Trainz LOD

[srude]

Greetings;

In studying the Auran TS2009 Oak track LOD mesh tree, is correct for me to assume that the LOD distances specified in the tree start at the monitor screen surface which is the camera lens?

Also, using the mouse wheel to zoom in and out of the scene, is there a way of knowing how far the zoom goes in? Is that set by the maximum draw distance?

I've garnered a lot of information about track LOD from Trainz_Wiki but, the information is incomplete, IMHO.

Thanks in advance,

srude

 

[ZecMurphy]

Hi Srude
The distance is based off the camera position, so approximately where the screen is.

This should be seen at the furthest distance that a LOD transition can occur with that mesh. This is because Trainz can, depending on the settings and draw distance, change the distances of those LOD transitions.

As to the zoom, I'm not sure what you are saying here?

Do you mean the furthest that you can zoom out (away) from the compass? If so, then this is limited to a fixed distance (except in TS12, which will move from the normal view to a 'satellite'/'map' view). This distance doesn't change.

Or do you mean that the furthest point of land shown in the map? If so, this is again based on the camera itself. If you have a 5KM draw distance, then this would be up to 5KM from the camera (Trainz can reduce the draw distance itself, depending on the scene). Your spline will be shown some of the distance to the 'end' of the draw distance.

 

[srude]

The LOD thing

Greetings;

First, I wish to thank Zec Murphy for answering my question regarding my LOD inquiry.

When I talked about zooming, I was refering to the spinning of the mouse wheel and having the visual depth moving in and out.

In fact, it would be nice if the game had a little window one could open and watch the zoom distance displayed.

As anyone can see, I have several versions of Trainz but I think that 2010 is the best. That is the version with which I'm working.

Since I'm into creating my own content, it has been a challenge learning all the various aspects of content creation. My only concern is regarding the validity of information that Trainz-Wiki offers.

Does anyone at the game factory ever look at the Wiki entries to make sure that correct information is provided?

Just curious.

Cheers,
srude

 

[ZecMurphy]

Hi Srude
When you zoom in and out with the mouse, all it does is move the camera further from and closer to the compass rose. As the draw distance is linked to the camera, the draw distance will change according to this.

It may be useful for setting up LOD's, however you can work this fairly well from the baseboard grid (which is 10m for the yellow grid).

If you add a 'number' or similar to the mesh, you can use this to indicate when the LOD transition occurs. You then can count the number of each mesh out, and work out if the LOD transitions are occurring where you want them. You can work out how many segments are needed between transitions before hand, by using the transition distance and the mesh length. Very handy, particularly if you also have a shorter length mesh intermingled with it all (you can do some really complex stuff with these splines!).

As to the wiki, we do monitor this, although some bits could slip through. If you notice something that you think may be incorrect, drop a post in the 'content creation' section of the forums (actually, all content creation questions should be placed there), and we can check it.