dkempel

The FlexFly provides a much better solution, by running the highway at L1 and the flexfly and flexcurve above and below. Thanks again for the feedback. Here is an image, it is a bit sloppy though and could be more compact.

I am still working my way through the menu and I haven't tried the flexfly yet, which might offer a better solution. It just puzzled me that there are no way of making an underpass under an elevated road/viaduct. A setup with the lanes crossing like this seems like a compact way of connecting to a highway without the interference of an intersection. The diamond is compact but it has an intersection on the viaduct.

Thanks for the feedback. What I am trying is to cross the lanes before they emerge so that the tiles used for transition can be parallel to the highway thus saving space.

Anyone know how to have elevated road/avenue/OWR cross flup?? I cannot find a piece for such connection. I am thinking it would help me build more compact intersections between highway and road network since the roads/OWR could cross each other before returning to ground level thus eliminating the need for the three to four tiles of height transition. Any suggestions?

Good point.

On the copyright issue, I think the mind set displayed in such restrictive copyright notices where distribution is prohibited is hopelessly out of date. A good copyright notice for a product created voluntarily with the aim of distributing (not capitalizing) should ban commercial use but encourage distribution as far and wide as possible. In this age of over information the challenge is to get your material circulating, it is counterproductive to restrict access by writing strict copyright notices. While all the SC4 modders deserves nothing but respect, and to be acknowledged for their work, the copyright practice has, it seems, malfunctioned since it cannot even allow a few standard plugin folder packages with content from different creators to be available for download. That would otherwise be a treat, as the OP argues. Squeezing profit from a piece of intellectual property is a wholly different matter, but that is not what is at stake here.

Aren't we overlooking, as (virtual) city builders, what is special about the city, namely concentration. The most scarce in SC4 is urban space, as I think I read A Nonny Moose write sometime. Having played SC4 from the empty green field we know that this urban space is relative, it is defined by the relations between things such as residence, workplace, public service, utilities etc. Historically, the nature of the city has been to create urban space by concentrating crucial functions. From the innermost: the court, the temple, the market place, soldiers' quarters behind the inner wall of the citadel; residential quarters, manufacturing, infrastructure protected by the outer wall of the city. Pasture and fields beyond. In this concentration the city achieves something, that cosmopolitan personality which is necessary for a higher pitch of civilization. I fear this might be lost without a proper physical city. Being in a city with more souls and turn of events than you can ever know forces a certain acceptance of differences (but also of indifference). This leads to pragmatism and fends off parochialism and dogmatism. This is not to say that the rural and provincial have no importance. The rural rythm with nature and provincial modesty are perhaps values that are particularly needed in the future.

I think this is the best prediction. It is also the most modest.

Hehe. Cities are here to stay, civilization and cities are inseperable. And with the unabated urbanization and all I'd say Sim City 4 is pretty much already of the future.

How do you mean 'smart cities' in the context of SC4? By that, I mean very efficient cities with a good road layout without any jams, availability of services everywhere, eco-friendly planning and minimum pollution, clean and efficient power and water system, recycling and minimum garbage, jobs and workplaces in the right area without polluting much, a well-built transportation system, a well balanced, educated and healthy population, a well balanced budget with enough reserves in case they are needed, all this in a very space-efficient and completely realistic manner. Also using Euro-Contemporary architecture set since that is the closest thing in the game to modern and contemporary architecture. These are basically the smart city features that can be built in SC4. Real world smart cities have much more like high connectivity, electronic and smart government system, a dedicated goal (most smart cities are built for a purpose, such as IT sector for example) and they are sustainable and eco-friendly with buildings not being constructed by traditional materials. Have these cities turned out different than the non-smart cities you have build? If so, in what way? I like to try to build 'sustainable'/smart cities too, but I am not sure it is even applicable as a concept in SC4. There is an interesting topic here Sure, you can make Sims get on mass transit, you can zone mixed development, and you can avoid slums. But besides the choice of mass transit vs space eating highways, the other design elements mentioned seem to me to be just 'good city planning' and I guess many city builders here will adhere to these without necessarily calling it smart cities. Also, I thought the purpose of cities was for people to live in them

Thanks for providing this info NCGAIO. Though, I don't understand exactly what you are writing. Is this an answer to the question of what the numbers in the debug panel means? It could potentially be helpful to know what this easily accessible data mean. To me, the exact calculation for desirability is not necessary. The simulator is not that challenging that I need such precise management tools.

Thanks for the info NCGAIO (Nice discovery!) To be sure, are you pointing to the post by RippleJet where he explains the data in the query.txt ? (this post: https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=8870.msg275279#msg275279) Because the info in the query.txt and the debug panel is not exactly the same. The numbers from the debug panel are not explained. Or am I missing something entirely? Also, the link to the tract explanation doesn't work for me.

How do you mean 'smart cities' in the context of SC4?

Does anyone know what the different numbers in the debug panel mean? I am not clear on all of them so I can't interpret the data very well.

I use NAM. I considered CAM and Industrial Rev. but so far decided to go without them. GLR is indispensable, especially the tram in street with a one tile tram stop, when building mass transit oriented cities. Interesting Why do you like to build rural regions? What do you aim for then, or put otherwise what makes this fun to you? My settlements tend to look rather mechanical, so designing some beautiful suburbs and rural areas is on my to-do list.