Network Extensions Project

[Bad Peanut 826]

3 hours ago, Matthias King said:

If I might make a request for a road type very commonly found in real life.

Four lanes with a turning lane, no curb parking, grass with a narrow sidewalk.

Like this:

https://www.google.com/maps/search/west+street+wichita+ks/@37.6850902,-97.3892958,242m/data=!3m1!1e3

 

isn't that the same function as the medium road with turning lane already in NExt?

[Matthias King 348]

13 hours ago, Bad Peanut said:

isn't that the same function as the medium road with turning lane already in NExt?

Purely functionally, yes, essentially, but cosmetically it's different. The grass and narrower sidewalks and lack of curb parking are quite a bit different, so I figured I'd just throw it out there since it's such a common thing in the real world.

[wasmic 111]

4 hours ago, Matthias King said:

Purely functionally, yes, essentially, but cosmetically it's different. The grass and narrower sidewalks and lack of curb parking are quite a bit different, so I figured I'd just throw it out there since it's such a common thing in the real world.

I've honestly never seen a road like that in my life.

Anyway, curbside parking can be disabled with TM:PE, and the rest should be doable with props. Although it would take more time to make, it'd be more customizable and saves having to recreate features that already exist mechanically.

[Matthias King 348]

3 hours ago, wasmic said:

I've honestly never seen a road like that in my life.

Anyway, curbside parking can be disabled with TM:PE, and the rest should be doable with props. Although it would take more time to make, it'd be more customizable and saves having to recreate features that already exist mechanically.

I'm honestly surprised. Those roads are literally everywhere in the states.

And I'm not looking to do it with props and simply disabling the parking. I'm looking for the actual road type. Keep in mind, purely mechanical features aren't the only thing people want.

[Patrick97 2]

Is there any update on more asymmetrical roads?

[Igorp133 28]

On 02.08.2017 at 8:47 AM, andreharv said:

Ok so a couple things.  I have been slamming my head on the dresser for the past couple days and I was able to finally do this...

May not look like much but basically I was able to make a new mod, using NExt as a dependency and created this new POC road out of an existing NExt road with the addition of a custom tram/rail mesh I made.  After it's all said and done, this new mod, which I am currently calling Network Extensions - Additional Transport (NEAT) will be an addon that focuses on new public transport roads.  It will also be the place where I do some R&D into some road customization tools (think MOM subway customizer but with more stuff...seeing that the various road requests have gotten rather crazy).  Excited but sleepy.  More details later

@andreharv I wonder if this project is still in your “to do” list, especially considering new opportunities which road modding tool provides?

[Dexter 40]

Going forward it'd probably make more sense to just release the existing and new roads as separate workshop items using the new native support.  As far as I'm aware, the 1 tile roads still aren't supported by the native support, so this mod is still required for those.

[andreharv 1,197]

Good point.  I guess that makes sense.  I admit I haven't spent a ton of time using the tool but for tram/bike/bus road variations, single road assets are perfect.

[Giveaway412 29]

How are the cul-de-sacs coming? I was understanding they'd be included in the same update as 2+2 National Roads but I haven't seen any mention of them since. Have they been canned?

[wojtason 113]

After seeing Bad Peanut's asymmetrical roads I was wondering if the merging lanes would by finally possible?

[Bad Peanut 826]

1 hour ago, wojtason said:

After seeing Bad Peanut's asymmetrical roads I was wondering if the merging lanes would by finally possible?

I don't think asymmetric roads function correctly for merging lanes 

[wojtason 113]

8 hours ago, Bad Peanut said:

I don't think asymmetric roads function correctly for merging lanes 

Yeah but I guess the idea is to get textures for the nodes and that should work. 

[Bad Peanut 826]

4 hours ago, wojtason said:

Yeah but I guess the idea is to get textures for the nodes and that should work. 

I still don't know if that could be executed effectively

[Turjan 1,048]

As this topic is active: Does anyone else have the problem that this mod's "Options" menu has not been fully accessible anymore since the "Green Cities" update? The last tab seems to be outside of the UI box for me, and the "highways" tab is only accessible by a tiny sliver.

[wasmic 111]

5 hours ago, Turjan said:

As this topic is active: Does anyone else have the problem that this mod's "Options" menu has not been fully accessible anymore since the "Green Cities" update? The last tab seems to be outside of the UI box for me, and the "highways" tab is only accessible by a tiny sliver.

I've had this problem for a long time, even before Green Cities. 

