Minimalist scenery

[Dinorius_Redundicus]

Can a decent looking layout be done without lots of with 3D scenery?

I wanted to build a huge but nice looking layout that supports fast frame rates at the same time as having a wide viewing radius (via Trainz Tuner). I figured this could not be done in a forested or built-up area. I've opted for remote mountain/tundra terrain where the land would be mostly bare soil, snow or at worst some short, patchy scrub.

The region I chose to model was Patagonia. The map is 1200 boards (a 90MB cdp), features a big active volcano, glaciers, steep ridges, melt water rivers running into a very large river in the lowlands.

Apart from the necessary railroad and industry objects, I've tried to do the landscape with ground textures alone. Technically the strategy works really well. I get frames of ~30 even with a viewing radius of 3000m which is enough to see the hills on both sides of the track even in the flatter parts of the map.

Here's one pic to illustrate how it's going. It's a rail bridge straddling a glacial valley at the side of the volcano. This is the transition zone where the vegetation gives way to bare soil/rocks below the snow line. The view is just long enough to see the bottom of the glacier further up the valley. Somewhere on the other side of the volcano is a big open cut copper mine. Trains bring in fuel and nitrate and take out copper concentrate along this route.

Question is, does it look any good?

Deane

 

[leeferr]

I think it looks great. Not all areas of the world are full of foilage and other detail.

 

[StorkNest]

I think it looks nice too.
What is Patagonia?
I saw an Iraqi rail line on TV this weekend, realized if you want the best FPS in Trainz, that is a line to make. Scene consisted of:
Tracks.
Road crossing (no gates/lights/signs).
Mountains wayyyy of in the distance.
And lots of desert (no plants whatsoever).
That has to get good FPS.

 

[chrisracer8903]

Looks great! Can you post any closer pics of the active volcano? Is there lava flows or anything you see from the tracks?

 

[Gandalf0444]

Looks awesome! I'd drive that route just like it is in that picture. even with no 3D buildings or trees etc. The textures do draw you into the scene. And if there was a train in it it would look even better. But keep up the good work,and I can say your heading in the right direction :wave:

 

[Dermmy]

Love the concept - great screenie!

 

[steamdrivre]

I like this very much, too. How about some more shots?

 

[Dinorius_Redundicus]

Yes, after doing a tropical island, working with what is essentially a desert is a joy. Although, to get a convincing lumpy look on a surface that is actually smooth is quite hard.

Patagonia is a region at the bottom of South America (ie. Chile and Argentina). It's in a bit of a rain shadow from the Andes in some parts. Cold and dry.

There are volcanoes all along the mountain chain. The one I'm modelling is fictional, as is the whole map. It's active, but not erupting....yet. You can see lava if you look directly into the crater past all the smoke. I'll come back later and post some more screenies if you like.

 

[trackplate]

What is Patagonia?

The southernmost portion of South America.

 

[Boobless_ed]

I absolutely love this concept.

I experimented with ideas similar, as I was so frustrated with so much good looking content on the download station bogging routes down, because they were poorly made or unsuitable for how the graphics engine behind Trainz works.

In order to create a successful route you need efficiency. I think this is far more important than having every grid square covered in tall grass. It needs to run well. This method is one which will ensure the route will run with great performance, but still keeping that 'wow' factor.

I would love to see this approach used more often. If you think about what routes in real life you enjoy the most, they are more often than not lines which offer incredible views of the distance, glorious mountain ranges and sheer cliffs.

I hate seeing people getting bogged down by adding every item on the download station they possibly can.

I hope I am not going to hijack your thread, but I will show you some of my experiments here. These are old shots, because I am ten thousand miles away from my main computer. These shots are from my Blue Mountains route, based in Australia which I have never had the chance to finish.

Due to the way Trainz renders environment light, it is nearly impossible to create realistic looking mountains which cast beautifully imposing shadows. So to work around that, I used TransDEM to render shadows into the contours with ground textures and satellite data.

When designing a route which you want to look professional, you MUST think about focus. What is it about the route which draws you to it? After you determine that, you then should think about how to achieve that focus, that goal, without making the route too unplayable.
You really don't need to put scenery on ever single grid square to amaze people. If you do that, you will simply annoy them, because they wont be able to play the route at an acceptable frame rate.
People need to think more about what the user will likely see.
For example, it is much better to have more detailed scenery around where the track is, and then taper that detail level off the further you get from the track.

I really would love to see more routes created like this. Your post really excited me, as it showed an incredibly professional approach to working with the constrains of this aging game.
Your shot is amazing, and does much more for me than a single baseboard with thousands of grass splines. I would love to see more.

Again, I hope I haven't hijacked your thread!

Jim

 

[ish6]

Looks awesome !!!

to your original questions .... yes ... just have small towns and small industrial stop-points along the way and not too much scenery!! Frame should be fine especially with today's PCs --- people tense to upgrade here and there!!:wave:

Ish

 

[DaSnakke]

How did you render those shadows using TransDEM? I haven`t figured out yet

 

[Dinorius_Redundicus]

Jim, finish that layout!

It's good to hear how others approach texturing. Your comment regarding shadows at the base of the cliffs was interesting. I didn't think of doing it that way, but it clearly works in that second screenshot of yours. I tend to put a dark texture in any 'grooves' and light textures on ridges. This emphasizes contours on the map itself even from a distance and also on the mini-map. I figure it would be fairly consistent also with whatever direction the sun is.

Anyway, here are 10 more screenshots of Patagonia.

That same bridge with a train on it.

The mouth of the beast. There be lava down there.

The volcano in profile, from about 3km away showing ash plume from the main vent and a secondary vent. This mountain is so big it's hard to get a shot that does it justice.

That copper mine on the flank of the volcano, just below the snow line. This is the main office, mineral processing plant and rail loading/unloading area. You can see the two open cut pits in the background.

An ore train returning to the mine. Note the steaming fissure with yellow sulphur deposits in the cutting.

Train dwarfed by the landscape here. This is 1500 tonnes of copper concentrate heading down the valley past the glacier.

Same train, different angle.

Another steam fissure, this time with a hot water pool. The background hills are actually a cliff, about 2km away.

Early morning. Approaching the river port town of Pracatan (named after Maria Pracatan, an insane Latina singer - does anyone remember her from the Clive James TV show?)

Finally, the dock area at Pracatan where ammonium nitrate is transferred from barges to trains and copper concentrate is loaded from trains to barges. It's all very confusing to the locals who simply want to build more white villas to reduce the frame rate...

That's it for now..

 

[eldavo]

Very impressive scenery.

Cheers
Dave

 

[gfisher]

Very nice work, with beautiful texturing. I'm very impressed and will look forward to running this route whenever you choose to release it.

 

[LVman]

And minimal Grasses? WOWOWOWOW
That is amazing Dinorius_Redundicus!
This will deffinately be a sure getter.
Sean

 

[dragonharh]

Very Nice!! Your Route Looks Grat. I Like the mountains

 

[ish6]

Very very impressive !!! :wave:

Ishie

 

[zatovisualworks]

My dear Deane,

This layout brings me back to earlier stages of Trainz when 3D foliage and grass were just an illusion to come from our current great grassists.

You are quite an artist, no doubt; and nobody is discovering it right now.

For me it's a great honour to trainzspot my humble FALS-IBTZ hoppers on such a wonderful landscape à la grandeur.

Every time you breath in... you breath out a wonder.

Take care and show us more please...

The wondered side of Alberte :wave:

 

[Euphod]

This is the genius that 3801 demonstrated many years ago when he modeled Robe River Iron. I find your scenery more enjoyable however.....