Three Rivers Region

[dedgren]

A nice-sized earthquake here just a minute or so ago.  I'd guess magnitude 4+, or it was really close.  Just a shaker- the kind that cracks wallboard seams (grrrrr!).

UPDATE:  Nope, a little bigger than I thought.



They must have felt this pretty strongly in Anchorage.  The epicenter is about 50 miles/80 kilometers west of here.


David

386244 - another thousand page views before noon today.  Yesterday was 2,000+.  Wow, folks...

[Battlecat]

That's a decent sized on all right!  Just what you didn't need after all that renovation work.  Hope it didn't cause too much damage.

[CrazyChickenSC]

Well well well look what I found here...3RR wow it's been a long long time since I've seen this prolly back when it was on ST LOL. Just getting back into SC and stuff been looking through everything seeing what I need to get my hands on now lol. 3RR has come a really long way and I am no where near reading even a fraction of it but figured I would let you aware of my presence again haha =) Keep up the great work though and I will be reading this daily trying to get caught up!!

[Gaston]

Heck that one was in your back yard, David.     5.1 should you check the gas lines?


---Al

[joelyboy911]

On the topic of bicycle automata, could some simply be made as 'cars' overhanging somewhat to appear as though they are going along the edge of the road, or in this case in the bike lane

[dragonshardz]

They could, but then you'd have bicyclists riding in the middle of the road. Yikes! Not to mention, with the way the simulator works, you'd get bicycles getting rear-ended by cars and trucks, and vice-versa. Also, there'd be cars in the bike lane.

As far as I know, there's no way to restrict a specific automata model to just one lane. That's part of why ideas for bus-only lanes haven't been executed: there's no known way to make cars stay out of the bus lanes.

[ldvger]

David-

Your new RealRoads look fantastic and I can't wait to get my grubby little hands on them. 

In the emantime, could you tell me what software tools you are using to create your FAR roads and curves?  I would like to try my hand at creating some custom road sections for my MD, but have no idea how to even get started.  I have looked at my plugins folder and while I have both the latest NAM and SAMv3 puzzle pieces in my game menu, I don't find either in my plugins folder.  So, I don't know if they are DATs or MODs or LOTs.  Also, when I open the Lot Editor tool, I don;t find ANY transporation tiles at all, so I am completely stymied about how to go about creating custom road sections.  Any hints would be appreciated!

Lora/LD

[j-dub]

Oh for crying out loud. You know what this reminds me of, the other day I got my car washed, it rained later that day, and I didn't have a rain check that time. I would be angry too if I did all that construction, and major tectonic plates crashed, and cause big gas destruction, but you lucked out.

Seriously though, for you unfamiliar to quakes, you do to have to worry about where gas lines are, because of fire, and possible explosions.

[threestooges]

That'll get your attention all right. Glad to hear it was just the wallboard that cracked and that everyone's ok. Wallboard can be replaced (granted, I'll bet you weren't planning on doing it so soon). Amazing work with the parking spaces there David. Amazing work, you and all the other transit folks that are working on this.
-Matt

[joelyboy911]

Oh no, I was meaning, in the model of the automata, the bike would be off centre by a little over half of the lane's width, this way, no paths need to be modded on the road, only textures. The only problem that I can forsee would be bikes on the highway and avenue (which would be a big issue actually). Also, seperate models would be needed for RHD and LHD versions.

[smoncrie]

Lora, I can answer some of your questions.

In the emantime, could you tell me what software tools you are using to create your FAR roads and curves?

I made MORPH curves versions of the Wide Radius Road Curves and Fractional Angle Road puzzle pieces available to the NAM team a little while ago.  These are the curves that David has been using.  They are like the original curves, but changing just one texture can make all parts of all the curves use that texture.

They will probably be included in the next NAM.  After that version of NAM is installed, all your new or existing road curves will use any road texture (or euro) mod that you have installed.

I would like to try my hand at creating some custom road sections for my MD, but have no idea how to even get started.  I have looked at my plugins folder and while I have both the latest NAM and SAMv3 puzzle pieces in my game menu, I don't find either in my plugins folder.  So, I don't know if they are DATs or MODs or LOTs.  Also, when I open the Lot Editor tool, I don;t find ANY transporation tiles at all, so I am completely stymied about how to go about creating custom road sections.  Any hints would be appreciated!

All network textures are stored as FSH files that are usually in .dat files.  For example the SAM textures are in .dat files in the "Street Addon Mod/Textures" folder.  You can use reader to view them, add them, or remove them.  But you need other tools to change them.



To change the subject: It is possible to make bicycle animations that don't look too bad.   You just need to have the animation wrap around so that when you have the back part of the bicycle leaving the tile, you have the front part of the bicycle entering the other side.  When you do this, the bicycle will appear to go from one tile to the next (both tiles must have the bicycle animation). The disadvantage is that you will always have the same number of bicycles on the tile.

[Battlecat]

Oh no, I was meaning, in the model of the automata, the bike would be off centre by a little over half of the lane's width, this way, no paths need to be modded on the road, only textures. The only problem that I can forsee would be bikes on the highway and avenue (which would be a big issue actually). Also, seperate models would be needed for RHD and LHD versions.

Only problem I can see with this is that we'd probably wind up with bikes on the freeways and highways as well.  I'm not sure there's any way to restrict automata to a particular subclass of road network. 

