Tweak your Intersections Like a PRO in Cities Skylines! (Node Controller Renewal)

[@SilverAnicore]

The modding community of CS is absolutely insane. Paradox have struck gold with this community. Their game wouldn't be making them nowhere near as much money if they weren't so welcoming to modders.

[@jakehussey8957]

They would do just fine. The console versions are incredible and they are only vanilla. It is definitely an awesome bonus to have the modding community. I am jealous I can’t play with the workshop 😫

[@DerBeppone]

Paradox embraces Modding wholesale! You really can telll. I am a great fan of a lot of Paradox games. They are just the best, when it comes to Strategy variety these days. :) And they do embrace the modding communities pretty much everywhere.

[@Gryphyn3]

Yup I agree. They did strike gold. They built a game that was okay. And instead of paying people to make it great, they let modders make the game great for free.

[@iangriffiths985]

The paradox being that at some point, all of what you see here should actually be vanilla.

[@Josiah_Trelawny1]

The best thing i like, is that their game is that open to mod. I mean they open their code wide enough to do things like Traffic Manager and Node Controller and not only to do retextures of existing buildings. This is huge! And i really love them for doing so.

[@DerAva]

That before/after flyover was a thing of beauty.

[@BiffaPlaysCitiesSkylines]

👍😁

[@mbrackeva]

Indeed. Another great production.

[@spoiled_kitten]

Biffa puts so much detail into this I would hate to be his pc Rendering it all.

[@Bulkinc]

It really doesn't make that much of an impact

[@CakeboyRiP]

Intersection marking tool, move it and node controller have almost no effect at all. TM:PE does have an effect on performance

[@coldblooded568]

Facts 🤣 he must have Alienware

[@Bulkinc]

@@coldblooded568 hahahahahaha

[@rajabustanil6852]

It's not that heavy tho, it put more task to gpu yes but this game is more dependand on cpu

[@bunnywarren]

It's just not the same now the city isn't on fire every episode.

[@Stormcrow_1]

At one point ( 15:12 ) you can see the shadow of a fire helicopter, so you can rest easy that the place is still catching fire.

[@Thaistickthai]

New Tealand was always on fire, it was always burning since the worlds been turning

[@Stormcrow_1]

@@Thaistickthai Just remember, savetherock.

[@Thaistickthai]

@@Stormcrow_1 i told biffa last episode he should make tees with "ignore the fires save the rocks" id buy one

[@mbrackeva]

The fires were annoying. And now they're gone, I miss them...

[@comeoncuh9916]

I saw the Node Controller patch last week and I was like: “Oh, now I know what the next video in New Tealand is going to be about, yay😁!”

[@deadly_dave]

The UI updates on that Node Controller look fantastic.

[@ashleyherkie]

The level of detail Biffa puts into this City is unbelievable

[@CarinaCoffee]

The part when the roads don't align with the existing lanes when you upgrade a section of road has always bothered me so much! So cool that you can now easily align them.

[@gallendugall8913]

Every time I think I'm done with this game Biffa pulls me back in.

[@BiffaPlaysCitiesSkylines]

Enjoy 👍😁

[@James68W]

Wow, that is the single most accurate highway exit I've ever seen in a city building game

[@CarinaCoffee]

The doughnut vans always give me anxiety when they take a corner or turn off a motorway when they drive on two tyres only. I know they're not coded to fall over and cause a traffic accident, but still I always get anxiety from seeing that anyway.

[@tyranus1111]

I knlw this is old but yesterday i watched a dounut van try to rear end and proceed to run over a car after fixing a big intersection. What a Chad.

[@banned-account]

@@tyranus1111 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The people need their donuts

[@ashleyherkie]

Biffa needs a video solely dedicated to naming everything

[@TobyMinceraftMC]

8:24 After you've clicked once holding ALT, you don't actually need to continue holding ALT. And if you've clicked on the wrong point, you can right-click to go back a step. 13:10 Instead of clicking on that X, you can also click on the dots associated with that line in the node to remove it; I find that easier than hovering and accidentally clicking the wrong line in the menu

[@andreasalomoni6025]

I’m so happy that you’re much more detail oriented now! But PLEASE post more content 🥺

[@Warren_L.]

Very nice editing at the end of the time-lapse; really impressive effects.

