RHW (RealHighway) - Development and Support

[memo]

In the files you sent me, the black rectangle is in fact part of the FSH files. There's also a black line at the southern end of the puzzle piece for the same reason, so you will need to create new FSH files from your image. I don't know how you created the FSH files, but to me it looks like the dimensions of your ramp texture weren't multiples of 128, so that the rest was filled with black color.

I also noticed that the FSH files are flipped, compared to how the models are set up. Although it is not a necessity, it usually is reasonable to set them up such that FSH files and models have the same tile IIDs and orientations.

As for the paths, the problem is the incorrectly chosen class/path number. You can read up on it [here], for instance. Moreover, some of the empty paths have illegal characters in it.

One more thing: The files that belong to the tile IIDs 0x5ff10000, 0x5ff10010, 0x5ff10020 are not part of your puzzle piece (because they are left out in the RUL0 cell layout). Therefore, the respective files (models, exemplars, paths and FSHs) can (and should) be removed, as they will never be used.

[Durfsurn]

The ramp texture I am using has an overhang because of the FARHW-6 section. How do I get around that instead? Also how did the models get flipped the other way to the .fsh files I wonder. I'll check up on the path errors and get back to this thread.

Best
-Durfsurn

EDIT: Here is a pic of the ramp over a 128x128 px grid: (And here with the next tile tacked on the edge: http://i.imgur.com/SEJwlTQ.png)



EDIT2: Big developments going on. I fixed the black spots - now all I need to do is fix the damn paths

[Indiana Joe]

Good job Durfsurn; making that first puzzle was quite the headache for me too.  If you want to fix the slight fuzzy appearance of the piece, check out Alex's post here.

Paths can be tricky; what I've found helps is to copy existing path files that are close to what you need and adjust them.

[Durfsurn]

Erm Indiana Joe my boxes are greyed out - any idea on why and how to fix it?

[GDO29Anagram]

Having pathed the hell out of a ton of ramps, I'm able to generate paths from scratch. I will say this, though: for the newcomer in pathing, pay EXTREMELY close attention to the entrance and exit flags AND pay attention to the path ID. Also, some pointers on naming convention for each path; this isn't totally necessary since you can name technically paths whatever you want to, it just helps others to know what they're looking at:

- What helps is to name each path with the same entrance/exit flags as the path itself; PathCreator, which is what I use, names paths based on their flags.
- If two paths have the same entrance and exit flags, you need to give them different path IDs. However it's not entirely necessary for every single paths to have unique path IDs, just only when two paths have the same entrance and exit flag.
- As with the above situation, you'll also want to identify same-flag paths with an extra letter; PathCreator won't do that automatically so you'll have to name them manually.
- When you see the big box for clicking in paths, pay attention to the sides. It actually numbers the sides so you know what's 0, 1, 2, and 3 (or west, north, east, and south).

So for example, a path file with multiple paths going in every which way and with multiple paths in the same direction would look like this:

Code Select Expand

SC4PATHS
1.2
5
0
0
-- car_1_3_a <---named as such: transittype_entranceflag_exitflag_letter
1
0 <--- Path ID
1 <--- Entrance flag
3 <--- Exit flag
0
4
0,8,0
0,2,0
-1,-4,0
-2,-8,0
-- car_1_3_b
1
1
1
3
0
4
4.5,8,0
4.5,2,0
3.5,-4,0
2.5,-8,0
-- car_1_3_c
1
2
1
3
0
2
4.5,8,0
4.5,-8,0
-- car_2_3
1
0
2
3
0
2
8,0,0
4.5,-8,0
-- car_1_2
1
0
1
2
0
2
4.5,8,0
8,0,0

I can fill in on extra information as needed, or you can look at the tutorial on pathing.

And yes, you do want to change the S3D settings to clamp (it says clamb but it really should say clamp), clamp, bilinear, bilinear no mipmapping.

Erm Indiana Joe my boxes are greyed out - any idea on why and how to fix it?

There's a list of mats on top; you have to click one to start editing, but you don't wanna touch the preview models, which is what you have displayed; editing that does nothing to the individual S3Ds (sidey-side), which you have to edit one by one.