[Turjan 1,048]

1 hour ago, wasmic said:

I've had this problem for a long time, even before Green Cities. 

Hmm, that points into the direction that I either added or removed a mod that influences text size in the UI. I have to go and look.

[wojtason 113]

9 hours ago, Bad Peanut said:

I still don't know if that could be executed effectively

If railway split can be drawn on the node so the lines could. I guess railway node could be edited so it match highway. 

[Bad Peanut 826]

1 hour ago, wojtason said:

If railway split can be drawn on the node so the lines could. I guess railway node could be edited so it match highway. 

 The split could be textured yes but telling the node too be that node when connected to the exit ramp no. There's no differing between the different highways so the texture wouldn't be in the right place 

[wojtason 113]

59 minutes ago, Bad Peanut said:

 The split could be textured yes but telling the node too be that node when connected to the exit ramp no. There's no differing between the different highways so the texture wouldn't be in the right place 

So the temporary solution would be creating a special roads only for certain connections. That would point to many different roads.... Oh well. Pointless. Damn, that's the only thing I miss in Cs

[alborzka 66]

@andreharv Would it be possible to re-release the tiny roads from the New Roads for NEXT2 mod? It'd be nice to use them with proper zoning like the tiny/pedestrian roads in your NEXT2 mod, since now zoning works for all tiny roads except for these three tiny ones (previously if you downloaded the New Roads mod the zoning for ALL tiny/ped roads, including the original NEXT2 roads, would mess up, but now it seems that only the three tiny roads from New Roads have messed zoning and the rest of the tiny/ped roads zone fine). And I don't think anyone else has successfully made tiny roads with proper zoning except for you and the NEXT2 mod.

[3dmax111 15]

Sorry if everyone knows what is happening, do not play CS for a long time. Is the TAM project closed?

[andreharv 1,197]

21 hours ago, 3dmax111 said:

Sorry if everyone knows what is happening, do not play CS for a long time. Is the TAM project closed?

Yes, TAM is no longer in development.  Network Extensions 2 is where all further development will go, for the time being.  Welcome back.

[andreharv 1,197]

TL;DR? Me will add In-Game road customization menu.  Me will add more options. Me will be open to more road suggestions.

 

Hey yall.  Just chillin at work about to shovel some coal into the hype train and let you guys know about the NExT update!  (I will light the coal when I get home and share some prototype pics :D)  This update will include some things I have been wanting to add to this mod for a couple years now (literally) and now with help from the newer CS updates and knowledge gained through the last MOM update, it will one day (hopefully soon) come to pass. 

In short, I will be adding a GUI system which will allow for an open ended plethora of road customizations.  For now, I will simply call it the "Road Tool".  Currently, if someone wants to make any alteration to a road (with the exception of add/remove props or pillars), they would need to create a new road with the alterations (grass, barriers, etc) and put an icon on the appropriate menu.  While these slightly altered roads are not memory or performance taxing (as they reuse most of another road...if done correctly), the main problem is that they quickly fill the menus with slight alterations fluff and people generally cannot find what they want.  In place of new road icons, for say grass or tree variations of a road, the Road Tool will add toggles that will help you style the road you picked from the vanilla menu, based on what is available.  For example, selecting the vanilla 4 lane ave (with median), you could potentially toggle between:

• parking
• extra pavement
• bike*maybe*
• bus*maybe*
• elevated and bridge types
• still considering whether paved vs painted median variations should remain menu items or GUI toggles
• insert frustrating variation idea here

Additional pleasant speculations? 

• The Road Tool will retrofit vanilla roads cuz...why not.
• The Road Tool options will appear based on the current elevation type of the road selected (ground, elevated, bridge, etc).  There will probably already be tabs to separate these types like in the road editor but pgup/pgdn to the elevation will bring you there for convenience sake (yell if you don't like this).
• Unavailable options will be grayed out based on the initial road selected (extra pavement would not be available if the initial road lacked parking spaces, for example).
• The variation options will be split between the vanilla menu and Road Tool to prevent either from being overloaded with customizations (more on this later).

Additional caveats...uhh...speculations?

