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[TIP] Connecting elevated roads to slopes; vertically stacking elevated roads

Started by Isaac Eiland-Hall, January 29, 2012, 08:29:22 AM

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Isaac Eiland-Hall

So I have this scenario:





And I'd like to be able to have a tool where I click on one tile, then on the other, and if the ways are the same height (as this is - elevated tile on one side, road on the other side at the same height), it would connect the ways.


I would hope that I could also do this:





Or this:





Or these:





I think this would open up some real awesomeness. :)

sdog

any build road tool (flat) does the trick, if it is lower level it will do so without changing the ways, just connecting them.

Isaac Eiland-Hall

#2
...How did I not think to try it? Of course it works. I just assumed it wouldn't work.

That's... mind-bending and mind-blowingly awesome.

So.. uh... Ignore this thread. But I'll leave it here for others to discover that it works.

Wow.



So I edited one of my cities:



This is SO awesome.

Here's a bit of fun:



At the top, I made a new interchange, but then realized (at the bottom) I didn't need the flat-raised-slope, merely the slope...

In the middle... I can connect to THREE elevated ways... but I can't figure out (yet?) how to get to the fourth level. hehe. I'll keep trying.



Got it! Not the prettiest, but I could refine it. This is scary. hehe



I don't know if this might be useful or not, but perhaps better for old railroad tracks to make it look like old-time bridges...



Last one. Just some fun. Slightly different layout, plus the connection of multiple layers... heh.



Seriously. Last one. Got to go sleep. Just having too much fun. hehe

Ashley

I've found vertical stacking to be an effective way to run two-way maglev tracks through the middle of cities (over roads).
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Fabio

I'm renaming this and moving it to Tips&Tricks, as it can be useful for more players ;)

IgorEliezer

Too much free-time and awesomeness in the hands.

(... hmm, forget the free-time part)

Quote from: Isaac.Eiland-Hall on January 29, 2012, 08:29:22 AM
And I'd like to be able to have a tool where I click on one tile, then on the other, and if the ways are the same height (as this is - elevated tile on one side, road on the other side at the same height), it would connect the ways.

Something like [Ctrl, Shift or Alt] + drag or click on 2 points to build a flat bridge.

ӔO

Quote from: Timothy on January 29, 2012, 10:45:39 AM
I've found vertical stacking to be an effective way to run two-way maglev tracks through the middle of cities (over roads).
surprisingly, some stations are also done this way.
My Sketchup open project sources
various projects rolled up: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17111233/Roll_up.rar

Colour safe chart:

Isaac Eiland-Hall

Okay, I've made a stacked freeway that can go through a city - the city road as the lowest level; one direction of traffic elevated, and the other direction of traffic second-elevated. I also made entrance/exit ramp, though only one per level.


Overview:





Detail of the first end:





Detail of the elevated roads over the road in front of city hall:





Detail of the ramps:





Detail of the other end:





I was lucky in this case to need to go down a tile, but of course were this not the case, one side would go up a tile, and the other up two tiles... It might be better to elevate the two-tile side a few tiles first so that slower/weaker vehicles won't lose as much speed...

Also, I saw that there were relevant city roads on one side, so a sort of city entrance/exit:



The dirt roads are because I haven't loaded Timothy's fence, and because I can't make roads immutable. :-(

sdog

you seem to be rather excited about the new possibilities.

(in game i never could utilize highways enough, without saturating stops and feeders)

Isaac Eiland-Hall

Oh, I am somewhat exited, definitely.

I've always treated Simutrans more like a sandbox than a game; so the visual elements have always excited me more.

I've done freeways ever since we got no-entry signs. :) I usually play on freeplay, and my goal is to connect industries and carry passengers - more of a "take 100% of everything" rather than making a profit, which I tend not to care about.

I'm actually not too fond of doing the freeway stack like this - it's not something I will do often in my games, but I think it's really neat that it's possible, and it may help someone else. Though I will use it some, for sure. :)

Working on a freeway interchange - a stack.

First step:



Second step - the temporary foundation for the highest way - I think it'll be easier this way (this is my second attempt):



Here's the completed - I got involved and forgot to take screenshots:



So, some pitfalls:

1. It was easier to do the higher first, after building the foundation.

2. Delete the foundation, then do the lower

3. Rotate the map to be able to connect the lower tiles...

This is an American-style interchange, although it's larger than it would be because it's not easy to stack the ramps over the freeway crossing bridge.... heh

But still, this is pretty cool. :)

The idea behind this interchange is that it causes the fastest possible connections, with the least slow-downs of merging traffic. It's not the most modern - 1980s to present... But very common in the US.

Also, the small right-turn ramps would be a little bit larger, but... meh. heh.

ӔO

Here is my take on interchanges.

4 level stack, about the most compact land usage wise.

How it's made, since it can be rather confusing.





3 level stack, basically, the same as above, but more spaced out and easier to build



and various alternative designs

My Sketchup open project sources
various projects rolled up: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17111233/Roll_up.rar

Colour safe chart:

AP

You can do the stacking with elevated railways in pak.britain, it's the only way to get a diagonal viaduct thats more than 1 tile high.

If you want to really confuse yourself, delete the lower tiers afterwards - the top one remains floating on air...

Vonjo

Stacking elevated rail in pak brit is like a magic, as the train in the lower level needs to go through the wall. :D

The stacking freeway is really exists in Japan. And someone has created a working stack freeway with simutrans and japanese pakset years ago. It was a really impresive work. Check youtube.


HDomos

Having some fun with half height I realized that with it there are new possibilities. Here are some:

A turbine interchange (no steep slopes and sharp turns):



Actually the roads in the middle are not necessary so we can just delete them or not build them in the first step...







And finally add some eyecandy:


Next, the roundabout interchange:






And again, add some one-way signs and some eyecandy


The next is a gridlock-free railway interchange:

The size is dependant of how long trains you would like to plan for:





So the turning tracks are ready, now comes the straight ones, you must decide which one will go under the other:






And as an end just put all of this together:

Note: The last is fully functional too and gridlock-safe, but it costed 1,5h to make it... A true complex interchange  8)

ӔO

My Sketchup open project sources
various projects rolled up: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17111233/Roll_up.rar

Colour safe chart: