Need Paint mode help please: Mojave Subdivision, TS 12: what color is this route

JonMyrlennBailey

Well-known member
painted?

This is another place where Trainz falls short: identification of terrain color. I cannot get the color Properties (?) for a terrain area that is painted like I can use (?) to identify other assets in Surveyor.

The Mojave sub is mostly desert with sparse vegetation. I tried search terms like "sand", "dirt", grass", "vegetation" and "desert" but could not find a match.

I am trying to spray over an area I botched earlier to blend in with the surrounding area.

I have found the following search terms in Paint mode to work for calling up various terrain colors:

-grass
-farm
-lawn
-hay
-snow
-black (for an area charred by wildfire or for track grease)
-asphalt
-gravel
-rock
-sand
-dirt
-desert
-soil
-water
-mud
 
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If you're looking to find the exact texture, press G (or click the button on the bottom left) in the textures menu and select the texture on the ground. Provided no search items are inputted, you should come up with what you need. In areas where many textures are merged together, it'll take a bit of work to get it. On many routes, Mojave included, textures are rotated (using [ & ]), so note that when picking textures - it may look very different if not rotated.

However, if you're searching just in general for a type of texture, that is quite unreliable. I use a lot of textures that one may assume would be labeled with the word grass, but instead searching 'JS' to find it and all related. That unfortunately makes trying to find items in general somewhat difficult, but there really isn't a solution for that.

Also, never forget the trusty Ctrl+Z (Cmd+Z for Mac) to undo those random mishaps.

Cheers,
SM
 
Thanks, Lego. I was wondering what that TEXTURE button was for all along. It is called get texture. I LMB on the terrain to get its color in an instant!
 
JMB,.........................
Why are so adept at short changing Trainz,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and not so adept at using it?
 
Jon,

I have a suggestion for you. Please don't take this the wrong way or assume that we on the forums aren't here to help new users.

I've followed many of your threads over the last weeks and they seem to mostly be you claiming Trainz is a poorly designed product because you can't figure out how to do some task. Someone then points how to do what you want and you say "oh, that's what that button is for".

A close reading of the manual would answer a great many of the questions you've asked.
Launch TS12 and select Manual to view it. It's physically stored on your hard drive in the Auran/TS12/Extras/Documentation folder as a PDF file.

For example, starting on page 124 it goes through all the tabs in Surveyor explaining what each button does and the keyboard shortcuts for them.
On page 136, it lists the "Get Texture" button and explains how it works.
In one of your threads you were complaining that you couldn't accurately set the height of an asset. Page 140 explains the Height tool, including noting that also pressing CTRL or SHIFT can adjust the increment used.

The manual will also help you get familiar with the terms used in Trainz. In this question, the term is "texture" not "terrain color".

When I started messing around with building routes, I made a little test route then went through the various Surveyor tabs trying out each one and getting a feel for how each works. Some (terrain and textures in particular) take little practice to get the hang of. I also read several tutorials that people made on subjects like laying tracks, modifying terrain, doing textures, placing trees, etc. Those are very helpful in learning how to make a route.

Again, we on the forums (well, most of us) are glad to answer questions and help out our fellow Trainzers but please do us the courtesy of reading the manual and attempting to find the answers yourself first. Same with looking for assets. Search the DLS first, then come on the forums asking of anyone knows of a particular asset you need.

Todd
 
Todd:

I have read that silly book that came with my Trainz software originally. It can be hard for me to follow sometimes. It uses words in contexts I don't understand often. Like you said, for example, "texture" vs "color". If I go into the book to try to read up on applying colors in terms of the word COLOR, no dice. The trouble with manuals sometimes is all in semantics. Even the book itself said that it was not exhaustive in terms of what can be done in Trainz.

Another important feature the book is missing is an index. If I wanted to look up how to apply color to landscape I might have looked in the index under COLOR, otherwise.

Perhaps, Trainz is not as poorly designed as the accompanying manual is written. The manual is just not as COMPREHENSIVE as I would like.

There also should be an texture asset inventory built into the program by category:

-a complete listing of colors/textures available with a picture of each
 
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Calling the manual a "silly book" is exactly what I meant. That attitude doesn't encourage people to want to help you.

If you had started on page 81 with the "Introduction to Surveyor" you'd have learned the meaning of "ground textures" in Trainz. That section walks you through the basics of making a route - topology, textures, laying track, etc. The manual won't give you every single trick to working with Surveyor, but it does list what all the buttons do and gives you the basics.

The manual isn't as comprehensive as you like because Trainz is a very small niche product produced by a very small crew, around a dozen or so if memory serves. This is not one of the huge video game franchises with 500-600 employees working on it. The program isn't perfect because Trainz is a very small niche product produced by a very small crew. That's just the way it is.

There also should be an texture asset inventory built into the program by category:

Well, there isn't. Deal with it. You can see what each texture looks like in the Paint tab.

Todd
 
JonMyrlennBailey

About your comment,
...<snippage> ... Another important feature the book is missing is an index.

it is true that the manual does not include an index, but it is also true that the manual is distributed as a ~.pdf file, and an essential part of the Acrobat reader software is a search facility which is far better than any index in any printed volume I've ever seen. You'll find quite a few matches to the word "color", though none of them will take you to the information you want. A search for the word "terrain" takes you to the first paragraph in the introduction to surveyor, where after "create terrain", the manual uses the phrase "paint with textures", which should be a clue as to another word to search for.

... <more snippage> ... There also should be an texture asset inventory built into the program by category: a complete listing of colors/textures available with a picture of each

There is a texture asset inventory built into TS 12. From the Launcher, select the option "content", when the content manager opens, click on the "view" option in the menu at the top, and set the view type to "thumbnail". Then in the search panel in the lower part of the left hand column, select "category", and in the bar to the right of "Category", select "Textures - environmental". If you just want to see the textures presently installed on your system, select the "installed" tab in the right hand pane of the content manager.

ns
 
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