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MSTS Locomotive Design

Improved 40ft Box Car

Started by Main Lines May 27, 2003 27 posts 8 min read

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Main LinesCharter Member · 258 postsMay 27, 2003 6:40 PM

An upgraded 40ft box car design is currently being tested in the California desert. Improved 40ft Box Car – image 1 Larry

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RE: Improved 40ft Box Car, CPR_Malice_96th, May-27-03, 02:48 PM, (1) RE: Improved 40ft Box Car, Main Lines, May-27-03, 03:05 PM, (2) RE: Improved 40ft Box Car, yellowdog, May-27-03, 04:16 PM, (3) RE: Improved 40ft Box Car, cn_bayview, May-27-03, 04:36 PM, (4) RE: Improved 40ft Box Car, WestSlopeRRfan, May-27-03, 09:18 PM, (5) RE: Improved 40ft Box Car, muskokaandtahoe, May-27-03, 11:47 PM, (6) RE: Improved 40ft Box Car, Main Lines, May-28-03, 01:02 PM, (7) RE: Improved 40ft Box Car, edwardk, May-29-03, 02:05 AM, (8) RE: Improved 40ft Box Car, Main Lines, May-29-03, 10:42 AM, (9) RE: Improved 40ft Box Car, MRRextreme, May-29-03, 01:40 PM, (10) RE: Improved 40ft Box Car, Main Lines, May-29-03, 03:16 PM, (11) RE: Improved 40ft Box Car, MRRextreme, May-29-03, 08:51 PM, (12) RE: Improved 40ft Box Car, Main Lines, May-30-03, 10:07 AM, (14) RE: Improved 40ft Box Car, mjs2101, May-30-03, 00:20 AM, (13) RE: Improved 40ft Box Car, Main Lines, May-30-03, 10:16 AM, (15) RE: Improved 40ft Box Car, Main Lines, Jun-13-03, 01:04 AM, (16) RE: Improved 40ft Box Car, Hack, Jun-13-03, 11:14 AM, (17) RE: Improved 40ft Box Car, Main Lines, Jun-13-03, 12:16 PM, (18) RE: Improved 40ft Box Car, Main Lines, Jun-16-03, 07:53 PM, (19) RE: Improved 40ft Box Car, CSXALine, Jun-17-03, 03:32 PM, (20) RE: Improved 40ft Box Car, WestSlopeRRfan, Jun-17-03, 08:09 PM, (21) RE: Improved 40ft Box Car, Main Lines, Jun-20-03, 03:18 PM, (22) RE: Improved 40ft Box Car, yellowdog, Jun-20-03, 03:30 PM, (23) RE: Improved 40ft Box Car, CSXALine, Jun-20-03, 07:09 PM, (24) RE: Improved 40ft Box Car, jfroth1, Jun-20-03, 08:57 PM, (25) RE: Improved 40ft Box Car, Main Lines, Jun-21-03, 06:29 PM, (26)

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CPR_Malice_96thCharter Member · 2714 postsMay 27, 2003 6:48 PM

RE: Improved 40ft Box Car

Good Bye Framerates !!Hello need of a new processor as the 1.4 will seize !!Looks great though !!LaterTim Kent
96th_Malice
" Power for You " Improved 40ft Box Car – image 3

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Main LinesCharter Member · 258 postsMay 27, 2003 7:05 PM

RE: Improved 40ft Box Car

Current poly count is about 2300. My goal is to make it reasonably well behaved with agressive LOD reductions. If not, I guess it will be my first MSTS2 model.

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yellowdogCharter Member · 1102 postsMay 27, 2003 8:16 PM

RE: Improved 40ft Box Car

Needs some work on the bounding box!

---------Clayton--------- Improved 40ft Box Car – image 5

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cn_bayviewCharter Member · 1194 postsMay 27, 2003 8:36 PM

RE: Improved 40ft Box Car

VERY NICE!
I dont care how many polys!
Its amazing!
Keep up the great work.

Rob.
Mile 21.0 CN Oakville Sub.

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WestSlopeRRfanCharter Member · 746 postsMay 28, 2003 1:18 AM

RE: Improved 40ft Box Car

Very nice Larry!!Remember that processors will always get faster so keep up the highly detailed models. Forever a fanNick

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muskokaandtahoeMember since Apr-8-03 · 225 postsMay 28, 2003 3:47 AM

RE: Improved 40ft Box Car

Looks nice. What is it supposed to be when finished? And what are you using as a reference?If you get concerned over the poly count, your sill steps could be a solid piece with the gap provided by an alpha channel transparency in your texture. Ditto for the grabs at all locations.Dave Nelson Improved 40ft Box Car – image 9 Aug 1950

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Main LinesCharter Member · 258 postsMay 28, 2003 5:02 PM

RE: Improved 40ft Box Car

The car is based on plans for a late 1940s/early 1950s Pullman Standard 40ft PS-1 box car. I am using alpha on the end ladders and grabs but find that using alpha on simple shapes doesn't buy you much if extra polys are then added to represent depth.Larry

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edwardkCharter Member · 201 postsMay 29, 2003 6:05 AM

RE: Improved 40ft Box Car

Larry,Why don't you create the high poly model for MSTS2 and keep the low poly model for what we have now. If MSTS2 is that much more efficient than we could very well have a home for all those high poly count models that people work so hard to trim down.Edward K.

