WIP Beta released A new *CITY* map - LOS INJURUS 2023-12-20

First-off, thanks to all for the kind words, I appreciate it. It's been tough lately, especially with everything that can go wrong on my body basically going rapid fire on me or all ganging up on me at once. I don't think my health has ever been THIS BAD before, but I am slowly healing with my bad knee with periodic exercise as it allows for, and my mind is slowly clearing up bit by bit. Maybe the sun is doing me some good, or the 35F ( 2C ) it was this morning did the mind some good (BRRR! I like warm days not cold ones!).
The best part is the doctor says I've managed (without drugs for it) to get my cholesterol down from over 400 to 242! Hooray, less chance from dying from unexpected instant heart failure - that's always a good thing! It's especially a good thing, because when it last happened some years back, I had to beat my chest to get it beating again. The only thing I could do was move my fore-arms when I woke up like that, as I felt like my whole body was turned to stone and my head was going to explode. The very instant my heart restarted, the intense-head-explode-worthy pressure went mostly away (think bell-curve trailing off) and I could breathe again. After 20 minutes I had hardly a notion that something like that had happened. Thing is, when you do beat your chest rapid-fire like that you end up cracking ribs, and it took half a dozen YEARS for that stupid rib or two to heal. That price is but a pittance to pay for the ability to still be here though, even if many of my days I don't get to do a lot (due to agony/pain, things wrong with body physically, not being 'with it' mentally since I don't usually like to drive when it's too bad). I am just keeping my fingers crossed that it improves as the weather warms (no reason it shouldn't, though I'll never be 'healed' I am still not nearly ready to give up on my mobility yet).
Still, to all those who gave a [censored] enough to write in, thanks - thanks a million, and more so - thanks for caring!

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FYI still working on things over here. There is map progress, I just haven't entirely had a significant amount of stuff in-map to post pictures of (chasing texture bugs here and there, QoL fixes, fixes so things don't break in future game versions or making permanent fixes out of temporary fixes so they also don't break either).
This following intersection is done up nice now. It doesn't have cross-walks here or the railroad cross-buck signs are missing etc (along with the RxR on the road before you cross the track - which isn't in the map sources, I think I might have a graphic of that from Roane County somewhere). All the AI routes have been gone-over here and it should allow for almost any through-movement, except the road coming towards the camera position in the 1st shot cannot turn left here, there is ample opportunity to turn left in the two blocks 'before' this one, so it's not needed. Bridge pillars (not much shown) were added to the rail bridge here, so it no-longer looks so silly, like it's just floating there.

2nd picture shows a building that's already become very simplified, and all black - this is the kind of thing I've been trying to weed out over time (and as-such it'll eventually get fixed, but I am concentrating of fixing a lot of the reported bugs 1st). I figured I'd complete this intersection and it's messed up AI since I had to fix the traffic lights being all wrongly placed and such 1st. I have been taking time to drive around the map (a lot), but there's still likely places I haven't been yet, so I'll be sure to look this outgoing version of the map over really well (compared to last time!!!). This way no one has a traffic light pole hop out into the middle of the road in-front of them while doing 100mph. "But ossafer, I swear that pole wasn't there last time!"
I have good days where I can spend hours on the map, sometimes I have bad ones where I can't really do much or think straight and such, and of-course days when I am trying to be active and doing other things (such as trying not to fall off my roof if there's a leak, or trying not to get my skeleton to light up and blink on/off when fixing a light fixture, or even backing my mower down out of a tree etc).
If I get another few days this week to do like I did today for a few hours working on the map, I think I'll have most/all the bugs and annoyances that were reported all ironed-out/fixed. Hope so any-who. While I don't technically even need that long, I want to get this put out on the net and uploaded for the third time this-version, and not have to do it again the following week, due to even more bugs.
--That is all!
P.S. Thanks to all who care, the world needs more people like you. We certainly didn't get this far as a species by hating on each other.

 

Okay, backing your lawnmower out of a tree? There’s got to be a good story there.

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I hope the warm weather improves your health. I hope you get better (well, as good as you can feel), and remember; your life is more important than a digital map for a not-so-obscure-anymore video game.

 

Well, it's a good story to/for anyone - except the guy who gets to fix the mower ... AND the tree. Guess who that is?

