Short engine modding tutorial

[Gumboots]

No, it wouldn't have one. The default locos and cargo cars use a couple of massive .imb files that do them all. You'll have to check in a custom locomotive file to see how it's done.

[zzc]

its done by loconame_NE.imb, loconame_Profile.imb, loconame_Profile_A.dds

The .car file uses loconame_Profile.imb

is there any utility to covert to imb?

[Gumboots]

You don't need to convert to it. Just copy any _NE.imb or _Profile.imb from any custom loco, and edit the image names to match your new loco. They're pretty basic files.

Just be aware that .imb are not of a fixed length. The total number of bytes in the files varies depending on the name assigned to the asset. The important part is to have the standard 0d 0a bytes in the hex after each chunk of code.

For example, the hex for the _Profile.imb for my NSWGR 1 Class looks like this:

Code: Select all

54 47 41 4e 61 6d 65 20 31 5f 43 6c
61 73 73 4c 5f 50 72 6f 66 69 6c 65
0d 0a 54 47 41 57 69 64 74 68 20 31
32 38 0d 0a 54 47 41 48 65 69 67 68
74 20 33 32 0d 0a 54 47 41 54 61 72
67 65 74 53 63 72 65 65 6e 57 69 64
74 68 20 31 36 30 30 0d 0a 54 47 41
54 61 72 67 65 74 53 63 72 65 65 6e
48 65 69 67 68 74 20 31 32 30 30 0d
0a 53 63 61 6c 65 61 62 6c 65 20 31
0d 0a 4d 61 78 50 65 72 63 65 6e 74
4f 66 49 6e 74 65 72 66 61 63 65 56
52 41 4d 20 30 2e 30 36 0d 0a 49 6d
61 67 65 57 48 20 30 20 30 20 39 36
20 33 32 0d 0a

And the matching text over in the right panel of my editor looks like this:

Code: Select all

TGAName 1_Cl
assL_Profile
..TGAWidth 1
28..TGAHeigh
t 32..TGATar
getScreenWid
th 1600..TGA
TargetScreen
Height 1200.
.Scaleable 1
..MaxPercent
OfInterfaceV
RAM 0.06..Im
ageWH 0 0 96
 32..

Most of that doesn't matter. The only parts you have to worry about are the loco name, and the image width at the bottom (which you set to match the width of your profile icon).

[zzc]

Which graphic file is the icon to check the width?

[zzc]

I havent a clue what I am missing when I have named the files correctly.

[Gumboots]

Zip the whole thing up and attach it here. I'll take a look through the bits. It'll be something that's obvious once you know how.

[zzc]

After poking around with help from ROR and lots of I think I got it working, but it would be nice to have it looked at.

[sbaros]

I made a clone of the orca, by unpacking the pk4 and renaming all the related files to fit the new engine. It just cannot load the beauty shot, but otherwise appears to work fine.

I am trying to do something slightly different. Not clone, but change the distributed Sm2 EMU to diesel operation (which was easy, as you know) and renaming it to Dm2 for reasons of consistency, yet without modifying its appearance at all. I did the individual skin renamings within the PK4 ,hex editing directly the PK4 file, without unpacking, renaming and re-packing. Still, the Tycoon will crash with every scenario containing the aforementioned railcar. What am I missing? Is it unavoidable to unpack, rename and re-pack just to change a name? I do get a message similar to zzc's above...

[Gumboots]

Obvious questions:
1/ When you say "every scenario containing the aforementioned railcar" do you mean containing the default Sm2?

2/ If yes to 1/, then your renaming has effectively removed the default Sm2. Which would make sense, if you were renaming all files, and would give the error mentioned.

[sbaros]

Yes, my intension was to remove the default Sm2 completely (since I have all 96 slots occupied) and convert it to a "Dm2" DMU. I have no slots for both, so as to just clone and convert it.
Now that I tested it further, actually all scenarios crash.

[Gumboots]

Sounds like you've missed something somewhere. Are you sure you got all files (.3dp, .dds, .imb, .lco, .car)?

[sbaros]

I got them. They certainly exist, since the Sm2 worked correctly beforehand, but I renamed them within the PK4 conglomerate, I didn't unpack, rename and re-pack them. I am not sure if this should work.

[Gumboots]

Hang on. Where did you find the Sm2? I can't see a loco with that name in the default files.

[sbaros]

In the EngineTypes it is sm2l.car , .lco and the trailer/tender sm2t.car
Also to be found after 1968 in the loco selection panel
I renamed whatever reference I could find through the hex editors to "dm2", and also the relevant PK4 file
Also changed the lco from electric to diesel

[Gumboots]

Oh right. This is a 1.06 loco. I was looking in 1.05. You have extra loco slots in 1.06. There are 129 available.
Without seeing the files I don't know what's wrong with it.

