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Three Rivers Region

Started by dedgren, December 20, 2006, 07:57:49 PM

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jdenm8

That TTR looks great, can't wait to be able to actually be able to connect TTR in my cities to, you know, the rest of my system.  :thumbsup:
*toddles off to make more LHD paths for TTR*


"We're making SimCity, not some dopey casual game." -Ocean Quigley

carlfatal

Happy new year!
and again i´m stunned: these first pictures of the TTR look fantastic!  &apls
I only know i need it...  :)
Greetz, Carl

dedgren

#10182
Oh, I've been working on the railroad...



The long TTR ortho to diagonal wide curve puzzle piece is a monster at 5x11 gridsquares.  I'll do a smaller one at about two-thirds that size.  I'll also do the FAR3 wide curves as an intermediate step at the same radius.



These textures are done at 512x512 pixels then reduced to the 128x128 size the game uses.  The difference in visual quality in the game is marked.


David

885945
D. Edgren

Please call me David...

Three Rivers Region- A collaborative development of the SC4 community
The 3RR Quick Finder [linkie]


I aten't dead.  —  R.I.P. Granny Weatherwax

Skype: davidredgren

MandelSoft

Well, I hope you keep on track then :D (pun fully intented)
Lurk mode: ACTIVE

noahclem

Very, very nice!

Extra-wide radius curves would be an amazing thing to have. Really amazing to say the least.

Stupid question, but if you go down to 128 will these still look nice at closest zoom? There's been so much nice work done in "HD" lately that it'd be a shame if these beautiful new pieces couldn't play along.

Hope the new year is treating you well!

Tarkus

Quote from: noahclem on January 05, 2012, 04:37:17 PM
Stupid question, but if you go down to 128 will these still look nice at closest zoom? There's been so much nice work done in "HD" lately that it'd be a shame if these beautiful new pieces couldn't play along.

While the transit modding part of the community was among the first to experiment with "HD" textures, they never took--if you look inside most .dat files in the NAM and its periphery (RHW, etc.), you'll see that pretty much everything is still 128x128. 

The main reason for that is filesize and game compatibility.  While it's relatively rare to find a 128x128 texture exceeding 16KB compressed, it's not uncommon for uncompressed 256x256 textures to exceed 100KB.  Going to 512x512 means that the textures would cause the game to crash if the user was using Software Rendering, in addition to pushing the filesize exponentially higher. 

RHW Version 4.0 was originally going to have a 256x256 texture set, but the filesize issue led to it being scrapped pretty quickly.  It would have easily exceeded 200MB.  The only way HD would be manageable for transit-modding applications is if there is considerable re-use of just a handful of textures.  The only feasible way to do that is to make everything model-based.

-Alex

dedgren

#10186
Just popping in before bed to show you today's progress on TTR wide curve and FAR3 textures.



I'll try to do the smaller radius variants tomorrow and switches and crossover trackage over the weekend.  I believe several folks on the RAM and NAM teams are going to help with puzzle piece making, so this is moving right along.  Level crosses with roads and streets will come last, and there are a bunch of those.  Alex (Tarkus) and the NAM crew have done a great job building TTR functionality into the NAM controller and other files, so that is not the daunting task it was with the STR.

TTR- that's the light you are seeing at the end of the tunnel.

* * *

I'll note that you are checking in here at the rate of just under 1,000 views per day since the start of the New Year.   At that rate it is not unrealistic to think we'll hit the millionth page view right around 3RR's sixth birthday in March.  I'll be sneaking some in game pics in to try and reward all that attention, but looking at the many incredible MDs out there these days I am going to have to really brush up on my playing skills.  It is incredible to note that SC4 is just about a year away from its tenth birthday, and here we are still seeing something new and wonderful just about every day.


David

886459
D. Edgren

Please call me David...

Three Rivers Region- A collaborative development of the SC4 community
The 3RR Quick Finder [linkie]


I aten't dead.  —  R.I.P. Granny Weatherwax

Skype: davidredgren

Tarkus

Those are looking as amazing as ever.  It's always great to see a new network taking shape, and to have the veritable SC4 "skunk works" that is 3RR back up again.

