HD terrain screenshots

[weevil]

Please use this thread to show off screenshots of routes using HD terrain. Obviously the intention is for shots that show ground features or texturing that could not have been achieved with the previous terrain and texturing system.

 

[weevil]

Wow! Overwhelming response.
I see this HD terrain is an absolute "must have" feature. Clearly I should rush to buy a trainz plus subscription . . .

 

[dangavel]

It may well take a while for most users to get their act together, not that many of us do screenshots anymore, if only Norm Hart was still around, he'd have been on this like a rash !
RIP Norm , I miss you !

 

[PortLineParker]

I don't think it's the case that no one has anything to show, I think it's more of a case that we want to fully explore the tool and make meaningful changes to our routes before showing them off! I've posted a few below; the first two show the nice embankment effects that can be created where before either a very wide, square embankment would be used or a spline would have been used instead.

The next two show the maintenance facility at Corfe Castle. While it doesn't look any different in itself, the 12.5cm brush has enabled me to delete the dig holes around the site (and remove the clutter used to hide the dig hole 'gaps') and sink the ground to below the ashpit floor. I've managed to do the same with the ashpit and turntable well at Swanage, meaning I can completely eliminate dig holes.

The last one shows a deep cutting at Furzebrook - before, using the 5m grid, the terrain couldn't come to the fence line so the TurfFX would sink below the spline embankment, leaving a bare patch of grass between the fence and the field. Now, with HD terrain, I've bought this up to the fence line so the TurfFX can be seen to the edge. I plan to get rid of the splines altogether and have TurfFX up the slopes of the cutting too but I'm still playing around with it and have nothing of note to show yet! I would definitely recommend it though; for me who primarily creates routes it's a gamechanger. I'm also planning to introduce it underneath the platforms so that in 'walk' mode, you will be able to walk along the platforms without sinking into the spline. It can be used in multiple ways and produces a very fine result but, as with every piece of software, there is a learning curve involved.

Cheers,

PLP

 

[weevil]

Awesome. That's exactly the kind of thing I was looking for. Thanks.

 

[PortLineParker]

No problem, I should point out that the first two screenshots also utilise PBR textures whereas the latter 3 do not (yet), and these provides an even greater experience IMO.

Cheers,

PLP

 

[weevil]

So in the end my curiosity got the better of me and I plumped for a month's plus subscription so I could check out HD terrain. When will I ever learn? N3V never fail to disappoint and it rarely takes more than a few minutes for that to happen. My first test was to put a section of track across a baseboard at an angle to the grid, and hit the "smooth terrain under spline" option. After waiting for what seemed like forever (probably a minute or so) the operation finally completed. Certainly the high resolution terrain conforms much more tightly to the track spline, but the LOD distance for the tessellation is so short that you can clearly see the embankment degrading under the track just a hundred metres or so from the camera. Half a baseboard away it basically just becomes a series of spikes. As you move your viewpoint along the track you can see the terrain morphing into it's final shape just a short distance away.

It amazes me that someone at N3V did an initial feasability test on this system and said "yes, I think this should be OK".
I honestly can't see how anyone would think this is an improvement over the existing system in it's current state. Certainly not worth the tradeoff with the 16 textures per baseboard limit.

 

[PortLineParker]

Hi weevil,

While I agree that from a distance it is disappointing to see the ground jut through the track, I have to say I haven't yet seen this on either of the two full routes I've upgraded to HD. I suspect that this is because there is additional scenery around which would help to mask it, though of course I rarely move the camera away to that distance as I am either working in Surveyor on a specific area or driving a train.

I will say that perhaps a blank baseboard with one stretch of track may not be the best scenario to judge the new terrain on. Try upgrading a route to HD terrain and having a play around once you have scenery placed around it, you may find you are pleasantly surprised. I certainly am and I do see it as a huge improvement over the 5m/10m grid, to the point where I don't see that I'll use anything other than HD in the future.