[@ItsJustKrows]

I play your videos while I'm holding my 2 day old, and she falls asleep listening to you're voice. It's quite soothing lol

[@BiffaPlaysCitiesSkylines]

You're welcome :-)

[@BEDO724]

I don't play this game, I have no idea what he's doing, but I finish all his traffic videos because it's so damn satisfying. LOL

[@BiffaPlaysCitiesSkylines]

😁

[@chrisi2348]

this really was a rollercoaster of emotions. him showing off one thing at a time not knowing if he'll miss straightening out the roads or something.

[@jeffeastmond8481]

At 22:22, the right-turn lane for traffic coming from the right is not required, as they can (and will) go down the slip-road at the right of the screen. Similarly the ability to turn right for traffic coming from the top of the screen going right from the straight road.

[@SimonSideburns]

Very observant. Those sections of interchange do seem rather redundant.

[@MsEgwene]

Yes, thank you! I came here to see if this still needed to be said.

[@thesteelrodent1796]

that's just Biffa who didn't set up the lanes correctly

[@drizzle8309]

These mods are fantastic! They've actually made things so much more intuitive, because it allows you to make things more like real life. It also almost forces you to do lane-maths, otherwise it looks weird. It brings a few difficulties of its own, but it makes time spent on interchanges and on or off ramps much more rewarding. It's also quite amazing what modders have managed to do with this game. Holy cow.

[@helderboymh]

This makes such a huge difference it makes the roads look so good instead of completely unrealistic. Such a satisfying episode, i could watch Biffa beautify junctions all day!

[@mj-vc5zg]

Thank you biffa, for all the sleepless nights lately. After almost a year I started playing Cities Skylines again with all these great mods and your videos about lane mathematics and fixing traffic coming in very handy. 82% traffic at the moment 😍. I really like this kind of videos, easy to understand, how to use these powerful tools. ❤

[@Fierss78]

Those transitions in the timelapse is just 👌

[@fraxinuscavum8940]

This node controller update is the one little thing I've been waiting for since the game came out. It's small, but just being able to line up those junctions nicely and not have them all jagged and offset is going to be so nice for detailing and making highway connections feel better.

[@wyastonhypatia23]

One suspects a whole lot of time and thought went into this 20odd minutes. One of the best demonstrations of these mods I've seen.

[@BiffaPlaysCitiesSkylines]

It did, thankyou 🙏

[@ktllama4858]

I actually really enjoyed you walking us step by step through each mod and their integrations. Great video 👏

[@mrxmry3264]

11:10 yes, THAT's the way it should be. in the real world you'll never find one thats pointing the other way. 11:20 that may look ok but it's wrong.

[@dusansloboda]

Biffas city doesnt have to be COMPLETELY perfect.

[@dustinfocus]

I didnt even finish my coffee before this video was over (watching in 1.5x).... I think intersection marking is boring, yet BIffa, your video edits are coming through supahot. Quicker video, fire edits, and useful information. Biffa does it again... Happy Saturday everyone!! On your next drive may you notice your local intersection markings

[@Sloth_and_Badger]

I wonder when "shiftify" is a valid 8 word solution on Countdown 🤔😉

[@raistormrs]

u mean 8 letters right ? ;) so r u going to tweet it to susie dent or what ? :p

[@Sloth_and_Badger]

@@raistormrs oh yes, Sorry. I would deliver it in person 😉 Something that she could look into

[@raistormrs]

@@Sloth_and_Badger ... other than gloryholes ...

[@Sloth_and_Badger]

@@raistormrs 😉

[@ggdiven]

Ah, men of culture

[@Stalg_Gelbean]

This game is so complex, so many tools and functions. I don’t even know if I’m playing or working now.

[@thelonelyaussie712]

can i just say that you have no idea how much enjoyment i am now going to get from using these few simple mods, coming from someone that loves Traffic Management and the "Lane Mathematics" associated this here has just made my day. ill probably spend the rest of 2021 going through and literally redoing every single intersection or horky borky connection on all of my cities . Unsure weather i love you or hate you.

[@BiffaPlaysCitiesSkylines]

😁

[@senorsoupe]

A surprising number of Biffaisms have entered my every day lexicon. I like sneaking terms like winky-wonky into work emails

[@lindajohnston552]

Oh, my giddy aunt!

