Show us Your Interchanges!

[WiiGoGetter 65]

I

I have built over 20 of these

  Edited May 28, 2012 by WiiBowDash  

[Cob92 360]

Um Haljackey, if i was a RHW nazi, who i am not, i'd say that interchange has horrible weaving, i mean, you'll never see that stuff around, unless dumb engineers made it .

Except on nearly every highway ramp in the second largest state in the U.S. They usually do have a bit more space between the ramps and cross streets, but weaving is a given when getting on or off a highway in Texas. This is alleviated to some extent by having frequent ramp spacing, lots of turnarounds, bypasses, and alternate routes, as well as typically requiring traffic on the frontage roads to yield to traffic exiting the freeway. Frontage roads on a TX highway aren't just secondary access routes; they are part and parcel of the freeway corridor and serve as primary thoroughfares for local traffic wherever they are built (which is also why land along a freeway, with a freeway address, is prime real estate for businesses).

[Haljackey 17,271]

crushedcar: What are those two other ramps for? And can't they just branch from the outside instead of the inside? That way you don't need those overpasses.

---

Here's a interchange/intersection hybrid I built on a hilltop. The ramps serve as 'right turn lanes'.

Click for full size:

Zoom out:

Super zoom out (just cuz)

By the way, I'm always looking for feedback. Deathtopumpkins offered some constructive criticism regarding this design.

  Edited May 29, 2012 by Haljackey  

[fonzyfb73 39]

Most of urban interchanges or freeways don't look like the RHW but more like the standard Maxis. Take Los Angeles as good example. The RHW fits cool in the nature, in fact the R was for Rural, not Real, initially. I could agree the RHW is more eye-candy in the countryside, but when it comes to urban side i'd disagree. You Marteen have shown us nice pictures but real urban interchanges often are not that green, they're more like concrete, but i just said often. For what regards risks and realism of lanes, i personally don't care that much, i care about the "functionality" part of ralism and the eye-candy factor, also because if you had to take into account also the problems about the lanes, i think this would become more a long list of troubles than an entertaiming game. Just different views, and like i said, it is most of all a matter of taste, not just realism, danger, functionality and so on. If i wanted to learn to use the RHW, i could, but i am just preferring the Maxis one.

You obviously never been to Atlanta, Georgia.

I've only been to Atlanta once, and I'd say the freeways there are pretty "green" and RHW-looking. While that may be the case there, it doesn't eliminate the fact that most freeways are built with steel and concrete, especially those here in California. And they are not green at all and don't look like what RHW is trying to recreate. I agree with Moskva, RHW is great for creating eyecandy in rural areas but Maxis is more useful in larger cities, and blend in much more nicely than RHW. The only thing I like RHW better than Maxis is the amount of lanes possible. It's hard to find 3 lane freeways in large cities unless you're in the country.

Btw, here's an example of how I see freeways (too lazy to take a picture myself. Here's some steel and concrete awesomeness from Oakland).

Interstate 80 Westbound Eastshore Freeway San Francisco three right lanes ONLY approaches at Exit 8B - Interstate 880 Nimitz Freeway SOUTH Alameda, Oakland Airport, San Jose and Interstate 580 MacArthur Freeway EAST Downtown Oakland, Hayward, Stockton by RaymondYu, on Flickr

A bit of the MacArthur maze by thamiter, on Flickr

[Ganaram Inukshuk 906]

Behold the Holy Grail of RHW development... Multi-level stacks... That's exactly the kind of thing MHW can never do and what RHW development is aiming for.

Did you know that you can retexture the RHW to be something other than asphalt?

  Edited May 30, 2012 by Ganaram DI  

[fonzyfb73 39]

My SC4 life would be complete as soon as RHW introduces Multi-Level Stacks

Did you know that you can retexture the RHW to be something other than asphalt?

No

[Cob92 360]

Behold the Holy Grail of RHW development... Multi-level stacks... That's exactly the kind of thing MHW can never do and what RHW development is aiming for.

Did you know that you can retexture the RHW to be something other than asphalt?

