Network Extensions Project

[Ronyx69 2,413]

3 hours ago, wojtason said:

 

The rails are a seperate segment with their own mesh and texture, so it's an interesting idea.

You could add a segment on top of a road which would be just the markings.

It would probably a mess to make it work with the "3 splits into 1 and 2" example you have though. That would no longer be a simple segment on top but rather some kind of segment meshes that follow each lane individually.

[wojtason 113]

Got it  I wonder if someone will brave enough to implement it

 I'm not sure but shouldn't 2 lane highway have a connection point not on it's middle but on the middle of first lane? That would make easy to allign it with 3 and more lane highway to get realistic connections. If every single type of highway had a connection point on the middle of first lane of the highway, not on it's middle that would make merging lanes easy....

[Tim The Terrible 586]

4 hours ago, wojtason said:

 I'm not sure but shouldn't 2 lane highway have a connection point not on it's middle but on the middle of first lane? That would make easy to allign it with 3 and more lane highway to get realistic connections. If every single type of highway had a connection point on the middle of first lane of the highway, not on it's middle that would make merging lanes easy....

You need lane-based networks for that, which CS doesn't offer. It's just the way this game works.

For the markings, it might be an idea visualize the path cars take. So lanes on segments and path on nodes. Cars must follow a certain line, and if we can make that line visible somehow, we can add a texture of markings to them. Just an idea.

[andreharv 1,197]

@wojtason: I am utterly shocked that this has not come up more often . With the development of trams and their single tracks, I was able to create the single rails you see above.  I also was able to use it to create the lines in the  Promenade as well so yes, they use the same system and yes, as @Tim The Terrible pointed out, they are separate meshes.  I took about 4 hours one day to brain storm this very issue and concluded that my knowledge on pathfinding and path logic would need to improve or more dev tools would have to be available for me to do the whole lane departure line...thing correctly.  First of all, it would be a tedious undertaking because for each road, I would have to create new segments (think like tracks) for each lane for each combination of highway intersection...but if it was that simple, I would get right on it.  The issue, without getting too technical, is that each dotted line can be assigned a position on the road and assigned rules of how they connect to other roads in junctions (similar to trams) but these positions and connection rules are set in stone.  So if that same lane departure you had came off the left side instead of the right, the lines on the right side would cross all the traffic to get to the other side which, you guessed it, looks terrible.  So I decided that instead spending a ton of time working on something I either couldn't finish until I learned more or told people they had to build all their exits on the right (which is a ridiculous request), I would put it off until I can figure out more about how NetSegments, NetNodes, and NetManager works.  Also with what I learn from these, I may be able to create (at least the illusion of) divided highways but we'll see.  I too am not satisfied with using a line drawing tool and trying to sketch out prop lines, but for now, you just gotta rock what you got (didn't rhyme but you get the point).

[wojtason 113]

@andreharv Thank you very much for your explanation. Even an illusion is worth one's weight in gold. I really support you in this one as this is the most important features of this game ( I know, that sounds kinda weird).

I watched some screenshots from CIM2 (I never played this game) and I noticed there were lines over nodes connecting different types of highway but there was no dashed lines between the lanes. Maybe that's some kind of a clue as I heard C:S highways are based on CIM2 highways some way. 

 

@Tim The Terrible That's a great idea. As we can see, the paths over nodes are already visible in Traffic President. Maybe that's just a matter of visualizing them? Hopefully. Thank you guys, you gave me hope!

A little off topic here, Imagine when you build any road and the machines show up spray painting the road markings  That would be dope haha

[Ronyx69 2,413]

33 minutes ago, wojtason said:

@andreharv Thank you very much for your explanation. Even an illusion is worth one's weight in gold. I really support you in this one as this is the most important features of this game ( I know, that sounds kinda weird).

I watched some screenshots from CIM2 (I never played this game) and I noticed there were lines over nodes connecting different types of highway but there was no dashed lines between the lanes. Maybe that's some kind of a clue as I heard C:S highways are based on CIM2 highways some way. 