-Alex

jdenm8

They look great! I can't wait to play with them.


"We're making SimCity, not some dopey casual game." -Ocean Quigley

RickD

I love the TTR already. I am very excited seeing the progress.
My name is Raphael.
Visit my MD: Empire Bay (My old MD: Santa Barbara County)

CasperVg

Seems like there's some quick progress on the TTR-front. I'm looking forward to expanding my railway networks with nice urban triple-track rail. Wonderful!
Oh, how extactly will these be pathed? Will there be bidirectional paths for each track or monodirectional on the sides with bidirectional in the middle? Or something else?

Looking great!

- Greetings
Follow my SimCity 4 Let's play on YouTube

[Delta ²k5]

I can see myself build something like the Northeast Corridor in the future (when even rail systems like quad track rails appear) &apls
great work!

What I maybe like to see in future are catenary systems on those... Plunderer made a great job, but he is kinda inactive.

Also I'd like to have bothe network types together: some with and some without catenaries. But first: you are doing a very fine job David! :thumbsup:

noahclem

The pace of development over here is great to see! I can't say enough how excited I am for these extra-wide radius curves  &apls  It's probably already in the works but I'd love to see a TTR-to-2xDTR piece. It'd look really nice approaching termini.

@ CasperVG - I believe the TTR in the current alpha release are already paved with the central rail two-way and the outside rails paved in one direction.

@ Alex - Thanks for the clarification  :thumbsup:

dedgren

#10193
I'm, errr...on track!



I wish my graphics program (the low-end but really cheap Paint Shop Pro X4) could arrange objects along a spline.  It would greatly speed things up, as I have to make 30 rotate-copy-paste-align trips for each 45 degree curve.

...whine, whine, I know...

Seriously, it's great to be doing these.

UPDATE:  As I get up towards diagonal with the rotated segments of trackage that make up the completed curve, I thought I'd show you the benefit of working at 4x resolution (512x512 pixel) as opposed to the 128x128 pixel level that the game will use.

Here is the segment at 4x shown in ortho then rotated 39 degrees.



Here is the same segment at 128x128 (blown up on the screen to the same overall size as the 4x example).



There's a little extra hassle involved to work at 4x, but the difference between textures I am creating now and those of several years ago is striking.

UPDATE2:

In London I never really got the point of this.



Until now.



That particular gap is about to be closed.



David

887007
D. Edgren

Please call me David...

Three Rivers Region- A collaborative development of the SC4 community
The 3RR Quick Finder [linkie]


I aten't dead.  —  R.I.P. Granny Weatherwax

Skype: davidredgren

ivo_su

#10194
David, I salute you for the good work and admire your skill and patience. That  which you are embarked seems so difficult and slow process that I am afraid even to think about how many hours it takes.
We will follow with interest developments in the future.

- Ivo

EDIT:  Hello, Ivo.  Thanks for the kind words in your first post here at 3RR.  Don't be a stranger. -de 

jmyers2043

#10195
Quote from: dedgren on January 06, 2012, 04:45:31 PM
I wish my graphics program (the low-end but really cheap Paint Shop Pro X4)

Whoa David! I am one happy camper now having looked at your recent pics. I recently upgraded to X4 and the default tab look was driving me crazy. I wasn't sure how or if I could change the look and the 'help' button wasn't. I am now back to a window'ed working environment thanks to you.  %BUd%   (first time I've ever used the 'excited' emoticon)

Take Care

- Jim

EDIT:  Jim, you have no idea... I never figured out how to do away with the tabs in X3, even though the answer was under my nose the whole time.  I stumble d on the way to change the view for some reason shortly after the X4 upgrade, and have been likewise a fairly happy camper ever since.  There is apparently no way, though, to save windowed view as a preference.  I write Corel fairly frequently with suggestions about the program- so far there's no indication the company has ever listened to me, but one must continue to hold out hope...  Take care, my friend- great to see you dropping by 3RR! -de 
Jim Myers  (5th member of SC4 Devotion)

dedgren

#10196
All I can say is


Who are all you folks?



