A couple of questions about TuLEPs

[Pythias900KMB]

Many salutations!  I am moving right along with the TuLEPs and am having a lot of fun installing them now that i know what to expect; still, as the title points out, I have a couple of questions.

First, I have several T-intersections where an AVE-4 intersects with a road.  If I do not first override the road into an AVE-2 or an ARD-3, the TuLEPs I use on the road to create a left turn lane look all nasty.  Is there an intersection piece I can add where the road and AVE-4 meet to make things look realistic -- id est, traffic signals on the far shore of the intersection?  Is that going to be added in the near future?

Second, there are T-intersections where a OWR-2 converges into a road.  I would really like it if I could make that a three-way signalized intersection.  I also like how I can make the ARD-3 into a mandatory left turn set-up; still, I would like it if I could also make it into a mandatory right turn set-up.  How can that be done?

Postscript:  how are those elevated draggable intersections coming along, NAM Team?  How about revising the intersection code so that left-turning traffic yields to oncoming through traffic before making its move as would be the case in RL? 

I have goofed on a lot of UDI missions because it was hard to tell whether I would successfully execute the left turn without getting broadsided in the process.  If there were a sanctuary left turn green phase where the green left turn arrow makes it clear who has the right-of-way or even an opportunistic left turn mode with a flashing yellow (for + intersections) or flashing red (for T intersections) arrow, it would help a lot.  How about it, NAM Team?  What can you do to that effect?

[Tarkus]

First off, glad to hear you're enjoying the TuLEPs.

To answer your first question, are you trying to end the Avenue at the Road?  If so, there's no support for that at present.  Ditto with the mandatory right turn setup you described in your second question.  There are no plans to make any more TuLEPs, as we're in the process of developing a replacement for them, the FLEX Turn Lanes (FTLs).  The FTLs were originally planned for the next NAM release, but have been delayed until a future release sometime afterward, due to the complexity of the project.  If you'd like to see what's been done so far, the development progress begins here.

As far as your postscript, there's been no new work on elevated draggable intersections, and on the left turn front, we don't have anywhere near that level of control over automata or signal behavior.  The way the game's signals and priorities work, it's entirely based on the entrance direction of the paths.  There's exactly two signal phases, alternating between traffic approaching north/south and traffic approaching east/west.  All traffic from these directions, regardless of the eventual turning or through motion, goes simultaneously.  The whole thing operates on an extremely simplistic model, much of which is hardcoded.  Pretty much the only thing we can do is affect the length of the green phases.

-Alex

[APSMS]

To add to what Alex said, it should be noted that automata only possess collision boxes when either in an accident (usually the result of high congestion) or when you are in UDI. Most of the time, you will notice that automata can freely run into each other all the time without incident, which is part of the reason why it's so simplistic.

Keep in mind, too, that the original game had no such things as turn lanes, so probably to avoid the streets from clogging up with Sim automata trying to make unsignalized left turns on busy streets, Maxis set it up so that they could go whenever they needed to. When you're in UDI, my recommendations would be to either use a tank, only play ER vehicle missions (because of the handy siren), or use you horn and inch out into traffic. The game gives the player Right-of-way so if you are even partially blocking their path, they will stop and try to let you through.

Generally though, the only thing I can really recommend using UDI for is to see what it feels like to drive in your city. Even the best of UDI missions aren't really worth it unless you want things like a Missile Silo or Toxic Waste Dump in your city, both of which can be had with the youdontdeserveit cheat which unlocks all the rewards possible in the base game.