3ddz
Francisco Harner
The High Speed Rail Project, or HSRP, is a plugin of the NAM. As the name states, it is designed to emulate real-world high-speed rail networks, such as those seen in Europe, and uses override network technology to extend the Monorail network. Since the switch to the Monolithic NAM paradigm with the release of NAM 31.0 in March 2013, HSRP has been included in the NAM, as an option in the installer. As of 2014, the High Speed Rail Project has been inactive for several years, and there are presently no plans to add further functionality to it.
The High Speed Rail Project was first proposed as an independent project by Murakumon in a thread started on February 24, 2006. The first concept picture entailed an elevated highway with rail textures applied and and catenaries every tile. Shortly thereafter, the idea attracted some attention, including that of the German modder 3ddz, and the decision was made to structure HSRP as a replacement skin for the Monorail network, as it was generally seen as the least popular default network at that point in time. 3ddz designed the new models for HSRP, and released them as their own download on April 24, 2006 for station builders to use. The initial version of the mod itself was released on July 21, [[2006]. This first release of the HSRP was not part of the NAM and Monorail RUL files were included in the release however as nobody else had modified the monorail not many conflicts, if any, arose. It also included the HSRP Transit Hub, a multi-modal station that also allowed connection with Elevated Rail and Bus.
As HSRP's release came in the midst of the so-called "dark ages" of transit modding, between NAM 19 and 20, when many of the NAM Team founders had taken an extended hiatus or retired from modding, as well as Murakumon and 3ddz, the project lay dormant for some time. When Starter Piece technology became viable, following the public release of Draggable Ground Light Rail (GLR) in the NAM Version 21 release of June 2007, there was interest in redesigning HSRP to co-exist with the default Monorail network. warrior began development on this project, and as he became a NAM Team member early in the development process, the new HSRP became a NAM project. The first NAM Team release of the Starter-based HSRP coincided with the release of NAM 23 on April 24, 2008. The HSRP Transit Hub was repackaged and offered as a separate download, as until 2013, NAM Team policy forbade the inclusion of Lot-based items in RUL-bound plugin packages.
When it was discovered that some BATs had ended up with texture Instance IDs (IIDs) that conflicted with the HSR track textures, the mod was updated again in January 2009, shortly after the release of NAM 24. Shortly after, vershner created a revised texture set, which only saw release when HSRP was merged into the NAM itself, as part of the Monolithic NAM initiative that was released with the March 2013 release of NAM Version 31.0. Since the IID fix, HSRP has effectively been a dormant project, with no new functionality added since then. warrior moved onto development on the Railway Addon Mod in 2009, where he served as the lead RUL2 coder.
In the early years of SC4, new technology was found by smoncrie which allowed us to use a single puzzle piece to create a starter for a new set of textures or models for the same network, there are already a few mods that take advantage of this technology, namely draggable GLR, SAM, and RHW. At the moment, there are two new model variations included in this mod, High Speed Rail (HSR, elevated) and Ground High Speed Rail (GHSR).
The original HSRP replaced Monorail. At the time this was the best way of implementation, and was created by 3ddz, founded by Murakamon, on the 24th of February 2006. Since then there has only been one release, HSRP Beta 1. This mod uses the original models from that release for HSR, and a lowered version for GHSR. No other modifications were made to the models.
To build an HSR override network, first place the appropriate starter piece from the menu, then select the Monorail network tool, and drag Monorail through the starter. The stretch of Monorail should convert to the appropriate HSR network at that point.
Curves to diagonals can also be accomplished through simple dragging motions, as with any other draggable network. HSR has been designed to have a slightly wider radius for its default curve, which should be taken into consideration when building over/underpasses near curves.
Supported draggable crossing setups can be built much in the same way that Monorail crossings are, by simply dragging the HSR tracks over (or under) the desired network as appropriate. Due to game limitations, the crossing will initially show as a Monorail crossing in the preview, but provided the setup is supported, it will change to the appropriate HSR override network. HSR networks cannot cross other networks at the same height level, as grade separation is key to allowing the trains to operate at high speeds. Both HSR and GHSR, however, can cross over or under an L1 elevated network, such as the L1 RealHighway shown below.
The capacity and speed of both the Elevated and Ground High Speed Rail override networks is identical to that of the base Monorail network. The precise capacity depends on the Traffic Plugin one has installed. Capacity is generally calculated on a per tile basis by the game.
The High Speed Rail Project supports several different types of bridges, for both the elevated HSR network and GHSR. To build the bridges, simply drag the Monorail network across the body of water (or sufficiently deep canyon), and options for HSR bridges will appear.
Being based on the Monorail network, HSR and GHSR do NOT support the construction of properly functioning tunnels. However, one can convert to the Subway network from HSR by using third-party lots, such as the HSRP Subway Converters by ebina and 3ddz.
The NAM includes several stations for the HSR family of override networks, all of are Transit-Enabled Lots. In order to enable network passage through the network, simply drag the Monorail network through the station in the appropriate direction. All of these stations can be found under the Rails Menu.
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