Landbridges

[atomate]

Ok, Landbridges may be a fascinating feature. Nonetheless, this feature has come unnoticed in some dependency package alongside some buildings I found online.

What value has to be modded to not have landbridges available? A small .dat-mod at the bottom end of my plugin-folder filed under zzz-something should fix this issue. I prefer not having to deadflat any ground prior to just placing a road there.

You see, started projects cannot be modified any more. Roads simply won't connect and this seems to be somehow related to the landbridge option. Thus, how to opt them out again?

Any suggestion is quite welcome.

[art128]

Do you by any chance have used the Diagonal Bridge Enabler? If so, make sure you remove the "TEMPORARY" folder from your plugins once you've build the bridge.
If this wasn't your issue, some more precision might be useful, like what is your "landbridge option" you're talking about.

[atomate]

No diagonal Bridges so far and no feature has been installed in this respect.

You see, this is the situation:

You have a started city, load it once more and you continue working on it. Setting up new streets is no problem at all. But in the odd event the game will simply refuse to connect new streets or roads or railstracks to previously built networks. The surface is, let's say, flat. Not superflat but this is a game to me, so that okay and it had been alright for a long time.

Just recently I have had this issue. And just recently I have downloaded new buildings which needed some props. Moreover, I now can create landbrigdes. That is an extra feature. So I figure, that this feature wants to set a bridge over no exactly flat terrain whereas I just like to set an intersection or whatever networkinging tile you may consider. It`s not NAM, just regular pieces.

But I cannot connect these like one would expect. Maybe it is not about landbrigdes - that just came to my mind yesterday. It must be included in some depenencypackage.

This would not be a bug, right? I mean, gimme a break.

[APSMS]

Perhaps it would help if you listed the download LOTs/BATs that you are using so that we can source the files. I don't know if it's your English (which is alright) or just your use of unfamiliar terminology, but it's very hard to understand exactly what it is you are doing that is causing the problem.

Or some screenshots of your problem. That actually would be helpful, even if you can provide us with the LOT/BAT links/names that you think may be causing the issue. Cause a picture is worth 1000 words .

[mgb204]

Well you see there is actually flat and not flat, the difference can be everything here.

Have you by chance installed a Slope Mod? The most likely cause of the problems you are experiencing would come from that. Even without one, there are situations in the game where you simply cannot connect networks due to differences in the elevation between them.

Try removing a few tiles of whatever network you are trying to connect to, then flattening the ground using stubs where the connection will be placed. Stubs are what you get when you click just once with the street/road/rail/etc tool in each tile instead of dragging a network. Then, before connecting the network back up, create your intersection, then re-connect the original network through the new intersection. If this works, it means your land is simply not suitable for the new connection to be built.

[atomate]

To be flat or not flat, right?

I added pictures, first one is New Raybury loading up. 

The roadbug pictures following. The first two depict the story I've been trying to get across, sorry for my weird choice of words. Maybe you will understand that this is strange and it is somewhat odd to explain.

roadbug 4.jpg is the exact same situation, after restarting the game. The roads on the left and right have now been connected to new roads without using any terraforming tool. Important is but the follwing: that terrain is fairly flat in order to place a road there. Actually, the roads construction is being used to flattening the grounds without using specific tools. In the very first SimCity this was a bug that could be used to making land out of water, maybe you remember.

I just wanted to connect these parallel roads with a road connection using the regular road option. Looking at roadbug 2, as I try to road up my roads.

So much about roads, atomate

[mgb204]

Pic 2:

The connection you are trying to drag would lead to the intersection being on a slope on both the X and Y axis in-game. The game simply can not handle such complex setups, you can have a slope on X or Y, but never both where a transport network is involved.

Remove three tiles of road, the intersection and one tile each side. Build the new connection first, then try to connect the old road up. It will probably work then.

Pic 3:

This is really unlikely to work. For the intersection to be made, the game would have to level the intersections. In doing so, it can not adjust the slope of the roads doing up/down the hill to make it work within the limits set by the game engine.

Remove the road going up the hill on either side from the new intersecting road you wish to build. Build the intersecting road, then re-build the roads continuing up either side of it.



Basically the simulator is restricted in terms of how steep a slope can be for a given network. It also has to take into account all the other networks and intersections around it. When SC4 can do the calculations and adjust everything, it will do so. In the situations you've shown though, the game can't adjust the slopes because of the conditions of the surrounding networks/intersections.

