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FLEX Turn Lanes (FTL) and Related Projects - Development and Support

Started by Tarkus, August 01, 2009, 09:36:25 PM

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cdp123

Ahhh this is such a game changer. I'm so stoked for this!!

Schwenda

Outstanding work as always, NAM team! &apls &apls &apls

"$Deal"$  But, if I may, would it ever be possible, for the longer term, to make "Triple Left's" for the AVE 6?

I do recall reading from y'all awhile ago saying that such things aren't realistic for the game since triple left turns are still pretty rare in the real world... BUT they are out there; at least one intersection for almost EVERY MAJOR METRO AREA in at least the U.S., as well as Australia, at this point in time! And I can imagine that number skyrocketing as the years go on! Needless to say, Florida & even Indiana (at least compared to most neighbors) seem to have a fetish with triple turn lanes with Florida most likely being the only state that has a legit standard/set of guidelines/requirements practically set in stone because they have a lot of them...

Hopefully, the T-intersections (both regular avenue & the AVE 6) are actually easy to do this...

With the 4 lane three turn lane terminus being: LEFT, LEFT, LEFT/RIGHT...
And the AVE 6 four turn lane terminus being: LEFT, LEFT, LEFT/RIGHT, RIGHT
...since it's most likely more waiting to make a left than to basically yield for the right turn...

Tarkus

Thanks, dyoungyn, Kitsune, druidlove, Noah, CT14, metarvo, max19950324, cdp123, Schwenda, and everyone, for the kind words and support. :thumbsup:

Things have been a little quieter here of late, as RL had picked up (start of another term of teaching, and taxes), and the particular portion of the project I'm doing right now--adjacency stability for the ARD-3 slip lanes--is probably the hardest thing left (particularly when ARD-3 slip lanes approach ARD-3 x ARD-3 intersections).  I've had to work on it in tiny chunks due to time constraints.



Now, to cover a few comments/questions:

Quote from: dyoungyn on March 28, 2017, 06:19:42 PM
Thank you for your understanding of those whom have been using TLUP/RHW Puzzle pieces for a while now and are use to the use of the "TAB" key when cycling through all the options.  I personally like the puzzle pieces in the RHW as I just plain cannot get the RHW ramp drawn out I am looking for.  I have a guide and  for some reason, I am just doing it wrong.  Yes, there are limitations with puzzle pieces as in  mainly ground options but I know how they will react under certain situations. 

-----

P.S., I have see rumors of SC6 or 2017 scams and if this was real, then what I have seen could definitely be a real contender for SC4 today.

On the RHW side, if you aren't comfortable with the Draggable Ramp Interfaces (DRIs) and all the associated patterns, there's also the FLEXRamps.  They're overrideable just like the DRIs, but you just plop them down instead of worrying about the pattern.  And, unlike the puzzle piece ramp interfaces and the DRIs, they're actually somewhat slope-tolerant.

The SC6/2017 stuff is very fake.  EA is very unlikely to bring back the SimCity franchise for another installment anytime soon, after the debacle with SC2013 (which was 100% preventable).  SC4 is still the standard-bearer and most recent game in the series that isn't an embarrassment for them, and IMHO, is still a better game than Cities: Skylines, but by keeping the MSRP at $19.99 and going back to selling their infamous nerfed Version 1.1.610 copies on Origin, it's almost as if they're trying to lose to the competition.

Quote from: Kitsune on March 29, 2017, 10:07:16 AM
Wouldnt it be possible to have the files for the old tuleps present - however have no icon or anyway of accessing it?

It would be, though we'd have to alter the file architecture of the old TuLEPs to remove the icon button from the original DAT.  This is actually how the setup for the Deprecated RHW Height Transitions works, too--everything for those except the icon is in the RHW Legacy Support files.  That lack of an icon still has people freaking out, but due to the architecture of TuLEPs vs. that of the old height transitions, I think there's a way we could have the icon-less setup occur by default, but have the option for the icon checked for those who used TuLEPs in a prior NAM version.  It would take some testing to ensure that it does indeed work that way, however.

Quote from: noahclem on April 01, 2017, 12:30:13 PM
Do I understand correctly that you decided to keep the original geometry of the slip lanes? I would have thought matching them up with diagonal MIS would be the way to go but I'm sure you have your reasons if you've decided otherwise.

I did indeed keep the original geometry, mainly because the MIS isn't intended for use as a surface street, and the implementation in those tight quarters would have been a lot messier than what ended up in the FTL plugin.  There's nothing stopping a future extension of the system that hooks diagonal MIS into the base slip lane setup for longer slip lanes and/or ones that tie directly into RHW systems, however.  Additionally, diagonal "short-T" support for Road x MIS, OWR x MIS, and Avenue x MIS was added in NAM 35, which can subsequently make a slip onto an MIS exit/entrance ramp, thanks to some adjacency stability coverage for Y-splits.

Quote from: Schwenda on April 07, 2017, 02:27:12 PM
"$Deal"$  But, if I may, would it ever be possible, for the longer term, to make "Triple Left's" for the AVE 6?

It's not completely off the table.  Indeed, once we get the "biaser" addition added to the FTL system, which will allow one to adjust the turn lane setup to favor left or right turns, you'll probably see triple lefts show up on the Type 220 and Type 130 setups for T-intersections.  The Type 120 L|L|LR setup you described, however, is much less likely (the "left biaser" would change the L|LR|R default to merely L|L|R in most instances, though it will be partially dependent on the type of network used as a cross street).

