How to Draw and Design Highway and Interchange

Now, before you ask, this guide is the merging of all 3 guides that I made in steam workshop. See this guide for more explanation

Read Me First

In this section, I will tell you what will you expect to find in this guide. This guide is separated into 3 parts, like a movie trilogy based on 3 books, or maybe 2 books where the second book get 2 movies, whichever you prefer :).

First, I will tell you on how to draw an aesthetically pleasing road. This guide will tell you on how to draw a smooth curve road, a perfect parallel road, and their combination, a smooth parallel curve road.

Second, I will tell you all you need to know about interchange, There will be some tips to make your interchange works to its potential. More on that in the section. Just as a heads-up, this part is the longest

Third, I will tell you on how to design your highway system, a.k.a Interstate, a.k.a Motorway.

That's it for the introduction. I Hope you got something useful by reading this

Few Things You Need to Know

a. You can follow this guide even if you have no mod installed. There is one mod that I recommend in this guide, though, and it's Precision Engineering. Because it will help you a lot on making your road, but still, it's not a must to have that mod. I'm saying this not because I think the mod is bad. The mod like Fine Road Height (EDIT: Fine Road Height is now unavailable, search for Fine Road Tool for its replacement, and give a moment of respect to the Fine Road Height mod), No Pillar or Traffic ++ is extremely useful for the player. But still, you can still follow the guide even if you don't have those mod installed.

b. I wrote this guide with a right-hand traffic in my mind, so I'm sorry if there are some statement that I made will only make sense for a right-hand traffic, though there is one section where I make two version of it, 1 for right-hand traffic, another for left-hand traffic. To make up my laziness on writing again for a left-hand traffic user. here is some differences on them that I can think of

• in highway, the exit for right-hand traffic usually located on the right lane of the road, while the exit for the left-hand traffic usually located on the left lane of the road. The exit usually located in the slow lane, so it's left for left-hand traffic, and right for right-hand traffic
  
  
• Let's say you find an interchange on google map or another place. The problem is that the interchange is for right-hand traffic, while your city use a left hand traffic, is there any difference if you just copy the interchange exactly and change its direction? The answer is yes. The most notable difference is that the on-ramp will become and off-ramp, and vice versa. This maybe won't be too much of a problem, but see this image first
  
  
  
  This interchange is created for right-hand traffic, you see that the vehicle will go to through the off-ramp, then split into two different way. In left-hand traffim the vehicle will come from two different lane, merge into one lane, then return to the highway. that's the difference. Personally, I prefer splitting the lane than merging it, but, still, it's a personal choice. What I told you is just the difference
  
  The next question is, how to fix it so that an off-ramp will stay an off-ramp and an on-ramp will stay as an on-ramp. the easiest solution is to mirror it. horizontal or vertical will do, just mirror it once though.

How to Draw Aesthetically Pleasing Road/Highway

a. Introduction

Okay, first of all, so that I won’t waste your time. Give me your opinion about this
• A non smooth curve road



• An unparallel curve road



If you can’t stand on something like that, and want to make sure that both of those won’t happen into your city, then this guide will help you. The main thing about this guide is to avoid all of those. If you interested, please keep on reading.

To help you on creating a smooth and parallel curve, you need this mod

Precision Engineering

it will help a lot.

b. Types of Road

Before we start on solving those problem, first I need to explain to you all of the ways to draw your road. There are 3 ways.



1. Straight Road
2. Curve Road
3. Free-Form Road ( Although I think the 2nd one should be the one that called Free-Form Road, Explanation below)

Straight road is quite self-explanatory. I will try to explain the rest. Started by Free-Form Road:

1. Free-Form Road, when created, the length of the entering curve and the leaving curve always the same. Hope this picture helps you to understand,



2. On Curve Road, the entering curve and the leaving curve can have different length. See this picture,



This is why I think this should be the one that called Free-Form, as it gives you more freedom.

Both of this (and the Straight Road of course) are extremely useful to draw a smooth and parallel curve. Now, let’s try to make one.

c. Perfect Parallel Straight Road

Some people (including me) want to have a perfectly parallel road, even if the road is on a curve. So, let’s start making one. I will show you how in straight highway first. We have this.



