NAM: Requests

[JayStimson 211]

1. A major thanks to all who have worked on the NAM. It's the greatest addition to the game ever.

2. The current puzzle piece el-rail to glr transition is done beautifully. The slope, geometry, and textures is perfect. However, there isn't a "perfect" matching glr to subway transition piece. I'd love to take a stab at BATting one but I don't have any of the specific measurement details nor the correct textures. If someone could provide me with this information (a gmax file and the textures) I'd gladly work on it. Even if it's just for my personal use.

3. It seems like forever that the road, one-way road, and avenue over (xxx) pieces have been around and yet they've never been upgraded. The geometry needs some "smoothing" and the textures are just horrid. That blinding white is horrible. Can someone fix those pieces ?

4. The rail viaducts pieces (raised heavy rail) are a great addition. Is there some reason they're not consistent ? Mostly the textures don't match between pieces.

Okay. Stick a fork in me. I'm done.

[ishamm 0]

if its possible could we please have draggable GLR over road/avenues, with the starter pieces like the standard glr? would make it a LOT quicker than having to place each piece individually!

thanks

[Vahr 341]

tonnakin: Well the thing is the RHW is an override of a network which the exe has no region view trigger for, therefore, you can do whatever you want but it still won't show. As for wider ERHWs, they'll come soon.

Jay: ERoad/OWR/AVE pieces are slated to be redone soon.

[Lukfi 3]

Originally posted by: the00guvna

i would like to see under ground rail under blank terrain, maybe so you could zone on top of itquote>

On flat terrain you can use a good ol' tunnel. Look for Hole Digging Lots on the STEX. The downside is that tunnels can only be straight (and orthogonal). Or there's a rail to subway transition somewhere.

Originally posted by: JayStimson

 However, there isn't a "perfect" matching glr to subway transition piece. I'd love to take a stab at BATting one but I don't have any of the specific measurement details nor the correct textures. If someone could provide me with this information (a gmax file and the textures) I'd gladly work on it. Even if it's just for my personal use.quote>

In the new (May 2010) version of NAM, there is exactly the ramp you are looking for in the Flexible Underpasses menu and it is very nicely done. If only somebody took this model and modified it into a GLR-to-subway puzzle piece...

Originally posted by: ishamm

if its possible could we please have draggable GLR over road/avenues, with the starter pieces like the standard glr? would make it a LOT quicker than having to place each piece individually!

thanksquote>

I have just discovered that dragging el-rail over a road creates Tram-in-road. It only works for straight ones and a maximum of five tiles per one drag, but still a leap ahead.

Now if I may add a few requests of my own:

- The GLR puzzle pieces menu contains a few Rural GLR pieces, but you can't build a network with these. The draggable GLR has these pieces and more, like diagonal crossings. Could these be included in the puzzle pieces menu so to offer greater flexibility?

 - Draggable custom networks that only exist as puzzle pieces now (like GLR in avenue). We've seen that it is possible, even though it has limitations right now, but it would be a real time-saver.

Thanks and keep up the good work!

[z1 566]

Originally posted by: Lukfi

- Draggable custom networks that only exist as puzzle pieces now (like GLR in avenue). We've seen that it is possible, even though it has limitations right now, but it would be a real time-saver.quote>

It turns out that the way things work, you can have either draggable tram-in-road or draggable tram-in-avenue, but not both.  As was indicated above, the choice was made to have draggable tram-in-road.

[Lukfi 3]

Hmm... so could it be possible to include a setting during the installation that would determine what the dragging does? There is, after all, quite a lot of possibilities if you count grass pieces, tram on street, el-rail over road... then there are double decker pieces (underground rail & anything-under-anything in the new FLUPs). Really, making at least some of these draggable would make construction of the networks much easier. If it was possible, of course.

What could be possible however... remember the very first release of HSRP, back when it replaced the Maxis monorail? If you dragged it right, it showed up as wide curves (and if you dragged if wrong, it showed up as monorail). Perhaps you could do the same for wide railroad curves - so that they could be built by dragging and not only as puzzle pieces. And I am quite sure that draggable rail viaducts are in the realms of possibility, since it's a disguised rail just as GLR is disguised elevated rail. So yeah, that's what I also meant by "making networks draggable".

[Tarkus 6,932]

Originally posted by: Lukfi

Hmm... so could it be possible to include a setting during the installation that would determine what the dragging does? quote>

Actually, due to the technical specs on how the draggable Tram-in-Road works, it wouldn't be--I'll give a technical explanation below. 

Unlike many of the other draggable NAM items (i.e. Draggable GLR, the RHW, SAM, etc.), which are set up as network overrides and starter pieces, the draggable Tram-in-Road uses an AutoPlace mechanism to automatically place the existing puzzle pieces--so really, you're building puzzle pieces through draggable means rather than an actual draggable network. 

