Toying with textures (WARNING LARGE PICS)

joshmeister

Proud Railfurz Member
So for the past few days Im been trying my hand at free handing mountain/hill type terrain as well as trying to blend a few textures and built simple scenery. This is what I've come up with so far while trying to learn. I personally think it's rubbish but I will let yall decide. Pointers most welcome.


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Not rubbish mate! What you are trying to achieve is fine and it's only practice and repetition that will give you realistic results.

I give myself a little training even when I'm out driving the car in the countryside or by the sea. I tend to look at a view the count how many different varieties of Green I might see and how they are positioned separately or blend together.
Another time I might check for Blues or Browns. So, I have found this useful when choosing colours in Surveyor.

When colouring trackside mountain cliffs or cuttings with rock formations that appear prominent among the general ground-cover, I look for something that will give contrast but will blend with the surrounds. I usually add these into curves in the track to make for better screenshots. Along these areas, I never widen the 'Radius' over the 9 O'clock point and generally a little less. I vary the 'Direction' according to the way I want the rock formation to run and at the same time, modify slightly the 'Scale' ,.. the closer to 'O' the sharper and smaller it is,...further away it's blurrier and larger,... AND I never paint it on like a spray-gun. For the detailed areas I only use left-click mouse one shot at a time. I always mix the 'Scale' because you rarely see identical rock formations, unless it's a tessellated region.

My suggestions: Your general landscape is fine, earth colours are fine, add random rock formations that are different to your ground cover on either side of your track; increase the spline points of your track (+1) and bring the earth up to meet it creating a slight ditch on either side, you may need a little more ballast. Pick out a grass spline maybe a JVC#(GR1) or a dry variety to run along your ditch. Darken your ditch colour and this will give greater depth to your image.

A TIP: One colour that you can use to fill in around scattered tree areas is 'FFR Dirt & Leaves 01' - You'll be amazed at how you can use this one colour to splash around shrubs, trees, off-road parking, etc. It just gives a more natural look to your scenery.
No doubt there will be others who will give you much better guidance than I.
Cheers,
Roy
 
Hi Roy, I took and tried a few of the tricks you suggested and tried to blend some different textures together in different spots along the line. So far Ive only messed with two spots and this is what I came up with. I think these two spots look alot better than they did before hand.


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In the time it took to make those 2 posts the man is already further along in textures than I will ever be. Nice work!
 
Its just very, very time consuming, but it pays off I guess XD I'm still learning myself, and desert type places are the easiest to do it seems.
 
Yeah. I still can't do big hills either. I do my model railroad hills one spline point at a time lol. One small hill can take several hours.
 
It can be a hassle if you want it done rather quickly, easier to do stuff like this 1 or 2 baseboards at a time. And I thought Id add some color with some of my custom locos and caboose on a fitting rock train for a desert setting :D

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The track I use is part of the SAM track series made by samplaire. It is great track to use but you have to adjust the height of the spline because it tends to float above the ground about a meter or so.
 
Looking better mate!

I've attached a screenshot from one of my routes that shows changes to the direction of rock formation. It's nowhere near perfect but I've used a couple of rock textures that look similar to where I live, narrowed the Radius, switched the Direction and moved the Scale up and down. Then covered it all in a grass/shrub spline. The rock tends to poke through in some places. I've chosen not to use chunks of granite dotted here and there but tried to keep it looking natural. Across the top of the cutting I use grass/shrubs/trees and applied 'FFR Dirt & Leaves 01' under it. I also try to match the Ballast with the track I'm using.

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A couple of suggestions, not criticism because it all comes down to your choice anyway. Think also about your tunnel entrance,... most tunnels are dug or blasted out of solid rock, so there should be some rock texture evidence surrounding the entrance. Also the foliage is not always neat and tidy. Don't rely on guessing. Check tunnel entrances on Google Images to get some ideas and try copying some. It takes lots of practice to get things the way you'd like.

A little tip: Although we know that trees and forests are generally green (when you are close to them) but on the horizon, it may not look green at all. Some horizons look blue or even black, depending on the time of day. In desert areas the horizon may look a dark brown. Using a horizon line gives your image greater depth, and don't make the mistake to place an object 'out of scale' way out on the horizon - select something smaller like a hut in grey or white to give contrast.

Cheers, Roy
 
Thanks for the tips Roy, I will see what I can do. I will not be able to add very much detail to anything I make because I have a very bad graphics card in this pc, so, Much more than what I already have and my computer will start having issues, which means things like trees and alot of foliage are out of the question to be honest. But with how limited I am to what this pc can handle (Honestly its already about at its limit) Ill see what I can do.
 
Thanks for the tips Roy, I will see what I can do. I will not be able to add very much detail to anything I make because I have a very bad graphics card in this pc, so, Much more than what I already have and my computer will start having issues, which means things like trees and alot of foliage are out of the question to be honest. But with how limited I am to what this pc can handle (Honestly its already about at its limit) Ill see what I can do.

Josh, Put a few dollars away each week because some day your Graphics Card will let out a final holler 'n scream and it'll give up the ghost.

The day you install a really good graphics card will be the day you really begin to enjoy Trainz. Your hobby will take on a new meaning.

In the meantime, on your computer build up a library, a file of good landscape images or photos that you see on the internet. Then try to re-create those images onto single baseboards. Eventually your artistic talent will evolve at about the same time your new graphics card is installed.

Best tip: If you're a Facebook fan, subscribe to 'Heritage Railway Magazine' and 'I Love Trains' and every day you'll get more train images in different environments, than you could poke a stick at.

Cheers,
Roy3b3
 
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