SC4 Devotion Forum Archives

SimCity 4 General Discussion and Tutorials => New creations requests => Where can I find this ....?¿ => New MODs requests => Topic started by: willy88 on August 20, 2007, 08:16:56 PM

Title: Rural power lines
Post by: willy88 on August 20, 2007, 08:16:56 PM
This has probably been suggested before... but anyways, the default power lines look way too urban. So, could somebody make these wooden power lines as a replacement?
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg129.imageshack.us%2Fimg129%2F6223%2Flrlopezpwrlinejb7.jpg&hash=429fc8ec1b22538e8a5807492268d347600a8bb4)

(Note that's the only image I could find on the Internets of that particular type of power line, it would be appreciated if somebody could post more pics.)
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Orange Julius on August 22, 2007, 01:02:49 PM
I know exactly what you mean. Maybe something that could allow these lower-voltage babies to appear in the same city....
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: FromTheAshes on August 22, 2007, 01:08:48 PM
You could try to use these (http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?id=18573). They are ploppable and not wooden, but I think they look pretty good and realistic.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: claydog on December 30, 2007, 12:44:40 PM
Those are NOT slope conforming and only plopable :(
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: claydog on December 30, 2007, 01:32:12 PM
What would be great to see is a MOD that utilizes the same network as the Maxis lines, but gives you a couple differnt styles to choose from :thumbsup:! The current option is plopable powerline lots that are not drawable, not slope conforming, and not realistic in all areas :thumbsdown:. In the same way that the street/road MODs change the styles of streets but use the same networks. We have several different styles for sidewalks, why not for powerlines? The Maxis lines style is NOT used very widely in RL. Here are a couple pics of reality.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.safelevel.com%2Fcellsensor%2FpowerLines1.jpg&hash=a13a56a39a0e57dfa1dafcc58ff7759fc726b538)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.borlandphoto.com%2Fd%2F439-2%2Fpowerlines.jpg&hash=9af7fa7733af2dc1d2135a6ce20642a974d7f7c7)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.virginiaplaces.org%2Fenergy%2Fgraphics%2Fsurrypowerlines.jpg&hash=4e7f78320ad9c3937f4e85938a4dee1c7c058bc0)

Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: jayo on January 01, 2008, 02:21:54 PM
SFBT made rural ones-There on the simtrop exchange-Search andreas :D
Also jestarr made ploppable high voltage power-lines and Fukada made draggable high-voltage power-lines-These are all on the simtrop exchange  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: jeronij on January 02, 2008, 11:26:38 AM
Quote from: claydog on December 30, 2007, 01:32:12 PM
What would be great to see is a MOD that utilizes the same network as the Maxis lines, but gives you a couple differnt styles to choose from :thumbsup:! The current option is plopable powerline lots that are not drawable, not slope conforming, and not realistic in all areas :thumbsdown:. In the same way that the street/road MODs change the styles of streets but use the same networks. We have several different styles for sidewalks, why not for powerlines? The Maxis lines style is NOT used very widely in RL. Here are a couple pics of reality.



I was studying the power lines some time ago. Unfortunately it seems that Maxis was rushed to release the game, and did not had the time to properly develop that tool ( I mean the way the modding community would have expected ;) ). It is actually impossible to add additional power poles models, and it is impossible to make them show in determinated areas. Sorry to dissapoint you guys, but there is no much way to run on this atm ::)
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Fukuda on January 02, 2008, 11:35:58 AM
powerlines are the only network with no RULs. It's all hardcoded  ()sad()

You can use my old powerlines (http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?id=16152) if you dislike Maxis ones, btw  ;)
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: claydog on January 02, 2008, 07:23:14 PM
Thanks, Jeronij, for the info. I guess I didn't know this topic had been covered before  &ops

-fukuda; would it be possible &idea to change the base texture of your powerlines to that of a grass texture (like NOB's railside Mod) so they look a tad better in undeveloped areas? Also, then they would match for those of us that use that mod.

hmmm........  &mmm I supose the base texture is hardcoded as well? If not, could it be made transparent or grass?

~Clay
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Heblem on January 25, 2008, 08:12:00 AM
I have an idea  for dragable power lines,  "$Deal"$ what about make some from a road or street plugins (like the street mod of jrj) just a dirty texture through it (or maybe not) and the power line and cable.

Not sure if it can be modified "as a building type" so it can "send" power to different areas.

Just an idea, hope its correct or possible this.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: ehbk2006 on May 07, 2008, 12:37:08 PM
I saw they made overhead lines (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=3792.msg145538) in the RAM. Maybe we can use invisable road/rail to make the powerlines.

Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: j-dub on May 07, 2008, 01:59:15 PM
Heblem is right, we know that power can be transported with a network in zoned land.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Diggis on May 07, 2008, 02:03:01 PM
Quote from: j-dub on May 07, 2008, 01:59:15 PM
Heblem is right, we know that power can be transported with a network in zoned land.

Actually we know that it normally can't carry power.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Heblem on May 07, 2008, 02:46:40 PM
Quote from: Diggis on May 07, 2008, 02:03:01 PM
Actually we know that it normally can't carry power.
in fact i dont know if its possible but what about to "copy" from a power line propierties to a network one and see if it works...
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: j-dub on May 07, 2008, 02:46:55 PM
I thought it could after it was confiremed after the RHW was reported being able to distribute power.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Diggis on May 16, 2008, 01:37:49 AM
Quote from: Heblem on May 07, 2008, 02:46:40 PM
in fact i dont know if its possible but what about to "copy" from a power line propierties to a network one and see if it works...

I think the problem is the powerline properties are hidden from us.

Quote from: j-dub on May 07, 2008, 02:46:55 PM
I thought it could after it was confiremed after the RHW was reported being able to distribute power.

OK, I didn't know anything about this.  Where was this posted?
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: j-dub on May 16, 2008, 03:49:27 PM
What about visually, from what I saw, someone took the wires, and put them on a rail line, that they slope conformed, but they didn't have any poles for the wires. That I could stand, I think this would be good use of the draggable texture project, I wouldn't care that it wouldn't function, in fact the rural power lines I have, don't believe to work.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on September 09, 2008, 12:32:32 PM
Since the idea is to make a draggable, not ploppable, power line network, I'm sure there will be no interest in what I am doing.  However, I did try my hand at BATting that power pole willy88 posted a while back.  Sadly, it is only ploppable.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg380.imageshack.us%2Fimg380%2F4005%2Fwoodpoleui4.jpg&hash=b7423237c1ef663e0a2118c390596443dfacada5)
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: j-dub on September 09, 2008, 01:49:58 PM
Its better than nothing. Could you do one with out the wires?
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: threestooges on September 09, 2008, 02:47:09 PM
Actually metarvo, that's a step in the right direction. A while back I looked into the power lines a bit. I forget where the information is (though I'll look into it) but all it should take is replacing the model file... fukuda might be able to share the process, but until then I'll see what I can find.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on September 09, 2008, 07:10:15 PM
Quote from: j-dub on September 09, 2008, 01:49:58 PM
Its better than nothing. Could you do one with out the wires?

Here it is, j-dub.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg245.imageshack.us%2Fimg245%2F6726%2Fwoodpoleuwug2.jpg&hash=5ad93a95b1331131f9dc50b69ffac60203bf30e0)
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: j-dub on September 10, 2008, 09:39:01 AM
Thats great, especially for people who have hilly areas.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on September 10, 2008, 12:44:47 PM
Thanks for the compliment, j-dub.  I actually meant to start out with unwired power lines, but I just couldn't live without the wires. ::)  I agree, these would work better in hilly regions.  Ploppable power line wires just don't line up on slopes, but those on Maxis power lines do.  That's curious, isn't it?
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Streetlight 725 on September 10, 2008, 05:46:35 PM
metarvo,Nice power poles.I also wanted wooden power poles too.Is it avable to download it? &apls :thumbsup: :)
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: j-dub on September 10, 2008, 06:05:48 PM
I do like wires, but if only it wasn't for the slope conforming issue. Thats one of the reasons why in the 3RR thread, those power poles had the wires removed. The only possibility is to make a non-functional draggable Exemplar-21 network for the powerlines. Someone was doing a project with wires slope conforming, but they still needed some giant poles for them, but then again I think it hanged over the rails. Fukuda had replaced the Maxis powerlines powerpole models with the white, and red paint scheme removed, but I don't think more than one power line network would be possible, at least not in the utility menu, anyway.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Streetlight 725 on September 10, 2008, 07:39:30 PM
Can it just be plopable with wires?
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on September 10, 2008, 07:58:19 PM
Yes and no, Streetlight 725.  The wired versions use overhanging wires.  On completely level ground, this is no problem, since the wires visually connect when the poles are placed just so.  On sloped ground, the wires do not behave properly, and they just won't connect properly.  My "beta," as I'm calling it, contains both wired and unwired versions of my poles.  They're not available yet, but I am working on uploading them, somewhere.  I'll post here when they become available.  They will be ready when they're ready.  (I've just been dying to say that!  $%Grinno$%)

EDIT:  Streetlight 725, you just had to find them before I posted this!  You spoiled my joy. :D  I guess I'll recover.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Streetlight 725 on September 10, 2008, 08:21:10 PM
It needs a dependcy. ()what()
When i got them.In the game,it showed brown boxes.
Can you tell me a depency.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on September 10, 2008, 08:51:49 PM
Well, it's my first upload, so I knew I would goof something up. :-[  Anyway, I have uploaded the SC4MODELs for my power poles, to the same place where I uploaded the LOTs.  A new updated version is now available, where I uploaded the original.  I believe the models were causing the issue.  Any feedback would be appreciated.  I appreciate the sudden interest in my humble attempt at BATting and LOTting, Streetlight 725 and j-dub. :)
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Streetlight 725 on September 11, 2008, 04:48:06 AM
Okay,I will test them out later on today in the game.I will tell you if it worked or not.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on September 11, 2008, 10:29:53 AM
All right, I have uploaded v 0.2, complete with transparent textures.  As long as there are no major problems, it will probably be my last upload for a while, since RL is on my case right now.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg387.imageshack.us%2Fimg387%2F2780%2Farvopoles2za1.jpg&hash=ed0cc9fe58b063e25ff8991a2472175d176f506d)
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Streetlight 725 on September 11, 2008, 12:48:43 PM
metarvo,They work now. :)
Looks good in the game.
Can you also create these power poles?
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on September 11, 2008, 01:19:46 PM
I might try to do that sometime, but I hardly have time to BAT right now.  It looks like something I would like to do, though. :)
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Shadow Assassin on September 12, 2008, 03:08:06 AM
QuoteActually metarvo, that's a step in the right direction. A while back I looked into the power lines a bit. I forget where the information is (though I'll look into it) but all it should take is replacing the model file... fukuda might be able to share the process, but until then I'll see what I can find.

The models can be changed - they're just S3D models.

But the new model would need to be at the same height as the old one, since I presume the wires are hardcoded in, and that means they may not be height-adjustable (I assume the wooden ones are shorter in height than the metal ones?)...
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: MandelSoft on September 12, 2008, 04:16:22 AM
Quote from: Streetlight 725 on September 11, 2008, 12:48:43 PM
metarvo,They work now. :)
Looks good in the game.
Can you also create these power poles?

You mean something like this?
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg519.imageshack.us%2Fimg519%2F2685%2Fhightensionlinexh4.png&hash=24896b477b44045b58f517b666d79055f8715ab3)

Just need to render the poles (and that would take a loooooong time)
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Streetlight 725 on September 12, 2008, 04:49:06 AM
Quote from: mrtnrln on September 12, 2008, 04:16:22 AM
You mean something like this?
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg519.imageshack.us%2Fimg519%2F2685%2Fhightensionlinexh4.png&hash=24896b477b44045b58f517b666d79055f8715ab3)

Just need to render the poles (and that would take a loooooong time)

My state have these pole too.There in the USA too.
That would be another great power pole. &apls
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Andreas on September 12, 2008, 04:54:33 AM
Looking great, Maarten! It looks very similar like the ones I can see from my window (the isolators are not green,though). :)
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on September 12, 2008, 05:28:56 AM
Quote from: Shadow Assassin on September 12, 2008, 03:08:06 AM
(I assume the wooden ones are shorter in height than the metal ones?)...

Actually, they are.  The metal poles are about 46 m tall, while the wooden ones are about 31.28 m tall.  I tried to estimate the measurements based upon RL and pictures, but I have never personally measured one from top to bottom, just so you'll know. $%Grinno$%

Quote from: mrtnrln on September 12, 2008, 04:16:22 AM
You mean something like this?
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg519.imageshack.us%2Fimg519%2F2685%2Fhightensionlinexh4.png&hash=24896b477b44045b58f517b666d79055f8715ab3)

Just need to render the poles (and that would take a loooooong time)

Tell me about it, Maarten.  It was taking about an hour for me to render each pole at one point, especially the metal ones. I had heard about the long waits involved with the BAT, but I never expected anything like this.  &mmm
So, I can truthfully say that I would feel your pain on that one.  Anyway, this is excellent work!  Keep it up!
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: supercity124 on September 14, 2008, 01:20:41 AM
How about a single wooden power pole with three crossarms and six hanging insulators as a subtransmission power line?? ;D
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: jacqulina on September 14, 2008, 02:10:33 AM
these look fantastic &apls
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on September 14, 2008, 05:51:13 PM
Supercity124: I've seen poles similar to those before.  As you said, they are subtransmission lines.  They are quite plentiful in small towns in my area.

Streetlight 725: It looks you already have some good help on one of the poles you posted.  I might try my hand at some of the other ones, though.

