Three Rivers Region

[thundercrack83]

The parks update was superb! I had to go back and look at the maps becuase I didn't realize there were so many parks in 3RR. But that's OK, it gave me an excuse to go back and looks at those great maps! I'll be looking forward to seeing what else you have up your sleeve...

[BigSlark]

David,

Love the update. You know, there's some much information here that a 3RR website with its own Gazetter, full history, government pages, etc. would be very plausible.

Keep on keepin' on, as my Uncle Mike would say.

Cheers,
Kevin

[Heinz]

what? no swimming at tejada spring? haha no to pollution to the water source, im guessing. anyway, your work is comprehensive, david. i'm stripping Evander Holyfield of the monicker "The Real Deal" and giving it to you and your work, 3RR.  (if i may  ) lol. nice maps and RL images. that table's a testimonial to your being so comprehensive. 2 more small things. correct me if im wrong. but in the extended back story, you put these up:

Together, Pineshore and its suburbs have 229,881 residents, just slightly less that half the population of Three Rivers Region.

and

This is just slightly less that the U.S. state of Florida.

shouldn't the underlined words be "than" ?
see you around my friend. hope the flight back goes well

[Shadow Assassin]

This is just slightly less
that
the U.S. state of Florida.

"This is just slightly less than that of the US State of Florida" is also acceptable.

Anyways, what happened to Shadow Canyon? (By the way, I think you might need to do another Mailbox update, you're falling behind again )

[glepet]

Dedgren,
I can no longer just sit here and lurk within 3RR. Your imagination is unrivaled and your dedication is amazing. I just started playing SC4 this year and I was fortunate enough to find your tutorial/journal. Of course, that wasn't so hard. All I had to do was look for the journal with the crowd gathered around. I love your mapmaking skills and level of detail that goes with them. I used to be a civil draftsman, so I love maps and creating them.
After reading completely through 3RR, I feel like I know you and it's obvious from all the posts that everyone else does, too. So, then, I wish you and your family well and may 3RR last a very long time.

I grew up in the Colorado mountains and aspens are my favorite tree. Your tutorials on seasonal tree lots are especially of interest as I'm working on creating large amounts of aspen groves throughout my regions.

And for all the collaborators: I can't wait to see how you all put this together. It's truly a joy to watch 3RR blossom.

[dedgren]

Back in Alaska.  It's 46 degrees F/8 degrees C today in Alaska.

Here's Midland, Texas, just before I left yesterday.



Yes, I said Midland, Texas...

I've got some stuff to do here at home before I get to sit down at the 'puter this evening.  Thought you might like to know, though, that I did some doodling on the plane before the laptop battery died.



I'm interested in taking a look at big radius curves- this is something you might see more of later.

I promise a We've got Mail in the near future- Shadow's absolutely correct.

Later.


David

[Tarkus]

Yowza!  The Southwestern US has been getting some pretty weird weather this year.  It's hard to think of Texas being colder than Alaska.  I do remember it made the news here a few years ago when Anchorage was warmer than Tampa, FL sometime during the summer.  We actually got a whole bunch of snow here in the Willamette Valley of Oregon in January, which is weird.  Usually east of the Cascades there's tons, but not on the west side.

That wider radius OWR looks incredible.  If you need any assistance on the modding end of things with that, I'd be more than happy.

Glad you made it back to Alaska OK. 

Only 34 more until we hit quadruple digits.

-Alex

[Shadow Assassin]

Maybe David's a Snow God - snow follows him everywhere.

[dedgren]

Before



and after (I had an hour or so free this aft).



I actually got started on this thinking about airplane runways.

That's 512x512, so it's a four gridsquare (200'/64m) radius curve.  I'm going to slice it up tomorrow and see what I wind up with texture-wise.


David

[Frankie]

I believe with the right tools, that can be made into a puzzle piece...

[Gaston]

Oooooo, David,    That is very very kool my friend.    I have always thought that the "curves" in SC4 roads were a bit sharp.    You've created exactly what they need.    I have been thinking that if it can be done with rail-road tracks, it should be able to be done with roads, streets, and avenues.    (oh and highways too.)    Really it should be done with any transit method.     Excellent work.     Let me know when it needs to be tested.   

Have a safe journey.


