henrys1996
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Everything posted by henrys1996
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@Krenemo: Good job, although I think that the acceleration lanes on the mainline from the trumpet loop are far too short (or the second one is, rather). I don't find it to be a safe setup to have two lanes merge at once, nor is it a very realistic setup (precisely for that reason). And I can say the same for the deceleration lanes. But that is a simple fix: Just get rid of the 2nd width transition and widen the mainline to RHW-6S. Similarly, on the other direction of the highway, you use a Type B entrance for a ramp that can receive high traffic volume and can really become a bottleneck for traffic wanting to go east on your highway. I tend to follow these rules of thumb when building highway x highway interchanges: 1. Acceleration/deceleration lanes should be a MINIMUM of 300 ft (6 tiles). 2. AVOID using TYPE A/B/C entrances: while it may be OK for an interchange with a side street, this should NOT be acceptable for highway crossings. Ramps (at least in the United States) can be driven at anywhere between 25-35 MPH depending on how sharp the curves might be, which is well below typical highway speeds (55-65 MPH), so clearly, traffic needs to merge safely into the new highway. 3. Decorate interchanges with signs, cosmetic pieces, soundwalls, and lights. It adds some nice aesthetics to your interchanges. (But that one's just personal preference and be creative!)
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Honestly, I feel like your suburban anti-grid steals the show, but only because it's really nice and sets apart your suburbs a lot. I do, however, really like the weaving in the interchange, gives it some character and personality. I do have maybe 3 suggestions: 1. Avoid plopping anything too close to a FLEXRamp (doing so results in those ugly sidewalk textures) - you can also just replace the FLEXRamp with an old puzzle-piece ramp to avoid these textures from appearing. 2. The sharp elevated curves can be quite easily be substituted for smooth ground curves going below the RHW-6S mainline. That is make the overpass curves into underpass curves instead (This shouldn't be much of a problem, especially considering the RHW-4 is one of the most stable RHW networks). 3. Don't have a ramp curve right only to curve back left unless it is absolutely necessary. The on/off-ramps to/from the RHW-6S curve right, left, and right again (which can be a pain to drive through, especially knowing one left curve could've done the trick). Remember that Sims are traveling at high speeds, so it's a good idea to minimize the number of curves and make them as smooth as possible. Other than that, it's definitely a decent interchange
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This is a very common criticism of the Type A2/B2/C2 onramps, and I've actually done something to that effect, where I merged the two lanes into one before merging it with the actual highway. You may have seen this before. However, the countercritism to that is this: as unsafe as it may be, these kinds of things do, in fact, exist in real life, and as such, they have to be represented. This was something that Maarten himself sent me in response to my alternate implementation: https://www.google.nl/maps/@52.603678,4.731145,3a,19.6y,24.63h,89.41t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1saPMauB1yKCW895ZAOKPq-Q!2e0 Beautiful work, Ganaram! And yeah, this is after all, the REAL Highway Mod; so it's definitely a plus that users can recreate exits/entrances to their liking and replicate more REAL ramp setups. This is mostly just a matter of preference and design. Plus, I think that maybe in areas with space constraints or highways without too much traffic, the A2/B2/C2 entrance can possibly prove to be effective.
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Awesome! Looks like a great thing to post on the NORO thread at SC4 Devotion. Now I'd like to see the airport, too, if that's done yet! The roadgeek in me cringes whenever I see two branches of an RHW-4 merging together to become an RHW-6S. (this is a pet peeve of mine) So, where possible, every 2-lane onramp should result in 2 lanes being added onto the RHW, even if those lanes end soon after the onramp. Entering traffic should always be given plenty of space to merge with freeway traffic. This is how it is with all two-lane onramps that I've seen on freeways in my area; anything deviating from that strikes me as unrealistic and, more importantly, unsafe. Agreed; I typically avoid Type A-C entrances (especially when I'm building highway x highway interchanges) and opt for its non-merging counterparts, Types D-F. From a highway safety perspective, it's easier to have a Type A, B, or C exit because slower traffic is on the right anyway and traffic is LEAVING the highway. But in an entrance, it's better to have the acceleration lane for traffic to merge onto the freeway in the quickest, but safest way possible.
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@MandelSoft: Your interchanges are so inspiring! I love the that busy highway/quiet nature feeling you incorporate into your interchanges; I feel they're so realistic. Anyway, just a little concoction of mine: In raw form Now, add some trees, grass, and lights: Add signs and soundwalls and done: What do you guys think?
