Network Extensions Project

[GC_Vos 714]

The .6 release is up! Notes are in the op.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=478820060

There are still compatability issues we are looking into! (Also see main post)

[subyng 4]

We already have 2+3 and 1+2, the problem is the game tends to rotate or invert textures especially when you curve the roads. It can be fixed manually but we think a lot of players might complain about it. That's why (for now) we are sticking with symmetrical.

Would this have anything to do with the direction that the road is laid out in? For example, if you drag left-to-right the texture would be inverted compared to if you dragged right-to-left?

I'm also super excited that you guys have figured out how to make seamless transitions between road types. I wonder, could this be used to make proper merging/exit lanes for highways? For example, I start with a 2 lane highway, and connect it to a 3 lane highway. Then, for the intersection node between those two roads you have a texture that looks like a new lane splitting off, you would have something that looks very similar to a exit lane "peeling off" the main highway in a smooth way instead of how it is now where you have to make your offramps shoot out at 45 degree angles from your highways.

  Edited September 5, 2015 by subyng  

[GC_Vos 714]

Yes, you are right, it's a combination of placement direction as well as orientation on the map. It only becomes apparant with assymetrical setups specifically when you curve more than 45 degrees. I think then the engine decides to put the UVs on different axis. It works absolutely fine on a straight road, and tbh I would happily have it as part of the mod. But it's not userfriendly. (Remove incorrect part, build it from the other direction, then you still need to invert the lanes, fix it again when you attach another road, pretty messy overall.)

I've thought about the highway transitions, but there's no easy way to texture nodes. Theoretically you could put lines on the crosswalk sections, but it might not present itself reliably. With that said we do have some things to look into on current highways, I'll see if there's some node options in there if I get the chance...

If it's two of the same road types there is no intersection and the tiles become attached directly.

[boformer 3,169]

I think the dirt road actually has it's own transition piece to normal roads. Maybe something like that could be used.

[GC_Vos 714]

I think most roads have such a transition piece. And it will look fine between two roads, but deform if it's a bigger intersection.

Here are some wip alley screens.

[boformer 3,169]

It looks like the zoning grid is set back by a few meters. Is that the problem you mentioned?

[GC_Vos 714]

Yeah it is

[Roadman20 601]

Fantastic work, btw. I know you have a list of to-do; however, I just have two questions.

1. Any chance to make this compatible with American Roads mod in the near future?  American Roads has fantastic texturing and your roads look mightily out of place in my cities now.

2.  What are the challenges facing changing the Network Extension Mod freeway bridges to look more like their vanilla counterparts?

[GC_Vos 714]

Thank you! I believe Katalyst continues working on compatibility, it's hard for me to answer this as I'm not coding.

I'm not sure I understand your second question, do you mean changing the bridge meshes? As far as I know we haven't yet customized any bridges or tunnels, they are all based on default ones. But it will have to happen eventually.

[Roadman20 601]

Okay, that is what I was starting to figure out on the first question, so thank you.

Yeah, changing the bridge mesh to look like the rest of the vanilla freeway set with the concrete barriers vs the steel guardrails that make them look part of the vanilla street bridges.  It's no big deal, just something I've noticed when working with the set so far.

[ReneXL 16]

This mod will surely eat a lot of RAM and VRAM, however many people have good enough PC:s

What strikes me is the word on the hood that Network Extensions project would be "the new NAM" - that's quite far fetched considering all the content in NAM

NEP seems to focus on a lot of different highways and a bunch of american looking roads where people don't know what a tree is, seriously a lot of people do not understand what the night sky is ~ go figure.

NEP is far developed but yet there haven't been any mention of what could be done with other networks, rail primarily but perhaps metro too.

[boformer 3,169]

This mod will surely eat a lot of RAM and VRAM, however many people have good enough PC:s

What strikes me is the word on the hood that Network Extensions project would be "the new NAM" - that's quite far fetched considering all the content in NAM

NEP seems to focus on a lot of different highways and a bunch of american looking roads where people don't know what a tree is, seriously a lot of people do not understand what the night sky is ~ go figure.

