Stress test my layout

[Tommer]

Exactly as the title says - I'd like people to give my layout a go , I've been working on this Westhill layout for the past three days, it's definately worth checking out now IMO as i've worked hard to iron out the flaws.

I've been running laps in both directions in the fz5 and feel confident everything flows and that keeping right and not hitting anything isn't a challenge.

Design principles;

--> Consistancy.

+White lines are spaced exactly the same away from each other (I measured..)
+White lines are exactly central (I measured..)

--> Crash proof.

+No uf1, crash all the other car funnel lanes for chuck's entertainment

+Very clear view pulling out from junctions/parking.. Armco instead of R/W barriers to enhance visibility.

+Corners are pretty damn clearly marked with plenty of warning

+Pits are 1 way and non chaotic. traffic merges in non-dangerous way, highway traffic has clear view of vehicles entering the highway

+Entering safe zone 2 no longer requires you to cause a pile up or wait until nobody is behind you because it has it's own lane.

+ No tyrestacks where people WILL hit them unlike [TC]'s typical layouts.

+ Decided against cop parking in middle of the road, because of how the visible mirror is on the other side.

+ Safezone 1 turning lane is of a much safer width, and doesn't feature posts that everyone will hit.

+ Keeping right no longer holds the disadvantage of hitting tyres if you take the inside line too close.

--> CityDriving

+ Feels like a city. Actual white lines instead of speedhumps and cones for lane markings.
+ Parking Capacity
+ Police Capacity - designed to be spacious enough for police overtakes, but only in the safe places. Parking areas in places that are useful for police too.
+ Plopped in a nice spot like the highway 2 section on Montana for Police Roadblocks
+ Did I mention it flows like a city should?

--> Lag

+ Far less physics objects (EG, Tyrestacks)


Did I mention how much I hate the over-use of tyre stacks?

Anywho.. another layout from a guy who grew up drawing road layouts..

Also attached is a dds file which removes the small notches from chalk white lines and straightens them out for your aesthetic pleasure, I recommend you use them, and another dds file which removes the pit lines that jut out into the road. I recommend you use them to get the full enjoyment of it, but hey, your choice.

Yeah I'm pretty much inactive on [TC].. It's just kind of sad that the main reason is normally that I feel the layouts just are.. Ugh

- Tommer

[Lewis]

Sounds pretty damn good Tommer, once i have finished watching hot fuzz and finish eating my weetabix, i will nip on the computer, test it and get back to you

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Its pretty good Tommer, 2 small things though.

1) It is a bit boring in and around the pitlane.
2) Going northbound on HW2, the small red barrier you have placed, between that and the wall you can still fit a car through so any people pared in that area will be hit. Oh, and also i think the entrances to then going in both directions is a little bit to big and should possibly make people wanting to go in there, slow down.

Other than that, very good job! Keep up the good work

[ChrisM]

Not to be rude, but in all fairness, it's all fine and dandy to use terms like, "crash proof", and "enhancing visibility", but, as always, you're still gonna have people hitting barriers etc, pulling out of the pits and not looking, regardless of whether or not traffic coming down highway 1 can see it coming or not, there's still gonna be accidents. Can't do any harm to have armco there instead of the r/w barriers, but still.

The main thing for me tho, is:

(2012-05-05 00:22)Tommer Wrote:  +Corners are pretty damn clearly marked with plenty of warning

Wait, what? We have a map, and we can see the track, so what use is adding a sign to tell us there's a corner?

Credits due for the effort and whatnot, but that "marking corners with signs" just seems a bit "unnecessary"?

[Tommer]

@Lewis
1) I figured the pit lane doesn't really need decoration, as I suspect most people would sooner admire the road that has had more work done on it than the pitlane.

2) Good spot Didn't notice that one, think they could be replaced by Banners.

I kept the entrances that wide because I figured it's a 75 mph road and people slowing down lots in the road would be bad. But I can see why it would be a concern that people might enter the parking spaces at a pace, maybe something could be done to improve this.


@Chris
Better to be able to see than not to see and have the chance to look, than not be able to see no?

Marking the corners with bend signs is pretty common practice in a city, with real psychological reasons.

I'll let David Crundall and Geoffrey Underwood from Nottingham University explain this one

Quote:
  
The role of the warning traffic sign is to prepare the driver for a subsequent behavior necessitated by the road layout ahead. By giving the driver advanced notice of a left-bend, a hidden dip or an adverse camber, it is hoped that the motor response required for the appropriate action is facilitated (Traffic Signs Manual 1986, Chapter 4). Without advanced notice of road conditions the driver would have to initiate the appropriate behavior when they first perceive the focus of the hazard, such as a sharp left-bend. This increases the risk of accidents in those situations where the amount of time required to first assess the road conditions and then take appropriate action is greater than the time available before reaching the hazard

That's why I believe bend warning signs are necessary, they're not just there for aesthetics

I tested my layout at about 4am when I was half asleep and found that by putting in the corner markings I was able to react to corners much more safely when I was not thinking on my feet, and as you've probably noticed, most people on [TC] are definitely not thinking on there feet whilst driving, so I believe these prompts will definitely help.

