Three Rivers Region

[Ryan B.]

Nice work, David.  Can't wait to make use of it in my MD. 

[j-dub]

That U-turn is going to be great for alot of people who carve up mountain passes, I don't know if that will ever be use to me, but all together the FAR will.

[Masochist]

You could split California into the sea with all the groundbreaking material overflowing in here !  A terrible pun that may have been, sure, but it's true!  Somewhere along the line, this place became the premier thread in the SC4verse to see the latest advancements in the game...and all from your head.

Amazing work, sir!  I really can't say just how much you and everyone involved in these projects here are enhancing the game beyond what we thought was possible !

EDIT: Isaac, I can't thank you enough for the great words, but I'd amend that bit about "premier thread."  Okay, 3RR (blush) is one of them, but only one- I'm just really proud to be a part of the many major SC4 developments that are happening here on jeronij's wonderful fansite. -DE

[Pat]

David I just don't know what to say  but wow!!!!!!

[dedgren]

Well, this morning I got up early (6-ish on a Saturday is early- during the week it would be sleeping in) to finish up the alterations to the second level-cross piece.  These, you will recall, mainly consisted of removing the road center line in the area of the tracks so that there is consistency with the "game" 45 degree level railroad crossing.



No.1 is a game 45 degree crossing.  No. 2 is the FAR crossing.  Our great friend Jan (Swamper77) has volunteered to do the BATting for the stop lines and signals, which are T21 additions...

...man, do I ever sound like I know what I'm talking about...

...to the puzzle-pieces.

Here are the two crossings up close.





These are out to Alex (Tarkus) in just a bit for the conversion into puzzle-pieces.  I'll be posting a list later this morning of all the folks whom I understand to have expressed a desire to be beta testers- If you haven't stuck up your hand, do that now, please.

* * *

There have been a few comments that indicated some confusion about the nature of the FAR/FARR fractional angle itself.  Most refer to it as being 22.5 degrees, which would make sense, as that angle is halfway between the game's existing 45 degree road and rail textures and the game's ortho textures.  Alas, while road and rail at this angle are technically possible, such are not practical.  Here's why.

This is the current FAR "straight" segment- two by three gridsquares.  The FARR is exactly the same, only with rail textures.



As you can see, for every three gridsquares of run, the road displaces one gridsquare to either side.

Mathematically, this is based on the solution for a right triangle with an 18.4 degree vertex, as shown following.



Any FAR/FARR angle must be based on a combination of two integer numbered sides: i.e. 2x3, 3x4, 4x7 and the like, as, while we can visually "break" the grid, it still has us in its insidious grip.

Here's the solution for a notional 22.5 degree FAR/FARR straight segment.



As you can see, there would need to be 12 gridsquares of run to achieve an integer solution, in this case five gridsquares of sideways displacement.  That would mean a puzzle-piece that was 12x6, which, as noted, is simply not practical.  The only hope for 22.5 degree FAR/FARR would be if the straight segments could be made draggable.

n.b.: The triangle solutions are done on Stephen Ostermiller's handy Triangle Calculator [linkie].  It's indispensable for this sort of thing, as I never understood even the most basic trig. -DE

* * *

In the "I thought I was going crazy" department, I also worked to fix the tie misalignment I noted a few weeks ago on the 45 degree rail wide curve.  You will recall that the "game" diagonal track segments have (much) wider tie spacing than their ortho counterparts.  I kept fixing the misaligned ties at the transition point by laboriously counting the number of pixels things appeared to be off in the game, then editing the texture in Paint Shop Pro, running it through SFBT's great SC4Tool, first to modify the previous attempt then to re-transit enable that end of the lot, then firing the game back up to look.  Sometimes it looked OK



then I'd see it again and the ties would be back out of alignment.



So I'd try again.  After about three goes, I realized that not only are the game diagonal segment rail ties not spaced like the ortho ties, but the diagonal segments themselves are not symmetrical from side-to-side.  This is simply ridiculous- it's just shoddy work on the part of the game artists.  In order to get this closer to perfect, we'd have to completely redo, I'm afraid, all the game diagonal rail textures to sort this out, unless we did a pair of non-symmetrical 45 degree rail puzzle pieces.  That would create its own set of problems, so this is probably a visual glitch we are going to have to live with.

