• Welcome to SC4 Devotion Forum Archives.

Haljackey's SimCity 4 Archives

Started by Haljackey, May 04, 2008, 06:58:07 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Indiana Joe


Haljackey

Digging through some old files... RHW 4.0 had some odd lane shifts:


Haljackey

#162
"Update" 22: TuLEPs and Things

The Turning Lane Extension Pieces are one of the NAM's newest components with work beginning in 2009 and the first version available as part of NAM 28 in 2010. Since they're relatively young I haven't given them much treatment in my archives thread but that's about to change.  ;)




TuLEP-like concepts have been around for a long time, but were mostly eyecandy and non-functional such as this one:

(Image by Shadow Assassin)

The first TuLEPs were a little clunky-looking, but they got the job done.

(Image by Tarkus)

If you look at that picture you'll notice that one-way roads had some of the first TuLEPs, yet have not made public release even to this day. This is mostly due to configuring issues with other networks.
-I could still see this as a useful cosmetic piece in instances where lanes can both turn and go straight.

(Image by Tarkus)

In fact TuLEPs also applied to the RHW. This was one of the principal goals of the project when it first started. The RHW TuLEPS were later overtaken by the RHW cosmetic pieces.



(Images and concepts by Blue Lightening)

Eventually designs for roads with right and left turning lanes came around. These were later replaced by the slip lane pieces as these textures often required an extra or overhanging tile of networks with little or no sidewalks.

(Image by Nique)


(Image by Tarkus)


(Image by Tarkus)

Eventually the modern TuLEPs we know today came through



(Images by Tarkus)

Later tweaks:



(Images by Tarkus)

The appearance of the pieces were later altered to match the markings we see post-release. Euro-style markings were also made for the first public release.

(Image by Riiga)


(Image by Mandelsoft)

Later some more ambitious concepts were attempted including street and one-way road pieces, and even diagonal pieces such as this one:

(Image by Tarkus)

Even with the TuLEPs selected, users are still able to make the standard road and avenue turning lanes from the RTL plugin. They are also compatible with TuLEPs such as this one so long as the intersections are also replaced.

(Image by Haljackey)

Later NWM compatibility came, with TuLEPs being able to built in the AVE-6/TLA-7 networks. Some designs are even compatible with other NWM networks without the use of intersection puzzle pieces.

(Image by Haljackey)

In fact, NWM-TuLEP compatibility has been awesome post-NAM 31. Using a combo of each can create some awesome-looking road networks such as this one:
-Click for full resolution!

(Image by Haljackey)




All in all, TuLEPs just make your road networks look awesome. They won't do much to increase functionality and whatnot, buy they sure let you be creative and let you make your own unique designs!

Tarkus

That's definitely a trip down memory lane--good to see all the old TuLEP-y, slip lane-y things of yore.  There's also this blast from the past . . .

http://www.youtube.com/v/UD3JQPUrU6Y

Quite a few of these concepts are still planned to come about at some point, and it's an area that'll see some expansion with NAM 32.  It's implementation and organization that's been the sticking point all this time, and we've begun discussing a broader, more comprehensive tactic with respect to turning lanes in general, which will tie in with the developments seen in the NAM 31.x releases, which saw the auto-generated Road Turning Lanes supplanted for the semi-automatic "click-over" system.

It is worth noting that a number of the TuLEP pieces do have DIPs (Distilled Intersection Paths), taking advantage of the NAM Traffic Simulator's Intersection and Turn Capacity Effect settings to boost their capacity--the Road Type A and Avenue Type B TuLEPs fall under this category, and the Type A Avenue TuLEPs and the slip lanes re-orient the way traffic flows on tiles approaching intersections, which, in many cases, does actually factor into overall network capacity.  The same is true of the auto-generated Avenue Turning Lanes, whose days may be numbered, due to the complications they cause with Draggable Elevated Avenue Viaducts crossing other Avenues.  (The Road Turning Lanes--both the old auto ones and the new semi-auto ones--do not have a capacity boost.)