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@MistaFuzz: so far not bad, I just want to latch onto what others may have mentioned: I will say this, so yes, a slope mod makes cities(and roads, in particular) look so much more realistic and smooth and it is definitely more pleasant and appealing to the eye. Nice plaza! That's actually a pretty nice way to use the default small Maxis plazas, but like T Wrecks mentioned, add more "walkable" space". Good downtown areas have nice open areas for people to look around, despite the fact that this is a densely built area. Finally, I think you should not end the RD-6 at a standard Maxis road. Also, while I'm on that, it won't hurt your downtown if you incorporate the neat-looking NWM networks. It allows more Sims to travel comfortably on your roads and reduces traffic problems. Also, my personal preference is to have a central corridor (either AVE-6 or some dual-OWR setup) lined with your city's most important (or imposing) buildings. Decorate your shoreline: you could line it with waterfront buildings, beautiful walkways, trees, so much more. But just a word of warning, like T Wrecks suggested, the best idea is to go with one option and stick to it throughout (and on that note, I would avoid placing beaches near a CBD... it's not particularly organic). I notice that you still use Maxis highways and convert it to an avenue and then back to a highway. My suggestion is that if you will have a main highway running through your city, keep it as such. Also, expand your highway to a higher-capacity RHW-10S, as many suburban Sims will count on this method of transport to get to/from work. Finally, BROWN BOXES ARE UGLY! Sorry for the caps, but I'm happy you noticed that ahead of time. Cheers! You've got potential, my friend
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Compdude, you are an RHW genius! Teach me your wonderful tricks! And the I-5 mountain pics are to die for!!!!!!!!!!! Keep it up, this gets a 1,000,000/10!
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Thanks! I feel that NWM is a requirement to build a realistic big-city CBD (in terms of transportation, of course). I thought about using OWR-5, but you can only end it at an AVE-6, TLA-7, or RD-6 for it to make sense. On another note, I think we can all agree that your CBD looks fantastic! Lots of nice, open space with nice looking skyscrapers, 15/10! P.S. I love that you use NRD-4, it looks so realistic in a CBD, IMO (also, if you're having traffic problems on the RD-6, upgrade it to AVE-6; they look pretty nice if you add the high-wealth median mod)
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The beast of all interchanges. This highway leads into the city of Auburn, just east of Redmund, which is a new city I'm building. I wanted to fit this into Redmund, but as the city grew, the interchange went in to the backburner and suddenly, I had no space to build it there. This is the Highway 40/101 interchange, in the easternmost portion of my region. It is important to note that this section of Highway 101 (the diagonal highway) runs as a concurrency with Highway 95, the major north-south highway running through eastern part of the region of Kensington. (And no, you cannot go south on H95/101 if you're going westbound on H40). And yes, I will do my best to post the interchange where Highways 95 and 101 split. Close-ups:
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Been trying to retrofit an urban highway/airport expressway interchange into a pretty developed south side of my city Redmund, which now has boomed to a population of over 800,000 people. And yes, I am also simultaneously working on an airport. Day pic: Night pics (my favorite):
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Thanks! Ya I try to make my highways nice looking as well as functional. 4 parclo A-4s, one city. Click for full size. You, Haljackey, are OFFICIALLY an RHW master! Thank you for giving my lonely stack interchange a +1! PS. Where'd you get those cool looking TuLEP textures from?
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Just a stack interchange I was fiddling with... no elaborate storyline behind it yet. What do guys think?
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More pics of my terrible skyscraper jungle, Downtown Redmund, a city with a population soon to reach 450,000 in the next few game years. In the council are plans to have a waterfront park, planned to be built within the next year. Also, here are some more pictures of Riverside. Downtown (daytime shots): Downtown (night shot): More Riverside pics:
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Back to basics with this avenue FLUP interchange.
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This is Downtown Redmund, a city I've been working on about 50-60 miles from my main development, Kensington, and is currently my largest city with a population now nearing 290,000 people. This is a picture of the Grand Avenue corridor which is in the eastern part of the city. This is just a teaser (I'll give a full picture of my downtown when I'm satisfied with it). On a (semi) related note, here's another picture of Riverside, a downtown "suburb" in Redmund, which of course, is very exclusive, and like the CBD, is also still a WIP. Hope you all enjoy!
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I usually space out exits every 1/2 to 3/4 mile (or every 800m-1.2km), and that includes interchanges, so a large city will have around 4-5 exits (or 2-3 exits and an interchange), a medium 2-3, and a small city typically will only have one exit. So a highway crossing an entire region will have about 12-15 exits and roughly 2-3 interchanges.
