andreharv

@donoteat: Good guess. They are roughly 6ft. Pictured here is New York example. Trains are roughly 12' tall according to wikipedia so these girdles *lol girders are about half the height so I think I'm at a pretty good starting point. Not to mention, my tracks probably have much thinner width than IRL steel tracks so that would also make the girders look bigger. Will do some more experimentation though Chicago L here does use shorter girders (about 3.5ft) so again, gotta find yummy middle ground

@R3V0: Plopped a vanilla subway station at -12m Plopped your station on the side of a road Connected the two with MOM tracks Drew metro line from subway station to your station and back with no issue Removed line from previous step and redrew line starting from your station and going to subway station and back with no issue. Downloaded IPT and tried 1-5 again with no issue until...uh Index out of Range exception *DERP* but that came about because trains were spawning at the stations which they wouldn't otherwise do if I couldn't draw metro lines. Made sure to post pic of ROUGH draft to introduce the steel/wood elevated track model

@R3V0:Station looks great and uh...works great too. Didn't have any problems. What happens when you start the line at another station and then route to your station? Does that work?

@R3V0: Please email me your .crp file to andreharv@gmail.com

Looks awesome! As far as your issues with the elevated station could you send me a pic? I tried testing with @BadPeanut's version and it seems to be working ok

@R3V0: forgot to mention that as quick fix you should be able to use multi-track station enabler to force line elevation.

Great! I say that because it may be a clue to a bigger issue I am trying to figure out. I will get that addressed. Thank you.

I would tend to agree with Boformer. While it exists, there is a reason why such a 'super rail' is relatively rare. I have said this multiple times that if all rail types shared the same rail, then they are only as fast as the slowest rail type (again, metro, freight, and heavy rail stuck behind a tram). @wasmic: I would tend to disagree that not having a super rail will stymie creativity. I mean think about it. If all trains use the same track and go the same places then what is the need for any variety to them? People would start making faster trams to break up log jams and then all the vehicles would be exactly the same. All the stations would accept all vehicle traffic and eventually people would stop seeing the need to use them at all. Ironically, SOME realistic limitations (like the ones currently in place) spurs creativity because it forces players to overcome common problems that are faced IRL. Personally, I kinda like trams and metro (at least once this mod is done). It might sound like a doomsday prediction but it is my biggest fear resulting from blurring the lines of what these transport modes are typically designed to do.

Thank you. Also, my BIGGEST challenge with these sliders were getting the cims to actually use the darn stations. This game has some really crazy snapping rules when it comes to ped paths so I had to kinda take shots in the dark till I came up with something that I think works but please make sure that the stations are actually being used (people are entering them and traveling)

@BlazingBoldly: Awesome! I love pictures! Ok so when you clicked on your favorite subway station for testing, did a dialog pop up in the middle of your screen with a couple sliders on it? If not, you may not have the latest version, or nobody sees it which means bigger problems for me. If you do see it, however, make sure the depth is set to at least 12m. The problem is that the game, by default, buries subway tracks at -4m (about 13 feet) as far as realism goes, this is complete nonsense and since this mod tries to get back to realism (even a little), the tunnels and transitions are going to be deeper than the vanilla station tracks. Connecting the vanilla metro tracks to vanilla station works because I hardcoded the vanilla metro tracks to not go above 12m. This raises an interesting point. First off, as a reminder, I have built an algorithm for the depth slider which sinks existing station tracks and ped paths to the desired depth and then dynamically builds a 'staircase' of underground ped paths connecting the entrance of the station to the existing station below. That said, I can set the default depth to whatever is most convenient. This does not affect stations that have already been placed; It only affects stations you are going to place. Because -4m is just plain ridiculous, I'm wondering if it would just be better to set the default to -12m? This is what me rambling sounds like...I'm leaning toward -12m. Not really noticeable to the average player and will eliminate this glitchy garbage once and for all. What do you guys think?

@BlazingBoldly Welcome to Simtropolis! That first message is just a warning (not error) and it was caused by a *derp* on my part. I have not released the fix but I will (if I can remember today). Are you experiencing problems while actually playing with the metro?

