Trainz Content Foundry: I NEED IT SO BADLY

It's always a struggle for me to export content into Trainz 19. Editing the config manually in a bland text editor really shouldn't be the norm anymore in 2020.

Content foundry looks so interesting, and as a big content creator I would love to beta test it out or anything. Is there really no way people can test this program out already? I'm dying to have a user-friendly way of exporting content into Trainz, it would make content creation SO MUCH more fun.

What's the progress on this in general, because this is the feature I personally would like to see the most!

I would expect TS19 content creation to be pretty easy although I haven't tried yet.
If it isn't? count me in for the Content Foundry!

Content creation (Even locomotives), from my experience, is relatively easy. That doesn't mean every part of the process is going to be fun, and it requires some discipline. What is fun is when you start running your completed asset, and look back at all the work you did.

As for content foundry, I think its a good idea, but not desperately needed.

dundun92 said:

Content creation (Even locomotives), from my experience, is relatively easy. That doesn't mean every part of the process is going to be fun, and it requires some discipline. What is fun is when you start running your completed asset, and look back at all the work you did.

As for content foundry, I think its a good idea, but not desperately needed.

Click to expand...

It all depends on how easy you find 3D modelling , you have to have a certain mindset. Also, it depends on the programs you are using, Carrara, blender , all have rather unconventional interfaces , in the limited amount I've done 3D max was the most straightforward, but for the vast majority of people ( I taught art media and dabbled with 3D stuff for around 20 years and saw just how many became good at 3D work ) , most people will give up as its not very easy to do at all. Probably 10% will show flair , but making a steam locomotive is beyond what the vast majority are capable of doing , if you find it easy, lucky you, but for most people it's hard slog and the complexities that one can encounter are off putting for most of us ( I can video /audio edit very well, but my head finds 3D hard to work with, I never progressed beyond the basics, just enough to get others going on doing simple tasks ) .

Yes that's true. I use blender, and for me, it takes about a 2 weeks of disciplined, focused work (2 hours a day) to create a finished, detailed steam locomotive. Texturing takes about 3 days. I have imported a few animated steam locomotives into trainz. After creating a config.txt pre-set, importation only takes maybe 2 days, but that's without scripting...

Regardless of how you make a 3D asset, configuring it correctly and optimally is a huge issue in the face of ever-changing rules, standards and features as Trainz evolves from one edition to the next.

The Wiki is of some help, but with its emphasis on the latest builds, it is less sympathetic to creating for older but still current versions. The way it's written is often so arcane that it is hard to understand.

What's needed is some config creation software that "knows" which tags are valid for any given edition and kind of asset and helps you write the config. AssetX largely did that, but it's life expectancy is limited given that nobody is updating it.

It's time for N3V to step up.