As far as RHW TuLEPs, the RHW Cosmetic Pieces (CPs), despite the fact that a number have arrows on them, are really a different animal.  The CPs are for mainline usage in access-controlled/grade-separated environments, and aren't really intended to be used as TuLEPs.  Actual RHW TuLEPs for the MIS, RHW-2, and RHW-4 are still planned for at-grade surface intersection treatments.

-Alex

Wiimeiser

What about RHW-3 TuLEPs? Also, I'd like to see the slip lane in the first image...
Pink horse, pink horse, she rides across the nation...

j-dub

#165
QuoteThis is mostly due to configuring issues with other networks.
-I could still see this as a useful cosmetic piece in instances where lanes can both turn and go straight.

I couldn't figure out why. All these needed were to be placed over straight away OWR, with nothing changed, because in comparison,
QuoteThe RHW TuLEPS were later overtaken by the RHW cosmetic pieces
Those cosmetic RHW pieces with the arrows only go over straight away RHW-4, where OWR is not available, but still are used before ending at grade, at  the side road intersection.
http://www.youtube.com/v/kPHecxJhTRI


In the mean time, it's a good thing OWR-3 is there when people want the MIS to have a wider exit out onto a wider side road, starting with the avenue.


QuoteTuLEP-like concepts have been around for a long time, but were mostly eyecandy and non-functional such as this one
I thought this concept implementation for the diagonal was a dragged method. And what had always caught me off guard here, was this Maxis intersection had the avenue signals afterward, despite the two tile situation.

Haljackey

#166
Quote from: j-dub on May 27, 2013, 10:09:27 AM

QuoteTuLEP-like concepts have been around for a long time, but were mostly eyecandy and non-functional such as this one
I thought this concept implementation for the diagonal was a dragged method. And what had always caught me off guard here, was this Maxis intersection had the avenue signals afterward, despite the two tile situation.

Did you know that SC3K had slip lanes?


What's more, they didn't take up any extra tiles... I think that's why Maxis decided to put them in as there would just be empty space otherwise.

It would be awesome to see this in orth/diag intersections in SC4, made by either a drag method or a puzzle piece.

riiga

Quote from: Wiimeiser on May 27, 2013, 04:05:18 AM
What about RHW-3 TuLEPs?
I still have these laying around, but they haven't been upgraded to P57 specs or even touched for over two years:

Tarkus

#168
Quote from: Wiimeiser on May 27, 2013, 04:05:18 AM
What about RHW-3 TuLEPs? Also, I'd like to see the slip lane in the first image...

Just like how the ARD-3 connects directly into the Road Type A TuLEPs, the RHW-3 would connect into RHW-2 TuLEPs.

There was this, too:



-Alex

Haljackey

#169
Way 1 or Way 2?

Click for full size!

2008


2013


What a difference 5 years makes! The interchange itself has hardly been touched. If I were to rebuild it I would run into a lot of reverts / compatibility issues because it was made with RHW 2.0.


Haljackey

"Update" 23: Revisiting the Original RHW

I thought it would be fun to revisit a city that still has the original and working RHW textures (RHW came out in late 2005, this city was made in 2006). The original RHW doesn't really have a definitive version name, as many call it something different. (Examples include 0.12, 1.0, 1.2 and 12.... Later updated versions came which were known originally as versions 13, 13a and 13b.)

This city was also the precursor to the cities I built for The Greater Terran Region, my award-winning SC4 City Journal / Mayor's Diary. There were many things I learned here, both good and bad, that evolved into my play style that seems to remain the same to this day.

While the mod itself is old, the pics are not, and available in full resolution (taken today). Click for full size!




Here she is, the original RHW. Created by the old side-by-side drag method (no starters, one network).
-With the exception of the overpass, the highway remains in it's original condition, thanks to legacy support made by Tarkus.


It was tricky, but you could separate the different directions of travel by as many tiles as you wished. This was one of the primary goals of the RHW, which was known as Rural Highway at the time. Having a tile or two simulated a wide grass median, giving the highway a much more rural, realistic feel.
-Of course it could also be applied to urban settings, as seen below. This was one of the reasons the name was changed to Real Highway, or to simulate a realistic-looking highway, urban or rural.


