Multi-Purpose Stations

[CheshireKate 7]

I've noticed there are a couple of multi-purpose stations included with the NAM that let you run whatever type of transit you want through them. The only problem is that the two lines must be perpendicular. Do any multi-purpose stations exist where the two lines are parallel? Also, do diagonal versions exist?

Alternatively, does there exist a Monorail/Rail station? Or a Monorail/Elevated Rail station?

And on a slightly unrelated note, are there any puzzle pieces for HSR or Bullet Trains over tram-in-avenue and tram-in-road?

[matias93 7,535]

In fact, those stations are strictely speaking just 1x1 stops which allow different types of networks to interchange passengers by them. As such, any lot with the same modding would suffice, and it would be very easy to lot, for example, a simple platform to interchange between, lets say, rail and GLR, using only Maxis props. With a little more creativity or resourcing to custom prop packs, you could repurpose them to create interchanges for networks of different heights, and just the same for diagonal ones.

What sadly cannot be done is to combine three networks on one tile, so there is no way to get HSR over tram in avenue or road.

About the specific combinations you are looking for, I know they exist, but I cannot remember where to find them. Luckily, we have a thread just for that...

[CheshireKate 7]

4 minutes ago, matias93 said:

In fact, those stations are strictely speaking just 1x1 stops which allow different types of networks to interchange passengers by them. As such, any lot with the same modding would suffice, and it would be very easy to lot, for example, a simple platform to interchange between, lets say, rail and GLR, using only Maxis props. With a little more creativity or resourcing to custom prop packs, you could repurpose them to create interchanges for networks of different heights, and just the same for diagonal ones.

Would you happen to have any links to resources that I can use to learn how to make such modifications on my own (or to take existing props and combine them to make new BATs)?
It would definitely be nice to make my own stuff where the thing I need doesn't already exist. The same goes for certain missing tram-in-road intersection pieces I'd like to create.

5 minutes ago, matias93 said:

What sadly cannot be done is to combine three networks on one tile, so there is no way to get HSR over tram in avenue or road.

But Monorail, Train, and Elevated Train over Tram-in-Avenue and Tram-in-Road all exist, so why not HSR?

[matias93 7,535]

As I know those things can be done, but not know your to do them, I'll just call someone much more skilled : @rsc204 will surely be able to explain how to achieve this. 

[CheshireKate 7]

For the CBD I'm in the process of laying out, I have an elevated rail and monorail running lengthwise through the middle, and elevated rails running cross-wise hooked up to tram-in-roads up at in the main part of my city and down by the beach. This is what I came up with as a sort of junction for them, but I'm still not quite happy with it:.

I'd really like to combine these two stations into a single station with the two parallel lines right next to each-other instead of being separated by one tile as they are here, as well as have entrances at all four corners, and a subway connection. If I can do that, then I will be able to add turning lanes for those intersections without having to place the station absurdly far from them.

I'd also really like to create a station with just two parallel lines, one at 0m and the other at 15m so that I can run Monorail and Rail side-by-side along the ridge that separates my Rc plateau from my small Industrial valley.

Are there any tutorials available that can show me how to create these things?

[rsc204 21,804]

11 hours ago, CheshireKate said:

And on a slightly unrelated note, are there any puzzle pieces for HSR or Bullet Trains over tram-in-avenue and tram-in-road?

BTM will work, there is a piece for it in the NAM, since BTM is just a re-skin of the regular monorail network, it's the regular piece you'd need. If BTM isn't supported for that piece (I'm sure it is), let me know and I'll make a new model for it.

HSR is more complicated, since it would need a new puzzle piece and code to make it work. Actually with new techniques it could probably just be coded in, but HSR development hasn't really gone anywhere in a very long time. The current goal is to replace the monorail system with an entirely new High Speed Rail system, so it's doubtful that HSR development would continue really.

11 hours ago, CheshireKate said:

Do any multi-purpose stations exist where the two lines are parallel?