[dedgren]

Here's what I've been doing lately in my spare spare time...



Heh!

* * *

Just so you don't think I've abandoned the ongoing default road retexturing, here's a recent one.

default


retextured


in the game


The default texture, of course, is on the left- ignore the "wealth" stuff, that's what I have to do to get both to display at once.  This and others under development are still subject to tweaking, as I want everything to line up just so.

Doc's appointment today.

Later.


David

387947

[threestooges]

I'm happy to see the end of that little crosswalk thingy. However, at least in my experience around here, concrete-asphalt transitions are usually more uniform along the edge. You can trace a clean line (with perhaps a little blur from cars tracking stuff from one to the other) where it occurs. I'll try to keep a camera around and snap a picture if I happen across an area like that. Aside from that, I like the gradual width change. Much more common to see it like that.

Just out of curiousity, is there some ghosting on the "game" texture? It looks like a mirrored version of the new texture. Or is it just the terrain mod underneath?

As for the game, though I'm not sure what it is, it looks interesting. Sort of like a Civilization type game. Always amazed that you seem to find the time for all this.
-Matt

[thundercrack83]

Well done, indeed, David! I'm with Matt on this one--the end of the crosswalk there is great!

I can't wait to see what else you've got up your sleeve, my friend!

Dustin

[metarvo]

Oh, my!    It looks like David's playing something besides SC4.  

For some reason, there are crosswalks on many of the default road textures.  Virtually every intersection has them, in addition to some non-intersections, like the Street-Road transition.  The Rural Roads addition eliminated some of them with its ploppable T- and +-intersections, and now the re-texture of the game defaults is removing the rest.  Nice work, David!

[Battlecat]

Certainly an improvement there!  That sidewalk thing has always been out of place.   

[ldvger]

smoncrie says:

I made MORPH curves versions of the Wide Radius Road Curves and Fractional Angle Road puzzle pieces available to the NAM team a little while ago.  These are the curves that David has been using.  They are like the original curves, but changing just one texture can make all parts of all the curves use that texture.

They will probably be included in the next NAM.  After that version of NAM is installed, all your new or existing road curves will use any road texture (or euro) mod that you have installed.

Um, I guess I wasn't very clear about what I am trying to accomplish.  I don't want to rexture roads, I want to try to create new custom puzzle pieces to use in my MD.  Things like a FAR 1x7 straight road with a curve transition to a 1x5 straight road, so that would be 3 new puzzle pieces.  I am fine with road textures as the currently are (not certain which NAM I have currently installed), but and very much looking forward to the new ones David is working on.  It's my understanding that the new textures will automatically update in ALL roads once installed, so we don't have to go back and re-build all our roads...and that the FAR puzzle pieces are included in this, right? 

All network textures are stored as FSH files that are usually in .dat files.  For example the SAM textures are in .dat files in the "Street Addon Mod/Textures" folder.  You can use reader to view them, add them, or remove them.  But you need other tools to change them.

Exactly...what are those "other tools"?  Because copying them and them modifying them is what I would like to do.

Lora/LD

[sithlrd98]

Its a little more complicated than that. Creating puzzle pieces is a multi step process that even I am still trying to grasp. Smoncries MORPH curves are "replacements" for some of the Wide Radius /FAR pieces. Basically , as he stated they will accept a texture and stretch it. For what you are wanting, someone will need to make the puzzle piece textures, create the models & exemplars , RUL/Path them just to make them work. I'm sure that if there was a demand for them , they may get created. As far as tools , of course you will need a program such as Photoshop / Gimp..etc. , Reader ,  Daeley's SC4 Path Creator , Sc4Tool (sorry can't find  a link for the Lex right now ) and  a crash course on Paths,Making Transit Models,and http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=5599.0 , and any info you can find on RUL 0x1000000

You asked

Jayson

[dedgren]

We bin watchin' youse!



...actually, it's the other way around...

You might remember back to about this time last year.  In August, '08, 3RR turned a corner from which it has never looked back (to mix a metaphor beyond recognition).  Every month since then, we have exceeded 20,000 page views each month.  The closest we've come to falling below that pace was in June of this year, which I'm pretty sure was the result of taking off and not posting for about two weeks.

At the start of February, just over six short months ago, I said [linkie]

The really amazing thing is that, at the current rate, 3RR should have a quarter-million page views in this year alone, winding up 2009 somewhere north of 400,000.

Well, if this month is any indication, we'll wind up way, way north of that mark, as we'll almost certainly have notched 400K views by the first of September.  At this rate, half a million views is in sight by the end of the year.  Half a million views, folks.  I just about can't comprehend it.  What I do know, though, is that there have never been greater friends in my life than the ones (that's you-all) that I've found here.  I wish I could thank each and every one of you up close and personal. 

Make sure any of you planning to come to Alaska let me know, in any event.  I have some inside info on this and that, and if not... well, I am always good for lunch.

When we hit 400,000 views, we'll open a contest and see who can predict the closest the date and time we'll reach half a million.  Should be fun!

* * *

Matt (threestooges), my friend, does this look any better?



As I said, I'll tweak these until I get them right, so keep those comments coming.

* * *

Lora (ldvger), my friend too, I'll join the discussion about puzzle pieces this weekend.  Hang in there, kid.  I know someone who might be able to help out.

* * *

On an end note, no more colonoscopies for a year- what a relief!

Later.


David

388734