RHW Interchange Guide

[Patricius Maximus 236]

How about doing a trumpet interchange? Is that at all possible with the RHW?quote>

Stay cool, this guide is still young.  I will be getting to other interchanges as time goes on.quote>

That should prove to be interesting. I hope you showcase the way I constructed mine in the Patrician Showcase, with the new RHW-4/MIS splitter piece.

I'm going to blame you the viewer for looking at my pics way too much!  quote>

I plead guilty . But, really, your pics are too interesting to not warrant a closer look.

[sim-fan192 4]

I hope they make higher elevated rhw like NAM did with elevated rail and monorail. I NEED them for a spaghetti bowl interchange I'm making.

[rainyday 2]

Well I have no problems with any of the pictures Hal

Edit: Darn Page Flip Bug!

[Vahr 341]

sim-fan192: hehe, just you see...

Anyway, I don't see any probelms with the pics at all. Like this guide!

Vince

[Haljackey 17,306]

Hello everyone, I just wanted to let you know all the pictures in this thread are back up for your viewing pleasure.

Sorry for the long delay for the next guide, but rest assured it will be coming! In the meantime, enjoy the guides that have been restored.

Best,

-Haljackey

[bigcities 0]

How do you make connections between rural highways? Or should I rely on conventional highways to serve as the main traffic arteries?

[Patricius Maximus 236]

Please specify. What connections are you referring to?

[voyager2371 0]

Originally posted by: bigcities

How do you make connections between rural highways? Or should I rely on conventional highways to serve as the main traffic arteries?quote>

I think what he's trying to ask is how do you make interchanges between diffrent RHW's. So, for example, I wanted to create an interchange with two RHW-6C, or connect a RHW-10 to a RHW-4?

[grbac80 5]

There are puzzle pieces that you can use to connect them. Like 4 -> 6 -> 8 -> 10. But it's also unclear what you want to do.

[aaaling 83]

Haljackey, you are missing somthing in the "Drag the RHW using the RHW Tool.". It is sopposed to be "Drag the RHW using the RHW drag tool."

[Haljackey 17,306]

Originally posted by: aaaling

Haljackey, you are missing somthing in the "Drag the RHW using the RHW Tool.". It is sopposed to be "Drag the RHW using the RHW drag tool."

quote>

Hmm?  What do you mean?  I think what's stated is pretty clear.  The RHW tool is the same as the RHW drag tool. 

---

By the way, all the pictures are back now, and I am assuming they will always be up from this point forward.

I'm not using the bucket anymore due to these problems.  6 accounts and I still get that stupid exceeded thing.  The bulk uploader at Imageshack has been improved and you won't get these problems.

---

Anyways I should have a new guide for you soon.  I think the next guide will show you how to build a Parclo A-4 with accel/decel lanes.

All the best,

-Haljackey

[bluemoose 223]

This thread is going rather slow.

I hope the next guide will come out soon.

[Craig-Abcvs 1,595]

I have had a little tidy up of that problem.   Please let me know if it happens again. 

[Craig-Abcvs 1,595]

Originally posted by: aaaling

Can you go as FAST as you can?!

quote>

I have seen Haljackey drive on UDI...   he is a very careful driver.

[kj3400 178]

Originally posted by: abcvs

Originally posted by: aaaling

Can you go as FAST as you can?!

quote>

I have seen Haljackey drive on UDI...   he is a very careful driver.

quote>

Are we talking about the same Haljackey here? The one I know does have his fair share of accidents.

[aaaling 83]

Originally posted by: haljackey

---

I'm not using the bucket anymore due to these problems.  6 accounts there and I still get that stupid exceeded thing.  The bulk uploader at Imageshack has been improved and you won't get these problems.

---

Anyways I should have a new guide for you soon.  I think the next guide will show you how to build a Parclo A-4 with accel/decel lanes.

All the best,

-Haljackey

quote>

Can you go as FAST as you can?!

[aaaling 83]

Originally posted by: kj3400

Originally posted by: abcvs

Originally posted by: aaaling

Can you go as FAST as you can?!

quote>

I have seen Haljackey drive on UDI...   he is a very careful driver.

quote>

Are we talking about the same Haljackey here? The one I know does have his fair share of accidents.quote>

It is the same Haljackey.

