Trainz Forge: Routes, Reskins and Renders

It's amazing how relevant this is 4 years later, so I thought it would be worth reposting.

Some may have noticed my distinct absence from the TF group, but be assured that I am still here, albeit very quite on the content creation side. I can verify that from the discussions we have had as a group that our main contributors are extremely busy with their studies (and becoming of age probably has something to do with it to :p) so any CC that is actually happening is either very slow or very time consuming, and when you're hitting the books, paying the bills and enjoying what life has to offer, it is only natural that some things take a back seat.

Be assured as has been shown in the last few months is coming... eventually, but we ask that we are not rushed; otherwise all you will get are the pictures.

Tim
 
The hell is wrong with us?!

I certainly see how jregner's post could raise hackles, but there was nothing wrong with RI4321's question.

My comment was about a trend on this forum, evidenced in the way both those guys were chastised. Some act like it’s some kind of heartless attack of unfeeling greed for someone to express the slightest interest in actually using some content that is proudly and repeatedly displayed for everyone to see on this forum. The post I’m referencing now is the perfect example of the quite odd etiquette that seems to have grown on this forum in which the clear unwritten rule is to ogle and verbally appreciate whatever is shown as if the sole purpose of this forum is to display private creations like some modeler's forum, but NEVER to say ANYTHING that MIGHT be interpreted as the slightest interest in whether or when the item on display might be shared. This in a forum dedicated to a sim that TRUMPETS a Download Station as it’s CENTRAL feature and reason to own the sim.

I've only been a forum member for a few months, but I’ve read pretty much every thread in that time and I’ve seen not a SINGLE response to any thread that could remotely be characterized as some kind of begging for more, more, more until jregner's post. Perhaps that happens through PM or other invisible channels, and I can appreciate that if it does, that could be tedious. But it is unreasonable to jump down people's throats here on the forum where that ISN'T happening! If anyone finds that private solicitation tedious, then don’t answer your PMs, or don’t post pics in a thread about content being worked on, or post a note in any such thread that queries about when a product will be available will be ignored.

As the person unreasonably yelling at others in this thread just said quite clearly, if it weren’t for third-party creators, this game wouldn’t exist! But a pox on anyone that expresses the slightest interest in any of that third-party content ON DISPLAY, apparently. It’s great that some people learn how to create wonderful content and provide it, mostly for free. I certainly am more than willing to pay for good content, and would never demand anyone provide content for free or at my bidding. No one has to do this. But if you do, and post pics of your work, I think you have to reasonably expect for some people to express interest.

What's wrong with us??! What's wrong with you?!? This group has some friendly and very helpful people (and thank goodness, or this bizarrely complicated and user-unfriendly sim would have even more people quit it shortly after buying it). But some of you are the strangest forum creatures I have ever virtually met in several decades of simming.
 
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I think you're missing the main point, and its one I feel sadly a lot of people tend to misunderstand. When you get asked repeatedly, not once, not twice, but many, many times over and over again about when you will release the hard work you've done for this game and this community and can be very grading. On top of that, when the same people ask the same question over and over again about when something will be released, every response that follows will continue to seem less and less sincere. Trainz is a hobby, not a job for many people. We aren't obligated to release anything to anyone. But we do so anyways because we love this game just as much as the next guy. So what if they don't release anything in the next year, they are still active in the community and that's more than I can say for most content creators. And wouldn't you want to wait till everything is ready and 100% complete? It seems stupid to me for someone to want content rushed and pushed out to the public as fast as possible. Everyone needs to understand how hard and how long of a process making stuff for Trainz. And no, I'm not talking about reskinning, I'm talking about placing hundreds of miles of track and laying down scenery along those hundred miles of track, or building a complex locomotive to blueprint accuracy. So please, take a step back and see it from our perspective before you comment, because you can't form a proper opinion until you've seen both sides of the same coin.
 
The hell is wrong with us?!

I certainly see how jregner's post could raise hackles, but there was nothing wrong with RI4321's question.

