Hi
I recently submitted a suggestion to the "Suggestion Boxcar" (http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?t=43419) of an idea I had for the ability to choose the baseboard colour. The idea was to save on the amount of texture one needs to apply in largely unseen areas thus saving on memory and graphic engine activity.
Thanks to advice from 'cascaderailroad' and William (wreeder), please accept my thanks, and encouraged by Chris (itareus) who suggested I make the "workaround" infomation more widely available I have summarised the technique below.
This applies to TRS2009 which I have experimented with but can possibly be applied to earlier versions.
First in CM2 search for "Grid,<kuid:-1:6270>".
Open it in 'Edit, Open in Explorer' and identify 'grid.bmp'.
Copy and paste 'grid.bmp' to create a backup copy so you can undo your changes.
Open 'grid.bmp' in your favourite graphic package (I used Corel Photopaint) but any bitmap editor would suffice.
Select the 10m grid which is the Yellow surrounding lines.
Change its colour to that of your choice.
Select the 5m lines (a dark grey cross) and again change its colour to one of your choice.
Finally select the four squares that represent the standard grey baseboard colour and change to a colour of your choice.
Save the result and return to CM2.
Select "Grid,<kuid:-1:6270>" and right click it then choose 'Edit, Commit' or the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + M.
Now when you enter 'Surveyor' you will see all your entire baseboards are covered in the colours you chose. From there you can get away with only 'texturing' and decorating the areas that are in obvious view when driving. In 'Driver' at the low angle aspect view the grid lines are not obvious.
I could see this as being usefull for routes that cross large tracts of desert or plains or are entirely in an urban setting.
Colour choice is very important and the two grid colours need to be just a few shades darker or lighter than the baseboard colour but different enough to make them discernable in 'Surveyor' which is essential.
WARNING:
This technique will alter all your baseboards in your portfolio of routes!
If you don't like it go back to the original and don't blame me.
What I have done is to create several versions of 'grid.bmp' which I can switch out depending on what is appropriate for what I am working on.
I'm still experimenting with different colour combinations but as most routes I build are rural UK below I have listed the colours I use currently for this purpose.
Regards
Martin
I recently submitted a suggestion to the "Suggestion Boxcar" (http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?t=43419) of an idea I had for the ability to choose the baseboard colour. The idea was to save on the amount of texture one needs to apply in largely unseen areas thus saving on memory and graphic engine activity.
Thanks to advice from 'cascaderailroad' and William (wreeder), please accept my thanks, and encouraged by Chris (itareus) who suggested I make the "workaround" infomation more widely available I have summarised the technique below.
This applies to TRS2009 which I have experimented with but can possibly be applied to earlier versions.
First in CM2 search for "Grid,<kuid:-1:6270>".
Open it in 'Edit, Open in Explorer' and identify 'grid.bmp'.
Copy and paste 'grid.bmp' to create a backup copy so you can undo your changes.
Open 'grid.bmp' in your favourite graphic package (I used Corel Photopaint) but any bitmap editor would suffice.
Select the 10m grid which is the Yellow surrounding lines.
Change its colour to that of your choice.
Select the 5m lines (a dark grey cross) and again change its colour to one of your choice.
Finally select the four squares that represent the standard grey baseboard colour and change to a colour of your choice.
Save the result and return to CM2.
Select "Grid,<kuid:-1:6270>" and right click it then choose 'Edit, Commit' or the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + M.
Now when you enter 'Surveyor' you will see all your entire baseboards are covered in the colours you chose. From there you can get away with only 'texturing' and decorating the areas that are in obvious view when driving. In 'Driver' at the low angle aspect view the grid lines are not obvious.
I could see this as being usefull for routes that cross large tracts of desert or plains or are entirely in an urban setting.
Colour choice is very important and the two grid colours need to be just a few shades darker or lighter than the baseboard colour but different enough to make them discernable in 'Surveyor' which is essential.
WARNING:
This technique will alter all your baseboards in your portfolio of routes!
If you don't like it go back to the original and don't blame me.

What I have done is to create several versions of 'grid.bmp' which I can switch out depending on what is appropriate for what I am working on.
I'm still experimenting with different colour combinations but as most routes I build are rural UK below I have listed the colours I use currently for this purpose.
10m gridlines: R=59 G=93 B=70
5m gridlines: R=18 G=56 B=56
Background: R=36 G=66 B=10
I've found it very useful and I hope you do too.5m gridlines: R=18 G=56 B=56
Background: R=36 G=66 B=10
Regards
Martin