Extreme Makeover, Chicago Metro edition

[sniper297]

As usual got eleventy-helluvalotta projects going at the same time, I'm getting ADHD in my old age. :hehe: OTOH, gotta do something to kill time while waiting for dependencies to show up on the DLS so I can upload the dependent assets, still got a few of those hanging fire.

Original Chicago Metro paint scheme looked pretty good in Railworks, but for some reason it seems to shade toward purple in Trainz, and gets even more purple with weathering for some reason. So I started experimenting with other shades;

Original on the far left, with assorted darker fiddling.

Original 192 red, 128 blue in foreground, with one of the experiments in the back with a 64 blue - too dark.

And a 64 blue with a 128 red, both too dark.

What I finally settled on, keep the bright 192 red, but darken the blue from 128 to 96. Obviously both colors will end up darker or lighter with different weathering, now to see what the passenger roster looks like in those colors.

 

[sniper297]

Me likey!

Original in front, new scheme behind - subtle difference, but looks tasty to me.

Haven't started on the passenger coaches yet, ran into a snag with this E8 - for some reason my outsideview attachment hack ain't working with this little culprit, all I'm getting is the four inside cameras.

 

[Euphod]

To each their own, of course, and the jpeg artifacts in the red aren't doing it justice, but I would rather like to see a black roof on those engines and cars. I think it would look less "garish". Just my opinion, though.

 

[sniper297]

Mmmm, no. Not working for me, even if I go with a dark gray instead of pure black.

You want garish I can do garish, how about a white roof?

Patriotic if nothing else! :hehe:

 

[sniper297]

Found the glitch, the senile old geezer who made the attachments (that would be me!) named them "a.outside(0,1,2,etc)" instead of "a.outsideview(0,1,2,etc)", giving them the correct names makes them work as advertised. Almost RFI-GEFF.

 

[sniper297]

More fiddling with the rest of the roster, deciding what needs something different.

F7 and the teakettle look okay as is, high hood GP 7 needs to be darker.

At least I think it does, IIRC I went with slightly different colors trying to represent paint schemes from different eras - some prototype railroads changed color shades and even complete paint schemes every decade or so.

F units were already darker, again to simulate a different time period. An aside, gotta remember to ask PEV if it's possible to make PM2IM tell you what color the specular in a mesh is currently, I think the color difference between the A and B units is due to different specular lighting shades in the mesh. I'd like to make both the same color, but rather than all the trial and error it would be nice to have a way to find out what the current specular is.

Upper and lower comparison of the GP9 low hoods, upper is original, lower is new. Part of the makeover is better detailing, the grills are photo texturing from actual pictures of a grill, the doors started as pictures but when I scale them down to fit a lot of detail gets lost. Other thing that loses detail is using the color replacer, best method I've found is to use the color balance or hue/saturation/lightness to make stuff like door overlays match the background color. While fiddling with that I found that having the doors a slightly different shade makes them stand out better;

Too much don't look right, but a very subtle difference in color makes them look a bit more 3D instead of just painted lines.

 

[Euphod]

Don't get me wrong Sniper, I both like and respect you, and I'm a former Navy Corpsman myself, but the access doors look awful! I disagree with your color scheme from the get go, but I know you can do better than this. I though about denigrating your choice of of the "Al Capone" hat, brass knuckles and switchblade as a symbol for a corporate entity, but if that's your vision, then I say "have at it". I doubt very much that any transportation company would choose such as a logo, but that's neither here nor there. The colors though, seem far too saturated, and detail is sacrificed in the process.

I'm not an expert by any means, but the uniform application of blue and red do not go far to represent a real railroad asset. Have you tried to use the "clarify" tool? I find if you use that at maximum settings you can often reproduce the "dished" appearance of a metal panel. Please don't take this as a blanket rejection of what you are trying to do, but I have to believe you are posting this to obtain feedback, and I've stated mine.

 

[sniper297]

The AYES have it, all the NAYS siddown and shaddap

Hee-hee, seriously I don't mind dissenting opinions at all, in fact I actually use some of the suggestions I read. I probably average about 25%, but today ain't your lucky day! :hehe:

"Chicago Metro" actually started in Rail Simulator, original logo was a "Chicago Piano" AKA "Chicago Typewriter", a tommygun with the 100 round drum. The fedora with brass knuckles and switchblade was a much more popular choice. The other popular choice started with CadMan and Splatter in MSTS, which a real railroad also wouldn't use - the Nickelodeon "CatDog" logo for the PO&N. Chicago Metro is a fictional railroad run by fictional gangsters, so the logo is what it is. Everything I do is open source, however, so I have no objections to other people doing reskins based on my reskins and coming up with their own roadnames and/or logos - a guy named John Fowlis created several different trainsets for MSTS painted for PO&N with his own logo design that looked more like something a real railroad would use. Me, I like CatDog.

Speaking of PO&N, that takes us to saturation;

I usually start with a clean shiny skin fresh out of the Three Blind Mice paintshop, once I start weathering the saturation pretty much takes care of itself. Sometimes it don't, sometimes I overdo it, sometimes the engines look like they have mange or something.