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So needless to say, the nice weather today (about 60F and sunny, if a touch breezy with 10~15mph winds), was able to get over to the church and put up some railing so the elderly folks don't fall down so much. Poor things need all the help they can get, and I will give this help to them as much as possible, even if I'm not walking any better than them at the end of the day. I will at-least sleep / feel good doing it, even if I hurt (I hurt no matter what, so might as well make earning the pain worth it). I help people, in any way I can, even if I wave them down in a parking-lot and tell them they have a headlight/taillight/signal bulb out. Even the little things like seeing an elderly (short) lady trying to get something down 30 feet away (9 meters?) from me in a WalMart*, I will walk over and help him/her/them, as what's the harm? That person might be the person who stops and gives you a ride to civilization years from now, when you're stuck on the side of the road, after exhausting all quick-fix-it options on your car. I've been there. I had to wave a white flag (read: white muscle shirt) about 11 years ago at one point when my car battery SUDDENLY gave out on the highway and everything one by one shut down in the car (if these things happen, get to an exit ramp without letting off the throttle & maybe shift down a gear to get the alternator amps up a bit to keep the ignition system running enough, at-least you'll be close to civilization and not stuck in 100F heat like I was).
I say suddenly because it was sabotaged to prevent me from moving down here by corrupt individuals (who also had just tried to frame me at the time for retail theft; in which when questioned, I told the manager "LOOK ON YOUR CAMERAS, YOU HAVE 100 OF THE THINGS! I'll wait here at the desk until you figure out what's going on, I'm not in a hurry anyway."). I got an apology and was on my way, I didn't even have to talk to police or get detained etc. I keep my cool but I'm very firm with folks when they get like that and accuse me of things - I've dealt with 'the clowns' (read: FIRED private investigators) long enough to not get riled-up over it and mostly just laugh it off / ignore their cries for attention or demented ideas to appease their narcissistic personality disorder. Only I control me - not anyone else - nor will I fight if I don't have to. That leaves them to only beat themselves up, mentally, physically, whatever. It's the way I was raised, and also the way martial arts discipline was beat into me over and over when I was growing up.
Life's too short to not be HAPPY (well most of the time anyway). I am happy no matter how much pain I am in, just thankful to still be alive.
Sorry for the rant. Oops. Why do I do this? Maybe just sharing one of the many things I've went through will help others in their journeys in life.
If one thing is a take-away from this mess of text, just remind yourself that life is precious and a gift, you only get one life so use it well & wisely.

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These two intersections are complete. The one in the 2nd shot had misplaced traffic lights (I can now copy/paste completed lights - which can be up to 8 or so different pieces individually for each traffic light pole/assembly, this 2nd shot has 20 pieces to the traffic signals for 3+ directions, 4 directional lights would be a few more objects but not many). So if I copy/paste lights so I can place them later, and I forget I did it (which I do, commonly), you end up with lights in the wrong spot, wrong height, facing wrong ways, etc, or all of the above or some combination there-of.
So my apologies. But I also did work to get the lanes correct here in regards to valid through-movements (including where you cannot turn left to go what would be the wrong way down a one-way). How long does it take me to set up two intersections, even with copy-paste helping the speed, 'not less than an hour', and that does not include the time I spent placing all this curbing. One day I'll figure out how many miles of curbing there actually are in this map. Maybe if I don't finish, the next generation can finish counting all of the curbing.
That having been said, again I am so grateful that folks understand the rough patch I've been going through in addition to my spring-time 'get away from that PC' type real-life tasks, or at-least whatever I'm able to do. Something else I'm equally as grateful for is the fact that spring is springing and it's really REALLY a big morale-boost for me - I am sure many of you feel the same way - especially if you get joint pain (which sucks in the winter, cold temps make it worse!). It's going to get rather cold again (highs in the 40's F temps / a few degrees in C) over the weekend, but I'm okay with that. While it's nowhere near as nice as 60~70F temps (20C), I will be thankful it's not snowing... or tornado-ing for that matter. Less I forget that I've seen more than one tornado from my house's windows (I have multiple safe places to shelter depending on severity of things). So 40~50F and clear weather is just dandy, still better than 30F right? (-1.8C)
Temps in C are guesses at best, but they should be close enough to read through and understand what I'm saying if you don't use F for temps.
That is all for right now. Rest of the work here is me looking for more messed up traffic signals, inhumanly stupid AI (really!), and other issues such as left-over stuffs from editing / carving roads. Too many road-carving materials left over floating around (usually under the map out of sight) can eventually slow FPS just a bit especially on iGPU setups, so finding all those that I intend to remove is key to keeping FPS up. I leave a few as they're pre-made time-saving corner carving pieces I've made of mesh roads as a guide-line for doing hairpin turns etc, as they also help with consistency map-wide.
--Cheers and again thank-you to both supporters/contributors, and of-course no less, those who care! Every bit helps.

EDIT: Feel free to post pics of messed up stuff from the release candidates from last month, just in-case I might miss things, as it'd be rather unwise to underestimate my own cluelessness at any time. I'm not the sharpest spoon in the drawer after-all.

