Someone asked me not to long ago to post my experiences with upgrading my T:ANE routes to TRS19 standards. Now that I have completed upgrading my first T:ANE route, the Progressive Rail Jesse James Line, I thought I would take the time to let you all know what I experienced and the challenges I had to face. Because of all the new features in TRS19 this upgrade was not a minor one so much as it ended up being a complete overhaul of my old route.
Basically upgrading a route from T:ANE to TRS19 standards, which utilizes all the new features of TRS19, will involve the following major tasks:
1. Replace all the T:ANE procedural track with TRS19 procedural track.
2. Replacing all the old 2D ground textures with new 3D PBR ground textures.
3. Delete all the old scenery splines.
4. Add TurfFX effects.
5. Add Clutter effects.
6. Replace older structures and content items that don’t look good any more.
7. Cleanup glitches caused by the new features.
Here are some of the things I faced and experienced during this overhaul.
1. 2D and 3D ground textures don’t mix well. Because of this I ended up having to create from scratch well over 70 3D PBR Ground Textures in order to replace all of the 2D ground textures on my routes. BTW all these textures are now available for everyone’s use on the DLS.
2. 3D ground textures cause problem with road splines and track. I found that after replacing all the 2D ground textures with the new 3D PBR ground textures I had to go around and fix various roads and tracks where the PBR ground texture appeared to go over the spline instead of under it. The solution was to manually paint a 3D PBR ground texture over the spline which restored the road or track to the way it should look. Why this happens I am not sure, and it is kind of tedious to deal with.
3. Sharp edged terrain presents problem when applying the new 3D PBR ground textures. After applying the 3D PBR ground texture you will notice a “rolling effect” as you approach or move away from the sharp edge terrain. No real cure short of trying to adjust the edges as best you can – and that is not always possible. I expect this will be a real challenge for mountainous terrain routes such as my “Loops” route.
4. Track replacement when quickly and smoothly. I used the bulk replacement utility in surveyor to replace all the old T:ANE procedures track with the new TRS19 procedural track which looks better and has 3D ballast. The only downside is there is no matching 3D PBR ground texture for the ballast used in the “TRS19 Trk Jarrah Procedural – Seasonal” track and I was not able to successfully create a completely matching 3D PBR Ground Texture that could do it, and I am not sure why.
5. Learning about how to create PBR Textures from scratch and utilize TurfFX and Clutter effects presented me with a fairly steep learning curve compared to past Trainz versions. I have since passed on what I heave learned, tips and tutorials to help others in this forum.
6. Applying TurfFX and Clutter effects, while looking great, is tedious and a real pain at times as you are constrained to only applying it to a “selected area” rather than just being able to paint it, as you do with ground textures. The selected area is constrained to the grid direction and is hard to apply to curved areas that go against the direction of the grid. Bleed over of the effects beyond the selected area is often hard to control so the effects often end up where you don’t want them which forces you to have to come back and delete them. N3V really does need to make application more flexible and easier to apply – preferably in a way similar to paint and with better more selective and finer control.
7. Clutter and TurfFX effects allow you to delete scenery splines. As an example, I was able to completely eliminate all scenery splines, such as grass and weeds, as you really don’t need them anymore. This boosted performance and more then compensated for the application of TurfFX and Clutter effects based on my tests.
8. The old TRS2004, or earlier, animated and non-animated structures and content items don’t look good with the new 3D effects and you may need to replace some of them as they are beginning to show their age. N3V really does need to upgrade some of these items to bring them in line, appearance wise, with all the new features. Examples are: Hyde Pulp Mill, forestry, Lumber Mill.
If you have multiple routes that you need to upgrade, I would highly recommend that you start with the smallest one you have first, before moving onto the larger ones. This will allow you to learn what works well and what doesn’t.
After going through all of this I have to say that the effort involved is worth it as the route, once converted to TRS19 3D standards, will look absolutely stunning compared to the old 2D version. TRS19 really is a giant step in the evolution of Trainz and moves us from the 2D ground textures and effects to a fully 3D world in appearance.
Bob
Basically upgrading a route from T:ANE to TRS19 standards, which utilizes all the new features of TRS19, will involve the following major tasks:
1. Replace all the T:ANE procedural track with TRS19 procedural track.
2. Replacing all the old 2D ground textures with new 3D PBR ground textures.
3. Delete all the old scenery splines.
4. Add TurfFX effects.
5. Add Clutter effects.
6. Replace older structures and content items that don’t look good any more.
7. Cleanup glitches caused by the new features.
Here are some of the things I faced and experienced during this overhaul.
1. 2D and 3D ground textures don’t mix well. Because of this I ended up having to create from scratch well over 70 3D PBR Ground Textures in order to replace all of the 2D ground textures on my routes. BTW all these textures are now available for everyone’s use on the DLS.
2. 3D ground textures cause problem with road splines and track. I found that after replacing all the 2D ground textures with the new 3D PBR ground textures I had to go around and fix various roads and tracks where the PBR ground texture appeared to go over the spline instead of under it. The solution was to manually paint a 3D PBR ground texture over the spline which restored the road or track to the way it should look. Why this happens I am not sure, and it is kind of tedious to deal with.
3. Sharp edged terrain presents problem when applying the new 3D PBR ground textures. After applying the 3D PBR ground texture you will notice a “rolling effect” as you approach or move away from the sharp edge terrain. No real cure short of trying to adjust the edges as best you can – and that is not always possible. I expect this will be a real challenge for mountainous terrain routes such as my “Loops” route.
4. Track replacement when quickly and smoothly. I used the bulk replacement utility in surveyor to replace all the old T:ANE procedures track with the new TRS19 procedural track which looks better and has 3D ballast. The only downside is there is no matching 3D PBR ground texture for the ballast used in the “TRS19 Trk Jarrah Procedural – Seasonal” track and I was not able to successfully create a completely matching 3D PBR Ground Texture that could do it, and I am not sure why.
5. Learning about how to create PBR Textures from scratch and utilize TurfFX and Clutter effects presented me with a fairly steep learning curve compared to past Trainz versions. I have since passed on what I heave learned, tips and tutorials to help others in this forum.
6. Applying TurfFX and Clutter effects, while looking great, is tedious and a real pain at times as you are constrained to only applying it to a “selected area” rather than just being able to paint it, as you do with ground textures. The selected area is constrained to the grid direction and is hard to apply to curved areas that go against the direction of the grid. Bleed over of the effects beyond the selected area is often hard to control so the effects often end up where you don’t want them which forces you to have to come back and delete them. N3V really does need to make application more flexible and easier to apply – preferably in a way similar to paint and with better more selective and finer control.
7. Clutter and TurfFX effects allow you to delete scenery splines. As an example, I was able to completely eliminate all scenery splines, such as grass and weeds, as you really don’t need them anymore. This boosted performance and more then compensated for the application of TurfFX and Clutter effects based on my tests.
8. The old TRS2004, or earlier, animated and non-animated structures and content items don’t look good with the new 3D effects and you may need to replace some of them as they are beginning to show their age. N3V really does need to upgrade some of these items to bring them in line, appearance wise, with all the new features. Examples are: Hyde Pulp Mill, forestry, Lumber Mill.
If you have multiple routes that you need to upgrade, I would highly recommend that you start with the smallest one you have first, before moving onto the larger ones. This will allow you to learn what works well and what doesn’t.
After going through all of this I have to say that the effort involved is worth it as the route, once converted to TRS19 3D standards, will look absolutely stunning compared to the old 2D version. TRS19 really is a giant step in the evolution of Trainz and moves us from the 2D ground textures and effects to a fully 3D world in appearance.
Bob
.