* * *

I'm done with road and rail stuff for a while.  I'll continue to listen to suggestions and keep track of them for the next time I go off on a tear, but I need to get back to 3RR and collaboration.  I will relook the alpha textures of the rail pieces before these are officially released in the next NAM update, as I think I can improve them, but that will have to wait 'til after I see the puzzle-pieces.

Hope your weekend is going great, wherever you are.  Mine started with a trip to the hospital, where they did an ultrasound...

...it's twins!...

...No, just kidding (about the twins, not the ultrasound).  I had extreme pain in my right calf after the docs changed my BP medication, and so they wanted to rule out a blood clot as the basis.  Two hours later I was certified clot-free (or at least my right leg was) and so here I am.


David

86252

[Yoman]

Oh god, geometry Good luck to you with that David, though the result is looking excellent.

[mightygoose]

well i never actually thought what angles you were using i kind of took it as read, i should have spotted the mathematics.... i am a physics studdent after all. great progress with the crossings and dont get your knickers in a twist the maxis rail textures , they sound like they were made by Thomas Midgley [linkie]. anyway you keep working and we will keep watching.

86294

on the subject of bad ideas.... a UK survey asked for the top five worst ideas of all time....

the results were as follows:

The atom bomb - 51%
Reality television - 19%
Capital punishment - 14%
Plastic bags - 7%
Credit card - 5%

[Nardo69]

Now that looks great ...

About the Stop lights, royal at the SFBT BAtted some really nice German Type Stoplights. They are available at the moment only for 90 and 45 degree but I don't think that it would be impossible to rotate them into the FAR scheme.

You can see royal's Stoplights in my MD as I am using his stop light replacement mod in the beta version for quite some time. I think royal can understand English but if I shall work as a translater just MP me

Bernhard 

EDIT: Bernhard, as soon as I get the beta puzzle-pieces back from Alex (Tarkus), we'll get that coordination with royal going.  I will do Euro textures for the level-cross pieces as well as for the rest of the FAR and 2x2 wide curves shortly. -DE

[stewart_garden]

You attention to detail amazes me (and I'm an engineer - it is meant to be high on our list of desirable virtues)!  I, for one, will live with the slight visual glitch.  Interesting to know that any angle can be made based on a triangle with integer-numbered sides.  Great work David - I need to learn how to help out with some of this custom content stuff so that I can do more than simply applaud from the sidelines.

Stewart

[threestooges]

For those of you who think math doesn't have a use after school, think again. David, you continue to impress me, not only with the speed at which you've produced these things, but at the care and detail you've put into them (no suprise though). Now as far as the ties on the rails go... you've done a great job with them, and I can certainly live with a broken tie or two if it means getting more track flexibility. A tree here and there, and it'll never be noticed. Most importantly, I'm glad to hear they didn't find anything wrong with your leg, and I hope the pain has since subsided (perhaps it just cramped up?). Here you are, and hopefully here you will be for a long time to come. Hope all is well with you, Heather, and the kids. I'll be looking out for the next update (or the FARR testing, whichever comes first), but until then, take it easy.
-Matt

[Zaphod]

Lawyers can do math? Cool!! 

[nerdly_dood]

This is awesome!  Keep it up!

[dedgren]

Awwww, shucks, folks...

So that I don't get a swelled head, I will post here a review of 3RR that was originally done over on ST almost two years ago.

[tabular type=2]
[row] [data]Three Rivers Region is a relatively new CJ by novice CJer dedgren.  It is only his first effort at city journalism, where many of our more experienced CJers are already on their third or fourth journal.  Over the past seven months or so dedgren's CJ has wandered all over the proverbial map, and does not display, from page to page, any consistent theme.  The author admittedly cheats, and openly encourages others to do so, as well.  The CJ starts well, with a table of contents linked to the content on various pages, but the titles of the links are so arcane that they are almost worthless to any reader not "in the know."   The author also provides a list of mods, but his choices of these important game components are so eclectic that it is difficult to understand why anyone would follow his lead.

The CJ has no urbanized areas worthy of note, and lacks any high-rise development altogether.  Seemingly endless tutorials occupy many of Three Rivers Region's pages, and the tutorials often are more detailed than would seem necessary, at least to this reviewer.  The CJ has an extreme amount of non-SC4 content, which is frequently distracting.  Unrelated RL pics frequently appear and, while they are nice, this is a city journal, not MySpace.  In the last ten pages or so, the journal has seemingly become sidetracked on what appears to be an endless discussion of "scale," which is often at a technical level that is of little interest to the general reader.  Here again, the author admits that his region is grossly deficient in terms of representing any sort of realistic area, and it seems he is simply "treading water" while looking for a fig leaf behind which the whole thing can be mercifully dumped.

