Roads under Bridges: an Idea

[smoncrie 43]

I had an idea about how to get roads under bridges: add cross paths to the bridge repeat parts.  I have not tested it much, so I don't know if there are serious problems, or how practical it is, but here is the result:

>

In this test it worked with UDI, but it is probably very sensitive to the bridge's height. It needs puzzle pieces, (or probably lots transit enabled in the way I recently discovered,) to work.

Smoncrie

[+Guest]

Mamma mia!
Very, very intresting. I need to test it my self

[organicsabre 1]

Now you have the cross paths sort of working can the road texture be stretched accross in a transit enabled lot (similar to how marrast did with his walls etc.) So similar to the trasnsit enabled alley lots, use crosspaths and road texture to go under a bridge (set in centre of lot) have transit enabled entrance and exit and cross path through the lot. I don't have the modding skills to do thi, but I think were already half way there, maybe you could discuss with marrast and who ever did the transit enabled alleys.

[Benlemaire 1]

wow looks like we're close to have roads under bridges

[smoncrie 43]

OK you can try it out; I have attached the mod. This preliminary mod puts cross paths only on the level road bridge and it puts the height of the crossing 45 meters below the level of the bridge. It does not allow pedestrian traffic.  The mod can be changed to any bridge and any height.

There two potential problems with this mod.  First, the height of the crossing, relative to the bridge, is fixed, unless the mod is changed.  Commuter traffic may or may not have a problem with a 10-meter (or whatever) deep pot hole or bump.  UDI, will certainly not work unless the path is relatively flat.  Can a useful height be found?  If not, this mod is not practical (I used my hole digging lots to get the exact height)

Second, this mod puts the crossing paths on almost every tile of the bridge.  If you use the bridge a lot in a city you will have a large number of un-connected paths.  Will this cause the game to slow down, or crash?  At this time I do not know.

I have not done much testing because I am mostly working on another project.

BTW I had a hard time getting the picture to show.  Every time I tried to include the picture, my web browser would lock up.  Is anyone else having this problem?

smoncrie

[SpartanBadger 4]

Isn't there already a mod on the stex that allows ground level roads to go under bridges? Well either way, this is still cool, good work!

[Sc4jeeks 35]

I think there is.

[Daeley 46]

having paths is one thing, but is there also actual traffic crossing the bridge? I mean, could you show a picture of a lovely green arrow going trough?

[Chris M 406]

For this, this is something I have wanted for ever, I hope you get on the Modd Squad.

[smoncrie 43]

OK, I re-created the test from scratch to produce this picture:

>

 

 

By mistake, I first created the bridge 15m too high, and unfortunatly the traffic would not go through.

 

smoncrie

[ardecila 124]

smoncrie: This is an interesting idea.

What if you added connecting paths from the 45m endpoints upwards, to 46m endpoints, 47m endpoints...and so on, and the same thing going down? So the profile of the path would be like this:

[smoncrie 43]

ardecila, I think that adding new paths with different path class numbers (a,b,c, etc) at different heights would be better.  Then it would be like the lanes on a highway, but stacked vertically instead of side-by-side.

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//under_bridge3.jpg align=baseline>

 

I tried this with a path (a) at -15m and it worked.

smoncrie 

[smoncrie 43]

Well, I finally got back to this idea.    I tried it with paths spaced vertically 5m apart.  I found the puzzle pieces are more sensitive than I had thought, and 5m was not close enough.  I then tried a specially transit enabled lot and found that it worked even without the mod that adds extra paths to the bridge sections!!!!!

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//smoncrie%20Underbridge1.jpg align=baseline> 

 

 

I tested it some more and I found that it was not as good as I had hoped.  It does not work for roads under rail bridges (or rail under road bridges), it does not work for UDI, it does not work properly for 2 tile wide bridges, and it mixes the traffic on the bridge and the ground. Traffic can turn, jump off the bridge, and go along the ground level road, or leap up from the ground to the bridge.

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//smoncrie%20Underbridge2.jpg align=baseline> 

 

For the moment I can not think of any way to improve it.

 

Edit:  Pictures in this post changed to someone else's pictures!!! I have changed them back.

[Tropod 144]

Something I noticed with the Bridge over Road thing I'd done (that thing I'd done with the RUL file), the UDI aspect actually worked (some twitching existed though), which I thought was rather odd considering.

