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You are absolutely correct, the changes that made so many good trees look utterly abysmal were really retrograde, I've had to use hemlocks for my latest route as there are few good spruces , most are far too large and there's so much variety in the shapes that are used to portray aspens one might think they are completely different species. We now have the bizarre situation of multiples of some assets such as cars with hundreds of vAriations , which are ultra realistic , surrounded by trees that are either semi transparent or that often look like cartoons , often the seasonal effects look ultra gaudy. NV3 announced they have no intention of commissioning any new trees , really, we as a community need to do something about replacing those lost trees, if I had the modelling skills I'd do it myself but there seems no cheap software exists that allows easy creation of new items.I agree with John above for most deciduous trees. Unfortunately, I find most conifers to be abysmal. There is not a Douglas-fir or Ponderosa Pine in the bunch that looks like a real one, for the most part they look like they went through a hurricane, got struck by lightning, or are dying of old age. Most of the spruce and hemlock seem to be suffering from top kill. Western larch is not seasonal at this point. Even the conifers that have been updated are no better, but most are older than version 3.5. I try to work on Pacific Northwest US routes, and the best routes seem to try to use hemlocks to stand in for most, or they are still using billboard trees like BN Oasis. Overall, I find it frustrating and pathetic to try to find something suitable.
I agree with you guys on the conifers. I have yet to find anything that doesn't look like it was hit by the bark borers and fungus that has swept the western spruce and hemlocks. I saw this out in Glacier National Park, and I was heartbroken. We initially thought the trees were burnt from a lightning strike but as we got closer the trees were like dead soldiers with bare drooping bows. I have pics, but that would be out of scope for this topic.
Not correct, N3V licensed the SpeedTree engine and modeller software from IDV. Initially the stock SpeedTrees that came with the package were used, however N3V have since created their own trees as well as have some creators whom N3V obtained licences for them to use the software from IDV, a few creators obtained it themselves.
Like all software SpeedTree does have it's limitations so you are never going to get a perfect tree, however it's better than most of the competition. I have the old v5 modeller than came with the Unreal Editor, no use for the version we have now though and it's a horrendous thing to use anyway and only licensed for use in Unreal.
As for Trees forget looking for Trees by name as they often don't look correct, just go by appearance, not forgetting of course that same "name" trees are often actually different in various parts of the world as well to add to the confusion.
There are probably just a handful of tree experts using Trainz that know that a particular tree is not correct in the game compared to those that don't know, but I am one that believes that it doesn't matter what a tree is named, as long as it looks OK in game then that will do for me.
The experts will have a great time when they see what trees I have used in my DHR route update, I have used species that would never be found in Nepal, but because the tree looks 'near enough' to a native species then it is used.
After all, this is not a botany simulator, it is a Train Simulator.
Anyway, there are far more worrying things in life than worrying about trees in a 3D world.
Take care,
Graham