[jplumbley]

The purpose of this mod is to add new "Texture Variations" to our Network Systems.  New technology was found early 2007 which allowed us to use a Puzzle Piece to create a starter for a new set of textures for the same network.  SAM takes advantage of this new technology to its greatest potential.  In SAM version 3 there will be 8 new "Texture Variations" outlined below.

How to start a SAM Texture Variation:

For those of you who have ever used Draggable GLR, it is essentially the same for SAM Textures.  First of for SAM there has been a TAB ring included, it is at the bottom of the Roads Menu.  Within the TAB ring there is one puzzle piece starter for each SAM Texture Variation.

1 - Using the TAB key, flip through the SAM Puzzle Piece Rotation Ring until you find the SAM Texture Variation you would like to use.  Then plop it.  (Keep in mind you will have to have an area to drag in excess of 5 tiles in length.  See FAQ #2)

2 - Select the Street and drag from the end of the SAM Starter Piece out.  (Keep in mind you want atleast 5 tiles in length)

3 - After the SAM network is stable, you may delete the 2 tiles that were created by the SAM Starter Piece.

What will be included in SAM version 3:

There are 8 Texture Variations created for the Street Network.  These Texture Variations include:

SAM - 1 - Parking Lots by Pegasus
SAM - 2 - Herringbone Streets by ardecila
SAM - 3 - Dirt Roads by Pegasus
SAM - 4 - Gravel Streets by Pegasus
SAM - 5 - Dirt Roads by Torolca
SAM - 7 - Asphalt Streets by Hableurg
SAM - 8 - NAM Cobblestone Streets by xannepan
SAM - 9 - Brick Streets by JosefMayor and ScruffyDeluxe

Planned future additions:

The planned future additions will be added relatively soon. Additions will include new sets from the Proposal Thread and possibly some new RULing for added features.

All of the preceeding texture sets have been created by someone else in the begining (as noted) and been updated by either myself (jplumbley) or Diggis to be complete texture sets including 4 wealth levels.  Textures included upto this point:

All 5 vanilla Street Base textures:
   Straight
   90 Turn
   4 way Intersection
   T Intersection
   End Piece
Street/Road Intersections:
   All 4 T Intersections between SAM and Roads
   All 4 4-way Intersections between SAM and Roads
   Street to Road Straight Piece
   Street to Road 90 Turn Piece
Street/Rail Intersections:
   Orthogonal Rail X-ing
   Diagonal Rail X-ing
   Double Diagonal Rail X-ing
Street/OWR Intersections:
   All 4 T Intersections between SAM and OWRs
   All 4 4-way Intersections between SAM and OWRs
   Street to OWRs Straight Piece
   Street to OWRs 90 Turn Piece
Street/Avenue Intersections:
   Avenue/Street T-Intersection Side
   Avenue/Street T-Intersection Through
   Avenue/Street T-Intersection Diagonal
   Avenue/Street 4-way Intersection
Roundabouts:
   Roundabout to Road
   Roundabout to OWR
   Roundabout to SAM
   Roundabout no Connection
Diagonals (by Memo and Diggis)

There are known stability issues with the SAM texture sets reverting to Vanilla textures. Please see FAQ #3 for the answer.  SAM version 3 most stability issues have been addressed.  There will still be issues that need to be addressed in the future and some issues will only be learned from further releases and feedback.

Frequently Asked Questions - FAQs

1.  What is a "Texture Variation"?

A texture varitation is a new set of textures for a network.  Essentially, these are replacement textures for the MAXIS Streets, but due to the new technology these textures have been given new IIDs and and a starter piece has been created to make these textures separate from each other and allow each one to co-exist with another.

2.  My textures revert to the vanilla textures when I delete the Starter Piece, why?

The starter piece is removable from the SAM network after the SAM textures have gone the sufficient number of tiles for stability.  It has been observed that the SAM textures have to be 5 tiles in length before being fully stable.

3.  My textures revert to the vanilla textures when I drag a new intersection, why?

There are two known reasons this can happen.
   A.  The intersection you have created does not have a SAM texture created for it yet.  Any dragged portion after this texture will be reverted back to the Vanilla textures.
   B.  The intersection you created may be a rare situation where two intersections are next to each other.  Side by side intersections have not been given their stability RULs yet.  So, for example if you drag a street and make a U-Turn to go back in the opposite direction in the very next tile, you will have the textures revert because the two 90 Turn textures have not been given their stability RULs.  This will occur in all instances where there are side by side intersections of 4-way, T and 90 Turn intersections.  Some of these stability issues can be worked around by creatively drawing your SAM network using multiple Starter Pieces, etc.

Note: much of the stability fixed from BETA v1, more additional stability added to BETA v2.  The will still be stability issues with SAM and they can only be addressed on a case by case basis when they are discovered.  Stability RULs are the biggest unseen portion of creating the SAM and these will have to be addressed as they come up and added to future releases.

