A Compendium of Interchanges....

[mightygoose]

Update 7b

thanks for the heads up guys, but still im curious, trawling through the ST archives.... i was wndering about some gems....

shadow assassin



ardecila







tropod



and here 2nd of july 2005 a guy named taimaruko who only ever made one post posted this picture



elevated highway over elevated highway...

and here on 16th of february 2006 smoncrie returns with the idea....



paulvonmontford



hey tarkus remember this???



and finally a very early precursor to glr in road....







the reason i really want the elevated over elecated is so i can make things like this....



anyway i hope my photographic trip down memory lane is a worthwhile resource... if not totally relevant...(some nice interchanges there)

thanks

-[EDIT]- can you see all the pictures.... should be 13..

oh and here is another ardecila

[jplumbley]

Those two pictures from Ardecila are possiblilities if the Models still exist.  Dual-Networking ran into trouble with intersections of a 3rd Traffic type.  MAXIS made it possible for two traffic types to work simultaneously in the same tile so you could have Rail Crossings over Roads.  But they never implemented it to be possible for 3 different Traffic Types, meaning it will return an invalid path when there are 3 different path types (Pedestrians are a special case, Frieght and Busses follow the Road paths set for Cars making it one Traffic Type).  So, due to the limitation of only EL-Rail/Road Dual Network pieces with no intersections with Rail or Monorail developement stalled and the puzzle pieces were never finished.  If the models still exist, it is possible to implement them, but everyone must remember the limitation.

As for the Trumpet Interchange... It is possible, but the one Ardecila is not.  The maximum size of an interchange is 16x16 tiles Ardecila's is 17x17 tiles, just too big.  Now, the problem with this is it is ALOT of work to implement an interchange.  People have tried but have not had the support they needed.  You need someone who is an expert in LODs, because a 16x16 tile model must be broken down into 1x1 tile SC4 Models, there are no ifs, ands or buts.  So, potentially you could have 256 SC4 Models you are working with, realistically anywhere upto 80 or more tiles depending on the interchange and the complexity of it.  With Ardecila I count about 113 tiles in which the model sits, meaning 113 different S3D Models.  Then, you need someone who can RUL the Interchange together, this is not an entirely difficult task, just time consuming and you must know what you are doing, essentially Interchanges are like Bridges.  Possible, you just need the right people with the right talents to get it done.  Approximately 3 people are required, Modeller, LOD Expert and RULer.  If anyone is willing to do the Modeller and LOD Expert portions of the project I am willing to be the RULer and learn the required steps, but you have to understand it takes time.

[Adept2Rock]

Waouuuuuuuh!!Beautiful!!!!I like your freeway!

[Pat]

Hey MG,

I can't see all the pics even using Firefox or IE, they seem to be truely broken links..... But other wise of the ones i can see wow, it would be sweet to be able to see some of them in game even the roundabout one.... Just massive huge that one be wow........

[JoeST]

Its because he is copying the location from simtropolis... and you need to be both logged in and have seen the image recently (ie have it in your cache) to view it...

the way i did it is quote the message and extract the image locations out of it and go directly to them...

hope this helps

Joe

[Haljackey]

I don't know if this would interest you, but I found two more models laying around on my hard drive.  Here they are:

[jplumbley]

@Haljackey... If you made those models and have them in GMAX you could always break them up into 1x1 tile (16x16m square) LODs and make S3Ds for them.  If you do, then it is possible to get them in game.  The modding part I can do, eventually, you just need to supply the ingame S3Ds.

Note: S3Ds are different from the SC4Models.  I dont know how to make them from Model to S3D, but the Redlotus' Tutorial tells you.

[Meastro444]

you can import 3ds into Ilive reader, which converts them to S3D

[Tarkus]

I recognize that second one that Haljackey posted--it was made by scipio [link].

As far as that model of mine had which mightygoose posted, that brings back a lot of memories of when I first started .  There were a couple of reasons I abandoned it.   1) I wasn't happy with the model, and figured it would be better to start from scratch, and 2) because I figured there would be a lot more possibilities if, instead of making a standard plop interchange, I went for a modular setup.  That's how the MIS came into being.   

-Alex (Tarkus)

[mjig_dudy]

ooh! I remember that! 


(that seems to be the only picture I still have left)

I was thinking about trying to take a short cut with the thing by rendering it normally, then creating a 'blank' interchange with the correct paths and adding the model as an overhanging prop on the central square using T21 examplers.

