Introduction and Looking to collaborate and bring out content

[PegasusDesigns]

Hello guys,

We're a small team called Pegasus Designs and we run a small part time business designing and making model trains. Recently we also started making content for a well known company that makes simulators for Android/iOS devices. We are experts on the Indian Railways and with our connections with the Indian Railways we feel that the Indian Railways is quite under-represented in games like Trainz Simulator 2012, T:ANE etc.

We'd love to make freeware content for either Trainz Simulator 2012 or T:ANE.

However whilst we can do all the 3D designing in SketchUp (which I understand is not poly-friendly) and make fairly detailed models, we do require help with texturing and coding. I'm fairly confident with route building especially with Trainz' easy to use route builder.

So I'm here today to reach out to this community. We did contact N3V and they suggested that we reach out here onto their forums and seek help.

- We can design the models (locos, rolling stock and scenic stuff).
- We can build routes
- However we do need help with quality texturing and coding.

We have done our research in India and we know what the people have and want. Our main rule is to provide all our content as freeware downloads.

If anyone is interested in helping us out please email us at [email address removed] and let us know what you can help us out with i.e. texturing or coding.

Regards,
Folks at Pegasus Designs

 

[WeaselSuit]

Where are your registered trainz versions? Sounds hinkey.

 

[Vern]

Where are your registered trainz versions? Sounds hinkey.

Good spot!

In any event, AFAIK Trainz has never had a particular large following from India - most simmers from the sub-Continent seem to hang around in MSTS. Not to say there isn't potential as there are some very scenic routes and interesting motive power - but proof of legitimate ownership of the programme you are promoting content for would be a good start.

 

[oknotsen]

My thoughts are in line with the two people above me:
Without a legal version of the game registered to your account, a lot of people will ignore you, assuming you have the software illegally.

Next to that you claimed to have contacted N3V, yet your account was made this Saturday. To my knowledge, their office is closed during the weekend, so I have some serious doubt about that.

So my assumption is that you created a new account just for this post (and contacted N3V with your real account). In that case I would suggest not using this new account anymore and instead use your real account as that hopefully does have a version of the game showing on it, which result in less people ignoring your posts ... or buy an extra copy of the game and get it registered on it, but that feels like a waste of money.

You are stating that you are using Sketchup. No offence intended, but the majority of the serious content creators (together with a bunch of the amateurs) will not take you serious till you switch to a different 3d tool like for example Blender.
The reason? The same as you already wrote in your post: "not poly friendly". The lower the poly count, the better your content will perform. High poly count objects kill the game and Sketchup is "known for" using an overkill of triangles for even simple objects. Alternative, "serious", 3d tools don't have to be expensive. Blender is widely used among the Trainz Content Creators and is free.

So...
I suggest you switch to your real account (assuming you have that), post some of your work (hopefully not made in Sketchup) and hopefully like-minded people of the Trainz community will contact / join you, as I am sure India has some nice trains to offer.

For future Content Creation Support topics, post in the related forum. If you don't have access to that, the cause most likely is (again) not having a version of the game registered to your / this account.

 

[sumitsingh]

I have been making some cool models in Blender and 3DS Max for Indian Railways for both Railworks and TANE.

 

[PegasusDesigns]

Where are your registered trainz versions? Sounds hinkey.

Sorry you feel that way, quite simple since we are currently out for a small Easter break we don't have a reliable internet connection to download T:ANE which is the game we plan to use as a basis. I'll be back Monday night so I plan to buy it on Tuesday and have it installed.

 

[PegasusDesigns]

Good spot!

In any event, AFAIK Trainz has never had a particular large following from India - most simmers from the sub-Continent seem to hang around in MSTS. Not to say there isn't potential as there are some very scenic routes and interesting motive power - but proof of legitimate ownership of the programme you are promoting content for would be a good start.

The fan following is stuck to MSTS because no one wants to make much for RW and/or Trainz. Anyone who has done so has made one or two and left it at that, others have illegally converted MSTS models to run with Trainz which has left quite a few MSTS developers fuming and now dormant.

Anyway I am here just looking for people interested in helping. There's nothing to lose here if people think we are a scam. We just want volunteers like ourselves.

Thanks for your reply nonetheless.

 

[PegasusDesigns]

My thoughts are in line with the two people above me:
Without a legal version of the game registered to your account, a lot of people will ignore you, assuming you have the software illegally.

Next to that you claimed to have contacted N3V, yet your account was made this Saturday. To my knowledge, their office is closed during the weekend, so I have some serious doubt about that.

So my assumption is that you created a new account just for this post (and contacted N3V with your real account). In that case I would suggest not using this new account anymore and instead use your real account as that hopefully does have a version of the game showing on it, which result in less people ignoring your posts ... or buy an extra copy of the game and get it registered on it, but that feels like a waste of money.