4.  Is SAM compatible with my Sidewalk Texture Mod?

Yes, any Mods that replace the MAXIS sidewalks it will show as it would on the original MAXIS Streets.  These are mods such as:

Street and Road Sidewalk Mod by Swamper77
Euro Asphalt Sidewalk by sap23
SMP Sandstone Sidewalk Mod by Mjig_Duty
BLaM Oriental Sidewalk Mod by Mightygoose
Other mods that work in the fashion as those stated above are also compatible.

5.  How will SAM work with my network props mod?

Mods like this are mods like Jeronij's Street Side Mod which add trees, cars, and other props to the sides of your streets.  These mods will work as they have been made.  Network props use specific exemplars called T21 exemplars (essentially Network Lots),  These "Network Lots" are made for a specific texture and will only effect that one texture.  So, if the "Network Lot" was designed for the MAXIS Street texture it will only be shown when a MAXIS Street is used.  If a SAM texture is used then there needs to be a separate "Network Lot" for the SAM texture.

Therefore these Mods will still work, but they have no effect on SAM since they were made for the MAXIS Street Textures.  In the future, these "Network Lots" will come out for the SAM and will be included for the SAM but this is just one thing in a LONG list of things to do.

6.  I deselected one of my SAM Texture Variations during install, but the Puzzle Piece is still in the TAB-ring and shows a broken texture.  Why?

The reason the Starter Piece still shows up is because for flexibility we must define all of the Starter Pieces in the RULs.  This is done in the NAM_Controller file which SAM version 3 does not interfere with.  Due to the way we must seed things in the RUL files of the NAM_Controller, everything must be done within the NAM_Controller file.  We can disable a Texture Variation and its Starter Piece, but then 100s of NAM_Controllers will be needed, thus making it disorganized and confusing.

For example, someone may want SAM Texture Variations 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9 and not want 4 and 8.  This would be one NAM_Controller.  Another would be is someone wanted SAM Texture Variations 2, 4, 5, 8 and not want 1, 3, 7, 9.  For SAM Texture Variations alone, there would be 100s of NAM_Controllers for all the combinations, now, add GLR and RHW into the mix and you multiply that number by 4.

Keeping one central NAM_Controller with everything in it is the best thing for everyone to keep everything as simple as possible.

7. Those experiencing the RED Tile while trying to place the SAM Puzzle Pieces:

TO SOLVE this issue:

Please REMOVE ALL of your transit related mods: NAM, RHW, Additional Bridges and SAM.

Now after removing ALL existing mods, go and download them again in this order:

     a)  April 2008 NAM
     b)  NAM Essentials (April 2008)
     c)  Additional Bridges
     d)  RHW (optional)
     e)  SAM version 3

Then install them in the same order stated above!

Edit BETA v2:  SAM has been fully integrated to coincide with releases for NAM due to the sharing of common core files.  There will be a Dependancy of the NAM Essentials for all new releases of SAM.  The load order should not matter anymore once the NAM Essentials is updated.  The optional SAM download will only include the Puzzle Piece Starters, Textures and Path Files.

The issue is somehow you have a 2nd NAM_Controller file loading AFTER the SAM one.  SAM is based off of the JUNE 2007 NAM and if you have a previous NAM you are going to have this issue due to the changes of the NAM File names in the JUNE 2007 NAM.

If this does not work, there is a file somewhere that you have that is loading AFTER the NAM_Controller and is overriding the update that I have made for the NAM_Controller in the SAM.  And you will have to find that file as it is outdated and will conflict with ANY future addition to NAM, RHW, Additional Bridges, SAM, etc.

Special Thanks:
Diggis  For helping with the textures.
Tarkus   For making the SAM Starter Pieces and general help here and there.
Andreas  For making the SAM Installer, Euro SAM and SAM Type21s.
Memo  For making the SAM Diagonal RULs.
Glenni  For making Props for use later.
Swamper77  For all the wealth of knowledge I have picked from your brain.
And to all the Beta Testers and Texture Mod Creators.  This mod could not have gotten so far without you.

SAM version 3 HAS BEEN released to a LEX near you![/font]

Fixes
SAM Set 3 Railroad Crossing Textures--fixes blank tiles, simply place in SAM folder.  File attached below.

[Andreas]

Great idea! These are the ones I can think of at the moment:

- jeronij simplyfied dirt streets: http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=126

- jeronij extended dirt streets: http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=127

- jeronij euro texture update: http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=128

- PEG Rural Roadways Mod: http://simpeg.com/forum/index.php?action=tpmod;dl=item181

[FromTheAshes]

I'd love to have a mod that ALLWAYS changes the street texture to jrjs dirrty ones, not just in the farming zones. Dunno if one of those existing mods does effect that.

[memo]

Hey, I already had that idea in January and started to write lots of rules for it. But I didn't have enough time to continue it lately. Maybe I am able to continue soon, but not for sure. So I'd suggest that we could work together perhaps, or I send you my rules...

some quick RULing

In my judgement, that's definitely a misapprehension.

[BigSlark]

I have Trolca's ancient street mod with jeronij's fix for it.

In low wealth and farming areas the street is dirt, in medium wealth its asphalt, and in high wealth its brick.

It looks really good with some street side mods. I don't think its still available on the STEX, though...

I will try to find the zip for it, if you like.

