Atomic Systems

Is it just me, or are the "roads" lofts really poor?

My route is framed by modern, wide A roads with a mix of roundabouts and lights. Struggling with things like roundabouts, slip roads and 2-lane to 3- lane and 4-lane transitions...

Are there any routes with good road infrastructure kit? Or am I trying to do stuff beyond the limitations of the sim?

Thanks, rkk01

Roundabouts LOL.
Slip roads ROFL.

Actually, I don't know of any crossroads that look good. I mean, with merging traffic.

I think that roads never were meant to be more than mid-distance scenery. The traffic on them looks ok from some distance, but not from near, where you see that what looks like cars taking over is just two lines of cars spaced too close.

Having said that, you might get ok results if you extend the slip road beyond the point of convergence to somewhere where the end is not seen (like under a bridge or behind a tree).

And roundabouts should be ok-ish if you lay one line of traffic from east to north and the other from west to south, with the sectors from north to west and south to east being unpopulated road segments.

Mark from 3DTrains did quite some research on these T-pieces and crossing shapes, years ago. However, I don't remember how far he or anyone else got with them. There seems to be a way to fit them between the loft segments, but how to run continuous traffic over them I have no idea.

HeHe - Not just me then

I so wish that it was possible to snap splines to objects like you could in Trainz, It would make it 1000x easier to lay roads and general route building altogether.

Really putting me off carrying on my Tram route

On an after thought, I believe that what you need is invisible roads. There are a few in the default assets.

It simply means that the shape of the road is disconnected from the traffic show (i.e., the pattern of car movements). You lay visible roads without cars free from any considerations other than the look. You can fill in bespoke scenery items for important or difficult crossings and places or build your own modular roundabout kit. You can also run slip roads some 10 cm below the main lanes to make look good (without Z fighting).

Then, in a second step, you add routes along which cars will travel. You are not at all bound at the visual shapes, so you can make it look more interesting and run traffic across weird geometry. You can also relocate the ends to hidden places.


A tram route is a different simulation genre. There, cars are first class traffic, not scenery. You need to create a track rule with invisible track or track that looks like lanes of a road. You also need engine files that link to car shapes. Then, you place masses of invisible block signals (or block signals that you sink underground) and make the cars AI traffic in your scenario. Sure a lot of work, but then again, it is a tram sim and cars are important.

You could also create a track rule that includes visible tram track besides (invisible) car lanes. That will permit the creation of junctions where the cars stop to give way to the tram (if they are freight trains and trams are passenger trains). But don't ask about traffic lights, making AI (i.e., cars) work with that will be too much of a burden.

This is the bit I am trying to model at the moment - a long curving crossing of a "dual carriageway" (as it is described in the rail strategy study). In reality it is a 2 lane road that goes to 3 lanes at the nearby traffic light controlled junction.



Photo: cerij4242, flikr

Given the limitations of the sim I think I will model as a straightforward 2 lane A road, without the "central reservation".


The latest feasibility reports for the line suggest that the ORR / Network rail will not accept reactivation of the line with the automatic half barriers. A grade separated crossing has been put forward as an alternative, but that would require a steep curved ramp from the south - something like 1:40 or steeper, at 150-160m radius...