[@mbrackeva]

I got caught in an online meeting using the word "shiftify" and was asked to explain myself. They assumed I just made an error, not being a native English speaker. Little did they know...

[@anticlockwisepropeller7379]

Wow! The new Node Controller looks great! I love the ability to align the lanes so they're not as horky borky as before! Thanks so much for showing off these mods and how to use them! They really make a difference to how your city's intersections look!

[@hadifelani]

But the new ones removed the ability to do any further tweakings on each individual sides of the segment 😭 now you can only do edits on both sides.

[@SvenMazet1973]

for a bend in the road I've found on highways that when you shift the roads between two intersections (when you go from 3 to 2 lanes and back to 3), you can shift the roads bij + or - 2 to line them up with the next junction using node controller :)

[@dschadu]

I think the node you are setting up at around 21:51 should have no right-turning lane when coming from the left, as there is already a right-turning lane a bit more to the left. Otherwise, great work as always!

[@tls5870]

Good point, also the lane could remain, but as a straight on so that it lines up with the other side of the intersection and use traffic manager and lane markings to divert the traffic flow from the left lane to the right lane and put a filler in the left lane that will now be unused.

[@petersandblad2517]

The sampled ping pong balls in the tune playing during the timelapse (20:35) - I can’t unhear them now 😅 Thanks for another awesome video Biffa! I already look forward to the next one 😌

[@TheGhostAvatar]

Little tip for you with buses, if you don't have the right road with bus lanes. You can use a normal road. Then paint in those lanes with marking tools (solid fill and change colour). Then use traffic manager to ban traffic on that lane. Can also use it to create a little buffer road before and after bus stops as well (like the on/off ramps in this video, going from 2 to 3). That way bus stops don't hold up traffic to much. Now if only you could do it for bike lanes.

[@wades1360]

I really like this video because you show how to actually use mods and not just say you used "this tool", do a a cut or time lapse through it. I know I should read the mod instructions more often to figure them out, but sometimes the abbreviated instructions are confusing and that infuriates me. Good one you for taking the time to be Biffa the Mod Instructor!

[@Bendigo1]

In America, On ramps and off ramps usually have a gap with no lines to indicate free movement between the 2 different lanes. Unless the onramp has a yield sign there should be a solid line then no lines into the lane that it merges to. These 2 mods are definitely a must for anyone that is keen on detail. So happy they are being updated to make them more simple to use.

[@patrickchapman8583]

Really enjoy how much better the roadways look with the lane marking tool and node controller. Where I'm at in the US some of the lane splits and offramps are marked a bit differently. For example, @17:05 when Biffa was working on an exit-only lane, there wouldn't be any lane marking in the space of the node for the lane that's splitting off. Also, the lane marking between lane 2 and the exit lane, up to the chevron-infilled lane splitter, would be special exit lane markings. The exit lane markings are a bit shorter, wider, and closer together than the normal lane dividers making them appear a bit blockier. Where a road loses a lane, such as going from 3 lanes to only 2 lanes, the marking would be similar in that in the space of the node, there wouldn't be lane dividers between the lanes that are merging. Similarly, when we have a left turn-only lane that splits off from the through traffic, there usually aren't any lane dividers while the lane is forming and once the left-turn-only lane is formed, its lane divider is a solid line.

[@SipuliSankari]

One not so common knowledge about Intersection Marking Tool is that you can do lines in sections and even leave gaps to them (Sadly only intersections of lines, so you pretty much want to draw all the possible lines you can and just turn the ones you don't want to be visible to be fully transparent). So you could change those dashed lines that cars constantly drive over to have higher alpha channel value so that you see through the road more on thos bits. That is currently the only way to mimic those lines being worn off a bit due to trafic driving over them.

[@rgk99]

Is it possible to recolor the lines that aren’t in a yellow node to match up with the custom ones we add when editing the intersection?

[@TheEthanWaller]

Biffa the ending montage was fantastic. You've made some good ones in the past but this one really stands out

[@richardbonder6616]

This is a game changer!! I stopped playing because I had a vision of how I wanted my roads, just wasn't able to implement it. But this will get me playing again

[@johannes23v]

I saw the release of the new Node Controller and was eagerly waiting for Biffa to make a video about it. You didn’t disappoint me. Well done!

