Raise/Lower track option

[slickgoku]

Hello all, I'm sure this isn't the "best" place for the devs to see this feature request.  But one of the big features missing from OpenRCT2 that is available in 8cars is the option to lower track.  This is especially important when using track for decoration!  RCT2 raises track in units of 2, but with 8cars and raising/lowering track, it allows you to raise/lower track by single units.  Which allows you to create cool walls with monorail track!  Was wondering if this is something in the pipeline?  

Here is an example of this in action, with a garden!  These walls are just monorail track lowered by single units.

 

Edited April 12, 2016 by slickgoku

[X7123M3-256]

I agree that this would be a useful feature; I just had to do this for a park I'm working on and ended up having to edit the SV6 with an external script, which is not ideal.

 

I think this would be most easily implemented with a button in the tile inspector that allows elements to be raised/lowered 1 unit. There could also be a console command to do it to an entire ride. I will probably try and implement something like this when I have the time.

[Broxzier]

A problem with doing so in the tile inspector is that it works for map elements, and not for entire track pieces. I haven't worked with tracks before, so I have no idea how hard it is to apply it to the entire piece.

[X7123M3-256]

As I understand it the map elements are all there is - raising every map element belonging to a track piece is equivalent to raising the whole piece - at least, that's what the script I'm using at the moment does, and it seems to work fine - you can even open the raised ride, but construction mode doesn't work.

[Broxzier]

Some track pieces, like corners and S-shaped ones, have elements that are only visible from one angle, not from all four.

At the currently selected tile, there's one map element that I have increased much higher, but it's not there

From this angle however, the track piece is visible.

Also notice how how the supports are going through the track. That's the one angle it's right, but from the other it isn't, because not the entire track piece is increased, only the one that is responsible for the supports.

To make this easier, the entire track piece should be increased as a whole. If the user wants to have complete control over which pieces should be increased, they can build two tracks, and remove the track elements they don't need. I cannot think of a situation where this would be needed, since that means the it will only be visible from certain angles, and not from others.

Edited April 19, 2016 by Broxzier

[X7123M3-256]

Interesting... but I'm not sure why that means it couldn't be done in the tile inspector. As long as you raise every map element belonging to the track piece by the same amount, you shouldn't get any weird effects like that. I've been using a script that does the same thing (modify every map element), and I haven't encountered any ill effects - you can even open a ride that has been moved this way.

[imlegos]

14 minutes ago, X7123M3-256 said:

you can even open a ride that has been moved this way.

How exactly do you get guests to ride it? Do you move the entrence and exit buildings?

[X7123M3-256]

Haven't tested it with guests on board yet, but I did not move the entrance and exit, just the track, so you can still build a path up to it. I don't think there would be a problem, but for my purposes I don't need guests to ride this ride, so I didn't test it.

[Broxzier]

@X7123M3-256: Finding all map elements belonging to the selected track piece is the problem - I don't know anything about the track code and how they work, and giving the users only the map elements to work with is not a good idea. I did not say it cannot be done in the tile inspector, I even think it's a good idea to put it there.

@imlegos: The ride entrance and exit can be built beforehand. When you change the baseheight of the track, the entrance and exit do not move with it. When you edit the track however, they will disappear and you'll have to place them again, just like with rotated entrances and exits.

[X7123M3-256]

1 hour ago, Broxzier said:

Finding all map elements belonging to the selected track piece is the problem

When you build a track piece, the game highlights all affected squares. You can just click each one in the tile inspector looking for the relevant elements. Sometimes there's more than one on each tile - all of them have to be moved. The only time it becomes difficult is if you have tracks crossing each other, but you can usually tell from their position in the list which is which. It's the same process you currently go through when making tracks invisible.

Edited April 19, 2016 by X7123M3-256

[imlegos]

This doesn't seem like doing this could cause a problem, but could add to a detailist's arsenal.

Although, looking at the image in the first post, it seems some rides (in this case the pedal monorail) don't work quite as well as others.

Edited April 19, 2016 by imlegos

[Broxzier]

True enough. Making tracks invisible using the tile inspector it a very time consuming task. A diagonal piece takes up 4 tiles, with the next taking up one on the same tile. For better UX this should be improved.

Edit: Also managing the height of each track piece can be a tedious task this way, as all track elements of a piece need to match the same height. This would decrease UX even more.

I'm not against making this, I just need to find a way to get all track elements for a piece.

Edited April 19, 2016 by Broxzier

[X7123M3-256]

I think, if we are to add a feature that affects the whole track piece, then it doesn't belong in the tile inspector. I think the tile inspector is best kept as a tool to directly edit the tile data. A raise/lower sprite option makes sense here; it's just providing a means to edit the values the tile inspector already gives you, and it wouldn't be limited to just track .

If we were to implement a tool to raise/lower a track piece as a whole, I think it ought to be a seperate thing. Perhaps a tool that allows you to select an area, a type of object to operate upon (track, scenery, path etc), and then choose an operation to perform on those objects, like raising/lowering it, making invisible, etc?

[imlegos]

Why not put it under the cheats list in that case?

[X7123M3-256]

Most cheats are a button or a checkbox. This is a bit more involved, since you have to select the track pieces you want to move and the amount to move them by. It could go in the cheat window, but I think it would  be easiest to put it in the tile inspector because the tile inspector already shows element heights, it just doesn't have a means to change them. It would be just two buttons.

[Broxzier]

There was actually a concept image of the tile inspector a few months ago, and I have some ideas on my own too, that would much nicer for the user I think. When you select an element, it adds a type-specific part to the window where these kinds of things can be changed. For track parts this could also allow setting certain flags, to turn a piece in a chain lift for example.

[X7123M3-256]

I like that idea. At the moment my solution is to enable chain lift for the entire ride, then delete and rebuild the parts I don't want to be chain. It's rather tedious.