The AutoPlace mechanism is determined by the network configuration specified in the CheckTypes section for the puzzle piece.  Since the El-Rail-over-Road and the other pieces of the like you mentioned have the same CheckTypes setup as the Tram-in-Road, there's no real way for the game to be able to distinguish between the various options.  Providing the option as to which setup to build would require distributing separate RUL controllers, which is not feasible and would lead to a proliferation of "red arrow bugs" and other generally bad things.

-Alex (Tarkus)

[thomasvista 0]

Hi all,

Long time lurker here, but I think I'm ready to get my feet wet and start modding myself.

The NAM team has done a magnificent job over the past few years, and a lot of great has come out of it!

I think that the original transportation networks, however, could use some sprucing up. I did some quick and dirty editing to show some concepts that could be used to give more realism to the street, road/avenue and freeway pieces. I've attached pics to show some of my ideas.

I've always found the default avenue/street intersections to be unrealistic. I did some modding to the median to make it more realistic, and wonder if a piece could be added where traffic exiting from the street onto the avenue can only turn right (right in, right out intersection).

As for the freeway, I thought that having either an embankment texture (or reinforced walls, depending if urban or rural) would make for a more interesting interchange piece with roads/avenues. I've attempted to differentiate between the road pavement and the bridge structure over the freeway. I didn't add stoplights because I'm lazy, but those would be nice to have as well. There are other minor things as well - adding a gore, realistic turn lanes to the freeway ramps, and realistic striping on the freeways.

These are just some ideas I'm throwing out there, YMMV. Thanks guys, you do a great job in enhancing the game for folks like me, who've been playing for 10 years now. I'm happy to see people interested in keeping SC4 fresh and exciting!

[Lukfi 3]

Originally posted by: thomasvista

and wonder if a piece could be added where traffic exiting from the street onto the avenue can only turn right (right in, right out intersection). quote>

That one is actually possible in plain Rush Hour. You just drag the street to touch only one avenue tile and not the farther one. However it only works for T intersections, when you do a full X, a connection throught the median will appear.

[z1 566]

Originally posted by: Lukfi

However it only works for T intersections, when you do a full X, a connection throught the median will appear.

quote>

Yes, unfortunately, simply drawing two streets up to the avenue from opposite sides causes the street median to appear.  There is a workaround to this, however.  If you make the last square before the avenue on one of the streets a road, and leave the other street alone, no median forms.

[JayStimson 211]

Alternate rail tunnels.

The Maxis rail tunnel is rather ... hmmm ... you can fill in the blank.

I have only found one alternate on the STEX / SC4Devotion. While it's not a bad creation ... it's really not quite up to current standards (IMO).

Are there any plans to make some as part of the NAM ?

My thought is that at least two options could be available ... rustic and modern. It would be nice to have both available in the game to choose from but I noticed in the simcity_1.dat file that there is only one exemplar for the rail tunnel so I'm guessing that wouldn't be an option. You'd have to pick one and stick with it.

I started making one for my own use but my creative talents aren't great.

Any comments ?

[mii7303 0]

How about a Elevated 'Y' interchange, like the one for avenues?

and elevated trumpet and reverse trumpet in interchange.

[Slashback 136]

Another request for the RHW:

Diagonal RHW-ERHW transitions, and diagonal off- and on slope transitions (still RHW-ERHW).

Awesome work with the NAM btw!

[Ex-0 0]

Can we have the following puzzle pieces added :-

1. Tram-in-Road X Rail Puzzle piece (Allowing rail traffic to cross Tram-in-road traffic)

2. Tram-Avenue X Rail Puzzle piece (Allowing rail traffic to cross Tram-in-Avenue traffic)

at present, have to use transition to GLR puzzle pieces to achieve this :-(

3. Highway Over Avenue Round about with on/of ramps coneecting to round-about. (Think this may me a 6X6 roundabout)

Thanks

Great work

[Jedimarine 119]

I'm curious if any efforts have been made to add to the lot tiles available as pedways in the NAM...with the wealth of beautiful lot tiles out there, this particular element of NAM seems long overdue to be improved.

Is there anyway to increase the pedestrian tile options?  Are their other pedway mods?

Moved to NAM Request thread.

-CaptCity

[Boulevard 2]

How about functioning traffic lights on one way roads?

[mkid6985 0]

I have a request that may already be in the works but, can we get a TLA-7 piece, and if it could be modded for both roads, avenues, and elevated roads & avenues, that would be awesome!!! cuz having lived in tourist cities my whole life there are alot of these types of roads in use today in the big/ tourist cities, in fact most of the major roads are designed that way due to traffic if not all the major roads...

[Josh6 873]

Here's my request: Triple height roads. I think they would be useful for complex interchanges and roads off of cliffs.

Also I would really love work on the elevated rail. In places such as new York, there are double wide tracks with an express lane. The same for ground rail would be nice too.

