Real Highway (RHW) - Development and Support

[MaybeMemories06 0]

Tarkus, Thank you for clearing that up. Why couldn't someone have said that days ago instead of just calling everyone impatient and unappreciative? I woulda given up and let it go with no more issues. I wasn't tryin to be impatient or rude, I just thought everyone else was slacking. Now that I know they don't have the pieces to show us, I'll quit asking. But is there a list anywhere of what is included in the next NAM? And will there be overpasses/offramps for the 5 lane RHW?

[mjig_dudy 11]

qurlix: thanks very much for those textures, they will be a great help

Tarkus: those puzzel peices are looking good, i'm sure they will look great when you get the textures sorted.

here is a screenshot with some new turn textures, what do you think?

[Haljackey 17,354]

Now, that looks great! Its just like the RHW curve! I really enjoy the 2 lane RHW mjig_dudy, as it gives my main country roads a more humble feel with the yellow broken line and the shoulders!

Tarkus/qurlix: Thanks for the feedback! All I wanted to do is adress is that somthing needs to be done with the sidewalk, be it by filling up the area with an emergency lane, a berrier of some sort, grass, or whatever. The sidewalk looks especially bad on diagional sections, as the rest of the texture other than the RHW itself is a sidewalk; even the diagional road in game has something to cover this up!

Ever since I joined Simtropolis back in December, the RHW has always been my favorite thread. It seemed to have slowed down a few months ago, but has really jumpstarted with a huge afterburn with all the progress being made here. If theres anything I can do to help out, please PM me!

-Haljackey!

Edit:  Heres a shot of the problem.  In this enviorment, the sidewalk on the straight sections of the RHW looks okay:

...But the diagional section acts as an outlyer in this picture.

[MaybeMemories06 0]

Does anyone know if there are any SPUI's on any japanese sites, or german sites, for SC4? If not, can someone point me to all the tools I would need to create on on my own?

[Sydney Claridge 106]

@Tarkus: How about moving the support columns on the elevated RHW puzzle pieces more to the center?  I personally think that would look better when 2 puzzle pieces are placed side by side.  Just my 2 cents.

[LivingInThePast 364]

When will the version with the nicer textures become available? Will this be part of the next NAM?

And finally, I'd like...no sidewalks.

[mapper 1]

This project seemed to have slowed down in the past few months but now it seems to be back on track! Elevated RHW seems like a great idea, but will they work with the standard 2-lane RHW that mjig_dudy created? This would create a whole new set of interchanges with 2-lane, 4-lane(2 lanes on each side), and possibly the upcoming 10-lane RHW(5 lanes on each side).

EDIT: Oh and are there any one-way/road intersection textures in the works?

-mapper

[bri3d 4]

I really like the idea of interchange puzzle pieces...there would be so much variety possible. Glad to see this project move along even more.

LOL, the Maxis highways should be called FHWs...Fake Highways, I mean, I've never seen a highway like them. Almost as unrealistic as SC3k Unlimited's.

[Tarkus 6,932]

@MaybeMemories06:  You are most certainly welcome!  Glad I could clarify that for you.

As far as making SPUIs, I don't think there are any available elsewhere for SC4.  One of the Japanese sites does have some condensed El-FHW diamond interchanges though.  There was a SPUI that someone had modeled around here awhile ago, but as far as I know nothing has progressed on that front in quite awhile.  As far as making your own SPUI, the only things you really need are the BAT and iLive's Reader.  I'd also recommend SC4Tool as well, as it allows easy conversion between PNG and FSH (the native texture format for SC4), and some sort of image editing program if you are making your own textures (GIMP is free and can be found at http://www.gimp.org).  As far as the process goes, the Interchange Tutorial by redlotus is rather helpful.  It can be found here.  If you're new to the BAT, I'd also look into the "BAT Essentials" tutorial by phillippbo.  It is included the Omnibus . . . here's a direct link.  That should at least get you started . . . if you have any basic questions, feel free to PM me, and I'll try to help the best I can.  I'm still learning some of the more advanced stuff, though.

And there will be overpasses and offramps for the 10-lane (5 in each direction RHW), though I will probably wait until the ground version is closer to completion.  As far as what NAM 20 will have in it, I'm not entirely sure.  Supposedly, a list is buried in one of the NAM threads.

@mjig_dudy:  I can't say it enough; you are doing a tremendous job on the 2-lane RHW!  The one thing I think you have left there is the diagonal endpiece.  It's reverting to the default ANT/Road texture.  I don't know the instance off the top of my head for that texture, but if you just cut one of your diagonals in half with a transparency and place it at that instance, you should be good to go.

@haljackey:  Glad I could be of assistance, and thanks again for your continued feedback and encouragement.  As far as the whole sidewalk issue goes, the RHW is reacting to adjacent wealth levels or development, just like all the other 2D networks in SC4.  (The El-Rail, Monorail and FHW are built from 3D models as opposed to flat textures for Roads, etc.)  Eliminating the transparency from the texture, as you had talked about, would solve the problem for the orthogonal sections, but I don't think it would for the diagonal . . . I may mess around with it at some point,.

