CM problems

[llebrez]

There are 3 things I don't understand about CM.

1) Some assets are marked as Built In. Opening the asset in explorer, it shows files in TEXTURE format. And CM don't flag them as Faulty. But if there is an asset as Modified and it has TEXTURES, it is faulty. Is there an advantage to convert these TEXTURES to TGA ? Once converted they show as Modified. So, why one is not faulty and other is?

2) Some assets show "Newer version available". So you open Version, and sure enough there is one available to download. After downloading, it shows "Obsolete". I thought that a new version should be new, not obsolete right away. ??

3) This one beats my understanding: Many assets, coming from earlier TS19 now show Modified Faulty Payware. Checking the fault, it goes back to the TEXTURE thing. Fixable, but you can't, because it is Payware ! Some of these assets are a small bush or something unimportant. Is it so valuable to make them Payware? At some point in the evolution, when an upgrade is offered, there should be a warning: If you upgrade to next built, you may lose many assets. And if you pay for something, you don't want to see faulty things, yes? Anyhow, is there a way to fix it?

For anyone that asks I am using Built 117009

 

[pware]

TEXTURE format is the standard format for all image files in assets that are Built-in, Base, Payware and Packaged. It is not a fault or an error. The TEXTURE format uses a higher compression than assets Installed from DLS or you have created yourself (Modified). The higher compression allows them to be downloaded faster and takes up less space once installed.

1). Assets labelled as Installed from DLS and assets you have created yourself will have their texture files stored as .tga, .png, jpeg, .bmp plus a few other more obscure formats. If you clone one of these compressed format assets (e.g. Payware) and convert it to Modified then the texture files will not be converted to .tga etc. The converted assets will then show up as faulty. If you want to continue using the converted asset then you will need to convert their textures. There is a utility program available that will do that (ImageToTGA or a similar name - I do not have it so I cannot remember its exact name).

2). When you have an asset on your system that has an updated version on the DLS then the version on your system will be shown in CM as Newer version available. If you download and install the newer version then the original asset will still be on your system but will now be labelled Obsolete because it has been replaced by the newer version. In most cases the newer version will have an "Up-versioned" <kuid> (e.g. the original and now obsolete version may be <kuid:1234:56789> and its replacement may be <kuid2:1234:5678:1>. The new version may not have exactly the same name as the original. See the Trainz Wiki at Newer_Version_Available for a fuller explanation.

3). Payware is the property of the original creator, not you, not me and not N3V. Some payware creators have encrypted their assets to prevent copying or modification. It is easy to ask why is a small bush so valuable that it is payware but that implies that the effort that went into its creation was insignificant - the creator may disagree. It is up to the creator of a DLC package to decide if an update of the package is worth doing. Sometimes an asset that was originally Payware is released as "freeware" and becomes available on the DLS (Available for Download or Newer version available). If an older version of a payware asset no longer works and no update is available, then (politely) send a message to the original creator and ask.

 

[Dinorius_Redundicus]

1) Some assets are marked as Built In. Opening the asset in explorer, it shows files in TEXTURE format. And CM don't flag them as Faulty. But if there is an asset as Modified and it has TEXTURES, it is faulty. Is there an advantage to convert these TEXTURES to TGA ? Once converted they show as Modified. So, why one is not faulty and other is?

This question was asked just a few days ago. I wrote a detailed answer --> here