Maarten: Wow! ;D  You are a natural at power poles, if I do say so myself. &apls



Here's one more thing.  I feel like this piece is necessary to make the metal poles practical:

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg232.imageshack.us%2Fimg232%2F7013%2Fmetalpoleturncu9.jpg&hash=644aef371fb6441d9ea7f1989565b2c24becf865)

It's a slight-turn piece for the metal pole.  I will upload it soon have uploaded it.  While we're on the subject, I have made some observations about power poles.  In my state, the electric companies tend to treat power poles in the same manner as transportation authorities do with roads.  Suppose one of the smaller 33 / 66 kv lines is not enough.  Rather than tear down that line to build a new high-tension line, the electric company just builds the higher-capacity line next to the smaller one.  I'm sure it happens everywhere, but it's just something that I noticed.  Its similar to widening a road to an avenue, IMO.  This explains why I often have the two lines together in my pics.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Streetlight 725 on September 14, 2008, 06:45:23 PM
The power poles in the game looks good.I can't wait for new ones. &apls :)
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: supercity124 on September 14, 2008, 07:35:29 PM
Quote from: mrtnrln on September 12, 2008, 04:16:22 AM
You mean something like this?
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg519.imageshack.us%2Fimg519%2F2685%2Fhightensionlinexh4.png&hash=24896b477b44045b58f517b666d79055f8715ab3)

Just need to render the poles (and that would take a loooooong time)

Since this electrical transmission tower is made on the BAT, I would like for it to be released on the LEX as a plopable power line.
Because this is a very realistic power line.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on September 14, 2008, 08:11:27 PM
I think Maarten would have to render it first, before it can be released.  This is a model that has not been rendered, according to the pic.  On top of that, I have heard that Maarten is very busy right now.  Things do take time, and I'm afraid this may be no exception.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: supercity124 on September 14, 2008, 08:51:37 PM
metarvo, Here are some subtransmission power lines on power poles with hanging insulators,

http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/6109/cap0040hs4.png (http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/6109/cap0040hs4.png)

http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/2029/cap0043tg5.png (http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/2029/cap0043tg5.png)

http://img355.imageshack.us/img355/5393/cap0041rb9.png (http://img355.imageshack.us/img355/5393/cap0041rb9.png)

You can make these power poles in the BAT.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: threestooges on September 14, 2008, 11:28:54 PM
-supercity124: I see you are interested in finding some power poles for the game. I know fukuda has made some and are available on the STEX (just search for fukuda and you should find them pretty easy). However, if you want something different, I highly recommend that you look into learning to BAT. As metarvo mentioned, most BATters tend to be pretty busy, but don't let that stop you from trying it yourself. Take a look at Phillippbo's BAT tutorial (http://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=140&threadid=78721&enterthread=y) at ST. It should provide you with all the information you need to get started. Also, If you have questions during the process, consider opening a thread to ask questions. BATters are busy but they tend to offer help and advice, as the rest of this community tends to.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Diggis on September 14, 2008, 11:45:43 PM
Supercity, I would suggest being more polite in requests.  Saying 'You can do this' isn't going to get anyone wanting to make your models for you.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: MandelSoft on September 15, 2008, 06:30:30 AM
It looks like I had too much time to waste yesterday...
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg143.imageshack.us%2Fimg143%2F3641%2Fhtl2cf4.jpg&hash=c879da7e33c5d1b22e58f66c1741560f0e211f89)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg232.imageshack.us%2Fimg232%2F8681%2Fhtl1oa9.jpg&hash=515517311c98ccd5a0558442cb04d6fe2aecaf65)

This pack is released on the STEX (http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?id=20387). Maybe I can get it on the LEX, but first I wait for some comments.

Best,
Maarten
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on September 15, 2008, 07:01:11 AM
Very good, Maarten! ;D  I have just downloaded it, and I plan to put it to good use.  I have found that I can never have too many different power poles.  You have also done an outstanding job on the turns and the diagonals.  This gives me all the more reason to use this set.

&apls

By the way, supercity124, the tutorial threestooges linked to is a very good one.  It's the one that I used to learn how to BAT.  You should at least give it a try.  If you do, you will learn a valuable SC4 skill.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Streetlight 725 on September 15, 2008, 12:08:11 PM
Quote from: mrtnrln on September 15, 2008, 06:30:30 AM
It looks like I had too much time to waste yesterday...
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg143.imageshack.us%2Fimg143%2F3641%2Fhtl2cf4.jpg&hash=c879da7e33c5d1b22e58f66c1741560f0e211f89)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg232.imageshack.us%2Fimg232%2F8681%2Fhtl1oa9.jpg&hash=515517311c98ccd5a0558442cb04d6fe2aecaf65)

This pack is released on the STEX (http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?id=20387). Maybe I can get it on the LEX, but first I wait for some comments.

Best,
Maarten

That detail looks good.I am downloading it.Great job! &apls :thumbsup: :)
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: supercity124 on September 15, 2008, 08:03:19 PM
metarvo, Here are some subtransmission power lines on power poles with hanging insulators,

http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/6109/cap0040hs4.png  (http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/6109/cap0040hs4.png)

http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/2029/cap0043tg5.png (http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/2029/cap0043tg5.png)

http://img355.imageshack.us/img355/5393/cap0041rb9.png (http://img355.imageshack.us/img355/5393/cap0041rb9.png)

metarvo, Please make these power poles with hanging insulators as subtransmission power lines. I would like to see them in Sim City 4.

I am ignoring threestooges suggestion.

Now that's just plain rude.  -Alex (Tarkus)
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: MandelSoft on September 16, 2008, 05:59:10 AM
That's not a way to make friends, Supercity124. Please, keep in mind that:
- we are already busy.
- we are not working for company. We are just hobbyists.
- we have a own thoughts and own will.
- if someone doesn't make it for you, serve yourself. That doesn't mean that we are not prepared to help, but constant requests is irritating.
- you shouldn't EVER ignore advice. It can be a solution to your problem.

I hope you've learned something from that.
Maarten
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on September 17, 2008, 06:27:21 AM
Teaser

The weather was good.  It was a perfect day for local small-airplane pilots to hone their skills.  As one pilot flew over this road, he saw these poles being constructed.  The wires had not yet been attached.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg98.imageshack.us%2Fimg98%2F2554%2F091708pwrpoleskv6.jpg&hash=058632a195667142ee9cfa5732290c8e9e97f6ac)

His good friend told him that he had heard about one of the poles from a another friend.  This pilot's closest friend recalls that the other friend showed him some pictures of the local electric behemoth's company's current construction projects.  To the pilot's closest friend, the straight metal power pole closely resembled a 220 kv pole that was in the first picture that he was shown.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: rusummer1 on September 17, 2008, 11:46:52 AM
AWESOME!!! ^^
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Streetlight 725 on September 17, 2008, 12:06:01 PM
Power poles are getting more better.Nice power poles. &apls :)
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Rodney99 on September 19, 2008, 07:37:20 AM
metarvo! mrtnrln!  WOW! :o I think the metal frame powerpoles would look great next to a RHW or even through the highway median. Also with regard to the most recently created metal powerpole, somtimes in RL i see a large arm streetlight attached to it when placed next to a stretch of road.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on September 19, 2008, 08:26:20 AM
Thank you all for the compliments.  I have managed to find a Google Maps Street View that shows rural metal power poles running alongside a rural road.  I can access this view by going to Google Maps, typing "F.M. 51 & Private Rd. 2429," clicking the only choice that appears, and selecting "Street View."  This pylon is the one on which I based my first metal pole.  There is even one of the turning poles near this area.  I based my slight turn piece on this pole.  Since Street View seems to be more plentiful in urban areas, I consider this rural Street View to be a rare find.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: art128 on September 19, 2008, 09:00:09 AM
amazing work  &apls &apls
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: dedgren on September 19, 2008, 08:47:42 PM
metarvo, my friend- this is so great.  The things we are doing now, over five years after SC4 first came down the pike...

These will look great in the game, and the added variety adds just that touch of organized randomness that makes things so much closer to accurately depicting RL.

Fine job!


David
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on September 20, 2008, 05:24:02 AM
Everyone, watch out.  He's in the building!  We had better get to work here...JK. $%Grinno$%

The pleasure is mine, David.  In RL, power lines are hardly given a second glance.  However, Maarten and I have actually taken the time to observe what would usually be considered mundane.  Thank you for the very kind words.

Best wishes, David.  Keep up the good work.  (I know you will  :))

EDIT:

It seems like someone did heed the advice given above.  It turns out that this person was busy constructing 45-degree and 90-degree turns, for those times when a 33 / 66 kv line needs to have a drastic change in alignment.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg206.imageshack.us%2Fimg206%2F4721%2Fwoodpole9045bz9.jpg&hash=01626e87d8bfd63fb4926b967158cec402d31c92)
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Simpson on September 21, 2008, 01:55:40 PM
Wo, very fine work here  &apls
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: supercity124 on September 23, 2008, 04:42:03 PM
Quote from: metarvo on September 17, 2008, 06:27:21 AM
Teaser

The weather was good.  It was a perfect day for local small-airplane pilots to hone their skills.  As one pilot flew over this road, he saw these poles being constructed.  The wires had not yet been attached.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg98.imageshack.us%2Fimg98%2F2554%2F091708pwrpoleskv6.jpg&hash=058632a195667142ee9cfa5732290c8e9e97f6ac)

His good friend told him that he had heard about one of the poles from a another friend.  This pilot's closest friend recalls that the other friend showed him some pictures of the local electric behemoth's company's current construction projects.  To the pilot's closest friend, the straight metal power pole closely resembled a 220 kv pole that was in the first picture that he was shown.

These are nice power poles, are you going to add wires on these poles and release it on the STEX??
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: choco on September 23, 2008, 05:31:12 PM
nah...power poles dont need transmission cables.....



::)




&apls  on the poles.....



...now where's my sammich?




Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: supercity124 on September 27, 2008, 12:25:31 AM
What the heck is a sammich??, I don't know what it means!!, And I've never heard of that word!! ???
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Ryan B. on September 27, 2008, 12:28:43 AM
"Sammich" = slang for "sandwich".
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on September 27, 2008, 06:38:11 AM
Quote from: supercity124 on September 23, 2008, 04:42:03 PM
These are nice power poles, are you going to add wires on these poles and release it on the STEX??

Quote from: choco on September 23, 2008, 05:31:12 PM
nah...power poles dont need transmission cables.....

I have some good news.  Both of you will win when these poles are released, because they will be released with and without wires, as all of my releases have been. :)
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: supercity124 on September 27, 2008, 03:38:19 PM
metarvo, Since you are releasing these power poles, Can you also create these power poles as it is in the picture below??, It is the power poles circled in black in the picture.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on October 02, 2008, 02:54:07 PM
Earlier, I made a 45-degree turn piece for the wooden poles.  Now, I have made one for the metal ones:

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg375.imageshack.us%2Fimg375%2F6993%2Farvometaln2newb1.jpg&hash=8a6e05f7914617ec300406b990a4ac26eaf71dfb)

This model took two tries to render successfully.  For some reason, I get bad renders pretty regularly, necessitating a re-render of the model.  Of course, this takes a long time, and it is one of the reasons that my work on these poles has been slowed.  Consequently, it may take me a while to get to any requests, but they will be done when they are done.

EDIT:  Thanks for the info, Matt.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: threestooges on October 02, 2008, 03:02:47 PM
A bit pressed for time right now, but nice poles. As far as the bad renders go, if they seem to be distorted relfections of other buildings, try the 'model names' file attached to the bottom of this post (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=3507.msg169624#msg169624) by Chrisadams. It's a file to fix an export issue with the BAT. Worked well for me (you can see the previous results a little further up my BAT thread). Off to class now, hope this helps.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on October 02, 2008, 07:11:57 PM
Yes, this is the problem that I had.  This is great, Matt, but I need to know where to put this fileWhich folder does it go in?  Any help is appreciated. :)

EDIT:  I figured out how to use it, and I must say that it works like a charm.  Thank you, Matt. :thumbsup:

ANOTHER EDIT:  I am showcasing three new additions in this pic.  Here goes nothing...

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg522.imageshack.us%2Fimg522%2F1369%2Fmetal2mxpw1.jpg&hash=bca28cbb77f02ba6448c44cd0871f9a094eb543b)

Can anyone spot what I have done here? ;D
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: supercity124 on October 14, 2008, 03:50:36 PM
You are making new power lines, I am very proud and impressed!!!! :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: j-dub on October 14, 2008, 05:24:34 PM
No, is it the connection to the draggable ones? This would look great for me, since the power lines in my game are gray, not  that red and white color.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on October 14, 2008, 05:49:25 PM
j-dub:  Yes, you are right.  This is one of the new additions.  :thumbsup:  This is a visual connection from my metal poles to a triple set of Maxis power lines.  It's eyecandy, but that could be said of all of my power pole BATs.

supercity124:  Thank you for the compliment.   :)  Work on these things is slowing down somewhat, since I've actually been playing :o SC4 instead of BATting, and I've had to deal with some classic RL.

1 DOWN!

One down, two more to go.  Can anyone figure out the other two things I have done here?  I'll give you a hint: incomplete.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: supercity124 on October 14, 2008, 05:51:12 PM
metarvo, I am glad that you made your power lines connect with the maxis power lines, very good.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: sim-al2 on October 14, 2008, 05:52:32 PM
I think you made the poles have diagonal to diagonal and 67.5 degree turns. ;)
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on October 14, 2008, 05:58:58 PM
We have another winner!  You are correct, sim-al2. :thumbsup:  Actually these are both 67.5 degree turns, one from East to South-Southeast and one from Southeast to East-Northeast.  Even though it is not present in this pic, it is true that I have made 90-degree diagonal to diagonal turns as well.  I plan to also have the same turning configurations for my metal poles.

2 DOWN!

With one more left!  What else have I done?  The other hint still stands, since sim-al2 happened to find the other new addition first.  Here's the hint again: incomplete.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: sim-al2 on October 14, 2008, 06:32:40 PM
I think I know what it is but I won't say it.  ()stsfd()
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: nerdly_dood on October 14, 2008, 06:44:40 PM
YES! My in-game power lines are gray, too, thanks to a mod I found on the STEX (probably the same one J-Dub uses) so this would make my functional/eye-candy power line transitions look a lot better.

I dare not speculate as to what else you've done.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Streetlight 725 on October 14, 2008, 08:58:01 PM
nice power poles. &apls :)
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on October 14, 2008, 09:16:28 PM
Okay, so this game I've been playing with all of you must be getting old.  I will give in and tell you what I have done (my apologies for the pause border):

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg162.imageshack.us%2Fimg162%2F5719%2Fpolesnewmenuaf9.jpg&hash=e1281252ad093b526515b06246531238b41887c8)

Although it was not the intended end purpose of the good totally wonderful tutorial I used [linkie] (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=112.4900), I did learn how to create my own PNG files to use as menu icons.  The lines indicate which direction the pole is going, or if it is a turning pole.  A black box in the icon indicates a wired pole, no black box is unwired.  You can thank good old Google Maps Street View for the RL pictures I used to represent the poles.