The one in the foreground I ran out of replacement doors, stole one from a PO&N loco, then discovered I ran out of blue paint. That one is way overdone, the one on the right is a bit too faded, the one on the left is the unweathered original for comparison.

Anyway I'll try the clarify, access doors are a beast to do unless you have a good template with the doors already painted on, then it takes a lot of careful painting to avoid mucking them up.

 

[Euphod]

I agree with pretty much everything you've pointed out, and I understand different logos and their allure (I even skinned a locomotive with a Pegasus once). If I were making a Chicago themed line, I think I would use a silhouette of the skyline anchored at either end by the Hancock and Sears buildings, but that's just me.

 

[sniper297]

Well, knock yourself out, clone my reskins and skin your own with a skyline logo, you expect me to do all the work? Especially with the Three Blind Mice constantly going on strike for more cheese, hard to get anything done around here. :hehe:

 

[Euphod]

Perish the thought! I live in the burbs anyway, and I don't think a skyline anchored by a Starbucks at one end and a Subway at the other would have the same impact!:hehe:

 

[sniper297]

My skyline was the L and C&NW tracks along with factories and a bunch of apartment blocks, but there are plenty of pics of downtown to use.

 

[sniper297]

No vaporware allowed!

Didn't actually lose interest in this project, just got sidetracked by other stuff. Currently tinkering with assorted other hacks, applying most to the GP9 chop nose models.

New thing, added the light color tag with the red and green toned down and the blue down to 32 or 64 to represent old incandescent lights with dirty lenses.

Difference between the newest four might be a bit too subtle.

Stole the script from the electric sparkies, made a "flame" corona for the exhaust stacks which flashes on and off according to speed and throttle setting.

Yellow flames and heavier smoke in the oldest units, due for an overhaul.

 

[sniper297]

Just as I thought I was done with the GP9s, found another one apparently rescued from the scrap heap, not sure WHY it was rescued.

Apparently someone decided to use up all the old parts laying around. :hehe:

 

[sniper297]

Next!

7 pack has been uploaded, final cleanup on the E8 bilevel scoot set, which has all the new passenger and outside views from the C&NW scoot set added.

All except the rebuilt wreck are KUID2 replacements, for those who haven't jumped on the Chicago Metro train here's the list of the latest;

Chicago Metro bi-level commuter car V,<kuid2:522774:100035:1>
Chicago Metro bi-level push-pull cab car III,<kuid2:522774:100003:1>
Chicago Metro E8A III,<kuid2:522774:1087:2>
ChiMet_GP9 578,<kuid:522774:100749>
ChiMet_GP9 635,<kuid2:522774:100118:1>
ChiMet_GP9 648,<kuid2:522774:100117:1>
ChiMet_GP9 650,<kuid2:522774:100116:1>
ChiMet_GP9 659,<kuid2:522774:100051:1>
ChiMet_GP9 670,<kuid2:522774:100050:1>
ChiMet_GP9 674,<kuid2:522774:100099:1>


A couple of reviews from unbiased users;

"I like it, got no class but it's got STYLE!" - Moe "It's not a gang, it's a social club" Hoppers, Chicago Metro CEO

"I like it, got no style but it's got CLASS!" - Thomas "Do NOT call me Tommy!" Gunn, Chicago Metro Operations Manager

"Them hoods better not try to muscle in on MY turf!" - Joe "Dynamite" Dugan, Port Ogden & Northern CEO

"What the hell is Chicago Metro? Never heard of them!" Clinker Coleman, Port Ogden & Northern fireman

 

[boyerm25]

I'm HAVE to try to make some chicago metro and po&n skins now. I really want a chi-met ac44 and dash 9 and all that good stuff! Im not really into GP9s. The more obscure types like the RS-11 are cool but anything early EMD besides E and F and SW units bores me a little.

 

[sniper297]

Go for it, you get stuck on something just holler. Humyo is gone now, but if you haven't downloaded the reskin kit you can still get it at trainsim.com;

http://www.trainsim.com/file.php?cm=SEARCH1&fsec=22&sortby=Date&sortdir=descending

Only thing I've changed since then is the color scheme for Chicago Metro, still using the 192 red but changed the blue to a darker 96 color. Which is also optional, most real railroads changed paint shades and even paint schemes pretty often, so if different colors appeal more to you, pick what you like. Euphod don't like my logo, so upload something with a different logo, it's a fictional railroad so the fictional stockholders ain't likely to whack you for desecration. :hehe:

Still working on the specular for the F7 A&B and the old time passenger coaches, but the E8 and scoot cars have been uploaded.

 

[boyerm25]

I haven't just downloaded ​it, i got it into a CDP and UP-loaded.

 

[sniper297]

Recently? I looked for username boyerm25 on the DLS, no hits. I was wondering about this;

http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?93506-Diesel-smoke-effects&p=1044702#post1044702

No idea how fussy the DLS is about accepting unused text files in a CDP, but that would be the way to go for templates if it will take it. How did you do the config.txt to get it accepted as a valid asset?

 

[boyerm25]

Just uploaded last night, should be available sometime this weekend. I just called it a "scenery" asset and it shows up faulty, all you have to do is open for editing and copy the "trzkit" folder. Got a thread on my content in freeware announcements, that explains a little more.