Bus Lane mod

[Tennismaster1 1]

hi, i thought i start a new form for a new bus lane mod seeing as alot of people want one.

 

heres a photoshopped pic of what i think could be done .can anyone make the textures and modding?

 

 

[edcase2k4-thugangel1983 1]

i'm sure someone will work on textures i think dexter, 6underground, and myself have shown interst in that side of the idea

however it needs to be decided wether this will be an automatic addition on all avenues and/or one-way roads? or wether it will be a new transport network option? either way new textures (and paths too, i think) will need to be created. personally i would not use the mod unless it was optional..

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i have just had an idea of a crude way this could be added as a transport option. if a lot is created that can be plopped down on avenue or one-way road piece, this could have an overlay texture of the bus-lane piece for that texture:

bus-lane start, middle, and end pieces would be needed for each texture where it is possible to have a bus-lane. plopping this lot down would also need to somehow restrict all traffic except buses for that particular lane on that particular texture, similar to how the H.O.V. lot manages this for both lanes. you would need to plop this lot down on every single city tile containing one-way road or avenue that you would like a bus-lane on

i'm pretty sure this method would work - but i think it is likely to still be a hell of a lot of work, and because of this it may take no longer than it would to create a whole new network type (possibly using the ANT network)

i think we need an experienced modding hand to come and have a look at give some advice or suggestions, as my own modding knowledge is prety basic

[Tennismaster1 1]

ok sounds good can you ask dexter or 6underground to do the textures!

[edcase2k4-thugangel1983 1]

i thought in the Uk road mod thread you said Dexter can work on them? confirm that and i can find out if 6underground will work on them when i speak to him - if two people work on that it would be much quicker! (but their textures would need to match up perfectly, and arrange which pieces they would work on each - maybe one person can work on one-way road bus lane textures while the other works on avenue bus lane textures)

however: before textures are created an experienced modder really needs to advise on wether it would be best as:

- a new network type probably using the ANT (similar to ground light rail, diagonal streets, etc.)

or

- a ploppable lot which can be placed on one-way roads and avenues

if the second option is possible or chosen; then the bus-lane textures would only need the bus lane markings/paint on them, as the rest of the lot's texture would just be transparent and show the road texture below it. this method would also allow the mod to be used for people with different road textures which is a bonus

[Tennismaster1 1]

ok cool , i havent asked dexter no. do u know a good modder we can ask? and what do u think should be used,network or plobable. i think both would be good. i gota go out in a minet so will you be on at 6.00? to talk about this.

[edcase2k4-thugangel1983 1]

i guess Tropod, and the7trumpets are two highly experienced modders i know of, but there are others

i'm feeling that the second option will be quicker and easier to create as it eliminates the need for a lot of things

if you can find people willing to help work on this, and promote this idea to them, then you would be helping too but i currently do not know the full extent of what is required

- a relevant bus-lane texture is needed for each and every road texture which shows a part of an avenue. the texture should so no road tarmac/surface or grass etc. only the bus-lane

- a relevant bus-lane texture is needed for each and every road texture which shows a part of a one-way road. the texture should so no road tarmac/surface or grass etc. only the bus-lane

- some way of the game determining which bus lane texture should be placed when you click and place this lot over one-way roads or avenues. need advice from a modder on the feasibility of this. i'm pretty sure it is possible

- some way of the pathfinding being modified for that game tile when placing this lot on it

i think that is most of what is needed but probably not all

[Dexter 40]

I will work on the textures, but someone will need to send them to me in order to use. Email simtropolisdexter@hotmail.com .

[edcase2k4-thugangel1983 1]

do you mean already in BMP form Dexter? if so, i can send them to you when i come across them (as i am currently editing other road textures)

[friedbrice 0]

Date: 8/15/2005 9:20:53 AM Author: edcase2k4-thugangel1983

if a 'lot' is created that can be plopped down on avenue or one-way road piece, this could have an overlay texture of the bus-lane piece for that texture

 

i'd hate to wreck your enthusiasm, especially for such a neat project , but the .exe doesn't allow two transit enabled lots to be placed next to each other, such as the old light rail mod or the road top bus stops or urban legends traffic control lots. if you place these over a road, the .exe won't allow another one to be placed next to it.

 

it's a compromise, but the ANT can be turned into a bus-only network, either by modding the speeds of all other network types to zero or by using urban legend's bus only lot (over a regular road first and then extending it with the ANT).

