Rural power lines

[WC_EEND]

no offence mate, but it looks like the lines themselves are missing

[metarvo]

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.

[homefryes]

Thanks for the feedback, Metarvo and WC_EEND.

no offence mate, but it looks like the lines themselves are missing

Over at 3RR [linkie], it was determined in this post [linkie] that wires would probably not be visible:

At 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

[projectadam]

Thanks for the feedback, Metarvo and WC_EEND.Over at 3RR [linkie], it was determined in this post [linkie] 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!!!

[homefryes]

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:


Closer zoom:


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). I still have poles yet to .dat that will tie in to the substation.

— Don

[j-dub]

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?

[metarvo]

That's great, Don.   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.

[Streetlight 725]

Very Good updates!

[projectadam]

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   Unfortunately, everytime I look at substations I think about this

[metarvo]

 

Oh...


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.   Now I might never be able to make substations for my transmission lines... because that's stuck in my head now.

[homefryes]

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! I have also watched that video and numerous others. But have you seen THIS? (There are two other parts as well with news coverage after the incident.)

[homefryes]

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:

Looking forward to your feedback, as always!

— Don

[bob56]

Great idea for small substations, but shouldn't the poles be metal? i've never seen a substation with wooden equipment

Oh, sorry   

[homefryes]

I have actually seen older substations with wooden poles. The design for these is based on the utility poles I'm creating.

— D.

[High5Tower]

Good change to the gravel entrance. It should work well with the method of making street connections to non-transit enabled lots. Great project you have going here.

[j-dub]

This relotting is way better.  Glad you could find something.

[homefryes]

Bob: no need to apologize! All questions and comments are welcomed.

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

— Don

[metarvo]

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.

[dedgren]

This thread is EXCELLENT!  I always leave after reading it with ideas.  This stuff is filling a huge gap in the game.


David

[homefryes]

metarvo: I appreciate the feedback! Now I just need to find a utility truck...

David: I'm tickled that you stopped by to see the fun that your Plopperizer^TM 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