Speaking of other good things, almost forgot: I've seen fiber installation trucks at the end of my street and now I am getting the fiber company's routers showing up on my wireless thing here (I noticed the broadcast on the packet sniffer that always runs on here when connected to WWW). What's funny is when I went and looked at it, I also found out why the government is putting out money to install rural internet... (hint: see the picture below)
Guess it's a good thing I try to be a law-biting (law-abiding) citizen. I just hope they can see my copy of George Orwell's 1984 sitting directly on-top of the computer tower, which was put there just to let them know I care
So, might finally get some faster internet some-day soon. It only is a 11 months late, but that's a lot better than never. If I get better internet, I might even be able to *shudders* UPLOAD MY OWN MAPS to some-place other than Mega, without the connection losing packets and canning me (that's why I have to have the devs/staff transfer everything onto this site for me sans screenshots).
THE day it's available (if it isn't already), I will be ordering it, and cancelling this dumpster fire satellite. While it's not going to be much cheaper, at-least I'll be able to do the things most people take for granted on the internet, like not wait 45 minutes for a video to load (did it earlier) at 240p for whatever reason, or not waiting 10~30 seconds for web pages to load during peak hours.
Seriously. Even my AOL internet in 1996 with a 33.6kbps modem on a Pentium clone PC (Cyrix 6x86 PR150 at 120mhz overclocked to PR166 at 133mhz for Quake FPS improvement via motherboard jumpers) was faster at loading a web page, and AOL was known as the industry slug even then.
So if big brother is watching, does that mean I don't have to pay for 24/7 home security camera monitoring to catch burglars and other idiots prowling? NO! Of-course not. I'm not that lucky!
*Kermit the frog frown/frazzled face* *renames computer network name to: 'I C U 2' *

 

Your little updates on live always make me quite happy to read. I'm glad you are getting a little better health wise and I appreciate your service to your community! You're someone I look up to

Nice little update to the intersection, looks lovely! Hope your new Internet connection makes updating and creating backups easier on you.

 

In all seriousness, I think it would be possible to make a novel from your contributions. Reminds me of John Updike. Ever thought about that @bob.blunderton ?

 

Love the fact that you use the classic theme on windows. lots of old memories from that

 

I actually think the theme itself looks good even though for me brings back PTSD of those old trash school computers

 

Classic Shell FTW

 

Hi, so i downloaded this map and played on it with no problems for quite a while but when i loaded it again, i have a bunch of missing textures. Any ideas on how to fix?

 

I have a problem, it tells me that it is downloading from the repository and I get an error that says:
Repo Failed
could not download the file
(check console for details)

 

I wish you good health

 

Your connection is dropping packets. Please download with a wired connection, or wait for the smaller-in-size-but-lots-more-content update. The public update will come shortly (less than a week I reckon) after supporters get a beta that passes muster (e.g. is good enough and not bugged to heck and back). I have had two betas that failed QC thus far, hoping the 3rd time is a charm. I don't like releasing a bugged-out rubbish / dumpster fire of a map. It's got to be good or I'm not going to stick my name on it. Being incomplete does not mean 'ton of bugs expected', beta or not. Right now trying to get some odd bugs resolved that I had an issue with one trying to nail it down (what the cause was, how to reproduce for reporting purposes, talking with devs when finding a bug I can reproduce or have hit a number of times, etc etc, then fixing the map so it doesn't happen again next version and so-forth). Otherwise this map will be in the heap of games that needed day 1 patches. We don't exactly need more of those. It'd be a lot easier if it were a smaller project, but it is not, and is one of the largest maps (if not by square kilometers/miles, it possibly is by content, or close to it, but might just be the biggest when measured by miles of roadways). My health has been fighting me tooth and nail but I'm slowly healing up and able to get things done around the house etc, which does eat a good chunk of my time (but in Spring/Fall this is par-for-the-course unless you're a renter, lucky you if so).

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So Sunday at church worship is about to begin, and we noticed the heater not going with about 25~35 minutes before we start.
Guess who figured out how to bypass various things and rig it to work, to make the building go from 50~55F to 65F? You guessed it, I got to hide in the glorified broom closet and fix the heater (I'd have much rather been sitting enjoying worship) or at-least get it to go long enough that we didn't freeze to the pews. I know what's wrong with it, but it's an old unit due for replacement 'one of these years' and it's a real pain to get parts for it anymore.
If I had a little longer I could have gotten 70F out of the thing, but I didn't want to miss the entirety of worship, so it was an OK trade-off and certainly folks were happy to be less cold.
Hopefully we'll get it replaced before next Winter, but at-least I was able to get a new hand-hold/hand-rail installed where one was needed last week without destroying the wall around it too much. Broke two drill bits on that sucker, that almost-100-year-old masonary is rather tough stuff (the building was originally built in 1854 IIRC, but then the log building was torn down in the 1930's or 1940 or so and rebuilt a little larger with cinderblocks, and those / concrete cures more and more with age as it's a never-ending chemical process that merely slows with time - think a 'bell curve' here).

