NWM (Network Widening Mod) - Development and Support

[Shiftred]

J-Dub are you using the t intersection on-slope puzzle piece and bulldozing the sloped piece?

[Ryan B.]

Good eye.  I think that's exactly what he's doing.

[Jack Bauer]

yeah :thumbsup:congratulations this roads looks like the roads in Los angeles !!!!! continue to improve the NAM

[j-dub]

Ok, I'm only saying this to answer the question. Thats the thing, it actually may be a good problem too. I have used the road slope and demolished it, and it can get overode with avenues too. An avenue road intersection will be made using the same method, the avenue can get drawn right over 2 road slope puzzle pieces connecting to each other. I'll have a picture or more later. It won't draw the turnlane with the avenue, but it redoes the intersection for the avenue. This method has given me more visual and functional te enabling-working entrances/turning lanes to non transit enabled areas. With that, this potentially opens up a new way to do things, because it works on mine, to me it prooves somehow a turning lane puzzle piece is possible.

[Diggis]

j-dub, not sure if you had noticed but we are trying to avoid using puzzle pieces where ever possible and impliment draggable networks like SAM and GLR.  This minimises the risk of a desktop crash when hovering over TE pieces and also allows T21s providing more variety.  As Jason is able to do this with draggable pieces, doing it with a puzzle piece would be unnecessary.

[j-dub]

Yes, with TLA for lots, and a center turn lane road for lots, what I have tried probably won't be done, and even i DON'T think you should make pieces for that, but thats if it wasn't for these projects going on already. I just liked to practice it to see non te driveways function to avenues with cars turning off the avenues, and cars use the left turn lanes on roads to commercial lots, but theres the TLA, so I'm just taking an alternate route, to feel the concept you guys are doing. Landmarks apparently also seem to work with it, odd considering theres no reason logically for cars to turn into them. Speaking of the crash, yes it can be irritating, until why you learn it is like that way. If the hard code was edited, all that does is allows it to freeze instead, for a while. Don't try it. When a game freezes, you have to restart.

[Shadow Assassin]

The reason why the game CTDs if you hover a puzzle piece over certain transit-enabled lots, is because when a puzzle piece is hovered over a TE piece, the game attempts to calculate the paths for the transit-enabled lot taking in account the puzzle pieces. Except, the game doesn't know which direction these pieces are facing until they are plopped... BAM, infinite loop. Game crashes. I've been lucky in the sense that my game doesn't always CTD when I accidentally do that.

[j-dub]

When mine does that, the music goes broken record, it either crashes or gets stuck for 10 minutes. As a matter of fact my game froze today. My problem isn't all transit related, there are times it is. SAM sometimes does, but this ain't about that. When I try to build anything, park or civic, and accidently click twice but while moving, it hates it, and leaves the game, clickingsomething right after when the changing from a close to far view, moving too abrubt, it hates. I can only build stuff in  pause mode, it doesn't like it especially on tripple speed, or it kicks me out. I think that does have something to do with transit, because don't all buildings control the amount of traffic on the avenue/road ways, and have to react to time movement?

[jplumbley]

Sounds to me you have an older computer or not enough RAM for your computer to handle the game with all your plugins.  When you get a "broken record" that generally means your computer has hit a max out point and has overrun the buffer like on an MP3.

This is caused by a combination of many things.  Yes, NAM Pathfinding Engines have an effect on preformance.  this is due to the shear number of calculations it must due.  Of course, the game is always running these calculations and if you have "Perfect" or "Better" Pathfinding installed your computer will use more processor time.  Other things that add to this is the amount of plugins you have.  Lets say you have 2 gb of plugins but only have 512 mb of RAM (for example).  SC4 opens every single file you have in your plugins folder to find all you have in the game and stores it in you RAM and Virtual RAM.  There are still other things running which use RAM aswell, Windows, other SC4 processes, etc.  So, in reality you may have a total of 1 gb or more of plugins that are not completely loaded and the game has to search for them again.  The game will remember where it is but will have to reference it, taking up more processor time.  So, if you plop a civic building that is not currently "loaded" and you are already straining your computer to its limtis then you may run into the issues you have just described.