I got the idea to create that transition from my metal pole to the Maxis poles because I knew there would come a time when my pole would have to confront a sloped area.  One of the shortcomings of BATted power poles is their incompatibility with slopes.  Although unwired versions could be used to circumvent this obstacle, I decided that another solution was warranted.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Streetlight 725 on October 16, 2008, 02:27:42 PM
Can somone make the power poles in the picture?
Heres the picture.

Please.  There's no need to make so many requests.  -Alex (Tarkus)
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: sim-al2 on October 16, 2008, 06:13:42 PM
*smites* $%#Ninj2

Dude, we're already making some like those. Learn the virtue of PATIENCE!
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: j-dub on October 17, 2008, 01:28:26 PM
Oh its great you were able to make special icons, and use real pictures for the menu, Metarvo. As for the wires dissapearing from the slopes, the Maxis line I noticed is real strict when it comes to lots, where it won't go over 2, or a giant built area. Done right, the lotted poles seem to, flat land.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on October 26, 2008, 08:17:11 PM
Thanks for the compliments, j-dub.  :)  While some LOTted poles may flatten the land, any wires attached to the poles will not connect visually.  I avoid this at all costs.  Some prefer to use unwired poles to deal with this situation, but I have other ideas.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg512.imageshack.us%2Fimg512%2F9006%2Farvo3xmaxisstdiagfr4.jpg&hash=7f1bd7033a586b2903632eaf5362f82d94f7b914)

I have finished the diagonal transition from my metal pole to Maxis power lines.  I do plan to make 67.5 and 90 degree turns for my metal poles, as well.  Anyway, I believe you are using fukuda's grey power lines (from the STEX).  My turn-off with those is the fact that they are invisible on distant zooms, so I am sticking to the red and white "candy stick" poles for now.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Streetlight 725 on October 27, 2008, 04:50:27 AM
Great Update! &apls :)
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: supercity124 on November 08, 2008, 08:47:58 AM
metarvo, Are you making these power poles and electrical towers??

ADMIN EDIT:
Looking at metarvo's picture I'm drawing the conclusion he is making them.
However, he is certainly not making them because someone is demanding them.
And nobody sets a deadline or demands them before he feels he's got time to finish them.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on November 14, 2008, 07:10:29 AM
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg366.imageshack.us%2Fimg366%2F3587%2Fpole00turnbatjp5.jpg&hash=11ec844d9d50ef76c642948af6ec0a0183541895)

In fact, I am making even more of them.  BATting has slowed down lately, and I admit that until today I haven't spent so much as an hour in the BAT in the last three weeks.  I am slowly picking this back up, and I am BATting a new pole.  I'll leave everyone to wonder what I'm going to do with this one, though...  ::)

HINT:  If you look really closely, you may be able to figure it out after all.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: sim-al2 on November 14, 2008, 03:31:46 PM
The poles still look great, if maybe a bit short. But, then again, every city seems to have different poles...  ???
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Fresh Prince of SC4D on November 14, 2008, 05:50:23 PM
Quote from: sim-al2 on November 14, 2008, 03:31:46 PM
The poles still look great, if maybe a bit short. But, then again, every city seems to have different poles...  ???

I think so too. But hey, I still think this is a sweet project you've got here.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: j-dub on November 14, 2008, 10:19:35 PM
Metarvo, don't know if you came to the NAM development thread, recently, to when I posted this, but at the moment, it looks like custom power pole drawn bridges could be possible. I'm not making any guarentees, but that may mean you would be able to due a custom power pole bridge.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on November 15, 2008, 05:53:36 AM
j-dub: Hey, that sounds like a wonderful discovery, j-dub.  I'm going to follow that thread with great interest.

sim-al2 and Fresh Prince of SC4D: I have thought this same thing when I look at my poles in an actual region, next to roads and buildings.  Still, I decided at the beginning of this project that I didn't want power poles as tall as skyscrapers.  In my RL area, I guess you could say that the power poles are fairly short.  Thanks for the input. ;)
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Fresh Prince of SC4D on November 15, 2008, 06:54:28 AM
Ok so that's why.......

Also are the wires overhanging? If so could you somehow have confirmed to changes in slope so they could be slope-friendly? I remember some highway signs did that. Just something to think about............
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on November 15, 2008, 04:24:56 PM
That's the infamous overhanging wire issue, Fresh Prince.  Overhanging wires on custom lots do not conform to slopes, but instead conform to the altitude level of the front-facing tile of the lot.  This causes a rather ugly effect IMHO, since the wires don't connect visually.  While it would be possible to make individual poles with wires designed to conform to slopes, those would be the only slopes that the wires would look right on.  On the other hand, the existing wired poles can cross short streams or sunken highways as long as the height is the same for the two poles on either side of the stream/highway. 

There are two interim solutions that I have devised at this time.  One is to use the unwired versions of the poles, which don't look right unless all of the poles are wireless, or to use the special transition piece that I have made.  This piece visually connects my metal power line to the default Maxis power lines, which are slope friendly.  I personally use the latter of the two options, since I can't hardly live without the wires. $%Grinno$%
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: homefryes on November 17, 2008, 10:01:13 AM
Not sure if I should be posting this here, and hope no one minds.

Here are some utility poles that I am working on:

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fhome.earthlink.net%2F%7Ehomefryes%2Fsimstuff%2Futility_poles%2Fa030%2520-%2520S1-D3.jpg&hash=90fbe67b573e70714e9239d021e3b018367c52a2) (https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fhome.earthlink.net%2F%7Ehomefryes%2Fsimstuff%2Futility_poles%2Fa231%2520-%2520S1frac-D3.jpg&hash=b86a14f7adb35ca5f8c96626091f89103c78c8e2) (https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fhome.earthlink.net%2F%7Ehomefryes%2Fsimstuff%2Futility_poles%2Fa33b%2520-%2520S1shrp-D3wyeD3-se.jpg&hash=2a11e993713e530b9946764f78afe630affb70d1) (https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fhome.earthlink.net%2F%7Ehomefryes%2Fsimstuff%2Futility_poles%2Fb0%2520-%2520S2.jpg&hash=d346e1305b45903d82a66597ffd2116e223de322)

The BATs are based on these real-life examples from Northeast Ohio:

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fhome.earthlink.net%2F%7Ehomefryes%2Fsimstuff%2Futility_poles%2Fsample1.jpg&hash=b776589712118fbb657c5417df3476ecf9e72f07) (https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fhome.earthlink.net%2F%7Ehomefryes%2Fsimstuff%2Futility_poles%2Fsample2.jpg&hash=1f6d4fc1ff32de4aa5a207f6cba3d0136982a85a) (https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fhome.earthlink.net%2F%7Ehomefryes%2Fsimstuff%2Futility_poles%2Fsample3.jpg&hash=8620dc9e51ec98c0575b91fbc0e8a89030aa7c37) (https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fhome.earthlink.net%2F%7Ehomefryes%2Fsimstuff%2Futility_poles%2Fsample4.jpg&hash=b8a85631a57f2e19bb83b2522683581b7bdb8d85)

Some of the insulators on the subtransmission lines got replaced over time, and the distribution lines in the second and third pictures were replaced in the 70s. I decided that I would just go all "original" in my creations.

This project is in its early stages, and I am not sure if the overall scope of it will inhibit its usefulness ... but I'm going to give it a try. The number of poles I have (orthogonal versions only) is up to 82! That's not including all the necessary angles to conform to FAR(R) and the corners those angles create as well. Thus far, the poles are all BATted, and I am beginning to export to models.

These poles will be ploppable in game and will not have wires.

While not entirely considered "Rural," as most of these are designed to be ploppable along roads, there is one small subset of my poles that are designed (based on their real-life counterparts) to cut cross-lots or along railroads (the pictures on the right).

I'd love to hear what you think.

— Don
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on November 17, 2008, 10:30:43 AM
I feel that this is definitely the right place, homefryes.  :)  In fact, I see power lines that are very similar to those running alongside virtually every rural road I travel on.  You have done a wonderful job of BATting them, since they look wonderful.  However, I feel a big "Great Job!" is necessary, because you have actually BATted 82 different poles.  That's some true dedication, and the four poles that I see here prove that you know what you are doing.  I have mainly concentrated on large transmission lines, so I'm glad to see that the smaller distribution and subtransmission lines are not being overlooked.

&apls

By the way, have you seen the telephone pole project that David and Matt have developed over in 3RR [linkie] (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=112.msg198620#msg198620)?  I think it's worth a look.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: homefryes on November 17, 2008, 11:34:21 AM
Thank you, Metarvo; you made my day, and you are very kind. To be truthful, there was a LOT of cloning going on in BATting 82 poles, but it still was a lot of work! My "problem" is that I pay a LOT of attention to detail, and when it comes to getting these in the game, I am fearful that much of that detail will not even be realized. But I'll know it's there!  ;)

You bet I've seen the telephone pole project over at 3RR. That's what got my creative juices flowing! I've downloaded the PlopperizerTM tutorial and have a hardcopy as a reference. I'm not quite ready for that phase of the project yet, and frankly, haven't even really tried to comprehend the PlopperizerTM at this point, but will delving into it soon.

I'm a utility pole geek, and I grew up around these poles that I've recreated. Considering they're probably at least 75 years old, it's amazing they haven't been upgraded (the pictures above were taken in Oct. 2003 and Oct. 2008). And the angle-iron crossarms on the subtransmission lines (first three pics) have really withstood the test of time.

Anyhow, I threw this webpage [linkie] (http://home.earthlink.net/~homefryes/simstuff/utility_poles/sc-util-poles-readme.htm) together over the weekend, mainly just to do a "contact sheet," so-to-speak, and get everything in one place. It contains pictures of all 82 poles.

— Don
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on November 17, 2008, 03:25:18 PM
Thank you, Don, for the kind words, and for giving me the great link.  I checked out the website, and it is quite impressive. :thumbsup:  Although they may be seem small, little details add large amounts of realism to a game like SC4.  I observed that you have even considered the types of poles that are used at junctions and turns.  This is a practice that I follow to some extent when I BAT large transmission poles.  For example, here is a metal power line making a "67.5" degree turn (66 to be precise, since this interval allowed the poles to connect over a lesser number of tiles).

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg48.imageshack.us%2Fimg48%2F6251%2Fmetal00pwr675en8.jpg&hash=a87d8d9e8cea887cbf6ba5cad266ef891658c004)

I apologize for the UDI icons that appeared in this pic.  I didn't remove the base texture from the pole before using it in game, so that's why it has that texture.

EDIT: When I read your website, Don, something jumped out at me: "3-phase."  Transmission lines also follow this rule.  Real power poles that I have seen, on which I have based mine, almost always carry wires in multiples of 3.  Of course, you have been wisely observant of this. :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: homefryes on November 22, 2008, 08:32:48 AM
I'm pleased to announce that I've made a lot of progress on my project. I spent the last few days studying the PlopperizerTM tutorial [linkie] (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=112.msg181757#msg181757) that Dedgren so graciously put together a couple months back, and I have assembled all necessary GUI icons (over 300!). I have now successfully created my first ploppable utility pole!

Images of my poles for the icons just didn't seem to work well, so I resorted to creating Paint images with numbers and letters. A guide will accompany my final project to explain the code. For now, the red "30" denotes the distribution 3-wire straight-line pole, and the green "0" is the orientation (in degrees).
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi59.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg290%2Fhomefryes%2FSimCity%2520Projects%2F2008%2520-%2520Utility%2520Poles%2F30-00.png&hash=f2586ed4594724bff69cbed02ba762fab51e4308)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi59.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg290%2Fhomefryes%2FSimCity%2520Projects%2F2008%2520-%2520Utility%2520Poles%2FSandbox-003.png&hash=d58963cc7d933c5e8fd2c6a5f66e1c734a52aab5)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi59.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg290%2Fhomefryes%2FSimCity%2520Projects%2F2008%2520-%2520Utility%2520Poles%2FSandbox-001.png&hash=ad3b5bcdc943c21e12a10c184a19b6e2c4c4ecb8)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi59.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg290%2Fhomefryes%2FSimCity%2520Projects%2F2008%2520-%2520Utility%2520Poles%2FSandbox-002.png&hash=e352f9562a7fe4538d83c63dce4ba8154bffbc1d)

300+ more to go! Guess I'd better get crackin'!

— Don
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on November 22, 2008, 08:57:51 AM
It's great that you have an organized system, Don.  With that many poles (300???), it's a good idea to make them easy to find in a crowded menu.  I must say that I'm still impressed. :thumbsup:  A while back, I used the same excellent tutorial to learn how to make GUI icons for my transmission pylons.  The 3RR PlopperizerTM is wonderful, isn't it?  Anyway, you are doing a great job, Don.

Now, I have something to show for my efforts.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg249.imageshack.us%2Fimg249%2F9734%2Farvometalturn90xw8.jpg&hash=356c2619ea73b9f94beea91a76cfa3ca0a39e0c4)

At long last, I have finally built the 90 degree turn for my metal pylon set.  After I smooth out some details, I will consider my first set of wooden and metal poles complete.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: homefryes on November 26, 2008, 01:51:44 PM
Well, even though I'm pleased to say I'm about 17% done on doing all the .dat files, I must admit, I'm not certain exactly how practical the results of this project will be. While I will enjoy having them, there are significant limitations to using them. It's extremely tricky getting them to plop on a lot, first of all, particularly getting them where you want them. It's a limitation due to other props and such that may already exist on that lot. And then, if the lot changes (as your city grows), all existing props disappear. Secondly, if you're running them along a road, and want them spaced appropriately, you really can't zone anything on that side of the road. Now, with that in mind, I have come up with a great use in an area where you might have city blocks ... and that's running them between the zones, much like in real life:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi59.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg290%2Fhomefryes%2FSimCity%2520Projects%2F2008%2520-%2520Utility%2520Poles%2FSandbox-008.jpg&hash=e0e7db877b6b31221e692033f8a4e478c34284e4)
This works nicely ... by leaving an empty row of tiles, it can be used for a right-of-way, and looks pretty good, IMHO.

