RHW (RealHighway) - Development and Support

[Haljackey]

How can you make sure what direction the traffic will flow in when you make the RHW?

Take a look at the lines and the shoulder (emergency lane).  Yellow line should be on the left ,and the white line and shoulder should be on the right.  That should indicate that the traffic is moving on the right.
-But, seeing that you are from the U.K., this may be reversed.  Aside from consulting Filasimo's reference guide, I would check the Readme file for more information.

I hope this helped you out a bit!

Best,
-Haljackey

[SmartRoss]

Thanks; I knew what the rotation ring was, I just couldn't double check traffic direction. Thanks for all the help, and now to stop cluttering up the thread for this excellent project 

[Filasimo]

smartross, hal, nerdly: you know i wouldve explained regarding the path direction in the puzzle piece rotation but i did not want to go overboard and make a reference guide for dummies and make people look like fools 

[RebaLynnTS]

When making a guide for use of items, it is always best to make it for someone who knows nothing about the game. That way, anyone can use it. If anyone's feelings get hurt by this method, then they need tougher feelings

[Filasimo]

I already made my point clear so lets move right along now. Id say lets keep on topic now and await, Alex's next update kay guys? 

[nerdly_dood]

I agree completely.  I don't think anyone should post here again until we get either an update or a question!!

Woops...i violated my own ultimatum...

[mdawgmike]

I would like to thank everyone who made this awesome modification for the game.  It adds a whole lot of realism to my cities.  On that note I have an idea/question/suggestion pertaining to the realism of the mod.

I think it would be a neat idea to make stop signs and flashing lights (see pictures below) for the rural highway intersections as is present in many real life ones.  Is this possible by simply making a puzzle piece, or would the the game's mechanics not allow it?

Here is an example of what I'm talking about; this is a simple 4-way stop with flashing red lights hanging above:


This could be implemented in 4-way stops with flashing red for all four directions:


Or, it could be made for 2-way stops with flashing red for the road that has to stop, and flashing yellow for the road that doesn't have to stop:


I can remove the images and place links upon request; I just figured they were small enough to show without cluttering the thread too much.

The stop lines are nice, but this would make a super awesome addition to future versions if possible.

[dragonshardz]

@mdawgmike: thery're focusing on function first then aesthetics.

[Tarkus]

Hi mdawgmike, welcome to the forums!  I'm glad to hear you're enjoying the RHW.   As dragonshardz pointed out, we're making sure everything is functioning from a modding perspective first, that traffic is able to use the networks.  What good would it be if it looked pretty but didn't function?

That being said, I do think the idea you've suggested is a good one--something I've thought about as well, as it's pretty common on RL RHW-2s where I'm from (Oregon).  But it's something that will probably come along farther down the road (no pun intended).   It's not something that directly affects the functionality of the mod, and it's possible that details like what you've suggested may be released as something separate from the actual RHW mod itself, as some sort of addon pack.   

Hope that answers your question, and again, welcome!

-Alex (Tarkus)

[Tarkus]

Sorry for the double post, but I think it is worth it in this case.

I'd like to reveal a different workaround for neighbor connections with the RHW-4, which will work on RHW-4s with any width of median as well, and it can currently be done with RHW v20.  This came after several conversations I had with Tropod and jplumbley, and this would not have been made possible without their input.

The reason the neighbor connections are not working on the overriden RHWs is because there needs to be a physical network loop at the connection, in order for cars to realize that they can use the RHW to reach the next city tile (and for vehicles on the other side to realize they can enter the tile), and the RHW-4 also needs to be "de-converted" to an RHW-2 somehow. 

The best way to accomplish this is to transition from RHW-4 to Road on each side of the RHW, just before the edge.  Since there isn't an RHW-4/Road transition piece, the RHW-2/Road transition piece will appear.  The RHW-2 can then be dragged out of the resulting Road stub.  Right next to the edge, on the final row/column of tiles, an RHW-2 needs to be drawn perpendicularly between the two sides of the RHW that is heading into the neighbor connection.  (While technically any network will work, all other options have lower speeds/capacities, and will greatly diminish the number of vehicles that will use the connection.)

Here is what the finished product looks like.  As you can see, there's a healthy flow of cars going into the neighbor connection.



There are a couple aesthetic issues that result, the most obvious being the deconversion and the loop connector, the other being that they way the connection ends up working, traffic in the left lanes will cross onto the wrong side of the freeway for one tile at the connection via the loop connector.  Thus far, I haven't figured out a way to prevent the "Nicole Richie on I-5" effect, and it may be unavoidable (fingers crossed that's not the case).  But, more importantly, your neighbor connections will now work.

Note that this only applies to the RHW-4 at this time.  I am planning to see if I can implement some other solution for the other RHW variants for the next version, and perhaps make this a little bit less weird-looking with some RUL action.

Hope that was useful for you all.

-Alex (Tarkus)

[MandelSoft]

Isn't it a good idea to make a RHW-4 to MIS transition? I would really like to see it. It's also useful as a MIS to OWR transition.

[Filasimo]

no.

[bakerton]

Tarkus and everyone, I use Avenues for the neighbor connection as they transition to RHW real well and work. No suicide runs for me. Sorry that I do not have picture(s) to post, but why not try it for your selves and see if you like it. JKB

[Filasimo]

thanks for sharing that 

[Jonathan]

If an MIS to RHW-4 transition was made then the RHW-4 could also be used as a sort of MIS-2

[Tarkus]

If an MIS to RHW-4 transition was made then the RHW-4 could also be used as a sort of MIS-2

Indeed.  Also part of the reason I included the RHW-6S/Dual RHW-4 splitter.

Tarkus and everyone, I use Avenues for the neighbor connection as they transition to RHW real well and work. No suicide runs for me. Sorry that I do not have picture(s) to post, but why not try it for your selves and see if you like it. JKB

I've used it as well.  And I mentioned it in my FAQ.    The reason I brought this method up is that it allows for RHWs with 1-tile medians (or wider) to have functional neighbor connections.

-Alex (Tarkus)

[dedgren]

I have an idea (maybe not a good one, but it's an idea).



What if you made a lot with a generic "grass" texture and put an overhanging prop that consisted of enough RHW to cover the adjacent quad transition at elevation x+1 on it.  It would cover the transition- buddybud was doing amazing stuff with a technique like this, as I recall.  You could do a second small overhanging lot with, say, a dirt median crossover on it to hide the rhw section on the middle.

Just a thought, but as I said, it's been done.


David

[Jonathan]

A special puzzle piece could be made that would work look visually good.

[RebaLynnTS]

I had a thought. On many rural highways I have seen a dirt road like cross over, generally for emergency vehicles, you should be able to make something with that type off appearance.

[mapper]

This is interesting, and a overhanging prop like dedgren proposed is a neat idea for a neighbor connection.  I have a question about a different RHW feature that will/may come out later, the El-RHW.  Will the top deck have opposing bound traffic or same direction traffic as the lower deck? Or both?

Something like:       

>>>>>>>>>>   (top)     or        >>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>   (bottom)          <<<<<<<<<<

(sorry if my ASCII art is not great)

Thanks,
--mapper