Wide Radius Road Curves

[Gaston]

Absolutely incredible, guys.      This is some really top notch stuff.     Thanks.


---Gaston

[dedgren]

Alex (Tarkus)...

I myself am not great at texturing, and that's actually been holding up some of the mods I've been working on (namely the RHWMIS and wider RHWs, though I've been recruiting a few texture artists).

memo...

BTW, I'm not a good at texturing either. This often delays me.

Guys, you have acquired, when this project is up on the LEX, a texture slave.  If you want it, let me know what it is- I'll do it, and gladly.

Remember that- 'cos I'll really be hacked off if you don't.


David

[Tarkus]

Guys, you have acquired, when this project is up on the LEX, a texture slave.  If you want it, let me know what it is- I'll do it, and gladly.

Remember that- 'cos I'll really be hacked off if you don't.


David

Wow . . . thanks for the offer David!  I'll definitely remember that, and I'm sure memo will be happy too.  First, though, I'll get the last two curves ready.   The paths we worked up can actually be easily accommodated for other networks (as can the RUL entries), so if you ever wanted to continue the series, the turn-around time from texture set to puzzle piece would be quicker.

-Alex

[Amberite]

Hey guys first time poster but I've been lurking a while. Had to post when I saw this thread!

I've been wanting this in SC4 forever! I really hope that you guys can make it work and from the looks of it you're doing a fantastic job. Here's hoping that soon we have working curvy roads! Keep up the great work guys.

[toxicpiano]

MOAR! Looks fantastic, I hope someone will make euro textures for them 

[CabraBuitre]

MOAR! Looks fantastic, I hope someone will make euro textures for them 

I agree!  ... but it's easy for me to agree, agreeing is just words, it takes no skill.  Words I have.  Skills I lack.  That's why I appreciate the creators so much!!

[Tarkus]

Well, I think it's time for an update . . .

I've turned the other two curves into NAM-style puzzle pieces

Here's the 45 degree curve:




Here's the 90 degree curve:


And here's a couple overview shots showing all the curves being used:


And closer up:


There's still a few other things I need to do before these are released:
-Make reversed versions.  Right now, the way the rotation loop worked out, they only face one direction, which limits their usability. 
-Finish preview models for the 45 and 90 degree curves
-Reassign the IIDs for a couple textures.  Right now, I'm getting some weird glitches in the textures when I place zones near them, which seems to be because the IIDs I chose for some of the pieces are activating the wealth-level effect in rather undesirable ways.

Then, these will be pretty much ready.  And memo, thanks again for the paths--they look excellent to me .

-Alex

[wouanagaine]

Impressive, !

Like it a lot.
Does it allow development around and with which pattern ?

[Tarkus]

Thanks, wouanagaine.  And to answer your question, they do allow development around them, and the development conforms somewhat to the curve.  It looks somewhat like with the diagonals, but slightly smoother.  I'll post a pic of the patterns up when I get the wealth-level glitch fixed.

-Alex

[HabLeUrG]

this is amazing!!, can't wait for it to be realeased 

[metasmurf]

this is amazing!!, can't wait for it to be realeased 

what he said 

[Andreas]

Excellent work indeed! The next NAM will be one of the best ever.

[pvarcoe]

The pieces are looking great guys. Nice job on both the texture and the paths.

Looking ahead to the future a bit, a similar set of curves for streets (or is it roads, I always get the two confused) would be a very useful addition. I use those extensively in the countryside in my rural based MD.

Thanks for the hard work! It's really paying off.

[dedgren]

Alex- Do the road surface textures remain separable from the final product?- In other words, if I tweaked them into a v2 that matched up with the game roads better (toning down the centerline, for starters), could they just be plugged in without a whole bunch more work or is it back to square one?  Also, in terms of game "street" textures, I know that streets are narrower than roads by a bit.  I'm happy to do street surfaces for the various curves over the weekend, but you have taken on such a slug of work here- I don't want to seem to be presuming- It would be so great just to have these three perfected and available.

-memo and Andreas:  I'm working on redoing the track surface to match up to the wide rail curve that's presently in the NAM- it's 90 iterations of a very tedious task, and I still don't know if it will come out right in the end.  Initial tests, though, are promising- I might post a look or two over the weekend.  I've also done a couple of things with ground highway surfaces that folks might find interesting...

Sorry no pics here.  Soon, though.


David

[Tarkus]

Hi David-

Yes, the road surfaces are separable from the final product, and changing the textures like you're talking about would be an extremely easy task.  As far as the "street" textures go, one of the biggest obstacles with the modding process is getting the RUL coding correct (that 90-curve really gave me a fit last night), but I can actually just copy and paste everything if the curves are of the exact same layout.  I'd just need to make a few minor adjustments to the CheckTypes (changing them from Road to Street).  The only thing that might have to be adjusted is the pathing--I haven't messed around with the street network much so I don't know if the pathing is set up so that the automata follow at +/-2.5 on orthogonal pieces as they do with most of the other networks.  If they are, the whole thing is basically nothing but a copy and paste job. 

Hope that answers your questions, and best of luck with the new textures.  I'm sure they'll come out great.

-Alex

[memo]

I've also done a couple of things with ground highway surfaces that folks might find interesting...

You don't need to make textures for ground highways because they consist of models. The standard textures can be used for models.

[Andreas]

About textures in general: They are always interchangable, either by replacing the FSH files in the DAT, or by creating an addon file, using the same IDs, that is loaded later. The Euro Road Textures Mod works the same way, actually.

[thundercrack83]

Amazing work, my friends! Absolutely amazing. I can't wait to see further development.

[Tarkus]

David, I just checked the paths on the Street network, and it appears that everything is set up the same with the paths, so it would be nothing more than a copy and paste job with a few very minute (and very quick) alterations.  It could be done in a matter of minutes once the textures are ready.

memo, actually, I thought of a way in which the Ground Highway could be turned into a texture-based network, but it could potentially be way more work than it's worth.   It would involve voiding out most of the Ground Highway exemplars (Group ID 0xEBE084D1) and placing textures at the same IIDs. 

And thanks to everyone who's been following/commenting on this thread!

-Alex

[dedgren]

You don't need to make textures for ground highways because they consist of models. The standard textures can be used for models.

Oh, poop- there goes that 400'/128m radius 45 degree wide curve I have mostly drawn....


David