Yes there is a large HSR "hub" station included in the NAM. This combines Rail, dual HSR and Elevated rail into a single station with all lines running parallel. Similarly I was discussing a modification to a 4 line HSR station where I altered it to make 2 lines into viaduct rail instead, find that here:

There is no technical barrier to making such multi-purpose lots, I'm sure others either exist or that stations could be re-purposed/modified. For example I've also added GLR networks alongside some rail stations or converted them altogether. G-HSR can often be added to regular stations too. The tricky part is with elevated networks, sadly most of them have the rails modelled in, so changing them is impossible. But ground networks by and large fare a better fate.

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Also, do diagonal versions exist?

I don't know of any diagonal multi-tile stations with different networks. In fact, the only diagonal multi-tile stations I can think of are from Marrast. But due to the spacing, they only work with regular rail and even then, they no longer work with the RRW system, because support for multiple track diagonal rail, on a single tile was dropped with RRW's introduction. So in short, I don't think there is anything along these lines out there.

1 hour ago, CheshireKate said:

This is what I came up with as a sort of junction for them, but I'm still not quite happy with it:.

I'd use the 0/15m stations and drop the Elevated rail down to a GLR network. This would avoid using the 30m high pieces which aren't terribly good looking transition-wise. Both the monorail and el-rail networks will go over GLR with puzzle pieces. Be careful, you'll want SC4Fix.dll installed to place those without the potential for CTDs. Or just place the stations after the networks are built.

7 hours ago, CheshireKate said:

Would you happen to have any links to resources that I can use to learn how to make such modifications on my own (or to take existing props and combine them to make new BATs)?

Where to start, what seems like a simple thing is usually very far from simple in practise. TE (transit enabling) is one of the worst-documented things out there, especially when you get to the more complex stuff. I can try to dig up one of my old posts on SC4D about that, but I warn you there is a steep learning curve.

As for combining models, easily done on a lot, but nigh-on impossible to do with actual models. Because the way SC4 models work, they aren't proper 3D models and the files used in game do not contain all that's needed to modify them. So realistically speaking, you either have to be able to make new models, or you are stuck with things as they are.

7 hours ago, CheshireKate said:

It would definitely be nice to make my own stuff where the thing I need doesn't already exist. The same goes for certain missing tram-in-road intersection pieces I'd like to create.

Again, not necessarily an easy or quick thing to learn. Making a texture, easy. Adding that onto a 3D model (puzzle piece), again easy. Coding it so it actually works and appears in-game, anything but and requires understanding of RUL0, making transit exemplars, eff dirs and pathing those pieces. All told, quite the learning curve and investment in time to get into. Not to mention, to actually work, the code needs to be in the NAM for it.

Of course none of this is meant to put you off modifying and creating things. But just to explain that the process is a lot of work and takes serious commitment. That said, if you show some aptitude and need help with the modding aspects, you will find it easier to get help and assistance. The real problem is that far too many people want to know how to do everything, but never actually make anything. Investing one's time helping with such technical things, requires something real as a gauge of good faith to initiate the process. In-short, your best bet is to start a development thread and go through the problems/questions as they arise. Far too many people are looking for a quick tutorial/explanation for things, that simply can't be quickly explained if you don't understand the inner workings.

There is a lot of information out there too, but finding it is not always easy. But if you are interested in transit modding, a visit to the SC4D Wiki would be a good place to start.

[CheshireKate 7]

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I'd use the 0/15m stations and drop the Elevated rail down to a GLR network. This would avoid using the 30m high pieces which aren't terribly good looking transition-wise. Both the monorail and el-rail networks will go over GLR with puzzle pieces. Be careful, you'll want SC4Fix.dll installed to place those without the potential for CTDs. Or just place the stations after the networks are built.

I had considered that (and tried it out with the lengthwise Elevated Rail changed over to GLR), but I was worried the tram/road intersections would impede traffic too much. The rest of my city has tram on avenue/road/street, with roundabouts at major intersections, so I wanted to switch it up a bit for the CBD and use elevated rail instead, with the hopes that it would enable both the trains and the cars to run more smoothly. This is what I ended up going with.

I'm hoping the tram intersection doesn't slow traffic down too much. If it does, maybe I'll just take all the tram/elevated rail in the CBD and turn it into a subway. In fact, I don't know why I didn't just do that from the beginning. That certainly would have made all of this a lot easier. The only real issues now are the unrealistic slope the tram runs up at on the left and the wrinkles in the road and street. I've tried smoothing out the wrinkle in the road a dozen times but no matter what I do, when I place that transition piece it adds a wrinkle again. I guess it really doesn't like being on that steep of a grade.
(By the way, is there any way to filter ploppables or growables in the STEX by lot size? I tried searching for "5x6 Ploppable" but got results of every size.)

