New interchanges for the Maxis Highway

[Opkl]

Is there anyone out there who is considering to create new interchanges for the Maxis Highway? I'm sure at least a few people still use them in their denser cities. What I would like to see are some different styles of interchanges such as a cloverleaf for Avenues,etc. How about some different or new creative interchanges for a  highway/ highway intersection? I also think that side ramps for the NWM networks would be very nice. Anyone interested?

[Fresh Prince of SC4D]

I second this request as always. The Real Highway tool was meant to be a alternate to Maxis Highways not to replace it . But Opkl -there not many interchanges that can be recreated, since NAM team has triple the number of interchange over the pass 5 years. Do you have any specific requests that you can think of?

[Tarkus]

The main problem with Maxis Highway interchanges is that they are rather difficult and time-consuming to make.  That's the reason there's only been 3-4 produced in the past 5 years.  All of those were produced by one guy, too--andreharv, who hasn't been active for some time now. 

Provided it could be done without much in the way of modification to the models, I'd consider looking into some basic NWM setups, but it's not a high priority right now.  And it won't involve anything any more exotic than a diamond or parallel setup like currently exists.

-Alex

[Opkl]

I second this request as always. The Real Highway tool was meant to be a alternate to Maxis Highways not to replace it . But Opkl -there not many interchanges that can be recreated, since NAM team has triple the number of interchange over the pass 5 years. Do you have any specific requests that you can think of?

I agree with you about the RHW being an alternative, not a replacement. The RHW is very nice, but I just don't like having to create every interchange that takes up so much space when I could just quickly plop a maxis highway
interchange.

As for request, I was thinking of maybe just custom designs for any type of junction such as different styles of 3 ways, 4 ways, and maybe even a 5 way. Just have more than one style to choose from.    Or if we find someone who wouldn't mind the work of modding, we can have a thread where those who are interest may post pictures of interchanges they may like to see in the game. (something simple for someone to modd)

[Opkl]

The main problem with Maxis Highway interchanges is that they are rather difficult and time-consuming to make.  That's the reason there's only been 3-4 produced in the past 5 years.  All of those were produced by one guy, too--andreharv, who hasn't been active for some time now. 

Provided it could be done without much in the way of modification to the models, I'd consider looking into some basic NWM setups, but it's not a high priority right now.  And it won't involve anything any more exotic than a diamond or parallel setup like currently exists.

-Alex

Tarkus, after some play and thinking, what I would really love to see is a cloverleaf for avenues/ TLA-5 NWM networks. Is this possible?

[Tarkus]

Tarkus, after some play and thinking, what I would really love to see is a cloverleaf for avenues/ TLA-5 NWM networks. Is this possible?

It's not impossible, but it is very unlikely.  As I noted in my post, at most, there might be some diamond interchanges/parallel ramps, and that's still an "if", not "when" at this point.

-Alex

[teddyrised]

I agree with you about the RHW being an alternative, not a replacement. The RHW is very nice, but I just don't like having to create every interchange that takes up so much space when I could just quickly plop a maxis highway
interchange.

As for request, I was thinking of maybe just custom designs for any type of junction such as different styles of 3 ways, 4 ways, and maybe even a 5 way. Just have more than one style to choose from.    Or if we find someone who wouldn't mind the work of modding, we can have a thread where those who are interest may post pictures of interchanges they may like to see in the game. (something simple for someone to modd)

Just my 2 cents:

While I whole-heartedly agree that pre-made Maxis highway interchanges are quick and easy to plop, they are (1) not realistically-scaled; (2) extremely complicated and hard to make, texture, and path; and (3) inflexible in most circumstances. I believe that is why the MIS is developed as part of the RHW, which allows almost an infinite variety of interchanges to be created with great flexibility and modularity, albeit being time consuming. Constructing a custom interchange using the MIS does take more time than simply plopping a Maxis highway interchange, but by weighing the pros and cons in this case, I'm in favour of developing more MIS modular pieces instead of individual Maxis interchanges.

I believe that there are actually a few threads out there where people post photos of interchanges, but when it comes to the real, hard grinding work, it's not easy at all. In hindsight, MIS makes construction of interchanges very easy and the system is highly flexible (and stable ) as well.

[Haljackey]

Maxis Highway is too small.

Real Highway is too big.

Where's a Goldilocks metaphor when you need one? Eventually something will come that is "just right", and I think it will be newer releases of the RHW mod. It gets more and more compact with every new version.

If anyone remembers making interchanges without or with primitive MIS ramps, the interchange footprints were massive. We've come a long way from these early designs and the mod continues to progress as time goes on.