Also, I don't recommend using RKT3 since in order to do any S3D editing, you have to do five times as much work; this is because each zoom level uses its own S3D and its own texture; best to use RKT0 since it reduces filesize and editing work since all zoom levels share the same texture and S3D.

[Durfsurn]

Yeh its not the actual pathing that's the problem I don't think. Check out the paths I have done (attached below) and could you tell me what I need to fix if anything?

EDIT: Fixed the 'blockyness' :



Thanks
Durfsurn

EDIT2: I still get the 3 weird black squares on the preview model (http://i.imgur.com/zsXweww.jpg). Do I have to delete the s3d offenders or other files as well? One last thing I might have to ask for some help on the rotation of the piece. I have the 'exit' piece almost done but for some reason one of the rotations doesn't appear. Here is my code for it in the RUL0 file:

Code Select Expand

[HighwayIntersectionInfo_0x0005FF1]
;Added by Durfsurn 07/09/2014
;RHW-8S Ramp Type F1 Outside Inverted - Exit Ramp
Piece = -16.0, 0.0, 0, 0, 0x5FF10005
PreviewEffect = preview_rhw8sf1outsideinverted


CellLayout =...........
CellLayout =...........
CellLayout =....AA....<
CellLayout =....AA.....
CellLayout =....AA.....
CellLayout =...AAA.....
CellLayout =...........
CellLayout =...........
CellLayout =....^......

CheckType = A - dirtroad: 0x02000200

ConsLayout =...........
ConsLayout =...........
ConsLayout =....||....<
ConsLayout =....||.....
ConsLayout =....||.....
ConsLayout =...|||....
ConsLayout =...........
ConsLayout =...........
ConsLayout =....^......

AutoTileBase = 0x5FF10000
ReplacementIntersection = 0, 0
PlaceQueryID = 0x5FF10000
Costs       = 410

[HighwayIntersectionInfo_0x00055FF1]
CopyFrom = 0x5FF1
Rotate = 1
[HighwayIntersectionInfo_0x00065FF1]
CopyFrom = 0x5FF1
Rotate = 2
[HighwayIntersectionInfo_0x00075FF1]
CopyFrom = 0x5FF1
Rotate = 3

Also according to the SC4D calender today was your birthday Ganaram! Happy Birthday man!

EDIT3:
Now the next step is how to make starter pieces. Is there a tutorial anywhere?

Thanks again
-Durfsurn

[GDO29Anagram]

Also according to the SC4D calender today was your birthday Ganaram! Happy Birthday man!

Oh by the way, I did have a "gift" (AKA texture samples) that I wanna share.





What's the opposite of DarkPhalt?

On that matter, "DarkPhalt" is a portmanteau of "dark asphalt". Without cheating, what's the name of the texture sample in the middle?

EDIT: Reuploaded images to Imgur due to resizing done by Photobucket.

[APSMS]

Although the yellow lines look a little too vibrant, the middle textures remind me of the standard American texture set.

I think that with a little more lightening/graying, the light textures could be renamed as concrete textures, which is something I've been wanting to make (but lacked the skills and time to do so) for a while.

And, yeah, the opposite of darkphalt would simply be concrete. Light asphalt, while realistic, just looks ugly in-game IMO.

I said this earlier elsewhere, but Happy Birthday as well.

[Durfsurn]

Ganaram is the middle texture set bitumen? Or just asphalt concrete?

[eggman121]

Wow there is a lot of action going on here. 

GDO29Anagram you continue to outdo yourself every time. I am quite excited about your work! Keep it up and Happy Birthday for the other day.

Durfsurn you are doing a marvelous job also. Keep up the good work.



Here is my latest project...







Yep. It looks like I can make RHW bridges as well.

-eggman121

[Durfsurn]

Could do with a slight bit of colour correction on the deck but otherwise absolutely perfect Eggman! And thanks :p

-Durfsurn

[Bipin]

Yeah, that looks excellent!  I assume you'll add box girders beneath the bridge? Right now it looks a little thin, but after all, it is a work in progress.

[GDO29Anagram]

Although the yellow lines look a little too vibrant, the middle textures remind me of the standard American texture set.

I think that with a little more lightening/graying, the light textures could be renamed as concrete textures, which is something I've been wanting to make (but lacked the skills and time to do so) for a while.