My comment was about a trend on this forum, evidenced in the way both those guys were chastised. Some act like it’s some kind of heartless attack of unfeeling greed for someone to express the slightest interest in actually using some content that is proudly and repeatedly displayed for everyone to see on this forum. The post I’m referencing now is the perfect example of the quite odd etiquette that seems to have grown on this forum in which the clear unwritten rule is to ogle and verbally appreciate whatever is shown as if the sole purpose of this forum is to display private creations like some modeler's forum, but NEVER to say ANYTHING that MIGHT be interpreted as the slightest interest in whether or when the item on display might be shared. This in a forum dedicated to a sim that TRUMPETS a Download Station as it’s CENTRAL feature and reason to own the sim.

I've only been a forum member for a few months, but I’ve read pretty much every thread in that time and I’ve seen not a SINGLE response to any thread that could remotely be characterized as some kind of begging for more, more, more until jregner's post. Perhaps that happens through PM or other invisible channels, and I can appreciate that if it does, that could be tedious. But it is unreasonable to jump down people's throats here on the forum where that ISN'T happening! If anyone finds that private solicitation tedious, then don’t answer your PMs, or don’t post pics in a thread about content being worked on, or post a note in any such thread that queries about when a product will be available will be ignored.

As the person unreasonably yelling at others in this thread just said quite clearly, if it weren’t for third-party creators, this game wouldn’t exist! But a pox on anyone that expresses the slightest interest in any of that third-party content ON DISPLAY, apparently. It’s great that some people learn how to create wonderful content and provide it, mostly for free. I certainly am more than willing to pay for good content, and would never demand anyone provide content for free or at my bidding. No one has to do this. But if you do, and post pics of your work, I think you have to reasonably expect for some people to express interest.

What's wrong with us??! What's wrong with you?!? This group has some friendly and very helpful people (and thank goodness, or this bizarrely complicated and user-unfriendly sim would have even more people quit it shortly after buying it). But some of you are the strangest forum creatures I have ever virtually met in several decades of simming.

I can't help but feel that my post may have been poorly worded, and for that I apologize. My only intent was to attempt to convey how the group feels. We do post shots here of things we (usually) intend to release, but if we haven't actually finished it yet there's no way to know when it will be released. The problem is made worse when people ask the same question again and again, not bothering to read the responses we gave to previous askers of the same question. I'm sorry to hear you think this game is not user-friendly, perhaps you've just met the wrong people. There seems to be an ever increasing number of individuals on these forums that don't handle themselves in an appropriate way. But I always try to be patient and understanding.

Just so it is stated: The content shown in this thread will be released when we have time to finish it, with few exceptions.

Please take this as an apology if I mis-worded something so badly that it hurt you, but my point still stands. If people would take a few minutes to read previous posts they would find the answers to most of their questions, and for us to repeatedly answer the same questions over and over takes away from our already scare time to create and enjoy ourselves. As the newest member of Trainz Forge I cannot claim that I know all the other members so well that I can post for them without consulting them. But I do know for a fact that we are all extremely busy with life, and some of us are very stressed. Please try to be patient with us.
 
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Waiting is not a problem, you have a life like many else I mean it don't bother if you take your time.
 
It never was my intent to act like a gimmie pig in my post I'm not like that I have never have asked content creators for their content and did not know if the locomotive was a old release or newly made. I was taken back and shocked by the response I received something I never gotten before here in the forms as I meant no harm or foul in my inquiry. I always showed Trainz Forge and other content creators my appreciation for the freeware they have given to the Trainz community but very few times have I had my moments here on the forum which in my case is rare. I understand the work and dedication they put into their work and I know they have a life which means things take time some members took my inquire a bit to far in their response which I felt was above and beyond it made feel as I was being crucified over a simple question as it was a bit hurtful but forgive and forget and move on.
I don't want to see this thread being locked over what I asked its not that important and this thread is a great place for Trainz Forge to announce and show screen shots of projects or what ever they may post. I still will look forward to new releases by Trainz Forge in the future as they do put out some great content. I'm sorry that they have to deal with people that bug them for content which I know can be very irritating I'm sure so lets keep it clean and let what I posted die.