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Good news! Some more intersections are further along in detail, small AI perfectionist tweaks done left and right, and got some more roads textured.
My absolute dumpster fire internet is not happy today so only a few pictures this time. This is not all of it. More curbing was placed, too.

I didn't apply some of the wear layers yet, nor did I add in the graphics for the storm sewer inlets at intersections for the most part, but it's much better looking now with things as complete as they are. There's still plenty to do, however, but not too much before I package this up and attempt to have a successful beta for the 3rd time now...
Last shot shown is merely to demonstrate MEDIUM texture detail. This is comparable to high texture detail in most current new release AAA games. This is why the HIGH DETAIL textures and models in this map - without it finished - already take up almost 12gb of GPU memory (VRAM). I am going to try and keep high detail texture/models under 16gb of VRAM as best as I can. I will optimize more in time, to fit more in the same space as-needed. 6~8gb of VRAM should do fine for medium throughout the project lifetime however.
Even the textures in GTA V aren't that detailed, but that does NOT mean they're ugly. GTA has some fairly good road textures (none of which I use, though I do buy my textures, sounds, BGM, models etc from the same places many AAA companies do), and I want this to be somewhat comparable to that which players are accustomed to.
If there are any real earth-shattering bumps that are otherwise invisible until you drive over them at speed on any of the new or redone/improved roadways, please send a picture of them in (circle the area maybe?), so that less of us get the nasty bump surprise.
--That is all for now.
(note: If I do not post for 2~3 days, it's because it's supposed to be 70F outside, and I NEED to get OUT of this house once in a while, which I shall)

 

I have the Stardock solution that I got reasonably priced in a bundle that didn't break the bank. I feel like suffocation / drowning when using Windows 10 by default. It is a feeling that makes me want to throw the computer through the window (hopefully opening it first). I LOVED getting Windows 95 on my 1st computer - a 486 - and when finally getting through Windows 98 and it's variable amounts of stability to the Windows 2000 (despite losing MS-DOS) era, things were perfect. In-fact, somewhere between Windows 2000 (NT 5.0, XP was 5.1 for what it's worth, basically same thing with pretty start menu) and Windows 7 (NT 7.0) there was a perfection in convenience, usability, stability, and some security (as good as the user is, anyway).
I absolutely could not bear with Windows 8 or 10. That's why there was a resurgence of the start menu of old Windows, in Windows 8.1. I MISSED the simple convenience, the names of my applications or what they do (Like showing FRIEND LIST or MESSAGE FROM SO-AND-SO in the task bar, you know, so you can USE the thing!?). I don't want just tiles nor pictures, I need names to remember these things. I forget enough about the apps installed in this computer (Especially being the fact it's both for games and development, but mostly development stuff). I sure can remember pictures but without the names it's no good to me. I want usability first and foremost and I firmly believe (with many folks I know) that the old Windows look and feel AND FUNCTION was the best. Every time I go to use the Email PC (Athlon II x2 regor core 2.8ghz from 2008 with an SSD and Windows 10), I feel like I am suffocating with the default interface. It's so hard to do anything, and honestly the way things were laid out in Windows 2000 ~ Windows 7 was just BLISS by comparison AND so fast to actually USE. Everything was where it is expected, where it's needed, WHEN it's needed, and not so many [censored] notifications that would drive most people up the wall - especially when trying to do something else (you know, multi-tasking, the whole point of the Windows graphical user interface and design, basically the mission-statement or primary mission objective for folks military-minded).
So (another) long story short, I can't stand new Windows look. I like the old one. I can't use the new Windows as it's just a pain in the butt and my poor hobbled 40+ year old brain just doesn't like to pick up new things nearly as good as it used to do. Sure, I have to learn to use new applications to work with the resources in the map (such as modeling, or graphics, even if I know much already), but learning the NEW OS is something I DO NOT have to do, especially when I feel it's not as good as the old ones even if it's more secure. So keep the security of the new OS and give it the look, feel, and EASE of usability of the OLD ones. It's good for productivity, GREAT for my sanity, and helps me do more in less time with less stress. Maybe that's why I'm not losing my hair yet. There's always tomorrow, of-course.
Also, for those that love their machine working, you have more to worry about from Windows update breaking your machine VS hackers hacking into it IF you do regular backups (swapping backup drives each time in-case of drive failure, crypto-viruses etc). If you do banking, financial work etc, keep the updater and get your updates. However conversely, if you do productivity; do what I do and BREAK THE UPDATER to Windows in a way it cannot fix, before it breaks YOU / your sanity / the Windows installation etc. When I built this machine I spent THREE WEEKS stability testing it in my spare time before decomissioning (deactivate my software if it's a per-install or per-machine basis license) the old machine, and once I got it stable and secure I nuked the updater so that it will never bother me about anything. If I want to manually update it, I can do so, but I don't do so when I'm in the middle of a development cycle for reasons which should be obvious. Do not invite trouble, do not fix what is not broken even if it's slightly imperfect. If someone so chooses to try and hack me, whatever, that's what cold-storage and off-site storage backups are good for; but they can also know that I can see every packet of information going into or out of this machine's network adapter too. Nothing will break my love for the Windows 95 ~ Windows 7 era of this Windows OS. I know full well about Linux also and do use it sparingly (since 1997), but things are easier for me with Windows here.
The STARDOCK (inc) package for Windows here to bring back the old look is START10 / Windowblinds / Window FX. You can get CLASSIC SHELL and some other sorts of freebies on the net (forget) if you don't wish to pay for the priveledge of having the old Windows start menu / interface back. If I was smarter I'd do sponsored links, but you can find the Stardock stuff on their website or even Steam (and it does not need Steam open to run these). The Stardock set provides both graphical and usability upgrades, but the free Classic Shell is FREE and that's hard to beat, especially for those on a budget and still provides a big improvement over the stock Windows 10 OS.
There is also a Start11 that just came out the other month, and an upgraded kit to go with it for the new Windows 11. I think this stuff as a package is in the neighborhood of 20$ USD, plus taxes or VAT depending on your country of purchase, subject to currency conversions. It's not pricey, but Class Shell is free, so you can choose whatever is best for you. Old Windows FTW!

