DIY_Rb 2012 Route project current progress

[apco25]

Perspiration? That's a funny way to put it, the sky is sweating rain. I think you meant Precipitation FYI, OpenRails does support microtext.ace and what a difference that is now compared to previous versions.

I've been following this project and am impressed with the results. Keep up the good work.

[hiball 3985]

Perspiration? That's a funny way to put it, the sky is sweating rain. I think you meant Precipitation FYI, OpenRails does support microtext.ace and what a difference that is now compared to previous versions.

I've been following this project and am impressed with the results. Keep up the good work.

That was just a little tongue in cheek humor as in leaking clouds .

[bcrailfan]

FYI, OpenRails does support microtext.ace and what a difference that is now compared to previous versions.

Feedback : In as much as the microtex.ace , not rendering on my home computer ( the one that I use for Route building ), could be traced to not having a proper 3D / game card, as far as the precipitation item goes , I guess this one went completely over my head ...

Come to think of it, I always-always-always had the precipitation option, in MSTS , completely ( and permanently ) deselected..., and very much since "Day two" ( so to speak ), of first getting into MSTS .

As far as the moon.ace and sun.ace environment items, this is a very weak spot for MSTS , and unbelievable just how many hours of completely useless work I have personally put into this / trying to get better results .

For the Moon.ace, there is "hope", but the sun, itself, seems to be "hard-wired" into the Environment functionality , and no matter what you do with the sun.ace, just like you described ( HighBall ), I cannot seem to overcome what unquestionably would appear as "The End of The World" ... '-) . I will leave any further environment-tampering, to others , better qualified ...

As far as the microtex now being rendered while using Open Rails, this is very good news, indeed, and yet another milestone , and, just like so many other content producers / end users, I strongly believe MSTS is here to stay, and can only get better over the years .

Jean Brisson Route Builder

[hiball 3985]

I think the default .env is almost hopeless. In the earlier years I did find an .ace for the sun that was more suitable but now I don't have a default .env on any of my fifty routes. People will be able to use what .env's they chose as you said. Your route will look 100% better with a new one.
sunset.JPG

[bcrailfan]

I think the default .env is almost hopeless. In the earlier years I did find an .ace for the sun that was more suitable but now I don't have a default .env on any of my fifty routes. People will be able to use what .env's they chose as you said. Your route will look 100% better with a new one

Wow ! Really impressed by the sun itself, looking a proper size , for starters !... I have to be cautoius about what I would personally share, as I would not want to have either payware items ( in cases where I couldn' t fully remember the source of such items ), or possibly "picking out" items, straight out of the work of others ( such as Tom Garbaldi's ENVironment "packages " ) .

For a moon , I may simply "edit" a moon.ace I am using , by adding a darker portion, that would make it appear as a crescent moon ( and full credit would go to you, directly , for "getting the idea" for such ) .

I am just like you and so many others / those MSTS environments really drive me up the wall, as so much of their functionality , is kind of "hard-wired" into computer codes, and even editing the parameters in Environment Files, and hope for some magic results, this is not unlike trying to win the Lottery ...

Jean Brisson Route Builder

[bcrailfan]

Here are a few more screenshots, in two parts, to show some items that would be added to the Route , as world objects, plus some odd observations and comment , here, as to some last minute revisions I had made, based on the comments and inputs that I greatly appreciate .

Jean Brisson Victoria B.C.

First screenshot , shows a vehicle you guys are very familiar with . Yes, I did a few photo-enhancements to a few textures, for such as vehicles . The basic model was excellent , but had uneven texture rendering , and so, I simply did enhance / photo-edit such textures, for a better and more balanced look .




The next screenshot still qualifies as a photo-enhancement , and not what I differentiate as being an outright "repaint" ( playing with the "hue"slider, is about all I did ) . This screenshot turned out interesting , in that it shows in one single image , 3 variations of roadways texturing I did, namely, the set for Hwy , in the background , and , in the immediate foreground , Road2lane , and transitioning to a few textures for the "CR" serie of textures . As the screenshot shows, yes , you could "mix & match" between the road 2 lane & Cr selections .



All of the screenshots in this post, that follow, were shot using view # 7, now that the entire Route has been enabled for full Yard Cam functionality .

[mnjrr]

I like the outcome of the very realistic appearance of the windows on the automobile models achieved with the use of the photo texture. Realistic looking windows were surely lacking on some of the otherwise fine looking automobile scenery items that came out earlier.

Walter

[bcrailfan]

Here is part 2

Jean Brisson Victoria B.C.

Based on some comments / observations / pointers, from Jovet, as well as Vinnie , I did revisit some immediate trackside items , and the results are certainly making what was openly "generic" and widely fictional, a bit closer to "railroad-like" . Thier recent input was truly priceless in increasing overall credibility .





I spent all of last Sunday doing some major renovations . In this case, I completely rebuilt a junction tower , and outright turned it 90 degrees from its previous orientation , and also moved it closer to the tracks . The various signs and trackside paraphernalia were also re-arranged, and this now ... definitely looks more credible .

[hiball 3985]

Things are coming along very nicely. The re-textured vehicles look great too. I wouldn't hesitate using Tom's BP summer clear .env, I believe it's free to use on any freeware route. I've used it on a few of my own and it suites a desert environment very well.

Jim

[bcrailfan]

I like the outcome of the very realistic appearance of the windows on the automobile models achieved with the use of the photo texture. Realistic looking windows were surely lacking on some of the otherwise fine looking automobile scenery items that came out earlier. Walter

Feedback : This is an interesting comment , which takes me right back to my model railroading days , as a full time / self-employed custom-builder / custom painter ...'-)

It mostly has to do with reality vs. perception . Reality , suggests , that, windows are unquestionably "'clear" ( or perhaps slightly "tinted" ).

Looking at photos... of locomotive cabs and noses, from conventional angles, in 90% of the cases..., and strictly relying on the "perception" side of the equation ... the actual "color" of such glass portions, is actually black ! ...'-)

What I was doing with my custom-built ( HO scale ) models, was to use some clear material, such as acetate , but I was outright painting the "inside-the-cab" face ... , a solid black color.

Since MSTS is 100% "synthetic", then , let's be candid about the fact that we are dealing with "perception", more than anything else, and that , as far as those texture enhancements, using close to solid black for the windows portions, certainly seems to make those ( vehicles ) "look like what they are supposed to look like " ( and this, even though , in real life , don' t we all know that there is just no way anyone could drive, with just-about solid black-painted windshields ) . '-)

Gotta have fun with this ...'-)

Jean Brisson Route Builder