[@jonathanallard2128]

Thank you so much. Your videos gave new life to my Cities Skylines experience. Started making a new city with your tips, choice of mods, roundabouts and lane friggin mathematics!!

[@NelielSugiura]

I was sceptical of the new node controller mod. Glad you added this to explain and show its update.

[@JRSofty]

Thanks Biffa! I swapped to the new node controller and was completely lost in how the GUI worked as it was so different from the previous version. Within the first 5 minutes of your video I'm able to use it and it is making such a difference to my new city build.

[@mattmakatsaria7369]

I think the best feature of cities skylines isn't even a feature: the low skill floor and the HIGH skill ceiling. You can make a normal city in the time that this intersaction took or you can spend it on something that makes minimal impact on traffic but looks a bit prettier.

[@Jim.Hummel]

With the right mods (these are foundational for sure) and a little bit of time, you can truly transform your city's appearance and behavior from cartoonish to nearly indecipherable from real life! Thanks for showing us how it's done!

[@mrchristianpunk4063]

This is an amazing mod, just got into cities skylines after having it sit in my library for a while and I'm really liking it, mods like these really help make the experience even more tailored

[@TheFunsportler]

Looks absolutely fantastic. A few things i would change though: When merging 3 to 2 lanes, cars coming from the highway shoud merge away from the lanes coming onto the highway to give the slower cars coming from the ramp a chance to merge onto the highway. Worst case scenario here is that a car coming onto the highway can not merge and has to stop at the end of the highway ramp, and then accelerate from 0 while already on the highway. This may slow down cars that are coming from the highway at full speed and can cause traffic jams. Another thing is that the arrow markings should be changed. On the ramp itself there is a turning arrow which can just be removed and just before the merging lanes there are three straight arrows, but instead the one on the merging lane should be one with a slight angle indicating the merge. Dunno if you have a mod for that though.

[@ruukinen]

Where I am from lanes merge into the highway just like that. It would be a nightmare in rush hour traffic to merge two highspeed lanes into one.

[@rons3103]

Biffa, @21:17, your working on an entrance ramp to split the traffic one lane one, one lane off. @ 21:37, you change to A-Sementric 2 lanes, sending 1 onto the highway. You could have reverse this going 1-2 the other way. You don't need another turn onto highway as the ramp takes care of that. You should could use a second to come back on. When I downloaded this map, I saw the extra center turn, which I made straight in my world. I thought the designer created a little bit of overkill for ramp entries to the highway from this road, both sides!

[@ZalymBiscayn]

The level of detail that can be applied to a city via these mods is incredible. With so many restraints removed, it's as if you are now actually building a model city with various levels of details depending on your desire/available time--much like the difference between a snap-tight model plane with stickers versus one with glue and paint. I've been off and on with CS and only now just really getting into it, but this is just a load of fun--almost a game within a game, yet completely ignorable if you don't feel like it somedays. I don't know if CS2 is eventually coming out or not, but if they don't incorporate some of these ideas into the base game, it is going to feel quite empty. Thanks for sharing these and the great video library for this title.

[@letspretend_22]

Awesome video! Just one thing: the bit of marking after a chevron filler is always a solid line and not dashed all the way to the filler"s pointy end. Just before coming up to the filler or immediately after it when you merge onto the highway, there is always a section of solid line, so you don't merge into traffic straight away. Hope that makes sense.

[@kevinkoobs951]

Want to say - like others - that I really enjoy your new way of editing, knowing what kind of effort goes into that. Keep op the good work Biffa, love your videos!

[@danielmansfeld7747]

Biffa, your video editing at the end with the before /after effect is really stepping up the game !!

[@WandererRTF]

This was absolutely awesome. Couple of mods i really needed to make actual changes to intersections. You have just made my highway intersections both more functional as well as pretty.

[@mohammadaladham7721]

Biffa, the chevrons point to where the cars are coming from. So the chevrons in intersection at 11:11 are correct in that direction.

[@samuelwatkins9105]

Thank you for showing this... i have been waiting for this since the game came out. Found it so annoying how the roads worked in the game and this fixes them

[@marcuscarman1854]

Yes, biffa has a vid out 😀, perfect Saturday morning

[@Martell364]

Looks really nice. One thing you could do though to make it even more realistic: When you have a lane coming on and then the 3-2 node, to have a solid line between the oncoming lane and the rest of the highway up to the node where they merge.

