We shall build a locomotive not because it is easy...

[mrennie]

This is the level of detail I'm aiming at:





Each of those two parts took a day to make.

This wheel took several days:



It's going to be a long, hard slog!

[PapaXpress]

uh... I feel small.

That looks amazing.

[mrennie]

I'm glad you like them!

I've been using 3DC for about a year now, on and off. Before that, I tried making models for FS using FSDS, but that was a dead end. What I mean is that what you see in those pictures is the result of a fair bit of experience, but if you stick at it, it shouldn't take too long before you can turn out items like those. I'm still a beginner ... I've never built a locomotive before. I just wanted a challenge.

[jpetersjr]

I'm glad you like them!

I've been using 3DC for about a year now, on and off. Before that, I tried making models for FS using FSDS, but that was a dead end. What I mean is that what you see in those pictures is the result of a fair bit of experience, but if you stick at it, it shouldn't take too long before you can turn out items like those. I'm still a beginner ... I've never built a locomotive before. I just wanted a challenge.

Well, I think your locomotive will look great in RW, and it will also make my freeware 1930's route possible.

Now all I'd like to figure out soon is how to make a loft object such as a road since I'd like to make a lofted road and bridge for RW very soon.

[Hawk]

WOW! With that kind of detail, that thing is going to be a poly monster.

[SMMDigital]

Umm, tooooo shiny me thinks?

31.JPG

Look, I don't want to be a critic here, but mrennie, you might want to reconsider such detail in your model. Nothing wrong at all with trying to make the best that you can make. But, you also have to realize that there are constraints to what Railworks is capable of and what end-user computers can do. The worst possible thing that could happen would be to go through six months of torture creating this thing then finding out when you get it in the game that it causes the frame-rates to slow to a crawl. I have had that happen myself with some of the models that i've made, it's it's not a fun thing to try to fix. I would urge you to paint your model as you go and export it into Railworks frequently in order to test things out and get a heads up on any problems before they become major.

[mrennie]

WOW! With that kind of detail, that thing is going to be a poly monster.

Don't worry, it's under control ;) I always go over a model during an "optimisation" phase to do things like removing hidden faces, merging faces, reducing points on a not-very-acute curves, creasing the faces of curves that are almost always facing the viewer, so that the illusion of a smoothly curved face (like a cyclinder) is maintained with fewer faces and points, and so on.

What I prefer to do is to make several high-poly detail parts, of things that make the model stand out (I like to go down to eye level and look at the locos up close), and allow room for those bit by being careful about optimising the rest of the model. It's what I did with the Siphon G, which is very, very detailed, but has no noticeable effect on FPS unless you make a big consist of them (not a problem, as the Siphon G's usually travelled alone, at the end of an express train).

In any case, todays's computers can cope with a much higher poly count than a few years ago. My PC runs RW nicely on a GTX295 card, which is now several generations. If the loco runs okay on that rig, it should run well (probably even better) on most people's (newer) computers. if not, then I'll do two versions ... the "deluxe" with all the detail, and "standard" (for want of a better word) with reduced detail. The standard version would be the one to use for AI traffic.

[mrennie]

Umm, tooooo shiny me thinks?

31.JPG

I would urge you to paint your model as you go and export it into Railworks frequently in order to test things out and get a heads up on any problems before they become major.

Absolutely! That's exactly what I do, to test how it looks and the effect on FPS, and to keep up the motivation to continue. It's nice to see things in the game instead of just in 3DC.

Where I personally don't like to compromise is on circles that face the viewer, like wheels or the boiler. I like those to look round, without any noticeable kinks around the circumference. I'll spend polys on that and save them somewhere else.

Cheers,
Mike

P.S. I always appreciate a constructive critique ... keep it flowing!

[mrennie]

Here's how that locomotive driving wheel looks in the asset editor ...

[jpetersjr]

Looking good.

[PapaXpress]

mrennie you mentioned creasing. I have had mixed results using this tool to remove unwanted lines in a face. I suspect that I am using it wrong. How are you using it?

[mrennie]

It's best to look at the model in the perspective view, as a "smooth" (not flat) object, to see the effect of creasing. Select all the adjoining faces that you want to smooth (I think they call it a "smoothing group"), and click on the creasing tool. A slider comes up that allows you to try different degrees of creasing. Move it to the right and the lines show, move it to the left and they disappear (in an extreme case, you can end up seeing a big blobby mass!). It works by adjusting the normals so that they aren't perpendicular to the surface. The normals affect the way light shines off the surface. Usually the default position of the slider is the best position, but you can try moving it a notch or two to the left.

Smoothing allows you to do some nifty things, like making what looks like a smooth round pipe that's actually just an extruded triangle. You only see that it's a triangle when you look at it from one of the ends.

[PapaXpress]

I need to try this on handrails.

[SMMDigital]

Thanks guys for the offers to help fix. I was simply experimenting with different "shades" of alpha glossiness, and that was about 35% whiteness. On the Slug, I used 3%, and i'm thinking here somewhere between 5-15% for this model. Also I need to cut back on the general bumpiness of the normal map to about 1%. Even new painted metal doesn't stay smooth for long under the full power of the sun, but it's not as bumpy as in the photo.

BTW, it's good to see that others are still interested in this little community project. I was about to hang up my digital paintbrush in favor of a pair of bikes shoes and a Trek Alpha.

[SMMDigital]

Anyone have any ideas on how to index the Speedometer needle? It works, but it does not register the same speed that is showing in the HUD.