Now, using a gravel road (found in small road tab), draw on each end of the highway, a gravel road that is perpendicular to the highway with the length of 4 (or 80 construction cost), and on one of the gravel road, draw another gravel road (the length doesn’t matter in this one) perpendicular to it. See this image



Then, using the highway road, draw your highway. The highway will be perfectly parallel to the first one. Then, delete all the gravel road.





Simple, right? Next we will try to make a parallel curve.

d. Perfect Parallel Curved Road

Next, we want to create a perfectly parallel curved highway. We need to use our parallel straight highway. First, create the first curve using the Free-Form Road tool



Then, using a gravel road on the end of the curve. Draw a road perpendicular road with the same length as the distance between the first and second highway (in this case, 4 or 80 construction cost). Then draw a second gravel road from and perpendicular to the first gravel road



Then, with still using the Free-Form Road, from the intersection of your gravel road, draw the second highway and delete all the gravel road.



I wrote that the curved highway start from the intersection of the gravel road because after drawing the highway, you don't need to change its direction. But in some cases, especially when the angle is tight, you need to start the curved highway from the straight highway to make it parallel, then you need to change its direction. In conclusion, Start the curved highway from the straight highway will always make the road parallel, but you need to change its direction. while starting the highway from the gravel road can results in an unparalled highway in tight angle, but you don't need to change it's direction.



There it is, a perfect parallel curve road.

e. Smooth Curve

Next, we want to make a smooth curve. First, see this image.



We want to make a curve from this highway road. First. Draw a gravel road on each end of the highway until they meet, then draw another gravel as an extension. Then delete all the gravel road except the extension.



Then, using the Curve Road (You can’t use the Free-Form Road), draw a highway road and put your pointer exactly into the point where the gravel road intersect each other (see the picture), then, left click the mouse, and complete your curve by connecting it to the other highway’s end



P.S If you don’t want to use gravel road, you can also bring the cursor to the point where the highway would meet if they both were straight line, left click, and bring it to the other end of the highway. Just try to imagine where that point is.



Look how smooth the curve is.
And trust me, it works on every angle



Except when the highway road looks like the next picture

f. Two Curves Road

In this type, you need two curve roads. For the first curve, you can use the Free-Form Road to create the first curve so that the second curve will be possible. More or less like this.



Then, you can use the previous tutorial to complete the curve.

g. Highway Road With No Spacing

Most of the highway that you find in the maps or in the interchange in the steam workshop is separated by 4 units/cells. But if you really need it so that there is little to no spacing between parallel highway, then the highway should be separated by 3 units/cells. If you want to draw your highway with 3 units space, you can still use this guide as usual, but with little modification:

Before you draw your parallel highway, make sure to delete the gravel road that perpendicular with the highway, then you should be able to draw your highway. So make it from this



to this



Then draw your highway




This is a video about how to draw road on youtube. Hope it help you. :)
Link to Video

How to Design Your Interchange to Its Full Potential

a. Introduction

Okay, in this section I will state several things you need to know before reading this guide.

1. Subscribe to terraform mod tool, so you can make your interchange on asset editor and put it in your cities easier because you can flatten the land.

2. In this guide I will write some tips about designing your interchange and the differences between interchange in real life and Cities: Skyline. and with each tips, there will be A LOT OF EXPLANATION. So be prepared.

I think that's all. Let's start. Step by step from what is an interchange actually.

b. Interchange

An interchange is an interconnecting roadways with grade separation (different level of height) with ramps to connect them. Interchange is mainly used in busy road, because it minimize the number of traffic light needed. Without traffic light, vehicle don't need to stop and congestion can be avioded. There are numerous ammount of basic interchange, mostly three-leg and four-leg. The number of variation between interchange is even bigger.



In real life, there is a lot of consideration on which interchange should be used, and believe me, it's much easier in game. These are some of the factor that affect the type of interchange used:

• Cost, though this won't affect us too much doesn't it. Especially if you use infinite money mod (like me)

• Design Speed, some interchange are designed faster than the others. But because the speed of vehicle is the same in the highway, this won't affect us as well

• Space avalialbility, in game, if you need more space, just buldoze all the building that get in your way. In real life, not so easy.

• Traffic flow / composition, this is a very important aspect in real life and in game. because before you build any interchange, you need to know where most vehicle are going from/to. The advantages in game is that you can already predict the route which will contain most traffic (Industrial - Commercial)

• Safety, actually it's safe to say that this is one of the most important factor in real life, in game? we care nothing about this. :)

• Other factors..

