Traffic Signals in SC4--A Discussion Thread

[Pat]

J-Dub that is looking real great there!!! How did you manage that setup?

[j-dub]

Thanks guys. I think it was mental Mathematicals  that had me figure it out. However I don't know how to animate them.

[Fresh Prince of SC4D]

Nice j-dub very realistic....

I know it been a long time since you created the german lights but I just realized I couldn't edit them without lot editor(as told in the readme). I may seem lazy of me not to edit them myself, however my computer can't run lot editor, is any way to replace the maxis lights with them?

[j-dub]

No. I heard T21 signals require S3D which is something I don't have. How would you feel about plopping them? I still don't know how to make the lights change so there going to be stuck on green.

I say Euro because they were in a right hand drive country in MGS4, but since everything was in English on the buildings and stuff for 40 miles or so, it wasn't Germany and alot of canals were around. However these traffic lights were there, this color, this style.
Attached below, are the red light ploppable Euro/German signals.
They can be found in Misc Transit. Readme included.

[Swamper77]

I may seem lazy of me not to edit them myself, however my computer can't run lot editor, is any way to replace the maxis lights with them?

No. I heard T21 signals require S3D which is something I don't have.

To make replacement signals, one would have to make a new animation file which requires an ATC file to control the animation, a set of AVP files to define the animation sequence for each zoom, and FSH files that contain the images for the frames. There is no easy way to make animated stoplights and Maxis has four different stoplight animation props: ortho road, diagonal road, ortho avenue, and diagonal avenue. There are also two stoplight props in the NAM which are used on for the Avenue and Road Turn Lane Plugins: ortho and diagonal, both without the attached pole.

With J-Dub's German signals, he would also have to take the signals off the mast assemblies they are attached to in his models. The animations are the signals themselves. Maxis has the mast assemblies are a separate prop with all of their stoplights on the avenues. Only for the roads did they include the pole in the stoplight animations.

Here's one I did awhile ago, but I don't remember how I did it:

It is obviously sped up as there is usually 6 seconds between green and red lights on any one axis. And no, it is not available. Do not ask me for the files. I don't even know where the files are right now. For all I know, I may have deleted them.

-Swamper

[j-dub]

I put these Turn Signal Lights over the NWM. Watch this picture for a while, notice anything? I wish I knew how this timed prop thing was possible and T21, because signals could work anywhere without stop points.

animation courtesy of makeagif.com

http://www.picvalley.net/u/658/1376744393.JPG

[Pat]

Jdub that looks great and I love the animation!!!

[metarvo]

Swamper77:  Oh, man, it's too bad that those are gone, Swamper.  They look like they worked very well.  

j-dub:  Yes, the signals go from green to red, don't they?  It even looks like the left turn signal head is a "doghouse" permissive signal, with a red (O)
indication by itself at the top, yellow lights (< O) in the row below the red light, and green lights (< O) on the bottom.  If you've checked out the "Show Us Your Intersections" thread, you know how I feel about slip lanes  , and I notice that you have a signalized slip lane in the upper-right corner of your pic.  Normally, the idea would be to use a slip lane to avoid a signal, but I have actually seen signalized slip lanes before, at intersections where the traffic rate is tremendously high.

[j-dub]

In Wisconsin I have seen slip lanes that have an extra lane to merge, where there would be no signal, but in this case, I thought the signal over the slip lane was necessary, because you could be going, but someone coming from the left also has the green light, and then crash! My state usually does have the slip lane assigned to a signal.

[sithlrd98]

Still a very interesting subject and I see a lot of cool things! I do have a question that someone may be able to help me with. A while back , I got hold of a traffic signal that Heblem had attached to a post(TP_semaforo_x2-0x5ad0e817_0xd5a76954_0x320000.SC4Model.) I finally got to appear in-game by messing around with the exempler,but here is the problem: just like the Japanese set that was discussed previously , the signals don't appear correctly at some intersections and like Heblems Semamex6-0x5ad0e817_0x3350db00_0x30000.SC4Model (which also was attached to a post I believe) don't appear at avenue 4ways. I am wondering if anyone knows the location that stores the info on how the game handles traffic signals or how to make them work correctly? I don't consider myself as a modder ,but I do know my way around some of the game files. Any and all help would be appreciated!