Maxis Highways, however, seem to be pretty passive. With the exception of the partial-y and diagonal trumpet interchanges that were added recently, this network has pretty much stayed the same. This is mostly due to the fact that it is incredibly difficult to mod (it's a 3D network, whereas RHW and other networks are 2D) and the fact that we have a 16x16 limit to work with, along with other complications. The stack interchange in the NAM just barely squeezes into this limitation, along with the standard cloverleafs made by Maxis.

One of the main reasons why the RHW project was born was because of the difficulty faced when modding the Maxis highways. While you can't say the RHW is a complete replacement for this network, it does a pretty good job substituting it and gets better and better with time.

[zakuten]

While all that is true, we still ought to try for some sort of basic support, such as very basic transition pieces. RHW-6C to MHW comes to mind, but none of that seems to be even considered. To be frank, the "RHW will get better and then you won't need MHW at all" attitude neglects a resource we have, even if it is terribly difficult to work with.

[mrbisonm]

I agree with you about the RHW being an alternative, not a replacement. The RHW is very nice, but I just don't like having to create every interchange that takes up so much space when I could just quickly plop a maxis highway
interchange.

Maxis Highway is too small.

Real Highway is too big.

You guys are sooo right!

Even if the Maxis highways scale ain't realistic, so many things in SC4 aren't right nor realistic and Maxis highways will always fit, not matter the terrain and city you build.

I am still using the Maxis highway in most of my regions simply because it IS small and easy to handle, while I have TONS of problems each time finding the right freakin' piece for RH and then try to fit it where it doesn't let me most of the time. It is very time-consuming and most of the time I don't get what I want, textures change all of sudden, pieces don't fit properly with one another, missing a certain piece to end it properly etc. Then I have to read a tutorial on how to, and it doesn't fit better.....so... In many ways, it is just a mess for someone like me who wants to plop a quick speedway and not try to represent a realistic piece that almost takes the whole citytile. ( I always thought that a game is to be fun, relaxing and entertaining) To be very honest,  I get a little frustrated once in awhile trying to figure out how and what pieces to plop where to make a fair looking entry, exit, interchange or else.

I'm not kidding when I say that this is about one of the best "inventions" (or mod) that was ever created for SC4. When it is well done, it just looks so darn good..... I could drool over some creations, that's how good it looks. Those who have created the RHW have done an excellent job, I'm sure. It surely wasn't easy to do so.

In my region MD *The Winding River Project* I use the RH, because many folks have recommended it because of the realistic look, but it gives me a lot of headaches sometimes because I NEVER play on total flat areas.
I am not nagging about anything here, be sure to understand,nor am I asking for anything, I am just throwing in my 2 cents or less. I hope that one day the RH will get easier to handle with rough terrain, tight places and smaller cities. Meanwhile I will accept it as is and do my best to fit it. By now I have learned how to use both of them in combination also, which helps quite a bit.

Thanks for hearing me, kinda helps my frustration.....lol


Fred

[MandelSoft]

I don't really use the Maxis Freeways anymore. At least, I don't build new ones. Heck, there are only a few stretches left in my region:
- A1 Zuidstad (1 km)
- A2 Kapish - Hopfelfal (5 km)
- A7 Konradedal (3 km)
- A/B10 Kapish (6 km)
- A16 Zuidstad (3 km)
... and that's about it. The rest of the Maxis freeways are completely replaced by RHW, even in dense urban areas. For example, the A5 and A7, which both go through dense urban areas were both Maxis freeways. They are now both replaced by RHW:

A7 x A5

A7


So when you do it right you actually can build tight with the RHW. And with every new version, more Maxis Freeways (and even old RHW interchanges) get replaced...

Best,
Maarten

[Blue Lightning]

I might as well find my old RHW-6S and RHW-6C to Maxis Highway transition models and fix them up

And the thing is, I could make a few maxis interchanges here and there, it's just a matter of the UV mappings on the models (I have no problem with the models) that gets me every time, and a lack of time (though holidays are approaching, if I'm not doing other things I might try to do a SPUI or something).

In all essence, about 95% of Devlin's highway network is RHW, and I've only used Maxis highway for very short highway runs in one dense urban area (where they're kinda the feeders into the main highway network, started as an experiment)

[zakuten]

If you actually were to do that, my thanks in advance. I'd really like to see if nothing else some sort of basic "legacy" support for it. Even though Maarten's pictures are nice, I'd still prefer to be able to use both for a better whole. I still hold out hope that elevated RHW will come close to the Maxis functionality, but even then-- I still play for the game, not for realism, so yeah, those 100-foot ramps, I don't mind em every once in a while if they break a traffic bottleneck, hehe.