maxis compressed all but the smallest 8x8 FSH files, and left the 8x8 files uncompressed.  It looks like all your textures are uncompressed at the moment.

Yes, you are right. With the sidewalks I totaly went wrong! My fault, this will be corrected, but not in the next days, because I cannot see this Textures anymore :-). But my thoughts for the uncompressed File are: Harddiskspace is cheap and the Game decompresses the Files at loadtime, in memory this files needs the same space or is this wrong ? I tried to save a little bit CPU-time at loading time.

 

EDIT: Thanks for your help

[the7trumpets 10]

Unless Darkmatter or someone corrects me, I believe the FSH textures are stored in the memory on a person's graphics card. Using compressed textures conserves graphics memory, and assigns the decompression processing responsibilities to the GPU on the graphics card rather than the CPU which is doing quite a bit of simulation calculations.

In actuality, you're not trying to save hard disk space, but graphics memory space, because if you run out of graphics memory it is then loaded into system memory or hard disk cache, which is much slower for the graphics card to access.

On a side note, this is the reason for the small ammount of lag time in redrawing between zoom levels. The game only stores the textures in graphics memory for the current zoom level, in order to speed things up a bit. Then when you change zooms, it has to reload quite a bit of data from sytem memory or the hard disk, if you are low on system memory.


Suffice it to say that maxis knew what they were doing when they compressed all but the smallest 8x8 FSH images .

[frimi2 0]

(grin) Yes, you are right, again. Many thanks for your quick answer and I promise: At the latest in the final version I use the Llama-Modus for compressing files that the game not limps :-)