Enhancements to existing features

[originalfoo]

Due to a brief moment of masochistic insanity, I watched a several "lets play"-style videos featuring T++ and noted the areas of confusion when using the mod.

A recent example: https://youtu.be/o28KxLhg1LM?t=8m54s

Based on this and other feedback, I've compiled the following suggestions...

Lane changer (intersection routing)

General:

• For un-customised sources, show the game default destinations via thin grey-ish bezier lines
  • they would disappear (on a source by source basis) when customisations are applied
  • they reappear (on a source by source basis) if customisations are subsequently removed
• Would be useful to have a way to instantly clear custom routes at an intersection without needing to manually click each existing route

Example: I've customised destinations for one source on a one-way 2-lane road, the other source still indicates its game default connections.

Editing an intersection:

• Show source circles by default when hovering mouse over intersection (remove the big blue circle step) – allows user to instantly edit intersection without needing to click blue circle first
  • The blue circle could be retained (but not need clicking) simply to emphasise/visualise that an intersection is present (it would disappear while editing the intersection)
• Make destination circles white to clearly differentiate from coloured source circles (bonus: also avoids using up the list of random colours)
• Make "drag line" (bezier that follows mouse cursor) white – colour cue to connect white line to white destination circle
• Make coloured "placed lines" (those connecting a source to destination) appear above the "drag line"

Switching between source & destination mode:

• When a source is selected, dim (or thin?) - rather than hide - the other source circles
• With source already selected, if the mouse hovers over a source within the current intersection:
  • Un-dim the source circle the mouse is hovering over
  • If it's the currently selected source: allow left-click to de-select it (same effect as right-clicking), then un-dim all other source circles in the current intersection
  • If it's a different source: dim or hide the "drag line" and allow left-click to switch to the new source
• The right-click approach should be retained as existing users will be used to it

Switching between intersection / lane editing modes:

• Constrain white "drag line" to editable area of intersection (eg. you can't drag it over a lane outline or in to a different intersection; it will terminate at the edge of the editable area of the current intersection)
• When mouse is outside the editable area of the intersection, dim the white "drag line"
• General UI works as if user wasn't editing an intersection:
  • Hover over road to see it's lanes, click to select/deselect lanes
  • Hover over different intersection to see it's source circles, click one to start routing mode for that intersection

Lane customisation:

Selection modifiers:

• Ctrl+click = constrain selection toggle to hovered segment of road
• Shift+click = select all lanes on hovered road
• Alt+click = inverse selection for hovered road

Customisation state:

• Empty lane outline = not customised
• Filled lane outline = vehicle restrictions are customised
• Dashed lane outline = speed limits are customised

Road customiser button:

Could this be enabled by default in mod options for new users?

Things for me to do:

• Finish new version of user guides (in progress)
• New TM & mods slides making it clearer they are 'third party' mods

[Nefarion]

Maybe a feature to set "Default" speeds for a street? Because having to select the whole highway network to make them go 140 is a bit much...

[originalfoo]

@Nefarion : I've been pondering default speeds for different types of road - IMHO that would be better implemented as part of a bigger feature that also includes things like road textures, localised signage, etc. I'll post note on this in #31 - Settings Tab.

[originalfoo]

From #61 @joaofarias:

I'm working on making vehicles take road changes into account immediately. It's working nicely for vehicle restrictions but the intersection routings are causing weird despawns - I'm not changing anything in the pathfinding, only in the AI classes so it shouldn't create any conflict.

Very much looking forward to this (many users currently consider it a bug because they don't see immediate visual feedback). Is it just doing it for vehicles already on the changed road (priority pathfind update) or is it also doing it for vehicles further away (queued pathfind)?

Also it would be sweet if vehicles could be discouraged from lanes faster than the vehicle's own max speed; again this is about user perception - a slow vehicle holding up traffic is perceived as a bug :/

[joaofarias]

Vehicles update their path as they reach changed roads - those already there update immediately, of course.

I also want to make vehicles account for lane speeds - in a first phase by type of vehicle and later on by their actual speed (since these can be set in custom assets) - and avoid congested roads when calculating paths.

Regarding the first post, I'll get back to you later on that.