Glad you like the improvements, It's a lot of work doing this project but I DO enjoy it. This is also why I tend to do random things, including today's update. If I pop into the map and it's not as good as I desire, I fix that spot, improve things, or add more usability to that area (jumps, hidden places underground, some new buildings or shrubbery / green things). I have a great mind's eye (if I may say so without seeming like a brag) and it helps me visualize what to do in various areas of the map. The open boring spots in the map that seem uninspired are just ones I have not re-dressed or redone yet.

It makes me very happy to have the blessings of everyone's company here. WE DESERVE TO BE HAPPY, and there's actually very little (good) reason to not be happy. It's a conscious decision, and there's so much out there in the world. Sometimes it just takes getting out and seeing something new to make us feel alive again, like exploration. We are born to explore, even if it's in a video game. It does things for our mind that gives us a natural cycle of hormones in our brains that make us function properly. So, do explore the map as always, and let me know what can be improved, or maybe a vision you have for an area that's not detailed enough which I could add to the map in some way to improve it.
It truly is a blessing though, and if someone wants to make a novel of it, well great, go for it. Maybe if you strike it rich, just send me enough to replace the 90's 'Lowes Special' counters in my kitchen please. They're rubbish, and the seam in the corner was never sealed properly and thus there is a quarter-inch jump where the counter swelled from moisture. The house here is great; but the kitchen, yeah don't get me started. Landlord special (we do not rent, though, for clarification) should be enough of a description. It's not much better than my internet.

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GOOD NEWS, more work on the map occurred sometime recently!

I spawned in here earlier to work on the map, and I just felt it was not inspired enough. So I added some more curbing, decided to add greenery and graded the road slightly. This should make this non-descript box of a building a little more immersive. In time I will make sure that the building integrates with the hillside more realistically.

So much unfinished things above, BUT the road is much better here now. Proper lanes, full AI (left turns need to be configured yet), and thus you can use this road with the bridge as a through-route now. Roads which have developed ends that actually go somewhere obviously are the ones that are getting finished, causing others nearby to 'qualify' to get finished also. I don't like driving along my map and suddenly get to a road that's just... blank. Unfinished is not nearly as fun as something semi-immersive with AI that works and doesn't eat curbs / poles / whatever. This is the same area where I posted about with the last post I made, but this is more complete now including the cross road area and even more curbing. There's still more curbing to do and about a block or two worth of road to make complete here, but it shouldn't take too terribly long as it'll look a lot like the others here. Thus things go a lot quicker when I can re-use, and dupe things sparingly.
So I still have to finish up that building, so it looks like people can actually get IN the door, etc. There needs to be a big parking deck here (do not have a model* for this one yet) and a whole lot more medium-height buildings here, but those will come in due time after the next update.
*Will re-use existing parking deck so that I can make the next one quicker, but it won't be identical. I am just going to re-use the existing dimensions of some of the parts in the current tall narrow parking deck in the map to much more quickly make a new wider flatter one, more typical to cities in this country. This will happen post-update.
--That's all for right now.