But, while I continue to "plug" away on the .dat files, here are some other pictures to share:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi59.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg290%2Fhomefryes%2FSimCity%2520Projects%2F2008%2520-%2520Utility%2520Poles%2FSandbox-006.png&hash=be474de779d195fe2d0cfd65f8fe4abfade9b671)
Two-pole assembly, for long distances

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi59.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg290%2Fhomefryes%2FSimCity%2520Projects%2F2008%2520-%2520Utility%2520Poles%2FSandbox-007.png&hash=008421c802adb28a425fb419cafdd06ec5e2ea77)
Another use for fractional-angle corners

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi59.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg290%2Fhomefryes%2FSimCity%2520Projects%2F2008%2520-%2520Utility%2520Poles%2FSandbox-009.png&hash=c7a53f27fafb8f3af1f947875d7eadc2f5947afd)
Lines crossing from one side of the road to another

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi59.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg290%2Fhomefryes%2FSimCity%2520Projects%2F2008%2520-%2520Utility%2520Poles%2FSandbox-010.png&hash=979a8240132e0f4ed23494b7453b9acef5021136)
A large portion of my collection so far

— Don
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: WC_EEND on November 26, 2008, 02:05:48 PM
no offence mate, but it looks like the lines themselves are missing
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on November 26, 2008, 02:20:45 PM
It looks great to see your poles in-game, Don.  I must agree wholeheartedly with your idea of running poles between zones.  RL cities that I have seen often have alleys between houses or Main St. commercial developments, and distribution lines typically run through these alleys.  I hope to see more soon, Don.

:thumbsup:
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: homefryes on November 26, 2008, 03:29:42 PM
Thanks for the feedback, Metarvo and WC_EEND.
Quote from: WC_EEND on November 26, 2008, 02:05:48 PM
no offence mate, but it looks like the lines themselves are missing
Over at 3RR [linkie] (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?board=159.0), it was determined in this post [linkie] (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=112.msg168766#msg168766) that wires would probably not be visible:
QuoteAt game scales on normal monitors, a notional telephone/power line wire a quarter inch/.625 centimeters in diameter is, bluntly put, invisible.  Look at it this way- at the highest zoom level (press the [ 6 ] key in the game), a 50x50 foot/16x16 meter grid square is about two inches/5 centimeters square on your monitor.  Most monitors in general use running Windows run at 96 dpi, so let's say at that view level each side of that gridsquare on your monitor, for discussion purposes, is 200 pixels long.  The smallest object, then, at the closest in view level that can be accurately displayed is three inches/15 centimeters across- more than 10 times larger than our wire.

And that is the largest scale- two zoom levels down (press the [ 4 ] key in the game), a gridsquare is about one-quarter inch/.625 centimeters square.  The smallest object that can be seen at that level is two feet/.6 meters across- almost 100 times the size of our poor wire.  I know we make compromises in our beloved simulation at all levels of viewing it- this one, IMHO, is not necessary.  The eye will immediately pick up a line of telephone poles- I think the mind will fill in the wires.

Also, it's important to note that these are not "lots," but ploppable items, like trees; hence they can be put anywhere you like. Downsides of lots and wires is that the terrain has to be level for them to work and they take up valuable real estate. Another thing to note is that these do not carry power, but are simply eye candy. I hope that clears up the issue of the wires.

I realize they're not for everyone ... but some have shown interest, and hopefully they are still interested.   ;)

— Don
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: projectadam on November 26, 2008, 03:40:33 PM
Quote from: homefryes on November 26, 2008, 03:29:42 PM
Thanks for the feedback, Metarvo and WC_EEND.Over at 3RR [linkie] (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?board=159.0), it was determined in this post [linkie] (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=112.msg168766#msg168766) that wires would probably not be visible:
Also, it's important to note that these are not "lots," but ploppable items, like trees; hence they can be put anywhere you like. Downsides of lots and wires is that the terrain has to be level for them to work and they take up valuable real estate. Another thing to note is that these do not carry power, but are simply eye candy. I hope that clears up the issue of the wires.

I realize they're not for everyone ... but some have shown interest, and hopefully they are still interested.   ;)

— Don

I am coming in on the discussion a little late but I AM VERY INTERESTED! Now I just have to get my region up to the period that power poles are used. Great work men!!!
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: homefryes on November 27, 2008, 08:54:51 AM
Let me know what you think of this. It's one of two substations (the other being smaller) that can work with my utility poles or can be used on their own:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi59.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg290%2Fhomefryes%2FSimCity%2520Projects%2F2008%2520-%2520Utility%2520Poles%2FSandbox-011.jpg&hash=320f891d5bdff4d9b0d715cff99421526f09ebfc)

Closer zoom:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi59.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg290%2Fhomefryes%2FSimCity%2520Projects%2F2008%2520-%2520Utility%2520Poles%2FSandbox-012.png&hash=57cac8765217010752d6ce03ea78c9db1455b0cb)

I don't know why I didn't think to use the solar power station fence on my original substations (from a few years back). &idea I still have poles yet to .dat that will tie in to the substation.

— Don
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: j-dub on November 27, 2008, 08:58:38 AM
Yes, this is what we need, a small substation. Although, I have never seen a parking lot in front of one. Does this substation actually work?
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on November 27, 2008, 09:14:43 AM
That's great, Don. :thumbsup:  I am pleased that you pay attention to every detail.  SC4 is beginning to get a realistic power system.  While we may never be able to completely get away from the system that Maxis has locked into the EXE, innovations like this bring us that much closer.  Great job, Don.

&apls
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Streetlight 725 on November 27, 2008, 09:23:14 AM
Very Good updates! &apls
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: projectadam on November 27, 2008, 09:23:22 AM
Quote from: j-dub on November 27, 2008, 08:58:38 AM
Yes, this is what we need, a small substation. Although, I have never seen a parking lot in front of one. Does this substation actually work?

I would agree with j-dub on the parking lot, or if there was one I think a dirt texture would fit in more. Looks excellent though homefryes  &apls Unfortunately, everytime I look at substations I think about this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2QGdVc6MyI)
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on November 27, 2008, 09:42:58 AM
 :shocked2:

Oh...

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.khou.com%2Fsharedcontent%2Fdws%2Fimg%2F04-08%2F0410powerlines_small.jpg&hash=460abd54e2f08f5f4cda15f8016ccb7a88125d0d)
http://www.khou.com/sharedcontent/dws/img/04-08/0410powerlines_small.jpg

...

What in the world caused that to happen, projectadam?  That's just wrong. $%Grinno$%  Now I might never be able to make substations for my transmission lines... because that's stuck in my head now. :)
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: homefryes on November 27, 2008, 09:59:32 AM
Quote from: j-dub on November 27, 2008, 08:58:38 AM
Yes, this is what we need, a small substation. Although, I have never seen a parking lot in front of one. Does this substation actually work?
j-dub: Yes, you bring up a good point on the parking lot ... what I need is a good gravel or dirt texture for the lot. Really, a good stone gravel texture would be great for below the substation itself. Like I said, I'm running "vanilla" SC4RH right now on this laptop, and don't have any extras. I'll have to search for something suitable.

As for "does it actually work," what do you mean? Technically substations do nothing as far as generating power; HOWEVER, I was thinking that it would be quite useful if these actually did produce power for the game. Reason being, in a good rural "city," especially if the theme is older, wind turbines or big honkin' power plants look ridiculous! I know there are alternative power sources available out there, and those are fine, too. But if my substations secretly produced power, there'd be no need for another source, right? Just a thought ... and it would obviously be simple to make them available with or without power-generating capabilities. The one above, for now, does produce power (I used the coal power plant lot as my basis, so it still has all of those properties).

metarvo and Streetlight: Thanks!

projectadam: OMG you crack me up! :D I have also watched that video and numerous others. But have you seen THIS (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X8VHIbweKg&eurl=http://lj-toys.com/?journalid=11882048&moduleid=2&preview=&auth_token=sessionless:1227805200:embedcontentiurl=http://i3.ytimg.com/vi/2X8VHIbweKg/hqdefault.jpg&feature=player_embedded)? (There are two other parts as well with news coverage after the incident.)
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: homefryes on November 28, 2008, 02:00:10 PM
I hope it's legal to double-post, since it's been over 24 hrs.! I have an update on the substation lot, as I took a little time last evening to get some texture packs installed. I think this is a MUCH better look for the base of the lot:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi59.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg290%2Fhomefryes%2FSimCity%2520Projects%2F2008%2520-%2520Utility%2520Poles%2FSandbox-013.jpg&hash=6fdb7ae83ddbb7014e223bcd11e528b4c6a3a42d)
Looking forward to your feedback, as always!

— Don
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: bob56 on November 28, 2008, 02:26:40 PM
Great idea for small substations, but shouldn't the poles be metal? i've never seen a substation with wooden equipment

Oh, sorry    &ops
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: homefryes on November 28, 2008, 02:34:41 PM
I have actually seen older substations with wooden poles. The design for these is based on the utility poles I'm creating.

— D.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: High5Tower on November 28, 2008, 02:49:20 PM
Good change to the gravel entrance. It should work well with the method of making street connections to non-transit enabled lots. :thumbsup: Great project you have going here.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: j-dub on November 28, 2008, 02:57:42 PM
This relotting is way better.  :thumbsup: Glad you could find something.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: homefryes on November 28, 2008, 03:27:22 PM
Bob: no need to apologize! All questions and comments are welcomed.

High5Tower and j-dub: thanks, I'm glad you like the fix.

— Don
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on November 28, 2008, 06:08:36 PM
It's pleasing to me to see more of this wonderful project.  I agree that it does look much better.  While a formal striped parking lot is not normally used at a substation, any respectable substation that I have seen usually has some sort of parking area for the utility trucks.  Those hard workers need somewhere to park their trucks when they are doing their part to provide power to the nearby citizens.  The small gravel area that you have included in the re-LOT is perfect for this, Don.

&apls
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: dedgren on November 28, 2008, 08:36:44 PM
This thread is EXCELLENT!  I always leave after reading it with ideas.  This stuff is filling a huge gap in the game.


David
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: homefryes on November 29, 2008, 12:15:18 AM
metarvo: I appreciate the feedback! Now I just need to find a utility truck... &Thk/(

David: I'm tickled that you stopped by to see the fun that your PlopperizerTM tutorial has gotten me into! Had it not been for that and the ploppable poles you've been featuring, I never would have thought of this. When I need a break from plopperizing, I'll see about working on the substations a bit more, as I currently have two sizes, and could probably stand to have one more.

Today was clean-the-house day in preparation for tomorrow being put-up-the-Christmas-tree day, but hopefully I'll find time to do some more stuff.

— Don
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: projectadam on November 29, 2008, 06:03:07 PM
Keep up the good work gentlemen! Enjoy decorating for Christmas Don ;)
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: papab2000 on November 29, 2008, 11:59:58 PM
Looks much better this way  :thumbsup: Good job  &apls
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: homefryes on December 01, 2008, 06:47:02 PM
Hi, all --

I have spent a little time on the substations. I decided on 3 sizes, because even the most rural areas still need a big substation from which subtransmission lines are run to supply all the other villages, right? I also added some lights inside.

The large one:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi59.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg290%2Fhomefryes%2FSimCity%2520Projects%2F2008%2520-%2520Utility%2520Poles%2FSandbox2-001-1.jpg&hash=3469f5216f0292cd5ee67fe9d178daaf431becc0)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi59.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg290%2Fhomefryes%2FSimCity%2520Projects%2F2008%2520-%2520Utility%2520Poles%2FSandbox2-002-1.jpg&hash=21f94674e392c54e822de9ea3a94d56b5242867d)

The medium one:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi59.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg290%2Fhomefryes%2FSimCity%2520Projects%2F2008%2520-%2520Utility%2520Poles%2FSandbox2-003.jpg&hash=66d1931a904147bf987512f476686fac8d09ef7d)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi59.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg290%2Fhomefryes%2FSimCity%2520Projects%2F2008%2520-%2520Utility%2520Poles%2FSandbox2-004.jpg&hash=6f8896230ebfc9a073b851feb626f707a3d15d09)

The small one:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi59.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg290%2Fhomefryes%2FSimCity%2520Projects%2F2008%2520-%2520Utility%2520Poles%2FSandbox2-005.jpg&hash=b31ad2754648cb33bd5cbba21b7823b68bf61b3f)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi59.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg290%2Fhomefryes%2FSimCity%2520Projects%2F2008%2520-%2520Utility%2520Poles%2FSandbox2-006.jpg&hash=40930a3276f7ce8aaa2d6b690e0620de488f8a71)

That's all for now...

— Don
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: High5Tower on December 01, 2008, 07:40:57 PM
Looking good with the different sizes. Since these are set in a lot on rural areas and industrial areas what do you think about a more rural type of grass?  The shade that comes to mind "Simple Grass Field." Its the same as the default grass in industrial areas.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: homefryes on December 01, 2008, 08:02:01 PM
Quote from: High5Tower on December 01, 2008, 07:40:57 PM
... a more rural type of grass ...

Thanks for the feedback, High5Tower. I agree that that would be terrific, except that the grass you see is part of the base texture which also has the gravel. I searched through the textures I've DL'ed so far, and there were no gravel base textures that covered the whole square, which would allow me to cover part of it with any grass ... and then there would be the issue of having grass textures in the shapes I need. I'm definitely open to suggestions, but I do really like this gravel as it's exactly what I envisioned for the base below the inner workings and the driveway. There are a couple of instances where I'm using partial grass overlays to cover part of the gravel, but most of the squares have no overlay at all. I haven't dabbled with making base and overlay textures yet.

Anyone else have any ideas?

— Don
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: j-dub on December 02, 2008, 03:22:05 PM
I think the textures fit around the shape of the structure. Sure their texture looks not so rural, but personally would stick with it, because it makes sense.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: homefryes on December 02, 2008, 04:06:43 PM
Quote from: j-dub on December 02, 2008, 03:22:05 PM
...the textures fit around the shape of the structure...
Thanks, j-dub. I love how they work so well with the structure, and look very random (no square edges). I, of course, will have to figure out which pack they come from for the sake of including in the dependencies; how do I go about doing that? The base and overlay textures are the only dependencies. I may actually get these ready for releasing soon.