I think that RHW is headed in the right direction, and has improved significantly from its earlier iterations, but it still is aimed at a type of highway that really is only built in rural and exurban areas that have plenty of available land for construction. Urban highways generally have short ramps and very little separation from the city. The current inability of the RHW to stack more than 2 levels high above ground is a big factor in limiting its usefulness in urban areas.

[Ganaram Inukshuk 906]

I think that RHW is headed in the right direction, and has improved significantly from its earlier iterations, but it still is aimed at a type of highway that really is only built in rural and exurban areas that have plenty of available land for construction.

Arguably, stackability is pretty much RHW's weakness, as well as compactness (Well, compactness is the hardest thing to do, but arguably still it's something you'd have to deal with for both MHW ahd RHW), but stackabiility is now something that's currently on the docket (and after all these years, too).

Question for you, C96: Would you like it better if RHW were concrete instead?

  Edited May 30, 2012 by Ganaram DI  

[Tarkus 6,932]

Concrete is planned . . .

The only reason it hasn't been released yet is because of the fact that the IID scheme for the RHW is being completely changed as part of the "Project 57" effort (which is leading up to the stack functionality).

I do think people would be less inclined to label the RHW "rural" if the project hadn't initially been called "Rural Highway". The "stigma" of that hasn't really warn off, even though the name change took place 2 years ago. I do believe the next release should squash that once and for all (but without alienating the folks who still use it "rurally"). The main reason it hasn't really gotten "urban" (in the sense that people seem to be using that word in critiquing the RHW) has been the lack of 3D models . . . the technical back-end has basically been able to support it for a long time, due to the modular structure of the mod, and Project 57 will make that back-end even more robust.

-Tarkus

[Haljackey 17,271]

I think that RHW is headed in the right direction, and has improved significantly from its earlier iterations, but it still is aimed at a type of highway that really is only built in rural and exurban areas that have plenty of available land for construction. Urban highways generally have short ramps and very little separation from the city. The current inability of the RHW to stack more than 2 levels high above ground is a big factor in limiting its usefulness in urban areas.

Okay... Let's break it down.

Yes the RHW was originally envisioned as a rural alternative to the highways Maxis included in the game. However after its first initial versions it became consistently more urban. The name was changed from "Rural Highway" to "Real Highway" to reflect this.

I've used the RHW in extremely dense urban environments since its conception when it was supposed to be rural. It can be done with experience and trial and error. Short ramps have been there since version 2.0.

While RHW networks, along with all others in SC4, can currently only stack two levels, you can make it work. In addition, a third level is easy to make with a `sunken` section.

Further releases of this mod will continue to increase it`s compactness and `stackability`. I have found with using the RHW mod is if you want to make it work, you can if you plan correctly.

Lastly, let`s not make it rain on this parade. I have found there has been a fair amount of negativity about custom content recently and I`m not sure why. Dedicated members have spent countless (unpaid) hours making the mods that we seem to take for granted. Let`s support them and continue to be optimistic about the future.

[Cob92 360]

I think that RHW is headed in the right direction, and has improved significantly from its earlier iterations, but it still is aimed at a type of highway that really is only built in rural and exurban areas that have plenty of available land for construction.

Arguably, stackability is pretty much RHW's weakness, as well as compactness (Well, compactness is the hardest thing to do, but arguably still it's something you'd have to deal with for both MHW ahd RHW), but stackabiility is now something that's currently on the docket (and after all these years, too).

Question for you, C96: Would you like it better if RHW were concrete instead?

Honestly, whether the highway is concrete or asphalt makes little difference to me. Concrete is more realistic in my experience, but I've got no problem with building an asphalt highway. What annoys me is when I get to where I want to build an interchange and I can't make it fit because the space is 1 tile too small or I have to add in a bunch of extra curves and junk that wouldn't be necessary if I could simply go under or over the obstacles in the way. I don't have any master plans for any of my cities, so I figure out halfway through the game how to route a highway through a built-up area. I bulldoze my way through apartments, shops, and schools to get the highway in. The more I have to revise the interchanges, the more buildings I end up demolishing needlessly, and a junction that should take 15 minutes maximum to build ends up taking me a full hour. So for a highway system with over 10 highway x highway junctions, I'm looking at hours and hours spent just making the interchanges, not to mention all the little ramps that take 5 minutes here and there to build (for a large metro area you're looking at several dozen such ramp setups, amounting to probably over 100 total ramps).