You can't talking about interchange without talking about ramps. so in next section, that is what i'm going to tell you.

c. Ramp (and a small tips)

Ramp is a one-way road that is used to connecting Highway/Road from one direction to the other direction. In game, ramp is in one way, while in real life, some ramp may use for two way traffic, but you can still consider them 2 one-way ramp in parallel with opposite way.



Speaking of those, I will give you a guide about connecting to parallel ramp into road

Say that you want to make 2 parallel ramp connected to this 6 lane road. First draw a 2-lane road perpendicular to the 6-lane road in the place where you want the ramps connection. see this image



Please pay attention on where is the center point of the intersection.
Now, from your center point, count one grid left, and four grids up. Remember that point. Then using curve road tool, start at that point, bring it 2 grid down, left click, then bring it to the intersection. Hope this 2 images help





Do the same for the other side. The procedure is the same. After that, you will get this



Change the direction of the right ramp. Then, you can extend the ramp as long as you want with straight road tool and it will still parallel



If you don't want to have the ramps directly connected to the 6-lane road, you can connect the ramps to a 2-lane road first before connecting it to the 6-lane road



Wow, quite a long guide. I got distracted, didn't I? I should've talking about ramp in this section. I think I'll just make a new section then.

d. Type of Ramps

Based on the way the traffic goes, there are 2 type of ramps. The on/entrance ramp and off/exit ramp. On-ramp is a ramp that enter a highway, while off-ramp is a ramp that leave the highway. Simple.



Based on the shape of the ramps, generally speaking, there are 3 types of ramps: Directional, Semi-Directional, and Loop. Luckily, there is an interchange that has all of those type. It's the trumpet interchange



1. Directional Ramp
The ramp where the exit lane is the same as the direction of the turning. In the picture, the ramp is turning right and positioned on the right lane

2. Loop Ramp
The ramp where the exit lane is the opposite of the direction of the turning. To get the ramp into the correct direction, it turning 270 degree to the opposite way. In the picture, the ramp is dedicated for turning left, rather than turning left directly, it does a 270 degree right turn

3. Semi-Directional Ramp
In the picture, the ramp is dedicated for turning left. In this ramp, it does a right turn first, and then do a left turn

More explanation on the next section. I just give the definition to you first so you won't get confused when I used the term for the rest of this guide.

e. Ramp: Explanation on Direction

Okay, so there are 3 types, Directional, Semi-Directional, and Loop. Which one is the best?
In the matter of vehicle speed while on the ramp, Directional is the best, followed by Semi-Directional and then Loop. Directional is the best because of its large radius, so the vehicle on that ramp can maintain higher speed, while loop ramp has a smaller radius.

Then why don't all the interchange stop using loop ramp. The answer is in this picture. This is a 3-leg interchange with no loop ramp



Can you see it? one of its semi directional ramps need to be raised twiced (3 stack) to make this interchange possible. With that, the cost get higher. So why should we used semi-directional ramp with higher cost if loop ramp with slower speed still can facilitate the traffic?

Okay, actually, you can build an interchange with no loop ramps and without 3 stack ramp. By using this type



But on this one, the space needed is larger than the other, and length of the bridge automatically longer. So each interchange has its own pro and cons. and that's engineering. Balancing between cost, quality, quantity (capacity), and many other factor.

But we are talking about the condition in the game now. In my opinion, there is not much of a difference between vehicle speed on each type of ramp, so you are free to use any ramp that you like. Just remember not to make the turn too tight, as it will still decrease the vehicle speed. Create it first, than observe. But if you want to really realistic, or you just don't want to use each interchange more than once, then just try to use all the interchange. :)

f. Long Straight Ramp

Ok. So there are several topics to say about this on/off ramps. To start, I want to show something that several players seem really like to do. They seem to like to make the ramps to be as long as possible, even if the ramp already close and parallel to the highway. Like this



I don't really know why they do that. Is it because it looks good? Is it because they want to make it looks like an auxiliary lane (google it for defintion)? Or to make it looks like a parallel designed rather than tapered designed ramp (again, google it)?

