Q: re. TranzDEM and Surveyor TS-12, map tiles in the sky!

[RJPugh]

I suspect this has been covered elsewhere, but…

I am preparing a large layout in TS-12, and I’m using TranzDEM to set up the map. I’ll be exporting the map in pieces (easier to catch and correct problems), then stitching it together using the merge function. Last night I exported the first piece, and I was left… bewildered.

In TS-10, TranzDEM would use the map tiles as image maps on the baseboard itself. But in TS-12, the baseboard appears blank until I zoom out to 3000 meters high, and then the map images show up. Frankly, that isn’t much help.

Is there a way to “flatten” the layers in TS-12 Surveyor, so that the map images are painted directly on the baseboard and not suspended up in the sky? Like it was in TS-10?

Or, what if I do the initial exporting and merging in TS-10, then port the route to TS-12?

If this has been covered elsewhere, please point me to the relevant thread. I don’t have time to do heavy duty forum searching at the moment.

 

[clam1952]

At a guess you haven't installed the Transdem textures?

 

[geophil]

You may have forgotten to import the TransDEM ground textures in TS12. Without them, the baseboards will remain blank. What you see when you zoom out in Surveyor will be the Trainz mini-map. This is an embedded 64x64 pixel image per baseboard, initially created by TransDEM as well and independent of ground textures. The mini-map will take over at a certain zoom level. In TS2010 you always had to open the mini-map explicitly, from TS12 onward it's automatically displayed in the the main Surveyor window.

 

[RJPugh]

Since the phrase "Tranzdem textures" is new to me, no, I haven't installed them. Where can I find them? (I'll snag them later.)

 

[geophil]

The TransDEM ground textures come as set of 20 individual monochrome textures that reflect the typical colours of commonly used cartography. They are provided in .cdp format as part of the TransDEM installation package. Like every other external asset, they need to be imported with Trainz Content manager. It's a one time act, but has to be done for each installed version of Trainz on your machine. The TransDEM Trainz manual has all the details.

 

[RJPugh]

Thank you. I found and installed the cdp in TS-12, and now everything works fine. I'm a tad embarrassed, to be honest, because it was right there in the manual, and I clearly did it right for TS-10. I just forgot about it.

But no matter, all is well, and TransDEM is still one of the best Trainz "add on" packets around. Especially if you're working with real terrain.