• Welcome to SC4 Devotion Forum Archives.

Three Rivers Region

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

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 5 Guests are viewing this topic.

metarvo

#9820
Family should always come before a game, so I understand the need for your absence from 3RR.  I'm glad to hear that everything's going OK.  :)

On the 3RR front, it's a pure shame that you've been having so much trouble because of PSP.  Although I admit that I don't have it installed as of now, my advanced graphics program of choice is in fact the GIMP.  With all of that being said, I'm glad that you got yourself a new comp.  :)  I wonder who will pick up 3RR's first quadruple-0 post?

Welcome back, David!  :thumbsup:
Find my power line BAT thread here.
Check out the Noro Cooperative.  What are you waiting for?  It even has electricity.
Want more? Try here.  For even more electrical goodies, look here.
Here are some rural power lines.

mightygoose

#9821
back to reality, whoops there goes gravity, well that's a way to kick in those little western saloon doors you get in trendy clothes shops, welcome back dear friend, that is most excellent news regarding the little dudes. They are most important to you and we would never detract anything from your character in your abscence.

now you are here it is great to here that your maps are working again. The number-one priority should be that the story and the medium are compatible, something you seem to have Nailed it. I have got high apple pie, in the sky hopes for your future updates.

MINIGAME: list all six quotes and their respective sources from the above passage :)

EDIT:  I think I see a bit of Eminem in there (Lose Yourself).  Nicely done w/ the minigame.  - Ryan B.
NAM + CAM + RAM + SAM, that's how I roll....

Girafe

#9822
glad to see you here, as said before familiy comes always at first and everybody understand it  ;)

hope to see soon new trees in 3RR  :)
The Floraler

This is the end, hold your breath and count to ten, feel the earth move, and then...

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *    *   *   *   *   *    * 

dedgren

#9823
2010 Construction Update

Those of you who go a ways back here will remember 2007's 3RR "Proposed Freeway Map."  A larger, more readable version will open in  new window when you click here [linkie].



Very little has been done extending the outlying freeway system due to budget constraints.  The only new construction that is ongoing outside the Pineshore and surrounding suburban areas is F-60 south of Aurora.



Construction is underway to extend the road first to the infamous "R-4 jog," which will alleviate traffic through downtown Aurora.  This two mile/3.25 kilometer stretch is due to be completed in the summer of 2011.  The remaining six mile/ten kilometer gap between that point and existing Exit 58 just east of Wolf Lake will be under construction throughout 2011 with completion expected in the summer of 2012.  Of the remaining Non-Pineshore projects, the most likely to happen over the next two years is the extensions of the western end of F-28 past Highland extending to U.S. Interstate 98 at the Minnesota border.  This is the result of the making available of "missing link" funds from the U.S. Department of Transportation, which are projected to cover 50% of the construction costs of this short stretch.  Minnesota will be completing its missing link segment of I-98 in 2011.

Around Pineshore, the Black Earth Freeway was completed in the spring of 2009.



This 3.5 mile/5.5 kilometer freeway has been numbered F-128 to designate its status as an east-west spur off of F-28, 3RR's major east-west route.  The Black Earth Freeway serves the booming "Silicon Hills" industrial and tech park area that has been developed with astonishing rapidity on former agricultural land south of the Wyler Mountains in Elbert and Tower Townships east of the Woody Hills suburbs.    Built three lanes in each direction, this freeway has the region's highway planners looking at possible extension corridors east of Black Earth in order to stay out in front of the path of future development.

To connect the Black Earth Freeway to F-28, the first segment of the long in the works "Pineshore Outer Ring" freeway was also completed in 2009.  This freeway, which continues to be under construction to the north of the F-128 interchange, will ultimately extend in an arc north and then west through East Pineshore's suburban areas and then will cross the Grand River on a new bridge under construction just south of the mouth of the Cold River and terminate at F-37.  It is not known whether 3RRDOT will designate the road F-221 or F-228: both route numbers are under consideration.  The new bridge and sections currently under construction are scheduled to open in the late spring of 2012, with some segments possible opening more quickly.  Construction of the remainder of this section of the Outer Ring Freeway (there is another section proposed to go west of Pineshore providing a bypass connecting F-37 and F-28, but that corridor remains mired in environmental controversy involving the Lake Evendim wetlands and otherwise facing substantial NIMBY opposition from the neighborhoods in the freeway's projected path) will start in late 2011.  A quick comparison of the 2007 proposed route of this freeway and the actual right-of-way now under construction attests to the substantial growth of Pineshore's northern suburban areas in recent years- the freeway has been displaced a mile/1.5 kilometers north of where it was planned for decades to be built.

The largest 3RR freeway project under way involves the completion of the southwestern quarter of the Outer Ring in the form of the International Airport Freeway: F-437.



