Building on a perfect grid, including paths

[squib]

So, for those who like to have their paths and building perfectly aligned on a grid, I discovered a nifty little trick.

I started my zoo by attaching one wall to the default zoo entrance near the border, then in the same build group, I placed the same walls out in each corner of my total available land space.
This gave me a perfect grid in relation to the zoo entrance across the entire land canvass.

Then, to lay down my fist pathway, I opened my paths and set my width to 4M. Then I clicked on the wall that I had attached to my zoo entrance and entered the grid. I set 4, 4M paths into the grid a bit away from my entrance in a square that was aligned with the entry path. Once that was down, I placed (eyeballed it with grids off) my entrance paths to connect to my 4MX4M square path.

I am now pathway aligned and build aligned on a grid.

https://imgur.com/sF3whPR

OCD builders unite. My plan with this zoo is to have a grid work of paths and buildings, but to still free form many of my enclosures.

[MrHappy]

Is your Zoo now all at right angles then? Paths n all?

How does this work better than using a separate grid for each building?

[Captain Pansy]

yup, i do this same thing. my zoos are mostly aligned to a grid, no chaos there :D

[Cdr.Keen]

You don't need to build two 4x path to connect. Just use an 8x path and activate the angle snap to 90°.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1929694826

[squib]

Originally posted by Cdr.Keen:

You don't need to build two 4x path to connect. Just use an 8x path and activate the angle snap to 90°.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1929694826

In zoos where I have done this, the angle is just slightly off to the actual borders. It was driving me crazy.

Originally posted by MrHappy:

Is your Zoo now all at right angles then? Paths n all?

How does this work better than using a separate grid for each building?

No. I only use the building grids from my corners when I want those perfect angles. The main thing is I can get that perfect alignment when I want it.

[Krall]

Originally posted by squibtard:

Originally posted by Cdr.Keen:

You don't need to build two 4x path to connect. Just use an 8x path and activate the angle snap to 90°.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1929694826

In zoos where I have done this, the angle is just slightly off to the actual borders. It was driving me crazy.

Originally posted by MrHappy:

Is your Zoo now all at right angles then? Paths n all?

How does this work better than using a separate grid for each building?

No. I only use the building grids from my corners when I want those perfect angles. The main thing is I can get that perfect alignment when I want it.

When you use an 8x path from the gate it throws the borders off?

[squib]

Yes if you aren't 1000% perfect, you can run a path what you think is parallel to the border but as you move towards the corner it begins to taper even with align to grid. Found it super annoying, but the main reason I'm doing it is for these two examples here:

https://imgur.com/DzcN1Gw
https://imgur.com/WpZCcAD

The first image: Prior to expanding my center path way to 4X4M wide, I was able to use my build group land grid to locate my blueprint into a perfect spot and the path up to it.

The second image: I was able to use the 1X4M walls to layout my perfect rectangle and then place my habitat barrier to match. Because it was laid out to my land mass build group grid, my paths were super clean and lined up against my habitat wall and then aligned perfectly to my staff buildings in the back.

In this zoo, I won't always be aligning paths to my land mass build group grid, but I have the option and it helps me locate my blueprints anywhere perfectly before I path so I don't have to worry about the terrain mod fail when placing too close to existing paths.

[Krall]

I'm on the same grid path though train as you, but I hadn't noticed at least in sandbox testing that the at 8x it goes off center. Are you using the 4x in your zoo or just testing too?

It's crazy how being off just a little makes it all go haywire. I was building staff facilities (I think that was your idea) in my enclosures and decided to stack them on top of each other. Well one path wouldn't work with the grid and had to do without and when I went to build around the facilities it messed everything up.

[squib]

My previous zoos would have this issue and it would make paths even more difficult. By building selectively on this kind of a grid, both my building networks and my paths line up perfectly. I also had difficulty getting my ride exactly right, but I suspect using this method I won't have an issue.

I decided to use the 4M paths as my basis for everything for a couple of reasons. One, I was getting tired of switching my widths constantly between staff and public paths. Also, on the perfect grid, it's just 2 quick side by side clicks and I have an 8M path. It's actually saving me some build time as I can now path super fast.

I'm building a brand new zoo now, in franchise, not testing.

[Krall]

So you're laying out main pathing at 4x and then deviate where you want some natural looking enclosures?

That's true 4x has more flexibility if you need to stay small or go wider.

"land mass build group grid" what do you mean by that? Path's can't be in a group, right?

[MessiahofMelons]

Dont suppose you could make a video about this? Or step by step with screenshots. I dont fully understand what you did withthe path

[squib]

Originally posted by Krall:

So you're laying out main pathing at 4x and then deviate where you want some natural looking enclosures?

That's true 4x has more flexibility if you need to stay small or go wider.

"land mass build group grid" what do you mean by that? Path's can't be in a group, right?

My main central path is 16M wide, I just put the path down 4M at a time on the grid.

[squib]

A couple of photos:

https://imgur.com/sF3whPR

In this one, I am showing a couple of things. First if you look to the right of the entrance, I attached a 4M wall to the entrance building group. That put out a perfectly aligned grid with the entrance so I would get an exact right angle and not have to rely on angel snapping a path at the start as I found that this puts my build off parallel to the border.

Then I scrolled over to the corners of the land mass and placed a 4M wall (not shown) so that whenever I entered that build group a grid would show over the entire building area.

Next, using the 4M setting for my path, alignining my path within the build group to create this entrance path. 2 4Ms, side by side as opposed to 1 8M really ony for speed purposes and to make sure they landed exactly on the build group grid.

That made for super lined up paths to my rectangular enclosure here. It also allowed me to locate my blueprint in the correct spot so that when I did path to it, the paths were right where I wanted them.

https://imgur.com/WpZCcAD
https://imgur.com/DzcN1Gw

A photo showing the grid over the entire building area:
https://imgur.com/zRelx8d

[Sandy]

I tried your method but I can't put a blueprint on the buildinggrid. I can't get the grid to show up while I place blueprints so I can see where I want my paths. How do I do this?

[stasiababby]

OMG this saved my sanity. I just started PZ, but have had a lot of fun. The thing that made me really consider leaving the game was these paths 'obstructing' or a facility not joining up with the paths. Now everything is lining up beautifully and I can plan and build my zoo without wanting to pull my hair out! Thank you Thank you Thank you!

[KAJZEK]

Originally posted by Sandy:

I tried your method but I can't put a blueprint on the buildinggrid. I can't get the grid to show up while I place blueprints so I can see where I want my paths. How do I do this?

I think you need to click on one of the previously built structures that are in that grid.