— Don
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: j-dub on December 02, 2008, 10:07:54 PM
I am not 100% sure on this, but I heard, there is something called the dependency scanner from the sc4 tool program that can save the dependencies it finds on a lot into web format. I have not tried it. Where is it, I don't know exactly. Its on a German site called simszone.de, but maybe check simtropolis' download section. I have never needed a dependency check myself. 
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Andreas on December 03, 2008, 04:18:33 AM
The dependency scanner is included in SC4Tool, which is available here: http://kurier.simcityplaza.de/details.php?file=315 Obviously, SC4Tool cannot display dependencies that are not installed, but by checking the LD files, you might be able to find some more dependencies. The results are not very accurate, since the LD files only list prop dependencies (but no textures), and the filenames might be outdated due to an inclusion in a mega pack. The main purpose is to check if you have all dependencies installed - if SC4Tool tells you that something is missing, you will have to hunt down the missing files yourself, though.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on December 03, 2008, 05:17:51 AM
The substations look very good, Don.  It will certainly be great to have this kind of control over the power grid.  Keep up the great work!   :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: homefryes on December 03, 2008, 07:44:38 AM
j-dub and metarvo: thanks!

Quote from: Andreas on December 03, 2008, 04:18:33 AM...only list prop dependencies (but no textures)...
Andreas: I truly appreciate the feedback; however, it sounds like this isn't going to help me much in this case if it won't find dependent textures. Let me clarify my issue: the lot base and overlay textures came from a texture mega pack (possibly two different packs, but I'm guessing one, since the grass is the same); no non-Maxis props exist (the shrubs, fence and the streetlight are standard issue*). So I will need to reference the mega pack(s) as a dependency when I offer these to the public. I could temporarily remove each mega pack until I find it, but supposing I had dozens of them installed, this would be a tedious process. Is there a tool that can help me identify the pack(s) to which the dependent textures used in my lots belong?

— Don

*I know this because when I initially built the lots, I had zero extras installed.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metasmurf on December 03, 2008, 07:49:32 AM
Looks like cycledoggs textures to me, from the shape of the grass overlay textures.

http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=101 (also released on stex, but the one on lex is an updated version. )
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Andreas on December 03, 2008, 08:50:28 AM
Don, apparently I misread your post earlier and only replied to j-dub properly - sorry. If you want to create a list of dependencies of your own custom lot, open it in SC4Tool's Analyser/Importer with all props and texture packs placed in your plugins folder (that were inside this folder when you designed your lot). SC4Tool will read the IDs in your lot file and then compare them with the IDs of the props and textues that are installed, providing you with a list of files that contain said dependencies. This list can be found as "scan result" (rather than the LTD file scan I mentioned before). The Analyser/Importer also has several tabs for a description text and a button where you can add your readme file images. Once all data is scanned, you can open a template HTML file (SC4Tool comes with a few basic ones) and save the output as new HTML file that includes the lot values, the list of dependencies and your screenshots. The file might need some manual tweaking in an HTML editor, but basically, you're done after that procedure. Please refer to SC4Tool's readme file, which explains the various buttons in detail.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: homefryes on December 03, 2008, 10:41:38 AM
Thanks, Andreas and metasmurf! I know they are in a texture mega pack since that's all I've loaded thus far*. I appreciate the how-to, and eventually (probably over the weekend), I will see about getting them packaged up. Have a great day!  :thumbsup:

— Don

*To elaborate, I recently installed SC4RH on my new laptop, and so far have installed very few add-ons while I finish my utility pole project (much faster and simpler than doing all testing on the desktop PC which is overloaded with plug-ins). This is allowing me to build a new plug-ins folder that is much cleaner and more streamlined than what I've done on the PC (which is an absolute mess!). This is a really nice way to start "fresh," without just blowing my old one away. Eventually I can then copy my new plug-ins folder from the laptop to the PC.
&idea
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on December 04, 2008, 03:42:15 PM
Not to steal anyone's thunder, but I do have another development pic.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg220.imageshack.us%2Fimg220%2F5448%2Farvo66d90ddk5.jpg&hash=840f195290c60e0f0588f556dd0f297005c76965)
I have created straight lines, 22 degree turns, 45 degree turns, 66 degree turns, and 90 degree turns, in four different orientations.  There are two types of transmission towers, one wooden and one metal.  This expansion is almost complete.  All I need to do is create custom PNG icons for this set, and it will be ready.  ;)

Your idea about the Plugins folder is a good one, Don.  I have relocated all of my plugins to a different folder except for those that are essential to my project.  I did leave the Columbus terrain in the folder, since I can't bear to go without it anymore.  Keep up the good work with your utility project, Don.  :)
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: threestooges on December 04, 2008, 04:33:12 PM
There is some excellent development going on in here. The substations are amazing, and something needed in the game. The towers are looking good too. Dense little things, but I doubt they'll buckle in high winds. Very nice work you guys.
-Matt
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: homefryes on December 04, 2008, 05:15:08 PM
metarvo: nice work on the corners. It's good to see progress!

threestooges: thanks for the compliment on the substations!

— Don
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: homefryes on December 07, 2008, 09:35:11 AM
Hey, folks - sorry for the double-post, but I have an announcement: I've started a new BAT thread, Homefryes' BATatorium [linkie] (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=6511.msg206310#msg206310), where I've begun a new discussion on the Rural Substations. What I'm looking for is help in determining what the properties should be for them. I look forward to your input so that I can get these ready for uploading.

— Don

Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Katten Gustaf on December 11, 2008, 06:25:44 PM
May I offer a sugestion on how to have several kinds of functional, slope-conforming, power lines at the same time?

I removed the maxis towers from the power lines so you can use props overhanging from a transparent lot in instead; The network remains fully functional and it is possible to plopp any combination of power poles without conflict. Like this.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg161.imageshack.us%2Fimg161%2F2843%2Fledningarbk2.jpg&hash=8c2cd9d953edd540f2eeb0f50f6e2489c96638a8) (http://imageshack.us)

Even while this is more of a workaround than a solution I still think it might be a workable concept, any suitable model could be used in a relatively simple, lot-based way and several sets of power poles could coexist smoothly. What do you think about it?
:-\
No Maxis power poles mod here http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?id=20814 (http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?id=20814).
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: homefryes on December 11, 2008, 08:54:59 PM
I think that's some pretty crazy awesome work, there, Katten Gustaf! I'd like to see a head-on view of the grey poles too, if you could. I like the idea a lot! I am partial to the grey towers mod that (someone) made (I don't have the name or link in front of me now), but these are a really neat alternative, and being able to choose more than one type at any time is a fun idea. Do you have diagonal models as well?

— Don
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on December 11, 2008, 08:59:58 PM
 :o :o :o

You... did... what???

&apls &apls &apls

That's amazing, Katten Gustaf.  I will definitely have to play around with this one.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Katten Gustaf on December 12, 2008, 11:17:50 AM
Homefryes - here is a close-up of the towers. There is no diagonals yet and the models are rather crude, I just made them as a proof of concept.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg178.imageshack.us%2Fimg178%2F1300%2Fstolparnn7.jpg&hash=cad07cd9f1104b08bcfa60f2104d5bdf19067155) (http://imageshack.us)
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: homefryes on December 12, 2008, 11:30:05 AM
Well, Katten, for "crude" (as you say) models, they're not half bad at all. My only suggestion on the wooden poles is that the insulators should hang, rather than be top-mounted, as wires spanning such a distance would need the ability to "swing" (in RL, of course). Diagonals should be a pretty simple thing to make -- and junctions both orthogonal and diagonal. In any case, I'll say again that I think this is a really neat concept you've come up with.

— Don
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Katten Gustaf on December 12, 2008, 12:52:10 PM
Glad you liked them, and as you say, making diagonals, junctions, etc just needs some basic BATing— the only tricky part is lining up the towers with the wires. Some specialised pieces for endpoints, turns, river/road crossings and the like might be nice too.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: homefryes on December 12, 2008, 07:35:55 PM
Well, they're done! I have completed my utility poles, and they're available for testing (send me a PM if interested). Here are some images to show:

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi59.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg290%2Fhomefryes%2FSimCity%2520Projects%2F2008%2520-%2520Utility%2520Poles%2FSandbox-015.jpg&hash=eb72892c575af320472ee8df5a49289b7ed72714)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi59.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg290%2Fhomefryes%2FSimCity%2520Projects%2F2008%2520-%2520Utility%2520Poles%2FSandbox-016.jpg&hash=7df47fdc035b6867e5bedbea35faac970cc41111)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi59.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg290%2Fhomefryes%2FSimCity%2520Projects%2F2008%2520-%2520Utility%2520Poles%2FSandbox-017.jpg&hash=07d1ac628bc9c14ccd4ec07b958d0327266046b6)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi59.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg290%2Fhomefryes%2FSimCity%2520Projects%2F2008%2520-%2520Utility%2520Poles%2FSandbox-018.jpg&hash=334a8331203b4d3afbfe895b1aa2a9887a9d0f41)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi59.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg290%2Fhomefryes%2FSimCity%2520Projects%2F2008%2520-%2520Utility%2520Poles%2FSandbox-019.jpg&hash=0ea429d5526d7e290295820ca363168efb72fc1f)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi59.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg290%2Fhomefryes%2FSimCity%2520Projects%2F2008%2520-%2520Utility%2520Poles%2FSandbox-020.jpg&hash=56a99ccbbd946269d1cce6bd5a132f75e34d7ed1)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi59.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg290%2Fhomefryes%2FSimCity%2520Projects%2F2008%2520-%2520Utility%2520Poles%2FSandbox-021.jpg&hash=53cb0546f4de14371c91797aba48481117fd9ed3)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi59.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg290%2Fhomefryes%2FSimCity%2520Projects%2F2008%2520-%2520Utility%2520Poles%2FSandbox-022.jpg&hash=dbf5967e00c587823d094057bad1137cc0d79276)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi59.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg290%2Fhomefryes%2FSimCity%2520Projects%2F2008%2520-%2520Utility%2520Poles%2FSandbox-023.jpg&hash=3a80d76de17e34438531789d26d9865784744e2b)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi59.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg290%2Fhomefryes%2FSimCity%2520Projects%2F2008%2520-%2520Utility%2520Poles%2FSandbox-024.jpg&hash=5e659ae658f9793a860af12bb90e1a638a53a622)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi59.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg290%2Fhomefryes%2FSimCity%2520Projects%2F2008%2520-%2520Utility%2520Poles%2FSandbox-025.jpg&hash=280b1e0dd5da303b63b6ecf59412f4b769c002ef)

Enjoy!

— Don
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: projectadam on December 12, 2008, 08:58:12 PM
Don,

These are looking great &apls Quick question, are there four different wooden power lines (of course with all of the different angles)? I was going back through the old posts and I thought that it looks like you have made four different styles. I do not know if you have considered or what kind of trouble it would be though to make one with a transformer drum? Just a thought I would throw out there and do not want to cause any added major work ;)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg370.imageshack.us%2Fimg370%2F6992%2Fpowerhousecm4.jpg&hash=7394d7cbf1288eefbb5ee5361b2f37f4bf8aa804)
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: homefryes on December 12, 2008, 09:16:54 PM
Oops, projectadam, I forgot to show any good pics of one. There is one to the far right of the library (above), but it's a side view (not head-on). It's not like what's in your picture, however. Since I was going with the "old" theme, my transformers are black. There are some instances (above) of poles with 3 transformers. But the single transformer poles were included (they were a late addition, and not included in any of my previous documentation).

— Don
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: projectadam on December 12, 2008, 09:24:55 PM
Quote from: homefryes on December 12, 2008, 09:16:54 PM
Oops, projectadam, I forgot to show any good pics of one. There is one to the far right of the library (above), but it's a side view (not head-on). It's not like what's in your picture, however. Since I was going with the "old" theme, my transformers are black. There are some instances (above) of poles with 3 transformers. But the single transformer poles were included (they were a late addition, and not included in any of my previous documentation).

— Don

Great news Don, the color of the drum is no problem compared to how awesome these are &apls
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: buddybud on January 08, 2009, 06:29:39 PM
question....

sorry if this has been addressed already.
Are you peeps still struggling with batted or 3ds slopeconforming wire props. If so i may be able to provide a tutorial on how to do it. It would be somewhat constrictive. orth and diags would be possible, though any slope you would want to prepare via a slope mod.... Also if you wanted drooping wires as opposed to tight straight wires you would need to have a fixed distance between poles for each type of model.....

Anyways there were far to many powerline threads to go through so if this is just spam please ignore or delete.....

Bud
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: j-dub on January 08, 2009, 11:04:44 PM
buddybud, you know alot of people would like to know a tutorial on that.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: buddybud on January 09, 2009, 01:38:09 AM
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg184.imageshack.us%2Fimg184%2F4769%2Fteletime01xo8.jpg&hash=1d9d0f2f71cc2fe8dca3271a1be5ceadf4314d43)
just to show i'm not full of crap....

that picture is of the railing used for my elrail. It looks crappy in itself. No attempt to span multiple tiles was made. But the principle is the same. The reason i said it would be restrictive is because it is truely slope conforming. Bumpy terrain=Bumpy line. If spanned multiple tiles then the problem becomes aligning everything together but bumpy terrain becomes possible inbetween. I believe some imaginative design may make something workable. I've been playing with 3ds props that would look much better because of the higher resolution. These can conforming in pretty much the same way. I will look into the seeing if reusing the existing lines is possible. If short telephone poles stretching from one tile edge to the other was used it would be very easy. The farther apart the more difficult it becomes to get things to line up.

Anyways again i wasn't trying at all above, just providing an example. IF this is what your looking for let me know and i'll throw something together. Don't want to waste anyones time.....

Bud.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on January 09, 2009, 05:31:16 AM
This is definitely something I'd appreciate, buddybud.  So far, the only truly slope conforming wired power lines that we have are the default Maxis red-and-white ones.  So far, the solution has been to do without the wires, but that's something that I have been somewhat reluctant to do with the poles that I have BATted.  For some reason, the wires just seem like they should be there, at least for long distance transmission lines.  The possibility that wires can be slope conforming is quite interesting to me.  I do use drooping wires with most of my wired poles, and they are designed to be the same distance apart, so this will be no problem for me.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: j-dub on January 09, 2009, 03:35:46 PM
Buddybud, that wire looks just fine, as a utility wire. The black parts are where the poles would need to be. Anyway, in the future, I think a decorative draggable utility network could use just that.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: buddybud on January 09, 2009, 05:33:39 PM
Well if a 1x1 is all you need it can be very easily done and also be able to make it look the way it should. Give me a week throw together a tut. Sorry but it will take me some hours to do.....But yes thats very feasible.

