NAM: Development

[Terring7]

It can be an advantage though.  Just think of it... a new form of RCI access without conventional road frontage.  It will also boost the underground city scene a lot, with the potential for buildings to have underground entrances.

Oh boy, functional underground cities

The idea of expanding our cities downwards when land is at premium, moving huge transportation systems underground to make some room at the ground level, and even build entire subterranean cities, has been around since a long time and it's not going to leave us anytime soon, from this 1925 prediction...



...to the Alice City proposed for Tokyo in 1989...



...to the Earthscraper proposed in 2011 (I think) for Mexico.



Mix this new discovery with the underground buildings already made for the game, like these...





...and we'll have actual underground cities with actual subterranean commute. Endless possibilities 

I know it's too soon, but I have some questions. Apart from cars, does this support bus and freight truck as well? Can pedestrians use the flexible underground roads too? Can we cross those roads to build underground intersections? What will happen if we cross those roads with actual subways? Will they interfere with them? Can we use this technology to build flexible underground railroads too? If yes, we could build an underground network of freight railroads right under our heavy industries!

Keep it up and never stop pushing the limits, folks 

[gn_leugim]

this is really nice! great work!

what networks are or will be available with this option? :O

[Wiimeiser]

Currently I believe only RHW-2 and MIS are supported, with RHW-4 in progress.

Those underground buildings are from here, right? For the life of me I can't figure out how I first found that page... Where was the original link?

[Terring7]

Those underground buildings are from here, right?

And from here too.

[roadgeek]

Now I can remake Klyde Warren Park. There is a discussion about doing something similar here in Austin, with the I-35 corridor.

EDIT: The video shows that it works with RHW-2 and MIS. What about RHW-4?

[roadgeek]

If we had diagonal height transitions

We will.

That is music to my ears, or rather candy for my eyeballs!!!!!

[Gugu3]

This is simply amazing! been away a while and this simply blew my mind

[Tarkus]

Thanks for the kind words, everyone!  It feels good to finally be able to show this off to the public . . . and be this close to releasing it at long last.   Now to answer a few questions that have come up here and elsewhere . . .

Does this support freight movement?

Yes.  Not only can Cars use this for commuting purposes, but New FLUPs can also support Freight Truck and Bus traffic--a significant upgrade over the old Subway Converter lots, which could only accept Cars.

What underground networks are supported?

Presently, there's only the "RHW-2" and "MIS" versions (which would be used for any 2-lane/2-way and 1-lane/1-way underground network, respectively).  Girafe has made RHW-3 portal models, though I've yet to implement those, and there are no RHW-4 portals as of yet.

Eventually, the plan is to support underground networks that mirror RHW/NWM/Base Network counterparts, though "RHW-2" and "MIS" are probably all that'll be in NAM 39.

Can these things cross regular Subways?

Technically, no.  They're at the same height level.  An actual crossing would require either another sub-level for the underground roads, or the Subway itself (and resultant underground height transitions).  There may be a way to cheat it a little, but that hypothesis has not yet been tested.

Can URail be reimplemented using the same technology?

Sadly, no.  Both eggman121 and I tested a Subway-based URail replacement extensively, and unfortunately, Rail pathing does not play nice with Subway-based override networks, to the point of such an override being effectively unusable.  It's a real shame, since URail is a particularly gnarly mess of puzzle pieces in its current iteration, and we are, of course, trying to shuffle as many old-style puzzle pieces into obsolescence as possible.  We'll continue to look for such a way to do that, but that's a huge unknown at this point.

Can Pedestrians use them?

That hasn't been tested, and the existing underground networks do not have Pedestrian paths on them (carried over from the existing FLUPs puzzle pieces).  If we are to give an underground Pedestrian network a go, it'll be its own thing, without other vehicular traffic (if you're spending that much money to build a tunnel, there's no sense in mixing Peds and Cars).

-Alex

[Wiimeiser]

What exactly happens when Rail paths are put on Subway? A shame, because Urail definitely needs improvement, there isn't even a way to go straight without having a road on top.

[Tarkus]

The issue is not completely unlike that which affected the notorious "double-decker" version of the Tsing Ma Bridge, once Rail/El-Rail traffic tried to use it--perhaps worse, though.  The Subway-based URail turns blood red in the Congestion DataView upon getting any use at all.  Traffic can pass through it, but it moves so extraordinarily slow that literally any alternative route (even some that are considerably longer) will be preferred. 

With regards to URail without having a Road on top . . . in addition to the PedMall-over-Urail options, a side-effect of the addition of "Tram" functionality to the old FLUPs PPs means that there are Rail paths on them (intended to allow UDI functionality).  You should be able to use one of the Blank Terrain FLUPs PPs and get functionality for URail as a result.

-Alex

[roadgeek]

It's all good! I mean puzzle pieces, while limiting on how much you can do to enhance them, aren't the end of the world. I seem to recall when Rush Hour first came out, it came with its own set of puzzle pieces, and I was happy just to have the new capabilities that they came with.

[eggman121]

Just dropping this here

https://www.youtube.com/v/srUqamNHnfw



-eggman121

[AsimPika3172]

Nice elevated roads!  But can't coments on Youtube because of KIDS CONTENTS.... 

Stupid Coppa.... 

[Jack_wilds]

    




just wow...

[Wiimeiser]

Wait, what were the FCC's guidelines on video games, again? All for kids unless it's AAA stuff like CoD?

[gn_leugim]

woooooow... ich will das!!! 

now seriously, you guys are awesome!

will those also be available in 0 to 7.5m (non on-slope) transitions? the ramps I mean.

The only donwside I have to point is the street texture on the viaducts, don't look good imo, but I can live with that anyway

[Ernestmaxis]

Amazing content!

[mattb325]

Just adding to the praise here: I must say, since you guys moved away from the big unwieldy installer, you now all look like you're having fun making cool new stuff for the game, and that's awesome to see! 

[flann]

My first contribution is shaping up:

[roadgeek]

My first contribution is shaping up:

Thank you Flann. We look forward to more contributions from you.