Sydney New-Gen Layout (Nova's Really Good Circuit Layouts) 2018

[AOR Nova]

Hello everyone!

Following a long haitus from layoutting, I've returned to refine Sydney and give us cruisers a better cruise experience here in TC around the tight confines.

Please read 1.3 before casting "main forum poll"! Thanks!



Content :
Video
1.1 Introduction
1.1.1 Motive

1.2 The Layout (Changes)
1.2.1 Comparision between Flyover and 3 Way Junction changes

1.3 Poll for the "Highway 1 Intersection"
//





1.1 Introduction
As some of you may already know, the current Sydney layout was first crafted (or re-edited) by Porsche about 9 months back from today. I took up the challenge of spicing up the layout, and to-date, the current format has been crafted by me.

All TC Layouts, however, including road traffic patterns, are made by the men and women in TC and all hats to them for making a good cruising environment!

I have since then been making little tweaks to the layout, mainly towards the slightly bumpy flyover, as well as Station Boulevard.


1.1.1 Motive
Now, I've returned, purely focusing on what is essentially my baby (lol) here in Sydney, always striving to better the ideas as well as listen to everyone.

That being said, over the past few months, I have been hiding in my dungeon secretly noting down all the comments and ideas, as well as constructive feedback. And I hope from the changes down below that I've made, that cruising in Sydney will improve in due course.


1.2 The Layout
Archway



Archway has always been one of, if not, the most tight area in Sydney. Pile ups, stuck chases and wedged cars have been the complaints I've had before, thus, I've took the archway idea and revamped it up.
Following the rough concept of the King Charles Archway in the UK, rotating the structure to face horizontally.
This in turn, helped free up two - yes, two, additional lanes, one more for each side, for the Archway connection road, making this area much less of a squeeze!


Rescue Station/Safezone


This area is often prone to accidents due to the lack of space entering, and the blind spot created by the armco as you exit the station.
I have opened the entrance up to include the area of tires, of which you can drive through. This makes the entrance and exit lanes much more defined, and much safer, as opposed to a single lane.
Inside the station, 3 pit boxes fufill repairs, whilst a elongated parking tent (split for Rescue and Cops) give out civil workers a place to idle.
Upon exit, as the chevrons on Main Street has been pushed further back, it increases the view looking to the right, making the blind spot less of an issue! (as seen in next picture, below)


Parking Spot Main Street


The lane split markers have been moved further to the left, to widen the left lane.
As mentioned above, the chevron area before Rescue Station has been pushed further back, giving a clearer view as cars exit the Station, and also forcing cars to mind the junction area more.



Highway 1 -> Station Boulevard


This area has been heavily refined to make driving past the area more easier.
In the past, the U turn/Right turn area was directly at the turning area. This made it awkward when someone does a U turn with oncoming cars, or when a suspect decides to ignore the red/white walls and make the turn past them.
Another issue that I was highlighted about were cars making sudden U turns through the mini-gate further up the armco, and causing tailbacks.
I have redone the concept, by introducing two dedicated U-turn lanes to allow for a neutral area of deceleration, as well as formalise the U-turn spot!
The fiddly right turn lane up ahead of the road has been blocked and replaced by a red/white wall to reduce crashes over the center-line.


The neutral run-off area after the blind turn has also been slightly widened to allow for more over-run.


Gas Station


Here's something for the inner OCD of us - the Gas Station has been redesigned to incorperate parking lots, and a more realistic experience overall!




1.2.1 Comparision between Flyover and 3 Way Junction Changes
Current Flyover, with improvements


The left turn lane has been significantly widened, and the kink on the straight down-ramp has been smoothened as well.


Both sides of the main highway road have been widened by quite a margin.

The flyover was one of the key deciding features that you guys, the community, were intrigued by. And I appreciate that. However, as time wore on, issues and problems arose, and I hope these above changes have resolved them all. I am limited by LFS's tools, and can only do so much.


New alternate option of "3 Way Junction"




This idea was raised by a couple of people late last year, and I finally put it to the drawing board today.
It surprised me how much parts the flyover took - over 300 parts to be exact!
By bringing it down and introducing this much cleaner junction, the part count is now well, well below the limit.
The concept is simple - a 3 way junction, with two right turn areas, and one two-lane main road. Traffic posts erected for long range, and a yellow box in the middle. After cleaning it up a little, I must say I'm quite pleased at how this turned out!



