RHW (RealHighway) - Development and Support

[nerdly_dood]

no, no no, I didn't mean that the MIS would share a tile with the RHW-6, I meant that it would be something like this, with the pink lines indicating vertical tile borders that are supposed to be parallel in-game (I guess you might be able to say this image is not to scale ) This is what I meant:



Wow that is some horrible JPEG compression...

[deathtopumpkins]

Yes it does. Thanks, Alex.

[Tarkus]

no, no no, I didn't mean that the MIS would share a tile with the RHW-6, I meant that it would be something like this, with the pink lines indicating vertical tile borders that are supposed to be parallel in-game (I guess you might be able to say this image is not to scale ) This is what I meant:

Well then, that will be completely doable then, without the 1-tile separation between the RHW-4s at the crossover point, with some of the pieces that will be added in soon.

-Alex (Tarkus)

[Starmanw402007]

hey tarkus, earlier this week when I went to open a window from the new release of some files here. I got multible windows, What could be causing that to happen? I recieved like 15 windows and I opened 1 of the files that said new.

[j-dub]

@Starm402007, if your talking about IE, I use to have that happen to me, but not on this site, when it first loads, sometimes. I don't know whats wrong with it, instead it will crash instead occasionally, but maybe its the computer, if SC4 isn't the only one known for that.
@Tarkus, I don't know if you have been folowing the show us your intersections, but (see pic)

if I can find a way for this to be possible, is there any New networks that could achieve this as well?

[Tarkus]

j-dub, that's an interesting find there.  My guess as to why you're able to do that is due to how some of the Road and OWR intersections with the RHW were configured--a lot of them simply had the same texture (and same Instance ID) assigned to them in RUL 0x10000001 regardless of how the RHWs and Roads/OWRs were configured coming into the intersection.  That doesn't fully explain the street on the side, though.  It looks to me like it is a clever workaround, but I'd guess it would probably become unstable if I were to override it.

On the development front, I have a few things to announce and propose--no pics right now, though, unfortunately.

I now have the various diagonal Road-over-RHW-4 overpass pieces correctly pathed, with working preview models.  Not really much to see there--they still look the same as they did when I showed the initial work on them, but they're more or less ready now.  I've got the RULs copied over and it's looking like, when it's all said and done, probably 100 or so new Network-over-RHW-x puzzle pieces to account for all the possible combinations. 

My RHW TAB Loop in my build of the RUL right now has about 80 pieces in it, so I'm going to begin the process of creating new TAB Loops--it's going to be harder in the long run if I don't do it now.   For feasibility purposes, it looks like the best method will be to go on a per-type basis, rather than a per-number of lanes basis. 

I'm also considering placing the new Network-over-RHW piece TAB Loop under the Roads menu, rather than the Highways menu, as it could make it easier to switch between the Road/Avenue/etc. Elevated puzzle pieces and the Network-over-RHW puzzle pieces.  The other new loops, the Starter Pieces loop, the Ramp/Splitter Interface loop, and the Transitions loop, will still be under the Highways menu. 

Also, it appears that due to how the RHW-6S has to be configured on the diagonal, it will not be possible to have diagonal starters for that network--it's physically impossible in-game, so the diagonal RHW-6S Ramp Interfaces will be without them, and will work much like the current RHW-4 Curves in that regard.

-Alex (Tarkus)

[nerdly_dood]

I would REALLY like to see the [___]-over-RHW tab loop in the Road menu, that would make things much easier. I also agree that it would be easiest to arrange the tab loops organized by type.

[dragonshardz]

though adding the rail-over-RHW to the rail puzzlepiece loop might be a good idea...

[Tarkus]

though adding the rail-over-RHW to the rail puzzlepiece loop might be a good idea...

That's how it was set up in Version 13.  But in actuality, it doesn't work well, which is why it was changed in Version 20.

All the RHW RULs are, by necessity, integrated into the NAM as part of the Controller file, including the puzzle piece RUL, 0x10000000, because there can only be one copy of each RUL file.

