How to make 3D Road models / meshes?

[alborzka 66]

Are there any tutorials on creating 3D models for roads, so that I can make my own road types? There's some for models in general but I just want to make them for roads. Is there any easy way of doing this, e.g. starting from a basic 3D road model and then adding bike lanes, etc in modelling programs? Or would I have to start from scratch? It's important for me to have them blend in with vanilla and NEXT roads, hence why I'm asking specifically for road modelling help.

The Road Editor Wiki page gives some info on models, but no instructions on *how* to make these, which is my problem. Either way, as someone with nearly zero experience in modelling, how would I go about making road models step-by-step?

^{Didn't want to hijack @BadPeanut's other thread by spamming questions, so here I am with my own}

[AmiPolizeiFunk 446]

I had a short fiddle and was happy to discover that it's massively complex, and allows for the importing of custom prop models. Holy smokes, we are gonna see some really nice stuff. I'm looking forward to better bridges, in particular.

And who will be the first to give me some decent modern cobblestone roads for my neighborhood here in Berlin? hummm? 

[alborzka 66]

1 minute ago, AmiPolizeiFunk said:

I had a short fiddle and was happy to discover that it's massively complex, and allows for the importing of custom prop models. Holy smokes, we are gonna see some really nice stuff. I'm looking forward to better bridges, in particular.

...yes, but we can't make any new parts, such as adding bike lanes, visible on models that didn't include them in the first place. So before we jump in and make roads we need models and meshes first to put them on.

[AmiPolizeiFunk 446]

Yeah I'm wondering if we can export the current collection of parts via ModTools, as we do with buildings. It would be great to have a collection to start from, or even to see what these things look like. 

[alborzka 66]

Definitely. Step-by-step tutorials with example files etc would also be amazing!

[AmiPolizeiFunk 446]

BadPeanut upened up a can of worms *cough* almonds when he posted those first couple of roads. Now he's got a thousand "can you make this? and can you make that?'s" coming at him from every corner of the globe. I'd say he'd be the man to write some tutorials, but I imagine that another request is the last thing he wants to hear right now

Have others of you beta-group elite played with making roads yet? BadPeanut needs back-up from the ranks!

[alborzka 66]

Just now, AmiPolizeiFunk said:

I'd say he'd be the man to write some tutorials, but I imagine that another request is the last thing he wants to hear right now

That's what I'm thinking, instead of making each and every road he gets requested for, why not just make a series of tutorials so that we can make them ourselves? It might save you a lot of time I'd think, no @BadPeanut?

^{(also still laughing at myself at how you had beta access this entire time and I believed you when you said you didn't lmao)}

[Tim The Terrible 586]

12 hours ago, AmiPolizeiFunk said:

Have others of you beta-group elite played with making roads yet? BadPeanut needs back-up from the ranks!

I have played a little with Train Tracks, and I plan to keep doing that.

12 hours ago, alborzka said:

why not just make a series of tutorials so that we can make them ourselves? 

That is the best approach, but also very difficult at the moment. The editor is very complex and the Road Editor Wiki is far from complete. Right now it's just a matter of trial and error, and sharing. Once we know more, together we can put together a tutorial.

I think @BadPeanut knows most about the editor of all of us by far, so I'm also looking at you for help man  

[alborzka 66]

7 hours ago, Tim The Terrible said:

The editor is very complex and the Road Editor Wiki is far from complete. Right now it's just a matter of trial and error, and sharing. Once we know more, together we can put together a tutorial.

Honestly I was just referring to texturing and making models for the roads, I'm fine with the Road Editor --- well, I can fiddle around with it and learn myself, but making the models is what I'm stuck at personally.

[Dexter 41]

It looks very exciting and opens the door to many possibilities - the main issue is there doesn't seem to be a way to modify textures in the editor.  I have played around with exporting the vanilla road models and textures and models using modtools to use a a base, but even using them as they are doesn't seem to work, as the texture is applied to the backfaces instead of the front and then there's the apr maps to deal with.  There is also the issue of the bus stop segments and overpasses that go with each road also needing their own model, so it's no easy task.

[biggles325 1]

Just thought I would chime in. Made a basic tutorial, seems to be the first one on Youtube so far lol happy modding!

 

[mntoes 271]

^^Thank you. Very usefull.

[Badi_Dea 476]

@biggles325 Posting in this thread: https://community.simtropolis.com/forums/topic/67088-index-of-modding-tutorials-information/ might help preserve the information for posterity.

Always nice to see tutorials, thanks!

 

[Bad Peanut 826]

On 10/20/2017 at 10:53 AM, alborzka said:

(also still laughing at myself at how you had beta access this entire time and I believed you when you said you didn't lmao)

Who says I have beta access??

I didn't see any of these tags I'm sorry everyone! As for tutorials on the hows and whys for roads it is extremely detailed as far as the editor goes so it would be hours and hours of writing/recording step by steps for what to do inside the editor alone, not to mention all the work on meshes and textures you need to do before importing into the editor.
I'm not exaggerating - although it IS still quite intuitive as long as you are aware of how the game works and know its limits.

Given that, you should all start off learning normal asset creation like buildings and maybe vehicles (vehicles can be tricky to map) because there are loads of mesh tutorials and also specific tutorials for CS and a lot of the skills you build on with those you will use and understand how to apply to road creation.

I've - as of monday - returned to University full time and working practically full time (yay) so I'm going to be only available for small comments, very very  occasional releases as i will be working on my 4 major projects I've started, all but one are practically still in concept stage, the first one being modeled but not fully textured or imported to the game for testing (it contains sub buildings and some things aren't working as i intended them too so I'm trying to figure out how i can get it to work) 

In order to manage expectations: expect maybe at the most 4 released over the next 4 months of uni, and that might mean I'm working on all 4 simultaneously until the end of the period and dump 4 releases on you in one go, which is more likely than releasing them once a month. (Masters is harder than a bachelor )