Whoa duly noted! I suppose you're right about how trains may be labeled. And TBH, most of my release schedules are purely speculative because I just start 'working on stuff' lol. However, I still still make metro first. Are you guys saying that most elevated stations in Europe are heavy rail/locomotive?

@Tim The Terrible I have been to several European countries but admittedly, I have only ridden trains in Germany. I have ridden the ICE and more local stock of or related to the 'DB' series. To be clear, I am not saying they are nonexistent (remember I used the word 'usually'). I can only go by 'trends' of what I see IRL or online. If you type 'Elevated Rail' in google, you overwhelmingly see metro and subway lines. Besides, as I said, I will probably make heavy elevated rail stations in the future but after I make them for metro.

@wasmic I will release the elevated one way stations for metro first only because it seems more fitting for that situation. AFAIK, heavy rail stations are usually at ground level whereas metro and subway stations are above ground. Not saying I won't do it, but I will do metro first.

One way tracks will be in a subsequent release, not sure if it will be second or third.

@Delta2k5Thank you! Guys please update your alphas from a few posts up and let me know if you find any serious issues. I am guessing that if everything is 'usable' this may be the last alpha I do before release...finally... I have spent a couple hours researching the elevated busses in the past. Just a matter of when and how.

Alpha Update Ok I kinda broke my promise. by about an hour and a half. Nonetheless here it is. Still not in final form but I think it is usable *fingers secretly crossed behind back*. So in this update, some minor fix stuff, most of which I have forgotten but importantly, got the subway setter UI in. In this moment, it may break curved track. If it does, I will fix that shortly. Also, you will need MULTI-TRACK STATION ENABLER. Otherwise, you will be impeded by some seemingly hardcoded hurdles with setting metro lines. To get the latest version, click on the link below and when it takes you to the post, click the link in there. I did it like this so that I don't have to keep track of 5000 links each time I post an update. The original link should always take you to the right place. Enjoy and leave feedback!

Fine...screw all yall I'll do what I want! No but seriously, I recognize that you have been advocating light rail quite a bit, though I am not sure what you are requesting. I don't know if it was you but at some point someone had asked if we could just use trams for light rail and you (or someone) said that light rail is too long for the 90 degree turns at intersections. If that wasn't you or you changed your mind about how long you think the light rail cars should be, I would say that your idea of expanding the trams sounds like a great idea. IMHO trams and light rail share more in common than with metro. That said, making elevated and underground tram station seems to be appropriate but I will have to do some research on real world frequency and feasibility. The reason I rely so much you the opinions of the community is because there is nothing more rewarding for this frankly punishing work than to see my creations show up in Reddit and YouTube. I get this really crazy twisted sense of satisfaction from it...really it is my metric of how useful a feature is so that I will know to expand on a feature in the future or bury it. So if nobody likes the work I am doing or it is not in demand, it probably wont be used and if it is not used then it won't be posted.

Hi guys! Been sick with...I don't even know anymore. I'm sorry I have been scarce but believe me when I say I have been working every waking moment I have. I am currently working on the tool that will allow you to set the length and depth of vanilla metro station tracks. Still a few kinks to work out but enough to release and give you guys the general idea. I promise I will try to get that build out when I get home from work in a few hours. I haven't heard from BP lately about the station integrator but I don't want to unnecessarily delay the release of this mod! Loving what I am seeing here in the meantime...Sadly, I may have to start a new thread for this as I am dying to see what people vote on for the next project and the current poll is obsolete and I don't know how to change it out. So far, to be honest, I am still a fan of HSR. Obviously not very useful for 9 or 25 tile but 81 might draw some benefits.

Thanks man. You may have saved me a ton of time. been using CollossalFramework.Threading....good times

Oneway metro or rail? In the case of metros, oneways will be in one of the next releases (it will take probably about 50% of the time to fully make one lane metro and get all the logic right...and by right I mean like the 1 way rail tracks which still need some lookin). Perhaps I will release the stations first since they will be easier and modders on their way.

Just the guy! Please do. You can email them to me at sniggledigit@gmail.com or if you have a better way to send them, please let me know.

