Asset blocks

[LoneWolfDon]

Don't know if this will help, but here's a few quick screen-shots I made as an example;

Find a spot you want to place the asset-block, once it's laid-down it will be represented by a yellow-square line:


Double-click on it, and the right-side fly-out menu should show the properties of it, and then also by default it will then show the first item on the list of items to choose from, in my case, because of that Developer asset-folders I have selected to work with, it first automatically displays "Barrels Group US" in my asset block as alphabetically that's the first item on my list:


You can then click on the drop-down item-list and scroll-down to something else you'd prefer. In my example, I went with "Tree Fir Forest FF", but the default Density number of "10000" is "too thick" for me, plus this forest is already fairly thick:


So, I lower the number to "50" in my example, to "thin out" the thickness of that forest to a more suitable level for that area:


After making each change of any properties, you can left-click outside of the fly-out menu, on some innocuous part of the screen, to see the new changes you made take effect. You can double-left-click on the asset-block again to get back to the right-side fly-out menu properties for it. Once you're happy with the item you've chosen and the Density level, you can pull-out the tabs on the asset-block to enlarge it if you'd like, or to left-click-hold-and-drag the whole asset-block like a "blanket" to a different area if you wish.

Hope something of that helps.
Good luck.

[dick8299]

It is hard to tell from he video, but this is what I think is happening:

When you first place the asset block, your population shows at 10000. When you double click the asset block to pick a new object, it looks like your population has gone to zero.

[LoneWolfDon]

Hmmm, yes, it looks like Dick could be right.
It seems your Density number is being set to "0" for some odd reason. It doesn't set to "0" like that for me.
Anyways, try putting in some number there, 100, 500, etc... then click outside of the fly-out menu and see if it takes.

[LoneWolfDon]

Well, I'm at a bit of a loss on this one, as the Asset-blocks seem to work for me the way as I outlined previously.
I assume you've already tried doing the 'ol "Verify integrity of game cache" and "Clear Cache" procedures?

But, due to the "popping-in" and "popping-out" problem that the Asset-blocks can sometimes have, in some ways it's better to do it the "old fashioned way" of putting your trees (or forest) down 1 at a time.


A bummer, and quite time-consuming I know. But in large part, that's how I still tend to do it and only use the asset-blocks sparingly, and if it seems I'm having too much "popping-in-and-out" with them, I then go back to the 'ol 1-tree-a-time way.

[Hawk]

Merged with a thread already started on this topic.

[spec5sx]

I have noticed that the density value doesn't always stick on the first try. I have had to enter the density value as many as 8 to 10 times to get it to stick. Also, I have experienced a few crashing issues as well.

[SMMDigital]

The popping in and out problem may be related to the size of the asset block and whether or not it crosses a tile boundry. The temptation is to make them 1x1 km, but this seems to increase the disappearances, as the blocks "render trigger" moves out of the POV before the edge of the block does. You graphics settings also have to do with this. If you are using a short view distance to save your frame rates, then your blocks will disappear more readily than long distance.

The only real issues i've had with the AB is the fact that you cannot cut individual trees out of it to place houses or buildings.

[LoneWolfDon]

Yep, for asset-blocks, I try to not spread-them-out too large, not to "max-out" the pull-out tabs-lengths on them, which seems to help reduce the popping-in-and-out problems a bit. And yes, perhaps if an asset block crosses tiles, that can cause that "popping" effect too. I have my view-distance set to high as well, and I try "experimenting" with placement of them, generally try not too have them "too close" or "too far" from what the Player would see from track-side views. In some ways I like the idea of asset-blocks, but in other ways they're a real hassle to work with sometimes too.