[MandelSoft 2,769]

I think there could be three things going on here:

1. Haljackey hasn't time to post a guide, because he's doing some other things.
2. Haljackey doesn't post the guide until the guide is perfect and clear enough.
3. Haljackey is still finding out how to explain how to build various kinds of interchanges. Knowing it is one thing, but to transfer your knowledge is a totally different thing.

Best,
Maarten

[Haljackey 17,306]

Originally posted by: mrtnrln

I think there could be three things going on here:

1. Haljackey hasn't time to post a guide, because he's doing some other things.

2. Haljackey doesn't post the guide until the guide is perfect and clear enough.

3. Haljackey is still finding out how to explain how to build various kinds of interchanges. Knowing it is one thing, but to transfer your knowledge is a totally different thing.

Best,

Maartenquote>

lol, good assumptions.

1.  True.

2.  True.

3.  False.  I know how to explain it, its the time and organization that's keeping me from making new ones.

With that said, I'm putting the finishing touches on some new guides.  You'll see them in the next little bit.

[Haljackey 17,306]

All right, I'm back into making guides now.  You won't have to worry about bandwidth problems either.

Sorry its been so long!  I hope this guide will make up for it! 

---

Section 2.4: Parclo A-4 Interchange with dual acceleration/deceleration ramps.

Now we're moving into realism.  One of the biggest things that sets the RHW apart from the ground/elevated highways of SC4 is the ability to make proper entrances and exits, something we had no control over with Maxis.  The ramps were painfully short and totally unrealistic, without any accel/decel space at all before it merges with the main carriageway.

RHW ramp type "C" corrects this issue, enabling you, the user, to make a new lane when a ramp enters the highway, extending it for realistic accel/decel lanes or adding a whole new lane altogether.

Going by real world standards, accel/decel lanes should be at least 100 meters long.  Some older routes that have not been reconstructed may have very little merge room similar to the Maxis highways, which can also compare to the merge room on the type "A" and "B" ramps of the RHW.  The Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) suggests that these ramps should be 300 meters long, but some exceed 400 meters in length to increase roadway safety where there's ample room to do so.

Since a tile in SC4 is 16x16 meters, anything between 5-9 tiles should make for a good acceleration/deceleration ramp (not including room in puzzle pieces).  I'll take the average of the two numbers and make the accel/decel lanes 7 tiles long in this guide.

---

When you're making an interchange with accel/decel lanes, its pretty much a jigsaw puzzle.  You won't need to worry about starter pieces or dragging RHWs this time, you start by plopping two RHW ramp type "C" puzzle pieces.  I left a two tile gap between them for an avenue overpass as well as a 1 tile median for this guide.

Now you can start dragging the RHW from the puzzle pieces.  Don't worry about the ramps for now.

The next best thing to do is get your overpass up so you don't have to worry about it later.

Now its time to join your ramps with your avenue in a typical parclo style.  Start to construct your offramps as well by dragging a pair of RHW-2s from the avenue toward the RHW.  Place a pair of type "C" ramps at the terminus.

-You'll notice a textural glitch when you plop the ramp pieces.  This can easily be fixed by redrawing the network.

Now hook up your offramps with the type "C" piece to override the RHW-2 into a MIS ramp.  Drag the RHW tool over the deformed RHW-6 to change it back to a RHW-4.

Time for the last pair of ramps.  Start dragging a RHW-2 on the outside of the intersections.

Get yourself prepared by plopping two more RHW type "C" ramps further out.

Now just hook everything up!  Plop a pair of RHW-6S to RHW-4 transitions just next to your new onramps for a proper transition.  It works out to be exactly 7 tiles long.

Plop similar transitions on the outsides of the interchanges as well.  I'd suggest 7 tiles long on these to match the length of your loop ramps to make it look more uniform.

...And you're done!  Here's a look at the finished product zoomed out:

---

Like all RHW interchanges, you can further customize your creation.  Here are a couple examples.

