The Illinois Railway Museum Route

Matt3985 said:

As I said before. Ive tried to learn content creating myself, and it did not go so well, I tried having a friend of mine teach me how to learn blender but all he did was yell at me and calling me stupid. My only good chance of trying to become a content creator is to take lessons with Bill from K&L but his season cost money but I need to save my money for both car payments and for other commission work I have planned.

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Oi vey...tutorials aren't hard to find...there's a tutorial on the Blender website for god sake; they're really not hard to find. Your argument is invalid. Like Blutorse said, all you've done is make excuses over and over when we know they're just that: excuses for not doing the work yourself.

Hey man, you don't have to listen to me (oh wait, you already don't), but come on; all you've done with this project is commission content for a route that's not even CLOSE to being done...

(P.S. I also saved you the literal five seconds it took for me to look up Blender tutorials... https://www.blender.org/support/tutorials/)

I back BlackDiamond and chris up. I learned via a friend helping me at first, then started figuring out stuff on my own. Unfortunately in my case, I don't have the patience for modelling. Texturing though, I learned everything on my own, except for what Taylor817 had shown me in the very initial stages. I learned how to make my own weathering and details. It would surprise you as to how easy this stuff is as long as you have the patience for it. Then again, you're lazy as hell. Quit PMing people from TEH to support your project and grow up.

Matt, for pete sake stop making excuses. We are not here to serve anyone. You are not the only one with a busy life outside of Trainz, and the way you speak you are making it sound like your personal life takes priority over anyone else's. You are going to learn that projects like these take patience and acquired knowledge. I am recreating the whole of Chicago, and you do not see me begging, pleading, and bossing my Trainz peers around because my project is just *that* important, so important I cannot make my own content for it. I have amazing friends on here who are gracious enough to occasionally toss some custom made content my way. Yes, sometimes I do request a building or a depot, because at the moment I do have my new PC running Blender, but remember that I never order anyone around (eg, paraphrased: "Bendorsey is working on MY project, not yours!"), hassling them to make content or to stay loyal. A "community" project like this implies the community is on your side, and not against you. Yes you have JR, KL, etc etc etc. You are still making enemies in this community. Please understand your position in this community before you continue throwing your weight around. We all have projects. We all have jobs, or at the very least, responsibilities. We all have personal lives. No one is more important than anyone else on this board and your reasoning for why you cannot take the time to advance your skill levels in route creation and content creation are frankly, low energy and vapid. Please understand the position you have been placing yourself in and proceed accordingly.

The personal attacks aren't necessary. I don't think getting the thread locked is going to convince Matt to give Blender another try.

Thanks to Scott and applegathc for offering some constructive advice & criticism.

Blutorse4792 said:

The personal attacks aren't necessary. I don't think getting the thread locked is going to convince Matt to give Blender another try.

Thanks to Scott and applegathc for offering some constructive advice & criticism.

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That is correct, now you know how I felt when that friend of mine yelled, teased and even created hurtful memes when I failed to create a swimming pool.... This discussion has come too far and I already made my point (TWICE).... END OF DISCUSSION!!! I do appreciate the more polite suggestions though.

Start with a box.

Okay...have fun making excuses for laziness...i can't wait to download this route in 2024 when all the singular trees have been placed, rotated correctly, and aligned based on latitude and longitude.

chris2001trainz2010 said:

Okay...have fun making excuses for laziness...i can't wait to download this route in 2024 when all the singular trees have been placed, rotated correctly, and aligned based on latitude and longitude.

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Straight hustle, yo.

Well, this sure escalated quickly.

I have to say, I agree with Blutorse on this one. (Post above)

Now...

Matt, I would first like to commend you on your work with the IRM. I believe that you are putting a lot of time, effort and money into the project in order to create a route that is very accurate and well detailed. That being said, I do believe that applegathic and chris2001trainz2010 (do you mind if I just shorten that to "chris?") do have very valid points. The biggest point being that Trainz should be a hobby, not an occupation or even something that you need to spend a ton of money on. There are already other hobbies that do that. (I.E model railroading.) Also, I do believe that striving for accuracy can go too far. In Trainz, it is very uncommon for each, exact building to be created for a prototypical route. In fact, I do not think that a route with 100% accuracy has ever been created for Trainz, or any simulator for that matter. The reason being that to create a 100% accurate route, you need every, single object to be created. That is something that will never happen in 99.9% of routes created. So, my advice is to not strive for 100% accuracy, its just nigh impossible, instead, I would recommend that you use already existing objects that at least look similar to the object you need. If anything, you could even reskin buildings and such and may be able to release those reskins if you manage to get the original author's permission to do so. And, in the rare case that you cannot find a building that is close enough to the building you need, then you can politely ask a content creator to either commission it, build it (if you ask nice enough), or help teach you to create it yourself.

