I wouldn't necessarily say it's outdated vs new, but the key difference here is how the game handles different materials. K&L cars, particularly older ones, use different materials and file formats from Trainz Forge cars.
For our content, we've chosen to use .trainzmesh because it's the currently best supported format for content creation, and allows us to better follow up on any issues we may have when exporting meshes to Trainz. K&L uses .im and more legacy texture handling types for a variety of very good reasons, including backwards compatibility with older Trainz versions.
When it comes to shine (especially with passenger equipment), some people prefer matte texturing because they feel it better reflects a weathered and in-service look. We've standardized on a more shiny appearance since we feel it better represents color values, and reflects numerous examples we've found of passenger equipment being clean during the steam era.
I want to just say
neither is the wrong approach, but it's a case where we kind of had to pick one avenue and run with it:
- To use older file formats means from our end, bug fixing and support becomes a much larger issue. Especially with payware content (but largely for any new content we produce) dealing with multiple file types and material types per asset pack dramatically increases our workload, and gets in the way of us standardizing our new releases - and also creating new content.
- If any issue does arise between one of our assets and Trainz, it's a much more streamlined process for us to ask for help or support from N3V if we're using up to date standards. If we stick with IM file types, and legacy materials, we're more on our own with game-based support.
- Providing multiple versions of different assets comes with its own challenges as well. With passenger stock, we've already standardized on two variations of Pullman green: one that's more brownish and true to actual Pullman records, and one that's more green and lines up with color photography in the 1940's and 1950's (usually due to how the Pullman color weathered over the years). Add in as-built and air conditioned versions of each car, as well as variations between gold leaf lettering and dulux gold lettering (a change Pullman made in the early 1930's) and you already have five to six versions of each car. If we made the decision to then add in either a legacy material version, or a dull version, you get ten to twelve versions of each car we release, and that's before you factor in specific versions with specific name options or A/C setups assigned to each train or railroad. In terms of file size, asset support, and trainz install clutter, it doesn't seem worth it to double the number of asset options.
Anyway, here are some pictures of shiny Pullman cars - I've got loads of pictures handy if anyone wants any more:
That being said, if Brian wants to reach out to me I'm happy to work with him on how to reduce the shine to match his other stock. I'm not exactly sure of how to modify the materials to do it, but I'm sure it can be done. There's next to zero likelihood that it'll make its way into any releases because of the aforementioned reasons, but I'm happy to try and help out a bit.
8$ or more if you will