Give your offramp a more realistic appearance by converting it to a one-way road when it comes out of the curve.  This will also establish a pair of lights on the intersections.

If you're looking to save space, move your outermost on-ramps to the inside of the intersection.  Although this isn't as realistic and will add to traffic congestion, its a good way to spare some extra tiles for something else.

---

Anyways that will be it for now!  I'm already preparing another guide which will be out soon.

[Simaddict1000 1]

i like how you are making these highway interchanges but to me they are just plain ugly- to me its just as equally important for them to work well as well as look good

so can u make them better looking- also the avenue overpasses have pretty unrealistic slopes

[Livin in Sim 83]

Originally posted by: Simaddict1000

i like how you are making these highway interchanges but to me they are just plain ugly- to me its just as equally important for them to work well as well as look good

so can u make them better looking- also the avenue overpasses have pretty unrealistic slopesquote>

Pardon me, but I think calling them ugly is a bit harsh.  If you want to see some nicely decorated interchanges, just check out haljackey's city journal, the Greater Terran Region.  For me, it's easier to see how they are put together when they're not decorated, so I appreciate that.  We are all free to decorate them as we like when we get them in place, as well as to terraform an approach to the overpass in place of the start-end puzzle pieces.

Nice work, Ryan, thanks for showing us these interchanges.

--Liv

[TmiguelT 10]

another Awesome tutorial Haljackey .

I would like you to get to the other parts of your tutorial as soon as possible . You are being my guide for my new cities

Keep up this AWESOME Guide.

[Haljackey 17,306]

Originally posted by: Simaddict1000

i like how you are making these highway interchanges but to me they are just plain ugly- to me its just as equally important for them to work well as well as look good

so can u make them better looking- also the avenue overpasses have pretty unrealistic slopes

quote>

Originally posted by: Livin in Sim

Pardon me, but I think calling them ugly is a bit harsh.  If you want to see some nicely decorated interchanges, just check out haljackey's city journal, the Greater Terran Region.  For me, it's easier to see how they are put together when they're not decorated, so I appreciate that.  We are all free to decorate them as we like when we get them in place, as well as to terraform an approach to the overpass in place of the start-end puzzle pieces.

quote>

Exactly.  If you took the liberity to read the first post, you'd notice that I satated that I am showing how to build these as simple as possible so its easy to follow along.  You can always further customize your interchanges with better slopes, overpasses and eyecandy, but that's not the goal here.  If I was going to do that it would confuse the hell out of everyone and we all have different plugin folders. 

If you want to see some interchanges that "look" good, this is not the place.  Go check out other threads like The Greater Terran Region as Liv stated or the Show Us Your Interchanges thread.

Anyways I hope this makes sense to you.

[Vahr 341]

Hal, this tut is looking good! Though these interchanges do look like they need a serious case of RHW6S to RHW4-MIS "D" ramp

Keep showing us these wonderful tutorials!

Vince

[Haljackey 17,306]

Ok, time for another one, I told ya I'd be quick!  

---

Section 2.5: Parclo A-4 Interchange with single acceleration/deceleration ramps.

This guide will be similar to 2.4 (the last one), with a twist.  Instead of having two ramps feeding traffic to the highway, there will just be one.  You might think to yourself this may save some space, when it is actually more space consuming than the dual-ramp setting.  The advantage of this setup is to make entering traffic more organized and contained, as well as allowing for proper merge lengths, essential for creating these realistic interchanges.

Like the last guide, I will make the accel/decel lanes 7 tiles long in this guide (per lane).

---

This time round its best to make yourself a RHW beforehand so everything can fit perfectly in place.

Since this is an elementary step, I'll show how to make it once more, taken from the first guide.

Place your starter pieces...

Drag the RHW using the RHW tool...

(Optional) Delete the starter pieces to create a RHW without any overrides.

And drag the stable network over it.

quote>

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Now that you have a RHW, its time to build the interchange.  Start like so.  Construct part of your overpass as well as the MIS splitters as displayed, at least 3 tiles away from the overpass.

-Make sure you select the RHW-4 splitter and not the RHW-2 splitter.  You'll have 2-way traffic if you do that which is not what we want here.

