Network Skins (Coming 2016)

[Ryno917 102]

Cobblestone / brick roads are likely gonna be part of future Next/T++ installments, you are right about the uvs getting distorted, but it looks quite good if the bends aren't too sharp.

I hope that NExt will not add networks with only visual changes. My mod is a reaction to mods like MoreTrainTracks or SomeRoads. All the visual stuff should be handled without adding new NetInfos.

Same here. I won't be installing Next or T++ until the game stops being supported by CO - there's just too much hassle with updates braking things like that, and some functionality will likely become completely superfluous with other updates. A lot of possibility for game-breaking issues with them it seems. There's great work being done, of course, it's just not worth it for me right now. I think that's one thing that actually helped SC4's modding scene - it seems to me it really took off after the game stopped getting patches.

 

@ Boformer: I have a feeling CO is working on trams 

Btw, do you know if it's possible to stack nodes? So far I found the game refuses to put pillars on top of pillars (which would be needed for true stacking).

At this point, you could mod in a taller support with multiple 'levels,' and then only use it on the topmost road, while the lower roads in a stack don't have any pillars at all. They'll look like they're all on the same support pillar. I Thought that's what you were doing with your preview on the first page.

  Edited November 2, 2015 by Ryno917  

[Cool_Z 1,547]

Cobblestone / brick roads are likely gonna be part of future Next/T++ installments,

[Attercap 123]

Absolutely fantastic work ! Congratulations

Is it possible to have tracks without the electric lines ? (I guess yes. Could be added in the "chose your pillars mod")

 

[boformer 3,169]

Yes, but that's different from pillars.

[Attercap 123]

Yeap, of course. Is it possible to create one mod which allows the player to chose the pillars, the tracks, and others elements ? A "compose your rail set yourself" mod ? Could be great.

[boformer 3,169]

It will be included in Module 4.

[GC_Vos 714]

Btw, do you know if it's possible to stack nodes? So far I found the game refuses to put pillars on top of pillars (which would be needed for true stacking).

At this point, you could mod in a taller support with multiple 'levels,' and then only use it on the topmost road, while the lower roads in a stack don't have any pillars at all. They'll look like they're all on the same support pillar. I Thought that's what you were doing with your preview on the first page.

I was planning to have the support beams separated, so the height of each road can be customized. Otherwise I'll have to just pick and choose between 12, 15, 18 meters etc.

[GC_Vos 714]

Tokyo Drift anybody?

edit: dead links

  Edited November 8, 2015 by GC_Vos  

[GC_Vos 714]

Published

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=548221762

[Roadman20 601]

Well, I know what pillars are going to part of the SR 99 Alaskan Way Viaduct.  Excellent work.

[boformer 3,169]

I fixed a little NullReferenceException yesterday.

And soon there will be support for bridge pillars (right now it only supports elevated pillars).

[boformer 3,169]

Here is a mockup of the GUI I want to make:

Depending on the selected Network type (power lines, pedestrian path, roads), different tabs and options will be visible.

[Cool_Z 1,547]

OMFG !!!!!!! 

[dedgren 830]

Incredible work.  Bravo, boformer!

You might take a few minutes and send a résumé and a few screenies to CO.

 

David

[Judazzz 1,936]

That is amazing!!!
Question: will these be global settings that are applied city-wide, or will we be able to define these things for each stretch of road? Also, will it be possible to apply these settings to already existing roads, or only when plopping new roads?

[Cool_Z 1,547]

That is amazing!!!
Question: will these be global settings that are applied city-wide, or will we be able to define these things for each stretch of road? Also, will it be possible to apply these settings to already existing roads, or only when plopping new roads?

Same question here !!

[boformer 3,169]

Question: will these be global settings that are applied city-wide, or will we be able to define these things for each stretch of road?

For each stretch of road. Every segment can be styled differently. The amount of customization is just limited by the time I have to work on the mod.

I definitely want to support china town roads with chinese lanterns instead of street lights.

Also, will it be possible to apply these settings to already existing roads, or only when plopping new roads?

First it will only work with new roads, but I also want to make some kind of upgrade tool.

A tool to batch-apply the new settings to all roads in the city would also be possible.

[dedgren 830]

For two lane roads would it be possible to have a choice between solid/double yellow lines for no passing areas on curves and hills and dashed white lines for stretches where passing is permitted?  An "eye candy" improvement, sure, but much more realistic.

 

David

[Kaputnik 27]

Just thinking out loud in regards to One-click presets saved by the player...

- presets including all variants (eg GEBT)?
- saved presets added to a new ui tab for quick future use - maybe using base element thumbnail + an icon overlay?
- overwriting a preset also updates existing segments using that preset.

Could be useful as the feature set grows, but I'm not sure how easy it'll be to implement.