The RHW is a cool thing, don't get me wrong, and it allows for some really crazy highway creations. I use it myself in my regions. But I'm not about to pretend that using it is anything but a huge headache.

[MandelSoft 2,769]

Yes, the RHW can be hard to build, and yes, it takes me quite some time to set up an interchange too, but we can't really do anything to make it more simple. Patience is a virtue when it comes to constructing a RHW. We just can't magically make new networks; we have to use work-arounds and tricks to give all this current functionality of the RHW. But the current RHW is in a way better shape than its predecessors. I was a MHW-geek when I first encountered the RHW, but over the years, I've learned to appreciate the mod. It has its flaws, but we are constantly working om new ways to overcome these. And yes, that takes a lot of time...

I can remember a time that there was only a RHW-2, 4, 6S and MIS, and they were all ground level. At that time, all pieces could fit under one button. However, the mod was less flexible back then, making interchanges bigger than they are today. Nowadays, we have more flexible starters, more RHW widths, elevated RHWs, smooth curvers, FARHW, FLEXfly and FlexSPUI, DRIs and even cosmetic pieces. And with the latest developments, in the near future we'll have wider RHW bridges and a Multi-Height system. The possibilities are still growing...

All this negativity about custom content, but here's a question to you: have you ever tried to make custom content? If not, you have no idea how hard and time-consuming it is for us to make all the stuff we created for the past NAM versions and associated mods. And remember, we don't do this for a job; we do this in our free time. And we still try to experiment with features to make the RHW easier to use, but we also have limited resources over there...

Also, building freeways through a city center is a bad idea overall. Not only do you have not a lot of space, but alos you'll get a lot of noise and air pollution, which is something citizens don't like. Therefore, most (newer) freeways are build around cities, and development tries to keep distance from it.

I've told this quite some times before and it looks like I'm repeating myself to get my point clear...

Best,

Maarten

[Wiimeiser 436]

Which is why we should redesign the East-West "Tunnel" here in Melbourne. Personally I think they have the right idea, but have the plan and execution all wrong. I personally think it should join Westlink And by the way this forum needs a better method for embedding links into text, the current buttons are just confusing and can do everything except what they do everywhere else...

[MG1451 26]

Here's a little interchange that is around my city, it's quite small I know but it took like 30 minutes to figure out.

[Vahr 341]

Once you get proficient at the RHW, it does pay off big time.

This interchange, if memory serves properly, took only about 5 minutes to build. It's urban, compact, and eye-pleasing.

And another one - this one was a bit trickier and took 15 minutes.

The average diamond interchange takes me under 2 minutes to build. If you practice at it and get an idea of how everything flows, things speed up vastly.

[Legobuilder123 24]

Once you get proficient at the RHW, it does pay off big time.

This interchange, if memory serves properly, took only about 5 minutes to build. It's urban, compact, and eye-pleasing.

And another one - this one was a bit trickier and took 15 minutes.

The average diamond interchange takes me under 2 minutes to build. If you practice at it and get an idea of how everything flows, things speed up vastly.

Excellent work there Blue Lightning! Definitively realistic, you sir I tip my hat to you.

[okaleldar 10]

I don't ever build enough into a region to get to urban areas. I spend all my time seeing just what RHW is capable of, given all the space it needs. Natural slopes, and smooth curves. Reproduction of an interchange in my area I've been in love with since it opened a few years back. EDIT: after some modifications to make it closer to the original, including the addition of a neighboring junction.

  Edited June 1, 2012 by okaleldar  

[fonzyfb73 39]

Once you get proficient at the RHW, it does pay off big time.

This interchange, if memory serves properly, took only about 5 minutes to build. It's urban, compact, and eye-pleasing.

And another one - this one was a bit trickier and took 15 minutes.

