SC4 Devotion Forum Archives

SimCity 4 General Discussion and Tutorials => SimCity 4 General Discussion => General Custom Content Discussion => Topic started by: Floydian on February 19, 2009, 11:06:12 AM

Title: Forcing power lines
Post by: Floydian on February 19, 2009, 11:06:12 AM
Yes, I know, powerlines aren't custom content... But I don't see any forum for non-custom lot problems.

Anyways, I know that powerlines can be dragged over parks. I've acheived it to some extent, and I've seen it done in many mosaics. Its easy enough orthagonally, but I need a diagonal one. See the picture below
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg502.imageshack.us%2Fimg502%2F6052%2Ferrorqb6.jpg&hash=285ee2fc918025862c25c2e5d394545ef5603a09)

I want them to go from blank square to blank square, but cross over the grass squares. Half the time it will do it, but then it'll just randomly decide it can't do it for certain squares.
Of course, placing the parks after the lines just bulldozes the lines.

How can I force the powerlines to go? Any mods that can do this?
Title: Re: Forcing power lines
Post by: Pat on February 19, 2009, 05:19:46 PM
Hey Floydian,
Hmm far as there being any mods out there to do that I havent seen any I am sorry...
Title: Re: Forcing power lines
Post by: metarvo on February 19, 2009, 07:40:57 PM
Sadly, I'm not aware of any mods that would force diagonal power lines to cross parks.  I do have one suggestion, though.  If you have LE and are fairly familiar with it, you could create a custom 1x2 park lot with the same base texture as the adjacent park tiles, and place it one tile away from the already-built diagonal power line.  This way, you would create the illusion that the park continues under the power line, even though no park tiles are actually present in the path of the line.  I hope this helps, Floydian.
Title: Re: Forcing power lines
Post by: threestooges on February 21, 2009, 04:19:42 AM
There are a few ways to achieve the effect metarvo mentioned above. It takes more than just making a 2x1 tile though. The game will remove power lines if something crosses their path. The wires are a model that essentially occupies the lot until something else comes along. As a result, you would need a lot that overhangs its border (a 2x1 that works like a 1x1). There are two ways I know of to do this:
The underbridge method used to make a number of park path pieces (which you may be able to retexture if needed)
and the method described here (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=68.0) by metasmurf which affects any lots already placed in the game.
Title: Re: Forcing power lines
Post by: Floydian on February 22, 2009, 05:52:42 PM
Thank you for the responses all. I will try to find some overhanging grass tiles, as I have no experience with the lot editor (And while I'm sure I could grasp it, I'm just plain lazy and can't be bothered to install it, set it up, learn it, and do it just for a pieces or two)
Title: Re: Forcing power lines
Post by: Ennedi on February 22, 2009, 06:26:41 PM
This is an Under Highway grass lot set made by gn leugim. (http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/details.cfm?id=19684&v=1) Maybe it will help you, please try it  :)

Adam
Title: Re: Forcing power lines
Post by: homefryes on February 23, 2009, 02:42:34 PM
Floydian, I may have a solution to your dilemma which won't require any lotting or props. Hopefully my grid-like drawing will help assist what I'm saying. Now, it's been a while since I've done this, so I'll do my best to explain it properly. This method works both for orthogonal (easier) as well as diagonal (trickier) power lines. In this diagram, the red X's indicate the towers, and the green P's are the park tiles.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi59.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg290%2Fhomefryes%2FSimCity%2520Projects%2F2009%2520-%2520Issues%2Fpowerlinesacrosspark.jpg&hash=7d691ca62162648bf1fe6a1020e469f54539fd3c)


If any of this not making sense, I'll be happy to clarify it later on and maybe include some actual screenies (I'm away from the game right now).

— Don
Title: Re: Forcing power lines
Post by: Floydian on March 09, 2009, 07:31:22 PM
Ennedi, I will try that out... They look useful anyways for filling my unreachable squares in with good grass (A terrain that matches the grass lots would be really wicked).

I do understand what you are saying homefryes. However, that is the method I was using. I found that it would just sometimes not work period, and other times it would work fine. I ended up changing the powerlines to orthagonal since its so much simpler.
Title: Re: Forcing power lines
Post by: rootbears on April 01, 2009, 12:03:02 PM
where did you get that grass and wall  ()what()


        -rootbears