• While the Road Tool will be optional, disabling it will hide any options that do not already have an icon in the vanilla menu (because there is no way I am making icons for all these options).  Placed roads using the Road tool will not be affected if the Road Tool is disabled.
• Customization suggestions you make for future updates must be largely universal to be considered.  I will not consider customization options that only benefit one or two roads.  The idea is more for sweeping alterations.
• Bus, Bike, and Tram options (if ever made available) will require their respective expansion packs.  NExT bus roads predate After Dark but they required T++ which is no longer supported.  C'mon people, about 15usd will get you both snowfall and after dark (like 7 something each...or a fancy dinner for 2 at McDonalds).  Don't be cheap.
• This update may push me away from releasing individual Road Assets as it increases the dependence of the individual roads on the NExT mod and to each other.  If you want more controls over which roads are available you always have the mod opti...oh wait it's broken.

I'm gonna fix the mod options, yall!

Oh yeah...there's another upcoming feature I have in the works.  Y'all will love it...buuuut I'll let you know more later today when I have pictures...I'm at work now so I gotta do like work and stuff.

[alborzka 66]

Awesome news! Really *really* hope you include (heck, emphasise) bikes and trams though <3 especially trams, since we can't just add those ourselves in the Road Editor realistically without modelling/mesh etc (unlike bus lanes, parking, or even bike lanes).

[Bad Peanut 826]

@andreharv How are you planning on feasibly doing this and not adding a whole lot of bloat? 
For each iteration are you going to have a completely new road prefab or are you going to instead hook into the flagging system and create flags for lane types and have meshes bundled into the one prefab? 

If it's the latter it would be probably much better performance wise, although I am skeptical about the ability to use flags on lane types (which is a pity but would be awesome)

If it's the former and you're going to have separate prefabs for each iteration and have most of the them procedural except for the main one won't that mean you'd be adding megabytes of data just for the simplest thing? Sounds a little too much in terms of managing the mod, running the mod in lower end computers (which people certainly do) and just overall data bloating.

If you manage to do the first one though I would be happy to lend a hand (in between uni and work) with modelling and textures if you'd like it. If it's the latter I would probably just stick to releasing my individual roads. Although it would be cool if you made this menu selection feature (i'm guessing like the way you select features in MOM for what rail type you want) if this was a modular mod separate to NExt where anyone could hook in by adding an xml doc to their subscriptions. That way I could specify in the xml file the main prefab, the iteration prefabs (which the mod would override to be procedural) and what selection title they would appear as in the menu. 
For example the 12 lane roads I released that have all the combinations (except monorail) would work great. If people sub to the mod the xml file is read and puts the roads into the GUI. If the mod isn't subbed then the xml isn't read by the game and the roads will show up like normal.

 

message me if you'd like to discuss

[Badi_Dea 476]

That sounds like a really needed solution - I've gone without using a bunch of custom roads specifically because of the menu clutter.

Have you considered including options for right and left turning lanes on each road type? That would be on my wish list.

Looking forward to seeing how your project turns out

[Delta2k5 311]

Humm... Sounds sweet!

I got a suggestion: Call it network tool! This way we could also be prepared for something like replacement of rail-meshes which would be extremely helpful on station tracks!

You may call it as some request, because it is one

[andreharv 1,197]

@Badi_Dea Good question!  So essentially this tool will allow you to select roads that are variations of roads that already exist.  For example, take the 3+3 ave with median.  It will have its icon still in the large roads menu.  However, the Road Tool will allow you to choose whether it has grass, trees, parking, etc.  Here's a pic (kinda ugly) that demonstrates this (please ignore the minor glitching)...

As you can see, in the foreground, the 3+3 ave doesn't have parking but instead has grass and extra pavement.  Further down you see the 3+3 with parking.  Even further you will see a 2+4 with trees.  The base roads will be accessible from the menu still but the grass/trees/xtra pavement/whatever will be from the RoadTool.  If you want to add a turning lane then you would have to select a 3+4 or 3+5 road and put it at the intersection (these roads will be in the works soon).  Unfortunately, this does leave a weird gap between roads of different median widths...UNTIL NOW (or a maybe later).

OH SNAP SON!

So OTHER than the road tool, I am also working on smooth transitions.  These smooth transitions will only occur when there are two NExT or vanilla roads where one transitions to another.  Add a level crossing or a third road and the transitions will disappear.  In the picture above, you can pair the road tool extra pavement with the median transitions to get something kinda nice.  When it is all said and done, all NExT roads and/or vanilla roads will have smooth transitions.  This does not include highways which would be a lot more complicated for 3 or more way junctions.

[wasmic 111]

I don't really have anything to say. I'm amazed.

[jumonjii 19]

Wow...I don't even know what to say.