RHW (RealHighway) - Development and Support

[interim]

Around here, there are red 'sidewalks' in the areas where the Euro examples above have chevrons. It looks neat. There are some places here that have chevrons, too.

Thanks for the notice, Alex. Here's how the interchange works. I know the scale would make it difficult in SimCity since it is all modular, but any new pieces that facilitate it would be great. (Trying the ol' "recreate my own city" thing.)

[Dexter]

Great work everyone!

Would there be any chance of something like this?



You often get such markings in the UK when a high speed carriageway or slip road is about to terminate into a roundabout (and surely equivalents exist in other countries). Bear in mind that I based this off of UK markings, and thus it is for LHD.

[Rionescu]

We have similar markings on provincial highways leading up to stop signs.

[Nego]

Would there be any chance of something like this?



You often get such markings in the UK when a high speed carriageway or slip road is about to terminate into a roundabout (and surely equivalents exist in other countries).

I remember something like that being posted a few months ago...

Ah. Here it is:

There was that, among others:

and

The problem is that all of these textures go with the RHWv3...



By the way, is there a tutorial anywhere on how to make cosmetic pieces?

[GDO29Anagram]

By the way, is there a tutorial anywhere on how to make cosmetic pieces?

There are tutorials on making custom textures for anything (A viable example http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=4140.0). Obviously you need the base textures as a base and the proper tools to edit them. Nego, I noticed you created a texture modification for the Street 4-Way Intersection (And that inside-out Tram-Ave texture that was intended for Tram-MAve-4), so you probably know how to edit existing textures.

But assigning them is the tricky part; For me, I have to use Ilive's Reader to find the proper texture IID in the corresponding DAT file, then use the FSH to PNG Program to export the textures. (There's an RHW DAT file dedicated solely to textures, but figuring out which texture is which can get tricky... I don't think anyone else thought of editing the default CPs...)

Since there's no room for customised CPs, you'll have to replace an existing CP's texture.

...
... ...
... ... ...

This is bad. Wanna know why? 'Cause I just got another thought. You know how there are blank FLUPs that are reserved for custom FLUP textures...? (Are you thinking what I'm thinking...? Again...?  )

[Tarkus]

Would there be any chance of something like this?

We have similar markings on provincial highways leading up to stop signs.

We have something similar in some places here in Oregon as well--usually just thin white lines perpendicular to the direction of travel on one side coupled with rumble strips.  California has the same thing as well in some spots.

By the way, is there a tutorial anywhere on how to make cosmetic pieces?

Maarten did a puzzle piece tutorial--it's currently on the private board and will be moved over to the NAM Tutorials board at some point in the very near future.

This is bad. Wanna know why? 'Cause I just got another thought. You know how there are blank FLUPs that are reserved for custom FLUP textures...? (Are you thinking what I'm thinking...? Again...?  )

I am thinking what you are thinking, and that's a rather intriguing idea.

On the texture front, I attempted chevrons again . . . these should be going the proper direction for RHD.  They may be a bit thick still, but I've managed to implement a technique to simplify making them (using the chevron arrows included in the Roadgeek font set).



I've also been toying around more with shading for dark asphalt and concrete, and trying to automate as much of the process of creating them from the defaults as possible. 





Work on the ramp interfaces is going well, too--I have Type A-D ramps for most networks textured now.  Once the interfaces and curves are done, I'll probably then move onto transitions and intersections in earnest.

-Alex

[MandelSoft]

^^ I believe the chevrons from the Roadgeek Font set are for signs, not for the road surface. In my opinion, these chevrons are way too thick...

[Shadow Assassin]

Yup, they should be thinner, perhaps something in a 3:1 ratio or thereabouts. (3 black, 1 white)

In other news, guys... I don't think there will be another Euro RHW mod from me. I simply don't have the time (nor motivation) nowadays to work on the textures, but this isn't all bad news. I will still be assisting with other RHW functions, such as creating new puzzle pieces, creating additional textures for the RHW where needed. Alex is currently working on an alternate texture set for the Euro RHW, so all is not lost.

-- SA

[Nego]

I have to agree with mrtnrln and Shadow Assassin. Your Chevrons look a little thick. Also, they almost look like they're curved, instead of being strait. Also, the angles don't appear to be consistent, still. It looks a little weird in my opinion. Regarding the concrete and darkphalt textures, they look great! That's probably the best RHW concrete texture yet! I can't wait to see more!

Maarten did a puzzle piece tutorial--it's currently on the private board and will be moved over to the NAM Tutorials board at some point in the very near future.

That's very exciting news! I hope to see it moved over in the very near future, too!

[jdenm8]

Wow is all I can say on that Concrete texture. The only way it could be really improved is to include the join marks found on many concrete roads.

*kathunk kathunk kathunk kathunk kathuk kathuk kathuk kathunk kathunk*   

Those chevrons though... They're good for a first attempt. What I have is a single chevron that I repeat over and over below every other texture besides the Master pavement (Below the used pavement).
It means that they're a bit more consistent and they look straighter.

[Haljackey]

Wow this is going to be so realistic when done.

I guess that's why the R in RHW was changed to real. Keep up the good work everybody! 

[Ryan B.]

Alex, for help on the chevrons & striping, you may want to check out Part 3 of the 2009 MUTCD:

http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/pdfs/2009/pdf_index.htm

Also, I've found that (in the US) striped-off areas betwen lanes have double yellow lines on either side, then the diagonal stripes.