 

@Tim The Terrible That's a great idea. As we can see, the paths over nodes are already visible in Traffic President. Maybe that's just a matter of visualizing them? Hopefully. Thank you guys, you gave me hope!

A little off topic here, Imagine when you build any road and the machines show up spray painting the road markings  That would be dope haha

Huh, looks like CIM2 also has proper crosswalks on nodes, in C:S they are on the node texture so they curve with the node which looks ridiculous.

Just googled some CIM2 screenshots and looks like the place where cars stop at an intersection doesn't curve with the road, but is perpendicular to the road it's on as it should be.
See on the angled 2 lane road on the bottom:

I don't get it, looks like the CIM2 road system looks better and is more realistic.

[Roadman20 601]

9 minutes ago, Ronyx69 said:

Huh, looks like CIM2 also has proper crosswalks on nodes, in C:S they are on the node texture so they curve with the node which looks ridiculous.

Just googled some CIM2 screenshots and looks like the place where cars stop at an intersection doesn't curve with the road, but is perpendicular to the road it's on as it should be.
See on the angled 2 lane road on the bottom:
I don't get it, looks like the CIM2 road system looks better and is more realistic.

That's because CIM2 has a better looking road system for the most ironic reasons.  If they slapped just about all the network and road features of CIM2 with the zoning capabilities of C:SL we would be going places without lingering in the mod desert for an undetermined time.

EDIT: Also the traffic jams are a real deal across the full spectrum of CIM2 road network with a functional rush hour... *shrugs*

EDIT2: At least leave behind CIM2 UI because that UI is terrible beyond terrible.

[wojtason 113]

When I look at these screenshots I think that bicycle in-road lanes should also have road marking across intersections. That would be realistic. 

[schokoladeneis 1 193]

How is the problem solved at the intersections of the 2 tiles wide fancy pedestrian/cycle streets? Because there we have road markings at the crossings.

 

[wojtason 113]

SOmething like this would be awsome! We should also be able to set a crossing to pedestrian only, bicycle only or combined.

[schokoladeneis 1 193]

@wojtason for 2 seconds I was really confused by your picture something was wrong and I could not tell what is it until I realised the drive on the wrong side.

[wojtason 113]

7 minutes ago, schokoladeneis 1 said:

@wojtason for 2 seconds I was really confused by your picture something was wrong and I could not tell what is it until I realised the drive on the wrong side.

I'm confused right now. I just woke up and didn't even noticed that

[jumonjii 19]

Could you design merge lanes like a ploppable building of sorts? Rather than drawing them out,  it's just a big piece you drop into place? Road attaches to either end. Like the intersections you can build or download and drag into the game.

 

 

[wojtason 113]

8 hours ago, jumonjii said:

Could you design merge lanes like a ploppable building of sorts? Rather than drawing them out,  it's just a big piece you drop into place? Road attaches to either end. Like the intersections you can build or download and drag into the game.

 

 

I see no point in that. I created 3 > 2+1 prop lanes ramp in Blender and to be honest, adjusting it to existing highways takes same ammount of time as drawing it manually. You are also limited to specific angles of exiting ramp. I think we should concentrate on investigating how we can add it the way @andreharv and @Tim The Terrible suggested. Hopefully it won't take too long

[mutton noir 170]

On 12/13/2016 at 7:52 AM, schokoladeneis 1 said:

@wojtason for 2 seconds I was really confused by your picture something was wrong and I could not tell what is it until I realised the drive on the wrong side.

Ahem! Correction- they drive on the LEFT- NOT the WRONG side.

[wojtason 113]

Well anyway this type of intersections are very popular in Netherlands. Here in Poland where I live they slowly implement it on the roads. I cycle a lot so it's very useful. I  work in the industry (I create and maintain bicycle routes in my region) so for me bike paths are very important haha  The game is also missing bicycle routes which would be a nice to have feature (something like train lines).  Just a thought

[wojtason 113]

Guys, When looking at this picture:

 

 

I wonder, why these lines are curved different to car paths? If we could make them the same as the car path actually taken than we could just permanently visualize the road markings! In this case, we would be able to set default visible lanes for example for highway ramps. We would also be able to customize which lanes we actually want to see. Maybe we shoud hook up with Linux Fan who is a creator of Traffic President? 