[@stephaniewall8911]

Looking really good. Just a note that in the UK and also New Zealand it's always chevrons and the point should point towards you as you approach.

[@Doddibot]

Yes! You are the first person who pointed out the chevrons are around the wrong way for all the on-ramps.

[@BenjamanWoolner]

Biffa, great tips and very helpful, but as a fellow Brit can I suggest you change your 2 to 3 line markings just a little. I would either run a solid line between the highway & the filter lanes with dotted entry/exits, or I would run a longer length dashed line to designate that it's a filter lane & not just a extra lane of highway, much like you see on our road network 🙂

[@Akiyuki_Shin]

Your videos helps me in so many ways, i love how you design the roads etc it is satisfying to watch, made my stress dim down.

[@vickirothe3761]

Thank you for showing us how to use these tools. Increasing the size of the node to ease turning is very helpful as are lane mergers, however, I find all the lane markers at a T or 4 way intersection to be just a bit busy to look at. I suspect I will be using only the outside most solid line of a left or right lane and eliminate any interior dashed lane indicators. Personal preference. Great tutorial!! 👏👏👏

[@NAMRETLAH]

Awesome as always Biffa! I have been inspired greatly by your videos and have learned how to make Cities a calming game to play. I did notice in your time lapse at 22:07 that you had put redundant turns made at the intersections. I hope you never stop making content, I enjoy your work. Hopefully they consult you when developing a sequel if they ever make one.

[@Tchelow]

Small changes that make things look so much better. Well done ☺️

[@duncandrummond726]

I note at the 20:00 fly over the over pass has slip roads and dedicated turn lanes to join the freeway in both directions. this seems to be because the centre road is 2 way and allows for turning in the same directions as both the on and off slip lane. This seems to have been in the road from the start. Additionally, these lane and node tools look fantastic and continuously improving.

[@prometheus8010]

9:23 I'm surprised there aren't yellow water barrels as an option to put in

[@Fantiniastic]

There are in the workshop!

[@_araminta_]

The master of traffic management at work! Love it 😍

[@DaMeniooo]

Wow! It looks very realistic and I hope that realistic in your city will be very important thing, after tea and names!

[@Nicmadis]

Very satisfying to watch. Despite Biffa intentionally dropping a land mine at one point. Maybe look into downloading some props for the deceleration barriers that they put in highway intersections before bridge pillars and such now?

[@Consequator]

@10:30 that took way too long for comfort before he figured out he forgot the 3rd lane :P

[@DonPidgeon]

These tools tutorials are really useful. Often I just subscribe to a bunch of tools, can only use 10% of their power and ignore making my city looking as great as this.

[@Axelerati0n]

Small tip, when you straighten all ends with the little '+' button in the top right corner of the new node controller mod. If you then turn the off-ramp end back on a little angle (30-45°) against the main highway, your IMT lines look a little smoother and won't make such sharp angles and instead be a bit curvier when meeting the next segment. Looks better imho.

[@hans_nektarinko]

21:52 I don't think you would have the lane markings like that. It is very confusing to look at and I wouldn't be able to drive through that junction myself XD. Also, you could make the "drive-off lane" go slightly more parallel to the highway at the junctions just like this one: 17:47 (The chevron V-shape could be narrower, IDK if it makes sense to you guys but it would make the turn even smoother). Besides that, it is the most beautiful junction ever. Edit: Now I see! 21:52 you didn't apply lane mathematics. There are 2 lanes- 1lane= 2 lanes! You don't have to allow them to turn right there, so it can be only 1 lane from left to the right direction. From right to left direction, you could have one lane too since the ones that go straight do not have to stop and so they won't block the ones that do want to turn left. Just mark the straight road as the main road.

[@stevengalloway8052]

I liked how you combined this tutorial with your city, Biffa. Kills two birds with one stone! 😆 It amazes me how you can make the marking changes while the traffic still is going. I'd have to pause the game myself. Too distracting. 😏 Also, I noticed that under your walkway over the highway, I thought I saw you had a missing pillar or two. That walkway must be pretty strong 💪for that span! 😆 Good job, look forward to seeing more. Brew District somewhere! 😆

[@Skaral2]

Very pretty editing! I love the side by side comparison.