1.3 Poll for "Highway 1 Intersection" style
Now, the dillema.
I'm giving all of you here, as I always have, the open opportunity to choose which design for the Main Street-Hwy 1 intersection is better.
** As of 26/5/2018, there are 3 designs! Read the following page for more information before casting your vote below! VVV **
https://www.strawpoll.me/15771785

This is the poll above. Which ever receives the higher vote by the end of the month will be the winner and chosen concept to continue with!
So, what will be the design for the intersection? You decide the future!

As for now, the main forum poll will be for everything else besides the Highway Intersection ideas.




I hope this hasn't been TL;DR too much, it's all the ideas you've chosen for a better TC experience!


Cheers!

[Titan]

the new highway is much better

[SO•Huski]

I look forward to all the content GT4 will get of crashes from the new flyover, this should be fun.

[AOR Nova]

(2018-05-12 10:03)Titan Wrote:  the new highway is much better

Mind popping in a vote at the strawpoll mate? Will give a much better whole result when I revisit the results next month

[[TC-R] Adam]

We could just go back to the roundabout?

[StreetFX]

(2018-05-12 12:39)Adam Wrote:  We could just go back to the roundabout?

Or just keep the layouts as it is, so much changes

[Alex.]

(2018-05-12 12:45)StreetFX Wrote:  

(2018-05-12 12:39)Adam Wrote:  We could just go back to the roundabout?

Or just keep the layouts as it is, so much changes

Agree +1

[[6S] Hakou]

ye +1

[A c e]

(2018-05-12 12:45)StreetFX Wrote:  Or just keep the layouts as it is, so much changes

+1

[SO•Nothy]

I really like the idea of a 3-way junction as opposed to a flyover or roundabout. Overall I'd much rather drive on this layout than the current one.

[[TC] Shino]

Personally I'd keep everything the same as it already is apart from the flyover, that 3 way junction could be a nice change perhaps.

[Tingle]

The junction is a good idea but it looks quite hazardous imo. You can already picture an FZ5 travelling at circa 140mph southbound taking the corner a little too wide, smashing into a car waiting to turn right across the highway.

There should be some sort of mechanism in place to safeguard the cars waiting to turn right (e.g. a few barriers by the bend until the turn).

tl;dr too many imbeciles for your proposed junction to safely work in its current state

[AOR Nova]

(2018-05-12 22:38)Tingle Wrote:  The junction is a good idea but it looks quite hazardous imo. You can already picture an FZ5 travelling at circa 140mph southbound taking the corner a little too wide, smashing into a car waiting to turn right across the highway.

There should be some sort of mechanism in place to safeguard the cars waiting to turn right (e.g. a few barriers by the bend until the turn).

tl;dr too many imbeciles for your proposed junction to safely work in its current state

Hmm. Very strong point. Was one of the major considerations which made me craft the non-invasive flyover in the first place.

Meh, just thought of making something new (i.e 3 way Junction) and seeing what's the feedback like. Hence the strawpoll

But how about everything else, besides the 3-way? Are they good changes?

[[TC] Kyle]

I like the look of the 3-way junction, looks much tidier rather than that flyover tbh. However as already stated above, I am a bit concerned it could cause major accidents from idiots speeding through. Maybe we need to have some sort of slowing down mechanism in place, like we have on Paddock Tunnel Way on Weston Park, just adapted for that junction obviously.

I'm also a fan of everything except from that new Emergency SOS station entrance. It looks a bit tacky? Just my opinion.

[AOR Nova]

(2018-05-13 08:53)Jack Wrote:  I'm also a fan of everything except from that new Emergency SOS station entrance. It looks a bit tacky? Just my opinion.

Hmm. The concept was that, whoever was entering it, was doing so to get repaired to be AFK. Hence, the movable tires were opened up for the "entry" lane, and the exit was kept clean. Added a pit box to make repairing easier, more so if you run into the tires at high speed.

