Asset blocks

[styckx]

I am finding the asset block tool one of the most annoying and frustrating tools ever to be introduced into this game.

It seems as though the more assets a route has enabled that fall into the catagory of being able to be used in an asset block the more likely you can get out your party hats and balloons and celebrate constant sbhh.

It hates 3DTrains scenery pack. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't and crash. Also noticing is the density is constantly altering to incorrect values. Like, I will have an asset that populates and the size it set to 1000 or 500 automatically, then I will pick another asset from the drop down list and its blank, density set to 2 or some other odd number. Changing it will either make the items appear, crash, or appear as ugly artifacts instead if I don't pick the right density.

One route of mine just completely crashes as soon as I plop down the asset block and double click it to bring up the properties flyout.

For me, this tools flakeyness just negates a reason to even bother using it.

Anyone else having such issues?

[artimrj]

Yeah I hate it too. I went back to using the tree clusters that I started with. It does put the trees to the ground right but it crashes and the density number is never the same, then when you stack them you have to right click to release them or you get the whole stack instead of the layer you want. I thought it would save me time to finish my route but it didnt, it takes more time plus what I wasted waiting for it, which was over a month.

[artimrj]

I dont feel left out. I have been totally amazed at some of the things I have been seeing with this update that we got for free. I paid $29 for Railworks 1 and got a free Challenger with it. When I got connected to Steam during install, I also got the BNSF package for free. Months later I got Railworks 2 for free. Then a few weeks ago I got Railworks 3 for free. For 29 bucks I made out like a bandit. I dont like the asset block thing, so I am not using it for trees close to the track. Way back in the distance I find it adds clutter real fast. but you can hardly see it, but you know it is trees, so the illusion is ok. For detailing close to the tracks, dont like it at all. So all the little quirks are a PITA for sure, but it is still one hell of game/simulator/developement tool.

[artimrj]

I had 9 guys beta testing my route. We made clean copies of Railworks installed the route and ran RW Tools on it, then drove in the new environment. We found a few things, signal not working, a track I didnt weld, a texture or object that was missing, speed limits wrong for the area. I fixed everything and we did it again. No problems. I released it and there are 20 some textures missing and 1 object, so far. We beta tested our butts off. This was just a route, not a complete new sim. I am sure they beta tested it.

[g_nash]

I had 9 guys beta testing my route. We made clean copies of Railworks installed the route and ran RW Tools on it, then drove in the new environment. We found a few things, signal not working, a track I didnt weld, a texture or object that was missing, speed limits wrong for the area. I fixed everything and we did it again. No problems. I released it and there are 20 some textures missing and 1 object, so far. We beta tested our butts off. This was just a route, not a complete new sim. I am sure they beta tested it.

Just to point out that you testing a route and what actually gets packaged are 2 entirely different things ... I've tried both RW Tools and the builtin packager and both leave out components , even on successive packaging there seems to be guarantee you'll get everything ... it's also got little to do with the present mess in RW3

@ styckx

What happens when you make your own block ? only issue I had was selecting .. but that's an issue I've had with muliple decals past and present.

[artimrj]

My poiint was to say no matter how much beta testing you do, you wont find everything wrong. You think it is good to go and surprise. RSC probably thought the same thing at one time or another. They got their mess and I got mine regardless of how much beta testing we put in to it.

[jpetersjr]

It seems easy enough to use to me, I just placed a decent amount of trees on a mountain side.

I didn't plan to make a route, but I might make one anyways.

My townhouses will be especially good for that.

Does anyone know how to get a map of the BM&O, the BM&O used to run through my city and that's the one I would probably consider.

[Bananarama]

Does anyone know how to get a map of the BM&O

BM&O? I never heard of that line. Did you mean GM&O, as in Gulf, Mobile & Ohio?

[jpetersjr]

Yes, actually I was thinking of the B&O, got my rail lines mixed up.

[gwgardner]

Yeah I hate it too. I went back to using the tree clusters that I started with. It does put the trees to the ground right but it crashes and the density number is never the same, then when you stack them you have to right click to release them or you get the whole stack instead of the layer you want. I thought it would save me time to finish my route but it didnt, it takes more time plus what I wasted waiting for it, which was over a month.

I love it. But as you indicated, it can't be a complete substitute for the clusters.

I've found it easy to use and helpful. The key to me, to make it that way, is to go rather slow in placing the object, so as not to get the multiple placements. In addition, someone at RSC stated that the tool is most useful for distant scenery, such as populating mountainsides that aren't adjacent to the track. That's how I use it, on the myriad mountainsides that were bare up till now. For the areas adjacent to the track, still need those clusters you refer to.

Even for some of the close scenery, near the track, using this tool is useful. Those clusters, after all, have to be finely adjusted, to keep from having trees hanging in midair. With the asset block, that's no longer necessary. I make one block, do a cntrl-c, and then copy it all along the route in spots, then come back later and add some clusters for variety.

I hope they do make one big improvement: if one of the quick lists is clicked on, then only the items in that quick list should show up as available for the asset block.

[Bananarama]

Yes, actually I was thinking of the B&O, got my rail lines mixed up.

Are you still in Mobile? Then you must really be mixed up - the B&O didn't run in Alabama.

[William_Putnam]

I have printed out the instructions seen above in the forum, and I have viewed the video make available there.

Finally, I have found it and can place the empty block in the "world."

For the life of me, I have not been able to populate the block with the sage brush asset I need to spread around in my route's "world." I've "double clicked" it to death and nada, nothing, zilch.

Some one needs to produce a "take me by the hand" set of instructions and, step by step, show me (and I am sure others) how to use this thing!!!!!!!!!

ON EDIT: Every once is a while, when I double click of the empty square in the world, I suddenly get a population of beautiful green trees that are not appropriate for a stark desert scene

[Hawk]

I merged your post into the existing thread.

[William_Putnam]

I merged your post into the existing thread.

That's fine, Hawk,

And sadly, I see others are as frustrated with this "piece of junk" as I am.....

[LoneWolfDon]

When you lay-down an asset-block, double-click on it and then in the right-side fly-out menu you can select a different tree or whatever item is available from a drop-down list. You can adjust number for density (I think by default it's something like 10000) as you like too. I usually lower it to around 1000 or 500, or maybe even a lot less depending on the item selected, so it's not as "close / dense / thick" looking, and which may also help give a bit better FPS too for the end end results. I also find they tend to work a bit better as something more in the "distant". Experiment though with the size that you spread it out and how close/ far you may place it from track-side views, as I find sometimes the asset-blocks can have a way of "popping-in" or "popping-out" of view.