[@lockjawjak]

Man I am so glad this popped up in suggested, this has been my biggest gripe with the highway building in this game! I can't believe this was not included in the vanilla game, it just seemed so logical to me that a road builder should have a proper merge and slip lane system >_>

[@xblcorn32]

Just a quick observation, in the States the off ramps and the merging lanes don't have striped lines between them at the point of merge and exit, just blank for merging and exiting.

[@Tearnofear]

Ah man, i got the new NC last Week and was about to tell you how good it is. And then i saw this thumbnail and was like: "Well, guess he already knows" =D These srsly are 4 must-have mods and you did a excellent... sip of tea.... Job in showing how to use them

[@zinita7715]

You could straighten the continue straight lines a bit more, but this looks so good. These 4 mods are making the game so replayable.

[@stargazergirl22]

Thanks for the tutorial!! I can tell I’m going to be spending way too much time fixing and fine tuning all of my nodes!!!!

[@Incogneto1981]

That time lapse was class! Loving the tunes over it too! I might give it a go myself, always been a bit put off by IMT because of all the options but you have made it look very simple to use, thank you! XD

[@tamberp]

You just *know* there's going to be someone out there with a well-thumbed copy of TSRGD, vibrating with joy over how they can now make all their road markings compliant. 😁

[@niccolom]

This is great. We need more tutorial videos, in addition to simply watching you play.

[@partycrashr92]

These are literally the mods I've been dreaming of.

[@amshermansen]

I gotta say - This is probably one of few mods that might convince me to get back into Skylines. It always bugged me how these intersections needed a LOT of manual dragging of lines, patterns and so on (and never REALLY looked great)

[@themanonmars2043]

thank you thank you thank you! I am new to modding and just wanted the basics to allow me to have some more control over traffic, this is exactly what i've been looking for!

[@thomasclose5198]

One thing you could do to make it more realistic, when you have a dedicated lane for exiting the motorway, the lane markings are usually slightly different, normally closer together and thicker lines. Either way though it’s a thing of beauty.

[@53Strat]

Don't really play this game but the level of detail is insane with these modes. My god.

[@lightlegion3703]

I already know all this tips, but cant stop watching video like this :D

[@fil23ralliart]

Those timelapse/cinematic edits are getting slick Biffa!

[@telnx]

Best trick i've found is not using the Intersection tool on the junctions but on the roads, once you select the road you want to edit, to make custom road layouts for bikes/buses, just select the road you want to edit, go filters, use the control keys to make a new filter and it will spawn the road filter nodes, then select the nodes you want, apply the filter you like, i just select the template part (made templates of bike and bus lanes) After that, make a Preset of that road layout and paste the preset to the rest of the roads and delete all you custom road mods that you don't need now :D

[@katharinaconen]

Biffa, outstanding work! Awesome detailing. I like the way you structure your video now. For me as a newbie, it is easier to follow by getting the information at the beginning which mod you use and how to. I watched other videos from your list and have to say, it is a great development in structuring videos. Thanks for that! Keep going 😁

[@henke37]

Nice touch with the reveal wipes, really good video editing there.

[@nicholasvoges2219]

You could consider making the dashed line on the highway, where the onramp feeds on, be longer than the gap (i.e. tiny gaps, long line). That signifies the relative danger of merging lanes. That's similar to two way roads, where the longer dash than gap signifies the danger of overtaking in some circumstances.

[@LarrySkylines]

And not a single rock was harmed or displaced in the stretching of nodes and addition of lanes!! I subscribed to node controller renewal a few nights ago. Thankfully I recently started a new city so I don’t have too many intersections to play with. But I completely forgot about copy/paste or saving markings in IMT. Oh the time spent with that... There is something a bit therapeutic about it, although the 400 people stacking up at bus stops would really prefer me to work on more mass transit options 🥴

[@SatTVGuy]

what a great and simple to follow guide as to node controller and road markings. cheers Biffa

[@Finlay400]

👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 top tuto Biffa!!! Thanks! May the tea be with you!

[@mgunter]

If anybody know the person that made the intersection making tool, maybe they can add merge and merge arrows.

[@Mukaluka123]

You can download decals from the workshop an place them onto the road. But it would be nice if it comes with the mod itself.