As previously mentioned, if you've installed a slope mod, then you will find the game more restrictive when building networks. Simply because the slopes can not be so flexible as before, that's the trade off for more realistic slopes I'm afraid. The vanilla game has some woeful bumps and lumps everywhere on the transit networks, it might be easier to build with, but it looks hideous.

What you are seeing is not a bug, I'm pretty sure you do have a slope mod installed, those slopes are far too nice to be the default game methinks.

[atomate]

Hallo mgb204,

thanks for your answer. What you're saying makes perfect sense. Of course, the game might look hideous with the gigantic slope tolerance options.

Now two more shots. roads 5.jpg even comes with a bridge for rails. Notice the right hand road. It has just been established. The games leveled it out. Take the left hand road, impossible to establish.

Why? Maybe because of the slightly greater slope on the left hand side within the avenue. But bear in mind that the slope on the right hand side is quite large as well. Maybe the threshold for a slope mod just does not allow for the option on the left.

Then again look at road 6.jpg 

Well, I do suppose some mod kicks out my idea of street design. Anyone got a list of slope mods? I might produce a list of my mods here later on. And I just like to mention this again, it usually happens, as I try to connect roads into saved and reloaded scenarios.

Besides, some people around here take a great frenzy in having flat terrain for roads. It looks smooth, sure thing. Have you ever seen streets in San Francisco or streets in Quito? They just roll out their streets alongside hills and mountains. Instead,  the design of houses takes the slope into consideration in steep areas, whereas adjusting the terrain to fitting roads is just not an option in those real life cases. Sometimes staircases are being placed when the foudation level of a house does not fit street level, rarely is the other way around a feasible option.

Any scenario is just telling  a recent story. ANY depicted slope would have allowed for connetion until just a couple of days ago.

Nevermind, is there a simple and easy way to re-override the stickyness of a presumed slopemod?  Or a list of building mods that do include road slope restrictions?

atomate

[atomate]

Just one more thing, no slope mod has been installed on purpose.

[mgb204]

You could try the road/street one more tile to the left, I suspect it would then work. The real problem here is that to the right of where you are trying to build is a fairly large slope. What you are asking the game to do is adjust the slope either side of the new junction to incorporate it. It can not do this automatically simply because the number of other connections around it prevent the game from being able to place the intersection within the designated tolerances.

The game can certainly tolerate a lot of slopes, but there are limitations to them. You can work around them with a bit of forward planning and by manually creating the slopes yourself. Using the technique with stubs, flatten an area of road, then build the connections before running the avenue along it:

• First place the stubs where the connections will be, I've used Street stubs as Road/Ave can both override them. I've also used rail stubs for the rail connection.
• Then drag avenue between the stubs. (fig. 1)
• Next connect up all your intersecting networks, I'd recommend the rail be done first. (fig. 2)
• Lastly, drag the Avenue through the remaining stubs to complete everything. (fig 3)

In summary, the junctions remain flat (important), but the bits between them can have slopes, the stubs make sure the intersections stay flat so they work.

Whilst I am using slope mods here, you can see when you build things in this way, you can have good looking slopes and still keep them functional too. Looking at these new pictures, there is no way you have a slope mod for the Ave or Road networks. If you did, such steep slopes would likely be impossible. Just to be clear, none of what you are experiencing is really a bug, just a limitation of the programs ability to compute too many variables and adjust everything to fit. If you get used to making slopes as I've shown in these examples, you'll find your game looks a lot nicer for it, even without a slope mod.

[atomate]

Thanks for your answer mgb204.

Looking really nice and smooth what you post there. That type of planning makes perfect sense and btw there are no steep slopes in the picture.

Some of my presented pictures are from 2012. And yes, these slopes are steep. I just didn't give much for the proper look. They all connected easily, even in weird circumstance.

You see, I do get your point. If you may like to look at roadbug 2 once again. That scene could match the thoroughly explanation you just gave. Only just that some roads are connected already and the last bit is to follow. I could've done that by using the stub method. But yet it does not connect in my case.


And once again, usually it does not connect new streets/roads into the network of saved cites

Two years back, I've been playing for some time with only the regular rushhour version. I am not the most experienced player but maybe my experience tells me that the roadbug 2.jpg tells a weird story.

I use building lots and some capacity mods but as far as network goes there's only NAM and some streetlights. Of course it's no bug but this restrictive behaviour has just turned up recently. Please excuse if I begin to repeat myself.


I am adding on more scene. The road network in the first scene is 2 realife years old. It looks weird, sure thing.   

But the game allows for it and even adding the new avenue is working well, which just happened a few minutes ago.

Can anyone explain, why this is working well, whereas the following isnt?


atomate