Lots of folks, seemingly inexplicably, do comment at Three Rivers Region.  It is difficult to understand why, as the author has the habit of repeatedly and insufferably referring to his "urban planning" education and foo-foo professional qualifications- an obvious and insufferable effort to make his readers feel small and awed by his "know it all" persona.  When that gets him nowhere, he whines about his advanced age...[/data] [/row]
[/tabular]

I go back and reread this every so often when I find myself all too eagerly rereading the nice things that are said here- it brings me down to earth pretty quickly.

Oh, as to who wrote and posted it- I did, but that's another story.

* * *

Did I mention, btw, that I am doing Euro textures for the FAR?  That is also an exception to the "I'm done" statement in my last post.

Later.


David

86375

[nerdly_dood]

I'm positively indignant!  This thing isn't like other MDs or CJs, but I think that review is very scathing and harsh.   Just because it's a rural area used as a testing ground for new mods (FAR and FARR) doesn't mean it is anywhere near as bad as the review says it is.  I'll get my out if I hear much more of that...


EDIT:  n_d, my friend- don't worry.  Like I said, I took it pretty well.  Thanks for your support, though- it's great to see you following 3RR. -DE

[girlfromverona]

LOL! I was thinking, that's pretty harsh and totally uncalled for!! But when I read that you'd written it, I thought... ah! David's sense of humour strikes again. 

Nice work on the FARR crossings, too. I'll gladly beta test these if needed. And I can live with a slight visual glitch if that's the price of "gridlessness"!

EDIT: Marisa, count yourself in, my friend. -DE

[jplumbley]

Awwww, shucks, folks...

[tabular type=2]
[row] [data]
Lots of folks, seemingly inexplicably, do comment at Three Rivers Region.  It is difficult to understand why, as the author has the habit of repeatedly and insufferably referring to his "urban planning" education and foo-foo professional qualifications- an obvious and insufferable effort to make his readers feel small and awed by his "know it all" persona.  When that gets him nowhere, he whines about his advanced age...[/data] [/row]
[/tabular]

To me it sounds as if these words could be turned around on the writer and they would stray far from the truth.  I never had any good opinions of the City Journal Critics because simply, I dont see how these people can go around making comments such as the above and "judging" someones opinion of what a City Journal is.  People like this are not what I see as an accurate account of how the SC4 Community should be or is represented.

David, you should listen to the rest of the people here and forget about this one inaccurate post from someone who is "an obvious and insufferable effort to make his readers feel small and awed by his "know it all" persona"...


EDIT:  Damn.. I just stuck my foot in my mouth didnt I.  I just realized that you had written it David.  Yikes... You are way too hard on yourself.

EDIT:  LOL!  Jason, as one of the best friends I have here, you should know that I never take myself too seriously.  Wow!  I'm really jazzed by all the folks prepared to defend my honor (such as it it is). -DE

[nerdly_dood]

YOU posted that???    Jeez... that's self-criticism at its worst if I've ever seen it!!

[thundercrack83]

...No, just kidding (about the twins, not the ultrasound).  I had extreme pain in my right calf after the docs changed my BP medication, and so they wanted to rule out a blood clot as the basis.  Two hours later I was certified clot-free (or at least my right leg was) and so here I am.

Let me get deal with the most important thing first--this is great news, my friend. Glad to hear your health is doing well.

As for all the geometry, I've had a pretty long day so, I'm going to have to take your word on it! And considering you've never let me down before, it's a cinch that things are in order!

Take care, my friend!

Dustin

[JoeST]

once again, I am speechless...

but this time speechless for 2 updates....

your detail amazes me more every time I read your posts

great work with the FAR + FARR  and I liked the maths

that there review was a tad harsh.... heh

Joe

[threestooges]

I had never noticed that in the ST critic thread before, but I guess it's true that you are your own worst critic. Just don't go

looking for a fig leaf behind which the whole thing can be mercifully dumped

. It should have a bit about turning it into a development thread too (heh heh). But then again, isn't that what an MD/CJ is for? Glad to get a bit from the past, as well as a touch of your sense of humor. Again, take it easy.
-Matt