S2 - Copying baseboards - selecting - ESC

[hutten]

Hello,

Not much discussion going on here.

I tried S2 in the process of merging routes. I am not very enthusiastic so far. What I certainly like: the ability to delete and create multiple baseboards.
But if I want to use a limited number of baseboards from one route with the intention of adding them to another route, I still have to delete all those non-wanted baseboards. And don't forget to delete the assets first and check seriously whether they are all gone before I delete the baseboards themselves. This is still a laborious procedure for a large route.
What I would like to see, is an option "Select Invert". I would select, say, five baseboards and their assets carefully, and the option would make me select all the other assets and baseboards with one click. Then only one "Delete" is necessary to end up with just the baseboards I need. I would be even more convenient if I would just have to select the baseboards and the assets would be selected implicitly (just those that are anchored on the baseboards of course; it may be necessary to introduce additional anchors to keep a piece of track or another spline).

Yes, we can use the scrapbook, but in my experience the result of pasting that is not an exact copy of the original. It may show a small shift, and I even found shifts of spline assets relative to other assets. My scrapbook item contained those classic snapping tunnel assets, and that may be part of the problem. They only work on a 10m grid base.

So, a method of copying out selected baseboard and the assets anchored on them would be great to have.

Furthermore, I find the selection method with the marquee inconvenient. It is good for large selections, but not for individual assets. In addition to the marquee, I would like to see a tool for pinpointing individual assets. This should not be hard to make, since the eyedropper also points to single assets.

Another feature sorely missed: the ability to interrupt an operation by pressing the Escape key, like it was in S1. In S2 I have to finish the operation, which may lead to unwanted effects. Then a Ctrl-Z is necessary, which does not always restore things fully. Damage may be done and even go unnoticed.

Any ideas?

Regards,
Paul

 

[JCitron]

Great idea on the baseboards. I agree it's a pain with the leftover floaters which means we're going through the delete process twice. It is quicker with the big selection though.

You can select specific types of assets and even a particular asset by changing your selection type in the asset filter. By changing the selection type for instance, you can limit your selection to splines or just tracks, or even go as far as add in a particular asset into the filter and only select that. I agree, though it would be easier with the eyedropper tool.

 

[Tony_Hilliam]

Select X boards and "Create new route with selection" is on the feature list. Meanwhile, you could just merge the bigger route, or just delete any boards in the way for the merge. The extra size is far less of an issue now than in the past as everything is streamed in as needed.

If you really need to delete, you can delete several hundred boards in a minute or so by just r-clicking and dragging the marquee to more and more boards. Click Delete baseboards in Marquee then Delete and everything is gone.

I find the selection method with the marquee inconvenient.

To select items individually use the Free Move or Fine Adjust tools. This selects one item at a time. To get more items use shift-click. To get all of one type in an area use double click.

the result of pasting that is not an exact copy of the original. It may show a small shift,

Splines that are beyond the edge of the selection are not copied, but they do affect the curve of the spline segment you copied. To avoid this you may need to insert extra points to lessen the effect.

 

[hutten]

Thanks very much Tony Hilliam for reading all this and replying.

Good to hear that "Create new route with selection" is on the list.
As for the selection of multiple baseboards: I have used that method (as I state in the first line of my message). Otherwise I would not even have begun the task, I think. I had to find out the hard way that deleting the baseboards does not delete all that is on it. But even with Delete, I found a few items here and there remaining in space. John confirms that phenomenon in his reply.

Scrapbook copy/paste: I found a small grid shift and I had to choose an off-centre location for the paste "click" to get close to the original asset positions. I used the "Natural" shape and a large radius. With a centre position click, items near the right edge would appear repeated on the left edge. The snapping tunnels were not in place (probably because of 10m vs 5m system?).
Furthermore, as I stated above, the height profile took a little time to develop. A quick click resulted in an almost flat landscape.

I stll enjoy Trainz very much, let me state that clearly.
Good luck with further developments.

Regards,
Paul

 

[Tony_Hilliam]

The original paste operation will grid align, but then you can drag on the gizmo to move the selection (or use the Info tool to manually adjust the coords)

 

[hutten]

Hello,

Here is a very positive note: the Fine Adjustment Tool is indeed very powerful. It works wonders with trackside items. Trackside items often do not move properly, do not move smoothly, seems to be stuck or go where you do not want them to go. The Fine Adjustment Tool shows you when the trackside item is properly selected (instead of something else that you do not want to touch), and it allows you to position the item very precisely. It even allows you to override the trackside value, and move the item laterally!
What needs to be improved: the highlighting of the item is so bright that you cannot see details that you would like to see to help in the positioning operation. I think this has been mentioned in this forum before.

Regards,
Paul