RHW (RealHighway) - Development and Support

[compdude787]

Correct.

[GMT]

bummer. suburbia gonna be stuck in diagonal traffic forever on 6s only 

[noahclem]

Great work on that diagonal on-slope, Stephen 

[roadgeek]

I suspect this is out of date, considering the use of puzzle pieces:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGXVyGy3Xfg

[Tarkus]

Based on the date, it would be of NAM 32 vintage.  That said, the DBE method is still the only way to diagonal RHW on-slopes with NAM 34.

-Alex

[Tarkus]

I feel d...i...r...t...y....

https://www.youtube.com/v/BMSLNUGVI5I

-Alex

[matias93]

That's a pre-fab RHW interchange? Wasn't this supposed to not happen?

[Gugu3]

Really?

[Tarkus]

That's a pre-fab RHW interchange? Wasn't this supposed to not happen?

Well . . . kind of.  On both accounts.  There's a little more to it.  Can anyone guess how many new Instance IDs were used for it?

-Alex

[APSMS]

I'm guessing 1?

For the piece and ID reference?

[Tarkus]

I'm guessing 1?

For the piece and ID reference?

You're very close.  It is a single-digit number.

-Alex

[matias93]

Maybe four, with one quarter cascading the plopping of the other three pieces?

[Tarkus]

Four is farther away from the correct answer.

-Alex

[mgb204]

Hint: It's not 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9 either   

[APSMS]

I wouldn't say zero (0) is the correct number, because I'm assuming at least 1 ID needs to be there for the tab-ring entry (unless you replaced something, but that borders on cheating).

So... 2? One for the entry to reference the original quarter pieces (turn a quarter into a half and add the road overpass) and then the second to mirror the one half and modularize the creation process (done by halves)?

But again, if you repurposed an existing ID, then...

Just Kidding. But to be honest, I'll never use that piece. But I guess if it improves RHW adoption...

[Tarkus]

Well, if you're referring to HighwayIntersectionInfoIDs (often called HIDs or H3IDs), then yes, there's 1.  Actually, as will soon be revealed, this one just takes up ¼ of a TAB Loop entry. 

However, the original question looked at Instance IDs (IIDs), which are the reference points for transit tiles (i.e. 0x57000000 is the IID for the ortho RHW-2, and 0x57740010 would be the IID for the L1-to-L2 RHW-6S OnSlope transition).

With static puzzle pieces, including the Maxis Highway Interchanges, every single tile in the piece normally requires its own IID, in order for the game to read the RUL0 entry and know the x- and y-coordinates for each chunk on the grid.  Even if a model or section is being re-used in another piece, the static approach requires that that piece get assigned another IID.  Maxis Highway Interchanges require dozens of IIDs, and that's one of the infuriating and tedious things in trying to make one.  And if there's a pathing bug anywhere among those dozens of IIDs, particularly if the piece is symmetrical, good look trying to find it.  Additionally, it has generally been considered that these static pieces are limited to a 16x16 square grid area (there are ways around this within the static paradigm, but they get ugly).

Now, that brings us to . . . that thing . . . in the video.  If it were built like an MHW pre-fab, it's occupying a 15x4 area, with an additional tile bumpout on either side where the Road crossing is located.  That'd be 62 new IIDs.  But . . . this thing . . . isn't built like an MHW pre-fab.  It's 100% FLEX, and uses "optional" flags to basically assemble a series of FLEX pieces, plus the L1 Road Viaduct starters.  Technically, anything placed in RUL0 will have one static tile, but its IID is set to the "construction tile" that's been in use with FLEX pieces since the Diagonal Streets from NAM 20 a decade ago--definitely not a new IID.

So, that leaves us with a grand total of 0 new IIDs.  Nil.  Zilch.  Donut.

The move toward FLEX is actually what made this project possible.  Everything in here is directly referenced out of an existing component built for use in the standard modular RHW paradigm.  And our future development will still focus on building components that can be used modularly, but this technique allows us to have our cake and eat it, too.  As long as the FLEX components exist for the setup, it's a total joke how quick these can be make, especially when compared to building an equivalent static component.  The hardest part, actually, is building the preview model (which wasn't done when the video was made).

-Alex

[eggman121]

To further add to the conversation there is limited or no extra RUL2 needed to accomplish the overrides. It should all be contained in the existing RUL2.

In essence Flex is a much better approach since it allows for more streamlining of resources.

I am using many of these principles for a top secret project that I am spearheading and will use this functionality. It won't feature in the next NAM but I am working on getting the bases ready for a NAM 36+ Release. Some of you may have see dev pics on ST while SC4D was down for the server change.

-eggman121

[Gugu3]

In which forum did you post your project over at simptropolis eggman? I am curious...

[Mandarin(a)]

In which forum did you post your project over at simptropolis eggman? I am curious...

You may want to look at those two posts ... 
http://community.simtropolis.com/forums/topic/13543-show-us-your-railroads/?do=findComment&comment=1623288
http://community.simtropolis.com/forums/topic/13543-show-us-your-railroads/?do=findComment&comment=1624681

[Gugu3]

Thanks!