@Houston_Fan:  Thanks for the feedback!  I'll try that later.

@LivingInThePast:  Are you referring to mjig_dudy's project or the Elevated RHW pieces?  As far as the Elevated RHW pieces, I'll have pics of it soon, and it will be released with the next RHW (I may do an early beta if anyone is interested . . .)

As far as I know the RHW is planned as an optional plug-in for the next NAM, at least, that's the last I heard on that front.  It may not be the complete revised RHW, as there are some more experimental things that qurlix may package into a separate release (like the 45m Elevated RHW). 

@mapper:  The 4-lane RHW ones I have shown won't work with the 2-lane since the pathing is different.  However, I will be making elevated puzzle pieces (both 15m and 30m) with the 2-lane RHW that mjig_dudy has been texturing.  It is actually quite simple to re-texture and re-path.  I had a preliminary elevated 10-lane RHW piece a couple of pages back, though that is not likely to be released until the ground 10-lane is released (I'm not sure when that will be).

As far as the Road and One-Way Road intersection textures, I know that some of them are done.  I haven't seen any of them yet (other than the new one qurlix just posted), so I don't know exactly what has been done, or will be included.

@bri3d:  Thanks for the encouragement!  (And I'm glad to see my new moniker for the Maxis highways is catching on . . . )

-Tarkus

[poops2u 2]

Wow, excellent coming up here! Can't wait for the release!

I know this doesn't advance the conversation in any way, but where did you get those road plop pieces with the RHW on the bottom HALJACKEY? Was is it the NAM, or was it separately downloaded?

Thanks, and keep up the good work!

-P2U

[tommiej 0]

it really does look great!!! nice work! keep it up!

[mapper 1]

Thanks for answering my question, Tarkus. And I got a another one for you. Not to put a damper on all the work you are doing(by the way great job), are you going to make avenue/one-way overpasses over RHW? If not, I had some ideas of trying to make them myself. I'm not that great but if I get the right measurements/files I might be able to do it.

Thanks,

-mapper

[bwatterud 7]

Originally posted by: bri3d LOL, the Maxis highways should be called FHWs...Fake Highways, I mean, I've never seen a highway like them. Almost as unrealistic as SC3k Unlimited's.quote>

Oh, FHW's exist. They're just a lot less common.

[Tarkus 6,932]

@poops2u:  The RHW/Road puzzle piece you are referring to is actually included in the RHW Mod.  Upon installing the mod, it can be found in the Road Puzzle Pieces.  It will be the last one in the set (or if you go in reverse with Shift-TAB, the second one).

@mapper:  You're welcome, and thanks for the compliments!  Yes, I have made considerable progress on the Avenue/RHW and One-Way/RHW overpass puzzle pieces (see a few pages back, there's some preliminary pics of at least one of them), so they will be added in.  They are next in line.  Thank you, though, for your offer. 

@tommiej:  Again, thanks for your continued encouragement!

-Tarkus

[LivingInThePast 364]

@Tarkus: I wanted no sidewalks in any RHW. It's a highway. Highways don't have sidewalks. I like the new textures of the 4-lane RHW, and I don't quite know if the 2-laned RHW would interfere with anything. (did I ask that before?)

[poops2u 2]

Hey thanks Tarkus!

-P2U

[Andreas Roth 614]

Wow, some great progress here, very nice work! Just one question/observation: The lanes of the diagonal RHW stretches are smaller than the straight ones, is that intentional? If you look at the Maxis roads, you'll notice that the sidewalks (or the shoulders, in case of the RHW) are narrower at diagonal stretches than those along orthogonal stretches of road. Just keep this in mind when creating new textures...

[mjig_dudy 11]

Atatachted to this post is the 2 lane RHW including improved turn textures and road connection textures. If you use this could you please post saying if there is anything that is wrong with it. 

twoway RHW2.zip

[tommiej 0]

no tnx Tarkus, thank yourself for making the RHW, you did it so don't thank me... keep it up

[IdeaWorld 4]

Yeah, Presents! So now we can have all that cool stuff!

[Tarkus 6,932]

Hi everyone-

Here's the latest developments on the puzzle pieces.

15m Elevated RHW

It's almost done, and is no longer "festive".  I followed Houston_Fan's suggestion of putting the supports closer together.  I still will have to re-do them since they still stick up into the roadway.  Can't get traffic on them yet though, because I haven't finished the ramp:

Here's a little something you haven't seen yet, that I have alluded to a couple of times.  It's nowhere near being done yet, but it could have a great deal of potential in the future.  It's also invisible at this point since I still have to mod it some more:

Yes, that's right, a sunken RHW.  Here it is in the Reader as well:

As far as the other puzzle pieces, here's my plan at this point, in terms of the order I am going to work on them:

1) One-Way Road over RHW

2) Avenue over RHW

3) RHW Ground-to-15m Ramp

Edit:

4) Rail over RHW

5) Street over RHW (if anyone wants it, otherwise I'll pass on it.)

