I doubt this post will be well received, and I doubt it'll get much attention, but I'll try anyway. Open forums and all that....
What I see N3V trying to do I think makes alot of sense. They have made misteps I agree. Lack of communication is one of the bigger ones. Seriously Mr Windwalkr, I do kind of agree with them that some notice would have gone a long way. Nobody likes unexpected surprises in things they've spent hours, days, months, or years working on. I wonder if this was an attempt to not repeat the earlier issue of 8 month mistaken(?) notice, but like Volcanologists, its better to give early warning and be wrong then give late warning and be right.....
Getting back to the meat though, at the end of the day, the current system of Content Creation and dispersal is a mess.... Its almost as bad as the old MSTS system. Its reliant on Tribal Knowledge with no back stops or checks past a very minimal way..... Generally, a Program IS the standard that content for it is created to.... Rail Simulators however were the beast that broke that mold. And for a very long time that was awesome. People could make whatever they wanted (How many Place Holder Assets have been made? Unauthorized Copies? Shoddy Fill Items? There was even a guy that was directly ripping FREE Russian Content, relabeling KUID #s and selling them on his site to unwary unknowing buyers....). Today though, I've seen screen shots of people with almost half a MILLION Assets installed Locally..... Statistically speaking, across IDK, 8? 10? Versions of this game? probably somewhere on order of 30-40% of those assets are old and out of date and nobody even wants to upgrade them because they're about as useful and nice to look at as two sticks to rub together.... Most of which was done by people that no longer play or have any interest in content creation anymore.
Speaking as a user that has spent about a week now heavily investing time to investigating errors and issues in T:ANE (And still learning), I'm seeing tons of higher quality TS12 asset fixed in about minute or less (And could easily be fixed by a Program such as what PEVsoft is likely to create, assuming Mr ShaneTurner is willing to). Including alot of your's Mr Jacksonbarno, just happens I've been working on your heavyweight reskins from Whitepass last night..... And Mr Davesnow, alot of your assets aren't even flagging errors, so job well done.... I haven't worked with much from the rest of ya'll that've posted here so I have nothing to report.....
Most things that are flagging at all are flagging one or two little errors, some of which I feel are silly for N3V to ask for, but I can understand their reasoning as part of an attempt at making a wider standard for the content people have access to. Things like Dual use of .Tga Files as a Thumbnail, or a Decimal Point in the Maximum Load Capacity for an Engine or Wagon. Is it really so bad to not use .tga Files as Thumbnails, or to keep things like decimal points out of maximum Fuel Tank Capacities? I feel like this whole event is like OSHA from the 1970's and 80's.... Ok, we might get chewed out now if we bend from our backs instead of our legs, but at the end of the day I'm happier if I end up with out a blown back when I lose, leave, or quit that job.....
Anyway, I feel like N3V is trying to build some standards back into their franchise. To do that everyone has to start on the same page.... We all need the same game..... How much time do any of you active content creators spend on each asset checking in other versions if your new content works? Or fixing it if it doesn't work in on version or another? Wouldn't you like to NOT have to do that anymore? That would drive me nuts! Wouldn't it be nice to just make something, spend more time doing LOD and Alpha Channels and Shadows and whatever else, and then JUST UPLOAD IT without having to worry about compatibility? You guys are far more patient then I am, and my hats off to you for that, but I can't say anything beyond "If I ever do create content, I can't be bothered to make it compatible to anything but the most current version"...... Further, I guess I'll never understand the people that hate on 61388 or otherwise. The content generated for it has generally been fantastic, and in my experience its been far more stable.... And I'm routinely working with a Route that has 2600 *listed* Assets, a City Scape with thousands of assets in a tiny tiny little area, and though TS12 handles this far from perfectly, it handled it just fine..... Even loading up all JR and DES level Trains and running through it in the process (RAM and Good freakin Graphics card recommended for this). Barring outdated Computer parts (Which I can understand, having to scrimp and save for Boots, much less a Graphics Card), I can't fathom why anybody wouldn't want to figure out the newest versions, particularly if they already have demonstrated the patience to create Content, but apparently not to figure out some little idiosyncracies that involve waiting 10-15 seconds sometimes so they can have access to the latest Graphical ability in a hobby thats entirely centric to Graphics? IDK....