The fact that the route query is showing these paths, despite the jumping, looks interesting. Not having to mod the bridge itself too is also a good thing. Care to share what you've done? I've seen some Lots that have similar set-up (graphically), but functionally they don't work at all. Personally I think UDI for something like this should be considered secondary. If the routing is there & it works properly for both ways (or underneath & overhead portions), putting UDI aside, that in itself is progress.

[sc4frk 0]

wow, this is really coming along.

[smoncrie 43]

The Transit enabled lot is very simple,  I started with the Bus Station lot (although it do not think this matters) and adjusted the Transit switch point to allow North-South Car, Bus and Freight truck traffic.  I added a 0x07 LotConfig for road.

The special part is that I used a RUL (rep 15) value of 0x02000000 in the LotConfig.   I have used RUL values like this in the edge tiles of GLR stations for connecting with puzzle pieces (They don

[Benlemaire 1]

I've seen that a EL to subway transition was invented. I say the because it it supposed to fake a EL entrance in a tunnel thru any mountain while in fact you have a subway instead of a EL tunnel. The Lot converts EL passengers into subway passenegrs and then with another lot at the other side of the mountain, they turn back to EL passengers again. Sorry, i don't remember the link but it might be on the STex

I've seen that it's also possible to have lots that go beyond their dedicated squares. At least visually.

 

So the solution in fact is quite simple : create a transit enabled lot that converts cars into subway passengers in a subway station, and that appears visually as an untouched straight road.

 

then in game, plop two of these lots at both sides of the right you want to go under, lay four tiles of subway between those 2 and voila. Just need to do it will streets, road avenue, EL, ped malls and monorail, include it with the NAM, and call me when it's ready

 

sorry i have some ideas but i don't know how to do them

[smoncrie 43]

Benlemaire,

Yes, using a concealed subway works, well mostly.   It does not work for bus and freight traffic, it does not work for UDI, and it adds subway to the networks listed in the traffic query. Since it is not a perfect solution (except perhaps for GLR), it is worth trying to find a better one.

I am not claiming that mine is better, but my tests work for bus and freight, and sometimes for UDI.  It is not very usable yet, but it is promising enough to keep trying.

I included the picture with GLR as an example of my special transit enabling since all the pass-through GLR stations use it.

[vester_DK 477]

What about this one UnderBridgeRoad ?

I think it's a tunnel under the bridge.

[pitch 0]

It's just Eyecandy

[smoncrie 43]

Concealed tunnels work well (bus, freight and UDI).  But the ground must be flat and have a matching texture.

 

 

 

Edit:  I just downloaded nietseb's UnderBridgeRoad lot and I found it works by concealing a functional road tunnel under a bridge.  It works very well.

[Shadow Assassin 336]

Well, yeah, but it's just the best solution to use. Maybe you should stick to that? Then it would be easier than creating it with a puzzle piece (no offence, but right now, that looks ugly).

[ardecila 124]

Smoncrie - have you tried making a lot/puzzle piece with an overhanging path to go under the bridge?

I heard once from RedLotus that such a path file was possible. I even wrote one, as well as created an RUL entry for it. I couldn't figure out how to do it properly, though, so I never finished it.

[Shadow Assassin 336]

That's an even better idea, ardecila. It would work, wouldn't it, but what of UDI?

[smoncrie 43]

ardecila, I am not sure what you mean.  Do you mean paths that extend beyond the edges of the tile?

[ardecila 124]

Yes, exactly. Ideally, you would just add third coordinates to the paths, with Y-values of 24.

I learned some more about how the CheckType lines work; maybe I'll take another swing at the puzzle piece.

[newyorkrunaway1 110]

this is starting to take shape nicely, keep it up!!!

[Lord_Bertrum 3]

Yeah, this is definitly looking very promising

[Bladerz05 0]

In the csk2 canals there is a 1X1 tile that extends past one tile which you use at each end of an elevated highway to get under it. could this same concept be used? it would fill in that gap under the bridge, no?

[T Wrecks 10,209]

Yes, it would fill the gap with a functionless eye-candy effect, like any lot with overhanging props.

However, this thread is not about things that would look like a road under a bridge; this thread is about things that would look and act like a road under a bridge. It takes more than just an overhanging prop to achieve that.