The first 'Multi-RHW', which was insanely difficult to create using the side-by-side drag method. I can count the amount of people that I know have accomplished this on one hand.
-Without starter pieces, the RHW would revert to the opposite direction. This could be altered with some careful clicking... and A LOT of trial and error :P


Zoom out:
-The avenue overpass was added in version 13a I believe. The original version only had road overpasses.


There were no ramps or MIS. The best way to make them was to transition your RHW into a one-way road.


In addition, only street networks could intersect the RHW. Here I had to transition a road to a street to connect with it.


Zoom out of that area. This was among the first custom airports I made, and involved a lot of RHW.
-The airport is 'mostly' here today  :P


Last is a bonus pic: RHW converted to project symphony. I find it reminds me a lot of the original RHW.





Anyways that will do it for this update. Hope you enjoyed it!

Tarkus

Man, that old school RHW brings back a lot of memories of when I first got started in this business--which was almost precisely 7 years ago (how time flies).  RHW 1.2/12/0.12 (which I generally just call the "initial public alpha" nowadays) will be 8 years old come November.  Those Avenue overpasses were actually what got me started in the first place, and ended up being part of the first proper transit mod I ever released (RHW 1.3/13/0.13).  It's good to see it all again, from one of the earliest advocates of the system. :thumbsup: 

-Alex

Haljackey

#173
"Update" 24: Evolution of a T-Interchange

I love digging through my archives... Shows a lot of progress!

Highway interchange (My last MHW)














Snaking highway through the hills






City tile (contains both projects)





Haljackey

#174
"Update" 25: Evolution of a DDI

New entry! It's been a while hasn't it?

Evolution of a diverging diamond interchange.















Sabretooth78

Just read through this whole thing; funny to see what I missed as this thread more or less spans my period of disappearance from the community.  Really an interesting read.

Quote from: Haljackey on May 12, 2010, 07:09:45 PM

"Update" 15:  Massive Miscellaneous Mix Up


An early attempt at a trumpet interchange. The one on the NAM is only diagonal as of now.



Ha, I still have that model!  I believe I also made a crack at a Y-split that I probably still have as well.

Haljackey

#176
Quote from: sargeantcm on May 13, 2014, 01:24:38 PM

Ha, I still have that model!  I believe I also made a crack at a Y-split that I probably still have as well.

Wow awesome! Have plans to finish them one day?  &blush




"Update" 26: Interchange Throughout the Years

This update focuses on one area of one city over a number of years, showing the changes the area has gone through,

2007- No interchange


2008- Raw interchange


2008- Eyecandy added


2008- Development


2008- New RHW texture


2009- New onramp added


2011- Retrofit- New overpass, HOV lanes, new offramp


2014- Retrofit- New overpass, new allignment for 6 through lanes, rebuilt ramps


2014- Eyecandy and development






Large mosaic of the area as it looks now:  http://www.majhost.com/gallery/Haljackey/photos/yay.jpg

Imgur album here: http://imgur.com/a/4ELyG




UDI videos through this interchange.

2008: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGnXxTMdkks

2011: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YpiR2djjCo

2014: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxOdLbqoLuk

hellodave

Fantastic thread, I haven't been following SC4 over the years, I only really know the last couple of releases of the NAM.
Really interesting to see it's history, I was already blown away by the things people have done, this gives a bit more insight into what was involved, bravo  &apls

But, I actually came here tell you how much I'm enjoying your Build A City From Scratch videos. I know I'm a bit late to the party here (story of my life), but I'm on part 28 and I'm loving it. I don't actually have to play the game any more, I can just watch you, and you're so much better at it than me!
Actually, it is inspiring me to play more  :)

It's funny as well, reminds me a bit of a series called You Suck At Photoshop if you've seen it.
Thanks Mr Haljackey, I will name my next city in your honour.

Bipin

I always love reading your entries to this thread Hal. Keep it up.  &apls

Haljackey

#179
Some old half-clovers in Downtown Greater Terran, my densest city.

Built in 2006.

Using them like this minimized weaving and allowed closer street-level interchanges to be built, saving space.















Bonus: A couple pre-development shots showing them in their original configuration. (From an old save file of the city.)