Tunnels update: Must-haves

[Brazilian Joe]

Tunnels & Co. update: Must-haves

I'll post here my laundry list of must-have features for the "tunnels" update:

Tunnels should have an outer wall with actual concrete, or to be able to have holes cut, whichever is simpler, so that it can e.g. cut close to the surface, where terrain may occasionally have dips which would expose the tunnel. It shouldn't be a hard "must be 100% underground, or it's undeployable".

It should be several layers deep to have tunnels above and below other tunnels and possible to make underground crossings.

Since tunnels have no pillars, I should be able to place two tunnels in parallel on top of each other, without pillars interfering and triggering a "space already occupied".

All lane types should be available.

It should be possible to create underwater tunnels to cross rivers. It's OK if they are expensive.

Floods can and should wreak havoc with tunnels.

EDIT: more player suggested features. Here is a full bullet-list.

- Parallel Tunnels stacked vertically along the same axis on different heights
- Outer walls or partial tunnels possible to go under irregular terrain where it may sometimes be partially exposed
- All lane types
- Junctions/crossings underground
- Underground train stations
- Multiple Metro levels
- Metro lines stacked vertically moving on the same axis
- Above ground Metro
- Stacked elevated roads on top of each other; parallel pillars

 

[EvilTom]

I would hope that with tunnels and trains you could have underground train stations separate to the metro (or even using the metro - are they the same gauge and compatible). This might even give a use for the Grand Central Station.

I know that in Birmingham, UK we have Snow Hill Station and especially New Street Station which are at least partially underground, so that would be an interesting way to create heavy train lines into the city centres.

 

[Jokurr]

I hope tunnels will give us the ability to have metro lines passing underneath each other, as well as the ability to come to surface level. It would also be a nice visual touch if metro trains and stations have an actual model and not just represented by a solid green block shape. I'm guessing that the reason metros aren't actually modeled into the game and are only represented in the transportation overlay is because there are no tunnels.

 

[Brazilian Joe]

While we are at it, I'd like to stack elevated roads on each other.
For this we would need alternative pillar system.
Currently we have one large column on the center, and that's what causes the elevated roads to red-light often with "space already occupied" problems.
An alternative design would have two pillars at the sides, which can stack on other pillars of the same type, and have a road going under.

Updated OP to gather the ideas in a list.

 

[Brazilian Joe]

Now, if the player is developing an elevated highway, to be able to deploy another road under it, the game should check for 3 possible layouts:

Behold my awesome ascii-art of highway segments viewed from above:

highway edges: |
pillars: O

current:
(a pretty large pillar)

| |
| |
|O|
| |
| |



NEW pillar types:
parallel:


| |
| |
O O
| |
| |


slanted 45 degrees 1:

| |
| O
| |
O |
| |


slanted 45 degrees 2:

| |
O |
| |
| O
| |


Checking the different pillar positions would have a greater chance of finding a "clear" pillar, making deploying elevated segments less fiddly. also, with pillars to the sides, elevated segments can be stacked on each other longitudinally.

 

[Jokurr]

While we are at it, I'd like to stack elevated roads on each other.
For this we would need alternative pillar system.
Currently we have one large column on the center, and that's what causes the elevated roads to red-light often with "space already occupied" problems.
An alternative design would have two pillars at the sides, which can stack on other pillars of the same type, and have a road going under.

Updated OP to gather the ideas in a list.

Check out this mod:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=409073164

 

[AustinPowersFas]

Check out this mod:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=409073164

Would never use things that actually make a game less realistic. Physics concerned.

 

[REDDQ]

- Junctions/crossings underground

I would love to get underground pedestrian crossings. Heck, I would love to get elevated pedestrian crossings as well... thing we can make with elevated paths just looks very bad and is way too big. Fingers crossed for that.

 

[bucgene]

I would love to get underground pedestrian crossings.

In Hong Kong they have a super network of underground pedestrian path. I hope we can get this in the future too.