Bud
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on January 15, 2009, 07:44:45 AM
It has been suggested that I start a support thread, so I have decided that the time has come to start my own topic [linkie] (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=6767.msg214999#msg214999) in the BAT Projects section.  I will still post in this thread, but my new thread will be my home base of operations for my BAT creations.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: buddybud on January 17, 2009, 01:40:01 AM
still here. had to deal with a burst pipe over the last couple days. i'll try to get something together before the end of the weekend.

Cheers.

Edit....

Alright this is what can be done for 1x1 orths.

Heres a picture of a simple telephone line. As stated before the ground would have to be prepared with a slope mod.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg207.imageshack.us%2Fimg207%2F7085%2Ftpollopolis01cd1.jpg&hash=78e45288c0cadfbed1bc0ec30e97ed617b415925)

Ok to get the desired effect the models are done in two groups.

A a standalone Telephone pole and B two Sets of wires comprised of three pieces each.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg161.imageshack.us%2Fimg161%2F7311%2Ftpollopolis02er0.jpg&hash=778e30f1a44e02b8f22ffd81509414cb0467d07c)

Lets start with the pole

What you need is just a simple model. What is important is where it's position is when rendered.
Below we can see my telephone poll. its about 16m tall with an extension below ground. More about that in a minute. It's centered slightly off the 0,0 point at roughly 1m. I did this because i imagined i was designing this for beside a rural road. It also adds the benefit of being able to position it more easily when it comes time to lotting. Below that is a picture of the lods. Note i forgot to move the bottom of the lods up to ground level. The result is the shadow glitch seen above. The shadow starts before the object. This can be fixed just by raising the bottom of the lods.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg255.imageshack.us%2Fimg255%2F1687%2Ftpollopolis03da7.jpg&hash=8f29a1870f7e3b8af2362fae05311f08644de732)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg243.imageshack.us%2Fimg243%2F2632%2Ftpollopolis04gp3.jpg&hash=da013f73870070cdb44da6e772ce8d1f15128fbe)

render the poles and put them through the pm. Make them ground models and NOT slope conforming. We want them to stand straight.

Next bring the pole onto a test lot. And place it accordingly. You only need one because the next tile will provide the next. Alternatively you could have a Half pole at each end.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg103.imageshack.us%2Fimg103%2F8347%2Ftpollopolis05ql4.jpg&hash=2a3fc06611911081a21d95e5c7d66beae5ec9064)

Wires.

Ok the poles are the easy part. Now the wires.

The first thing to consider is expansion. The way to do this is to create seperate parts of the model that overlap. Lets look at this.
Below we see the wires on a slight incline and we need them to stretch in the shown direction.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg118.imageshack.us%2Fimg118%2F2003%2Ftpollopolis06rd1.jpg&hash=8d7e6f0be74bd8e2e4dc90d12a22e7a8af00161d)

In the perfect world we would design a model such as below but it will not stretch in the desired direction on a slope.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg161.imageshack.us%2Fimg161%2F5540%2Ftpollopolis07wy1.jpg&hash=98689478c584c1e2d1e9ae7ade1848d66cd79192)

Instead we will split it up and have it overlap. So from a side view we see how the three sections of wire are arranged. NOTE THIS IS NOT THEIR FINAL POSITIONS. On top they are all aligned in place. Below in seperate color we see each prop individually. note that where they overlap they are actually flat.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg504.imageshack.us%2Fimg504%2F6645%2Ftpollopolis08qp5.jpg&hash=65c643c501619db045ebd391226b9e6030be282e)

Ok now we have our three parts of the wires we have to actually move them into a proper render positon. Lets look back again at the initial photo. Below ive show with the red where we want the rotation to occur and the line extending shows where in relation to the ground we want it to occur. This may seem confusing but it's got a simple awnser.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg300.imageshack.us%2Fimg300%2F9141%2Ftpollopolis09ag2.jpg&hash=303de578fa2cbc1161d739d4aab6d2b1489011e1)

Here's what we do. Simply locate the position down to z=o. Exactly where you want it to pivot in relation to the pivot points in the picture above. Each piece is lowered and the slid so that the pivot point is where you want it to rotate. See the following three pictures.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg243.imageshack.us%2Fimg243%2F5234%2Ftpollopolis10kb4.jpg&hash=d950de4661b5bc0a32e917915cc271d2154fb53a)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg243.imageshack.us%2Fimg243%2F105%2Ftpollopolis11xg0.jpg&hash=8dff6d3291ce56a33cffc67b6fa053cca87461c3)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg266.imageshack.us%2Fimg266%2F4240%2Ftpollopolis12ri5.jpg&hash=e472eda89531e1937cd16cc51054b243fa4a3c2e)

Note the lods will have to be tight on these wires. For this reason ONLY HAVE THE WIRES APPEAR ON CLOSE ZOOMS!!!! I can't stress that enough.

now once you positioned your three new models render away.
import into pm and set as non ground model and as slope conforming. Also block the top three zooms....two at the minimum.
open up your lot and bring in your three wire bits and put them in position. It will look like this.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg150.imageshack.us%2Fimg150%2F7858%2Ftpollopolis13mv8.jpg&hash=a8616f7792a7b0c48b18d153f33ac994d73878c4)

Use the ctrl and up arrow keys to move the wires into positon. The middle piece in my example is .5 m lower then the outside pieces.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg297.imageshack.us%2Fimg297%2F4408%2Ftpollopolis14rp4.jpg&hash=e9aa948e689c017c55c62ce74cc50a96a2b92b40)

Next just duplicate the three and lower to the bottom position.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg297.imageshack.us%2Fimg297%2F1631%2Ftpollopolis15sg6.jpg&hash=cafed44f89b631d5fcb5b2bde94d544e77306165)


end result.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg207.imageshack.us%2Fimg207%2F7085%2Ftpollopolis01cd1.jpg&hash=78e45288c0cadfbed1bc0ec30e97ed617b415925)

Below is attachment with the models. Have fun and if this is indeed what you want i'll continue this with diagonals. If your in a hurry check out my tutorial for slope conforming diagonal props for t21's in the nam tutorial threads.

Also note that when used on parks or other plops the raised props can be disturbed and collapsed. When on a t21 this will not happen.

Cheers
Bud

Edit ....after all is said and done i realised there is a way to do this without having to prepare a slope. It would instead use overhanging props. Hanging from one of the two oposing edges back into the tile. If you don't understand and want to see this let me know and ill add that but it too would take a couple days.

over and out





Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: choco on January 20, 2009, 07:07:26 AM
bud,

you are brilliant, Sir!


if someone can donate an ortho pole model, i can begin working on a bridge for these as well. 

edit: need my eyes checked.....


nice discovery!  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on January 20, 2009, 08:43:45 AM
How did you figure this out, Bud?  It's great!  Thanks to this tutorial, my attention has been drawn to some new methods of power line construction.  When I tried to place my power lines in a new city tile, I dreaded the thought of having to cross a slope, since the lines were not slope friendly.  Earlier in this thread, I did post a pic of a conversion from my metal power lines to the red-and-white Maxis defaults, but work on that is on hiatus, partly because the transition was constructed illogically, and partly because of the prospect that slope-friendly ploppable power lines are quickly becoming a reality.  I wonder how this would work for the huge lines that I tend to BAT, since the default span for the ortho section is 9 tiles. 

Of course, I always welcome any diagonals  :).  The lack of ploppable diagonal poles is one of the main factors that led me to make custom power lines in the first place.  I do have one question, though.  What slope mod are you using?
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: MandelSoft on January 20, 2009, 11:43:35 AM
You are simply brilliant, buddybud! Thanks for sharing this method.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: rooker1 on January 20, 2009, 12:02:04 PM
Incredible buddybud.
How you figure this stuff out is absolutely remarkable.
&apls
Robin  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: buddybud on January 21, 2009, 02:57:53 AM
Thank YOU guys for getting me to at least share it. First remember the lod issue...or else there will be alot people crashing at large zooms. Also remember that these principles can be applied to any type of slope conforming network tile. It's how the skin/frame around my elrail bends and works for the most part.

QuoteWhat slope mod are you using?
i actually just used the road as a rough slope mod. lol...i'm cheap.

And well there's nothing new here. Sadly it's just too advanced for some to even consider. There's a tutorial on some of the earlier pages of my first simtrop thread that describe much the same thing. It's from atleast two years ago. :P.  And i just kind of borrowed on everybody's discoveries around me......lol.. Though i could claim to be one of the few who actually try to utilize all those properties together to gain a desired result.....i'll take that...

As for spanning multiple tiles that would still require a something special. I think the best approach for long distance spanning on a slope,  would be a series of slope conforming lots set up using the lotconfig properties. Either way its a problem. You could easily fudge a span of 2 or 3 on a controlled slope but it will be trickier the farther apart you go. The ingame wires seem to be dynamically made, i've only found the tower models. A 3ds prop wire could easily be made but would suffer the same constraints as a usual prop in these regards. So i'm not really sure how to overcome that, i may have over spoken in that respect.

Anyways i'll be back in a week with thy diagonals  great sirs!!!

Cheers and glad you found it useful
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: choco on January 21, 2009, 04:13:29 AM
i presume the wires are drawn much the same as suspension bridges......it references a wire "texture", then defines the attachment points, the sag, etc......

this is how i was going to get "bridge" built using the model provided.  unfortunately, i can't find anything in the .dats that defines the power line tool.  (i haven't looked all that hard though).  &mmm
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: JoeST on January 21, 2009, 07:37:58 AM
This is one super awesome topic.... I am AWED!

*posts to keep an eye, so he can wikify some maybe*

oh and if anyone wants to wikify any of this stuff (the tutorials) just drop me a PM
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: buddybud on February 04, 2009, 10:29:22 PM
A little update... i have been unsuccessful at finding a solution for diagonals and obviously spoke to soon. My apologies. If i come up with something suitable i shall inform you.

Sorry about that.

Bud.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: ashton23 on April 25, 2009, 06:21:51 PM
where do i get the rural power lines ()what()
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on April 25, 2009, 09:58:57 PM
If you are referring to my set of large wood and metal transmission towers, it's available here [off-site linkie, registration required] (http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?id=20369).  I am working on a new set [linkie] (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=6767.msg214999#msg214999), but it could be a while before it's ready.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: ashton23 on April 26, 2009, 05:14:49 AM
Thank you very much!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;D
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Destis5445 on April 30, 2010, 09:24:18 PM
Wow, im a new poster here but all these updates are just fantastic, just wow. But a few requests, you dont have to pay attention to them but i'd maybe eventually like to see these used, i see these all the time in the area i live in. (click links)

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=39.369474,-84.372082&spn=0,0.011319&t=h&z=17&layer=c&cbll=39.369329,-84.372072&panoid=R9Faw4nf5BAJuJ0rD-JQGw&cbp=12,90.5,,0,-23.07

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=39.170796,-84.6538&spn=0,0.022638&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=39.171283,-84.648562&panoid=PkVn8vo0GAwPPX_5Hx335Q&cbp=12,128.8,,0,-31.09
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Buzzit on July 26, 2010, 09:07:31 AM
hey there!

so i finally tryed to bat a power pole today! and well. im very excited about the outcome of this one
its my first bat ever and its not in game or something like that so i dont celebrate to early hehe

information about the pylon
the pylon it self is a french/luxembourg/belgium pylon(atleast i saw these types in those countries) and are by far the most common ones in those countries

here's a picture:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg834.imageshack.us%2Fimg834%2F1373%2Ffrenchmediumvoltagepylo.jpg&hash=6ce9e7121e168538669e7755b6a2af602c722980)

so what do you people think of it  ;D?
if there's something missing or something that needs to be changed tell me!

btw! in french these pylons have a concrete type of structure but i aint that skilled enough to make such types thats why i used a cilinder wooden type =)
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: MandelSoft on July 26, 2010, 10:21:29 AM
Well, it looks good!

By the way, do you have the HD plugin for gMax? If not, you can get it here (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=7430.msg238749#msg238749). I would like to see a HD render of your power line  ;)

Best,
Maarten
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Buzzit on July 26, 2010, 10:41:13 AM
Quote from: mrtnrln on July 26, 2010, 10:21:29 AM
Well, it looks good!

By the way, do you have the HD plugin for gMax? If not, you can get it here (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=7430.msg238749#msg238749). I would like to see a HD render of your power line  ;)

Best,
Maarten
yeh i just found it a couple of minutes ago
its accually thx to your tutorial that i came this far cuz i didnt understand BAT so i searched for tuts
Metarvo also sended me a great tut wich i really gonna try out soon!

anyway here's the render i also made a 'corner pole'
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa.imageshack.us%2Fimg541%2F7749%2Frenderso.jpg&hash=c2da2ff26811538e42436593e59211705e848a5d)


allthough i still dont get 2 things:
how do i make diagonals? do i just have to turn the model in a certain degree?
if i make a lot with it.. i cant find it in game doh!
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on July 26, 2010, 10:57:53 AM
Buzzit, it looks like you're picking this up rather quickly.  :)  The pylon looks different than anything I've ever seen, but it looks good all the same.  The corner pole is a good addition, as well.

First, to make diagonals, you rotate the model 45° before rendering.  There should be a Rotate button on the top toolbar in BAT.  Select and group your model, then rotate it 45°.  Then, render the model.  It will be diagonal.

Did you put the model on a lot?  If so, which menu did you put it into using PIM or PIM-X?  It will show up in that menu in game.  For example, if you used a park lot, then you will find the lot in the Parks menu.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Buzzit on July 26, 2010, 11:48:57 AM
hehe yeh i think they use medium voltage a bit diffrent here in europe you  rarely see these next to the road (as far as i know correct me if im wrong!) you see these alot through the field

here a RL sample the picture is in france(google earth) :
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg210.imageshack.us%2Fimg210%2F721%2Ffrenchpole.png&hash=4cd45b7c66ba00f17e09ee38027d25679082726f)

and the corner pole:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg256.imageshack.us%2Fimg256%2F4590%2Ffrenchpole2.png&hash=52f3fc3bc0393a32347f87abb1ef5d79a22dab2c)
also this one has that 'concrete structure' i said earlier it also its a bit diffrent than my own corner pole

here's a new render btw now with diagonals and a new corner pole with turned isolators
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa.imageshack.us%2Fimg42%2F382%2Frendersn.jpg&hash=548238c2f1570ade48f4476483953dbe3d9f028e) edit! now with concrete corner poles

i now will try to put them into simcity but i first gonna find out how to put them at the electrical menu



Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on July 26, 2010, 01:25:52 PM
I liked reading about your use of Google Earth for this BAT project.  ()stsfd()  I've done that with Google Earth and Google Maps many times myself, sometimes just to look at power lines in Street View, and sometimes to gain inspiration for BATs.  That pylon has a cool design, if I do say so myself.