Anyway, so theres my 2 cents. Read it, consider it, gloss it over, whatever, as you see fit,
-Falcus
What I see N3V trying to do I think makes alot of sense. They have made misteps I agree. Lack of communication is one of the bigger ones. Seriously Mr Windwalkr, I do kind of agree with them that some notice would have gone a long way. Nobody likes unexpected surprises in things they've spent hours, days, months, or years working on. I wonder if this was an attempt to not repeat the earlier issue of 8 month mistaken(?) notice, but like Volcanologists, its better to give early warning and be wrong then give late warning and be right.....
Getting back to the meat though, at the end of the day, the current system of Content Creation and dispersal is a mess.... Its almost as bad as the old MSTS system. Its reliant on Tribal Knowledge with no back stops or checks past a very minimal way..... Generally, a Program IS the standard that content for it is created to.... Rail Simulators however were the beast that broke that mold. And for a very long time that was awesome. People could make whatever they wanted (How many Place Holder Assets have been made? Unauthorized Copies? Shoddy Fill Items? There was even a guy that was directly ripping FREE Russian Content, relabeling KUID #s and selling them on his site to unwary unknowing buyers....). Today though, I've seen screen shots of people with almost half a MILLION Assets installed Locally..... Statistically speaking, across IDK, 8? 10? Versions of this game? probably somewhere on order of 30-40% of those assets are old and out of date and nobody even wants to upgrade them because they're about as useful and nice to look at as two sticks to rub together.... Most of which was done by people that no longer play or have any interest in content creation anymore.
Speaking as a user that has spent about a week now heavily investing time to investigating errors and issues in T:ANE (And still learning), I'm seeing tons of higher quality TS12 asset fixed in about minute or less (And could easily be fixed by a Program such as what PEVsoft is likely to create, assuming Mr ShaneTurner is willing to). Including alot of your's Mr Jacksonbarno, just happens I've been working on your heavyweight reskins from Whitepass last night..... And Mr Davesnow, alot of your assets aren't even flagging errors, so job well done.... I haven't worked with much from the rest of ya'll that've posted here so I have nothing to report.....
Most things that are flagging at all are flagging one or two little errors, some of which I feel are silly for N3V to ask for, but I can understand their reasoning as part of an attempt at making a wider standard for the content people have access to. Things like Dual use of .Tga Files as a Thumbnail, or a Decimal Point in the Maximum Load Capacity for an Engine or Wagon. Is it really so bad to not use .tga Files as Thumbnails, or to keep things like decimal points out of maximum Fuel Tank Capacities? I feel like this whole event is like OSHA from the 1970's and 80's.... Ok, we might get chewed out now if we bend from our backs instead of our legs, but at the end of the day I'm happier if I end up with out a blown back when I lose, leave, or quit that job.....
Anyway, I feel like N3V is trying to build some standards back into their franchise. To do that everyone has to start on the same page.... We all need the same game..... How much time do any of you active content creators spend on each asset checking in other versions if your new content works? Or fixing it if it doesn't work in on version or another? Wouldn't you like to NOT have to do that anymore? That would drive me nuts! Wouldn't it be nice to just make something, spend more time doing LOD and Alpha Channels and Shadows and whatever else, and then JUST UPLOAD IT without having to worry about compatibility? You guys are far more patient then I am, and my hats off to you for that, but I can't say anything beyond "If I ever do create content, I can't be bothered to make it compatible to anything but the most current version"...... Further, I guess I'll never understand the people that hate on 61388 or otherwise. The content generated for it has generally been fantastic, and in my experience its been far more stable.... And I'm routinely working with a Route that has 2600 *listed* Assets, a City Scape with thousands of assets in a tiny tiny little area, and though TS12 handles this far from perfectly, it handled it just fine..... Even loading up all JR and DES level Trains and running through it in the process (RAM and Good freakin Graphics card recommended for this). Barring outdated Computer parts (Which I can understand, having to scrimp and save for Boots, much less a Graphics Card), I can't fathom why anybody wouldn't want to figure out the newest versions, particularly if they already have demonstrated the patience to create Content, but apparently not to figure out some little idiosyncracies that involve waiting 10-15 seconds sometimes so they can have access to the latest Graphical ability in a hobby thats entirely centric to Graphics? IDK....
Anyway, so theres my 2 cents. Read it, consider it, gloss it over, whatever, as you see fit,
-Falcus