AS for your SAM CTD... Well, the SAM Starter Piece is a Puzzle Piece... Like the well documented Puzzle Piece/TE Lot CTD issue you must be careful not to cross paths.  Luckily with SAM unlike the old GLR you only need to plop 1 puzzle piece to start the set and then it may be removed after the street has become stabilized.  Hence, reducing the CTD issue to almost nil unless you are totally careless with plopping your puzzle piece.  This issue cannot be fixed unless MAXIS fixes it and since I dont see them around anymore I wouldnt count on it.  Be careful!

[j-dub]

Are overrides an issue? I also have been doing some of thisRoad/RHW/Avenue/OneWay all together intersection. The left turn lane appears in front of an avenue, kinda this way. I would not suggest any one else try, it actually is a little more complex. And no the thing across the intersection is not a TE lot, it just is a driveway. I also made this junction with an avenue and road, you all won't be able to, a NAM person might. pics removed for size reasons

[jplumbley]

Explain... What did you do?? 

That looks a little strange.  You were saying something about a puzzle piece in an earlier post.  Have you been playing with the textures in the Reader?  Or how has this come to "work"?  You've got me interested in what you have done.

[j-dub]

I have been overriding puzzle pieces. Well in a way, can a slope piece really be called a puzzle piece? Its a real drag. I mean, once you demolish the slope, it seems like it will do anything, go anywhere. The junction stays, but  can be by itself, with nothing attached, then can be paved over, an avenue can go over it, but once gone over with a avenue it will still end up as a junction, even if it doesn't connect anywhere. I still like it like that way to have the option, but to be honest, the one picture with the avenue ending at roads, I don't like the turn to go straight, especially with trucks. I wouldn't have done it like that had the area got built up. Yes it looks like it, but I can't go to the left, with widening the avenue thanks to buildings not pictured a block further.

[jplumbley]

Yes an onslope is a puzzle piece...

How do you think SAM was created 

[j-dub]

While that's up, is it possible for a end piece? I mean, where it won't transition anywhere past the point?

[jplumbley]

Sure... The Puzzle Piece can act as an End Piece, but for what purpose?  If you use the Puzzle Piece like is possible with SAM, you will be able to Drag a full new Texture Variant of any network.

[rickmastfan67]

Off Topic for a quick sec.  j-dub, using PNG format to save those pictures isn't a wise idea at all.  They should have been saved as JPG format to keep the file size down.  For instance, with this picture of yours in PNG format, it's 446k.  If you would have saved it in JPG format at level 1 compression, it would have only been 63.5k.  Not only would you not lost any quality, but you would have saved a ton of space.  Take a look at my sig for more info about JPG Compression and why it's your best friend online not only for you, but for others who aren't lucky enough yet to have anything faster than a dial-up connection to the Internet.

Also, here's that picture for you compressed at JPG Compression Level 4.  Looks just like the level 1 pic as well as the PNG and is only 41.6k.

[j-dub]

@rickmastfan67-followed advice. On a different note, some people have left hand drive. So do they get full updates with this? Maybe if the signals/signage can be updated? I have no use messing around with those in my case, because I have right hand drive. But on the other hand, I tried this.
Good idea or not? Only did this to one of my avenue intersections, I kinda have a few intersections where I live that have no signal and stopsigns, but they can be a pain in the   , driving sometimes with everone else there, it can get confussing. I also have seen these in reality where its an avenue cross like this but its just a 2 way, and the right lanes are designated for right turn only. That seems harder.

[sincitybaby]

I have seen an intersection like that here in henderson.  It involves a six lane avenue and a four lane avenue, its the only intersection like that so no one knows how to drive it. 

[Ryan B.]

Now that's just plain dangerous.  If you're going to have a situation like you described, the sides where the traffic has to stop need a setup like this on both sides of the avenue:

[Pat]

Burgs I like that sign is there a chance we are going to be seeing that one out there??? or is it going to be a prop? cause i would love to get ahold of it... Hey question how would a sign like this work or would it???