Research Project ( Tunnels and Bridges ) Rocky and Bullwinkle

[xoxide 377]

Conceptual.

 

What is holding us back from doing bridges and tunnels in extended.

 

MISSION and RESEARCH.

 

Try to figure out mechanics of faking tunnels and bridges offsite for the use of UDoN's in regional area and out of city boundary.  We do not need functional maglev paths, only the basics so we can do some of the basic clovers and junctions so that people can expand cities outward and have more dynamic traffic options.

 

Anyone with ideas join in.

 

XoXiDe

[Yayie 311]

After seeing the in-game's regional roads can't think of any other than "plop-able" elevated roads. A facade vs a facade. Con's are we can't draw them like we wanted to.

[xoxide 377]

z axis is going to be what we need to look for

 

and a way to modify the z axes using n and m keys .. if we can't do tunnels I'm not going to be upset personally

 

I think bridges are more important as phase one.. but we still all have to look for the solution .. this would not only improve road sinking but most likely open up options for bridges.

[Blue Keiko 39]

Convert bridges and tunnels to ploppables is also the only thing that I can come up with.

 

Another way would be, to construct a bridge or tunnel to one's liking in the city's original 2k by 2k box, using the Glassbox Engine, and then "moving" the entire structure to the designated spot outside the city in the region.

 

Coincidently, in real life it happens a lot that "segments" of bridges and tunnels are being constructed in one place, and at some point in development that segment is being transported by ship to its destination, and 'sunk' into place. The same could be done with SimCity.

 

Another way would be to simply give the road stretch that is floating in the air a "Bridge Skin". Afterall, it's all about looks, is it not? 

 

The road and train overpasses and bridges in the region that were placed by EA/Maxis look like ploppables if you ask me.

 

P.S.: Xoxide, do you know that the Maglev Tracks do NOT up and down grade accordingly using 'N', and 'M' like the roads do? When you try, it only raises or lowers that stretch of section. I thought that you would like to know.

[xoxide 377]

Mags are elevevated Roads of a sort.  They are a trick of the road path within the engine.  Everyone was asking for monorail type system and todays version of that is maglevs.

 

Yes we are aware, they do go up and down but follow a different side effect logic when it comes to over lapping with other roads and systems.  Its best to create and do your lower levels first before going to upper levels for that reason and even then you need to think when you draw them to go past any connectors or intersections to make them work. 

 

Watching Yuttho's video's will give you the best idea of behavior (he is better than anyone with the udons and complex freeway structures I know of.

 

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You can't move paths once they are placed we are lucky we can delete them.  But I do understand what your saying.. little shunts of over pass routes for the 3 types of roads may be an idea as a plopable item.  That's a nice little trick idea maybe.  However I think functionality would be best served if we could just get them to nudge up and down if needed to ground level not below.  I do not think tunnels will work no matter what we do since its all fake land.

 

now going back to early efforts I remember at one point some of the roads were elevated but I do not think it was elevation in the normal sense.  I think it was just offsetting the road from the land as if it didn't exist.

 

Course now figuring out what it was and how it was done 8+ months after the fact is a different story.  It wasn't of any use back then and now it is.

[Blue Keiko 39]

It's too bad about, moving the structures. If you say that "we're lucky we can delete them", it has become understandable why players couldn't delete a streetcar tunnel before.

 

The only thing that l can think of is, do you remember that time before players could actually raise and lower the road to create an overpass using 'N', and 'M'?

 

Before, they showed that you could use that park in a city with elevated land to create an overpass. Maybe the same principle can used to create bridges in the region?

[xoxide 377]

can't use anything that would terrain modify in order to build parks since there is no terrain smoothing or modification to begin with.

 

The first way we did overpasses was by tweaking or finding the sweet spots in micro segments (which we are only limited to 1024 before the game will crash at any size) to use the terrain flaws to get bridges to work let alone tunnels in the normal sense

 

core changes would be needed to underground intersections which would be nice but doubt that will happen.

 

with udons we are able to at least trick the system into above ground roundabouts with ramps. 

 

Everything we can do we have to use the engine against itself .. using its abilities to gain ground not work against it.  So the solution to bridges externally has to be by using some mechanics built into the game already.  Z axis controls of some sort or ground offsetting which would not be the normal way to do it but similar to bridges

[Yayie 311]

take an example of invincible drone roads. I was having this crazy idea with COT having medium and high wealth use flying cars. Perhaps there's an idea from that to create bridges outside 2k? idk. make a fake road mimicking a bridge other than our current regional roads.

 

its late over here, ^ notes may sounds gibberish or nonsense.

[xoxide 377]

Tilts Head 0_o

[xoxide 377]

You know that there is an engine that handles these objects the trick is figuring out how to use it without the toolset that maxis or other shave and make it even semi functional

 

We have Road bridges in game external maps, we have Train Bridges external maps, taking the road and making it into an UDoN overpass to allow for even simple or basic functionality should not be impossible even if its not clear yet how it would work or be done.

 

The fact that it exists and has been used shows that its not out of reach just not yet solved as a group of people looking at the problem