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Again, not necessarily an easy or quick thing to learn. Making a texture, easy. Adding that onto a 3D model (puzzle piece), again easy. Coding it so it actually works and appears in-game, anything but and requires understanding of RUL0, making transit exemplars, eff dirs and pathing those pieces. All told, quite the learning curve and investment in time to get into. Not to mention, to actually work, the code needs to be in the NAM for it.

I'm a software engineer, so modeling and texturing are the only parts of that that really sound hard to me. I don't really have the artistic ability for that. I was hoping to be able to use existing models and combine them particular ways to suit my needs. This game is already eating up an awful lot of my free time though so as useful a skill as it may be, I don't think I'm ready to spend a huge chunk of time making brand new models from scratch.

[matias93 7,535]

For the slopes and wrinkles, this can be useful :

I don't remember if there are FLUPs under GLR on the NAM, but they could be a handy alternative to avoid traffic messing with your light trains. 

About your search, the query tool in this site is not good enough for that, but you can use Google instead: try 5x6 ploppable site:simtropolis.com

[rsc204 21,804]

3 hours ago, CheshireKate said:

I was worried the tram/road intersections would impede traffic too much

SC4 doesn't simulate such an at-grade crossing as it would work in the real world. Whilst you will see cars stopping for trams, that's just the automata doing it's thing. Underneath the two networks will not be any slower than usual from a speed perspective.

3 hours ago, CheshireKate said:

I've tried smoothing out the wrinkle in the road a dozen times but no matter what I do, when I place that transition piece it adds a wrinkle again. I guess it really doesn't like being on that steep of a grade.

There are some real limitations in this respect, to get the best look you'll need a lot of manual terraforming and stepped slopes often work best in such circumstances. Using a slope mod will improve things a lot, but when many intersections are close, you will have a limited amount of height difference you can work with. I've covered the basics in the tutorial linked by Matias93 above, but adding a slope mod changes how you do things. Hilly cities are really hard to make look good, although finding some good walls/embankments will help to cover up any odd terrain issues to some extent.

3 hours ago, CheshireKate said:

I don't really have the artistic ability for that.

I seem to remember having said that too... then after a brief session learning Photoshop, it's all changed somewhat. One of the nice things about SC4 is that the low resolution means texturing doesn't have to be perfect. In many ways the technical skills to 3D model are more important. But adapting existing models is just not really a good solution, because the ones you see in game are not actually 3D. They are 2D textures applied to a 3D model called a LOD, which often is just a simple box. Each model contains a texture for each zoom and rotation, 20 in total, this is not rendered in-game like a true 3D game works. Some true 3D models do exist, such as transit networks and automata, but most buildings/BATs are not 3D. This was a necessity in the days of Pentium III 500 processors when the game released, a computer couldn't handle a 3D world completely.

[matias93 7,535]

In any case, I tend to feel that a workable solution could be achieved just by intersecting and combining existing props, mainly for NAM included stations. It won't be the most elegant creation ever, but will look right and work as intended. 

[rsc204 21,804]

Thinking about it now, Coego made a modular set of station props that can be combined into a large number of potential combinations. Then the hard part is adding all the transit switches to make it work correctly.

But again, they weren't really designed for elevated networks, although with some clever lotting, it might be possible.

[RobertLM78 1,597]

Speaking of, I've been quite pleased with Coego's GLR/Heavy Rail Hubs:

 

[jhonny labrador 0]

i need to find how to make a multi track station for SimCity 4, i mean, i took some inspiration in the hsrp transit hub, and i made one station with 3 line (1 less that hsrp transit hub), but work with rail and i want that work with monoriel and subway too, and cant find how to do that, can somebody help me?

[matias93 7,535]

Hola!

To do that, the SC4Tool would be the handiest, you can download it here: http://www.simcityplaza.de/index.php/tools-und-andere-downloads/modding-tools

One of the internal tools is the Transit Enabling Editor, which will allow you to demarcate where different networks can cross through the station lot.