RCAP: Railworks Community Asset Project

[CSX2057]

I got a question

I am working on a smm digital onto Donner Pass for Up/BNSF clone route. I found the original crossing gate way before the upgrades on the new ones with base, Xing1 g15b and nb_short x1-6, xing g25b and nb_x1-6, cantilever and lamps. Do you think you can adjust them as we have now? or recreate them? Cause the ones he had now are to short so the best ones I always use is 15 and 25 before he upgrade those. Think you can do that?

[PolyesterMafia]

I'll field this one, but let me say right off that i'm not a spokesman for the RCAP group, so everything I say may be corrected or contradicted in following posts.

To answer the most important question first: right now, RCAP is working to bring new freeware assets to the game that everyone can use, so there are no plans to revisit the Xing signals.

I do have a few questions for my own clarification though. When you say "version", what do you mean? There were the originals, with the AndiS scripts. They actually worked better, animation wise, than the current set, but they were harder to set up. Then there were the SB&B signals (Cajon Pass) that were specifically targeted for that route. Then finally the current version that uses scripts similar to what RSC is using. Also, what on the signal is short; the mast or the gates?

[PapaXpress]

Thats not completely true. RCAP is working on releasing the NSAND and all the assets included therein. This would include the crossings, but not the original SanBar replacement pack (which replace the Kuju US crossing guards).

Having said that, I don't know when the crossing guards will be ready. For v2 it appears that the signals will be (as I helped QA some of them).

[CSX2057]

Thats not completely true. RCAP is working on releasing the NSAND and all the assets included therein. This would include the crossings, but not the original SanBar replacement pack (which replace the Kuju US crossing guards).

Having said that, I don't know when the crossing guards will be ready. For v2 it appears that the signals will be (as I helped QA some of them).

No there was no point for replacing the kuju crossing, good to know what is being made from those assets for NSAND, and the crossing. Thanks papa express that was the answer I needed. I'll use the smm on the Donner Pass for now till you are ready with the new ones.

[PolyesterMafia]

For future reference, all of the smm signals - trackside, crossing, signal shanties, mileposts - have been turned in for inclusion in a future edition of RCAP. A lot of the other assets that were on the Route have to be brought up to standard and will take time to do so. As for the NSAND, the route is being totally reworked, and maybe even a name change is in the works. A lot of people run CSX equipment on it, so a good chunk of the W&A from Wauhatchie south is being added to it as renovations progress. She's gon be a beauty, thanks to the efforts of RCAP.

[CSX2057]

For future reference, all of the smm signals - trackside, crossing, signal shanties, mileposts - have been turned in for inclusion in the next RCAP. A lot of the other assets that were on the Route have to be brought up to standard and will take time to do so. As for the NSAND, the route is being totally reworked, and maybe even a name change is in the works. A lot of people run CSX equipment on it, so a good chunk of the W&A from Wauhatchie south is being added to it as renovations progress. She's gon be a beauty, thanks to the efforts of RCAP.

Sweeeeet Can't wait to see it!!!

[mountainrail2012]

Many thanks for all the developers who entered these great projects. I am not sure if I am over-stepping my presence in this Post but can we request US Cattle ( Brown,white,black-Angus,brown and white, some with horns, some long horns) with the same positions that came with RSC. RSC's Cattle are very accurate Dairy cattle and look great. Yellow US and Canadian school buses long and short active and parked. Solid looking Loft rock wall formations of different colors with track portals that can be matched to the different colors and texture's that we have here in the US and Canada.with Tunnel Portal Hole's that will work with Loft's. We have colors and textures that range from the Dessert light tan to an almost Basalt Black. The Northern part of California has many area's of Black Lava flows from the numerous Inactive and Sleeping Volcanoes. Also we could of course use Horses for the Cattle ranch's that populate the " private property and the BLM Land(US) " of the US and Canada. If anybody needs picture's of different rock texture's, Busses or Cattle let us know. Thank you all again.
mountainrail2012

[PolyesterMafia]

The texture-painted forest is an interesting idea, probably doable the same way as procedural grass, but it will seriously kill the frame rates.

[PapaXpress]

It is doable, and yes it would kill frame rates. You would essentially make your procedural grass into cruciform trees. So there will be no variation between them and it would be very MSTS.

[Bananarama]

It is doable, and yes it would kill frame rates. You would essentially make your procedural grass into cruciform trees. So there will be no variation between them and it would be very MSTS.

Not to mention the draw distance for procedural flora is only a hundred meters or so, plus is limited by size - nothing much larger than what you see now with the grass.

[PapaXpress]

I thought that the size was adjustable? If it isn't then yes you could only make shrubs.

[Bananarama]

I tried making larger items only to have things cut off at the tops and sides. Procedural flora is indexed to the slots in the grass image file - the whole thing can be enlarged or shrunk, but the size of the flora in the sim will remain unchanged.

[NDORFN]

What's wrong with using asset blocks anyway? They do copy and paste.

[PolyesterMafia]

What's wrong with using asset blocks anyway? They do copy and paste.

Asset Blocks are a great step forward, but they do have their drawbacks.

- If you use a large enough block (over 250m), then it is very noticeable when they are rendered or de-rezzed as you enter or leave a tile in the game.
- If you overlay blocks directly on top of each other - say you want four different types of trees in your forest - the trees tend to clump together, so that you start out with a randomized forest but can end up with clumps of four different trees all standing on the same spot. Best way is to offset the blocks as you layer them.
- You cannot remove individual trees from the block. This would be useful in laying a forest and doing cutout areas for buildings, rails, or roads.
- It seems you cannot get enough trees in a block to simulate dense forest like the old tree block shapes did. I've got areas on the SR that have four sets of trees, set to 2000 trees per, and there are still obvious gaps.
- You can't size the blocks very well in areas that aren't "block shaped", such as where tracks meet a body of water or a road at an angle. It would be great if you could "grab" the corners of an asset block and move it independent of the other four points.

Yeah, I could go on and on, but i'm not intending to slam RSC on this one, just pointing out some shortcomings. It's better than laying trees one by one!

[5292nate]

If I may ask, what is RCAP's plans for Jerry's defect detectors? Maybe some improvements, like speed and axle count.

Thanks