Like so:

[MandelSoft]

^^ Indeed the MUTCD is helpfull. Especially page 358-367 are noteworthy when it comes to chevron markings. The offramps in the Euro version should have the same chevrons as in the US version (maybe more closer together), but the onramps in the Euro should also have chevrons, pointing in the opposite direction.

[Tarkus]

Thanks for the kind words, everyone, and for all the helpful suggestions on the chevrons!  I'm really glad the concrete and darkphalt turned out alright!

I've gotten started on making some of the splitter interfaces now . . . here's the RHW-2-to-Dual MIS Parallel and Y Splitters:





-Alex

[strucka]

I have to say, that what I'm seeing is incredible! Eventhough I do have an issue with the RHW (lack of bridges) and other traffic systems (El. LR, HSR...), but nevermind that. I first tried this quite some time ago (around 2008 I think) and got frustrated with the stupid thing, cuz it was so enourmous and lacking so many pieces. Now, you're at the point, where you're making me a happy user, barely ever getting mad at it, because, this is the most perfect mod for SC4.

Now the thing I wanted to ask you Alex:
Sorry for offtopiccing, but what's that terrain mod you've got? It's really nice looking. =)
I will be glad if you'd reply. =)

[Haljackey]

I'm not sure how many of you have been following the Show us your...Intersections thread lately, but a question regarding the RHW's slope has come up. (Pages 97 and 98 of that thread.)

It seems as though the RHW has a little trouble creating slopes on the diagonal by itself.


(image crop courtesy of trafficnut)

I'm not sure of this can be fixed in the mod itself, but using a slope mod can help eliminate or reduce this problem, as well as make orthogonal RHW slopes smoother.



In addition to this, Alex, I was wondering if you could add the RHW slope mod to the list of optional / recommended addons on the RHW sticky post. It's attached to this post if you don't already have it. It is different from the NHP Ennedi Slope Mod and it only affects the RHW network. Thanks in advance!

-Ryan (Haljackey)

[Tarkus]

Now the thing I wanted to ask you Alex:
Sorry for offtopiccing, but what's that terrain mod you've got? It's really nice looking. =)
I will be glad if you'd reply. =)

That's my Wasco Terrain Mod, which is designed to emulate the "high desert" regions of Central/Eastern Oregon and Washington states here in the US.  I attached an earlier version to my "non-transit" thread on the NHP board a couple years back.  I've revised it a little since and one of these days may finally submit it for the LEX.

In addition to this, Alex, I was wondering if you could add the RHW slope mod to the list of optional / recommended addons on the RHW sticky post. It's attached to this post if you don't already have it. It is different from the NHP Ennedi Slope Mod and it only affects the RHW network. Thanks in advance!

Sure.    Is that by chance the one that was done a couple years ago by nwelsh/bigdope404?  At any rate, I had a chance to try it out a little last night.  It does seem to make diagonal building easier, and smooths things out a fair bit from the "default", but it still suffers from some "bumpiness":



Additionally, it seems that the speed of construction vehicles is also slowed dramatically with it as well.  (Construction vehicle speed is controlled by the same exemplar as slope--the Network Tuning Parameters Exemplar that each game network has.)

The whole sloping issue is something that I'd like to revisit at some point, too.  The RHW itself does not include a Network Tuning Parameters Exemplar for its base network, as I did not want to complicate the installation of external slope mods.  Versions 1.2 and 1.3 actually did contain one, which exponentially sped up the construction vehicles to counteract the slowdown from lack of stub pathing--the stub pathing was added in 1.3a and the exemplar copy was removed in either 1.3b or 2.0.  As a result, without an external slope mod, the game uses the default settings in SimCity_1.dat, which, unfortunately, allow the completely non-functional tunnels to be built, which has led to some confusion and tech support issues for awhile. 

As slope is very much a network-related concept, I have wondered for awhile if it might be advantageous to integrate some sort of slope settings into the NAM in much the same way we have Traffic Simulator and Automata Tuning plugins.

Things are still progressing along nicely on the texture front and I've managed to sneak in a few new features along the way--including DRIs for the RHW-6S (like most of the images in this update, it's still needing some color correction):


The RHW-8C and its ramp interfaces were not exactly the prettiest looking thing in the mod before, but that is changing as well (also needing color correction):



It'll be getting DRIs as well.



A couple of new splitters that'll be coming in the next version--Maarten did the first, and the second is mine (based off a design that was originally to go in Version 2.0 but fell by the wayside)





And a look at some concrete ERHW stuff--I've added a little bit of noise and shadow on the shoulders to make them look a little less "flat".  All the textures will be getting a similar treatment before release.



And another attempt at chevroning--I think this one came closer:



Oh, and a heads up for those who are wondering--Maarten's puzzle-piece making tutorial is now live on the public NAM How-Tos and Tutorials board.

-Alex

[Ryan B.]

Alex, the chevrons are looking better.  I think they could use more of an angle, though.

[figui]

concrete rhw is looking great; only suggestion would be to add contraction joints (really don't know how they would look in game)

mauricio.

[Blue Lightning]

Wow. 8C looks a lot better than what it did XD kinda my fault too, I had to kludge some things.

I think the concrete texture is too bleached, it should be more yellowish, maybe take the concrete texture for the ERHW substructure, and use that as a base and/or overlay map.

The chevrons are looking better, maybe could be a little sharper, and the white should extend as far as the chevrons go, as the white chevron on yellow line doesn't look good and not to standards.