Starting from scratch. The base textures

[marlonza]

Hey guys

I tried, but I am not doing too well
When I drive routes (the excellent stuff you guys create), I always enjoy the drive, and I never pay attention to the routes, or how they were built.

Now that I am building my own route, I am getting stuck with the fundamentals. I started with one, then two, then three baseboards... so on.
Then, I shape my landscape, either by heightmaps, or with the moulding tools built-in (this is a fictional route).
Next, the problem, is my textures.

Would someone like share their strategy when starting with an unpainted base board?
What I do, because I thought it to make sense, is to flood fill the board with my base texture (a basic biome... say dry grass).
Next, Ill start adding my greens to areas where it makes sense (downflow areas from mountains or hills, low lying areas). Ill add rock on faces, or in ditches, etc.

But what I end up with is something that looks like an expired salad.
For one, some of the textures don't tile (the stuff included is mostly terrible), so a base board flood-fill, leaves a deterministic grid looking pattern
Secondly, applying painting to specific areas is a tricky thing to judge, and I don't really have a clue to do this. Especially with the diagonal patterns on ballast that is not in a straight line.

I started reading the route builders tips threads and wiki page, i have a grasp on most of the tips, the rotations, etc. But something is missing.

 

[wilts747]

Trainz is a form of 3D modelling build across a matrix and requires a little imagination, loads of practice and even more patients. Nothing in the natural world has straight lines unless it has been man made, other than a lawn grass is not an even green but full of weeds and wild flowers all of different heights and so forth. So likewise with Trainz there is the need to mix textures and assets to achieve that lifelike appearence. Most have been playing with this simulator for years and still few if any are ever totally satisfied with their efforts always trying to improve that little more.

Stick with a few boards and accept that you will likely start again in the near future as you improve your knowledge and technique. In the mean time spend a few hours watching both the tutorials on Trainz TV and the many building snippets which can be found on YouTube from the various versions of Trainz. Peter

 

[JCitron]

This is what I did nearly 14 years ago now.

I downloaded various routes from the DLS and opened them for edit to have a look at how they were built. There were/are some that were/are horrid, no offense to anyone in particular, with bad texturing, lots of floating track and roads as though the authors didn't even bother to smooth the ground underneath, and other things. Then there were those routes which stuck and stood out in my mind. It was these latter routes which inspired me, and I used the techniques I learned from those routes to build the routes I have today.

My first route was only 4 baseboards. I had a theme in mind, which brings up another point that I'll discuss later, with a seaport to mills all based on the area where I live. I then started my seaport city and terminal area and the route built-on from there. I had specific-types of towns and cities I wanted and how the mainline grew and ended up was sort of how I imagined it. That was in December 2003 just after Christmas. When TRS2006 came along, I took the same theme and redid the route again. This newer version became the kernel of the route that I have today. Over the years this routes has expanded, contracted, and has been rebuilt. Today it still exists in T:ANE and includes portions of both early routes, which I came across on backup DVDs from 2005! I took portions that I liked from the early routes. Heck I did some pretty nifty things, ran the routes through TS12, then imported them into T:ANE where I took portions, and reworked them to my current route building standards. There are still things that need some work, but I have to revisit them later.

Establish a backstory, a history of your route. Mine is rather complex which I won't put here. If you want a copy of it, I will send it to you as I even wrote it down. The history helps keep the route growing as the route-building process follows your story. This helps to establish that them that I mentioned. Setting a theme also helps keep the route assets down to a minimum even if the route is very large. This helps with the choices of trees, buildings, roads and other stuff, which makes the routes building go fairly quickly. Setting the theme also prevents odd mismatched industries that won't work for the region you are modeling. The new TMR product might be different, in this respect, but in general it looks weird to have a big steel mill next to a gigantic canyon with a coalmine around the corner. Think realistic and aim to get there.

Now this brings up another point. Don't try to do the whole project at once! That is a sure way to burn yourself out very quickly. I've been there and done that as I've dived in headlong into a route project, worked feverishly for days at it only to shelve it because I'm tired. I found, to be honest, I got more work done on my route building when I had the least amount of time to work on the routes. Seriously! When I was working, I would set a goal of adding six baseboards at a time. I might have gotten a few hours at a time in at night, but in those few hours I got a lot done.

And finally keep in mind that route building is a creative thing. This means you'll go dry with ideas. The simple thing is to take a break and do other things such as looking at maps for inspiration, driving other people's routes, watching YouTube cab-ride videos or even lineside railfan videos. It works too to even take a trip outside and look around yourself. If you live near a rail line, do your own railfanning, photographing (if allowed), and observing.

John

 

[SailorDan]

But what I end up with is something that looks like an expired salad.

After doing the floodfill, go over the area using (1) the same texture at different scales and (2) textures with similar colours, again at different scales. Do both at various rotations. This gives a 'standard' base texture, but with sufficient differences to cover up the patterns. Working up one baseboard and then doing a copy and paste is also effective, but if you do this then the emphasis should be on breaking up the patterning rather than creating a realistic background: copy and paste works best for a bland set of textures.