 

Figured out a decent way to do a building entrance after making curbing work for here. Building is centered on it's set-backs* from the lot boundary.
This not only makes it look planned, but also makes the lot a whole bunch easier to handle when the ground isn't flat.

First pic shows the new entrance and a rather mild speed-hump. It's not hard to keep going straight even if hitting it at over 60~80mph. I've well-tested this as there's a jump with a missing bridge down two more blocks from this section.
2nd pic shows the interchange I need to finish up with appropriate set dressing (raspberry vinagrette, or thousand island?), giving it traffic lights, finishing the curbing, making sure wear-patterns make sense etc.

Spoilered stuff is infrastructure-nerd type reading or just plain technical stuff on building codes. Not important or part of map progress.

Spoiler: Set-backs and other technical rubbish

*Normally, in deep-central areas of town, the lots may be built up to the very edge, especially when there's no on-site parking required (certain % being foot traffic, mass-transit and private coach/ for-hire carriage, and so-forth increases toward center of town). In the suburbs, by contrast, you may NOT build up to the edge of the lots unless you have a variance. This is due to set-backs, which is a pre-determined amount of space you may not build permanent structures upon measured from the three / four (or more) edges of your lot. This is part of building codes usually per city or county (or township / parish) in which the lot resides. This is BUILDING set-backs, though there's also parking-lot set-backs sometimes and other set-backs, especially if the city/governing body such as township or county doesn't want future right-of-way encroached upon for widening the road later - though they often stick the developer with paying for nearby road improvements anyways (such as adding left or right turn lanes, widening the road for more lanes or upgrading lane width and/or road shoulders, adding storm-sewer inlets/catch-basins or traffic sign/stop-lights and so-forth). To get a variance, one must submit 'valid' reasoning when hoping to get a building permit when violating set-backs to the zoning board / governing body of the municipality. Sometimes this is for additions, a fancy workshop or plain-old garage at the end of your driveway.
In addition to set-backs, when a developer submits a lot-plan (blueprint) of a proposed housing subdivision (development), a certain percent (say 30%) is required to be left as green-space for public enjoyment and/or other infrastructure such as catch-basins (Especially important in flatter areas) to help making it a nice place to live and to keep it that way. No one wants to go for a swim to get their newspaper which has long since floated away, due to a flood caused by ignorant greedy builders. The more you pave, the more area that needs to be drained, and that includes not just roads but building roofs and driveways/paved lots and so-on. There's so much to this I could go on typing for days, if not weeks. However, one must still be careful not to wrong the building inspector / code enforcement division or fail an inspection (required if you have building codes!), or a stop-work order is going to ruin your dreams of riches in short order.
Set-backs and green space requirements vary in all municipalities. Rural areas have the least, inner-city areas and immediate suburbs have plenty of restrictions, even down to how much % of your lot can be built-upon. Again, I could type forever on this, and I shouldn't otherwise everyone's eyes will fall out before they finish reading. I have enough letters worn off this thing anyway.

I have about a half-dozen small bugs to fix, the above interchange to improve, and a few pieces of curb to plunk down in two different areas (maybe 3 as it's easy to forget one) and a lot more quality-assurance-testing to do.
Then I can double-check the resources are all working (again) and upload it. I don't know how many days it will take as yesterday I beat myself up so bad working on the yard in-front of the house that I am still regretting it and could barely get to the bank today. My yard really did look like I was dead already, so limping around to finish the work will still be some improvement. Seriously, it looked like something out of a Fallout game - it was bad - and sort-of still is though a bit less-so. The best part is that, unlike in December 2015, the yard isn't 50% scorch marks and neither am I - what a coincidence.
Fixed the end of a section of barrier above the sunken subway station (the first one placed in the map right at the end of one subway tunnel not the one with tunnels on either side), it had a short section of wall but it should have had a Jersey-barrier sloped end/cap. This is ratified and should have been years ago, as I must have drove past it 500~1000+ times.
Sorry there aren't more map pics. I'll try better tomorrow or whenever I have a chance to put several hours into editing.
--Cheers!

 

this is still one of my favorite map projects of all time, keep trucking dude
this thing is gonna be absolutely awesome when its completed.

 

Thanks! Glad to hear you like it that much. I will keep on keepin' on, for as long as physically possible. I feel I'll be able to finish this in due time, but it certainly won't be as "right-quick" as I'd dream of doing.
Thankfully, the support of many people helps a lot, too. I am very grateful to have folks look forward to this project, and even me sometimes.

---

MOAR map work. Got a good 6+ hours on it thus far today since I'm not hurting as badly as I was yesterday.