 

 

[edcase2k4-thugangel1983 1]

damn that's a shame... i guess that particular method won't work. meaning a new netowrk using the ANT is the only possibility?  and i sense that doing it that way would be one hell of a big project when i consider everything that would be involved... not only would all new textures and rules need to be created for the new network, but it would also need to be able to connect to all exisitng road networks. a mammoth project

[Tennismaster1 1]

cool thanks dexter but what about the modding? edcase could you ask one of the two menshioned above to do it!

[edcase2k4-thugangel1983 1]

there would be a hell of a lot involved tennismaster and i would presume they are already busy on other projects and RLS too.. it is a mod that will take many people working on the different aspects of this. asking them wouldn't be enough as there is so much involved: many people need to be interested and willing to work on this. but any experienced modder would be able to give good advice about what is actually required once there is enough people willing to work on it

[Dexter 40]

Yes, in bmp or any standard image format would do fine. I will do the avenue and oneway textures, so I need the 128x128 size one of the aveune junction tiles, turning lane tiles, normal sections, diagonal, street & road junction tiles, and most of the others if possible.

 

Thank you.

 

As for how to place them, how about puzzle peices network, which you tab to go through?

[edcase2k4-thugangel1983 1]

i'll see what i can do with finding the textures. it will take a while though

 

i guess ANT puzzle-pieces is one option for creating this. but to function they will need paths etc.

 

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i've been thinking though, surely if we were to create it as a new network (possibly that can be placed in the same way as roads i.e. not with puzzle pieces): is there no way to copy the rules, paths, etc. and everything else required, straight duplicated from those for the Maxis one-way roads and avenues? then simply modify them as this would be much faster than creating entirely new RULes and paths?

[Tennismaster1 1]

what about arrows for the bus lane can they painted on the road? another form Meshioned about a slow sign being painted on the road could we do this with the arrows?

 

 

[Dexter 40]

It may be possible for arrows if they are within the textures. I was thinking of a way to do it with ruls, but there is nothing that can be placed alongside or over the road that wouldn't obstruct anything !

[Tennismaster1 1]

ok. how are the textures comeing?

[friedbrice 0]

Date: 8/15/2005 12:59:39 PM
Author: edcase2k4-thugangel1983
damn that's a shame... i guess that particular method won't work. meaning a new netowrk using the ANT is the only possibility? and i sense that doing it that way would be one hell of a big project when i consider everything that would be involved... not only would all new textures and rules need to be created for the new network, but it would also need to be able to connect to all exisitng road networks. a mammoth project

quote>

if you wanted to use the ANT as a bus-only network it wouldn't be that hard. the paths and rules already exist, you just have to turn the speed to anything but busses to zero. new textures is a handful of work, but you already anticipated that.

[6underground 11]

Like i said, i don't mind helping ouut with the textures, a question i wanted too ask though is that would this work with say Bus only traffic in one lane (bus lane), and the next lane too it for normal traffic? rather than one tile thick bus lane?

I'm assuming the foremost is correct what i've read so far..

[Dexter 40]

Date: 8/15/2005 3:26:00 PM Author: Tennismaster1 ok. how are the textures comeing?

Please be patient. It has been a matter of a few hours, and I need someone to send me the textures in an image format, or find out how to use the reader to export textures and where they are.

 

Edit: Are we going to use the ANT network instead of avenues then? If so, i'm not sure setting the speed to zero will work. It would be better to block any other traffic from using it at all, or you may get sims not able to get to work as it may be the shortest route from home to work.

[edcase2k4-thugangel1983 1]

friedbrice: that sounds kool but woulod it mean that it would need to work like NAM puzzle pieces? i assume this is only how diagonal streets and ground light rail work (i haven't had a chance to use either yet!) so basically, any roads with buslanes would be created by placing them tile by tile??

if this is the only way possible then that is fair enough but i don't think it would be that user-friendly for most users unfortunately. laying avenues in your city with bus-lanes would be quite complicated making sure you have used the correct pieces as the selection would be HUGE (whereas one-way would not be as bad, but still extensive)...

 

EDIT

 

ah your post 6u has just made me think. turning the speeds for all vehicles except buses to 0 isn't going to work is it? unless you can change the speed for one lane and not the other? i've got a feeling that can't be done...