@droidhacker:Welcome. I remember when I first started designing these new tracks I kept thinking 'It doesn't take much effort to make this look better than vanilla (IMHO). Why didn't the devs do more?' There was much more I could do in the way of details but it would all be to the hurt of those who don't welcome the extra tris count. That said (to reiterate): The goal of this mod is simply to overhaul that minimal and...frankly...not very fun network we call Metro. It is technically not adding a 'new' thing per se but really taking the skeleton of something that exists and making it better. Therefore, it cannot connect to rail networks since such a connection, to my knowledge, doesn't exist for vanilla subway. The moment it does, this should also (with little effort). Most major cities I studied have separate concepts for 'rail', 'subway/metro' and 'tram'. I like the concept of using each where they work best. Subways in this game operate at 2/3 the speed of rail but IRL, they regularly go above and below ground to blend in with the infrastructure of a bustling city. Rails are typically more regional and trams...are like busses but are cooler. I also like the idea of transfer stations which act as a hub for travelers of diverse transportation needs. Nothing about programming this stuff is easy, period (at least not for me)... While I agree that this will prob make the vanilla rail look kinda bland (if I may say so myself), I feel that there are enough things missing from this game that just about everything I make will need to 'do' something or at least give the impression it is brand new. My next project may be high speed rail or maybe maglev...maybe...uhh...uhh high speed maglev. Or maybe, because main street is cracked and broken, and the mob here at ST has spoken...about monorail...we could do that too. (If you don't watch the Simpsons then...nvm *monorail...monorail...monorail*) By the way I would like to call a new vote for future stuff but I am not sure how...Ideas? In other news, I am still working on raising/lowering station functionality. So far, the popup with sliders wins (had to learn ColossalUI which is a CollosalPIA)...But I was able to make a popup that controls height of stations down to 36m (deeper than that and it starts lookin kinda fuzzy) and track lengths up to 150m (more than that and the station tracks stop supporting stops. Current stations are 88m so 150 looks nice). I may adjust the sliders based on what makes practical sense. Should put out a new build tonight or tomorrow. ALSO: Guys!...Gals? People!!! I guess I never really thought about this much but I really don't want just vanilla subway stations. I was wondering if people could make general-ish styled stations for ground and elevated (even subway). If my station tracks are currently too broken to explore this, please let me know. I could make them all myself but that would take forever. I will put a bug out in the ear of those on Reddit as well. @BloodyPenguin and I could select a station (or 2) from each elevation to put out for release (not necessarily the initial release but @wasmic said he would not sub until they are in and I need him to ). Thanks again for your testing and support.

@wasmicGlad you like it. Checking if tracks are already below -12m is a must and will be the next thing I work on for this. @Turjan Wonderful news (I admit I was a bit worried). AFAIK, none of the vanilla station modifications will be retroactive. In other words, this will only effect stations you place from now on. So your first pic won't be a crammed nightmare until you decide to replace those stations. This being said, it would be nice to be able to make a UI because then you could change the values between station placements to micromanage how well your stations will fit in tight spaces like this. As far as your second pic, I also sank old tunnels but that is also not a retroactive change. In other words, if you draw some more of the vanilla tunnel off your old tunnel, it will sink to -12m (the new default for vanilla tunnel depth). Then you shouldn't have any trouble connecting to it. As far as the bridge question, I am not sure if I understand you. Could you send me a pic of what you mean? @Delta2k5: Good call. I will look at that. @skallben: Not that I am aware of...metro stations are above ground...if you are talking about bypassing the station to get to the station track below, you could test by trying to run a ped path straight to a train platform and bypass the station and if it works, then your idea works...though I doubt it will.

Well...here goes something...Placed stations will currently try to push down to -12m. Just update your mod from dropbox again. Please Note: There was a point along the way where my test city crashed. Not sure if that was a fluke or some index got changed or sth. To be safe, make sure your favorite cities are backed up...you may also consider backing up your copy of the mod before trying this one in case you have something important in the mix (in which case you would have to delete the tracks, dl the new version and then re-lay them). Hopefully this is not the case but I am really not sure. Linkie: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/xtm9esukogctnec/AAC-FdXH9QF7Vlr3ivzhRWuqa?dl=0 Edit: What I mean is that the mod works now(ish) but it may not be compatible with tracks from the previous version. Please let me know if this is the case and if so, what error are you getting?