14 guests.  I think the most I've seen here before at any one time has been somewhere up in the 20s, but I didn't think to screencap it.  We did our "No Lurkers" day on the 1st and had a pretty good turnout, but I just can't imagine why anyone would remain anonymous when they can become, simply for the price of stepping out of the shadows, a member of the prestigious 3RR Regulars* (or "La Foule Habituelle à 3RR" in French, which sounds quite a bit more ritzy, if you go for that sort of thing).

It would make my day to hear from you!


David

* A La Foule Habituelle à 3RR is anyone, yes anyone, who has ever posted here or way back when over at ST at least once.

887200
D. Edgren

Please call me David...

Three Rivers Region- A collaborative development of the SC4 community
The 3RR Quick Finder [linkie]


I aten't dead.  —  R.I.P. Granny Weatherwax

Skype: davidredgren

j-dub

#10197
Glad to see you back on track David. I remember someone who also used that character from Opus the Penguin who was into railyard production.

EDIT:  That's Dirk (North Country Dude) if I recollect correctly.  It would be great to see him here and have him working with us again.  He had some excellent ideas for railyards which [sound of broad hint being dropped] may well be the next development focus for me. -de 

dedgren

#10198
Well, we made it with a few seconds to spare.



All the wide radius curves in the basic set are done except for the diag S-curves, and those will be done in the odd moment early next week.  I'm on to switches and rail crossover tracks over the weekend, which, by the way, I hope is a great one for all of you.

* * *



Only a handful of the 1,000 folks or so* who took a look at 3RR today took the minute or two that it takes to leave a comment.  I don't want to sound like I'm carping about this, and in fact let's make a deal so that I can shut up and move on.  I have spent a bit of time in SC4D's MD section during the past week or so and was very surprised to see how far the overall level of commenting has dropped.  World-class updates (and the authors of those...you know who they are) are getting just a few reader posts instead of the 20 or more of a year or two ago.  I saw a lot of other solid work that gained only one or two comments over the subsequent few days.  That's really disappointing to me.  Mayor's Diaries are the integrating lifeblood of this website, and in fact of the whole community.  They are where it all comes together- all the work that the BATters and MODders and developers and mad scientists do.  The author of a quality MD has taken the time and done the hard work necessary to pull all those things together and present the result in a coherent and accessible form for you to enjoy.

If I can't persuade the vast majority of you to leave a comment here on any given day, I'll gladly give those up if you will stop by a couple of different MDs every few days and leave your thoughts there.  Nobody is asking you to be Hemingway or Joyce, a city planning expert, graphics whiz, or a game tech guru.  If you like what you see, tell the author that.  If you appreciate the effort the author has made, tell him or her that.  If you see something you think could be improved, provide a constructive comment.  Some of the most creative times we've shared here at 3RR have been when the comments were like having a discussion with a group of old friends, and suddenly a light came on in my head from something that someone said.  By the overall numbers this website is on solid footing continued interest-wise, but if I had to look for an early indicator of problems down the road, I'd look precisely where I've been talking about.  Again, if you aren't leaving me your thoughts here, leave them somewhere on the site, and the MD section is, IMHO, one of the best places to do that.

Thanks.


David

* I know 1,000 page views don't necessarily equal 1,000 different folks.  Some of you might have come back...gasp...twice, or maybe more.  Heck, I've been here five or six times myself.

887467
D. Edgren

Please call me David...

Three Rivers Region- A collaborative development of the SC4 community
The 3RR Quick Finder [linkie]


I aten't dead.  —  R.I.P. Granny Weatherwax

Skype: davidredgren

catty

#10199
Quote from: dedgren on January 07, 2012, 01:00:25 AM
Midnight

Do we turn into pumpkins?

EDIT: ...at the oasis?  No Cathy, I meant to type "placeholder" and, at that moment, I was just too fried to spell it. -de

EDIT2: btw, my friend, welcome to the Double 0 Club.  We haven't done an honors post in some time, but I plan to address that soon. -de

EDIT3: That honour goes to jdenm8 on the next page -catty   ;)
I meant," said Ipslore bitterly, "what is there in this world that truly makes living worthwhile?" DEATH thought about it. "CATS," he said eventually, "CATS ARE NICE.