Getting them on +-intersections would be a considerable way out in development, however, and it would probably be limited to specific situations.

-Alex

j-dub

Still missing a traffic light on the one side I see.

Tarkus

One of the last things to do to wrap up the FTLs for NAM 36 . . . Euro textures.





Quote from: j-dub on April 14, 2017, 09:54:07 AM
Still missing a traffic light on the one side I see.

Unfortunately, the Maxis single light doesn't have a mirrored version, so that's why that happens.

-Alex

Wiimeiser

Looks good... Does this mean NAM 36 is almost ready? I know you don't do release dates, but I'd be surprised if it's not this year...
Pink horse, pink horse, she rides across the nation...

Tarkus

Thanks, Wiimeiser!  To answer your question, NAM 36 Alpha Build 1 was released for internal testing on May 20th.  The actual testing has been going smoothly, but RL (especially heavy on my end for the past month) has prevented us from getting to a second build.  If we can get to that second build, I think things will snowball into a release in fairly short order.

Speaking of progress, the Euro texture effort for the initial offering of FLEX Turn Lanes is nearly complete now--there's only the slip lanes and a few other little spots here and there that still need coverage.







-Alex

dyoungyn

#1207
All I can say is TOTALLY WOW :D   &apls  &apls  You are completely blowing this AWAY :bnn:  Oh boy NAM 36 is going to be BIGGER than when Rushour really made a HUGE game changer.  If what we have seen thus far such as REW, Flex enhancements, and AVE6/7 capabilities improvement ; wow total game changer such as SC4 "to infinity, and beyond"!  This is more like Sim City 5.  Again completely amazing.

kelis

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j-dub

But you have the avenue lights mirrored, and I swear I've seen that type of network with lights on all four sides at that type of intersection before.


metarvo

It's hard to stay away for too long, isn't it?  ;D  Smooth OWR work there, Alex!  :thumbsup:
Find my power line BAT thread here.
Check out the Noro Cooperative.  What are you waiting for?  It even has electricity.
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Here are some rural power lines.

b22rian

Alex, really a nice start here  on the continuation of Flex turns..

.. although I confess , i still am unsure of what is possible with the one ways as i recall you mentioning that there are some limitations due to game exe locks right ?

Brian

ramrec

Just pointing out something I have noticed while playing around with the new NAM36 and I hadn't realized before.

I'm using the Stoplight Replacement Mod V1.1 by MandelSoft to position stoplights before the junction/crossing (european look) and works perfectly with the automated FTLs, but when placing the new FTL pieces in NAM36 the stoplights appear after the crossroads instead.

Is there a way I can fix this or have the new pieces the stoplights cooked in?

Thanks for doing such a superb job  &apls &apls

mgb204

Stoplights are not simply overridden by a replacement, it's necessary to edit something called a T21 for every individual network tile that you want to see them upon. As such, when a mod like this is not updated to cover such additional pieces, there will be gaps in coverage where the defaults appear instead.

Sadly Mandelsoft is no longer active in the SC4 community, so it's very unlikely any further pieces will be added to SRM. It's totally possible to add them though, but it requires you to make the new T21s, which isn't so much difficult as it is tedious to go through every setup.

ramrec

Thank you for your answer. I'm just retired, so time is something I have to give away so far. Unfortunately my background has nothing to do with computer sciences and although I've been playing the game for a while by now and have read most of the forums, I've never tried modding.

Maybe you could point out some manual or tutorial to start with? I mean with transport networks modding (i.e. T21's)


mgb204

If you've not yet made a custom lot or used the Lot Editor, then that is the logical place to start. A T21 is simply a 1x1 lot that is "attached" to a network piece. In order to create/copy/edit the T21s, you will need to be able to work in the LE. I have a beginners tutorial here which might be useful.

As for T21 modding, the most useful resources are probably here and here.

In reality the hardest part if you can work through the basics, is finding the IDs of the new pieces. Bear in mind you can reuse those layouts or lots that already exist, which can save a lot of work. Just find the equivalent T21 and make a copy of it and alter the IDs to the new pieces. In fact even where the existing pieces are not perfect, this approach can be useful as a template, so you just have to move the props to fit rather than re-create it from scratch. If you do find yourself needing help with this, feel free to start a new thread where people can assist you.

ramrec


Seaman

@Tarkus: thank you so much for the FTL. Especially the slip lane drawing is incredible convenient and it just feels like the right way to do!

I've stumbled upon something, where I'm not sure wether this is just a coincidence, a hidden feature or something that slipped through testing.

This seems like it wants to overide something (what would actually be awesome: FTL for MAVE-4  ;)):



but the other side does not want to play along and continue it's TLA-5 (which is also a cool feature itself!!)



any suggestions?

Tarkus

You're most welcome--glad to hear you're enjoying the FTLs! :thumbsup:

The RD-4-to-Type 120 transition was indeed something that was planned.  There was going to even be a FLEX piece under the FTL menu for it, but I couldn't get the overrides quite where I wanted them.  The FLEX piece was disabled, but what had been done on the overrides was left in place as an unadvertised as-is feature.  I believe Brian did actually manage to get it working during testing, so it can be done, but it's not the most stable thing by any means.

-Alex