Question for UK Content Creators regarding Stations

Prince271088

New member
When creating a station that has an entrance way and platform at street level (by this I mean you literally walk into the station off the street, there are no stairs etc and you end up on the platform.) how do you implement this into the game without it looking a mess? Furthermore, how do you accommodate the station for the height of the platform. Do you lower everything beyond the station building by 1.2/1.3m thus creating a miniature valley or is there some other method that you use? If you do lower the surrounding area, how do you keep everything else around there looking tidy and not looking like there is a sudden drop in terrain height?

I'm curious because a lot of stations seem to have this and I've never been quite sure how people have managed to re-create it in the game? If you elevate the buildings to platform level then the buildings float, but if you put the platform the other side of the building then a good chunk of the building is cut off by the platform?

Thanks in advance

Ben =)
 
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Very few stations are completely level with the surroundings. Usually there is a slight slope or even a ramp leading to the station.

Cheerio John
 
Very few stations are completely level with the surroundings. Usually there is a slight slope or even a ramp leading to the station.

Cheerio John

So your suggestion would be to perhaps gradually raise the surrounding area so the slope isn't noticeable? In that case my question would be, how would you build the gradient so that you don't have random chunks of baseboard protruding through stuff? I know the actual gradient would only be slight, but how would you personally accomplish it?

Sorry for asking so much, I am just looking to improve my own building techniques.
 
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Stirling, Falkirk (Grahamston and High), Alloa are all stations I can think of with ground level platforms. The way I do it is to set the ground level, then add rails and lower themto the same height as the platform edges (usually around -1.3m). Use the level ground tool so the ground around the tracks drops, then add platform edges and the platform surface (nexusdj has a great selection of both). All you need to do is raise the ground wherever you can see under the platform surface to the same level.
 
In difficult places where the ground isn't so obliging about being adjusted and leveled you can use road and footpath splines set to the level of the platform to cover and hide the ground surface.
 
Stirling, Falkirk (Grahamston and High), Alloa are all stations I can think of with ground level platforms. The way I do it is to set the ground level, then add rails and lower themto the same height as the platform edges (usually around -1.3m). Use the level ground tool so the ground around the tracks drops, then add platform edges and the platform surface (nexusdj has a great selection of both). All you need to do is raise the ground wherever you can see under the platform surface to the same level.

Yeah well what inspired the question was the station building of Aldershot station (which I've been to many times) and wondering how I could incorporate a design like that into the route, but previously I'd also seen many other buildings that looked like they seemingly belong to ground level platforms as well. I've experimented a little bit with the smooth height tool and gotten varied results.
 
In difficult places where the ground isn't so obliging about being adjusted and leveled you can use road and footpath splines set to the level of the platform to cover and hide the ground surface.

Splines can definitely be useful in places. Sooner or later what I am hoping for is a much finer scale tool that will allow us to get into the smallest areas. I find some of the tools now to be bulky and clumsy, especially when texturing a surface for example and for creating elevation.
 
Use the 5m grid and on the road side raise ground to platform height. This will not normally raise the station as it wont reach the pivot point. Spline platforms can just be set at the spline points. There are some retaining walls that have a plane which can become the forecourt.
 
Use the 5m grid and on the road side raise ground to platform height. This will not normally raise the station as it wont reach the pivot point. Spline platforms can just be set at the spline points. There are some retaining walls that have a plane which can become the forecourt.

I use the 5m grid anyway but still find the tool a bit clumsy. Smooth height was better for creating a sloping effect that wasn't too rigid but to be fair whatever I end up doing will still probably suck lol
 
For my model of Brandon (GER) station, based on photographs and actual dimension, I used a large, sloping forecourt. This was also complicated by the fact that the original low platform had been raised so that doors on the platform side were below platform level and the base of windows appeared to be very low. A similar forecourt could easily be made by users to suit other station buildings that are available.

Ray
 
For my model of Brandon (GER) station, based on photographs and actual dimension, I used a large, sloping forecourt. This was also complicated by the fact that the original low platform had been raised so that doors on the platform side were below platform level and the base of windows appeared to be very low. A similar forecourt could easily be made by users to suit other station buildings that are available.

Ray

Yes the slope seems to be the best idea. If it's large enough the gradient can go unnoticed
 
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