Do you have SC4PIM Extended (PIM-X), which is available on the LEX?  If so, you can drag your rendered model into the Power Eye Candy building category, which is good for buildings that belong in the Power menu but don't actually produce any power.  Then, you can create a ploppable lot from that building.  Once you place the building on the lot, you will have your pylon in game in the Power menu.  The Readme included with PIM-X will give a more detailed explanation of the lot editing process, but I find it much easier to use than the Maxis LE.

One thing I would suggest is to stretch your model vertically in the BAT to around 120% to 140% or so of its original scale before you render it.  Personally, I use 133%.  The perspective in SC4 causes a BAT squash effect, so vertical upscaling helps to cancel this out.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: homefryes on July 26, 2010, 01:33:31 PM
I also utilized Google Street View for my pylon project at http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=6511.msg233937#msg233937 (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=6511.msg233937#msg233937); what a great tool to help with realism. I like what you're doing, Buzzit; great project!

-- Don
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Buzzit on July 26, 2010, 02:18:46 PM
Quote from: homefryes on July 26, 2010, 01:33:31 PM
I also utilized Google Street View for my pylon project at http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=6511.msg233937#msg233937 (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=6511.msg233937#msg233937); what a great tool to help with realism. I like what you're doing, Buzzit; great project!

-- Don

thanks man!
yeh google street is great!
i like your projects aswell! aspecially the 1 with the complete layouts of landschape

@Metarvo
thx for the tip allthough i think they look good allready i will still try this out!
only how? just using the scale button?


well i got one them working with the LOD editor unfortunately its in parks
i installed pim-x but for some reason i cant find my models hmm.. i think i need to look better!

anyways.. i got a really big problem i got the windows 7 crash to desktop problem  :(.. so i can only play for like 5 mins and then it crashes to the desktop.. &mmm  and i searched but theres.. as far as i searched no solution for it.. and im not gonna install xp again(allthough i would do but i'm also a musician and need my pc cause i make electric music for my course and other hobby)
ah well im still continue to model   :)

maybe i found a solution wich im trying out now

anyways (https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg824.imageshack.us%2Fimg824%2F2013%2Ffrenchpylonsingame.png&hash=f724b332020f51d9d8d88971732374d2dd005bda)

this is what i got now in game

edit:

argh its going from bad to worse ><!

i reinstalled simcity 4 deluxe wich is totally fresh now nothing added
so i relot my new pylons but for some reason if i save them they still won't appear in the lot list of the lot editor or in game
and i dont understand cuz they were ingame before the reinstallation... sigh.. im going to bed now.. i will look into this tomorrow and a solution for the CTDs
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Destis5445 on July 26, 2010, 04:08:02 PM
Wow, you guys make some substantial progress with this each day don't you!  :)   
Well here it goes, not trying to make your day worse but i would like to request a small variety of ploppables, slope conforming, dragables, doesn't matter. I would appreciate to have these included in my cities suburban areas for they would fit in very well for my City Journal that I would like to start up. I have the signs, the houses, the sidewalks, pools, bike trails, but one of the only missing pieces are these:

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=39.363203,-84.45611&spn=0.021036,0.042486&t=h&z=15&layer=c&cbll=39.360256,-84.460736&panoid=c7ov02HX1yiCt-3q-kmT9w&cbp=12,175.31,,0,-14.09

Ones like these that are along the side of this suburban Ohio area.

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=39.317082,-84.42323&spn=0.02105,0.042486&t=h&z=15&layer=c&cbll=39.316922,-84.423426&panoid=t5Fiwlju8zY4Ra_M1PBV9w&cbp=12,59.47,,0,-16.18

Similar To These

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=39.154092,-84.701371&spn=0.021099,0.042486&t=h&z=15&layer=c&cbll=39.154879,-84.713699&panoid=c3tD-HGIoS3V9wdKxBccQw&cbp=12,86.29,,0,-22.27

Like These for my more Rural areas

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=39.323792,-84.427515&spn=0.021048,0.042486&t=h&z=15&layer=c&cbll=39.323803,-84.427705&panoid=g965N-cOfKc9yo2lky7NOQ&cbp=12,280.64,,0,-16.36

Lastly

I know this sounds like alot, but it would fit in to almost any American city. I would not like for you to say "Hey, check these out, these might suit you." for they on the most part link me to some European styled power grids which don't fit in at all here. If you don't want to do these then I will find someone else. If you could link me to a request thread besides the main mod request thread which is a fail since it is barely noticed or to someone willing to do requests that would also be appreciated. Thank you for spending time to make this game a better and a more realistic experience.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: MandelSoft on July 27, 2010, 01:36:52 AM
I can help you with the last one. This pack (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=2105.msg180512#msg180512) looks quite simmilar to the high tension lines you're suggesting.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Girafe on July 27, 2010, 01:48:01 AM
I made french poles long time ago with cables whcih follow the slope but I never release them  &mmm

Your work is great buzzit, your progress are fast with the BAT and I am glad to see other french poles   :thumbsup:

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fnsa14.casimages.com%2Fimg%2F2010%2F04%2F27%2F100427100954242194.jpg&hash=7b8b6e15eb5a5bf268dde60b6e1e4cd59a059e50)
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Buzzit on July 27, 2010, 02:24:24 AM
Quote from: Girafe on July 27, 2010, 01:48:01 AM
I made french poles long time ago with cables whcih follow the slope but I never release them  &mmm

Your work is great buzzit, your progress are fast with the BAT and I am glad to see other french poles   :thumbsup:

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fnsa14.casimages.com%2Fimg%2F2010%2F04%2F27%2F100427100954242194.jpg&hash=7b8b6e15eb5a5bf268dde60b6e1e4cd59a059e50)

haha  those look nice!
you see those are even more common  :) and you see them alot next to roads
i was planning to make such pylons aswell but now that you made them i don't think its neccesary haha

only im not gonna cable mine  because
1 i aint that skilled enough just yet(i think)
2 you see them alot @ hilly regions wich would be impossible for me to wire  :P

but i'm now gonna try to solve my problems *sigh*

edit: my god... its going from worse to a disaster  :'(  for some reason i only am able to start simcity one time.. after that i just don't want to function correctly it i start it it returns to desktop instantely while the icon is still at the bar if i click it again i have it function for like 2 seconds and returns to desktop etc etc etc its like simcity won't allow me to test out my stuff lol


btw how can i change the properties of a block or a cilinder or any other figure? because i want to change the radius of the wires of the corner wire to make them more realistic
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: tag_one on July 27, 2010, 05:12:58 AM
Quote from: Buzzit on July 27, 2010, 02:24:24 AM
haha  those look nice!
you see those are even more common  :) and you see them alot next to roads
i was planning to make such pylons aswell but now that you made them i don't think its neccesary haha

only im not gonna cable mine  because
1 i aint that skilled enough just yet(i think)
2 you see them alot @ hilly regions wich would be impossible for me to wire  :P

but i'm now gonna try to solve my problems *sigh*

edit: my god... its going from worse to a disaster  :'(  for some reason i only am able to start simcity one time.. after that i just don't want to function correctly it i start it it returns to desktop instantely while the icon is still at the bar if i click it again i have it function for like 2 seconds and returns to desktop etc etc etc its like simcity won't allow me to test out my stuff lol


btw how can i change the properties of a block or a cilinder or any other figure? because i want to change the radius of the wires of the corner wire to make them more realistic

The more poles the better, variation is always welcome ;)
You can change the properties of cylinders and boxes with the properties button. It's the button next to the one you use to create boxes, spiles etc. The one with the blue bended thing.

I'm working one some power poles as well. Here's one of mine:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg190.imageshack.us%2Fimg190%2F5227%2Fpowersw.jpg&hash=3bb1eacd978964f5195f67b375b1f4b6b192797e) (http://img190.imageshack.us/i/powersw.jpg/)
It's a bit like the one Metarvo made, but than with some slightly different details and less timber. I'm also making substations for those lines. Hope you like.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: MandelSoft on July 27, 2010, 05:17:32 AM
WOW! These look gorgeous!  :o
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Buzzit on July 27, 2010, 05:34:08 AM
indeed! those look really good! :thumbsup:

anyways i made some new pylons

i also made a change to some older ones i made
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg651.imageshack.us%2Fimg651%2F360%2Fcomparisons.jpg&hash=edfcd6ca384426cf605c5980839f48b45c4bcfa2)
as you can see i made the  'carrying part' a bit smaller wich looks better imo
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on July 27, 2010, 05:51:36 AM
There's some good work going on here!  &apls  I have seen a number of poles that look similar to those tag_one made, minus the green isolators which we don't seem to have in the U.S.  I like the improvements to yours as well, Buzzit.

How did you get those to follow the street, Girafe?  Are they T21s?  They really do help to complete the rural look that is much sought after in SC4.

:thumbsup:
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: TiFlo on July 27, 2010, 06:44:29 AM
@ Buzzit,
Concerning your problem with sc4, I too suffer the exact same thing under Windows 7. However, it will only happen if I have another or several other applications running at the same time (ie WMP, Firefox, Skype, etc.).Closing all of them always gets sc4 to reopen full screen and not go back to the taskbar like you experienced.

Also, nice poles BTW!  ;D
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Buzzit on July 27, 2010, 06:49:27 AM
haha thanks!
i will try that aswell! it would be a waste if i model so much and can't even use them! but when im done i will upload them anyways
but that will take some time cuz there somany pylons out there! ;D

here's what i got so far:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg838.imageshack.us%2Fimg838%2F9431%2Frenders.jpg&hash=5a298ae64d0a80f5938ab31c7b9b9b883363b106)

btw how can i add power to my pylons? to make them somewhat usefull for power?

edit
another ingame view from 2
now with starting pylons aswell
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg230.imageshack.us%2Fimg230%2F1831%2Fingame.png&hash=db82d2da030bb61774b60a0cc357a6355d1362a0)

yeh i suck at rural area building i really gonna find some topics about that cause i like such areas more then big cities
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: MandelSoft on July 27, 2010, 11:14:16 AM
Well, there is a way to remove that base textures, but it involves slightly more advanced modding. Good work so far.

And if you don't place the power pylons too far apart, the actually carry power. In you current setup they would transfer power
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Buzzit on July 27, 2010, 11:26:59 AM
Quote from: mrtnrln on July 27, 2010, 11:14:16 AM
Well, there is a way to remove that base textures, but it involves slightly more advanced modding. Good work so far.

And if you don't place the power pylons too far apart, the actually carry power. In you current setup they would transfer power

well i used your sign tutorial to get these in game so they now function as open grass lol
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: tag_one on July 27, 2010, 01:33:33 PM
^ So do the ones I made. You can mod them to generate power, but honestly who wants dozens of small power plants in their city. Have fun when they start aging ;)
I prefer those items to be neutral lots (no cost, no pollution, no power/water etc). But that's just my opinion.

I love your poles. They look a lot (if not the same) as the ones in Germany as well. If you want you can add a taper modifier to the wooden poles. This makes the poles a bit thinner at the top. It adds some extra detail and some more realism to them ;)
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Buzzit on July 27, 2010, 03:07:40 PM
Quote from: tag_one on July 27, 2010, 01:33:33 PM
^ So do the ones I made. You can mod them to generate power, but honestly who wants dozens of small power plants in their city. Have fun when they start aging ;)
I prefer those items to be neutral lots (no cost, no pollution, no power/water etc). But that's just my opinion.

I love your poles. They look a lot (if not the same) as the ones in Germany as well. If you want you can add a taper modifier to the wooden poles. This makes the poles a bit thinner at the top. It adds some extra detail and some more realism to them ;)
wait what? i thought only concrete poles are a bit thinner on top!
a well i will try something like that tomorrow!

this is what i got so far
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg12.imageshack.us%2Fimg12%2F2407%2Fingamepylons.png&hash=40fe891efcaa37524ec196fa5c70d36b860d857e)
i got 2 other models done aswell but i will put them in the game tomorrow it just can't believe how many variations are out there!

btw now you mentioned it. i was planning to make some german ones aswell but that will be for later :)

anyways isn't it possible to change the lifespan of a powerplant(or pole in this situation)? if so why not changing it to a really big number?

Mod edit: Please avoid large oversize images and PNG files.  JPEG format is preferred.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Girafe on July 27, 2010, 03:46:17 PM
Good progress   &apls &apls.

However try to rework your textures above all concrete and wood textures, I am sure you can upgrate them for better rendering.  ;)
I like the details you put one these items  :thumbsup:
 
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on July 27, 2010, 03:52:40 PM
Looking good, Buzzit.  I especially like the cables that go into the ground on the start/end pylons.

I agree wholeheartedly about the variations.  The RL counterpart of the metal 345kV pylon that I BATted has straight-line poles, a number of corner poles, and start/end poles.  This doesn't even include the two parallel sets that are sometimes used interchangeably with it.  I haven't quite put the entire set into the game, and I have tweaked it somewhat for the game, but I just about have it to the place where I'm satisfied with it after several retries.  That reminds me, I still have to get those substations going one of these days.  ::)

Mine are neutral lots, too, only I have them in the Power menu instead of the Parks menu.  The Parks menu can quickly become crowded after even a moderate number of downloads, since it seems to be the most commonly used menu for custom lots.  Still, this is a matter of personal preference.  I've actually contemplated adding NIMBY effects like lower land values and the like to my poles to resemble RL, but not everyone would appreciate a set that nothing would develop around.  On the flip side, I've seen a number of power lines built next to existing houses, and even new houses built with power lines right in the backyards, so it's probably best to keep it neutral for that purpose.

Did you know that you can actually create a transparent base easily in PIM-X by editing the lot in the included LE-X and deleting the base texture?  You can actually save lots in PIM-X with no base texture at all, in contrast to the Maxis LE which doesn't allow this.  So, keep up the good work here.  It looks like you've already made a lot of progress since you first picked up the BAT.

&apls
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Buzzit on July 28, 2010, 01:18:12 AM
Quote from: Girafe on July 27, 2010, 03:46:17 PM
Good progress   &apls &apls.