So, in actuality, you're getting the RHW RULs as part of the NAM whether or not you have the RHW installed.  If the RHW pieces are placed under a TAB Loop that is exclusive to the RHW mod (like the existing RHW Puzzle Pieces button), it will only enable the content if the RHW mod is installed. 

However, if you put RHW stuff under another puzzle piece button in the NAM, the spot for such a piece is still there in the TAB Loop, regardless of whether or not you have the RHW installed, meaning that non-RHW users would be getting a bunch of "missing" pieces in their Rail Puzzle Pieces TAB Loops.  It wasn't that big of a deal in Version 13, as there was just the one Rail-over-RHW-4 puzzle piece. 

But, given that now there's going to be several different puzzle pieces for each RHW network you're crossing (probably 20 or so Rotation Rings in the TAB when it boils down to it), the non-RHW user is going to be getting a lot of #IntersectionPlacementInfoMissing# errors going through their Rail TAB.

That does, however, give me an idea.  There will be a substantial number of Rail-over-RHW pieces added, so perhaps a separate "Rail-over-RHW" button may be necessary.  Given that a similar number of pieces will be necessary for the other networks, it will probably mean that having a "Road-over-RHW" button, "OWR-over-RHW" button, etc., will be necessary. 

Either that, or the existing puzzle pieces need to be converted over to entirely draggable means, but that would mean delaying RHW Version 21 until that project is completed.  That would, in theory, eliminate the necessity for about 80 puzzle pieces.

Oh, and on another note, I have successfully RULed a GLR crossing for the RHW, so the old RHW-4/GLR at-grade crossing piece (a holdover from Version 12) will be relegated to the Legacy Support file.

-Alex (Tarkus)

[deathtopumpkins]

I'm all for draggable overpasses, but I definately would be happy with waiting until an even later version for them though, as they're not an essential feature.

And I'd also still keep all the tab rings in the highway menu, as it's the least cluttered, and to me that seems to be where they belong, but I guess it would be helpful to have them in the road menu in some situations.

Lastly, there should definately be seperate tab rings if there are 80 pieces! I'm happy with having them split up by type.

[Pat]

Hey Alex for what its worth I'd say go for the roads menu to put the new tab in... Also I'd be happy either way far as a release...

₁₁₅₅₅₈

[Tarkus]

Well, I've more or less designed the new puzzle piece rings for the overpass pieces.  It looks like I overestimated the total a little initially--there's 64 pieces right now, split between Road, OWR, Avenue and Rail.  Though I may still end up adding some pieces to interface with the Elevated MIS, too.

Right now, the Road, OWR and Avenue buttons are under the Roads menu, and the Rail one is under the Rail menu.  I also managed to set up the other buttons for RHW puzzle pieces on the Highways menu: Starter Pieces, Ramp Interfaces, Curves and Transitions.  There will also potentially be a fifth button there for other Misc pieces, and with as many Ramp Interface Pieces as there will soon be, they may broken down by height.

-Alex (Tarkus)

[Streetlight 725]

This is getting Better and Better!!!

[deathtopumpkins]

Wow. That's really organized. Should be rather helpful in finding things.

[thundercrack83]

Organization shall set your free...

Great work here, as always, Alex!

Dustin

[Monorail Master]

Good job on it RHW team. And you know what, this page is my lucky one. Because my lucky number is 141. 

[pagenotfound]

  This next version is gonna be huge 

This is freaking awesome!

[Shadow Assassin]

Well, ideally, I'd prefer it if it was draggable (of course, there still will need to be puzzle pieces that would need to be added, particularly for dual networks)... but that seems to be a good idea, however, it is quite annoying when you have to switch between two different menus just to get a single puzzle piece.

[Patricius Maximus]

Sounds great, Tarkus. Something tells me that v21 doesn't need much moe before release...

About the tab cycles, since you have the stuff, I think you would know best how to arrange it.

[Shadow Assassin]

As part of the v21 release (whenever that may be), the Euro RHW is getting a mid-life face-lift. Now it's complete with gravel shoulders.

(Oh, and by the way, the two RHW in that shot are going in the same direction. )