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No, there's really no way to go back except by getting off on the exits before/after the interchange and turning back. I normally don't put "return" ramps which is a feature of a basic cloverleaf interchange. But I usually prefer stack interchanges which don't really have ability to turn back and most real-life interchanges in the States are designed that way. In other words, drive carefully on my highways! That T-interchange, fantastic! Perfect for downtown (except I'd probably widen the mainline highways to RHW-8S or 10S in a CBD, but only because I like building ultra-wide highways. If I could, I'd use RHW-12 or 14 all the time lol)
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This is the interchange between Highway 20 and Highway 75 in Hampton, a suburb of Kensington, where I posted my last interchange. Highway 120 (from my previous interchange) was recently updated and renovated to be recognized as a major highway and has recently been renumbered as Highway 95 (since it is a north/south highway).
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Very nice interchange design! For that, you get a 15/10, but detailing is a little sub-par. First, don't plop anything too close to the FLEXRamps; it gives them the sidewalk texture that I frankly find annoying, but you can just replace them with normal splitter ramps and place everything as close as you want. Second, you went a little overkill with the highway lights. Trust me, with half the lights, your Sims will see at night bright and clear. But other than that, very nice interchange, I like what you've got going on there. Aside from the light towers (which upon reading the discussion here now look to me like huge dandelion stalks), my only dislike about this interchange is the pair of sharp curves at the ends of the flyovers heading onto the downtown spur. I think that some FARHW would be a good idea instead; it looks realistic and at that point, cars want to speed up since they're moving onto a spur highway through downtown. It's good that the area surrounding the interchange hasn't been developed yet.
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I don't know if you've ever used those lights but the amount of space that they light up is very small for their immense size. I used those at first, but having discovered how overscaled they are, I have switched to using the ploppable tower lights that come with Mandelsoft's Light Replacement Mod. They are a lot more true to SC4 scale, but still light up the same amount of area. So, you can use the same amount without it looking like you went overkill on the lights. I actually use BlueLightning's mast lights, which have a much smaller footprint than the ones in that interchange. I guess you're right; it looks overkill because the lights are so freakin' huge lol. I usually tend to use the highway lights sparingly, though, to be honest with you, just because it's so easy to overdo it with those lights.
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Very nice interchange design! For that, you get a 15/10, but detailing is a little sub-par. First, don't plop anything too close to the FLEXRamps; it gives them the sidewalk texture that I frankly find annoying, but you can just replace them with normal splitter ramps and place everything as close as you want. Second, you went a little overkill with the highway lights. Trust me, with half the lights, your Sims will see at night bright and clear. But other than that, very nice interchange, I like what you've got going on there.
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I actually like how you're using the RHW-3 in a rural area of your town/city. I personally would've gone with a Dual RHW-4 configuration with a diamond interchange; kinda like much of I-95 between WPB and US-192 (much of which is the middle of nowhere). Plus, if your goal was space saving, I think you've done a good job achieving it and it looks nice and realistic. I would hit you, though, if you tried to pull this off in an urban setting.
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I guess you can call this one a parclo. This is where Highway 20 meets Highway 120 as it goes through Kensington. To the south (top), Highway 120 becomes Route 120, as it transitions from a RHW 6C to TLA-7 (and then AVE-6). I don't know if I went overkill with the signs, lights, and detailing, or if it looks awkward given that I built the interchange so close to the city's western border. I'm not particularly experienced, but what do you guys think? EDIT: Thank you so much for the inspiration, Haljackey!!!
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Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Melendez Description: Located in Barranquilla, Colombia as Atletico Junior's home stadium, it was built for Colombia's failed bid to hold the 1986 FIFA World Cup. The stadium has a capacity of about 60,000 people. Significance: There are absolutely no Colombian structures of any kind on STEX and the stadium can add some more variety, as most stadiums on the STEX are of North American or European origin. Cartagena colonial buildings Description: Various buildings of many types (i.e. residential, commercial, landmark, etc.) found in Cartagena's historic city centre. Significance: Even though there is already a Colonial Pack from the LBT, creating a pack in the general style of the structures shown would help to better recreate the centers of the Spanish-speaking Caribbean cities, such as La Habana, Santo Domingo, or Cartagena. I do not request an exact replica of these buildings, just in this style. [Deleted oversized images - Images MUST be under 800x600 or 600x800]
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Excellent city. You have some mad skills my friend :D Just one request: Can you recreate Barranquilla, Colombia. Or Cartagena? Either would be nice. And continue with your awesome work.