Cheers,

PLP

 

[weevil]

Try upgrading a route to HD terrain and having a play around once you have scenery placed around it, you may find you are pleasantly surprised. I certainly am and I do see it as a huge improvement over the 5m/10m grid, to the point where I don't see that I'll use anything other than HD in the future.

Well, I certainly will try that. I suppose my concern is that it seems like this feature in it's current state may only be useful for exactly that scenario. It seems like the developers have only planned for a workflow that requires most of the terrain creation and editing to be completed using the legacy grid system before upgrading the route to HD terrain to apply the final tweaks. I just find it really depressing to be honest. Do they actually try and do any kind of route creating in-house using their software? The very first five minutes I had it to play with show glaring issues.

 

[PortLineParker]

A side by side of what HD is capable of:

In the first image, the cutting is formed by embankment splines. Not awful, but the lack of TurfFX on the splines is noticeable:

The same scene with HD terrain and the splines removed. I've yet to paint TurfFX over the necessary areas and some of the bushes are floating but it blends in much nicer I think:

Cheers,

PLP

 

[weevil]

So I tried converting an existing route to HD terrain. Firstly it took me hours to import it into Trainz Plus because of all the packaged assets I had used that aren't actually on the download station even though they are included with base routes. Please take note N3V that you would better serve the community (your customers) by fixing this kind of thing instead of adding features of rather questionable value. Once imported I proceeded with the conversion. The 16 texture per board limit is an absolute deal breaker for me. If it had been 32 I probably wouldn't even have noticed, but 16 is just too few. I'm not wasting any more time on this. Plus uninstalled and subscription cancelled. See you all again in two years when I forget what a total nightmare content management is in trainz and get curious about some new feature that sounds way better than it actually is.

 

[PortLineParker]

One from me showing the fine manipulation capabilities of HD terrain - a pile of ballast has been left along this siding ready for spreading at a future date. For this I used a 70cm brush size set at 1% sensitivity and raised it above the sleepers before painting it with the ballast texture at 10%. Looks pretty good! With PBR ballast (on my to do list) it will look even better.

Cheers,

PLP

 

[philskene]

I've posted some screen shots in the Trainz Plus Beta forum comparing a layout originally constructed in T:ANE with the same layout imported into TRS22 in HD:

I did need to do some extra terra-forming in the second image. I do think it's possible to get significantly better results with the HD, provided you are prepared to spend some time and effort.

Phil

 

[Jayco-man]

H

ere is one

 

[FootplatePhil]

Here are some comparison shots for b4 and after my 10m base boards route is run through HD conversion. No post capture processing has been applied. The differences are subtle. the most obvious is the rounding of the hard edges. In game the world feels a little more detailed, but I'm not sure this comes across in these screen shots.

B4 conversion

After Conversion

B4 Conversion

After Conversion

Just for interest, a similar shot I recently posted captured in TRS2019 (resized and sharpened)

 

[johnarran]

Here are some comparison shots for b4 and after my 10m base boards route is run through HD conversion. No post capture processing has been applied. The differences are subtle. the most obvious is the rounding of the hard edges. In game the world feels a little more detailed, but I'm not sure this comes across in these screen shots.

B4 conversion

After Conversion

B4 Conversion

After Conversion

Just for interest, a similar shot I recently posted captured in TRS2019 (resized and sharpened)

The 10m ones look just as good to me Phil. Nice

 

[PortLineParker]

I'd say the shots over the river bridge are the most noticeable and look much better IMO. No random, jagged edges around the piers and a smooth slope down to the river as opposed to the sharp drop seen in the foreground in the 10m. Some great shots!

Cheers,

PLP

 

[FootplatePhil]

I'm enjoying watching the trains in their new HD world. Although some control over draw distance would be good....

 

[philskene]

Also posted in the TRS22 Plus Beta Forum. Still very much work in progress:

Phil

 

[Fierogt87]

For me, (until whatever gets worked out between Roland and N3V), one of the biggest advantages of HD terrain is not having to deal with covered rails when a siding goes down hill off the main line.