Turntables and Surveyor

[dricketts]

I've noticed there is a square area around turntables that is quite mysterious. I've seen it on several by different creators. It seems to stand out and look unnatural, not blending with the surrounding textures. Ground textures will not cover this area as it acts as part of the structure. I've tried adding a height adjustment to the config but this warps and lowers the ground underneath the square area. I've tried using the matching ground texture used in the original model but it still doesn't look right. Maybe the way the texture is mapped to the original or scaled. I'm working with bendorsey's STD_GA_Roundhouse_5 <kuid2:210518:1431:5> specifically. Since I've noticed this area on several turntables I'm assuming it is needed for the functionality of the table.

Does anyone know of a creative way to blend this area to the surrounding ground textures or hide it completly?

 

[narrowgauge]

When I made the vertical rail car lifts for the CTC, I was told that it is easier to hit the actuation arrows if there is a hidden mesh beneath the lift (same as a turntable or transfer table) I think what you are seeing is that same thing but set too high. There is not much you can do with it apart from reskinning the area with a better colour.

Peter

 

[dricketts]

When I made the vertical rail car lifts for the CTC, I was told that it is easier to hit the actuation arrows if there is a hidden mesh beneath the lift (same as a turntable or transfer table) I think what you are seeing is that same thing but set too high. There is not much you can do with it apart from reskinning the area with a better colour.

Peter

I've tried reskinning that part of the mesh but even using the same texture for the surrounding ground it does not match up well at all. It almost seems the scale of the texture on the mesh around the turntable is is very, very small.

 

[dricketts]

I wonder if this square effect around the turntable can be removed from the original mesh.

 

[Jerker]

G'day drickets,

Unfortunately, that can't be done without the original mesh. I think, that which you have there is the creator's 'effort' to provide a 'cover' for the dig hole that is created by the turntable, a necessary 'evil' that cannot be omitted from the mesh (unless you want a gaping hole surrounding your turntable). In this case, the creator has used a texture on this mesh object (most likely a plane) that he/she thought would be suitable fro the circumstances under which the asset was most likely to be used but which is not in this particular case. There are two solutions to this dilemma. The first of these, as you already have tried, is to substitute the provided texture with one more suitable. As you are also discovering, this isn't as easy as it sounds because you immediately start running into 'scaling' issues with the texture (since you don't have access to the original *.max/*.gmax file to alter the mapping). To some extent, this can be overcome by changing the scaling of the new texture but only a certain amount of 'play' is possible here. I assume you have simply substituted the texture you want to use for the one that is there in your attempted re-skin but the results have not been favourable. Depending upon how the tiling works out, since you can't change the scale, you must decrease or increase the 'scaling' in the new texture to get the result you want. Rather than physically resize the new texture, you must actually crop the texture (if the tiling id too 'fine') or have multiples of the new texture in your re-skin (if the unmodified texture texture is too 'grainy'). Always make sure that your 'cropping' or your 'enlarging' maintain the Trainz "power of 2" requirement. The other alternative, is, if you can't make the turntable match the surroundings, make the surroundings match the turntable. Now, if the creator of the turntable is, like me, a 'thoughtful' person, they should have provided a suitable ground texture for just this purpose. If they haven't, then it may well be possible for you to simply create one of your own (using the identical texture that is used on the turntable)...

...see how you go with those suggestions (I'm sure one of them will solve the problem for you)...

Jerker {}

 

[dricketts]

Thanks for the detailed explanation jerker. This explains why it's necessary to cover the hole that is created. I'll do some experimentation and post back.