---Gaston

[thundercrack83]

I love the curves, David. I often wondered why nothing was made like the NAM rail-curve that recently came out, but what you're doing is a great idea, too! Glad to hear you made it back to Alaska OK. By the way, how is Heather feeling these days? I hope she and the rest of your family are doing well.

[threestooges]

Always full of surprises. I'm curious, after the LE tutorial has concluded (and the collaboration gets underway) will there be some lesson as to how this came to be? It looks great, and I'll be waiting to see it in the game. Perhaps, though, it would be possible to make it a 45 degree turn as opposed to a 90 (similar to the new rail curve) so that there may be a smoother transition to angled turns (as they are now, the are either a sharp 45 or they buldge on one side. Whatever comes of it, it will be a benefit to the game.

[BigSlark]

Love the curve, David. I hope that makes its way into the next NAM. Just think, not only known for the amazing 3RR but also contributing to the world of transit modding. That raises to the status of the Dictator of SC4. Not only that, but I dictator that people would actually respect and listen to.

Just late night ramblings.

Cheers,
Kevin

[Elektra]

I think that is an awesome idea.    Always thought that the curves looked a little sharp.

[dedgren]

That raises to the status of the Dictator of SC4. Not only that, but I dictator that people would actually respect and listen to.

Kevin- All I could think about when I read that were those two scenes from LOTR-FOTR where Frodo tries, in turn, to give the ring to Gandalf and then later to Galadriel [linkie].  Each refuses it because both realize that, while they might intend at the beginning to use the ring's power for good, in the end they would simply supplant the ring's creator Sauron as the focus of evil in the world.

I'm no dictator- have no wish to be one.  This whole 3RR thing is great because it's like having friends at my house every night just hanging around doing something we all enjoy.  You have no idea how limited my skills actually are- I just have a lot of energy and a lot of ideas.  You folks will take (heck, what am I saying- have already taken) 3RR far beyond any point I could have reached on my own.

I likewise will choose to turn away "the ring of SC4 power."  There are real geniuses on this website, over at ST and all around this great community- I defer to them because they have done so much that I never could have.  I'm just beyond glad that I can now count so many of them among the many friends I have here.

It's late- didn't mean to sound preachy, but it's just great to be a part of SC4D, and great to have friends like you and all the folks who I have come to know through 3RR.


David

[Shadow Assassin]

He wants the precious. Always he is looking for it. And the precious is wanting to go back to him... But we mustn't let him have it.

Hehe. I get ya, David.

(I suppose that quote sums it up)

[Heinz]

if i remember the numbers right, with this post i become a forums Mayor. since i do not have my own MD (yet?) i was thinking... where could i have this rank? by being granted a quad to govern, i figured this is where i can be mayor!  so... again, for giving us all another place we can call home here in 3rr, thank you david. i'm going to be mayor of a quad soon just like i'm turning forums mayor with this post. 

and since i turn mayor with this plus the recent posts that want to make you dictator of sc4... and since you turned that down... how about CAUDILLO of 3RR?  not bad, huh? again, thank you!

ps: that wide turn road looks promising with tarkus willing to lend a hand 

[rooker1]

The curved raod piece looks great, hopefully something will become of it.

Robin   

[dedgren]

Well, the more I thought about it, the less satisfied I was with my hand-drawn road curve yesterday.



So, here's three variants drawn in vector graphics.  All are 175'/56m radius curves.  The biggest radius game curve is about 75'/24m.

A 90 degree turn (4x4 gridsquares).



A 45 degree turn (3x2 gridsquares).



An S-curve (4x2 gridsquares).



My knowledge runs out here (well, not actually- I can dice them up and run them through SC4Tool to create a texture set, then assemble them into custom lots).  I orginally thought of these as pure eye candy, though.  Alex (Tarkus) has indicated he can help with transit pathing.  I don't know enough about textures to know whether these would best be used as overlay textures or if I should add "ground" on each side.  I can do anything with these that folks "in-the-know" would suggest, but what I'd most like to do is spin the project to someone who could take the lead and get these in the game somehow.  I'd be happy to continue to help, and can cook up just about anything now that I have the hang, graphics-wise.

I'm starting a thread in the "Help!" forum section and will duplicate this post there [linkie].  Then, it's back to 3RR (although I intend to follow through on my original plan, which was to do some 150'/48m wide eye-candy airport runways that match up with some of the great stuff out there, to include diagonal runways).

Later.


David