Gives the area more space to work with, and eliminates awkward encounters with cars going in and exiting at the same time. But of course, everything is subject to change at this point

[Esawo]

I absolutely dig your junction. It looks much smoother and cleaner, and would definitely fluidify the traffic... If it weren't for that fact that this is TC. As mentionned above, everyone is going to speed on this autobahn part - especially at the beginning - and be focused solely on how fast they're going. Crashes will happen within the first ten minutes of this going online if it would go online. There's also another issue with it, which shouldn't be one - but things are the way they are. With the old roundabout and the newer flyover, people coming from the city part are more eager to turn on the left, for very obvious reasons from a driver's standpoint. Let's be real, with the current setup, going to the right is an absolute pain, it's slow and tight; whereas the left road is fairly smoothened out and the obvious choice for whomever wishes to keep a good cruising pace or speed up. With the junction setup this problem is erased, as everyone will be able to clearly see both sides and turning to the right would be a whole lot more welcoming (even though the left remains a better choice). The fact that turning on the right would become a more popular choice coupled with the guys speeding it out would make this place a cesspool for cruisers and a haven for ambulances. A good idea but not one fit for the everyday life of the server.

The reworked archway part is more than welcome, it's needed. As you said, the area is constantly cluttered up with a bunch of vehicles honking at eachother because of some random crap - such as these damn cops forcing you to stop in tight areas. Can't you chase me once there is space on the side to stop?
However the markings on the left-driving side of the archway are useless. Everyone's going to cut them, and if you happen to be driving a big and torquey car, don't even think about about following them even if you wanted to. Add to that the fact that if people are actually trying to follow the lines while other try to force their way through, this is a one-way ticket to pile-ups.

On the other hand, the rescue section/safezone is much less of a success in my opinion. Instead of tires, which are absolute crap - hitting them may or may not throw them at other players depending on the lag, and on rare occasions will create crashes if hitting lightweight cars such as the XFG up front -, just put speed bumps. It's that simple. As for the repair zones/pits ... ? Really? This close to the wall? This is going to be painful in case multiple people are going to repair their cars. Instead, put them up to the front of the wall at the back. And two pit spaces would probably be enough.

As for station Boulevard, we shouldn't be able to do U-turns so easily. Too dangerous. But I do understand the need for maneuvers for non-civilian units, such as cops or ambulances. As going wrong way on autobahns is strictly forbidden, you might want to remove those arrow chalks that point out where to go. If you're a special unit, you should already be aware of these tricks anyway. You don't need an arrow to show you the way. To civilians though, this is literally like forbidding the entrance to your bedroom and openning it widely with a big "welcome, please enter" sign above it. As I see you like to get fancy, you could also add speed bumps on these U-turn junctions in order to remind people where exactly they are if, by any chance, it's late at night and you're wasted. And playing LFS. On TC. For some reason.

Lastly, I have no complaints whatsoever for the gas station and the parking spot on main street. Good work there. Except that the park place markings being a part of the road looks incredibly disturbing and ugly. If you're nitpicky like I am, please hide that from our sight. But that's just me.

[Ghutra]

Sadly the tires at Rescue Station can't be removed since they are part of the track itself. Plus that incites for more trolling with the "tyre throwing" (I have seen a few reversing onto the tires so they would hit someone driving down High St).

I agree that a 3-way junc there fits far more than the Flyover, but because this is TC, it's non-viable. I can already see 300 crashes per second, plus chases turning or doing U-turns. Altho a test wouldn't be a bad idea.

I second Esawo about Highway 1-Station Blvd U-turning lanes. The rest is a +1 (especially the wider Flyover)

[AOR Nova]

Hmm, good points!

The rescue station tires cannot be removed, they are LFS default objects. Tire throwing is something I cannot help reduce, but I can only help ease traffic flow around the area instead.

The formal "open" U turn area is meant to be just that - open. To encourage people to execute safe, proper U turns, rather than randomly choosing a gap and pulling a turn. It's made to encourage better driving; although its indirect positive is that it helps chases turn, and reduces wrong waying.

Lastly. Same thoughts about the 3-way. Unless an admin is willing to veto this for a test run - I hope people know what to do when they reach a junction.
We can't keep babying people, they have to learn. That's what the community is for, we correct, encourage, teach, if someone does something weird.

Overall, the objective was to make the cramped map more wider and easier to drive in. South city is a pain in the ass being a street circuit

[AOR Nova]

New Preview video & Layout attachment for New-Gen Sydney




*Note that Minute 4:00 shows the Rescue Unit activated Light junction.

A brief visual run-through of the new features and designs for South City (Sydney).
As May comes to a close, here are the standing results from the poll


With due regard, proposed here will be 3-Way Junction!

The finished layout is attached below for your enjoyment and for testing purposes. Do feedback what you think!

Greetings
Nova

[bowler]

absoloutly love the new layout you have made nova widened it and nice intersection +1 from me