I've pretty-much finished the block with the large commercial building / construction site on it. I haven't touched the (diamond) interchange yet, but I've gotten right up to it, and leveled most of the ground behind the curbing (including placing a lot of curbing) up to sidewalk height so that it doesn't catch the vehicle. The new construction site though should be the star of the show. I'll have more models for this type of area in the future.
--That is all for right now.
I am aiming for a release for beta testers prior to Good Friday (10 days away). I'd also like to have this release around Good Friday to the public. As you can tell, I'm very very close to tidying this up enough to have another go for a beta *AND HOPEFULLY* public release.
Then after that maybe I can find a little time and fix up the dumpster fire that is Roane County. I have NOT abandoned that map, I just got so backlogged over here and in-over-my-head it's not even something I'd like to admit. It happens to the best and the worst of us all the same though. To err is to be human.

 

Everything is looking good. Haven't played on it in a while, I was waiting for the release of the new update before downloading it again but there aren't many good options so just got what was available & still having fun with it.

 

You have my word that the day I can upload this with the bugs fixed, THAT I WILL. The only one who wants this update out more than anyone else IS ME (so I can be freed up to work on other parts / things in/of the map, do a few IRL things that are real time-sinks and so-forth).
Glad you have fun on here. Worry not about the updates, they'll be soon enough. After this weekend I'd like to be uploading, to give a few days of beta testing, and maybe I can PUBLICLY release this around Good Friday.

---

Various AI bugs and refinement during QC obviously is not completed yet.
Texture bug on the mall with the short brick walls by one entrance, specular file is wrong format causing a blue tint to it (this happened a while back around 0.17~0.20 or so with a lot of textures, so I recognize it, I just must have missed that one). You'll see it on the flat horizontal bricks on the short walls to either side of the entrance in the red brick planters that flank the small overhang.
Mall floor needs changed so it blends better (I can use terrain to do this best, it'll auto-blend as Maya sucks for that & still haven't figured it out!).
Do not know if mall will be updated before the beta, no promises, but if I have time and ability, I will have it fixed up, all ramps/jumps there will stay as this is merely cosmetic. Someone mentioned it a few YEARS ago and I am just now getting back to this).
There's likely a traffic light or two that's still goofed up, I will do my best to QC enough to find them.
I AM right now fixing the terrain scatter-grass (ground cover) that appears as you drive / move camera near grass layers on the terrain, this provides the randomly scattered plants. I just figured out how to pull these up in the NEW editor, so I can fix one or two layers not working right. This is a bug.
AI drives wrongly on older sections of highway from the 2017~2018 versions of the old map, before AI used lanes and when it just drove down the center of the road (before traffic implementation). This will be fixed WHEN I WORK ON THOSE SPOTS, they do need and will get updated BIG TIME. Just not right yet, as many other things will take precedence in the more developed areas. However, fear not, it's known to be buggy with AI out of lane there.
A few texture bugs (dark asphalt transition is one of them! Thanks to who reported that).
Parking lot kit bug, might get that fixed before beta (just cosmetic) if it's not fixed already.
There may be some uneven roads in the newly created/refined areas. Some of this is intentional, some is not as one of the terrain tools I used to hand-carve and perfect terrain (and hence the bumps in the road) weren't carried over to the editor 2.0. I miss my old map editor, it was just right if a tad tedious at times.
One of the new towers has a bug on the back of the model of the building making some triangular sections very dark (normals on the model face are wrong, it's a bug in Maya exporting, oops). Not sure when or if this will / can be fixed. I will replace the model if needed or slap a billboard on/over it.
SUBWAY TUNNEL CONTINUITY has been double-verified, in-case I accidentally clicked on a section of it (and possibly accidentally moved it) when trying to select or work on objects above ground where there's a tunnel underneath.
SMART TRAFFIC LIGHTS, PARKED VEHICLES, AND SPEED LIMITS NOT YET IMPLEMENTED. I need more examples and training on use/implementation first. Please be patient as these WILL be implemented, much of this are features I asked for anyway.
FPS SHOULD be improved over the old version, or the same / slightly less on some systems depending on hardware configuration. REMEMBER, if you have a 6gb or 8gb GPU, please run with MEDIUM texture detail - you can leave other options at whatever works with your system best. ONLY 12~16gb GPU's (or higher) can run this with everything including texture detail maxed out. This is the same with just-released 'The Last of Us - Part 1' game that was now ported to PC (and why people with 8gb or smaller cards are crying about performance with a good CPU). Again, as I say frequently: A 16gb GPU or larger card is what you need for good future-proofing, but a 3060 12gb or RX6700 12gb is a good card to get you by right now for at-least this year.
There is other fine print and errata, but it's insignificant in the grand scheme of things over-all.
If someone finds random holes in the terrain, terrible bumps in the road that shouldn't be there (no patches in the road etc to explain it), AI derping up a [censored]-storm, and broken textures, LET. ME. KNOW. PLEASE. Just pretend I'm blind deaf and dumb and never could find/see the bug(s) when this releases.
I can still take bug reports on the current beta that's already out for another 48 hours or so. SERIOUSLY. We don't want bugs in the release version.
Is the sky still getting NO TEXTURE or NO MATERIAL at night and going randomly orange? I need to know! Please help me with this!
IF I HAVE TIME this weekend I will integrate random rubbish 3d meshes to generate where C&D materials are on the terrain (by layer). Stuff like what's by the abandoned mall at the end of the lot and inside/around it. These, like grass clumps, will help immersion and not looking so plain/boring.

