Trainz Progress Shots

[acorn_farmer_84]

Hi all,
I just thought I would make a thread here just showcasing some progress screenshots of how my route is coming along in Trainz 12.
I'm making a fictional route, that is loosely Australia/New South Wales themed, which so far consists of a partly electrified main line, and also a non electrified branch line that comes off it. I've layed quite a bid of track, however I have a long way to come with 'painting' textures. I'd estimate that perhaps only 5%, if that of my route is textured at the moment.

Oh and sorry in advance if the images pose a problem to anyone. As far as I'm aware there is 'max image resolution' rule on these forums? These are all in 800x600.

Anyway, first up, a shot of an old disused branch line (branching from the 'main branchline') which has been overgrown, partly torn up, and closed.


Next up is a shot of a grain train passing over a bridge on a stormy evening, headed by two brand new Downer EDI LDP class locos.


The next morning, a city bound Endeavour railcar passes over the same bridge, full of commuters.


Further down the branchline, a620/720 railcar, still wearing the old NSWGR livery approaches a small bridge.


A short while later, a 4 car DEB railcar wearing the NSW SRA candy livery approaches the same bridge, lead by motorcar 904.



We now move on to the main line, where a CPH Railmotor is stopped at a station in the electrified area whilst on a heritage tour.


Staying at the same station, it isn't long before a 4 car 'B Set' (also kown as Sputnik cars) EMU arrives, also on a heritage tour.


Next up, still at the same station is an 8 car Cityrail electric V Set interurban service. These trains were introduced from 1970, and are in commuter service to this day, considered by many to still be the most comfortable trains in the Cityrail fleet.



And to finish off for today, a shot of another V set, bringing commuters home in the evening after a long day at work.

[MrScott1964]

One this that I've learned is to use darker ground textures. Most grass textures are just too darn bright. Then I try to find matching dirt and rocks (gravel) textures.

[Knave]

Complete texturing or not, it looks like you are having fun. And that is why we do these things. Everything looks quite good to me. I admire what you have done since I do not have the patience. Keep at it and post again.

[Altoona+BeachCreek]

I completely agree with the above. If the Trainz community makes more free stuff like this map, I'll probably try and get it. I really like the shot of the abandoned line

[MrScott1964]

My comment wasn't meant to be disrespectful in any way....It was more about techniques of landscaping in Trainz. Yes, one of the fun things about Trainz is that you can create anything you like.

[acorn_farmer_84]

Thanks everyone for the feedback and tips.

@MrScott, no disrespect taken, I completely agree with you, in fact that's one of the reasons why I've put off texturing most of the route,
i'm just finding it really hard to find textures that look good, no just for grass, but for ballast, river beds, and just about everything else.

@Knave, yep I'm definitely having fun making it, and I'm actually enjoying making the route more than I am driving trains on it.

I've also had a bit of fun lately downloading some of the 'addon' style things (I'm not quite sure what they are called), which can be added to a session/route in order
to add more realistic physics, or additional items to the HUD and the like, which I've found has improved the driving aspect of Trainz significantly for me.

With the addons, Trainz 12 makes you feel a lot more like you are driving an actual train, as opposed to operating a model railway. It's not quite up to the level of realism of Railworks, and OpenBVE just yet in my opinion, but it is definitely getting a lot closer (and needless to say each of the train simulators all have their own strengths and weaknesses).

[MrScott1964]

After searching and testing many, many textures, I ended up using SAM VS Grass 2 <KUID2:132952:100940:10> for a base grass texture.

[acorn_farmer_84]

After searching and testing many, many textures, I ended up using SAM VS Grass 2 <KUID2:132952:100940:10> for a base grass texture.

Thanks for the tip, that texture is great. I've just redone some areas using it for the grass.

Here's a shot of a C38 class doing a heritage tour, in the same bridge area as in the previous shots, with the new grass textures;

[MrScott1964]

Nice! Now rotate your textures as you place them so you don't see patterns in them. Also don't be afraid to mix textures, I use some textures just for shading the original texture.

[acorn_farmer_84]

Just a few quick shots of a grain train passing a small disused goods siding I'm currently working on.



Cheers,

[Altoona+BeachCreek]

Such great detail! Keep it up, my friend! I love abandoned rail lines!

[acorn_farmer_84]

@ Altoona+BeachCreek
Thanks, I definitely will be keeping it up, and there most likely will be quite a few more abandoned sidings and small branch lines in the future.
(I find them an interesting thing to add along to route as a 'blank space filler')

@MrScott1964
Thanks, I'm definitely gonna be rotating the textures a lot more from now, I only just discovered that you can hold down the [ or ] keys whilst painting textures to get them to rotate automatically as you place them. I was previously trying to rotate them all manually with the dial thing using the mouse.
I'll also try and mix textures in the future as well.

Cheers,

[gismoskip]

i think i own a version of Trainz . . i've never tried it myself. might want to now.

[obertran]

LOL I can not believe how good it is. Good job

[acorn_farmer_84]

Just another few work in progress shots. I've just redone this section of track, and I'm currently testing out what kind of locomotives/the number of locomotives required to get over the grade.
First up, a grain train headed by four GrainCorp 48 Class locomotives.


A short while later, we have a coal train, hauled by three Pacific National 81 Class_locomotive locomotives.

[Orange46]

I absolutely love the Trainz 12 scenes that I have seen on their newsletter and here, but I am more into playing games. As you probably remember, I never make RT3 maps from scratch, but always start from someone else's map. And your logo set was absolutely great for my Railbaron East map. I do own earlier Trainz games, Microsoft Train Simulator and even the old graphically boxy Train Engineer, but somehow I tire of these games too quickly, as, basically you either drive a train realistically, with all of the attached tedium, or you build a map. Is there any reason for me to get the latest Trainz?

[acorn_farmer_84]

I absolutely love the Trainz 12 scenes that I have seen on their newsletter and here, but I am more into playing games. As you probably remember, I never make RT3 maps from scratch, but always start from someone else's map. And your logo set was absolutely great for my Railbaron East map. I do own earlier Trainz games, Microsoft Train Simulator and even the old graphically boxy Train Engineer, but somehow I tire of these games too quickly, as, basically you either drive a train realistically, with all of the attached tedium, or you build a map. Is there any reason for me to get the latest Trainz?

I would say that one of the key features of the newest version of Trainz (12) that would be of interest to your play style would be multiplayer.
Some of the multiplayer maps are quite massive, and it means you dont have to do any work building the map yourself, you just hop in and drive a train with others.
From my experience the 'tedium' level of how realistically you are expected to behave/what rules you obey varies quite a bit between hosts. The multiplayer side is pretty interesting, and something quite different to what is offered in the past in my opinion.

If you are interested in multiplayer, a First Class Ticket is essential, at least for when you initially download the route as some of them come close to a gb in size. A microphone/headset is also good to have for multiplayer, as a lot of the hosts use TeamSpeak to communicate.

The Collectors edition of Trainz 12 is currently on special (and cheaper than the standard version), for AU$22.47. You can pick it up from http://www.simulatorcentral.com/index.p ... ition.html. This edition comes with some extra stuff, including a 30 day first class ticket.

Hope this helps.
Cheers.

[Orange46]

Thanks It sounds like being in a model railroad club.