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I know, first question, what is a bounding box? A bounding box is used to
determine what part of the wagon or locomotive is solid. One bounding box
cannot pass through another bounding box. It will result in a collision and end
of the activity. In MSTS if the bounding box of one car is close to the
bounding box of another car a collision will result when these cars are taken
through sharp curves or switches. What happens is that one bounding box comes
into contact with another bounding box. Note of interest here, if the collision
speed is less than the maximum coupling speed, usually 3 mph,
Before getting to the step by step part I have to put forth some
observations and a few tips to make life easier. I am going to show you how I set up a bounding box. Others
have their ways, the way that you choose is up to you. The width and the length
of the bounding box is set from the central axis of the model. The height is
set from the bottom of the bounding box to the top of it. Instead of confusing
you with x, y, and z positive and negative offsets, I will put it this way.
Total width is determined by placing one half total width on each side of the
model centerline. Length is determined the same way. If you know rocket science
then the width is x, negative offset is left of centerline, positive offset is
to the right. The length is z, negative offset to the rear of centerline,
positive offset to the front. y is the height of the bounding box starting at
the ground, not the top of the rail. The utility program Bounding Box Editor, available in the
file library, is an excellent program. It can also be used to do what we are
You will be doing a lot of switching back and forth between MSTS and the
.sd file you are working on. I do the following. Open the folder of the wagon
you are working on, then minimize it. Run the sim to see what adjustments have
to be made to the bounding box. Exit the activity back to the Route Selection
screen. Press the ALTERNATE and TAB keys. This will minimize MSTS and bring up your wagon folder. Make your
adjustments to the .sd file, save and exit, minimize folder. Maximize the sim
and click START or press ENTER. Using
When the sim is running and your train is on the screen, you have to turn
on the BOUNDING BOX DISPLAY. Do this by holding down the CONTROL key and pressing the + on the
NUMBER PAD. This sequence will also turn off the display. The
check the length, width, and height you will have to line up the front
red indicator line with its rear red indicator line. It takes a light finger on
the arrow keys to rotate the camera and get your two lines into one. Using the
number two or three view will not give a precise and exact placement setting.
However, it will be close enough for our purposes. While I am babbling on here,
I’ll tell you why. In the number two and three views the focal point of the
camera is on the center of the wagon. While all the other camera parameters can
When you open the .sd file, the only line we are interested in right now
What
ask.
-1.95 =
distance from the centerline to the left side of the0.1 =
-6.99 =
1.9
= distance from centerline to right side of
4.96 =
7.03 =
All
OK LET’S DO IT STEP
STEP
2: Open the wagon folder you are going
Open the .wag file. Look for
Size ( 3.1m 4.6m 13.32m ) (your numbers will
Write these numbers
is the width of the wagon. height of the wagon, and the third
STEP
3: Now run the sim, put your consist on
turn on the Bounding Box Display and
As photo # 01 shows, the bounding box
box. From the numbers you wrote down
line, take the third number and
In the example above the length size
STEP
5: Open the .sd file and change
the result of your division; be sure
minus sign. Do the same for the sixth
without the minus sign. Using the
Before; ESD_Bounding_Box ( -1.95 0.1 -6.99
ESD_Bounding_Box
STEP
6: Return to the sim and turn on the
Photo # 03 shows that the box has
Photo # 04 shows what I consider to
of the draft gear box, also called
pocket. several times to get it in the right
INCREASE OR
AMOUNT. THEY
feeling rather confident, lets adjust
Photo # 05 shows the best view for
adjustments to the width which should
take the first number and divide it
example above the number is 3.1m,
STEP
8: Open the .sd file and put the result
In the first and fourth places as
ESD_Bounding_Box ( -1.95
ESD_Bounding_Box ( -1.55
STEP 9:
a correct bounding box width.
box, which is the easiest part. At
to thank Joe Morris and his team of
Without getting technical on you, let
that as a result of testing, the
bottom should be 0.9m. This places
box at prototype height. I use this
I believe it will be the standard of
So using our sample .sd file, change
ESD_Bounding_Box ( -1.55 0.1
ESD_Bounding_Box
STEP
the second number which is 4.6m. This
we are going to place in the fifth position
ESD_Bounding_Box ( -1.55 0.9 -6.66
ESD_Bounding_Box ( -1.55 0.9 -6.66
STEP
to photo # 01, you can see the height
Photo
STEP
4: We will start by adjusting the
STEP
6: Now that we have the proper length,
STEP
7: From the numbers you wrote down from
STEP