Here is my opinion, if the ramp is already near and parallel to the highway, just bring them straight away to the highway, dont make any more long straight line. Vehicle travel faster in highway rather than in ramps. So the sooner you return to the traffic, the better. I rather recommend you to make the entering curve as long as possible, like this



rather than this



Because you make the angle smaller, so it looks more realistic.

But if you really like to make a long straight ramp and you think it looks great, then who am I to judge. Just follow on what you think looks great.

Of course, there is some conditions that makes a long straight ramp is needed, and I will tell you in the next section.

g. Distance Between Successive Ramps

I make lots of section about ramp, don't I?

So, what condition that needs you to create a long straight ramp?

There are 2 conditions. The first one don't need a lot of explanation, so I will just make it simple. The second one needs some additional explanations, and it's related to the title of this section

The first reason is if you know that there will be a congestion in that ramp. Usually because the ramp connected directly into traffic light, so the ramp need more capacity to contain those vehicles that waiting at the traffic light

The second one is to avoid any off-ramps and on-ramps from getting too close. This is quite a useful tips so i will say it one more time

Don't make the distance between two successive ramps too short

Now, there are four type of combinations of ramps that can happen in your interchange

• off-ramp followed by on-ramp
• off-ramp followed by off-ramp
• on-ramp followed by on-ramp
• on-ramp followed by off-ramp

I will explain those combinations separately

off-ramp followed by on-ramp



between those four combinations, this is the best one. Why? Simple, because there are no vehicle that use the lane that I marked with red line. That's why when you create a interchange, the golden rule that you must remember is "off-ramp before on-ramp".

off-ramps followed by off-ramp & on-ramps followed by on-ramp





I put them together because both combination need longer distance between each ramps than the "off-ramps followed by on-ramp". On "off-ramp followed by off-ramp", the distance is used for vehicle from middle and left lane to channge lane into the right lane, while on "on-ramp followed by off-ramp", the distance is used for vehicle from right lane to change lane into middle or left lane. The distance needed mostly depends on the volume of the traffic. On the picture above, the distance is 13 units, and I think it looks quite good, But still, it depends on the volume of the traffic.

on-ramp followed by off-ramp



While "off-ramp followed by on-ramp" is the best one, this type is the worst. You just need to take a simple look and you can see there is a lot of conflict points. Vehicle entering the highway from the on-ramp need to change to mid or left lane, where in the same time vehicle from the middle and left lane need to move to right lane to get to the off-ramp. This condition is called weaving.

Weaving is a condition where vehicle need to cross each other's path in a limited distance. Weaving condition can affect highway capacity and safety. In Cities: Skyline, weaving can affect the capacity of a highway significantly and it should be avoided.

[sidenote]
This guide is quite long isn't it? I'm tired on typing already, but there are still a few topic I need to talk. Are you getting bored? If yes. you may need to take a break. If not, let's continue.
[/sidenote]

h. Left Exit (Read this if you use right hand traffic)

If you have time to look at different type of interchange, especially freeway to freeway interchange, you will soon realise that almost all of the off/on-ramps is on the right side of the highway, even if it's turning to the left. You can see it in almost any interchange, Cloverleaf, Trumpet, T-directional, and many others.

There is a good reason for this. It's because the left lane usually is dedicated for a high-speed vehicle, so putting a ramp connection there could decrease the speed on that lane significantly and reduced safety. That's why it's really uncommon to see a ramp connection in the left side of the highway

But in this game, we can ignore all of those (because safety is not an issue in this game and traffic travel at the same speed, regardless of the lane they are using). You can expand your creativity by putting a on/off-ramp connection in the left side of the highway. More or less like this





And for this one, I'm sorry, but I have to brag about it, because it looks really cool. It's 4-stacked, using all directional ramp, and using ramp on the left lane of the highway. It's called Braided Interchange



The main advantages of ramp in the left lane of the highway is that you can put 2 of the same type ramp (off-ramp and off-ramp or on-ramp and on-ramp) as long as they are put in the oppoite lane. With these, the vehicle from one ramp can use different lane of highway from the other ramp to enter or leaving the highway

h. Right Exit (Read this if you use left hand traffic)

If you have time to look at different type of interchange, especially freeway to freeway interchange, you will soon realise that almost all of the off/on-ramps is on the left side of the highway, even if it's turning to the right. You can see it in almost any interchange, Cloverleaf, Trumpet, T-directional, and many others.

