Multi lane RHW (Rural Highway) Guide & Thread

[Haljackey 17,398]

Multi/Dual RHW (Rural Highways)

Okay, a lot of people have been asking me how to make multi/dual highways for the RHW (rural highway), so I thought I would post a guide in the transit networks forum, as the RHW thread is here.  This guide can be used to extend the RHW from 4 lanes to eight or more lanes. 

Anyway, heres how to do it

1.  Build a regular rural highway.

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[Frankie_Grove 32]

That looks pretty good

My only recommendation is some slightly better dividers :

Other than that, fantastic tutorial!

[JCarter 0]

Ooooooh! Where'd you get those???????

[BigSlark 0]

The real question, Haljackney, is will this turn into RHW-10 roadways when its released in the future?

[owenluby 1]

Cool guide, thanks for showing us!

[tommiej 0]

really nice guide.. it will be very handy in my upcoming CJ the Port of Rotterdam

[Haljackey 17,398]

Hey, thanks for the feedback everyone! 

Originally posted by: BigSlark The real question, Haljackney, is will this turn into RHW-10 roadways when its released in the future?quote>

According to Tarkus from the RHW thread, it could.  In the last 10 pages or so, a network was created.  However this is far from release and will need to have some drawing issues resolved.  In the next release of the RHW however, drawing of the network will be simplified, similar to how the direction of a one-way road is drawn.

And Frankie_Grove, where on earth did you get that centre median?  Does it have night lighting?

[JCarter 0]

That center median is nice!

[Pixelrage 34]

Originally posted by: JCarter That center median is nice!quote>

QFT. Where do you get it?!?!

[Tarkus 6,933]

BigSlark and haljackey:  Well, the way qurlix had talked about implementing the RHW-10 was such that it involved dragging the RHW/ANT to the outside of the existing RHW, so following this method will still result in a dual RHW setup, theoretically.  That's how it worked when I made my own prototype as well, though I hadn't gotten very far with it. 

As far as I can tell, everything will still work like this when the RHW-10 comes out.  And you'll be able to hook up the C/D lanes to the MIS too, when that's finished.

-Tarkus

[Haljackey 17,398]

Tarkus: And you'll be able to hook up the C/D lanes to the MIS too, when that's finished.quote>

Unbelievable! I had no idea that that sort of thing could work. But, the collector/express network is very fragile, and just re-drawing the network will cause it to mess up. If the MIS is compatible with this format, a new form of drawing the network will be almost certainly needed, possibly merging the two into a RHW 10. I am no wiz with the ANT and interchange design, but as you said, it could theoretically work. And BTW, I noticed that you added this thread to your sig .

I will continue to experiment with the flexibility of the RHW network. Even with the this very basic release (version 0.12), there are a ton of possibilities for the network! Who knows how many more possibilities the next release will bring?

[Haljackey 17,398]

Alright.  I have had some free time to play around with the RHW and Multi RHW techniques over the past little while.  Here are some of my results!

My ultimate goal is to make something like this in SC4:

CLICK HERE FOR A LARGER IMAGE

However, at 18-22 lanes wide, something like this could take up 6-9 tiles.  Then factor in the ramps, shoulders, etc and you are running at 8-12 tiles.  Just huge eh? Hopefully the RHWMIS Will eventually achieve sucess in connectivity and wider versions of the RHW will enable wider carrigeways.

Oh well now to my findings.  I used the same method of multi RHW building but experimented with other networks and features.  My results follow.

10-14 lanes of open road can be achieved by using a regular highway in the centre rather than a RHW.  This a is good technique to use near interchanges and bridges.  An example is below:

8 Lanes with a median near the city airport:

Here the system is used near a tunnel, with the centre highway (express lanes) burrow below:

Sunken below, this method is good to use as a urban throughway where traffic is high and space is low.  This method is similar to the huge "Big Dig" project attempted a few years ago in the city of Boston, in the United States of America.  The RHW on top can be used as a feeder road to allow urban connections to the highway:

Although, thanks to Blahdy's Big Dig lots, tunnel connections to the mainline can be achieved.  The RHW must be converted to a ave bridge in order avoid an intersection.

This is one way of splitting the highway that I was able to figure out. 

Here is a transfer of two seperate highways morphing into one:

Here is an example of a termination for the collector lanes.  This example is similar to that of the rare paperclip interchange:

Wow that was a long post, but thats it for now. I just wanted to show whats possible with the multi RHW and the RHW all-together. More discoveries as they come.  Feel free to post your successes/failures with the multi RHW system here

[JCarter 0]

very cool! I cant wait for the RHWMIS to come out...there will be so many more options!

[tommiej 0]

awesome! very nice examples of the use of the RHW! can't wait for the RHWMIS! when it comes out, i surely check your thread, because i expect some great interchanges from you! if you already see this and then when MIS is out.. can't wait!