NEP is far developed but yet there haven't been any mention of what could be done with other networks, rail primarily but perhaps metro too.

Why does it eat a lot of RAM? The textures are optimized. It will not eat more RAM than a few average custom buildings.

I'm also hoping for more rail networks, but that is more difficult because the intersections have to be modeled by hand.

The alley road that is planned looks really promising for european cities.

I'm planning to make a mod that adds different texture and prop variations for networks, for example cobblestone roads, different street lamps and different trees.

I wish that Cities: Skylines had a network system similar to Trainfever, that allows you to split and connect lanes at any point:

  Edited September 7, 2015 by boformer  

[zdza 547]

Really looking forward to support for American roads, because this looks too good to pass up.

  Edited September 7, 2015 by zdza  

[ghosty20 150]

This mod will surely eat a lot of RAM and VRAM, however many people have good enough PC:s

What strikes me is the word on the hood that Network Extensions project would be "the new NAM" - that's quite far fetched considering all the content in NAM

NEP seems to focus on a lot of different highways and a bunch of american looking roads where people don't know what a tree is, seriously a lot of people do not understand what the night sky is ~ go figure.

NEP is far developed but yet there haven't been any mention of what could be done with other networks, rail primarily but perhaps metro too.

I would think that it can be considered the NAM for C:SL.. You have to remember that NAM has been around for many years, NEP is new not even a year old, and considering that C:SL is not even a year old it is amazing how fast NEP has come along in such a short time, also it does not eat ram/vram anymore than other piece of content in the game..

Give the modders a chance to work out how to do the all of the other transport networks the game has not even been out that long..  There is a mod out there that adds tram/light rail to the game, but it is still in beta last I know of..

But I think what might get peoples backs up is how you sound from the bit of your post that I have bolded..

Anyway OT I am loving NEP and love the new additions, and hoping soon for elevated and underground small avenue as I use it a lot..

  Edited September 7, 2015 by ghosty20  

[Roadman20 601]

This whole comparison between SC4 and C:S, especially for NAM is still based on how many years SC4 has been out.  Remember folks that vanilla options in SC4 were pretty much on par with what we have now in C:S.  Things like avenues, streets and one-way roads along with a host of mass transit gaps were not solved until Maxis released Rush Hour nine months after the vanilla SC4 came out.  People did harp Maxis for not giving those features when game came out.  Again, NAM didn't get good until several years the game had been out.  I know a lot of people view SC4 with some rose-color glasses, but without the length of time for the modding community to do what they did to the game without Maxis support is what gave the game life it had.  Vanilla SC4 is completely underwhelming, and of course, C:S vanilla is too, no lie about that.

I think what modders for C:S, especially those working on transportation stuff, is really trying to figure out where CO is going to come in an intervention for an obvious transportation-themed expansion.  Why spend too much free time when the people making the game will address an obvious gap.  C:S hasn't even hit the nine-month mark yet and people jumping the shark looking for something as fleshed out SC4 NAM took a few years to happen, sheesh.

EDIT: Also, I'm in the same boat with the small four-lane avenues, need bridges and tunnels for them as well, haha!

  Edited September 7, 2015 by Roadman20  

[GC_Vos 714]

We are building and optimizing the different road types before getting into tunnels and bridges, as those are more complicated to modify. Same response to trees / American theme. More elements will be added later on. But I have to emphasize we are adding content democratically, based on whichever road type gets more upvotes. In this particular case people really wanted centered turning lanes.

A lot of people compare this to NAM, seems logical to me since it expands upon similar things. But I think it's unfair to expect the same amount of content for a mod that is clearly a work-in-progress and has only been published for two months, while SC4 has been out for twelve years.