There is a good reason for this. It's because the right lane usually is dedicated for a high-speed vehicle, so putting a ramp connection there could decrease the speed on that lane significantly and reduced safety. That's why it's really uncommon to see a ramp connection in the right side of the highway

But in this game, we can ignore all of those (because safety is not an issue in this game and traffic travel at the same speed, regardless of the lane they are using). You can expand your creativity by putting a on/off-ramp connection in the right side of the highway. More or less like this





And for this one, I'm sorry, but I have to brag about it, because it looks really cool. It's 4-stacked, using all directional ramp, and using ramp on the left lane of the highway. It's called Braided Interchange



The main advantages of ramp in the right lane of the highway is that you can put 2 of the same type ramp (off-ramp and off-ramp or on-ramp and on-ramp) as long as they are put in the oppoite lane. With these, the vehicle from one ramp can use different lane of highway from the other ramp to enter or leaving the highway

i. Set Your Main Route

In almost every interchange, there is a route where the vehicle don't need to use any ramps at all. Most of them is the vehicle that just drive straight through the interchange. Like this



This route is supposed to be the most crowded route among other routes (turning left or right), because you don't need to enter any ramp that will decrease capacity and speed. So, when you set your interchange, you need to set that the route with most vehicle should be the route that doesn't contain any ramp. Simple but effective tips.

As I said before, in most of the interchange, the route with no ramp is the straight through route, but in case that you need the main highway is the one that's turning left or right, you still can make it. This is an example of that (actually, you've seen this interchange earlier)



[sidenote]
If this interchange is made in real life, there will be a lot of confusion. Just imagine, if you start from the bottom left side of the highway, to go right, you just need to follow the highway, to go straight, take the first ramp on the right, to go left, take the second ramp on the right. Just imagine the confusion that will happen. We are lucky that the driver is really smart in this game
[/sidenote]

If you already set the route with most vehicle as the main highway route, and still got congestion, may be you need to consider using a Collector/Distributor Road, which will be explained in the next section

j. Collector/Distributor Road

Collector/Disributor Road (or simply C/D Road) is a road that often a road that is parallel to the main highway. The function of C/D road is to remove the number of off/on-ramps from the main highway. Using C/D road, the number of off-ramps and on-ramps on the main highway can be reduced to one each. Because of that, it also help to prevent weaving from the main highway. This C/D road is often used on cloverleaf interchange to remove the weaving from the main highway and to reduce the number of on/off ramps (normal cloverleaf has 2 on-ramps and 2 off-ramps). See this picture.



This is an example of C/D road in cloverleaf interchange. You can see that on the main highway, the number of on-ramps and off-ramps is reduced to one each and there is no potential of weaving on the main highway.

Conclusion, You should only using C/D road if there is congestion in your main highway. If you use C/D roads to help remove congestion on traffic outside of the main highway, then I'm afraid that it won't give any positive effect.

How to Design Your Motorway/Interstate/Expressway

a. Types of Highway Route

In general, there are 3 Highway Routes: Bypass, Spur, and Loop (or Beltway). Here are some simple picture of the routes:



More explanation below

b. Bypass

Bypass route is a route with a purpose to avoid any vehicle that can add congestion while only passing through some region. In the picture before, imagine yourself at A, and you want to go to City 2, rather than taking highway C which will add congestion into city 1, you can avoid (bypass) that by using highway D. That’s it. It’s simple but effective way to remove some of the vehicle (especially the industrial truck) from your city. Remember that the bypass route will be effective only if it’s being used. So you need to know the way the traffic travel on your city (mostly between Specialized Industry – Generic / Normal Industry and Normal Industry – Commercial), then you can make your bypass route.

Please note that the bypass route not only useful for bypass a region. It can be useful on bypassing an interchange either. If you see that some route have a high volume, you can use bypass to reduce traffic volume in the interchange.



