making trainz look like the real world
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shaneturner12
Tutorial Creator
Simple answer - use the right assets.
Shane
Shane
In my humble opinion, it'll be a while before Trainz looks like the "real world." Sure, those Hollywood CGI movies look like the real world (most of the time) but they're using computers that cost many thousands of bucks. Trainz can look somewhat real occasionally, but still the assets in the game are too sharply defined, too brightly coloured, have virtually no shadowing, are many times too large (namely weeds, high grass, etc.), and too "plastic" looking, a problem model railroaders have had since the beginning of the hobby.
I've seen locomotives in Trainz that are almost florescent looking the colours are so bright! I've seen what is supposed to be common grass growing along the tracks that is well over a man's head. I think the main problem with Trainz though is the almost total lack of shadows. You can get around that a lot of the time using a heavily overcast sky which improves the look (IMHO remember).
Some of the new "shoot-em-up" games have pretty realistic shadows and such, but they are improving their game engine every time they release a new version. But there aren't usually any content creators making stuff for those type of games. They can change their game engine drastically with every new release. With Trainz, the producers have to insure that the content creators assets will work in the game, so they're limited on what aspects of the game engine they can change. (I believe I'm right--- correct me if I'm wrong).
Anyhow, I'm sure this thread will garner a lot of responses both ways, and like I said, this is just my opinion.
Cheers!
Dave
I've seen locomotives in Trainz that are almost florescent looking the colours are so bright! I've seen what is supposed to be common grass growing along the tracks that is well over a man's head. I think the main problem with Trainz though is the almost total lack of shadows. You can get around that a lot of the time using a heavily overcast sky which improves the look (IMHO remember).
Some of the new "shoot-em-up" games have pretty realistic shadows and such, but they are improving their game engine every time they release a new version. But there aren't usually any content creators making stuff for those type of games. They can change their game engine drastically with every new release. With Trainz, the producers have to insure that the content creators assets will work in the game, so they're limited on what aspects of the game engine they can change. (I believe I'm right--- correct me if I'm wrong).
Anyhow, I'm sure this thread will garner a lot of responses both ways, and like I said, this is just my opinion.
Cheers!
Dave
Given the constraints and the relatively low price tag, I think Trainz does a good job on realism. I've built a representation of the same station in both an N gauge model and TRS 2006. The Trainz version is streets ahead (though that may have something to do with my lack of modelling skills!!!) Of course you sometimes have to be prepared to work at it. If the weeds are too tall, sink them into the ground, for example.
Good luck
Alan
Good luck
Alan
Shane and Scott seem to have taken the words right out of my mouth lol. And that's a very good point about the game engine Dave. I would think that since the OpenGL engine has worked so well with Trainz, despite it being a bit outdated this is a classic case of that famous old saying "If it ain't broke don't fix it.". I would think that the folks at Auran are most likely researching a new game engine, but with the thousands of different assets that have been created its no wonder that they haven't updated game engine just yet. If you want a realistic experience, then try the RBMN route by Deadpool or use the JR payware/freeware that's available. Also try Derrmy's Clovis Sub V2.1, its a nice route and gets good framerates. The Sherman Hill route from TrainzItalia is also another very realistic and detailed route.
cascaderailroad
New member
The route from far away: http://i525.photobucket.com/albums/cc339/cascaderailroad/NooBDistant.jpg
The same route up close: http://i525.photobucket.com/albums/cc339/cascaderailroad/NooBAxeFight.jpg
The same route up close: http://i525.photobucket.com/albums/cc339/cascaderailroad/NooBAxeFight.jpg
FarCry 3 is pretty cool. They have very realistic looking ocean and water.
Have to remember too that most of that Hollywood CGI is NOT rendered in real time either, even on those massive super computers, they do 1 frame at a time.
As far as shadows are concerned, some assets have them, other's don't and their rendering is so bad that I leave them turned off. I prefer the "ground plane" shadows like Jointed Rail's cars have.
Lots_Trains
TS2010 User
For the most realistic look ,make sure ALL!!! the assets you use have baked shadows, its the approach I take, I rebuild everything I use to have baked shadows. Problem is very very few content creators make use of the baked shadows
Cheers
Lots
Cheers
Lots
deadpoolmx55
LETS GO PENS!
sorry dude that wasnt me who did that route, it was rooneth.
thanks for the mention scott
Ground textures by masontaylor and McGuirrel offer a good start. You will find masontaylor's buildings also look very good.
McGuirrel and the later JVC trees help. Also if you have the Murchison 2 payware that has some good realistic looking assets.