Also, double decker things would be greatly apreciated. Such as a double decker elevated rail or bridge.

Thank you for your time. Can't wait for the next NAM!

[jeffsandychelsea 3]

I would like to see some more options for the el-rail over road puzzle pieces. They are fine right now, but there are just some things you can't do with them. Another thing is that in order to make a track turn on a certain intersection, you have to use a "T" piece. I realize that this works just fine, but I would appreciate a curve piece over intersections just for aesthetics.

[CLR95 11]

I know my opinion doesn't really matter, but there is only one reason I don't use the RHW. Interchanges. They are pretty complicated to create, although it may just be that I am lazy. I think the RHW would be GREATLY improved with ploppable interchanges like the maxis ones.

Thanks and great job with everything else!!!

[Tarkus 6,932]

Originally posted by: CLR95

I know my opinion doesn't really matter, but there is only one reason I don't use the RHW. Interchanges. They are pretty complicated to create, although it may just be that I am lazy. I think the RHW would be GREATLY improved with ploppable interchanges like the maxis ones.

Thanks and great job with everything else!!!quote>

The process of making Maxis Highway-style plop interchanges is very time-consuming and labor intensive, and as such setups would be rather inflexible.  Not to mention with the myriad of different networks in the RHW, the number of interchanges that would have to be made would be astronomical.  As such, there are no plans to make any.

-Alex (Tarkus)

[Josh6 873]

Not to be a nusiance, but I have another request.

After riding the New York subways I think it would be nice to have a three-wide or four-wide elevated rail over an Avenue. Also, I know I've mentioned it earlier before, but Double decker elevated rail would be nice too. Maybe one way on each level?

And also, for ground rail that is not exactly light rail (such as the PATH line) a draggable track that looks more like the rail would look more realistic instead of all white or just grass.

Thanks, Josh6

[SlashFan2000 1]

Don't have time to read through 1900 posts, so this may have been brought up before. If not, I would like to see the Single Track Rail integrated into NAM for the next update. I run a lot of single track for realism, but need to switch back to dual to make over/underpasses when approaching highways.

[LivingInThePast 364]

A while back, I found that it was impossible to make HOV lanes (including reversible ones) without building a new network. I think there should be a mod that replaces the default Maxis highways with HOV lanes that allow buses, certain cars, but no trucks.

[Tarkus 6,932]

Originally posted by: SlashFan2000

Don't have time to read through 1900 posts, so this may have been brought up before. If not, I would like to see the Single Track Rail integrated into NAM for the next update. I run a lot of single track for realism, but need to switch back to dual to make over/underpasses when approaching highways.quote>

That'll more than likely be done as part of the RAM itself in a future update.  That project is relatively inactive right now, however, so it may be awhile.

Originally posted by: LivingInThePast

A while back, I found that it was impossible to make HOV lanes (including reversible ones) without building a new network. I think there should be a mod that replaces the default Maxis highways with HOV lanes that allow buses, certain cars, but no trucks.quote>

The game's pathing systems uses the same type of paths for cars, buses and freight trucks, with no way to distinguish between them and no known way to add more path types.  Pretty much anything involving the word "HOV" is not possible in game.

-Alex (Tarkus)

[Hyronymus 56]

In the new RTMT there are bus stop / subway / elevated rail stations. They can be placed parellel to the road and elevated rail direction. Is it possible to make them available parallel to the road direction but perpendicular to the elevated rail direction?

Also, it would be nice to have the road / elevated rail puzzle pieces available for streets too.

[Indiana Joe 1,750]

RHW ramps (used to be called 'MIS ramps', I can't remember what it got changed to) should be able to tunnel under regular RHW-4 and -6 (Even 8 if you think you can!). This disability ruined a cool design I had for a T-intersection that required no bridges or overpasses except for 2 ramp tunnels.

[z1 566]

Originally posted by: Hyronymus

In the new RTMT there are bus stop / subway / elevated rail stations. They can be placed parellel to the road and elevated rail direction. Is it possible to make them available parallel to the road direction but perpendicular to the elevated rail direction?quote>

I assume that you are talking about a situation where an el rail line merely crosses a road.  At this point, this is not something that is really a priority for the RTMT Team.  You can place an RTMT station within a square or two of the el rail overpass, and the game results are essentially identical.  Also, there exist el rail stations that also contain bus and subway stations, and these can be placed right up against the road.  So this functionality already does exist.

(CaptCity, could you please move this post and the original question to the  Road Top Mass Transit Development/Support Thread, as they really don't refer to the NAM?  Thanks!)

[Jeffmaster223 24]

Bridges for larger capacity highways.

Ex: 2-tile-wide highways, 4 laners, ect.

[Jeffmaster223 24]

Bridges for larger capacity highways.

Ex: 2-tile-wide highways, 4 laners, ect.