Cities Skylines traffic lights...

[co_martsu]

I didn't mean to say that there shouldn't be any traffic lights. But there should be more options to build different kinds of intersections to optimize traffic.

At least that's what I play CiM2 for and I hope CS:L will improve on that.

We'll do our best!

 

[Norfolk_Chris]

Forget traffic lights. Just give us proper roundabouts.

You can create fully functional roundabouts in CIM2 by using expressways, these do no generate traffic lights as one way roads do.
But we do need functioning traffic lights, you can't build roundabouts in cramped city centers without demolishing buildings.

 

[medopu]

I'm not too fond on over-doing something as mundane as traffic lights!

Ofcourse, i wouldn't mind extra options, but if these extra options mean, that 1 month of developement time went to this instead of... bug fixes, more buildings, or whatever a bit more important, I'd be pissed!

 

[timfrombriz]

I think an important factor in any city is Traffic management. Simcity 4 Rush hour did this, but traffic was a visual cue only, no real cars.

From what I've read on the reddit Ama , CSL will support up to 1 million citizens but the actual movement of peeps and cars will only be a visual cue and not be a real a to b pathfinding car or peep. You'll only find peeps by their home or work building.

Traffic management and trying to optimize traffic flow are the only selling points of this game for me. Otherwise it's just a map editor with micromanaging taxes.

Co_martsu please tell me I'm wrong

+1 for traffic lights, real traffic, intelligent lane use aka not just pile up in a single lane when there's 2+ as per Cim2 and in the recent CSL screenshot below and lane control for intersections.

 

[co_motep]

From what I've read on the reddit Ama , CSL will support up to 1 million citizens but the actual movement of peeps and cars will only be a visual cue and not be a real a to b pathfinding car or peep. You'll only find peeps by their home or work building.

Traffic management and trying to optimize traffic flow are the only selling points of this game for me. Otherwise it's just a map editor with micromanaging taxes.

Co_martsu please tell me I'm wrong

I'm not martsu but I can tell you that you're wrong if you like

All vehicles displayed actually go from point A to point B with a real purpose. Everything that moves does so for a reason, don't worry.

edit : typo

 

[Zarine]

All vehicles displayed actually go from point A to point B with a real purpose. Everything that moves does so for a reason, don't worry.

This is good and makes me wonder considering the other info that there is no day/night cycle :
Will there be rush hours when everyone will go to work? Or will they go to work on an individual basis ?

 

[SlyEcho]

You can create fully functional roundabouts in CIM2 by using expressways, these do no generate traffic lights as one way roads do.
But we do need functioning traffic lights, you can't build roundabouts in cramped city centers without demolishing buildings.

Yes, I know how to do that using expressways. However, it's not a proper roundabout because the circle doesn't have priority over the entering roads. Also, there needs to be a way to keep pedestrians away from the middle of the circle.

What I'd like most of all is to have an option to have traffic lights at junctions or not. And also to choose which road has priority and which one will yield. Also, to split off and join new lanes without creating a new junction with traffic lights etc.

 

[mubd]

In addition to traffic lights, I think that changing the configuration of the turning lanes is something which should be considered. It's frustrating having cars pile into a single lane just because the system has automatically decided that there will only be one or two lanes for the mainline road and the rest are allocated for the left and right turns.

 

[timfrombriz]

I'm not martsu but I can tell you that you're wrong if you like

All vehicles displayed actually go from point A to point B with a real purpose. Everything that moves does so for a reason, don't worry.

edit : typo

Hi co_motep ,

Thanks for taking the time to respond! Are you new to the team or have you been unshackled from your desk ?

Could you please take a look at my Road System question in this thread;
http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum...nd-Suggestions-for-CO&p=17933976#post17933976

Its something I have been badgering for a long time with CIM2, and would work well with a city builder, and I know a lot of other CIM2 players have voiced agreement. If you could elaborate on if you plan to make the road system support modding, and to what degree, that would be fantastic.

Lastly, a news flash from Cites: Skylines;

Traffic chaos in the city, so many CIMs clogging up the inner city travelling east to west through it. Mayor unveils plan to borrow $500k to fund a new highway tunnel under the city from the east to west, but it will be tolled to fund the cost of the loan. Motoring groups warn mayor setting the toll to high will cause lower and middle income residents to avoid the toll road and solve no traffic problems and result in a fiscal nightmare!

 

[co_motep]

Thanks for taking the time to respond! Are you new to the team or have you been unshackled from your desk ?

A little bit of both

Could you please take a look at my Road System question in this thread;
http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...6#post17933976

I did and there's interesting stuff in there, we'll see what we can do but I can't promise anything at this point . Thank you for the suggestions !


The modding support will be really extensive. Through the modding tools but also with the decoration tool where you'll be able to customize road layout and road intersections in a user friendly way.

 

[SlyEcho]

The modding support will be really extensive. Through the modding tools but also with the decoration tool where you'll be able to customize road layout and road intersections in a user friendly way.

It's good to hear this! When can you give details on the modding support?

 

[co_martsu]

It's good to hear this! When can you give details on the modding support?

You'll have to wait a little while longer, I'm afraid. But I was planning that maybe modding tools would make an interesting series for dev diaries. We could describe all the tools in detail and get feedback on them from you guys!

 

[SlyEcho]

That's good to hear. I'll be waiting!