Respectfully
RI4321
 
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RI,
For what it's worth, we get you, and you're good. Your original post was pretty respectful, and we weren't complaining about it for the most part - you were caught in the crossfire. The quote that set off this arguments was two posts above:
You guys keep teasing us with all this great screenshots but you havent added anything new to you site in over a half a year. When will we see somthing new on Trianz Forge?
I'll take the opportunity to critique both questions here, since you and JRegner took a very different approach to things.

You complimented our work, asked where it was available (Pro tip: We mostly release on the site after which this thread is named; it is more appropriate to ask if it is available. We'll take it that where is implied.)

By contrast, JRegner's post starts by saying we are "teasing," jumping to conclusions about our motivations for posting screenshots, before proceeding to call us out on our frequency of releases, and then asks when we'll next have a release. All three of his points aggravate both the average content creator and the average website manager, of which I am both, for the following reasons:
-First, it implies that we do this for the attention. Sure, it's nice to get people complimenting your hours of labor when you can finally show off the result, but really, we make things either because we want to make them (as in, we derive enjoyment out of the actual modeling process) or because we want to run them. Being able to release it and feel like a contributor to the game and its community is just a bonus. We aren't teasing, we're proud of what we've accomplished and we want to be able to display it without "spamming" other threads. If you feel teased then don't look here, and if you enjoy seeing what we're working on, then don't complain, please.
-Second, creation takes time, and it's not worth my effort as a site admin to upload everything that's done immediately when it's done. A good pack can take anywhere from two weeks to nine months to create, and routes take years if they're going to be any good. And I'm not going to log in every single time I finish a boxcar and upload it because that's not an efficient use of my time, and because I probably want to include it with similar boxcars and make my site navigable. So releases have to be spaced out reasonably. It's nothing new, either: since I joined in 2013, we've generally been having releases every 6-14 months. The only rapidfire releases we've ever done were in 2016, when I made and released the first two Exposition Flyer packs over a four-month period because the site wouldn't have paid for itself in September or December otherwise. I'm sorry if it's not enough for you, but we don't rush. This is our hobby; for most of us it's not even our only hobby. We don't move very quickly.
-Lastly, if you ever, ever want to know when something is going to be released, I can tell you the answer right here, right now, in bold so it's visible for posterity: When the creator is ready to release it. We aren't psychic; we don't know when that will be. Things fall apart; we aren't infallible. We might set ourselves deadlines, but setbacks will occur, computers will self-destruct, reference websites will go offline, and we will want to put those extra little bells and whistles on a project. It's impossible for us to say when the next release will be, or when something will be done. How would we know? We're not professionals.
That last is the most aggravating, because it's the single most common words that we have to say. People ask when things are going to be released even more than they ask us to create things without giving us the details we'd need to actually create them. It's really frustrating, because it makes us feel as though we're a broken record, just repeating the same three or seven words over and over again.

Again, RI, you're fine, and I hope you aren't turned off by the fact that I just kinda picked apart what's wrong with someone else's post. I'd honestly be a lot more eager to be on the forums if everybody who asked where they could find a certain project was so courteous about it.
 
Yep, RI that wasn't directed at you, you're fine. Sorry I didn't clarify that sooner.

Also Dave, shoot me a Skype message, I'd love to talk assets. I'm also interested in some of the stuff you're using so it would be good to compare notes a bit.

Time to get this thread back on track:

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Thanks , I'll check them out . But the shot's here are fantastic . Have even seen a few on other posting . LOL Really liking the razed tracks thought the city .

Matt
 
Jackson, I'm amazed you've caught the feel of Covington. Even as resent as 20 years ago when I was last there the elelated track through town is very simular too what you are doing now.

I should say thank you also as I am nearing completion of the L&A and I was simply going to use Covington and Newport as just something simple to look at from the Ohio side. Now after seeing your version of across the river it is giving me the spark to reinvent this area and add more fictional lines that I hope to get permission to use.

Dave
 
Hey i live in cincinnati and last time i been to Covington Was back in 2009 i think and like i saw a EX C&O E8 and some of that is still there some Not there i am working on The other part of the line the N&W Cincinnati line the one i live by and its sad to see my home just gone like that but still Very amazing route i hope it gets release! It show history of my home and its amazing i would love to have this! If it ever get's release! Keep up the good work man!
 
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