This construction, now almost complete, involves a new five mile/eight kilometer stretch of F-437 extending west from the freeway's current end at the airport entrance, then crossing the South Fork of the Wind River, then turning northward to join F-28 at the 28 kilometer marker just west of the current interchange of that latter road with R-3.  This will complete the entire length of the F-437 freeway, and will greatly alleviate congestion in and around the rapidly developing Ellsworth area.  R-3 will be duplexed with F-437 from the point where it is crossed by the freeway southwest of the Ellsworth town limits northward to F-28, where it will then proceed on a new two lane alignment (designed to be easily upgraded to a "Super Two") over a new bridge crossing the Wind River and proceeding for 3.5 miles/5.6 kilometers until rejoining the existing R-3 alignment just west of the Delong Mountains.  The old truss bridge currently carrying R-3 across the Wind River will be demolished when the new bridge opens in mid-2011.  Exit 29, the existing F-28/R-3 interchange, will also be removed when the new roadway opens.

So, there you have it.  Now you are up to speed on the current status of 3RR's freeways and roads, which you will be seeing much more of in the weeks and months ahead.


David

679875
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

nekseb

Hi David,
great to see you back at SC4D!  :thumbsup:

I've missed something, when you not here...

But the most important matter is to read, that you and your family are okay!
I don't need to know everything, I only need to know someone who knows!

letum aut libertas

Battlecat

Fantastic to see you back David!  The revised map is looking great already!

It must be quite exciting to have one of your sons back home at long last!  I really hope he settles in well.  I certainly can't hold making real life a priority against you.

Ryan B.

David, it's good to see you back.  The latest update is of particular interest to me.  I can't wait to see what some of these interchanges will be laid out like!

noahclem

I'll echo what Ryan B. said! Look forward to seeing how the new freeways turn out  ;)

girlfromverona

#9828
I could stare at those maps all day. ;D

Toja: I'm definitely going to check out that QuantumGIS programme - looks very interesting!

Connor

Great to see you back David, and great to see 3RR active again. Really lookng forward to those freeways and interchanges.

@Toja: Thanks for posting that program, certainly looks good to me.




ldvger

#9830
David-

Welcome back, my friend, you have been sorely missed!  However, we all understand family comes first...in fact, anything concerning RL comes first. 

Looking at your maps made me hungry to dabble my toes in the SC pond again, as I really haven't done anything at all in many months.  No real excuses, good or bad, just got busy doing other time-killing things.  However, I recently was reading online and came across some gorgeous shots of Earth as taken from the International Space Station and found one in particular grabbed my attention.  Some folks here may have seen the same photos and the one I liked so much of the "Eye of Quebec", an annular (ring shaped) man-made (sorta) lake in Canada.  It's actually an ancient meteor impact crater (5th largest on the planet, no less), much eroded now, that used to have a river running along it's western inside edge and then out the south side of the crater.  Someone had the brilliant idea of damming this river and so this unusual lake was created.  I think it would make an awesome SC4 map and have found some GIS maps that may make creating a semi-scaled game map possible. 

As for my recommendations for graphics software, nothing (in my opinion) can touch AutoCAD for versatility.  It's very powerful software and as anyone knows who reads my MD's, I use it extensively.  To the best of my knowlegde, it has the ability to create drawings of virtually unlimited file size...astronomers can use it to map the universe, to scale.  However, it's hugely expensive and not terribly user friendly.  I lease my copy from a client and if you know any architects or engineers that have a spare license going unused, you may be able to arrange a similar deal.  Buying the software outright, single license, is going to set you back about $4500, so it's not a "toy" type of software.  There is also the drawback that CAD creates a limited type of file formats and most are proprietary, just like your .psp files.  There are workarounds I've found that allow me to toggle back and forth between CAD and Photoshop, working with JPG, TIFF and BMP files.

I also like Photoshop quite a bit, although I don't know how to use it as well as I do CAD.  I also use GIMP from time to time.

Well, gotta run, again good to "see" you again and hope things are going well for you and yours.

Lora/LD

EDITAhh- Lake Manticouagan.



It's about 350 miles/580 kilometers NNE of Quebec City.



Oddly, it looks a bit like a giant letter "Q" from space. I wouldn't put it past those Québécois- they are pretty proud of where they live, and rightly so.  That lake must be 100 miles/160 kilometers around.  I always thought it would make a great location for a one lap boat race.

I'd bet, by the way, that Hydro-Québec [linkie] would be a good source for digitized topo mapping of that area.