Then, you can remove the ramps that this bypass route substituted.

c. Spur and Loop

Spur route is a highway route that end in the city, while loop route is a highway that circling the city. Within the loop route, there are several connection to the city (not like the one I draw), the advantage of loop route is if a vehicle from 1 part of the town want to get to another part of the town, and there is congestion inside the town, it can go to the loop highway, circling the city, and entering the city again near its destination. You can kind of force this to happen for truck by using district and put heavy traffic ban policy (just remember not to put commercial region in the district, because the truck need to deliver goods from industrial to commercial). I put spur and loop highway in the same section because in this game, the problem on both of them is same: how to connect the highway into the slower road (Six lane road). For this, you can find a lot of road intersection in steam workshop to connect the highway into roads. But, if I have to recommend 1 asset. Then I will recommend you this one

Industrial Grid



If you don’t know this, then you should try it. It works perfectly, and what’s great is that it can be used repeatedly.



I know, I know, it’s a grid layout, but outside of that you can still create any curve-like city, maybe to follow the curving of your loop highway, or even better, you use a different layout. What I like about this layout is that the transition between the highway and the six lane road is so good that it rarely cause a congestion. Try it first. Here is the link to the gif image on how this layout works.

http://gfycat.com/DisgustingJealousDugong

https://gfycat.com/BountifulCelebratedBlowfish

d. Some Tips

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please read this from cities: skyline wiki



The important thing about this is that the vehicle doesn't consider traffic condition into account. So, when you make a bypass route, make sure that the bypass route is the shorter (faster) route. and in using the loop route, use district and heavy traffic ban to force the truck to use the loop route

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is another tips

"tight turn slows down your vehicle"

It has to be a really tight turn, though. But still, a slower vehicle in a crowded traffic can and will cause a bottleneck. So, pay attention to any curve road that makes vehicle goes slower. if it affect the traffic, then try to change the curve with bigger radius.

Actually, it's not only for your vehicle. Long radius curve is more realistic. Nobody will create a highway which is designed to have a high speed and then make a tight turn (actually, in real life, you can change the superelevation of the road to have a tight turn with still a high speed, but we don't have that option in our game, are we?)

To make it simpler. Just please don't do this. just, please. Read how to draw roads above



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Before the tunnel was introduced, it's really a good idea to make the highways inside the city to be elevated, because when creating another highways with a grade separation, you can go two ways, up or down, so you won't waste any space to bring your ramp two steps higher. It's even better if you use unlimited money mod, because the price is not an issue anymore.

Now that tunnel is on Cities: Skyline, using highways at ground level is now quite reasonable. but using elevated highways still has one more advantage. It allows you to do this



if you use a highway with no elevation, you can still do that by raising the six lane road over the highway and then lower it again. but I think it looks weird. It's better and more natural to raise the highways, right?

EDIT: I know that in the connection between the highway and the six lane road that I recommended, the highway is not elevated. I've already make the exactly same asset, except that the highway is elevated. I've already ask for permission to the owner of the original mod to post the asset in my profile, but i got no answer. So if any of you want the asset, you can just tell me your email in the comment and i willl send that to you.

[StarSlayer]

I wonder why you can make roads do that in section "c. Ramp (and a small tips)" when I can not. I tried for hours. i tried on multiple platforms. I tried adding precision mod which was suggested. I can make the first road 2 down 1 over like you show but then I absolutely must make the next road 2 down 2 over.

[hellodave]

Nice guide!
in the tips bit -

> in real life, you can change the superelevation of the road

I don't know what superelevation is, maybe you mean camber or banking?
irl you can camber or bank the road towards the inside of the corner to allow faster speeds than if it was flat.

[Fast]

Thanks for the guide.

[Soruvisu]

@Crawfish You are welcome!

@Aturchomicz because this guide is written in 2016, I have no time to update it. :)

[Aturchomicz]

why not just use the pararell road mod?

[Crawfish]

Thank you so much for this guide!

[Soruvisu]

The only solution I know is to use Fine Road Anarchy mod.

[kickbodkoniantwitch]

problem i am having is that my road wants to curve when i want it to go stright. it wants to curve. none of the options work. there is a highway already near, when i want to make a road go near it, not touch it, the game wants to make it curve. how do i prevent this from happening? i am beyond annoyed trying to make a road lgo near another road, the game, no matter the option, thinks i want it to curve and i just want it to go striaght. please help

[Soruvisu]

Of course, send me an email to [e-mail]

I'll give you the link there

Sorry for the late reply btw

[Captain Flint]

I would like to know if you allow me to make a Portuguese-Brazil version of this guide, with all credits to you, and if you accept so, I will need the link to the images (and some I will need the raw image to rewrite the text)