That's all for right now on the map. I just wanted to update folks on that.
--------End req'd reading. Below is just rambling, but can be enlightening / encouraging.
I have mostly stopped populating the map now and am just going down to bug fixing. If I find time to change up some models I will, but for right now I will be using what I have.
Sorry for no pictures, picture books are fun but I just spent the last two days cleaning the house and it's just about crippled me. Donna Reed would be really proud though and would no longer instantaneously projectile vomit when walking in the door. I was absolutely fit to be tied as they say with the condition of clutter and somewhat lack on cleanliness in my house, and promptly went nuts cleaning it like a drug addled person expecting a police raid/in-laws to show up at any moment. I have no regrets & it's THE ONLY way to live. I just wish I was healthier and could do so more often / more thoroughly. My physical condition brings so much appreciation in that manner for those who clean, especially for a living.
Below is just something I wrote from the soul. You can read if you have time.
Custodians and Janitors of the world, we love you, even if we do not show it, especially when we're out and need to use the water closet / latrine / rest-room. You bless us (as does The Lord of-course!) with your duties and desires to ensure we have a clean & safe place to exist. We could not do so without your effort, just as I could not do this project without the effort and contributions of the many supporters that take time out of their day and sometimes money out of their pocket to pledge support.
Take time to appreciate the simpler things in life by stepping back, exhaling and not being in a hurry for but a moment. There's so much to see, so much to watch, so much to hear, much music to enjoy even without a radio nearby, the song of the bird or the running of a brook... when you're "out and about" as I always put it, enjoy life, and enjoy the fact that you can still experience it. For I cannot always experience it and am sometimes laid up in the house for weeks or a month or more, rarely to get out, due to physical issues.
As life gets more and more complicated, and technology encroaches on every aspect of life, as it does every minute of our daily (and nightly) lives, step back and appreciate nature and your environment, it does your body/mind much good (not far removed from a mini-vacation of sorts). It might just lower your blood pressure, too.
We ALL have a place in life, a purpose, even if we're a heap of seemingly useless bones in a pile of our former selves (as am I), we're here for a reason, just as I am here to make this map project into a living breathing city, with the help of y'all wonderful folks, to the best of my (and your) abilities. I wanted to take this time to lead into saying THANK YOU. It means something to me, as does the approaching thunder (saved by the bell!), so I wish you all a great day/night/weekend and a big thanks! Keep on keeping on! If that's all we can do, it's quite far removed from doing nothing, and it sure makes you feel better - but don't forget to step back and breathe. When you're down, do that, and don't forget to remember all the people that care / cared for you in life. You'll live longer, too. We all need a little step back now and then!
--Cheers!

 

This house position was off by several feet (2 meters maybe). FIXED It's near the default spawn point.

Also, I've changed up the terrain layers for ground-cover, having figured it out some.

You'll have to tell me YAY or NAY on the new terrain 'look' or not.
The scatter grass / plant ground-cover is very-much-so redone, using some current stock game assets.
It is far from final and of-course subject to crazy change and refinement. The dark bushes in (shot 2, a few other shots) will be fixed to blend in a bit more (when I close it I'll re-map the graphic file to point to the new one).
Also, bugs to-do with some ground showing through sidewalks/driveway aprons (the curb area where it's sloped to street level at a driveway) will be fixed (the stuff I found near the default spawn anyways, if there's other stuff I might not have seen it yet).
Errata: There might be a few instances of scatter-grass / ground-cover growing into sidewalks and possibly a few driveways. I'll be messing with the ground cover some more but it'll be a bit until I find all the trouble spots with the ground cover growing through models. So expect a few things here and there to possibly have grass showing through it a bit. Most all the roads should be fine however.
Didn't get to the rubbish bits yet, that might wait, but at-least what I got done makes a difference. Hope it's a good one!
LET ME KNOW!
--That is all.