You are stating that you are using Sketchup. No offence intended, but the majority of the serious content creators (together with a bunch of the amateurs) will not take you serious till you switch to a different 3d tool like for example Blender.
The reason? The same as you already wrote in your post: "not poly friendly". The lower the poly count, the better your content will perform. High poly count objects kill the game and Sketchup is "known for" using an overkill of triangles for even simple objects. Alternative, "serious", 3d tools don't have to be expensive. Blender is widely used among the Trainz Content Creators and is free.

So...
I suggest you switch to your real account (assuming you have that), post some of your work (hopefully not made in Sketchup) and hopefully like-minded people of the Trainz community will contact / join you, as I am sure India has some nice trains to offer.

For future Content Creation Support topics, post in the related forum. If you don't have access to that, the cause most likely is (again) not having a version of the game registered to your / this account.

Firstly one thing I never do is use any pirated or illegal copies of games. Developers have put in a lot of time and effort into it and I prefer to pay for the game.

I have contacted N3V, do you want proof of it? Under what circumstances do you make a silly assumption that I had to contact them only today? I was in touch with them a few days ago and I have a life to live apart from jump instantly between an email and making an account on here. Your assumptions are plain ridiculous. I don't have any other real account. I'm here with honest and serious intentions to provide freeware content based on the Indian Railways.

Thanks for your posts though it was full of incorrect assumptions. I'm sure you guys mean well but sadly your assumptions are way off. On Tuesday I shall have my version of T:ANE downloaded and registered here.

Thanks for the links to the relevant sub-forum. I shall check it out and if it's not accessible now I'll do so once my copy has been registered.

I shall also look into getting Blender if SketchUp is so offending to people.

Regards.

 

[PegasusDesigns]

I have been making some cool models in Blender and 3DS Max for Indian Railways for both Railworks and TANE.

Excellent Sumit, I've seen your work, however haven't been able to locate you on flickr which seems to be where your images are linked from. PM me with your flickr photostream links and I'll follow you.

I hope your serious about bringing content in because your work is good. I do have access to the various diesel and loco sheds around me and I can assist in a lot of things.

Love your work and keep up the good work.

Cheers.
J

 

[sumitsingh]

I shall also look into getting Blender if SketchUp is so offending to people.

Sketchup is inappropriate not offending.
No hierarchy support, no keyframe animation and no UVW unwarp can be done in Sketchup.

 

[johnwhelan]

Firstly one thing I never do is use any pirated or illegal copies of games. Developers have put in a lot of time and effort into it and I prefer to pay for the game.

I have contacted N3V, do you want proof of it? Under what circumstances do you make a silly assumption that I had to contact them only today? I was in touch with them a few days ago and I have a life to live apart from jump instantly between an email and making an account on here. Your assumptions are plain ridiculous. I don't have any other real account. I'm here with honest and serious intentions to provide freeware content based on the Indian Railways.

Thanks for your posts though it was full of incorrect assumptions. I'm sure you guys mean well but sadly your assumptions are way off. On Tuesday I shall have my version of T:ANE downloaded and registered here.

Thanks for the links to the relevant sub-forum. I shall check it out and if it's not accessible now I'll do so once my copy has been registered.

I shall also look into getting Blender if SketchUp is so offending to people.

Regards.

If you done any content creation for any sim then you will be aware that the poly count is very important. TANE has a preview which also shows the draw calls again very important for performance reasons. TANE also requires Level of Detail.

Textures realistically are the hardest part.

Go through the Blender tutorials for TANE first to get a feel for it. The models are constructed differently to MSTS.

Cheerio John

 

[chris2001trainz2010]

One thing i've seen people do it use Sketchup to build a model then use Blender to fix it up for Trainz. It's a reasonable strategy, and done well, it's not "inappropriate", as some would believe.

 

[Christopher824]

Sorry you feel that way, quite simple since we are currently out for a small Easter break we don't have a reliable internet connection to download T:ANE which is the game we plan to use as a basis. I'll be back Monday night so I plan to buy it on Tuesday and have it installed.

I'm pretty sure you don't need to download the sim / game to get your timeline updated here, you just need to buy it. It takes about 1 minute. If you can post here, you can make a purchase, and your timeline should be able to be updated.... Sounds Hinky to me too.

 

[johnwhelan]

One thing i've seen people do it use Sketchup to build a model then use Blender to fix it up for Trainz. It's a reasonable strategy, and done well, it's not "inappropriate", as some would believe.