The average diamond interchange takes me under 2 minutes to build. If you practice at it and get an idea of how everything flows, things speed up vastly.

Those are really nice. Great work!

[mightygoose 92]

good work people, carry on.

[Haljackey 17,271]

good work people, carry on.

[WiiGoGetter 65]

I wish I could remove this eyesore due to lower traffic amounts and its the most ugly thing ever but I cant get my sc4 to work . anyways BEHOLD the ugliest interchange known to man

[Indiana Joe 1,750]

My eyes! IT BURNS!

I challenge someone to make a traffic flow map of that monster.

  Edited June 1, 2012 by Indiana Joe  

[WiiGoGetter 65]

My eyes! IT BURNS!

I challenge someone to make a traffic flow map of that monster.

I could if I got SC4 to work and almost no one uses the interchange anymore. So its all green

[Kruemel95 27]

In my opinion the RHW is not too time consuming however, there are some glithes which take alot of time to deal with.

for example, in this intersection at the top right, after the first turn, i was not abel to use the 90degree flexcurve or whatever its called because it would glitch so i had to make two 45degree turns instead. On the other side however i could make the smoth curvve.

The intersection is perfectly symetrical, exept for the small glitch.

Its kinda strange that the flex cuve worked on one side of the intersection but did not work on the other.

[Tarkus 6,932]

Its kinda strange that the flex cuve worked on one side of the intersection but did not work on the other.

From the pic, it kind of looks to me like the diagonal MIS bit is closer in on the "north" side of the pic, where the FLEXFly piece would go. There's more space on the "south" side, where you were able to use it. As FLEXFly can't do anything with diagonal networks, that's likely what broke it in the "north" side.

-Tarkus

[MandelSoft 2,769]

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present you the Tape-interchange?

This is what you get when you're connecting two trumpet interchanges together...

Best,

Maarten

[Srawldaddy74 17]

But thats the lure of the game. Well at least the reason you download and play using NAM. I think most of us here play just for the challenge of RHW. Meaning how can you come up with a new way making an interchange or using the guide to build the whirlpool or cloverstack. It is time consuming but I wouldnt want it any other way. Having played sim city2000 up until now building and managing a city is just mundane. The challenge of intergrating RHW in to a whole region is what keeps me playing. I have several regions that I have not finished because my level of building increases each time I learn a new trick. So in that light it keeps the game fresh. Currentely I am revisiting older regions without RHW and incorporating it into each of the cities. I built my outer loop complete with spurs to CBDs, I have built my parkways connecting to the spurs and now I am tackling the urban expressways and have found that maybe a 4 lane expressway isnt the smartest way to use the space so I replace it with Network Widening. I respect how you feel and there are times that I have to get up and walk away but once I figure out what I am going to do I am right back in love with RHW. I am looking forward to the new updates and maybe just maybe I will finish a whole region to MD it from start to finish. Just my 2 cents. To all of you NAM modders you have a fan in me. Keep up the great work.

"The RHW is a cool thing, don't get me wrong, and it allows for some really crazy highway creations. I use it myself in my regions. But I'm not about to pretend that using it is anything but a huge headache."

[Haljackey 17,271]

Simple, but it should work

Click for full resolution!

Basic diamond, but seems to fit well there. Traffic volumes won't be overkill, so it should function fine.

EDIT strike my last, already over-capacity.

Click for full size:

(traffic collision in that pic too )

  Edited June 2, 2012 by Haljackey  

[Haljackey 17,271]

There hasn't been much activity here... so double post time

Click images for full resolution!

Update on the interchange on the last post... development and traffic have certainly increased.

Guess I need to widen this pass too... maybe move the north/south avenue a few tiles to the right to get it to link up.

Edit: rebuilt the area, which includes a nicely sloped half-diamond interchange.

Zoom out:

  Edited June 4, 2012 by Haljackey  

[WiiGoGetter 65]

Very nice hal.

I may get my sc4 working so I will be able to show more pics. And theres a 5 way interchange I was working on kinda like the 35W i 94 MN 55 interchange in Downtown minneapolis