As you can gather, I never did actually get around to trying it out and there's probably lots of reasons why it wouldn't have worked, but it does cut out all the tedious parts involving true 3D models.

[Shadow Assassin]

Actually, that would've worked in that respect. (interchanges/puzzle pieces can have T21s on them)

However, it would've brought up issues with textures, because they would need to be corrected through the BAT (or editing in Photoshop).

[Haljackey]

You remember this one as well?



This would be really useful in-game, although turning it into a T-Bone interchange improves its connectivity for those silly drivers in SC4.

[mightygoose]

that last junction halackey has been requested previously twice in this thread i do believe... i love tinkering around with restricted access on my networks. allows much greater control over traffic flow and with that where your downtown grows....

[oldrogue]

Just finished reading this thread from start to finish for the first time and it is wonderful!  I know nothing about how you guys build/bat/mod/tweak the game and the wizardry you use....however, the ideas I pick-up by reading this stuff are wonderful for my game...after I get rid of the head-ache of course.. .. thanks for this thread Mightygoose

[Jack Bauer]

yeah i am knew on this forum but i have downloaded on sc4 devotion and played sim city 4 for a long time!!!!!!!!!! You made a really great work!!!!!!! I saw that you are making improvements for the NAM!!!!! i saw that arcedila is working on new pieces for the aerian subway!!!!! i have already dowloaded a lot of his bats!! do you konw when does he will post these pieces? thank you very much

[Adept2Rock]

WOW!!! When, we put these fantastic pieces for highway in my game?!!!It's so realistic!

[nerdly_dood]

The RHW and MIS will kill[/] the in-game highways!

[mightygoose]

Update 8

well here we are a new year and some new toys. ths MIS is out in its first beta and there are some new toys in the NAM as well. today i wont go into the new MIS stuff, as firstly there isnt that much to be done with the first beta bar the obvious and secondly because i havent even come close to finishing with the normal highways, avenues and roads. but first some replies.

jplumbey, thanks for your informative response, i will take note and investigate further.

adept2rock, thanks

Pat, thanks, i also hope that some do make it into sc4.

star.torturer, thanks for the heads up on those links....

Hal jackey, thanks twice, its these images we are turning up that make this thread worth while.

old rogue, many thanks, good luck with your efforts

jack bauer, hi and welcome to SC4D, ardecila is working on heavy elevated rail currently as for a release date i do not know

Nerdly_dood, you are probably right but that time is along way off as there is still much to be done with teh RHWMIS...

anyway trawling on...

first off ill show you one of my favourite parts in the new NAM update....




Here be the new Avenue roundabout.



It is the infinitely better replacement for this old thing....



ok technically this takes up less space and is much quicker to make but there are a couple of reasons for using the roundabout instead. first off the old plopachange allowed for no right turns, which to be fair unless you planned it that way will interfere with one of your commutes, be it morning or evening. as everyone who turned left for work has to go home a different way...



look again. not only does it allow for an EHWY to pass over it, it allows OWR to connect to it. this adds a whole load of oppurtunities for experimenting. not only that it allows for much greater realism....



this motorway junction is no more than 2 miles from where i sit right now.... and if you compare....



see this puzzle piece on the AVE interchange TAB loop has taken us a large step towards more realistic junctions, and for that reason it is my friend.

now moving on the other main addition in the NAM jan 2008 update is the reskinning of elevated heavy rail pieces. well i know its not really on topic for this thread but i wanted to show them off so i made a small area containing an interchange and plenty of other NAM tricks.





looking in abit closer....



the main junction from the two roads(join to form an avenue further down) to HWY is actually an inverted Maxis T.



i love how you can combine the various rail bits now to make a really interesting and varied network...



this ramp on the left of the HWY was actually in the june 2007 NAM but i hardly ever see it used. its most useful in situations like this with a slope on one side of a HWY.



and finally a little something I am working on to allow for 2 tile wide sunken highways... very early stages...

anyway next update will be a MIS breakdown guide telling you exactly whats in the box and how to use it....

thanks all....


EDIT, i apologies for the left had edge of the first six photos.... damn paint...

[oldrogue]

Excellent update and more food for thought.....Life doesn't get much better than this...a rainy Saturday, my housework caught up and SC4D then into the game.....sigh....

[Jack Bauer]

Does anyone konws when this excellent interchanges will be released? thank you ver ymuch!!! and continue to make wondeful interchanges!!!!!