There are a couple of issues with sketchup. First it uses multiple textures files each texture file carries the equivalent overhead of 200 polys. Second when two beams cross in Blender its two beams of 12 polys each or 24 polys, in sketchup the two beams get split into a center cube and end cubes for a total of 60 polys. In Blender you can delete unseen faces I do not believe this is possible in sketchup. The more complex the model the worst it gets.

There are other issues such as attachment points, animation etc.

It can be done and it will work if you throw enough hardware at it but having to use a GTX 1080ti rather than a GTX1060 does seem a bit extreme.

There are some sketchup assets on the DL that will bring even a GTX 1080 to its knees by the way.

Cheerio John

 

[meatloaf747]

Sorry you feel that way, quite simple since we are currently out for a small Easter break we don't have a reliable internet connection to download T:ANE which is the game we plan to use as a basis. I'll be back Monday night so I plan to buy it on Tuesday and have it installed.

Big discount on this package; https://store.trainzportal.com/products/trainz-a-new-era-platinum-edition

Cheers, Mac...

 

[PegasusDesigns]

If you done any content creation for any sim then you will be aware that the poly count is very important. TANE has a preview which also shows the draw calls again very important for performance reasons. TANE also requires Level of Detail.

Textures realistically are the hardest part.

Go through the Blender tutorials for TANE first to get a feel for it. The models are constructed differently to MSTS.

Cheerio John

Hi John!

Yes I'm very much aware of that. Thanks for the heads up. I will check out Blender. After all it can only be a helpful addition.

Cheers!

 

[PegasusDesigns]

One thing i've seen people do it use Sketchup to build a model then use Blender to fix it up for Trainz. It's a reasonable strategy, and done well, it's not "inappropriate", as some would believe.

Hi mate,

That's what I was planning on doing as I can work very quickly with SketchUp. However if Using Blender or 3DS Max makes things easier from the start then there's nothing to lose.

Cheers

 

[PegasusDesigns]

There are a couple of issues with sketchup. First it uses multiple textures files each texture file carries the equivalent overhead of 200 polys. Second when two beams cross in Blender its two beams of 12 polys each or 24 polys, in sketchup the two beams get split into a center cube and end cubes for a total of 60 polys. In Blender you can delete unseen faces I do not believe this is possible in sketchup. The more complex the model the worst it gets.

There are other issues such as attachment points, animation etc.

It can be done and it will work if you throw enough hardware at it but having to use a GTX 1080ti rather than a GTX1060 does seem a bit extreme.

There are some sketchup assets on the DL that will bring even a GTX 1080 to its knees by the way.

Cheerio John

You've hit the nail on the head there, yes that's exactly what happens. So I think using Blender or 3DS Max will be a better option then.

 

[PegasusDesigns]

Big discount on this package; https://store.trainzportal.com/products/trainz-a-new-era-platinum-edition

Cheers, Mac...

Thanks, Still sitting on the fence. Trainz Simulator 2012 or T:ANE. Personally they both have their pros and cons however the biggest let down is that T:ANE as the base game itself has content that's so different. There's some excellent stuff and then there's models that don't look as good as the rest.

Most likely going to settle with Trainz Simulator 2012. Quite a few people in India have it and it's cheap to buy on Steam for them as well.

 

[JCitron]

Thanks, Still sitting on the fence. Trainz Simulator 2012 or T:ANE. Personally they both have their pros and cons however the biggest let down is that T:ANE as the base game itself has content that's so different. There's some excellent stuff and then there's models that don't look as good as the rest.

Most likely going to settle with Trainz Simulator 2012. Quite a few people in India have it and it's cheap to buy on Steam for them as well.

The content in T:ANE is not much different than is TS12, and includes much content that is in TS12 to begin with.

TS12 is old by today's standards and will go off support soon. There's a schedule in the Wiki on supported products. With T:ANE you will have support for direct FBX import of models using the FBX exporter in many 3d modeling programs so you are not married to a single program or two. TS12 only supports the older im mesh format. There will be support also very soon for PBR textures and other stuff, which definitely will never be supported with TS12. Once you get yourself a copy of the the program, you can have read-only access to the Developer's forum (Trainz Dev forum), where these things are discussed in the open about this stuff.

As far as models not looking as good as the rest in T:ANE. What you are seeing are some much, much older content which is still in use today, which was created some 10 years ago or longer. That's the nature of Trainz in general with compatibility for older content within the program within limits that the older content has. But there's a caveat here. The older content will not support the newer things which were introduced with TS12 SP1 and later, including many scripts which came out post that content build. The Trainz product is a very complex creature, much different than any of the other simulator or games on the market today. Once you delve into the depths of Trainz, you'll see what I mean by this.

As far as which version to get, it's your decision to make and you can always get both program versions if you want, which is recommended anyway because it gives you the chance to build in TS12 and then test in T:ANE to ensure your models still work especially if you are interested in building assets.