Oh, and chris, at least Matt is saying thank you to those who have helped him with the IRM as opposed to saying "(paraphrased) Its a crappy model cause its too high poly!" or, (paraphrased) "Have fun buying a piece of crap!" You know, at least Trainz has content creators who are actually willing to share their content for free or relatively cheap unlike another sim I could think of... (Im looking at you Railworks.)
Yep, I know that that is kinda rude but, hey, just sayin.

Anyway, keep up the great work Matt! I hope that this project goes well for you and ends up being worth it...

P.S. When using Blender, do yourself a favor and ignore all tutorials regarding Cycles materials. (The being because cycles isn't compatible with Trainz... As I recently learned...) Also, if you want to model something and you are stuck on it, just ask. It never hurts to ask a question. (In my opinion at least..)

"There are no secrets to getting a model made." -Stevelerro

Ugh, you guys are so childish... it's a game about trains. The fact you need to go and pick at someone who is doing this for fun and for free is about the most immature thing you can possibly do. It blows my mind the amount of unnecessary comments and hateful language flung towards Matt. If you don't like the IRM or the project JUST DON'T VISIT THE THREAD. Half of you are just jumping on the bandwagon with no real reason to. It's disgusting to think that some people have the audacity to criticize someone else's work yet inside are so insecure about themselves that they need to be mean and hateful towards fellow forum members.

In fact, lets take a brief look at the code of conduct, which I'm sure ALL of you read before making your so "profound" statements:

13. Submitting messages that are inflammatory, insulting, antagonistic or made simply with the intent to provoke disruption to the forum. "Trolling" and baiting will not be tolerated. Messages must show respect for other forum members taking into account that people of all ages and cultures participate on these forums. Trolling is deemed to include messages aimed to incite disruption or stir up trouble, without any attempt to contribute positive suggestions or comments.

Grow the hell up.

Anyways, I wasn't going to share this originally since it seems we can't have reasonable adult conversations but in an attempt to get this thread back on track I have completed all the variations on Tuskegee 101.

2 Variants of the locomotive, one with and without the headlight on the cab, and 4 tenders, two TR Miller Mill Co tenders in oil and coal, and two Tuskegee tenders with oil and coal.





Here is a WIP of GN&A #26. This is set up as a wagon with no sounds or smoke.

Thanks for the support there Daylightrain, I'm ever so greatful for that. Plus amazing job you have done on the 101. I love how you were able to put the rear headlight on the an roof. Plus great job so far on the 26. Let me know if you need more help on it.

-Got your PM. I have to say, I am no different than anyone else here. I don't have the time. Trainz doesn't come first in my life and it's just a hobby. Trainz doesn't pay the bills. I don't even get the chance to open Trainz on a daily basis, maybe every other day if I'm lucky. What I'm about to say is going to sound repetitive cause everyone else has already told you but I thought I'd put my two cents in before I have to sleep and go to work tomorrow...

-I started with Trainz 2006, just messing around for years. I started to get serious when I wanted to create a real prototypical route, the Mojave Subdivision, in which I believe I started it in Trainz 2009/10, which everyone knows now is default content in Trainz 2012. Everything was not easy. I had to learn Transdem just to get the ground made and ask anyone who has used it, it is a steep learning curve. After working on it for x amount of time, posting pics, it looked good enough that Jointedrail liked it and picked me up and put me on their team. At this time I knew nothing about 3ds Max or Photoshop. I think one of the very first things I created was the tunnels on the route. Anyway, I pretty much self taught myself both programs, with JR's help, by reading and watching YouTube videos. While I was with JR I asked them, a lot of questions, bugged the cr*p out of them, to the point they wouldn't even answer me, but I never gave up and eventually ended up finding the answers I needed. Point is, if you want something bad enough, you'll have to go get it yourself.

-I have my Cajon Subdivision to work on, which is much larger than the Mojave Sub is. Since some time after finishing the Mojave Sub, life took a busy turn for me and I left JR. I am a one-man-army, just like many others. I even have to take long breaks at times, so long that I forget or loose some of my knowledge on how to do certain things. I have hundreds maybe even a thousand or two of dollars invested in programs, both routes, more with Cajon. I even took a vacation, road trip to California to take pictures, purchase information from the San Bernardino Station, etc. Bought many dvd's, timetables, purchased grade charts, Transdem wasn't free either, it all adds up. I want Cajon to be the best of the best, but it's just not going to be and it's never going to be 100% exact and you need to come to terms with that with your route or future projects.

