Wide Radius Road Curves

[TheTeaCat]

The pic says it all.  YOU ARE THE MAN!

[Pat]

Yuppers that is all i got to say - pat

[schm0]

Are these ploppable? I know they can be implemented in a drag-style environment, depending on the situation. It seems that making them draggable would be the most difficult part of this project, because of the dozens of different combinations. How many people are working on this with you?

[dedgren]

Okie, dokie.  This is where I'm at with this.

After "adventures" (involving much cursing and gnashing of teeth) in texture ID-land, I have finally got all three of the curves created in a "base texture" mode.

Here's the one you've not seen in the game...



I think, next the widest radius 90 degree curve that the game will create, that looks pretty good, IIDSSM.  I'm using, btw, c.p.'s grass texture "0xDDF8F000" from the "BSC Cycledogg TexturePack V01."  More about that in a mo...

So here's each curve in turn, with a few trees thrown in for good measure.

The S-Curve.


The 45-Curve.


The 90-Curve.


As an aside, here's a glitch I encountered along the way when I TE'd something wrong.



That has some real possibilities, as I could probably just about take stuff "off the shelf" to create a curve-junction like that.  But...

Our friend schm0's questions provide a good point of departure.

Are these ploppable? I know they can be implemented in a drag-style environment, depending on the situation. It seems that making them draggable would be the most difficult part of this project, because of the dozens of different combinations. How many people are working on this with you?

I can't take any more time away from 3RR (I'm already getting worried posts).  I've fiddled with this during a particularly difficult RL interlude (tax time, staff changes at work, extension of the mother-in-law visit, and just helping my wife on her road to recovery)- I'm not being fair to peopleon SC4D I'm leaving hanging on other stuff by continuing here.

So, with this post I donate what I've done to the SC4 community.  Attached are the three lots- they can be used as eye-candy as is.  They will need to be pathed, or someone can take things further (as is my fervent hope) and do puzzle-pieces or draggables or something really nifty.

I'm around to ask for anything that would help folks with those efforts- I can fiddle with textures and resave them (I have the road surfaces on their own, and am sure that someone who knows what they're doing with overlay textures could turn them into such in a minute or two (LOL, BadSim!)) to order.  But I've got to move on with the other stuff I have in progress.  If someone can perfect this stuff and get it on the LEX, you'll be everyone's hero.  You don't even need to mention my name- just seeing proper curves there will be reward enough.

I do need to return to my use of cycledogg's texture.  For it to be properly used in a final version for distribution, if that's what happens, the BSC TexturePack should be noted as a dependency.  I have rolled the single texture up with the .zips I've created here for convenience, and without any intention to violate this wise (and fair) rule.

Thanks for being such great friends and understanding all this.


David

[Badsim]

I'm around to ask for anything that would help folks with those efforts- I can fiddle with textures and resave them (I have the road surfaces on their own, and am sure that someone who knows what they're doing with overlay textures could turn them into such in a minute) to order. 


David

Hi David ,

I've just downloaded your Lots and saw them with LE . 
It's a real pity that you didn't find so far the help requested about a  such great idea . I've already created base textures for my own use but overlays are more complex . I never have had the spirit to try but I don't think someone can realize so many "in a minute" ...
BTW , warm congratulations for your efforts ... considering your RL requirements ( and concerns ) , I don't know how you manage to give us already so much of your time ...   

[thundercrack83]

Well, David, I must commend you for your outstanding efforts in this project. The 90° curve looks especially great, but all in all, it is a great project. I hope that more will come of this because it is very beneficial for the game, which is evident in the "Before and After" shot of the 90° curve. Other than wishing for the skills to tackle this myself, the only thing I can wish for is someone to pick up where you left off and run with it!

[Tarkus]

Well, I've been thinking about the whole override thing . . . There may actually still be a way to do it.  It'll be a little more complex, but it will involve using a Road pattern that no one in their right mind would use, so it won't replace anything useful, and it will fit with the pattern memo posted. 

Making a puzzle piece wouldn't be too much of a problem for me.  I've whipped out 1x1s in 15 minutes before, and although these are a little more complicated, I don't have to mess around with the models (I can do it with flat 16m by 16m squares), and the RUL entry should (hopefully) not be too difficult. 

I may try these attempts a little later and hopefully post some successful results soon.