If you have TS12 some of the built in Russian and Hungarian assets are nice and grungy looking.
All the above of course in the context of what we can do with a graphics engine which *was* designed as a model railroad concept and really does need a complete overhaul to bring it in line with the "real world" appearance possible with some of the other sims or games beyond the railway genre.
McGuirrel and the later JVC trees help. Also if you have the Murchison 2 payware that has some good realistic looking assets.
If you have TS12 some of the built in Russian and Hungarian assets are nice and grungy looking.
All the above of course in the context of what we can do with a graphics engine which *was* designed as a model railroad concept and really does need a complete overhaul to bring it in line with the "real world" appearance possible with some of the other sims or games beyond the railway genre.
Vern, Thank You for the shout out about my content. It is nice to read such statements. Wish I could provide more or better content. Trainz is uninstalled as SP1 caused me great despair and total frustration. I have since sent it to the dumpster. N3V better have a huge wakeup call on Service Packs. Not their finest hour.
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I agree with Vern concerning the outstanding work by mcguirel and masontaylor, as well as a wealth of content creators out there without whom Trainz would not be half as intersting.
It's "horses for courses" of course, but you mustn't lose sight of the raison d'etre for Railway Modelling and Trainz in the first place - and that is "fun". The continual quest for "patches," "hotfixes" and "realism" can easily cause one to drift away from the hobby. For myself, I have hardly touched Trainz for about three months because every time I want a quick half an hour's "Driver's Session" before bed, the blessed TADaemon decides to run a "Database Update".
I know that improvements in technology are enabling better and more complex modelling, but we mustn't let it spoil the fun!
It's "horses for courses" of course, but you mustn't lose sight of the raison d'etre for Railway Modelling and Trainz in the first place - and that is "fun". The continual quest for "patches," "hotfixes" and "realism" can easily cause one to drift away from the hobby. For myself, I have hardly touched Trainz for about three months because every time I want a quick half an hour's "Driver's Session" before bed, the blessed TADaemon decides to run a "Database Update".
I know that improvements in technology are enabling better and more complex modelling, but we mustn't let it spoil the fun!
We're also forgetting the elephant in the room and arguably the most important part of any railroad; the tracks. You can have the most realistic buildings and vegetation but that means nothing if the track still resembles model railroad track pieces laid out on the living room floor.
__/-I---- I-\___
__/-I---- I-\___
Trainz can be as realistic as we want it to be within the limitations of the game engine its self. When building routes, we have to keep in mind the limitations of the hardware. Yes computers are faster than ever, but there is still just so much junk we can throw at them before they choke. An early model railroad pioneer, Frank Ellison, worked in the movie industry. He said, and paraphrased here, a model railroads are the stage while the trains are the actors that move from one scene to another. This is not unlike Trainz except at a smaller scale. For us we have an almost unlimited stage to work with, however, this is also our Achilles Heal because we tend to make the whole stage very, very, detailed, and sometimes to a point where nothing is able to move. What we need to do is keep things in perspective, a compromise of sorts using the best created assets available to us closest to the tracks with the lesser details in the background.
Is there room for improvement with the game engine? There sure is, but then again we have trade-offs with compatibility. To tell you the truth, I'd rather N3V work on the inherent bugs first then maybe later on work on a new game engine. Perhaps this is the goal they have, but we're not privy to their R&D plans or corporate goals, so we can only speculate.
John
Is there room for improvement with the game engine? There sure is, but then again we have trade-offs with compatibility. To tell you the truth, I'd rather N3V work on the inherent bugs first then maybe later on work on a new game engine. Perhaps this is the goal they have, but we're not privy to their R&D plans or corporate goals, so we can only speculate.
John
ray_whiley
Active member
So very true. And after many years of railway modelling in the traditional way - going back to using shellacked card for buildings and rolling stock, and collecting and dying sawdust for scenery, I find Trainz streets ahead (sorry, wrong phrase in this context!) for appearance and realism. All modelling depends on what has been described as 'the willing suspension of disbelief' and I'm quite prepared to forget that I'm looking at a screen and imagine that I'm looking through a window at the real world. Edward Beal summed it up admirably in 1955: 'Railway Modelling is a pleasure rather than a fad. and should be free from the pedantry that dictates.'
I'm off to suspend some disbelief ...
Ray
Edward Beal eh? Now you're showing your age. I used to get his books out of the library and spend hours tracing the routes on what appeared to be massive layouts - much too big for our box room at home. Now I have a Trainz set and can have a layout which is 100 miles long. That's what I call progress!
Alan
Alan