-My advise, just like others have said, learn! If you want a prototypical route, it's going to take time. Work on what you can now, then go back and replace what needs to be replaced with yours or others custom assets. I can keep on rambling on about this and it probably doesn't even make any sense but I am tired. Good luck on your project. Take your time. Take breaks. Learn programs.

-Joe

Thanks for the helpful advice there Socal909, I will think about it.

Hi All
I have removed some off-topic/inappropriate posts. I have left those from people trying to be helpful, and offering suggestions.

As many have pointed out, all content creators are volunteers. They do what content interests them; and if this includes 'commissions' (free or paid for) then this is their choice. However no member of the Trainz community is required to make content for a specific project; unless paid to do so (and agreeing to be paid to do so).

If you require content, the best way to get it is to spend time learning to create content. It takes a lot of time, and patience, but will provide 'faster' results than telling the community to make items for you. Most creators become creators because there are items that they want that no one else is making at the time.

If you truly can't create the content, then you will need to wait patiently over a long period for content to be made, if there is interest from other creators.

Hello,

Matt,
If you are able to get a chance, I recommend Blender for a free tool. I've had mixed results in playing with it, I personally prefer 3DSMax. Blender, at least to my knowledge, allows you to bake textures. This is a huge advantage over other tools like legacy GMax.


- Josh

I can offer this...If I can learn Blender, anybody can! This must be true because I can be pretty dense when it comes to learning something new. I had no experience at content creation what so ever. After the basics are learned, I found that the more you work at it the easier it gets. Many people are freaked out by Blenders interface. What most folks don't realize is that most of Blender's bells and whistles are not used in the creation of Trainz content.

Hi everyone, I'm sorry to say that due to events that have happened yesterday, all progress on the route has come to a official halt for now. I feel terrible after what happened yesterday and I need time to think on what I need to do next. For those of you who are working with me on rolling stock and locomotive projects, just continue on as normal. I would like to apologize for everything that has happened. I now have some big decisions on both what to do next and the faith of this route. I do appreciate the support and advice to those who have responded (politely)....

Got Here Late

*Not* sorry to have got to this discussion late - if the posts which remain after mod filtering are indicative, those removed must have been radioactive.

To state what I'd have hoped would be obvious, Trainz has, not degrees, but aspects of content creation. Some creators build traincar and scenery assets; some build routes. Neither is better than the other, or more necessary: routes need assets, but assets aren't even decoration without routes. I know this because I personally vaccum-extract at route building but (having been at it since Bill Budge's 3D Graphics System on the Apple ][ and Turbo Sillver on the Amiga - you can look them up) have learned to build virtual objects that usually pass muster.

Some people can create complex and appealing routes, and some of those people can't create 3D objects; everybody's mind doesn't work the same way. Some can do both, and more power to them - but hectoring those who can't so long as they behave well otherwise does not appeal to me.

<dismounts soapbox>

Matt3985 said:

Hi everyone, I'm sorry to say that due to events that have happened yesterday, all progress on the route has come to a official halt for now. I feel terrible after what happened yesterday and I need time to think on what I need to do next. For those of you who are working with me on rolling stock and locomotive projects, just continue on as normal. I would like to apologize for everything that has happened. I now have some big decisions on both what to do next and the faith of this route. I do appreciate the support and advice to those who have responded (politely)....

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I, too, am glad I missed the "flames"; there seems to be plenty of derogatory posts left. Having no vested interest other than similar personal experience with your situation, I see both sides of the argument, perhaps, but it doesn't make it easier to regain momentum on the project...I suppose this is the risk of receiving willing contributors to a project: they create content on their own time with no compensation, but in good faith that their assets will be showcased in an excellent route. On the other hand, an incomplete route, and ultimately the definition of such, is solely the call of the route creator.

I encountered a similar situation when I started route building in a historical context. One member, who is no longer among us as far as I know, began to dump all kinds of information in such a daunting way that I finally gave up in exasperation. I could not have created all the content he deemed critical if I had a 100 years to do so, and if I knew what I was doing. Needless to say, I have yet to upload any content I have created, and have become content in being little more than a tinkerer toying around with other creators' freeware routes.

I hope all works out for you, Matt, and you eventually catch another strong wind in your sails. Your route looks outstanding to this point.

@Matt3985

I personally think, that PMing people that never showed any interests in your projects is a bad idea. That meant your PM to me, and other TEH members.

Ivan