Making Models for Transit Networks: Some General Specifications

[Tarkus]

Congratulations!  I'm really glad to see all the effort you've put in has paid off--the piece looks great.

-Alex

[Jonathan]

You mean that worked ? ? ?

Tbh, I'm kind of surprised, S3D models aren't the nicest thing to fix, usually they are still broken after fixing them

If you can do that piece then you'll be able to do any other piece 

Now you just need to do the paths which are pretty simple, but I don't have time at the moment to help, but if either Alex or Blue Lightening have the time then feel free, or if you just want to try it for yourself.

a few points I'll add:

• The MIS paths are dead in the center of the tile.
• You can get the height you'll need for the paths by getting the height of the vertices in 3ds max. The height on the first point should be 0 and the last should be 30.
• Each tile has it's own path file, the IID of the path file should be the same as the S3D/exemplar is corresponds to.
• This wiki page may help. And use Daeley's Path Creator on the LEX to create the paths.
• Also take note of which side the yellow line is, and use the drawpaths cheat from the Extra Cheats.dll to test them out.

But well done again on getting your first puzzle piece done !!!
Also well done on your NAM Assoc, though I think that will change quite soon.
Jonathan

[mtg]

the piece looks great.

Thanks, but I think it looks a bit rough still. I should work some more on the models. I think the barriers and the columns don't look as they should look. And I didn't put an UWVmap on the concrete deck. But I'm already happy to get it in the game like this    

You mean that worked ? ? ?

I'm kind of surprised, S3D models aren't the nicest thing to fix

I didn't fix them, I took your advise on reimport them all. 

Also well done on your NAM Assoc

thanks!

Great! Congratulations on your first (I believe) puzzle piece!

yep it's my first, thanks!

[Tarkus]

I'll copy in a bit about pathing that I wrote up for David (dedgren) when I was helping him figure out puzzle pieces awhile back.  Most of it is relevant here:

As far as paths go, the most recent pathing specs Maxis used, "1.2", is what Daeley's pathing program outputs by default.

Here's what the numbers stand for at the top:
SC4PATHS
1.2 <-Pathing spec version
2 <-Number of paths in the file
0 <-Number of StopPaths (used at intersections--another story for another day)
1 <-0 for ground-level (or flat) paths, 1 for 3-dimensional

Here's what one path stanza looks like:
-- car_1_3_a <-transit type_entry_exit_path#
1 <-transit type (1=car, 2=pedestrian, 3=rail, 4=subway, 6=lightrail, 7=monorail
1 <-path#.  This is the 1st path in the path file which is traveling from 1 to 3
1 <-Entry point.  0=West, 1=North, 2=East, 3=South
3 <-Exit point
0 <-UDI Key.  Rarely used except for some Lightrail and Monorail pieces
3 <-Number of coordinate sets in path stanza
-2.5,8,0 <-x,y,z coordinates.  Limited to +/-8 on x,y (except some Maxis items), unlimited on z (height)
-2.25,0,0
-1.75,-8,0

One note about the x,y,z coordinates--for the x coordinates, +8 corresponds with the East edge (2), -8 corresponds with the West edge (0), and for the y coordinates, +8 corresponds with the North edge (1), and -8 corresponds with the South edge (3).

As far as Daeley's PathCreator, there's two executables included in the directory.  One is called "PathCreator", which just covers a single tile, and the other "MultiPathCreator", opens up a grid, which allows you to see how all of your paths line up as a whole, which I use 99.9% of the time.  You can adjust the grid on MultiPathCreator by going into "Options".  I'll warn you, though, that the Rows and Columns are backwards, so if you want to add a new row, you'll actually want to add a new column, or vice-versa.

Basically, at that point, you'll just need to click on the square in the grid that you want to start with, and it'll open up a pathing dialog.  First things first, go under "Path Options", and pick the "Select Texture" option, which will load the texture into the square on the right side.  After that, go back into "Path Options" and pick "Edit Path", and from the little slide-out menu that appears, "path0"  First of all, you'll want to change "path0" over to something like "rail_0_2" for a rail path going from west to east.  Then you'll need to change the "type" to "train", the entry to "0", exit to "2", and since this is the first path you have in the file going from 0 to 2, just leave the path number at 1.  (if you had more going 0-to-2, you'd need to change it to 2 for the next one).

At that point, you can simply click points on the texture square, and the coordinates will appear on the left side.  You can manually adjust the numbers after clicking the coordinates into place, which you'll almost always need to do, since it's impossible to get directly to +/-8 at the edges--it usually cuts off at 7.92.

If you need to remove a coordinate, you can just click on the point you want to remove and it will go away.

When you are ready to add the next path, go to "Path Options"->"Add Path".  You can switch back to another path by going to "Select Active" and selecting the one you want to edit.

Unfortunately, PathCreator does not automatically detect any errors, so you won't know if your paths are working until you get them in-game.  The DrawPaths cheat is immensely helpful, and there are certain indications as to what your errors are, too:

Flashing Red Path: The Entry and/or Exit Point is incorrect.
No Paths Appear: There are two paths traveling from the Same Entry/Exit combo listed with the same Path Number.
Some Paths Appear, But Some Paths Are Missing: The Number of Paths Listed is too low.

