T-RAM

[mike3775]

Why the RHW and NWM need connector pieces is because we have essnetially one way traffic going to a connection they expect a return route from (We have to give them that return routeusing the NC pieces, even if it's not prototypical).
The tram puzzle pices don't have this issue as they have two-way traffic going to a two-way connection. Having a NC piece would change nothing.

Thanks for that info.  Now to go back and destroy all the curves off the Ave connections 

[Kuewr665]

Could the diagonal Tram in avenue pieces be split in half? It seems harder to change the direction of the pieces in the middle if the piece has both sides. Also, a diagonal avenue filler piece would help.

[Will12]

Is GLR in OWR going to happen?

[Tarkus]

It's been discussed, most recently in 2010, here, but there was a lot of implementation details to be worked out with intersections.  That was the last I've heard of it.

-Alex

[noahclem]

After a couple hours in reader and gimp I've finished my first texture:

              EDIT: Here's the PNG:

I created it specifically for a TIAxRD TuLEPs intersection but the same texture should work fine for TIAxOWR3 and TIAxARD3.

Anything to fix or any suggestions? This is just a JPEG, would it have been better to post the PNG?

[Tarkus]

That looks spot on, Noah!  A PNG would be useful, as that's usually the standard format we've used for transit textures, mainly as it's lossless.

-Alex

[cogeo]

It's good indeed!
One question, what images did you use as a source for this intersection? (I guess you took another image and modified it). Was it one of the "original" TIA and/or TuLEP image, or it was extracted from a .FSH? In such a case, my only suggestion would be to ask the original images from their creators and... ehmmm... repeat the procedure. After many conversions and modifications the quality may have worsen, resulting in perceptible differences (with the straight piece), if you look in carefully.

Also contact the TRAM members (Chrisim?) to request an instance ID for your piece (or a proper range, if are going to make more).

Btw I'm going to make a special reverser tile - a makeover of the straight-to-diagonal transition (tight curve) - and I need a proper set of IDs too, and the original texture(s), if possible.

[noahclem]

Thanks guys!

Not knowing a better way to get the textures, I went into reader and took screenshots of the highest resolution FSH files I needed, then pasted into Gimp, cropped, combined, and fine-tuned at 800% zoom. I combined the TIAxRd2 intersection and the RDxAVE TuLEP piece to come up with this.

I'll try contacting the TRAM team. It'd be much better to work with the original textures and I'll try to get an ID range. I'd like to continue with this to make TIA interface with most or all of the NWM networks.

I'll mention your request for IDs and pass along any textures I get from them 

EDIT: Changed 800x zoom to 800% 

[Kuewr665]

Was there a piece where a street intersected a tram in road, but didn't cross the tracks? I would need to use those.

Some of the turns are a little tight. The straight Tram in Avenue to side tram has good turns.

Also, how about tram crossings that don't have interchanges?

[strucka]

Really can't wait to get the possibilities to interfere the tram networks with NWM. That will be an epic win! =D

[vester]

noahclem: That texture looks good.

Not knowing a better way to get the textures, I went into reader and took screenshots of the highest resolution FSH files I needed, then pasted into Gimp, cropped, combined, and fine-tuned at 800% zoom. I combined the TIAxRd2 intersection and the RDxAVE TuLEP piece to come up with this.

You could use one of null45's Tools, maybe the Gimp Fsh Filetype plugin ?

[Lowkee33]

You could use one of null45's Tools, maybe the Gimp Fsh Filetype plugin ?

I use the Gimp Fsh Filetype plugin very often.  Once the plugin is installed correctly, all you have to do to export it from Reader is to right click on the FSH entry, and select "save decoded file(s)".  If you use Reader 1.4 the files will appear in SimCity 4\From Reader, the older version puts them right into the plugin folder.

There are two files there, one that ends with .fsh, and the other with .TGI.  The .FSH is what you can open with GIMP.  When you are done editing, save your image (I think DXT1 is what you want..., though it will also process the mips too).  Back in Reader, right click in the entry section and select "insert file" or "insert and compress file", and select the .fsh.  The .TGI has the TGI data, so you're done at that point.  Most of the time is spent in GIMP.

I would agree with Cogeo though, the closer you can get to the source the better quality your result will be.  You may find that the original has a much better gradient for example.

[noahclem]

I'm still waiting to hear back from Chrisim to get original textures and IIDs--I bcc'd you on the PM cogeo. I'm fairly happy with this texture as it is and I think I'll go ahead with the "T" version of it the same way. Whenever I get my hands on the original textures I'll create a texture for a different piece that way and if I think it looks significantly better than I'll revisit these.

What do you guys think of those dark spots on the tram rails? The TIA+RD2 intersection had them but I don't really understand why they're there. I think I'll get rid of them unless you guys think they make sense.

Thanks for the tips Carl and Arne    I downloaded the GIMP plugin, did a bit of reading, and I'll give it a try tonight or tomorrow.

strucka, I'm glad you're excited for this! I would do them just for myself but it's a lot nicer if I know others are interested    And that will definitely make me more likely to make intersections that I'm less likely to use myself.

[Tarkus]

I think that quality-wise, the texture looks fine as well.  I've never really had any significant quality problems basing a texture off of an exported FSH.

-Alex

[Shadow Assassin]

What do you guys think of those dark spots on the tram rails? The TIA+RD2 intersection had them but I don't really understand why they're there. I think I'll get rid of them unless you guys think they make sense.

The dark spots on the tram rails should line up with the grease marks on the main road surface. You can see that they're supposed to line up with oil slicks on whatever network the tram is crossing.

[noahclem]

Thanks Alex 

The dark spots on the tram rails should line up with the grease marks on the main road surface. You can see that they're supposed to line up with oil slicks on whatever network the tram is crossing.

Quick retouch:

[cogeo]

I think that quality-wise, the texture looks fine as well.  I've never really had any significant quality problems basing a texture off of an exported FSH.

I didn't say that the quality isn't good, instead I said that one would expect a better result if the original (the "master") texture(s) had been used. And this is because the FSH compression/decompression algorithm is "lossy", and small defects ("blurring", "bleeding", "artifacts", "blobs" and the like) may develop if a texture is compressed and re-extracted repeatedly (eg an intersection which was a modification of another one, which in turn was a modification of the straight piece). Of course this is a general principle, and does not refer to this specific texture. One would have to place this tile next to the straight one, to make an appraisal. Some of the GLR-in-avenue textures do have minor, but visible differences to the straight tile, esp in the sidewalks (look more pink-ish or gray-ish). And of course, the tyres' tracks must match.

[noahclem]

I'm still waiting to here back from Chrisim and have been mostly holding off on creating new textures til I see what kind of quality difference I can get from that. In the mean time I did an easy one with the textures I have available:



Next up will be the 2x2 intersection pieces, though I may wait for better textures in case I end up deciding to redo them 

[Shadow Assassin]

Oh, and incidentally: about bloody time that NWM intersections are done for GLR-in-Ave. I've had many, many situations where I couldn't use NWM because there was GLR-in-ave in the way.

We really need to work more on cross-linking components...

[io_bg]

I can only agree! The same goes for El-rail-over-road x NWM intersections. All these networks are really cool but you can use only either of them in one city (if you mix a few you'll have to build some not eye-pleasing transitions, etc).