Custom Content Creation Contest

[mjolnir]

This thread started life about 8 or nine months ago as a "it would be nice" thread, without much specificity. Do you notice that after the repondents to the thread dicussed it in general terms, that the thread just somehow vanished into the later pages of the forum? I, too, think it's a great idea, and instead of just bumping the thread to the top with a "me, too" decided that maybe proposing some specifics might actually get something off the ground.
I actually have a list of items that I seem to me to be badly lacking in Trainz as freeware. I'm relatively new, and while I have spent time exploring DLS and the various third party sites, both freeware and payware, I haven't made an exhaustive search and catalog of everything on those sites. I have some impressions of things that don't seem to be present, but I have an inborn genetic tendency towards of "foot in mouth" disease, which I generally try to avoid as much as possible. I have quite a list of content items that seem to be dramatically missing in the greater TRZ community, not only on the DLS, but on the third party sites as well, but the only item on my list for which I'm satisfied that I've really done a a reasonably complete search, are the jumbo covered hopper cars I proposed for the contest. And if the result of the contest is that multiple versions of the four or five modern types get added to the DLS, how many 40 foot or 50 foot boxcars are on the DLS?

I did consider that those outside of North America might not wish to model a North American prototype car, and I expected when I made the proposal that by the time the final rules were established, there would be some accommodations made so that entries could be a car type that was non-existent, or dramatically underrepresented in other parts of the world, and whose complexity would be comparable to the proposed items.

I've created a little bit of content. I've a small locmotive that will be on the DLS someday, but I want to have an authentic interior, and sounds. There is an active example that I expect to make the effort to see next summer to get some interior detail photos, and recordings of the sound. Similarly, I've done enough work on my first freight car--a 36,000 gallaon capacity tank car, also not presently available (at least as far as I can tell) as freeware in the community. I was into the tank car project about a month, when I experienced the first in a series of hardware and software failures. I still have the meshes, and will, one of these days, get back to it. But since at the point the hardware failures so rudely interrupted my design efforts, I estimated that I was about 2/3 done with the car, and so might have had it completed in another two weeks. As much as anything, that's my basis for proposing the contest for two months. But the proposed duration is merely a proposal at this point, and I have no problem with changing the close to a later date.

Competition or contest? I'd like to see it a contest, and depending upon the number of entrants, I might try to see what I could find by way of "real" prizes, whose value is directly proportional to the number of entrants. But at this point, this seeming to have been the first contest for content other than routes, I don't have a sense how many people are likely to choose to participate.

Why on the forums and DLS? Well, these particular sites may not be ideal, but they are sites that nearly every TRS user knows about, and has access to. I know the forum does not allow payware, and that payware is oftentimes premium quality content, but my aim is to try to promote adding a class of content to DLS that is missing in tRS.

Who to judge? Ideally, I'd like to see two sets of judges, one the whole community, who would vote on the screenshot submissions, the other a group of people who would actually install the asset in the game, and see how it looks, feels, and works. Final score is derived from the two.

And I expect that when (or maybe even before) this contest closes, there will be another contest for another type of content severely lacking in TRS, if not by someone else, then by me.

Themes? Well at the moment, from my perspective the theme is "what type of asset is totally missing from available community freeware sources that would be a good candidate as a subject for a competition or contest?"

ns

[mjolnir]

So, after having done a somewhat more thorough investigation of available assets, the Jumbo (greater than 6000 cubic foot) covered hopper is the a major asset category in railroading, and there is not a single instance of this type of car available in Trainz. There are covered hoppers, but they are all about 5000 cubic foot models, and there are similar cars available used in at leasst two other markets: in Australia, Bradken manufactures covered hoppers (though perhaps not of the same size), and the Chinese firm, CSR Meishan Rolling Stock Company manufactures a similar car used in Russia and China, and VTG operates a lease fleet of covered hoppers in Europe. If the Covered hopper competition / contest. But as far as non US people being disinterested in a contest which produces content, how dows on explain the US prototype equipment on TrainzItalia?

I've done some further investigating, and found a few other assets which seem to be missing or underrepresented (they may not, in fact be missing, but merely on a site I haven't yet found

1) small town entertainment venues:

- ballrooms (found 3), movie theaters / cinemas (about a dozen, under "cinimea" or "movvie", but almost all "city sized" rathern than small towna sized). and athletic venues (small town high-school, and small county-fair type grandstands are to be under-represented.

-the "golf-ball on a tee" style of water tower (cf. http://blog.rpu.org/wp-content/uploa...ater_tower.jpg does not seem to be represented

2) fences and (especially) gates: I have not found a security fence, (like this one http://www.southwestfence.net/FenceI...rity_Fence.JPG, and while some of the types of fence I have seen available for use in TRS seem to have gates, I have not found gates, either swinging, or rolling (like this one:


shown half open), available for some of the others.

But I'd be interested in knowing what assets others think are missing, or under-represented in TRS.



ns

[leeferr]

There are some wire mesh security fences on the DLS along with some swinging type gates. I don't remember what they're called right now, but when I get a chance, I'll see if I can track down their kuids.
Mike

[falcon500]

There are a lot of gaps in what's available. How many are willing to try to make some content for themselves? Not many. I've been working on a prototype route of my old hometown, Rockhampton in Queensland Australia.
Aussie trees available were not up to a very good standard IMHO, so I ended up making my own first reskins then Gmax originals. Quite a few of these trees are types that were not made before. It was either use the very fuzzy looking trees or "gums" with trunks and branches that looked like grey metal pipes or make new ones myself. As this route runs through a fair few miles of suburbs I'm also making some low poly houses in the local style. Not that there are'nt good houses just that with so many poly count needs to be low. I don't consider myyself a content creator just make what I need. There seems to be contests being pushed forward all over the forums fairly regularly for what purpose? Reckon most people would be too busy doing their own thing to bother.

[S301]

This is actually why I suggested 'themes' that can be applied to ANY layout.

Lets say, for example, the theme was "fences". This would allow any 'fence' object to be made, using any means available to that creator.

However, as I said before, two things that need to be required.

1) The asset MUST be placed on the DLS for all to use.

2) The asset MUST be able to be used in TS09 native mode.

I would also add to this. In my opinion, part of the 'judging' for the contest should take into consideration of the performance of the asset. Will I be able to use it on practically any route?

In my opinion, the contest is there to help others improve. Not just to show off our best, but to see other people's best, and to see where we can improve.

I would also love to see some feedback left after the competition. Mind you, it should not simply be a case of 'looks great!' but case of 'looks good, however I feel you would be better off changing blah'. Polite, but also helpful!

Anyways thats my thought on it
Zec

[mjolnir]

2) The asset MUST be able to be used in TS09 native mode.

TS2009 native mode might reasonably be a criterion for entry in a particular contest, but based upon what I read in the forums, there are still enough persons using earlier versions of the game, that I'm not sure it should be a requirement for every contest.

ns