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Main LinesCharter Member · 258 postsMay 29, 2003 2:42 PM

RE: Improved 40ft Box Car

Edward,That's a good idea, but I would think that unless MSTS2 has some sort of automatic LOD generation built in , any manual poly reduction would benefit MSTS2 as well.Larry

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MRRextremeCharter Member · 403 postsMay 29, 2003 5:40 PM

RE: Improved 40ft Box Car

<<unless MSTS2 has some sort of automatic LOD generation>>
I don't understand what you are talking about. MSTS1 has LOD capability.

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Main LinesCharter Member · 258 postsMay 29, 2003 7:16 PM

RE: Improved 40ft Box Car

I am talking about a game engine that generates the reduced level of detail versions of a object that it needs rather than requiring the model maker to provide them.Larry

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MRRextremeCharter Member · 403 postsMay 30, 2003 12:51 AM

RE: Improved 40ft Box Car

<<game engine that generates the reduced level of detail versions of a object >>
Sounds like a heavy use of CPU. Right now the sim just checks a distance level for a given object and makes a single decision as to whether to display the rest of the detail. A dynamic LOD would have to continuously study the detail of the objects by judging the size of the detail relative to the rest of the object. This seems fine in a first person shooter game with very few objects or game where there are alot of objects but the environment never changes. MSTS has lots of objects and the environment constantly changes.
BTW I did not mention, I do like like your freight car. I am attempting a similar effort on a 50' box car.

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Main LinesCharter Member · 258 postsMay 30, 2003 2:07 PM

RE: Improved 40ft Box Car

Thanks and looking forward to seeing what you come up with. Since we can't model every detail it's always interesting to see what different people choose to do.Larry

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mjs2101Charter Member · 290 postsMay 30, 2003 4:20 AM

RE: Improved 40ft Box Car

Excellent looking car! On the airhoses, are you doing them so they appear to be connected to the next car? You could always do it so that there are 2 airhoses, one as if connect and one disconnected, and simply have them alpha'd so that one could choose how it should be. Not sure how many poly's that would add, but would be interesting to see.
If I may ask, how many poly's does the airhose have?
Keep up the good work!Mykel

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Main LinesCharter Member · 258 postsMay 30, 2003 2:16 PM

RE: Improved 40ft Box Car

Thank you. The current air hoses consume 154 polygons and are supposed to represent the disconnected state. I thought about making them connected but decided that since cars move relative to each other so much in MSTS they would rarely look connected anyway.Larry

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Main LinesCharter Member · 258 postsJun 13, 2003 5:04 AM

RE: Improved 40ft Box Car

Making it slowly through the paint shop: Improved 40ft Box Car – image 10 Larry

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HackCharter Member · 2492 postsJun 13, 2003 3:14 PM

RE: Improved 40ft Box Car

Fantastic work, Larry! Nice - nice - nice. Cheers!
Marc - 3DTrains
http://www.3dtrains.com Pro Series SuperPacks

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Main LinesCharter Member · 258 postsJun 13, 2003 4:16 PM

RE: Improved 40ft Box Car

Thanks Marc! When I start these things I forget that it always takes me much longer to texture than to draw a model.Larry

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Main LinesCharter Member · 258 postsJun 16, 2003 11:53 PM

RE: Improved 40ft Box Car

A little more progress: Improved 40ft Box Car – image 12

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CSXALineCharter Member · 1083 postsJun 17, 2003 7:32 PM

RE: Improved 40ft Box Car

Droooli can see we will have to redo our SCL 40 FootersJason Webb
Http://www.scl-aline.com Improved 40ft Box Car – image 14

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WestSlopeRRfanCharter Member · 746 postsJun 18, 2003 12:09 AM

RE: Improved 40ft Box Car

Nice choice with WP!! Its looks even better painted.Nick

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Main LinesCharter Member · 258 postsJun 20, 2003 7:18 PM

RE: Improved 40ft Box Car

Thanks for the encouragement. Here is an in-game shot that shows the effect of the alpha transparency. Improved 40ft Box Car – image 16 Larry

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yellowdogCharter Member · 1102 postsJun 20, 2003 7:30 PM

RE: Improved 40ft Box Car

Dy-no-MITE!

---------Clayton--------- Improved 40ft Box Car – image 18

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CSXALineCharter Member · 1083 postsJun 20, 2003 11:09 PM

RE: Improved 40ft Box Car

Ohhh Muh GawdJason Webb
Http://www.scl-aline.com Improved 40ft Box Car – image 20

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jfroth1Charter Member · 874 postsJun 21, 2003 12:57 AM

RE: Improved 40ft Box Car

Hi Larry,
Once again you've raised the bar. Superlative!
Thanks again to you for all your efforts...

John Roth

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Main LinesCharter Member · 258 postsJun 21, 2003 10:29 PM

RE: Improved 40ft Box Car

Thanks everyone! One last shot to show the simulated underframe detail. Now to create some LODs so it doesn't kill everyones frame rates. Improved 40ft Box Car – image 22 Larry

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