Jayson

[Swamper77]

Sith Lord,

There are 4 traffic signal props that ship with the game:

- Orthogonal Road: mounted to the side of a post.
- Diagonal Road: mounted to the side of a post.
- Orthogonal Avenue: a pair of signals with no posts/bars
- Diagonal Avenue: a pair of signals with no posts/bars.

All the post/bar assemblies on the avenues are separate props. All the signals are placed via T21s, which I know you are aware of.

The NAM adds two more signals, by re-enabling two signal props that Maxis disabled:

- Orthogonal Road: a signal with no post or bar.
- Diagonal Road: a signal with no post or bar.

I copied the artwork and exemplars for these last two from the Original SC4 SimCity_1.dat file. When Maxis shipped Rush Hour/Deluxe, they replaced the animations for these two props with a blank model. The orthogonal signal is used by the NAM for the Avenue and Road Turn Lane Plugins for the intersections.
I believe Heblem's props are static BAT models, so they will not change colors. They will simply be eye-candy at any intersection they are placed at. As for the props not appearing in certain cases, it is probably because the tile got flipped and the prop does not have a reference to the mirrored model. The BATter would have to make a mirrored model of their prop and reference it with the "Resource Type Key 1xm" property. This property tells the game to display a different model (usually a mirrored one) when the network tile that displays the prop gets flipped.

For a stoplight prop to be functional, they have to be an animation. The game's animations have an ATC file to control the animation, AVP files to handle the frames, and FSH files that contain the images for each frame. There aren't any published tutorials on how to make animations for the game. The people that have made animations either did theirs by "trial and error" or some method they haven't shared.

Don't ask me how I got the one I showed above to work. I don't remember how I did it.

-Swamper

[j-dub]

Did we varify if timed props work as exemplars?

The other thing, about Heblems traffic light. The traffic lights work because the Maxis ones are the ones that are used even though its a different pole, the only one that doesn't work is the one attached to the pole from the rendering.

[sithlrd98]

Swamper,
Thanks for the info! I did add a "Resource Type Key 1xm"  which was part of the reason I couldn't see them in-game originally( hadn't learned how to t-21 at that time) and , I did notice that unlike the Japanese pack , Heblems were indeed static and did not contain AVP or any ATC files, but hey, I wasn't exactly sure if they were needed(pointing to other files?). I had looked at the NAM file with the signals , but honestly , I haven't toyed around with animated props and such so I backed away from them. Like you said  not much info is out there for most of these "tweaks"!.Oh well , I'll let someone who knows what they're doing keep teasing us with some great models!
Thanks!

Jayson

[Ryan B.]

Oh well , I'll let someone who knows what they're doing keep teasing us with some great models!

You were saying, Jayson?



Just screwing around one day . . . 

[j-dub]

Wow, those are real detailed.
There actually are instances where those would come in handy in game. I made a very weird intersection with a road, owr, avenue, and a RHW all together because the avenue curved, yet the RHW went across it, and you could only turn left coming from the RHW into the avenue, since the avenue curved, but the RHW aligned straight, and then the other side there was OWR turning into the intersection.

Anyway, heres some more traffic signal designs, replicating real life on/off ramp ones.

Oh, and no, you didn't see those very tiny lights there change red to green. Its your imagination, or is it?

[Heblem]

well I have done some stoplights, but I dont know how to sort diagonals, I think I have to do diagonals, as for the large stoplight in avenue crossing, gotta get into NAM files for the large stop light.

As for now I got a beta of a new stoplight, will look for the large one and diagonals...

A preview:

[deathtopumpkins]

Wow, those look great Eblem! Are they actually t-21'd?

[Swamper77]

Looks like he's replacing the Maxis Stoplight Arm prop for the avenues, which isn't a bad idea. Not everyone lives in California.

-Swamper

[sithlrd98]

You were saying, Jayson?



Just screwing around one day . . . 

Screwing around...I can't even BAT a wall, I almost can do a foundation though.

Oh, and no, you didn't see those very tiny lights there change red to green. Its your imagination, or is it?

Now that is cool!

Jayson

[Fresh Prince of SC4D]

Looks like a great signal for the fabled single point urban interchange