Bridge Engineers needed....

[jeronij]

I do have some questions (eluded to in my previous post) mostly pertaining to how the game assembles the different pieces.  I'm not quite sure where to start and end each piece, and how the transitions are handled.  OK to shoot a PM your way?

Feel free to PM me if you want to. I always try to help if I can 

[choco]

OK, so I finally got a a couple more hours to work on the model.  Now, please keep in mind that i've only had about 6 hours on the BAT so it isn't game worthy at all....im more interested in getting a working model first then i'll try my hand at some actual candidates. 

So here's a model after the Smart Road bridge over Wilsons Creek in VA, USA.  I'll address my issues soon via PM, but this kinda demonstrates one of my questions.

Should the pillar go at the end or the middle....or is it dependent on the type of bridge/model? 

[jeronij]

Well, most of the information you are looking for is explained here. You basically need three 16x16 pieces. One for the star/end piece, one for the repeat piece, and one for the support piece. All three pieces are necessary for the most basic bridge 

[threestooges]

As Jeronij said, you will need a separate segements for basic road and pillar pieces (though the two can look exactly the same as far as I know). You have two general options for pillar placement:



You can contain the pillar within one full model piece or, if there will be a matching piece, split it between two. The way it seems to be positioned in your pic, you could use the same model for both pillar and repeat pieces, but there might be some difficulty when creating the start/end piece. This piece is essentially mirrored at each end of the bridge. What this means with your current model is that one ends of the bridge may be pillar-less for an extended segment. Perhaps consider splitting the pillar into two halves (one on each side of that arch) so that they will appear to form a full one in game, or move the pillar to the middle and have the arch peak at the ends. This should make the start/end piece design a bit easier. Please let me know if you have any questions or if something wasn't clear.

[choco]

Thanks for another good explanation stoog....i was worried to start down the wrong path before i got those issues worked out, but I hhink I got my head wrapped around this now.  also, jeronij posted a very helpful tutorial on the LEX and got me on the right track.  So again, thanks for all the help.    I have some free time on my hands the next few weeks so I'm hoping to be active getting some models together.  I just finished my first model  so hopefully i didn't make any mistakes...

[threestooges]

I posted this in my BAT thread, but I wanted to make sure I got as much feedback as I could. Since this is a bridge-specific thread, I figure what better place to post it.

[cameron1991]

That bridge looks awesome! 
IMO all it needs to be perfect are some supports and a retaining wall on the start piece (although it may not appear in this picture because your bridge starts too far inland for it to be seen)

[jeronij]

Thanks Matt for the suggestions 

The new bridge looks really good, but I think you will have to play with the support column parameters... or with the start/end pieces supports...in the picture it looks like it is not supported by anything 



I have been working hard with the "Warzone Bridge" and these are the final results:

Some testing... can you see the trains inside the bridge ?¿



and here... ?¿


Now a general overview on a standard layout (sorry for the massive amount of bridges in that picture...  ... it is a testing city 


Still some testing with the Maxis support pylons...


And a last one on a more suggestive environement


I hope you like it... It will be released soon 

[mightygoose]

awesome. i really like this bridge... i dont suppose you could do a highway version?

[jeronij]

Thanks mg  ... unfortunately converting this one tile width into a two tile width bridge would mean a complete re-modelling  ...

But I have some other ideas in mind for highways.... based in a bridge in Bratislava (I think), and in its quite earlier steps of development...







I hope to have some time this week to work a bit more with it 

[JoeST]

AMAZING, you truly are a master of SC4 JeroniJ... I just cant believe how good it looks...


Joe

[Wrightguy0]

I'd like to see some progress on the manhattan bridge.

[jeronij]

Wow, it is soooo late   

I am glad you like the design so far Joe.... I hope you like the progress even more 











Sorry Wrightguy0, I dont have any pictures on the Manhattan Bridge... 

[Nexis4Jersey]

oh my, jeronij i must be dreaming that looks amazing, can't wait in till futher updates!!!!!!!!!

[choco]

wow......do i have alot to learn.     looking forward to those beautiful bridges jeronij! 

Did ya get my PM a couple days ago?

[Diggis]

Now, with that warzone bridge if you could get it into straight into a tunnel it would look wicked!

[rooker1]

  wow.........jeronij, that bridge is incredible looking.  Very unique and a very good idea for a very busy downtown core with a river.  I love it.

Robin 

[mightygoose]

i really like it but i dont suppose yo could do a non suspension version with verticle supports underneath instead....

[jeronij]

Thanks to all for the comments 

choco, I had the opportunity to test your bridge, and there are some suggestions about it 



1 - You should search (here at SC4D of course) and read the BAT LODding tutorial about how to get rid of those graphic glitches.... 
2-  There is an issue with the shadows in the repeat piece. Perhaps you shoul expand your model a bit more before rendering. I mean, this could be a shadown from another piece, or the lack of shadows because the lack of pieces.
3- Check the overall scale, specially the walls. They seem to be a bit too big for the automata cars...  (this is my personal opinion however  )

Other than this, great first attempt 



mg, I'll note you suggestion.
Btw, if you want the warzone bridge model for your paying purposes, and perhaps as the basis for a highway bridge, I have nothing against sharing it 

[choco]

well, thanks jeronij!  Kinda weird seein that in the game, but....

I appreciate the feedback.  I went thru the LOD'ing tutorial, but I must missed something.  In either case, I'm working on the final model with some minor changes and some more detail. 

Thanks again for all the help from teh community!!