Metarvo steps up to BAT

[metarvo]

Pat: Thanks for the compliment about the icons.  I'm glad you like the sig. 
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I know, this is not much, but it's just a pic to show that this is not dead, even though I have other things going atm.  Even so, I am still working on this project, and plan to have more done soon.  The wires on the left are offset stand-alone wires (with no poles), useful for situations where a wire connection should be made but a pole can't be placed, like turns and neighbor connections.  The pole on the right is the new ortho-fractional turn piece.  The 45-degree turns will be next.

[Pat]

Metarvo looking good and I cant wait to see the new turns next!!

[Sciurus]

Those are very good pylons, but does it really guide electricity?

Guillaume

[metarvo]

Pat: Thanks for the compliment.  I am still working on the poles, although I am tied up with some other SC4 related projects atm .  In addition, one thing leads to another in the BAT, at least for me, so I have found myself working on yet another new addition to the set, as seen below.

Guillaume (Sciurus): I glad you like the pylons.  Actually, the answer to the question is yes and no.  Due to a lack of proper planning on my part, I arbitrarily selected 10 tiles (160 m) as the wire span for my previous set, so the old pylons have been described as eyecandy.  However, I am trying to upgrade to "functional eyecandy" by adding at least one more wire span to the set, allowing the pylons to be built close enough together so that power actually does flow between them.
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One problem that I see with both my power lines and the Maxis defaults is the fact that just anyone can get electricity from them.  It just doesn't seem right to me at all that the average consumer can get 120 V or any other common household voltage directly from the high tension lines.  For one thing, I'm convinced that the Sims in the typical SC4 city are stealing electricity from the high voltage lines, because the Mayor has to fund the power plants and lines, and you never hear of a Sim paying an electric bill.    There's not much, if anything, that can be done about this.  However, I am working on a way to build a power grid in which the power is stepped down to the levels that consumers use.  I realize I am not the first to make substations, but I think it is time for me to try to make some.  This picture displays a teaser:

23-1


Of course, a substation is made up of more than one small segment, so the rest will come later.

[SimNation]

I am deeply looking forward to this complete set when you finish it. I have your first in-complete set and it looks great in game (sadly tore it down when I saw this set in development). But this will be great for making a city to city to city regional power line set up. Cannot wait the substation into ground pieces are looking good keep up the good work.

[metarvo]

SimNation: I have made some more progress, as will be seen in the progress teaser shots I have posted.  I'm glad you like the first set. 
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25-1

I'm working on the new turns, Pat.  This is the unwired 45-degree turn, still unrendered.

25-2

The metal power line set won't be the only one to be overhauled.  I am redoing the wood power line set as well.  See if you can figure out what's different just from the preview. 

[Pat]

metarvo that is looking real great there!!! 

[buddybud]

hafta agree with pat on that one!! Looking good!

Bud

[LE0]

These are much more realistic then the red and white ones.
btw why do you like powerlines so much?

[Fresh Prince of SC4D]

ahhhh.... electrical goodness 

[metarvo]

Everyone: Thanks for the compliments.  They really do mean so much to me. 

LE0: Well, it's sort of a hobby of mine, much like SC4 is.  For some reason, I have always had an interest in the "backstage" of RL, which includes power lines.  Since SC4 includes the concept of electric power, the two seem to be a perfect fit.  However, vanilla SC4/RH has a limited power distribution system when compared to RL.  That's where I come in. 
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Here's the first substation that I have completed.  I just wanted to throw something together to transition the metal power line to the wood power line in a manner that made sense, and this does, at least to me.  Only the ortho is completed for now, but I try to always make diagonal and fractional angle versions for everything that I make if it's possible and practical, so they are definitely planned. 

[homefryes]

Wow; beautiful substation there, Metarvo! It's always nice to interact with other utility pole geeks, such as myself. Here's something I put together before I embarked on my ploppable utility poles project: Don's Utility Pole Pages [linkie] You've done a fine job on tying the wooden poles to the metal towers with this substation in between.

-- Don

[LE0]

Your power lins look great

Is it possiblke a SAM for powerlines where drag powerlines off of starter pieces?

[metarvo]

Don (homefryes): Thanks for the compliment.  As for the interaction, I must say "My sentiments exactly." 

LE0: Thanks for the kind words.  Unfortunately, the answer to your question seems to be no.  Even though the in-game powerlines are considered a transit network, their behavior is quite different from that of streets or roads.  A while back, a similar effect was created [linkie] through a combination of the removal of the Maxis models and the construction of plopped power poles next to the wires, but this is still not quite as easy as dragging power lines, and the 4-wire limitation is still there.  AFAIK, SAM for powerlines is impossible, at least for now.

[Pat]

omg WOW Metarvo that is a wicked electrifying substation!!!

[metarvo]

Even though they are extremely busy in another region, my utility workers are still testing new concepts.  What could they be doing with this one?



Yes, this project is very much alive, even if it has been a little quiet lately.  RL has picked up just a little within the past month, but I am still working on this, slowly but surely.

EDIT:



Here's an in-game pic of the pole that was being developed above, in addition to another new pole and a variation on an old one.  One of the new poles is actually a transition from my metal lines to the default Maxis lines.

[joelyboy911]

Its been quiet here, but I really love the concept. 

One of my pet hates of the game was needing multiple power stations per city, and I hear that some fixing has been done to up the output of the maxis plants, but to get to the point are neighbour connections ever going to be possible with this?

When I was pondering this I though of another idea, did anyone ever think to take the maxis lines, and make them invisible as to permit these types of mod to be placed in them, but allow the easy passage of electric current. I mean they would be totally gone (but perhaps with something small left so you cant forget where you put them) wires and all.

[Diggis]

I think the problem with the Maxis lines is we can't find them in the files.  The poles are replaceable and/or removable, but the wires elude us and are assumed to be in the EXE.

[FrankU]

Metarvo,
This is really a great development. Looking very good, although in my opinion the large poles are a bit "thick". Less metal in the upper part of the construction would be nice.
Like so many I always detested the Maxis powerlines. Especially because they disappear where there is a lot underneath... I'd like them to stay.
And there are some powerline projects already, but if I want to use them I always have the problems of corners, substaions and edges of maps... They are not very versatile. More or less I am forced to build my cities (or at least areas) around the poles.
If there are diagonals and substations It's really great!

[metarvo]

I've been busy with a combination of other SC4-related projects and RL, so I haven't had as much time for BATting and I have mainly BATted power lines on an as-needed basis for the last month or so.  However, I am still working on this project, and I have made some modifications that I think you all will like.




This is a zoom 4 pic of three variations of the same pole, with no wires.  Pole A is my working model I have already shown here and it is the current standard for my project.  Pole B is the same pole with many of the metal struts removed.  Pole C is Pole B, scaled upwards 33% to minimize the BAT-squash that others have noticed.


This is a zoom 5 pic of the same three poles.

Of course, I might have to redo my other poles as well, but it will be worth it if it is an improvement.  Any suggestions are still appreciated as always. 



joelyboy911: Thank you very much, I'm glad you like them.  Unfortunately, the only way truly functional neighbor connections could be made with these power lines is if they were made draggable, replacing the in-game defaults.  However, as Diggis noted, the wires would get in the way.

Diggis: Sad, but true.  Oh, how I wish the wires could be modded in the same way as roads and bridges.  The 4-wire limitation is about my least favorite thing about the Maxis defaults.  Thanks for the reply. 

FrankU:  Thanks for the kind words.    I went ahead and removed some metal from one of my poles just to see what it would look like.  As for the diagonals and substations, they are definitely going to be a part of the finished product.