 
Anyone else tried the layout and wants to give some feedback?  
 
 

[Cola]

Just downloaded it, will test now, and get back with feedback in ~20 mins

[Cola]

Okay, I made this one pic for you instead of 10 small.

56K/bit warning (Click to View)

[Tommer]

1st pic: Difficult to fix in such a way that it looks right, lfs rotates in set increments.. Beleive me I tried hard

2nd pic: Sorry, not gonna happen, that'll go against my design principle of not putting tyres in places where people are likely to hit them. I have however redesigned the entire cattle market in a rather interesting track revision.

Infact, there are two versions, both are difficult to explain without pictures so I will upload those tommorow along with the layout files

3rd pic: Thanks figured it would be a nice RB spot + stops people slipping into the wrongside there

4th pic: I changed this in my latest track revision, it goes a further two out now

5/7th pic: The reality is that no matter what I do here there will be some people who manage to hit the barriers in the turning, however in my latest layout revision I added a peice of armco between the lanes and shifted the white lines so that people who 'bounce' won't go into the main highway lane (assuming they have done most of the slowing down before hitting the barrier)

6th pic: I kind of agree but I figured the heavy signage was quite enough warning for the sharp bend, with the entire section having a total of 3 left-bend signs, plus the red brake markings on the road not far before it.

In my latest layout revision the cattle market section takes a completely new route which I beleive works a lot better, but I will show that tommorow.

8th and 9th picture, funny how you say the two corners that are difficult to take are the ones without there bends marked by signs, you may disagree with me but I suspect I may be onto something here with the bend signs no?

I remove the armco on h1 in the latest revision and add a bend sign
As for drifters, I kept the armco there, it looks better, I put in a bend sign now though so awareness of the corner is raised.


I'll upload the revision layout's tommorow

[McGherkin]

I think that in the 5th and 7th pic, the barriers for the filter lane should be removed altogether. Much better for someone to completely overshoot the junction and have to go round again than to smash into the barrier at the end and go flying.

The lane which turns into the pits could be filled with yellow lines if necessary. Used on a few roundabouts round here where you have to slow from 70mph. Pretty hard to ignore imo. You've used red ones in the layout but some are in fairly pointless places (high end of the main straight?)

[Street]

Tommer, if you're not enjoying the layouts on the servers, then you should try making some and submitting them on the forum as ideas for changes!





I'll take a look tomorrow

[[TC]►Bez◄]

Love the layout Tommer, nice job! Lovely to drive, has a "City like" feeling to it. Just one think I think you should change is the red breaking lines to yellow ones & possibly space them out a little more. Cant really see anything else wrong with it. Great job

[Chill .]

Yes it`s really nice . Use it in TC Plz !

[Cola]

(2012-05-05 23:47)Tommer Wrote:  Snip*

Thanks for the feedback on the feedback

Anyway, I really think you're on to something with the corner markers. I'd say put one or two at the corner by truck stop I mentioned in my picture.

Also, just wanted to say that I really enjoyed the layout, and that I in my post, was quite harsh and critical with it. But it's just to be sure you've completely thought through every tiny detail in the layout.

Thumbs up for this, and when it's done, you should submit it as an idea for a TC layout

[Chill .]

(2012-05-06 07:59)Rainis . Wrote:  Yes it`s really nice . Use it in TC Plz !

[Jappe]

No need to repost that

Anyway, im gona take a look too

[Tommer]

I've moved the brake lines, turned them yellow, spaced them out more and put them further back in my latest revision, but i'm still not happy with Cattle market, it's proving really, really difficult to make something effective there I'll release the latest update once I'm happy with it

[Cola]

Cool, thanks. Will happily test the reworked layout

[Tommer]

After spending my day adjusting cattle market and trying out a few different idea's for the road layout, I've finally come up with something that I feel happy with, Ok it's a little slower now but it definately flow's and in my opinion has plenty of space..

You may notice how the side of the safezone 2 bulges in and I did this so that people would not view the gravel road as a fast shortcut through cattle market.

This is Because I wanted the safezone to be an area where people are driving slower, thus a safe place to park and pit.

I adjusted the road the best I could so that people would be able to keep right and not hit the barriers, moving the brake markings far earlier and using markings on the road to encourage people away from the barriers. The turning lanes I have kept out of the main driving line so people can stop in them safely when they want to turn into the safezone.

Some corners around the track have had minor touch ups, brake lines are now yellow for visibilities sake.

I did some test laps around the track and honestly to me now it feels quite natural to drive around and relaxed , now it's time to see if others agree.

If people like what i've done in this revision and don't have any more improvements I will make a video of me driving around the layout, and put the layout/dds files and video in a new thread under server suggestions

Here's a preview, but I recommend you try it before commenting about collisions

[Cola]

Looks good so far, I'll give it a try right away

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That's spot on. Got nothing else to say here. Good work

[Tommer]

Glad to hear it, and if I do say so myself, i'm agreeing, so i'm rendering a video now for the improvements thread

[FR4NOx]

I tried the first version you made and I love it, then I tried your latest version of it and it's even better.

Good work!