And, yeah, the opposite of darkphalt would simply be concrete. Light asphalt, while realistic, just looks ugly in-game IMO.

Ganaram is the middle texture set bitumen? Or just asphalt concrete?

You guys are actually thinking too hard.

Alright, I'll spoil the names of these proposed texture sets:

Top one: Bright Concrete, or BrightCrete; Named such because, relative to DarkPhalt, it's brighter.
Middle one: Fresh Pavement, or FreshMent; Named such because its asphalt colouring is directly based off of the default textures, plus I needed something based off of the default textures because neither BrightCrete nor DarkPhalt share the same dimensional specs as the default
Bottom one: Dark Asphalt, or DarkPhalt; Self-explantory

[eggman121]

Yeah, that looks excellent!  I assume you'll add box girders beneath the bridge? Right now it looks a little thin, but after all, it is a work in progress.

Thanks for the compliment Bipin  . I did add box girders underneath, its just that the taper that I used has put them out of view. I will make the box girders more apparent in the next revision.

Thanks!

-eggman121 

[Indiana Joe]

Could do with a slight bit of colour correction

Actually he was going for that "FreshMent" look    You're turning into a bridge machine Stephen, keep up the good work!



I think I prefer the look of the brighter asphalt (especially in Eggman's picture, even though it's unintentional).  Even the Maxis road textures are a little dark; sitting out in the sun all day tends to bleach the pavement a little bit, at least in a sunny climate where I live.

Happy belated birthday Gram.   

DarkPhalt:  this one has been covered by the Ontario textures in my opinion.  No need to make the 5000 or so RHW textures for it if it will only be slightly different.  Go for it if you want too though.

Concrete:  Yours look pretty similar to mine.  Just needs some fading; noise it up a lot.  I see the pattern of pristine, symmetrical, easy-to-manipulate textures, but they don't match the other game networks as well.  Concrete in particular usually appears very rough.  Sam was making some too if you recall.

[GDO29Anagram]

DarkPhalt:  this one has been covered by the Ontario textures in my opinion.  No need to make the 5000 or so RHW textures for it if it will only be slightly different.  Go for it if you want too though.

Concrete:  Yours look pretty similar to mine.  Just needs some fading; noise it up a lot.  I see the pattern of pristine, symmetrical, easy-to-manipulate textures, but they don't match the other game networks as well.  Concrete in particular usually appears very rough.  Sam was making some too if you recall.

I actually don't consider the Ontario texture set to be true DarkPhalt; reason: it's not dark enough (and yet ironically, mine's still brighter than my previous prototype). In fact, here's a comparison between DarkPhalt, Ontario, and Default (can I call it DePhalt?).



And the problem for these kinds of things is the lane width: since it's possible to have different textures between ground-level and elevated RHWs, there kinda has to be my own version of DarkPhalt in accompaniment with BrightCrete to ensure consistency with lane width.

As of the concrete textures, I've not made a concrete decision on it just yet (pun totally intended). Thing is, I'm using Inkscape, not Gimp or Photoshop, so I can't add noise the same way. On a similar note, it's pretty hard to cram a lot of fine detail into 128×128; even rumble strips were a stretch for me, so I'm not sure if I can even add in a suitable amount of noise. I've not found any good pictures of concrete highways, preferrably the aerial/satellite kind, but I'm open to such.

Also, since S3Ds actually retain the true colouring of textures and non-S3D tiles actually darken things up (in contrast to the popular misconception that S3Ds brighten up textures, even though it's more convenient to darken S3D textures for wealth-related reasons), the samples you're seeing are actually at their brightest. Import them in-game and they'll darken up.

And on the topic of sunlight: Google Maps took a picture of a local T-intersection in my area and it shows faded asphalt and fresh asphalt in the same area. In comparing DarkPhalt to DePhalt with the crossing, I also postulated that sunlight is exaggerating things. If you compared the colours even more finely (with the eyedropper tool), you'll find that the asphalts in this crossing are both brighter than anything else.



