NAM: Development

[darraghf]

Is this development thread still active?

Well if it is, I have a question, well a request (if i am posting in the wrong thread please excuse me) buit would it be possible to create  double height road, avenue, one-way road etc. puzzle pieces for making road over road over road or just dual networking like double height road over elevated road. If you get what I mean

[redraider147]

Having a triple track on a single tile would be nice, even if the capacity is not to par, it would look real, and in reality no one usually knows what capacities are of transit networks in RL.

yeah...i have no doubt that the third track override is completely feasible visually...the problem lies within the actually getting express service...can a tile have stop points on only some of the paths and not the others? more specifically can one transit type have a stop point for one path and not for another? if so, then the express lines are completely doable...but then we would have to test and see if passing through the station even without stop points would cause the track to use the station...i'm pretty sure true express service is impossible, but a faux express by use of an overhang is definitely a possibility...

[andreharv]

Ok back in business...After some armtwisting, I have come up with a (very) rough draft.

[Jonathan]

Yay, it's great to see you back,

If it's just a small corner, you can have a model that just goes outside the 16x16 limit. It is easier and it means trees and lots don't have to be a tile away from the interchange.

So far it looks great, seeing as it's just a rough draft, and far better than anything I could do.

Jonathan

[papab2000]

Ok back in business...After some arm-twisting, I have come up with a (very) rough draft.

Oh yes, that is going to be very nice. 

[Haljackey]

I've always wanted one of these!  Great work andreharv!

Best,
-Haljackey

[nerdly_dood]

Not bad! (But of course it's imperfect... but the imperfections will fade I'm sure, as you continue to refine the model etc.) That is a much more aesthetically pleasing alternative to this one I used in a tutorial I made on how to make and use a collector/distributor highway:

Once you've finished the interchange you're working on now, I can use it for a more complicated and improved version of the above interchange. (Yes I know that's an incomplete interchange: that's intentional)

[j-dub]

andreharv, I like what I see for a rough draft. Looks like you put alot of your time into this. I know its rough, but my one issue is the 3 lanes immediately merging with 3 lanes, I have seen 2 merge to 3 in reality, but even that is risky alone.

Nerdly, there is another way to this type of highway interchange I use with elevated to straight oneway, but I'll post that in the intersection thread some other time.

[andreharv]

Thanks for your comments.  I should be able to perfect the textures in the coming days.  Unfortunately, I am most likely going to refrain from making any changes to the model itself as this will essentially cause me to redo much of the interchange altogether. 

@ j-dub: I guess what you are seeing is not too common.  However, such merges/splits exist.  There are several in the western suburbs of Toronto.   

[MassHelper]

J-Dub, andreharv is right about the highway because I live in Toronto (Yes, I do) myself and the express lanes on the 401 in Toronto goes for about 60 kilometres, somewhere from Lester P. Int'l airport to the eastern townline of Toronto and at each end of the express lane sections, there is always a merge of three lanes (express) to two (or three) lanes (collector) of the highway.

Mass

P.S. If I misunderstood either one of you, I am so sorry.

[choco]

almost 2 weeks, so i appologize for diggin this up.  I was browsing the wiki and  came across something that caught my interest.  I had already expressed some interest in this thru PM to a couple folks, but the answer still eludes me.

from the wiki:

"The function of the RUL File is defined by its IID. It is not possible to add new RUL Files, though it is possible to define new Bridge RULs for networks that do not already have them."

i guess my question is: how can one "define" a new bridge RUL?  is the Instance ID of the RUL already designated for a particular network, or does one have to define the ID for said RUL somewhere else in the NAM?


i have tried many different ID values to get another RUL working, but I have no inside knowledge of the NAM other than what ive been able to learn by reading.  instead of spinning my wheels and possibly missing something simple, i thought i would pose the question to publicly, hopefully someone may know how this is done.

i'd greatly appreciate any info or hints in the right direction.  i'll gladly do the work if it means i get to see a bridge reach fruition.

thanks all!      

[Tarkus]

choco, to answer your question, with the Bridge RULs, there are a number of networks for which Maxis did not include RULs for.  However, as Tropod figured out awhile ago with One-Way Roads (and as smoncrie and I re-discovered with the RHW), it is possible to add the missing files in.  They always follow the pattern 0x0000100X, where X is the "Network ID".  The Network ID corresponds to the Network IDs used for adding Transit-Enabling to Lots:

0=Road
1=Rail
2=Elevated Highway
3=Street
4=Pipe
5=Powerline
6=Avenue
7=Subway
8=Light Rail
9=Monorail
A=One-Way Road
B=RHW
C=Ground Highway

Of course, I'm not sure that making a Pipe or Powerline Bridge RUL will actually do anything worthwhile, but there's network keys for them. 

It's not possible to add any other RULs, though, aside from the "missing" Bridge RULs.

Hope that clarifies it for you--an excellent question, I must say.

-Alex (Tarkus)

[j-dub]

Oh, I think some people would consider the possibility of doing custom Powerline Bridges worthwhile, instead of only having Maxis Power able to cross the waves.

[Tarkus]

Oh, I think some people would consider the possibility of doing custom Powerline Bridges worthwhile, instead of only having Maxis Power able to cross the waves.

Of course, there's also the question of whether or not they'll actually do anything at all.

-Alex

[j-dub]

True, but as always, why did they leave the door open?

[Andreas]

They probably left an open hole in the wall, but there certainly never was a door in the first place.

But why would we need a "powerline bridge" anyway? The in-game bridges can transmit power as well, so you don't have to use the powerlines, if you don't want to.

[choco]

@Tarkus:  fantastic!!  i cannot thank you enough.....ooooooh, the possibilities!  

i suppose a powerline bridge could be used in 3rr, as metavaro(?) has been making new models for high tension lines, i believe.  not sure how to 'path' a powerline bridge, but there could be some use....

[nerdly_dood]

Well... Don't ALL bridges carry power? If a power line bridge could be made, I don't think it would be necessary to figure out how to make ir carry power, just to make it a bridge for power lines is all.

[metarvo]

You know, one time I wondered, "How am I going to get this line over the water?"  I did manage to BAT a (still unreleased) transition [linkie] from my metal pole set to the default Maxis set, which could be used for this purpose, but now I read this.  In the NAM Development thread, of all places.   Although we don't have to use the power lines to cross the water, this discovery is great for those who do want to cross the water with their lines.  Thanks, Alex, for bringing this possibility into the light.   I'll definitely keep a closer eye on this thread to see if there are any developments, and I'll try to help where I can, although the closest thing to MODding that I've done with any success is opening the Reader to remove the base texture from a lot.

[choco]

well, i can help with the modding if ya like.  the only thing we'd need is an exemplar ID and the model ID's....but as far as i know, those have not been defined in the bridge controller .ini file.