 

[Struckar 5]

So this means we should apply some level of pressure to CO, to turn their heads towards the CiM2 networks.. I think those are extremely well done. I loved that game because of those roads. Mostly even bought CSL because of it. Well my intentions were met, I sparked a bit of a discussion in the appropriate direction.

[wojtason 113]

I'm down. How can we do that?

[Roadman20 601]

Well, the biggest problem is that CO has already gone down a different network design path from CiM2 that is relatively not worth their time to redo things.  The biggest issue I see is how they do network nodes.  Modders had to build MOM, one tile train tracks, etc.  CO has literally chosen their network design to the bare basics at every turn, and this can be seen through the full spectrum of all transport options from roads, rail, metro, airport, and sea.

It is a tall order when the subreddit is pretty blind on their demands for disasters and seasons tbh...

[wojtason 113]

I guess we should try to push it on their facebook and on paradox forums. 

[jumonjii 19]

It would be nice if we could draw individual lanes using something like lane connector.

[Struckar 5]

Well the best option is always money. I bought the first couple of DLCs, because they seemed valuable. This last one, for me at least isn't something I want to add to my city simulator.. So one option is boycot (which is quite irrelevent, since this isn't that big of a community) the other is proactive campaign, nag them to do this on their forums, fb page and so forth, not really nag, but discuss everywhere possible. So they see it's of a certain financial interest to them, because people want to buy such a thing. Maybe send them some email, or something..

It would already be great, if modders of the NExt, would get some insight or some help in modding the original things in to a next level system. They are collaborating with some creators and publishing their work as DLC, so why not go the same way maybe with NExt, or something similar. It would be a great oppurtunity for the creators to get a hold of needed information and we could get two versions of NExt, a payable, that would change everything and a free mod, that would do something, but on a much smaller scale.

This is proabably a bit off topic, so yeah GO Network extensions! I see this tool as something with a great value and a bright future in this game.

[jumonjii 19]

Why do roads pieces connect to the center of other roads? 

[KrabbHD 0]

On 13-12-2016 at 8:49 AM, wojtason said:

SOmething like this would be awsome! We should also be able to set a crossing to pedestrian only, bicycle only or combined.

While the concept is good, the implementation is poor. Cyclists still stop at the same line as drivers and aren't able to use the islands as pauses and are instead left to their fate. 

Real dutch intersection:

 

[wojtason 113]

I'm so sad. I just installed Simcity Buildit on my mobile. Even in this game there are merging lanes

 

 

[MarioBro14 5]

On 12/1/2016 at 11:59 AM, mikamaty said:

Oh, much thanks for the screenshots. 

Also I would like to indicate again this "Network Extensions Moderator" called guy who seems to have no idea of thinks that will come. He always say he weren't able to tell us about this mod. Who hired him? To make that clear, I am in no way against this guy, he does (expect that) a great job with answering almost all questions. I suggest that he should put more into the team.

Hello! I am the Network Extensions Moderator. I am no nobody that I can tell you. As said before. I'm there to help NExt solve any questions relating to the mod. If you think I'm not doing my job hard enough well then I don't know what to tell you. I am currently receiving my bachelor's in Transportation Engineering so life ain't so free. I have followed this mod since day one and thought I would help since I've been along for the ride to know enough about roads inside and outside the game. 

[wojtason 113]

I've spend few hours in asset editor and here is a result. It took a while to get the lines straight because when moving it and saving it was changing a little bit and the roads were bend. You think I should share this?

 

 

[andreharv 1,197]

Have you heard of Move It?  It would have allowed you to do this in a couple minutes.  It looks great but there are tools that allow for awesome manipulation.  Check that mod out.  FreshPopcorn also has a video on youtube that also goes over some essentials of highway junctions.

[wojtason 113]

Of course I did use Move it. I wouldn't do it with out it. The problem was when making a small adjustments and saving and reloading the ramps were changing and bending.