As for AutoCad, sheesh!  The price is one thing, but I've heard the learning curve... well, my hat is off to you, Ms. Einstein!
. -de

girlfromverona

#9831
I forgot to add my software suggestions: I used to use Macromedia Freehand, but now primarily use Adobe Illustrator - both are excellent programmes for creating vector graphics. :)

EDITThank you, Marisa.  I have drooled (yeah, sorry, gross  :-X.) on boxes of Illustrator at the software store ever since using that program on a consulting job many years ago.  I wonder- if I registered for a basket weaving course course at my local community college maybe I could get a student discount?  Have a great summer Christmas in NZ. -de

dedgren

So I continue to work in the alternate NAM universe of RealRoads.



I've now thought about the project for over a year and a half which, considering 3RR is coming up on its fourth birthday here at SC4D, isn't that long.

I built this today.





It's completely draggable, automatically created no passing lines and all.

And, if I do say so myself, pretty easy on the eyes.



Anyway, back to bash a few more pixels, then off to bed.



Later.


David

683928
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

Terring7

#9833
Very nice job &apls

EDITHi, T7!  Thanks for becoming a 3RR Regular in making your first post here.  Please don't be a stranger -de
"The wisest men follow their own direction" Euripides
The Choice is Ours
---
Simtropolis Moderator here. Can I help? Oh, and you can call me Elias (my real name) if you wish.

Girafe

#9834
Nice texture indeed, it's really much better  &apls &apls &apls

EDITAntoine, Ryan's reminding me about signs a couple of posts up made me think about the great Euro sign set you have done.  I'm going to shamelessly repost the pic of them here



along with this [linkie] to your amazing BAT projects thread.  That's a fantastic effort, and it must have been an incredible amount of work- most definitely K-point worthy!
-de
The Floraler

This is the end, hold your breath and count to ten, feel the earth move, and then...

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *    *   *   *   *   *    * 

MandelSoft

#9835
Yay! The real roads are BACK! I'll be watching development very closely  ;)

Best,
Maarten

EDITMaarten, yours was another name that came immediately to mind when I started thinking about beta testing.  Happy Holidays, my friend! -de
Lurk mode: ACTIVE

Ryan B.

#9836
David, I saw your picture there and I remembered I have this on my external HD:



Coming soon to your E-mail.

-Ryan

EDITWe have to get back into signage again, Ryan.  I'm wondering if the year's hiatus in working on them has brought any advances in small object BATting?  I'm looking forward to hearing from you. -de

dedgren

Building on yesterday's work...



this one was easy.


David

684205
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

Haljackey

#9838
Glad to see David's back to his old antics.

The RealRoads and the maps look excellent! Welcome back!

EDITHal, Merry Christmas to you, and everyone here!  I'm thinking a bit about calling what I'm doing "RealRoads" at this point.  I didn't think about the RHW being "Real Highways" when I first posted the name after about 15 seconds consideration over a year and a half ago.  As it is a complete set of retextures for the game roads along with a substantial revision of several SAM sets and its compatibility with the entirety of the NAM in the long term is still yet to be thought through, perhaps I ought to come up with another name.  Any suggestions?. -de

ldvger

#9839
Well, it looks very good, but I have a question:  Are these transitions from asphalt roads to gravel roads?  If so, I have a few comments...not to disparage your work, understand, just thinking out loud for a few minutes.

Asphalt roads require a built roadbed of some sort, an underlying foundation, whereas gravel roads are usually just graded.  So, asphalt roads usually sit a few inches higher above gravel roads.  In some cases the road building crews wll be directed to create a bit of an apron that softens this transition from asphalt to gravel, similar to driveway curb cuts, but in other cases (depending on road building budgets and other things such as traffic on the adjoining gravel road) this transitional apron will be very minimal or missing altogether.  If the apron is missing, there is often a bit of a ledge between the edge of the asphalt and the beginning of the gravel, sometimes a fairly abrupt edge of several inches.  This, over time, creates a bit of a rut at the transition zone as tires dig into the softer gravel road surface while pushing the vehicle over the ledge between the asphalt and the gravel.  This also results in gravel getting thrown around all over the place, often piling up in a small hump just ahead of the rut, while the rut itself may be bare dirt.  This happens to some degree even with an asphalt apron extending down into the gravel road, it just takes longer for the rut to develope.  But, more than vehicles leaving the asphalt leaving darker worn areas in same, cars entering the asphalt from the gravel usually carry bits of gravel and gravel dust on their tires, so such intersections are usually lighter than the asphalt, not darker.  I don't know if it possible or even desirable to create this effect...just saying.  I mean, this is an attempt at "real roads", right?

EDITLora, apart from being the inspiration for 3RR as it exists today, you are a natural-born beta tester.  No good deed here at 3RR goes unpunished!- consider yourself drafted.  All that aside, you are absolutely right.  I'm getting the individual textures and coding done at this point, but we will make sure that the kind of superdetailing things you've pointed out are not overlooked. -de