-Alex

[Rayden]

Nice work David, now I see why 3RR has not seen any post updates from you on the last 3 days. I also downloaded your lots and will try to path them myself.

[Tarkus]

Hi David-

Well, I managed to mess around with it a little, and I was able to turn the S-Curve into a working puzzle piece.

Here's the preview model (I still need to adjust it some, it's 1-tile off in placement, and I didn't have the transparency totally working):


Here's the piece plopped down.  I've added Road stubs to the ends, such that one can easily drag Roads out of it:


And the one you're all probably the most curious about--the DrawPaths shot, to show the thing actually works:


I really took my time with the pathing to make it look right.  I actually had been taking an algebraic approach, but it was making a bigger mess, so I kind of winged it the best I could.

So the S-Curve is essentially ready.  Once I get the 45 and 90 degree turn puzzle pieces finished, I'll attach them here. 

-Alex

[Serkanner]

Maxis, eat you heart out!!  ... both David and Tarkus, great work you both ahve done in making the game one step better again. Looking forward to use these a lot. 

[wouanagaine]

Great Jobs guys !

[metasmurf]

Wow this is really good!

[memo]

I really took my time with the pathing to make it look right.  I actually had been taking an algebraic approach, but it was making a bigger mess, so I kind of winged it the best I could.

That was wasted time because I had already written the paths for the S- and 45-curve. Anyway, if you still need the paths for the 45-curve, I'll attach them to this post.

[dedgren]

Alex (Tarkus) and memo- Hey, it never occured to me that you two might not be talking with each other as you went along on this...

That's my fault- I'm sorry that my "urging things along" was so indiscriminate.  I would suggest, though, that the two of you collaborate on the final product, as well as making a joint upload to the LEX when the time comes.  You might check with Silvio (Rayden), too.

I see from the comments that this effort has begun to attract attention (thanks, folks!  The credit, though, should go to the folks who did the hard part).  When I opened the thread this morning, I saw Andreas (Andreas Roth) lurking, and I've never gotten the sense that he does anything just for grins.

Anyway, great job, and thank both of you very, very much.  If I can be of further help with the road surfaces, let me know.


David

p.s.:  I realized I had never attached the 90-Curve .pngs (road surface only)- that's corrected here.

[Tarkus]

Thanks, memo, for the paths . . . you still managed to save me a lot of time with the 45-curve.   What plan of attack should we take for the 90-curve?  And how should we assign the IIDs?  I've got the 45-curve in the 5046NNNN range.

And thanks again, David, for releasing the textures!  Without that crucial step, this project more than likely wouldn't be happening.  I myself am not great at texturing, and that's actually been holding up some of the mods I've been working on (namely the RHWMIS and wider RHWs, though I've been recruiting a few texture artists).  And as far as the transit-modding community goes, I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one for whom that is the case.   So you definitely deserve credit too. 

-Alex

[Andreas]

When I opened the thread this morning, I saw Andreas (Andreas Roth) lurking, and I've never gotten the sense that he does anything just for grins.

Well, I finally decided to pay SC4D some more visits, since ST is barely usable anymore these days. I must admit that this place has a few too many subforums, so it's getting confusing now and then, but even with the sheer number of forums, a visit is a lot faster than anything on ST.

Anyway, just let me say "great work" on the initial project, and having the gentle curves as fully functional puzzle pieces is even better! I will have to wait for frimi's magic to get some european textures, but I'm definitely looking forward to use this for my rural areas.

[thundercrack83]

Alex, that S-Curve looks remarkable! Great job! I can't wait to see the 45° and 90° turns.

I'd also like to take the time to thank you and everyone else who as committed to making this project into a success! I'm sure I can speak for everyone when I say that it's very much appreciated. Thanks again, everyone!

[memo]

I've attached the paths for the 90-curve. Maybe they aren't perfect though.
BTW, I'm not a good at texturing either. This often delays me.

[Tarkus]

Thanks everyone!  Of course, I'd give a lot of credit to David and memo as well.

memo, thanks for the paths for the 90 degree!  I can take care of the rest of it, if you don't mind.  And it's good to know I'm not the only transit modder who can't texture. 

I have some RL stuff to tend to, but I should have some time in the next couple of days to finish these up.

-Alex

[Masochist]

You guys are amazing!  This is definately something that's been lacking in every SC version so far (besides the smooth diagonal transition we got in 3000).  Much thanks for all your work!