However try to rework your textures above all concrete and wood textures, I am sure you can upgrate them for better rendering.  ;)
I like the details you put one these items  :thumbsup:
 
haha thanks!
but what is wrong with the texture? are they to bright?(alteast thats what i constantly think lol)
so what do you recommend for the textures?

Quote from: metarvo on July 27, 2010, 03:52:40 PM
Looking good, Buzzit.  I especially like the cables that go into the ground on the start/end pylons.

I agree wholeheartedly about the variations.  The RL counterpart of the metal 345kV pylon that I BATted has straight-line poles, a number of corner poles, and start/end poles.  This doesn't even include the two parallel sets that are sometimes used interchangeably with it.  I haven't quite put the entire set into the game, and I have tweaked it somewhat for the game, but I just about have it to the place where I'm satisfied with it after several retries.  That reminds me, I still have to get those substations going one of these days.  ::)

Mine are neutral lots, too, only I have them in the Power menu instead of the Parks menu.  The Parks menu can quickly become crowded after even a moderate number of downloads, since it seems to be the most commonly used menu for custom lots.  Still, this is a matter of personal preference.  I've actually contemplated adding NIMBY effects like lower land values and the like to my poles to resemble RL, but not everyone would appreciate a set that nothing would develop around.  On the flip side, I've seen a number of power lines built next to existing houses, and even new houses built with power lines right in the backyards, so it's probably best to keep it neutral for that purpose.

Did you know that you can actually create a transparent base easily in PIM-X by editing the lot in the included LE-X and deleting the base texture?  You can actually save lots in PIM-X with no base texture at all, in contrast to the Maxis LE which doesn't allow this.  So, keep up the good work here.  It looks like you've already made a lot of progress since you first picked up the BAT.

&apls
Hehe well i made a bit of mess with all the implementing into game stuff.. I had a couple of times that the i had twice the same model in game, or even trice! And stuff like  forgetting something and so on. My plugin manager is pretty full now lol

Wel that sounds cool! i think they would be better with a transparent base! Time to figure out PIM-X!


Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Buzzit on July 29, 2010, 08:25:34 AM
hmm.. i still dont understand pim-x that will so that will come in time

im rescaling all the models at the moment since i noticed that they where to small
i allready tested 1 in game that one looks better with its new size!
new screenshots will come in time!
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Girafe on July 29, 2010, 08:50:07 AM
At first glance, Pim-X is difficult but it's a good tool.

For the textures:

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fnsa16.casimages.com%2Fimg%2F2010%2F07%2F29%2F100729054830459410.jpg&hash=10d30b73bfd0a7927730cb34169f3656b0b985a2)

it seems that you applied too small textures but I am not sure bacause I use 3dsmax. Try to scale up your wooden texture in order to cover all the pole.

For the others poles, apply a concrete texture: www.cgtextures.com (http://www.cgtextures.com) is a very good website (you need to register I think)

But as I said your work is already very good for a beginning.

After I will teach you how to make cable which follow slope it's better visually   ;)
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on July 29, 2010, 09:00:55 AM
Gmax seems to have this habit of brightening any textures that you import in, so it's a good idea to import a texture that's darker than you actually want it to appear.  This will compensate for the added brightness.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Buzzit on August 01, 2010, 01:27:14 PM
well the textures are diffrent now and a bit darker
and i changed some models a bit! i will post a new picture one of these days but im pretty busy with multiple things i also make music on the pc (For education) i'm preparing for my introduction week and i also have a small moped project! so it could take a short while!
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Buzzit on August 03, 2010, 06:49:27 AM
i suddenly got a really weird but maybe a somewhat good idea
while i was playing simcity i dragged a powerline and noticed that the lines dont have any shadows.
my own powerlines dont have wires for now so that gave me the idea and question: is it possible to change the line texture to something transparant? because if that is possible you can have your model as a dragable without the line issue and if you do it right maybe you can add a draggable model with lines already attached to it and than drag them in the right messurement and you will still have powerlines with wires with power flowing through them.. offcourse this would only work on flatland

its maybe a weird idea but it may work if the textures of the wires could be changed


and something else i made many new changes to some poles but when i load them into the lod editor most of the models look a bit 'stupid, just like myself' i mean they are really flat and smashed into itself (lol yeh i know it sounds weird). do some of you people have this aswell? and how can i fix this? did i do something wrong while rendering?
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on August 03, 2010, 10:29:35 AM
Well, there have been a few replacements for the draggable power pole models, but no one that I know of has been able to make any changes to the wires themselves.  Unfortunately, the wires seem to be hard-coded into the EXE, and if they are, it means that they can't be modified.  The idea to make the wires transparent is a very good one, but it would still require a modification to the wires.  If something were to be done about this one day, I would consider it a groundbreaking discovery.

I can't see any pictures of your problem, but it sounds like you might be getting bad renders from the description you provided.  I had this problem too when I first started out, but it went away after I applied the ModelNames script fix [linkie (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=3507.msg169624#msg169624)] by ChrisAdams.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Buzzit on August 03, 2010, 12:07:11 PM
Quote from: metarvo on August 03, 2010, 10:29:35 AM
Well, there have been a few replacements for the draggable power pole models, but no one that I know of has been able to make any changes to the wires themselves.  Unfortunately, the wires seem to be hard-coded into the EXE, and if they are, it means that they can't be modified.  The idea to make the wires transparent is a very good one, but it would still require a modification to the wires.  If something were to be done about this one day, I would consider it a groundbreaking discovery.

I can't see any pictures of your problem, but it sounds like you might be getting bad renders from the description you provided.  I had this problem too when I first started out, but it went away after I applied the ModelNames script fix [linkie (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=3507.msg169624#msg169624)] by ChrisAdams.

so there isnt by any chance that it will work?

does it mean that if ints hardcoded into an EXE file that its completely locked away from us?
that would be screwed... and what if someone just  code the same kind of script/code for it?

anyways if it would ever be solved than we dont need anymore transparant pylons cause we could change the wires anyway hehe

but how did people changed the pylon model then? or is that something diffrent?


thanks for the link btw i hope it works now!
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Buzzit on August 05, 2010, 07:13:00 AM
mehh i modeld some new pylons for straight lines but now can't render anymore i get this:
script error while executing:openTB2MainUI().

i have to press ok
and then nothing happens i cant do anything no exporting or rendering and this comes at a really bad moment!
whats the problem?
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Buzzit on August 09, 2010, 11:38:04 AM
so i finally figured out what the problem was and i fixed it

so this is what i got now :

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa.imageshack.us%2Fimg821%2F5640%2Fnewrender.png&hash=507b47c2b5e8b5bf761a523cc9903f9d245db42d)

so what do you people think?

im still on the search in google earth if i see other types but i think i have enough supspension pylons hehe

all pylons do exist in alot of european countries but im not done yet

i also made my first  2 110kv high voltage single circuit power pylons:

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa.imageshack.us%2Fimg175%2F7010%2Felectricpylon.png&hash=b873f6bdb1e9354269afe1af8cc166587e61cc68) allthough i think the isolators are still a bit small i think the result is awesome

these are pretty common i pretty much every country exept for a few.  but i yet again use a french google earth picture for my inspiration!
and damn i saw some nice pylons in that country wich i wanna give a try aswell!

and a small ingame shot:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa.imageshack.us%2Fimg805%2F5994%2Fingameee.png&hash=0ca168ddf4c258e766e901762a69274c991f1ce7)

tobad i didnt saved the google earth coordinates i wanted to check the high but im pretty sure is close to it. i checked were the line gone to and a km or 5 later i see the same type of pylon somewhat bigger(like somewhat smaller than the maxis ones) so i think im gonna make an 220 kv equivalent aswell
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: MandelSoft on August 10, 2010, 12:50:23 AM
Looking wonderfull, Buzzit! I think these would also fit in your set  ;):
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa.imageshack.us%2Fimg19%2F4111%2Fgl24.jpg&hash=c163c0322784c1163e1dcb516ee69965c5f128cd)
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Buzzit on August 10, 2010, 02:39:43 AM
Quote from: mrtnrln on August 10, 2010, 12:50:23 AM
Looking wonderfull, Buzzit! I think these would also fit in your set  ;):
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa.imageshack.us%2Fimg19%2F4111%2Fgl24.jpg&hash=c163c0322784c1163e1dcb516ee69965c5f128cd)

thanks for the compliment :)!
yeh they indeed look really good! and they are also from france!
did you made those?
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: MandelSoft on August 10, 2010, 03:23:10 AM
Yes, I batted them myself  ;)
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Buzzit on August 18, 2010, 05:54:26 PM
i found something interesting for rural powerlines
if somebody else would ever wanna try
here's a blue print i found of certain designs:
http://www.myinsulators.com/acw/bookref/poletower/gonentrans-fig2.11.jpg (http://www.myinsulators.com/acw/bookref/poletower/gonentrans-fig2.11.jpg)

i though its maybe nice to share and these are easy to bat so if somebody wants to try! i would say give it a shot!
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on March 27, 2011, 02:06:39 PM
This didn't really belong in my BAT topic, since none of my BATs are involved (yet), so I decided to post it here instead.  A couple of weeks ago, Lowkee33 posted a fine tutorial (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=12737.msg370370#msg370370) on modding the Maxis power line network.  Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get any custom BATs into this network yet, but I did play around with the Power Line Scaling Factor in the Reader and managed to make the Maxis wires invisible when I set each factor to -1.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg12.imageshack.us%2Fimg12%2F7563%2Fwlplpic00.jpg&hash=a8d80efb3beeae4dfe9315a8682dac95c88cbace)
Here is a wireless Maxis power line going across the water to provide power to the buildings on the other side.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg826.imageshack.us%2Fimg826%2F1092%2Fwlplpic01.jpg&hash=708f77cb23ab028e28e587342afea8052e977c33)
To show that it works, here is the Power Data View.

Making the wires invisible doesn't serve any real purpose on its own.  However, it does show that the wires can be done away with, so that they won't be an issue for people who substitute their own power pole models for the Maxis ones.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg405.imageshack.us%2Fimg405%2F1725%2Fp3pic035.jpg&hash=60d597a848e27ba7a9d73130fe5d695db187028b)
Finally, I am on the threshold of making a draggable version of my power line set, following the previously mentioned tutorial.  Here I am dragging out a line of P3 Phase I metal lattice pylons.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg5.imageshack.us%2Fimg5%2F6094%2Fp3pic036.jpg&hash=d94decd0562cc98ec6b95bc6889f2a0b803c22fc)
Here is a group of power lines I have dragged out.  The wires are still inactive for now, because they don't line up with my set.  I have chosen to replace the intersections with turning pylons from my set that I have selected.

Now, the ploppable sets are not going away, and I will still continue working on them.  However, several people have been requesting that I make a draggable set, so I'm trying to do just that.  With that being said, the Maxis power line network is a rather interesting one.  It can even run at fractional angles, as I discovered a while back.  I'll have to play around with it a little more over the coming weeks, in between SC4, work on my ploppable power lines, and a little RL here and there.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Lowkee33 on March 28, 2011, 08:12:31 AM
Very nice, I was about to ask you what went wrong, but it appears you got it.

The Power Line Scaling Factor can be 0 and still be invisible (I think, if we are talking of the same property, the one with 5 reps?).  Each rep is the width of the power line.  Maxis power lines actually get wider as you zoom out, so I think a fix may be good for that, they look much better if they get thinner as you zoom out (IMHO).

Not sure how you and Buzzit make the pylons.  You may consider Batting the wires into the pylon model.  This way when you drag you actually get wires.  There would be a bunch of restrictions on what formations could be dragged, but something to think about.

Edit: or perhaps the wires as a separate Lot Plop?

Keep up the good work  :thumbsup:
 
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: metarvo on March 28, 2011, 11:22:32 AM
The wires in my current ploppable set are separate from the pylon models, so I would need to BAT them into models.  You're right about the limitations, though.  The pylons would always have to be the same space apart.  It would be more manageable though if I used non-drooping wires instead.  Since I already use a 3-tile right of way with the ploppable set, an offset wire lot to go with it is a good idea.  Unfortunately, BATted wires brings back the slope-unfriendliness that plagues ploppable power line sets.  Not only that, but I've uncovered some strange behavior with the intersection pylons.  Although they can be dragged out in rotations other than north, they always default to the north rotation after a zoom or view rotate.  This means that I will have to be careful with the poles that I decide to use for the intersections.

Yes, that property is the one I adjusted.  To experiment with thinner wires, I set the reps to 0,0.05,0.1,0.15,0.2.  The wires still seem a little thick in the closest zooms, but they now thin out quite nicely in the farther ones.  I'll try to get a picture up later.  I wish there was a way to adjust the horizontal or vertical positions of the wires, though.  I have an idea for hybrid approach that would use both the Maxis wires in addition to BATted ones, with a secondary 4-wire pylon inscribed into the custom 6-wire one.

Thanks for the input, Lowkee.  You've given me some good ideas.  ;)

EDIT:

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg830.imageshack.us%2Fimg830%2F5232%2Fp3pic037.jpg&hash=1f3306126050e0c66ae64617146e77cfab8029e3)
Here's the picture I promised.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Buzzit on June 08, 2011, 03:56:31 PM
why did i never noticed there was posted in here!
what a nice find!
i may even want to model a pylon wich look realistic and functions with these wires!
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Lowkee33 on June 10, 2011, 05:02:09 PM
Sparked my interest too :)

The foundation there is an issue too.  I quickly made a model with the TGI I referenced in the tutorial (0x0AD80000 and 0x0AD90000), but it doesn't seem to be the pylon's.  The material name for these models are for the subway, but the S3D looks the same.  I may have done something wrong.
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Aaron Graham on June 10, 2011, 06:50:48 PM
Is it possable for draggable power lines, what files are they so I can play around with them, to help you guys out. :D

What is the wire file, I have been trying to find that forever with no victory. :(
Title: Re: Rural power lines
Post by: Lowkee33 on June 10, 2011, 07:18:43 PM
There doesn't seem to be a Power Line Exemplar.  There is the Utilities Exemplar, which can be found in the Navigator under the Simulator tab (Some Pictures (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=12737.msg370370#msg370370)).  That exemplar appears to have all of the properties we would need, but they don't seem functional.  &mmm.

My next guess is that the power lines are an effect, and perhaps editable in the Effects Directory.