  Edited November 6, 2015 by Kaputnik  

[boformer 3,169]

For two lane roads would it be possible to have a choice between solid/double yellow lines for no passing areas on curves and hills and dashed white lines for stretches where passing is permitted?  An "eye candy" improvement, sure, but much more realistic.

That would be a feature of module 3 (texture replacement). If it works as expected, I want to ship a few basic textures with the mod (cobblestone, concrete roads, roads with random potholes, rails with concrete sleepers) and open it up for the modding community. I don't know how I will handle network intersections.

The "Road Makers" mentioned in the GUI mockup are direction arrows and a few other "decals".

Just thinking out loud in regards to One-click presets saved by the player...

- presets including all variants (eg GEBT)?
- saved presets added to a new ui tab for quick future use - maybe using base element thumbnail + an icon overlay?
- overwriting a preset also updates existing segments using that preset.

Could be useful as the feature set grows, but I'm not sure how easy it'll be to implement.

The preset feature is one of the low-priority features. In general the 4 variants are separated, and I don't think it would make sense to have one preset for all 4 variants.

I'm planning to list up presets in a dropdown in each tab + buttons for "New" and "Save".

Live-changing of presets sounds great, but for that we have to understand how exactly the code works. When you zoom in, the props of a segment are updated when you change them. When you zoom out, a baked mesh is displayed. It will only refresh when you run a certain method (happens when you place a road, when the game is loaded, ...). There are 3 or 4 very similar methods. I don't know which one you have to call.

[GC_Vos 714]

I can't say I can recommend texturing nodes. Their uvs are like a squashed apple pie.

[Judazzz 1,936]

Question: will these be global settings that are applied city-wide, or will we be able to define these things for each stretch of road?

For each stretch of road. Every segment can be styled differently. The amount of customization is just limited by the time I have to work on the mod.

I definitely want to support china town roads with chinese lanterns instead of street lights.

Also, will it be possible to apply these settings to already existing roads, or only when plopping new roads?

First it will only work with new roads, but I also want to make some kind of upgrade tool.

A tool to batch-apply the new settings to all roads in the city would also be possible.

Thank you for your answer - this mod is just getting better and better by the day!

[boformer 3,169]

This weekend I will continue working on the Network Skins mod.

Today I played with custom elevated rail segment meshes:

 

[boformer 3,169]

Very slowly... I hate user interfaces.

[boformer 3,169]

Once again playing with custom network meshes:

By using multiple layered faces, it is possible to create a 3d effect for the sleepers. It is not possible to use normal meshes because those meshes are scaled depending on the length of the segment.

The final goal is this.

 

  Edited November 17, 2015 by boformer  

[Ryno917 102]

Oh, very cool! I'm surprised the layered faces don't create any sort of odd shadowing issues

[Mr_Maison 2,426]

It's very interesting how the elevated mesh works. Especially the junctions. The rails are getting modified too. Screenshots soon. We are now railroad engineers . 

 

I'm gonna try my hand at under bridge trusses for David.

[boformer 3,169]

Little progress update:

I finished a first working version of the user interface, with 4 tabs, dropdown menus and a drag handle in the top right corner. I also added a system to make it context-sensitive, depending on the selected network type. The next step will be a controller that detects which network type is selected by the player.

Most of the code can be taken from the existing Pillar Replacer mod.

I also created a basic serialization system for props (trees, street lights).

This is the current roadmap:

DONE | HIGH-PRIORITY | LOW-PRIORITY

Module 0: User Interface

• Static GUI for pillar selection (done)
• Dynamic context-sensitive GUI (in progress)
• One-click presets saved by the player

Module 1: Pillars

• Replace pillars of elevated transport networks (done)
• Replace pillars of bridge transport networks
• Replace pillars of power lines (depends on Module 4)

Module 2: Props and trees

• Experimental Feasibility Study (done)
• Serialization System (in progress)
• Select tree type of decorated roads
• Select street lights
• Option to disable decals (direction arrows)
• Select other props

Module 3: Segment textures (e.g. cobblestone roads)
Module 4: Segment meshes (e.g. custom bridges)

[boformer 3,169]

Another Update:

I added the "drag here" sprite in the top right corner of the panel. The GUI is now ready!

I also imported the old Pillar Replacer code and connected it with the GUI. It works perfectly for elevated networks and bridge networks.

That means the core Feature of Module 0 (GUI) and Module 1 (Pillars) are done!

Now I will concentrate on Module 2 (Props and trees):

• I looked at the serialization system for module 2 that I created some time ago. It looks like it is usable.
• The actual code that renders the custom props and trees is also almost there
• What is missing is a hook that passes the IDs of newly placed network segments to the mod
• What is also missing is a hook that passes the IDs of upgrades or removed segments to the mod

When the hooks are working, it will be super simple to make the second Module work. Then I will release it on the workshop.

[dedgren 830]

This is fabulous work!  The potential is unlimited.

 

David