[Haljackey 17,398]

Not just the RHWMIS, just think whats possible with the next version of the RHW (version 0.17)!!

All the improvements and network enhancements will allow for the RHW and the multi-RHW to be even more flexible. The new road overpasses and ramps will be just awesome to use in-game. Eventually, when Beta testing for the RHWMIS is available, we will see a major shift in how we look at the road networks in SC4.

I am really looking forward to to the days the next versions and MIS are released. I can see V 0.17 just over the horizon though, it will come out soon enough!

[shinkansen1 84]

Hmm... I guess they're pretty cool. Now, I don't mean to cause offense, but now that you've proven that it can be used as a much better looking 12-22 lane freeway, shouldn't the "rural" part of the name be taken out? It makes it sound like a farm highway.

[Tarkus 6,933]

shinkansen1:  I totally agree with you about the naming of the mod, and I think a lot of people who follow it do, too.  In fact, I'm all in favor of renaming it, and qurlix, my co-conspirator in the RHW and founder of the project, has also expressed that he doesn't think it  fits the project anymore. 

So the entire RHW team is in favor of it, but unfortunately, the name has kind of "stuck".  However, while a new name would cause confusion initially with those who have followed the project for some time, it would definitely better describe it.

haljackey:  I've been messing around with the Multi-RHW and the RHWMIS . . . had a few problems but I managed to create a new method for dragging the C/D lanes such that there's no re-conversion issues, to parallel RHW-4s (or the RHW-10 when it comes out) . . . so things are looking up.  I'll post some pics of it when I'm a little further along.

-Tarkus

[Haljackey 17,398]

Well the name RHW will always stick, but I think it should be called the "Real highway", taking out the "rural" but leaving the short form the same.

Now Tarkus, I'm not expecting transfer lanes between the two, as that would require massive amounts of work for few people who would actually use them. However, an RHW 10 could widen and join the two networks without taking up any additional space.

Anyways, it is tricky to make the multi RHW, but I would like to hear how u managed to make them without those annoying reconversion issues you stated.

[daniel01 0]

nice examples thanks i'll use those

daniel01

[Ryusuke516 1]

I've measured the highway lane sizes and it seems you can fitting 4lanes a tile, possibly even 5 lanes a tile.

My cousin made his own highway mod where ther are 8 lanes in 2 tiles (4 going eaxch way).

[Tarkus 6,933]

Ryusuke516:  While it may seem that way to you, I've actually compared the widths of the roads in SC4 and compared to RL data, and most of them are to correct scale, with the notable exception of the Ground and Elevated Highways, which are actually only 50% of scale--there's actually too many lanes per tile on those networks.  The RHW corrects that issue. 

An SC4 tile is 16 meters wide, which equates to about 52.5 feet.  Here is a link to the city of Mill Creek, Washington's road design standards. and you'll see that the Maxis Road network is mostly in line with this.  If you eliminated the sidewalks and went with the absolute minimum lane width allowable by design standards (for an alleyway), you might be able to squeeze 5 lanes in, but the speed limit would have to be excruciatingly slow because the cars would be so close together.

-Tarkus

[shinkansen1 84]

The building in the upper left hand corner of this image:

What is the name of that building? I am looking for any and ALL buildings in that style!

[Haljackey 17,398]

That's the mephisto tower, shinkansen1. Sorry for my late reply, I forgot to check this thread for a while.

You can find it here:

https://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?page=1&keyword=mephisto%20tower&type=all

[crazyyaya 4]

Good guide. The highway looks good with lots of traffic on it.

[Haljackey 17,398]

Hey everyone, just a quick update showcasing the Multi- RHW's use with the newest version of the RHW network (version 0.13 A)

Click on the photos for full resolution!

Here is the Multi RHW in more of an urban setting.

The new Ave over RHW overpass is a must for urban centres where local traffic can freely cross over the multi RHW in a more efficient way.  Interchanges are currently in the works for the RHW network.

If you have any questions about the multi RHW network at all, or you want to post a reply or pictures of yours, please feel free to do so in this thread.

-Haljackey

[flame1396 9]

excellent...

I'm waiting till the next NAM to get this... Mostly for realism's sake, the current interchange thing is rather crude, with the curved roads it will be much better looking.

[godjcjk12 0]

Aren't there 4 lane RHW in the game that can be used?

[Crazy_Ivan80 35]

Nice tutorial, one I'll be using.

I'd like to aks you where you got those nice (and working?!) roundabouts though.

[Haljackey 17,398]

gogncjk12: No, this is the only to make 4 lanes or more in one direction.  However a 5 lane network is in the works (RHW 10).

Crazy_Ivan80: they are part of the newest NAM! You can download it in the mods and downloads section.

[Crazy_Ivan80 35]

that's the january version right?

thanks for the answer and the guide