[Gumboots]

Hang on. I think I have it. The PK4 contains Sm2L_NE.imb and Sm2_Profile.imb, and those files have calls for the original loco name inside them. So to get it to work you will need to extract those two files and edit them too.

[sbaros]

It is OK, I figured some things out. First and foremost, I found your useful renaming instructions here:

So you'd rename those to:

GrasshopperL_TrackPoint.3dp
GrasshopperL_TsmokeLiteGreyC1.3dp

...etc, etc.
Despite your advice against Watto Game Extractor, I do find it friendlier than the command line script. I found no problems under Windows8 and 10.

You shouldn't need to use Watto. I tried to use it some time back (can't remember if that was on my old XP box or on W7) and found it was a PITA

I guess it's a matter of each one's working habits.
I unpacked all the Sm's PK4s in the UserExtraContent and I was able to add 1-2 smoke exhausts above it. The whistle change was easy.
After the "steam railcar" Sm2 conversion was finished, I reinstated the original files as "Dm2" class (this time as a diesel unit however, not the original electric, which was false anyway). Actually, I used the old DOS command copy Sm2*.* Dm2*.* so now I have 97 motive power types available.
I am trying to learn a few things each day experimenting with the 3d models. I have succeeded in "dressing" the "banking caboose" with various loco bodies. I guess my next moves will be to try to figure out how to define which part of a vehicle's texture is assigned to the various surfaces.
I see you have explained various techniques patiently to many novices here, so I try to figure things out without asking time-consuming questions. I think a relaxed step-by-step progress with these exercises will help me do more complicated rolling stock design after a while.

[Gumboots]

Ok. Use whatever works best for you. There's more than one way to do any job.

I am trying to learn a few things each day experimenting with the 3d models. I have succeeded in "dressing" the "banking caboose" with various loco bodies. I guess my next moves will be to try to figure out how to define which part of a vehicle's texture is assigned to the various surfaces.

That's easy enough as long as your modelling app will display a UV map alongside the mesh view (I assume you have this covered).

I see you have explained various techniques patiently to many novices here, so I try to figure things out without asking time-consuming questions. I think a relaxed step-by-step progress with these exercises will help me do more complicated rolling stock design after a while.

Sure, but feel free to ask questions anytime if any point isn't clear. I realise the instructions I've given at various times could do with more organising, and I may have omitted some things.

With the remodelling of "banking locos": I did make an H10 double some time back (viewtopic.php?p=40019#p40019). That gives the basic idea for how to have a loco/tender combination as a "caboose" or "dining car". Short version: loco and tender have to be skinned with one image, and Body, Truck1 and Truck2 are used to do the various bits. Think of the second unit as a banking unit and it should be pretty obvious. LengthPoint and Trackpoint can be a bit tricky to get right. There's a bit of trial and error in it. Smaller locos are generally easier than bigger ones. Doing a Connie this way wouldn't be difficult.

[sbaros]

A further easy project for a novice to gain a little self-confidence may be the cloning of a loco with tender to a tank loco, especially when the convenience of both skins in the same bitmap file already exists. Here, I have superimposed the KPEV 2'2' T 31 tender over the P8 body to create the impression of a water tank
Mind you, this is the dummy banking loco (ex-caboose) with the negative weight, modeled after Gumboots instruction here, not my crazy stuff that produces the ghost doubleheading locomotives:

... renaming copies of the Adler files to match the default caboose file names. That would be the easiest way of doing it. If you do that, the game will just treat the renamed Adler files as caboose files and never know the difference. The renamed Adler files would just sit as loose files in UserExtraContent.

Apart from this, all I had to do was to rename the tender's body as "CaboA_Truck2.3dp" (because there was already a CaboA_Truck1.3dp file in the main locomotive module).
The Witte smoke deflectors had already gone with my first P8 repaint 5 years ago. Deducting parts is much easier than adding them, by trimming-off the mask surrounding them in the bitmap file.
This has good perspectives of evolving into a T18, the popular commuter tank version of the P8. Robert Garbe was working for us after all !
Oops! Too bad visibility for the enginemen ! Back to the drawing board. I'll have to trim the tender top a bit ...
My apologies for the "Pleitegeier"

[Gumboots]

Here, I have superimposed the KPEV 2'2' T 31 tender over the P8 body to create the impression of a water tank

That's more or less how I made the 2-6-4T Suburban Tank revamp for 1.06.
Except in that case I added all the rebuilt tender bits to the loco body file (Truck2 was used for the trailing truck).

Build process: viewtopic.php?p=39987#p39987
Converting that one to a 4-6-4T would be very easy.