Start by making your ramps first.  The example shown is the most compact you can build.

With your ramps in place, its time to finish building the overpass.

Now start getting your off-ramps ready.  Drag a RHW-2 from the avenue until you reach the RHW as shown.

Plop a type "C" ramp on the RHW at the edge of the RHW-2.

-You'll see a flawed RHW-6S as a result of plopping the type "C" ramp.  This is known.

Drag the stub from the ramp on your RHW-2 to establish an override.

-Also, redraw the highway from the offramp toward the overpass to restore it to a RHW-4.

---

Once you reach this point, you might want to consider what you want to do with your off-ramp.  Do you want it to be higher capacity?  If so you can convert the MIS to a one-way road for the intersection.

Or even better, you can widen the ramp all-together.  In this image I replaced the type "C" ramp with a RHW-6S/dual RHW-4 transition and dragged the RHW up to the edge of the intersection, joining it with a one-way road.

---

Getting back to making the interchange, its time to join our on-ramp to the main highway.  There are actually two ways you can do this, and I will show both.

The first way you can do it is to plop a RHW-8/dual RHW-4 puzzle picece, making both onramp lanes reach the highway.

Here's a shot of the setup away from the centre of the interchange.

Then just evenly apply your RHW-8/6S and RHW-6S/RHW-4 transitions along the roadway.  This example is shown with a 7 tile transition per lane.

-Do the same with your off-ramp, which just requires the RHW-6S/RHW-4 transition.  It's best to make it 7 tiles long as well to make it match the length of your other transitions.

---

The second way you can do this is to allow the joining lanes transition to one before it reaches the highway.  This is a more realistic transition.

Drag your RHW-4 from the MIS splitter for 7 tiles, then apply the RHW-4/MIS transition.  Join the ramp to the highway using the RHW-6S/dual RHW-4 transition and drag for another 7 tiles.

-Don't forget to apply the RHW-6S/RHW-4 transition for your off-ramp!  It's best to make it 7 tiles long as well to make it match the length of your other transitions.

...And you're done!  In this zoom out you will see the first on-ramp configuration used in the north and the second configuration in the south for comparison.

---

Here's a few modifications to the interchange you can make.

In this image, I moved the outermost on-ramp connections to the avenue to the other side of the intersections.  This will improve traffic flow and reduce congestion.

Here, I've extended the loop ramps by one tile, making them look more realistic.

Lastly, I used one-way roads to connect the outermost on-ramps to the avenue, which resembles an off-ramp.

-You could also convert this part of the avenue to a RHW-4 and use a type "A" ramp to connect the MIS.

---

Anyways, that will do it.  I hope you found this guide useful!

[JakeMD 107]

Great article hal! This will indeed be useful.. especially to me. Thanks!

[R30hedron 28]

The acceleration/deacceleration lanes prompt me to ask a question... What is the general rule of thumb for the distance between individual interchanges? I know that if it's too cloose there will be weaving, but it shouldn't be too far, right?

[Patricius Maximus 236]

The rule of thumb in RL, I believe, is 3/4 of a mile, or around a kilometer. In Simcity, the rule of thumb I use is no more than 3 interchanges in a medium tile on a straight highway.

[gottago 24]

This is a great guide, thanks very much haljockey for posting these tutorials.

A few questions that I've run into: I'm trying to create a 4 lane highway (parallel 2 rhw) without a median tile, as this is a central artery that deadends in a developed area with a simple diamond avenue overpass/interchange, on level ground (Euro/German inspiration). But I'm seeing lots of weirdness: the rhw lights run to one side, not together down the median, giving two strips, as if both lanes are going in the same direction. It's impossible in this configuration to place more than one onramp--the others refuse to set themselves in the proper direction to link with the sloping on and off ramps. Also the euro textures don't extend to the MIS splitters, and don't conform to Euro style once linked up. All in all, a total botch.

Am I simply trying to do the impossible? I.e., is it simply impossible with rhw to create this sort of setup without a median? Can you address some interchanges mimicking urban highways without medians, if it can indeed be done? Thanks in advance.