Whenever I think DarkPhalt, I think of freshly-laid asphalt, like in that crossing. Anything else, I associate with the standard textures in SC4. One could argue something else: SC4 textures already resemble freshly-laid asphalt and my textures are too dark as it is. But given this was taken in broad daylight, I'm personally not sure of that hypothesis. It'd be the same question as asking the question "Is your red the same as my red?" hint hint, Vsauce moment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evQsOFQju08

A bit of a story: years prior, that crossing was unsignalised and the highway itself was a fairly rough ride to drive on. Both have since been fixed, so now that picture isn't even accurate given what I see myself. Worst part is that not even Google Street View is up-to-date; it shows both the hard-to-drive-on highway and the they-really-need-to-put-a-light-here-because-it's-hard-to-make-a-left-turn-it's-hard-to-make-a-left-turn(-and-yes-that's-a-Jonathan-Coulton-song-reference) crossing.

Also related: there's a section of highway east of that crossing that was widened from RD-4 to TLA-5. This was prior to the crossing, and now that section is now as bright as the other sections of highway it's between.

[Haljackey]

Holy crap ultra-stability



Seriously... WHAT


I never thought I could make something with the RHW so tight, ever. Like since 2005. I also had no issues with the El-RHW-4 defaulting to RHW-2.

This was made with the current (public) NAM.

Crazy. Mind. Blown.

[Indiana Joe]

One could argue something else: SC4 textures already resemble freshly-laid asphalt and my textures are too dark as it is.

Count me in this camp.  Your red must indeed be different than mine because the Dephalt texture looks pretty darn close to the fresh pavement in the satellite pic.  You said it might be brighter than normal; I've noticed that vertical satellite Google pics tend to be darker than reality; you get a better representation from the 45 degree views.  Here's a map of all cities with 45 degree imagery in Google Maps if you're interested.

I've only seen pavement that dark before in places like Phoenix and Vegas.  But that's your area, so I understand where you're coming from.

it's pretty hard to cram a lot of fine detail into 128×128

Try working with railroads.     Your average rail I-beam is 3 inches wide; one pixel on a SC4 tile is 4.92 inches.  In fact this whole discussion is giving me deja vu regarding discussions about railroad color schemes.

I'm using Inkscape, not Gimp

Cannot imagine why, with Markus's curve script, and all the other scripts for things like auto slicing and naming that have been made.  To each his own.

I never thought I could make something with the RHW so tight, ever.

Don't question Tarkus and the RUL team, they're madmen.  They'll stabilize anything.   

Even this pic is from two years ago:

[GDO29Anagram]

I've only seen pavement that dark before in places like Phoenix and Vegas.  But that's your area, so I understand where you're coming from.

Ah, there's also one for Palm Springs, and even then, a closer look shows a mismash of different shades of asphalt, ranging from freshly laid to sunbleached to submission, and everything in between.

North Indian Canyon Drive is a pretty notable example. Approaching I-10 northwards, there's a section that's all concrete (and even further, right before the railways, there's a section of ARD-4). Google Street View of that shows the road being widened, but with concrete instead of asphalt.

South of that is a section of NIC Dr. north of Vista Chino that's lighter, but then a section south of Vista Chino that's slightly darker. Google Street View shows contradictory results because I can't see the difference. And even then, there's more instances than I can list in a convenient enough timeframe.

But then this is all ignoring Interstate 10 itself, the freeway that connects my part of the world with, well, Florida if you went far enough, which I've been using as one of my yardsticks. Last year or so, there's been roadwork being done to retrofit many of the interchanges down there, and from that time when many of them were still under construction, I remember the highway being darker, presumably due to repaving. Since it's been years since that time, I'm sure it's been sunbleached.

Cannot imagine why, with Markus's curve script, and all the other scripts for things like auto slicing and naming that have been made.  To each his own.

I'm pretty sure I can manage.



Though specifically, I'm using Inkscape to generate the texture masters and I'm using other programs to perform other operations, like wealthification, but even then, I've found a way to replicate radial bending using only Inkscape.

Don't question Tarkus and the RUL team, they're madmen.  They'll stabilize anything.

Practically speaking, there's a limit to how much we can stabilise, and a lot of the work has been Alex thus far. Soon, it'll be overshadowed by Markus.

However, I've never been able to replicate this, though. I only ever did it once:

[Indiana Joe]

xD  That was the picture in particular I was looking for, but I couldn't find it.  MC Escher smiles from the heavens.