To answer your question regarding the Merge/Diverge of two paths at a switch, both of the paths will need to start or end at the same edge, since all paths (except in special cases) need to start or end at an edge.  For instance, with "90_curve_switch_singlestraightsingleoff-g_1-1", here's the sample path I created:

SC4PATHS
1.2
2
0
1
-- rail_1_3_a
4
1
1
3
0
2
0,8,0
0,-8,0
-- rail_1_3_b
1
2
1
3
0
4
0,8,0
0,0.88,0
0.5,-3.2,0
1.5,-8,0

Both paths start at 0,8,0, and are going from the same entry/exit points (1 and 3), but they diverge going across the tile--the first path goes straight down to 0,-8,0, where as the other path starts to curve off.  Eventually, as you go down the piece, the Y will go off the edge of that column of tiles, such that the divergent track will eventually end up going off to the East (2) instead of continuing toward the South (3), once the X Coordinate reaches 8 on it.  Since you're doing two-way pathing on the STR, just copy the paths backwards as a set of train_3_1 paths:

-- rail_3_1_a
4
1
3
1
0
2
0,-8,0
0,8,0
-- rail_3_1_b
1
2
3
1
0
4
1.5,-8,0
0.5,-3.2,0
0,0.88,0
0,8,0

Hope that was at least somewhat comprehensible and gave you enough information. Wink

-Alex

There are a few differences here in your situation.  The PathCreator program was updated, so the "7.92" issue I mentioned doesn't really happen anymore.  The other thing is that you're pathing a 3D model.  One method that can help in doing that is by simply checking the coordinates of a few points on the roadway part of your model.  Since this is an MIS ramp, the x coordinates should always be 0 as well, which should make things easy.

I'd also take a look at Blue Lightning's tutorial, which is another good source.

Hope that helps!

-Alex

[mtg]

Thanks Alex for the tutorial!
But before I start on the Paths, I wanna clean up my models.
How do I get the texture of the barriers to be like this, I know I should do Something in MAX with my UVWmap. But what?



They now look like this..



I know I should move them to the edge of the concrete, and that they shouldn't be two meters high and one meter wide, but how do I get that texture to fit like it's two blocks of concrete battered by the elements??

I also think my columns should be more massive, what do you guys think?

[Jonathan]

Well I think if you apply a UVW Unwrap modifier to the barrier in 3ds Max it helps I think.

Jonathan

[Victor01]

How do I get the texture of the barriers to be like this, I know I should do Something in MAX with my UVWmap. But what?

They now look like this..

I also think my columns should be more massive, what do you guys think?

Yes, as Jonathan said: you need the unwrap tool.
If you don't know how to do it... I'll show you how to simply flip the texture.

Since you have a simple texture and a simple mesh,
1. Select the mesh
2. Add the modifier "Unwrap UVW"
3. Select "Face" mode (by pressing

• in the main modifier window and clicking on "Face")
  4. Select the face of the model you want to edit
  5. Click on "Edit" in the parameters rollout
  6. In the new window select your texture instead of "checker" (top of the window, on the right)
  7. Now move, rotate, do-what-you-want with the red part (moving it will move the texture on the model)
  
  (if you have alignement problems such as stretching red part, after selcting the face, press "box" in the map parameters rollout: you'll have a single face to edit)

[mtg]

I'm a bit lost on what to do next,

[mtg]

I should post a pic. when I say I'm lost. So you guys get an Idea 

[mtg]

I have been experimenting, and look what happened 
thanks for pointing me in the right direction! I'm realizing though that i have to remodel my barriers, as my experiment tells me that the parts of the barrier should three different planes, two sides and one top part, with their UWV-map at 90 degrees.




-edit- I know there's a less complex way to make the barriers, but I think this will work, and I don't have a clue how to put two different UWVmaps on one plane?

[mtg]

As you can see I'm working on the barriers they look better don't they!? But as you can see my road deck is to wide,
How wide should it be?

[Jonathan]

Make it the same width as the El-MIS, you can get the width by importing the model into 3ds max. Or ask Alex or Vince.

Jonathan

[mtg]

you can get the width by importing the model into 3ds max

You can do that!? how?

[Tarkus]

You can do that!? how?

Just go into the Reader, find the S3D model you want to export, click the "3DS Functions" button and select "Export as 3DS".  The S3D model will be exported as a 3DS mesh, which you can import into 3ds Max or even Gmax (though the latter's a little trickier sometimes).



You may also notice an "Import 3DS" option there as well . . . it's possible to import one directly as well, which eliminates the rendering process entirely, which can be very handy for dealing with True3D transit network and automata models.

One quick note on that, though.  The game swapped the usual definitions of the Y and Z-axes so you'll need to have the model be rotated 90 degrees on the X-axis before import.  Of course, with the advent of cogeo's handy SC4 Model Tweaker, if you forget to rotate in the export process, it's easy to fix.

I've attached an actual 30m EMIS .3ds mesh that's already been exported for your convenience, though.

-Alex

[mtg]

Thanks Alex! 
Now doesn't this looks much better!

[mtg]

I came up with something odd
I'm re modelling my ramp, and when I made the road deck of the first piece I've had no problems as you can see above, but when I tried to reskin the next piece this happens, I modelled the planes in the same way with the same UWVmap on them??


how it shouldn't be
 


how it should be


Some help would be nice 

[mtg]

I think I've got it, a few pages ago Jonathan said

And make sure the width and length of the plane is 16mx16m. Even if the ramp extends beyond the sides of the ramp

In my enthusiasm I made everything 12 meters wide including the road deck! 

[mtg]

Some odd stuff is happening, there's one piece not showing ?, also the columns are sliced somehow? also when I try to rotated the map the game CTDs on me?

[Korot]

Short answer: You've done something wrong.
Long answer: I wish I knew what you did wrong. (Hey, it's longer)

Regards,
Korot

[Jonathan]

The missing model:
Either the S3D is wrong or you've changed the IID of it/changed the RTK in the exemplar.
Make sure that on the material of the MIS deck, that all the checkboxes at the top of the Mats options (which is below the list of Mats) are checked, specifically the Framebuffering and Depth Test boxes.

Jonathan