6) Fixes for the El-Rail/RHW junctions, plus Monorail/RHW (if anyone's interested, or else I'll pass)

7) Anything that needs to be done to get things to work well diagonally, including elevated straight-to-diagonal transition pieces.

End Edit

After this, I'll be making the other networks under the RHW, followed by the initial stages of the RHWMIS.

Edit: Sometime during that time, I'll also be working on the 2-lane RHW puzzle pieces based on mjig_dudy's textures.

End Edit

As far as specific comments:

@LivingInThePast:  The 2-lane RHW textures that mjig_dudy has uploaded on this thread will just replace the Road-style textures that are included with the ANT. 

@poops2u:  No problem!  Glad I could help.

@Andreas Roth:  Thanks for the feedback!  I noticed that about the lanes too, but thought it was just the idiosyncracies of diagonal textures.

@mjig_dudy:  Thanks for uploading the new 2-lane textures!  I haven't tried them out yet, but I'll be sure to provide feedback a little later.

@tommiej:  You're welcome, but I didn't do it all . . . none of this would have been possible without qurlix, nooneatall, zeddic, ryanb_sc4, Swamper77, and mjig_dudy, and all the people who have supplied feedback and suggestions here.  (Someone correct me if I forgot anyone.)  But, really, thanks for the encouragement!

-Tarkus

[cammo2003 20]

Sunken RHW, eh? Believe me, you'll find quite a few fans if you're able to get that one to work.

Good luck with it all.

[justintime 8]

I made this for RHW.

[Tarkus 6,932]

Another puzzle piece almost done:

As you can see, there's still some funny stuff going on here, like the painted arrows going in opposite directions (I had to do that to keep the RHW functioning).  And with DrawPaths turned on, you can see that it still thinks it's a 2-way Road.  But, it's getting very close.  (Also, note the use of the texture without the transparency.)

@mjig_dudy:  I have had a chance to try out your new textures, and I'd have to say I'm very pleased with them.  I would, however, second Andreas' suggestion regarding the diagonals appearing narrow, as shown below:

Otherwise, keep up the great work! 

@cammo2003:  Yes, sunken RHW indeed.  It is pathed as well, so technically, it should function as it stands.  However, I haven't been able to connect anything to it yet.  I was going to see if I could modify one of blahdy's Big Dig lots for that purpose, but they're transit-enabled lots with a conversion, so the models look really funny from all angles except one (M.C. Escher effect) in the Reader.  Once I get the 15m to ground ramp done, it would actually be quite easy to do the ground to -15m ramp, though.

And thanks for wishing me good luck.  I'll need it!

@justintime:  Nice median props!  That would work good for an RHW with a one-tile separation, and would work with the non-transparent textures.

-Tarkus

[justintime 8]

Originally posted by: Tarkus

@justintime:  Nice median props!  That would work good for an RHW with a one-tile separation, and would work with the non-transparent textures.

-Tarkusquote>

 

Thank you.

Too bad i can't get it to upload.

[metasmurf 705]

Tarkus: awesome work, i tried out your single rural highway and it works really good. Now the only thing that would be sweet is a transition between that single rhw and the double one, aswell as proper road intersection textures for the double rhw

[redfox85 659]

Tarkus, are you planning a rail over RHW too before you get to other networks under RHW?

[GMT 389]

wow, should definately drop in more often. the progress you all do here is awesome.

[bri3d 4]

Simply amazing. Can't wait for elevated RHW, and at least it's not "festive" anymore.

And I love the two lane RHW; it's like having a country road in game, or even making two networks out of one.

[Tarkus 6,932]

@justintime:  Are you trying to upload it to the STEX?

@metasmurf:  Actually, all the credit for the single, 2-lane, 2-way RHW textures goes to mjig_dudy, who did an incredible job!  (The puzzle pieces, though, are mine.)  As far as transitions between the 2-lane and the 4-lane RHWs, I'm thinking that will have to be accomplished by another puzzle piece . . . though it would theoretically be possible to do it with textures.  Until that's done, though, the Avenue will have to do . . .

@Anung Mwka:  I almost forgot about the rail networks . . . thanks for the reminder, yes, there will be.

@GMT:  Thanks!  Glad to hear we're doing something right.

@bri3d:  Yes, it's not festive anymore . . . glad I got that fixed (I probably wouldn't have figured out how without Swamper77's assistance).  Once the 10-lane gets done, the RHW will effectively be three networks in one.  And if I ever figure out how qurlix made the dual network out of the ANT, look for some new mods from me involving the One-Way Roads . . .