Cheers,
Kevin

[threestooges]

I'm not quite sure if it's what you are referring to, but there is the All Wealth Brick Streets mod by ardecila which offers 4 different options (no wealth, low, med and high) hope it helps.

[jplumbley]

Awesome guys!  I have alot of work ahead of me for this and its gonna take a while to extract everything and re-organize it to work with and make the RULing easier.

So far I have found 7 different versions of textures:

Trolca's Dirt Street
Trolca's Dirt Street (Urban)
Trolca's Brick Street
Ardcila's Brick Streets
PEGs Gravel Streets
PEGs Dirt Roads
Jeronij's Dirt Roads

I also have planned for another secret mod to be included, but that will have to wait for another day 

Most of these mods have between 18 and 22 textures and for completion I have figured I want to have 26 textures for each one.  Giving me a grand total of about 182 textures.  RULs for each network must be created.  A puzzle piece for each network will be required.  A rotation ring will be created for these puzzle pieces.  New T21 props will be added to some of these intersections and streets.  And then we will have some AWESOME capabilities out of our streets.

[HabLeUrG]

wow that will be alot of work to do  im eager to see how this turns 

[Pat]

WoW Jplumbley i cant wait to see what you come up with here and that secret mod...

[Andreas]

Sounds like an ambitious project! BTW, I just remembered that xannepan once posted some cobblestone textures at ST. One of those was included into the NAM ped-mall pieces (featuring those grey European cobblestones). I wonder if someone still has those textures. They would be awesome for creating a historic European city center with the old timberframe houses and stuff like this.

[jplumbley]

Hi Andreas,

If you can get me even the base texture for that cobblestone pattern, I should be able to make due.  Ive been playing with the textures tonight and getting a handle on Alpha texturing.  I have setup an assembly line on my comuter that will help me get these textures fixed up and ready for this mod.  Once this is done, I can start by creating the RULs for one of the networks.

This is a very exciting project for me because I have a bunch of things to learn here.  And it will give a huge variety to SC that has been experienced before.

[mightygoose]

couldnt you use a starter piece much like the draggable glr... that way you can just plop the start piece corresponding to the texture then drag away..

[Andreas]

couldnt you use a starter piece much like the draggable glr... that way you can just plop the start piece corresponding to the texture then drag away..

That's exactly what jplumbley is planning to do.

[jeronij]

Hello Jason,

great to see this idea starting to take shape 

btw, I think I made a whole texture set for several zone types, so the files maybe a bit hard to "diggest"  . And, both versions include the same textures as well as Trolca's original textures.

[jplumbley]

Thanks for the information Jeronij.  I am starting with the Herringstone Textures and making a set of Alpha textures.  So far I have created wealth sets for 5 of the textures so far.  I just learned how to do it last night, so I am making good progress.  Once I have the Herringstone textures finished I am going to learn the puzzle piece and create it along with the RULs.  Once I have the first set finished it should be much quicker for the next ones to follow suit.

[jplumbley]

Alright.  I have made some very good progress today.  I have about 2/3s of the textures created for the Herringbone Brick Streets.  I have taken the textures and remade them with the different wealth levels, in this picture you can see the no wealth and the low wealth textures.

I am having trouble with a couple of the RULs, Im getting a wierd error at the moment.  Some of the textures are reverting where I dont want them too and thought I had covered.  But I guess I dont and I have to figure that out.  Ohhh... just had a thought.  I will try it after this post, since the issue is always in the same orientation, it must be an orientation error.

Right now for this test, I have not used a puzzle piece since I dont know how to make one yet.  This is just a test to make sure I have the RULs right.  Atleast I can get this done in between editing textures.  The puzzle piece of course will be used as a starter to start the network.


For those who would like to see my RUL setup it is in the attached Word document.  This is NOT a beta test file, just something for those interested to see what exactly I am doing.

[jeronij]

wow, you are running quite fast 

not sure if it is due to the image quaity, but some of the textures (curve and cross for instance) look a bit odd...

[TheTeaCat]

Wow this looks great 

I am always amazed by the skill of people on here and how it improves the game we all love so much.

 
TTC

[jplumbley]

Alrighty...  I was away for 2 days.  But I was thinking about how I can re-write some of the RULs to work properly!  And it worked!  I have also worked on the RULs for the Road +-intersections.  They are working and stable aswell.  Next on the agenda is getting the Road T-intersections to work, I have most of it laid out from other RULs I have worked on so I will be able to change a few numbers here and there.  Heres a pic of the intersections:



Maybe memo or Tarkus can weigh in on this next issue.  I am having trouble with the Street to Road 90 turn override.  I have half of it working and stable.  The issue though is that there is a mirror of the texture, I think.  And I cant figure out the mirror.  Maybe I have mirrored in the wrong rotation, but I feel as though I am missing something here.  Heres a picture, what are your thoughts?  The left is the one that isnt working and the right is the one that does work.



All in all we are getting further and further with this project.  I will be able to transfer the RULs very, very easily to the other networks.  The only time taking part is re-creating the textures.

[dedgren]

Absolutely. Brilliant. Work.

This is so needed!


David