 

EDIT-EDIT

 

Dexter: i have all (i think all of them) the road textures from the game in FSH file format with the instanceIDs as their filename, around 1728-ish different textures if i do have all of them. only around 340 of these are relevant to any new road texturing because FSHman can automatically create the textures for the extra zooms. obviously most of the 340 will not have any one-way road or avenue texture on them anyway! but i have no idea which of these 340 or so are the textures you need and the only way to detemine which ones is by loading up the iLive Reader and searching for which instanceIDs contain (partial or full) avenues or one-way road....... that is, unless someone has some kind of reference file or list for this

 

hsving said all that though - i'm not even sure i have all the FSH textures yet. can someone please confirm wether or not all road network textures are in the SimCity_5.dat file....?

[Dexter 40]

Date: 8/15/2005 5:30:29 PM Author: edcase2k4-thugangel1983

Dexter: i have all (i think all of them) the road textures from the game in FSH file format with the instanceIDs as their filename, around 1728-ish different textures if i do have all of them. only around 340 of these are relevant to any new road texturing because FSHman can automatically create the textures for the extra zooms. obviously most of the 340 will not have any one-way road or avenue texture on them anyway! but i have no idea which of these 340 or so are the textures you need and the only way to detemine which ones is by loading up the iLive Reader and searching for which instanceIDs contain (partial or full) avenues or one-way road....... that is, unless someone has some kind of reference file or list for this

hsving said all that though - i'm not even sure i have all the FSH textures yet. can someone please confirm wether or not all road network textures are in the SimCity_5.dat file....?

quote>

I just tried to load the reader and my whole system just crashed. The mouse pointer wouldn't move and CTRL+ALT+DEL just made a beeping noise. I had to pull the plug out of the wall outlet!

[edcase2k4-thugangel1983 1]

woah, that is.. weird sounds like how my old computers used to act once they got real old and i was using modern programs on them. i have no idea why your reader crashed

[friedbrice 0]

Date: 8/15/2005 5:30:29 PM
Author: edcase2k4-thugangel1983

friedbrice: that sounds kool but woulod it mean that it would need to work like NAM puzzle pieces? i assume this is only how diagonal streets and ground light rail work (i haven't had a chance to use either yet!) so basically, any roads with buslanes would be created by placing them tile by tile??

if this is the only way possible then that is fair enough but i don't think it would be that user-friendly for most users unfortunately. laying avenues in your city with bus-lanes would be quite complicated making sure you have used the correct pieces as the selection would be HUGE (whereas one-way would not be as bad, but still extensive)...

quote>


i think we're talking about two different projects. my suggestion was that the ANT be made into an entierly bus-only network, not a network combining bus-only lanes and mixed-flow lanes.

you know who the person to ask is! PM the7thtrumpet and ask him if path files are specific to vehicle type, so that buses can be seen going down one lane and passenger cars can be seen going down a different lane. tropod might also be able to tell you.

[edcase2k4-thugangel1983 1]

thanks friedbrice, i'll ask T7T or tropod tomorrow about that

bus-only network as you were originally referring to would still be a good addition (something similar to the pictures from Leeds in the UK Road Mod thread) but i think most people would choose the bus-lane project out of preference as this is much more common. either would be great though if possible!

 

i seem to have inherited a lead role in this but i don't mind, i just hope that this project can be delivered

[Tennismaster1 1]

we seem to have enough people willing to work on this !!!!

[edcase2k4-thugangel1983 1]

alright people! i had a little brainwave before - and i think it may be a solution to the problem the EXE causes which prevents my earlier and easier idea becoming a reality. basically it is to reverse the process and place the bus-lane lots first BEFORE you lay a road network type over them. hopefully this shouldn't cause the same problem which prevents two lots being plopped next to eachother while on top of transport networks. the reason i am hopeful that the problem should be worked around like this is because i think i have seen this same technique used before! check out these pics from marrast's collection...

i have this installed but i've never actually used it. i am under the impression that it is a lot you can plop on slopes, and allows you to build roads ontop at a different level (even next to tunnel entrances)

 

if, doing things this way round, you can place networks on top of two lots that are side-by-side: then my original idea may still be possible which will speed up and simplify the creation of this mod quite a lot! obviously though there could be other potential and unforseen problems....

 

i have asked Tropod in PM about this amongst a few other things. but if there are any other memebers who know if it is possible to drag networks on top of multiple lots which are next to eachother, then please post here and let me know! cheers

[Tennismaster1 1]

good work edcase!

[6underground 11]

In other news...

It's not perfect but i have successfuly imported my own texture into Simcity4!!!!My first one

[toxicpiano 125]

not sure if anyone has metioned this but instead of making complicated DATs, you can make road marking in Gmax, and import them into the lot editor as a prop. simple. you basicalkly just have to draw what you want flat on the floor of the scene, minding the scale of squares and render it.