Fixing the jagged edges of ballast is more difficult. The best way to go is to find a set of graduated textures, shading from the ballast texture to whatever the current 'background' texture is. Apply the ballast along the length of the track, then go back and fill in the jagged edges with the next texture in the graduation, being more random and varied, and finish with a third, even more random. Then plant lots of trees and shrubs along the texture boundaries.

Getting the right set of graduated textures is the trickiest part, and it pays to spend time doing that. Once you have several sets, carefully note the names and stick with them.

 

[jjslll54]

Hello Marlonza,

I will tell you what I learned in Art school. Practice practice practice. Painting a baseboard and getting it to look the way you want it is like setting up a canvas to paint a landscape in oils or water colors. The more you practice the better you will get. Set aside an empty baseboard and try new things on it and if you like the results copy and paste it onto your real layout or route. I generally start with a single cover like you and go from their. Consider what the baseboard will be used for. Will it be a country scene or maybe in the city? One tip I can give you for painting country scenes is say for instance you will have a forest floor to paint. Lay down the basic color ( I like scrub 2 or forest bedding 5). The pick a dirt color for your area and use the paint tool with the radius turned all the way down and quickly run the tool across your ground while pressing the left mouse button. This is a good way to blend your colors together. One last thing to consider. Most of the ground textures are not seamless textures and will produce a pattern. That pattern may not be noticeable from the cab of locomotive. You can always press and hold the "[" or "]" keys to rotate the texture as you place it. Happy Trainzing

Jack

 

[Vern]

Some textures blend and work better than others.

Check out those created by Malc, clam1952 on the DLS.

masontaylor is another great texture author but not all of his show correctly in TANE (checkerboard effect).

The Grass1, through to about Grass18 built in and DLS are reasonable if slightly older textures but need to be applied at low to medium setting to avoid blurriness and pixellation. Some of the newer hi-res textures, while they look good on the thumbnail end up looking too coarse on the ground with blades of grass a scale 2ft wide.

The power of Trainz is that once you have created an area of reasonable texturing, you can copy and paste within the route at other locations (just be careful to avoid square edges or touch these up with the brush). However even us old hands struggle with it, I'm currently trying to paint the terrain on a hill/mountainside on a Scandinavia style route and not making very good progress. Im sure there's some tundra style textures somewhere on the DLS, but I'm yet to find them! If you want a chuckle, read my current thread in Content Creation about the trials and tribulations trying to create my own terrtex.

 

[marlonza]

Holy moly guys, the quality of responses here was amazing. And I hope that others with the same issues, will read this thread.
Many thanks.

Vern: Thanks for the suggestions of authors, I found some nice looking texes, and never used copy/paste, going to attempt that today.

jjs/sailordan/wilts: Will try that too. I think the problem was tuning my eye in surveyor mode, and not thinking what it will look like from the cab.

Going to check out some more cab videos, and speedbuilder videos as well.I suppose a little trainspotting trip out to our rural areas is in order, but finding a friend that doesn't think it's boring is the mission.

Oh and Jcitron/John: THanks, your response was phenominally motivating. I am going to use my personal wiki to try the backstory/weather/industry/biomes idea. You raised a good point. My stuff is extremely conflicting, especially flora.

Also just realised, route building is 'chase is better than the catch'. It can grow forever, and does not have to be "done". Deadlines suck.

Thanks again guys. Inspired.

 

[marlonza]

With your advice, things are looking a lot better on my new board.
http://www.trainzportal.com/mytrainz/view_media_post?media_post_id=22626

:hehe:

 

[wilts747]

You can learn a lot from no more than a continuous loop, either single or double track, spread across 2-3 panels. Add a siding and a small station and it's just begging to have a village built round it which in turn might just look more realistic with some fields and perhaps a wood. Some roads/tracks, a garage, pub and a few shops start to bring it to life, more so if you then add a few people and livestock.

For the time being forget the hills and the rivers, tunnels and portals, interactive industries and so forth just get that train going in circles and stopping at the correct position on the platform. Once you have mastered that add passengers and a level crossing both of which have been the subject of many questions in the Forum. Most of all don't forget to take some time out to enjoy your creation. Good luck and don't forget to tell us how you get on and/or post a few screenshots to the Gallery. Peter

 

[marlonza]

So far, board 1, textured, busy adding framerate friendly objects. Voyeuristic lineside camera included.

 

[wilts747]

What is the problem you seem to be doing OK on your own although you may be a little heavy handed on the topology controls. Turn the sensitivity control back to 0, there is seldom a need to go much past the first division. Use the Height Up/Down controls gradually, and keep the mouse moving to retain a smooth contour. The Plateau control is great for smoothing away sharp edges and again keep the mouse moving while watching the radius so not to change what you are already satisfied with, patients and practice. Good luck. Peter