We've talked internally about other networks, including L-trains and trams, but I don't think you're being realistic if you think NExt is gonna have things like that any time soon.

Performance really shouldn't be an issue. All textures are compressed the same as default roads, it maybe adds 600kb per road type. A few custom growables are larger.

[Nevermore2797 112]

When is the 6 lane avenue (the one with a central island) will be released along with a 7 lane (7th lane is a like the 5 lane avenue) be here soon?  

[GC_Vos 714]

Good question, I think Katalyst has to setup the lanes for it, and I have to redo some textures, but I'm pretty sure it can be done in the next few weeks. We are adding alley, 3L and 4L first though.

[pieuponieu 70]

This mod will surely eat a lot of RAM and VRAM, however many people have good enough PC:s

What strikes me is the word on the hood that Network Extensions project would be "the new NAM" - that's quite far fetched considering all the content in NAM

NEP seems to focus on a lot of different highways and a bunch of american looking roads where people don't know what a tree is, seriously a lot of people do not understand what the night sky is ~ go figure.

NEP is far developed but yet there haven't been any mention of what could be done with other networks, rail primarily but perhaps metro too.

Why does it eat a lot of RAM? The textures are optimized. It will not eat more RAM than a few average custom buildings.

I'm also hoping for more rail networks, but that is more difficult because the intersections have to be modeled by hand.

The alley road that is planned looks really promising for european cities.

I'm planning to make a mod that adds different texture and prop variations for networks, for example cobblestone roads, different street lamps and different trees.

I wish that Cities: Skylines had a network system similar to Trainfever, that allows you to split and connect lanes at any point:

You know what I find myself wishing about trains (beyond what you mention about connections, because they aren't very realistic in game)?  Since it's ideal to build local rail separate from cargo rail, and since I like building on 25 tiles, it can be hard to remember the difference between one railway and another without following the track to the nearest station. Wouldn't it be great if there was a separate track for local rail that looked a little different? Would that even be possible?

[boformer 3,169]

 

You know what I find myself wishing about trains (beyond what you mention about connections, because they aren't very realistic in game)?  Since it's ideal to build local rail separate from cargo rail, and since I like building on 25 tiles, it can be hard to remember the difference between one railway and another without following the track to the nearest station. Wouldn't it be great if there was a separate track for local rail that looked a little different? Would that even be possible?

You can mod train tracks. The easiest thing is a train track with a concrete base, and a track without a catenary.

[ReneXL 16]

Well seems like many local railway is going elevated in the near future  

[zdza 547]

Any update in the last week?

[GC_Vos 714]

Nope I think Katalyst is waiting to release alongside After Dark

[GC_Vos 714]

.8 is out for those who hadnt noticed

[boformer 3,169]

Nice! But still missing the 1-cell roads 

 

 

[Kaputnik 27]

Really looking forward to the 1-cell roads, hope they're not too far-off!
Gonna be absolutely great for suburbs.

Did you find a fix for the alley zoning offset?

[GC_Vos 714]

I'm not fixing anything I can't code hehe. I am only responsible for the textures.

I do believe alley will be part of the next update, not 100% sure. As far as I know the zoning issue was solved a while ago.

Right now it's tunnels, bridges and 6L median being worked on. And I have some stuff I need to update myself...

[NickKerr 34]

I was wondering if it was possible to have a 6 lane road with a median w/ grass and a small verge and a large side walk that bikes and peds can travel on.

Like this picture but with the side walk on both sides

This is a model I made in 3DS Max 

 

  Edited October 4, 2015 by NickKerr  

[ReneXL 16]

Could you add zonable pedestrian paths as well? Possibly with service vehicle entrance allowed? I'm asking here albeit it should be a separate mod

[DethKwok 238]

Could you add zonable pedestrian paths as well? Possibly with service vehicle entrance allowed? I'm asking here albeit it should be a separate mod

Theres already a mod for that no? Zonable Pedestrian paths?

  Edited October 4, 2015 by DethKwok