 

[slornie]

Following on from the traffic lights/junction customisation discussion above I've been hunting down a particular post I recalled from the CiM2 forums, and I'm happy to say I've finally found it! I've quoted the final iteration of the suggestion here, but the link at the start of the quote goes to another thread where there was a bit more discussion around some of the options (including uses in some additional situations):

This is an expansion of my thread. I'm posting here to expand on my ideas and hopefully get the attention of the developers.

Here's some road tools I would really like to see in the game. Some of these could be items on the build menu.

Split Road

Click anywhere on a road to split it into two sections at that point.​

Left-Turn Lane

Click in the middle of an intersection, move the mouse in the direction of one of the roads (must be an avenue). This will show a preview of a left-turn lane in the median strip which starts where the mouse is (ie moving the mouse further from the intersection will increase the length of the turning lane). Click once more to confirm.​

Right-Turn Only

Click on a road, move the mouse over an intersection (this will show a preview), click again to confirm. Now all traffic on that road must turn right at the intersection. If there are two roads joining the intersection without the right-turn-only thing, the traffic lights will disappear and their medians will join.​

Modify Lanes

Add the ability to re-paint existing roads to add bus lanes, add parking spaces and replace the median strip with lanes. This works in the same way as adding tram-tracks and trolley-wires (mouse-over highlights the lane, click confirms). It is also possible to mouse-over and highlight a 'potential' lane (to the right of the existing road). Clicking here would expand the road.​

Create Round-About

Click on an intersection, move the mouse away from the centre to create a preview of the round-about. Moving further makes it bigger. Click to confirm.​

Footpath

Add a new type of road just for pedestrians with the same width as the sidewalks that appear on normal roads. It doesn't create intersections when connected to a road. When changing height, if the slope is too steep, generate stairs instead.​

Here are some examples of what to use these tools for. Explanations are below.

View attachment 83571

1. A normal 4-way intersection.

2. Trying to create a 'slip-way' with the current tools (this is what I call it, probably not the right name).

2.a Useless intersections which hinder traffic.

2.b People in the slip-way can turn left, blocking up traffic!

2.c The bottom pedestrian crossing stops traffic from flowing nicely.​

3. Make this by selecting the Right-Turn Only tool, clicking on the one-way road and then clicking on the top-right intersection.

3.a No annoying intersections. Traffic flows nicely.

3.b No left-turn, the slip-way is only used by people who want to turn right.

3.c Only one pedestrian crossing on the slip-way. Cars which want to go into the slip-way won't get blocked up by pedestrians.​

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4. Attempt at round-about with current tools. It's pointless because of the extra intersections in the circle.

5. Get rid of the extra intersections with the Right-Turn Only tool. Now traffic flows properly.

6. To make compact, circular round-abouts, use the Create Round-About tool.

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7. A normal road. We want to make somewhere for buses to stop.

8.a Use the Split Road tool to make a small section in the middle.

9. Using Modify Lanes, create a new bus lane on the middle section.

---

10. A normal 4-way intersection.

11. Now it has a left-turn lane in the medium, created with the Left-Turn Lane tool.

Along the way I also came across another CiM2 traffic light suggestion which seems relevant here:

What Rockstar did with GTA San Andreas is create two phases of traffic lights - East/West and North/South. When a traffic light object is placed, it chooses the nearest phase based on it's rotation. Something similar in CiM2 would be a much simpler and less hungry solution. So, rather than when a junction is created the game creates a bespoke phase of traffic lights - the traffic light phase is already calculated based on that road spur's alignment. (Roads at 0-45 degrees, then roads at 46-90 degrees, etc). That way - all north/south roads will be green at once. It will stop that situation where traffic moves but then stops for the next junction 50 feet down the road.

 

[Person012345]

An intersection is where two roads (or streets) cross each other, like a small t. A junction is where one road (or street) meets another, but they do not have to cross each other, like a big T. A junction can be both a junction and an intersection. The word junction is usually reserved for places where roads meet in rural areas.

I don't think that's correct. I think an intersection is a type of junction.

Anyway, on topic, traffic lights definitely need to work properly if the individuals are going to be persistently simulated. Not necessarily fully customizable, that's too much, but they need to work, they need to be timed correctly for the traffic volumes otherwise there will be big traffic jams. Roundabouts would also be great to have, since they're more efficient. And traffic-lighted roundabouts.

 

[hert]

The pitfalls of CiM 2 was two fold. Bad lane designs and inadequate/too long light sequences.

The first was bad lane designs. When it came to intersections there was left only lanes which made traffic merge to the middle for no reason. Even though the lane continued past the intersection. Maybe a quick way for us to determine what each lane can go would be pretty cool. That way we can tailor our intersections to what the traffic demands.

The second was bad light sequences. This came in two ways, First was that the lights didnt adjust to demand. If one way was had tons of cars waiting it would still only hold for the same amount of time. I think SimCity does this best, as if there is no opposing traffic the light will stay green for one side. The second part was that each direction of traffic had there own sequence. This meant that waiting for 4 sequences + 1 for pedestrians. Should be two sequences, maybe if you add in left turn lanes maybe one sequence for that. As for pedestrians should not get there own sequence instead they should get a green with the traffic going straight, traffic turning right yielding to anyone in the intersection. This is most realistic.

It looks like its going to be a fun game. So keep up the good work.