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"Stranger in a strange land"

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Ranulf (64 posts)
Nov-25-01, 06:28 AM (EST) "Stranger in a strange land" Ok can someone help me out I'm way out of my area here butI would like to have a crack at a small route but I have no idea how to start.. Can anyone point me in a direction to start a track and don't say buy a book because I don't think I should have to, not only that I can't be bothered just for one little Project (Blah, Blah, Blah...)
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Subject Author Message Date ID RE: Stranger in a strange land akochan Nov-25-01 1 RE: Stranger in a strange land Ranulf Nov-25-01 2 RE: Stranger in a strange land akochan Nov-25-01 3 RE: Stranger in a strange land Ranulf Nov-25-01 4 RE: Stranger in a strange land crow357 Nov-25-01 5 RE: Stranger in a strange land Ranulf Nov-25-01 6 RE: Stranger in a strange land crow357 Nov-25-01 7 RE: Stranger in a strange land Ranulf Nov-25-01 8 RE: Stranger in a strange land akochan Nov-26-01 9 RE: Stranger in a strange land Ranulf Nov-26-01 10 RE: Stranger in a strange land crow357 Nov-26-01 11 RE: Stranger in a strange land Ranulf Nov-26-01 12 RE: Stranger in a strange land crow357 Nov-26-01 13 RE: Stranger in a strange land akochan Nov-26-01 14 RE: Stranger in a strange land LawrenceKellie Nov-26-01 15

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akochan (108 posts)
Nov-25-01, 09:08 AM (EST) 1. "RE: Stranger in a strange land" Well, the route editor book (only available on site for DL i think, it's certainly not in any stores) is purportedly very useful if for nothing else that it has diagrams of all those funky dynamic track lengths you need to make any sort of real intersections... but...You could try reading first the Editor's Help files and Tech Docs from the CD then read /every/ single post ever made on this forum. That will also give you the exact same info.-Andy
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Ranulf (64 posts)
Nov-25-01, 09:47 AM (EST) 2. "RE: Stranger in a strange land" ok I'll try asking again a bit clearerwhat is the first step to get a clean route to start building on Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
akochan (108 posts)
Nov-25-01, 09:55 AM (EST) 3. "RE: Stranger in a strange land" Again... "You could try reading first the Editor's Help files and Tech Docs from the CD then read /every/ single post ever made on this forum."That is the first step and will tell you what to do next.-Andy
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Ranulf (64 posts)
Nov-25-01, 10:02 AM (EST) 4. "RE: Stranger in a strange land" I think I'll forget it then I don't have time to do thatShame reallyOh well happy Building Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
crow357 (84 posts)
Nov-25-01, 01:02 PM (EST) 5. "RE: Stranger in a strange land" Ranulf, you have to do alot of reading and experimenting to create a route. You can't just point and click on your screen and, boom, have a route. I've spent several months learning all the tools needed and just yesterday, I finally finished DEM'ing my route. Now I'm laying track and a whole new level of learning is happening.Art
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Ranulf (64 posts)
Nov-25-01, 02:58 PM (EST) 6. "RE: Stranger in a strange land" No No No...I only what to know what you do before starting to build , How do you get a "New" area to start Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
crow357 (84 posts)
Nov-25-01, 04:34 PM (EST) 7. "RE: Stranger in a strange land" Ok, here's what you do:TO CREATE A NEW ROUTECreating a new route involves two procedures using the Route Geometry Extractor:
1. Specify a name and some basic features for the new route.
2. Specify the exact terrain area you want the route to occupy.Specifying route name, features, and speed limits1. Launch the Route Geometry Extractor.The Route Geometry Extractor window opens.2. Click File, then click New Route.This displays the Create New Route dialog box.3. Enter the Route Name:· In the Route name field, type the new route’s name and description (such as “Scenic Route through the Wilds of Montana”).If you wish, you can click the Edit description button, type a route description, then click OK.
This name will appear in the list of routes when you run Train Simulator.· In the Directory name field, type a short name (such as “Big Sky1”). To make Train Simulator routes more self-contained and easier to share with others, each route has its own directory of required files (including configuration files, terrain, shapes, textures, etc.). This directory name is the new route’s unique identifier, and the title of the route information folder that is generated when you create a new route.4. Route Features:· Click the Electrified Track check box if you want to run an electric locomotive on the new route. If you select this check box you can specify a height in meters for the electrified cable in the Electrified cable height in meters field, or use the default value already entered.· In the Terrain detail scaling factor field you can increase or decrease the amount of terrain detail the route will display, or you can use the default value already entered there.5. Route speed limits:You can specify new limits or accept the default values already there:· In the Route restricted speed limit text box, accept the default value of 15 mph, or select the text and type in a different value.· In the Route maximum speed limit text box, accept the default value of 80 mph, or select the text and type in a different value.6. Click OK.The Route Geometry Extractor creates a file directory structure for the new route on your hard disk, displays a message that the new route has been created, and shows the new directory’s location on your hard disk.7. Click OK.If the OK button is grayed out, make sure you have entered a name and directory. There may be a delay while the new route template files are copied over.
TIP: You can edit any of the values you have specified for the route (except for its folder name) at any time after you have saved the route as you originally defined it (see Editing Route Values).Specifying the terrain area1. Click File, then click Select Route.This displays the Select Route dialog box, with a drop-down list box of available routes.2. In the Route list box, click the route name you just created, then click OK.
3. Click File, then click New Quad-Tree.The Route’s Directory name and “Normal Terrain” appear on the left of the status bar. Nothing else appears, since the quad-tree is still blank. The Quad-tree is the blank sheet on which the RGE tool lays out a grid of potential terrain tile positions.4. Right-click in the desired region on the map to display the context menu, then click Zoom Region
. Repeat this step to zoom in further. If you need to zoom in still more, right-click in the region, then click Zoom Window.
Use Zoom Window as needed to zoom in to the desired degree. If you have a vector file for the region, you will see red lines indicating existing real-world rail routes.
TIP: To avoid losing the selected region as you zoom, note the latitude and longitude displayed on the status bar at the bottom of the screen as you move the cursor around the screen. When you zoom in, you can relocate the region by going to the same latitude and longitude.5. Drag a rectangle around the section of the map you want the route to occupy.
Right-click inside the selected area, then click Add All Selection Tiles.This creates an empty grid of black squares over the selected region. The smallest squares represent potential two-kilometer terrain tiles. You can repeat this selection procedure to increase the area covered by these grid squares. It doesn’t matter if you select a larger than required area at this point: any extraneous grid squares will be removed later.6. To select the specific squares that you want to export as terrain tiles, zoom in as needed, then drag a rectangle around the region they occupy.· Right-click inside the selected region, then click Toggle Populated State.The black squares you selected become blue. Remember that you may have to repeat this process a few times to get precisely the desired selection.
TIP: You can also select tiles one at a time by right-clicking a tile, then clicking Toggle Populated State. You can ensure that no region is selected by clicking anywhere on the map. The term “populated state” refers to whether you have selected a terrain tile to be created at the specified position. Whether you have selected a single tile or a region, clicking Toggle Populated State a second time deselects the tile or region.7. Click Edit, then click Minimize quad-tree.· When you see the message “This will remove empty Quad-tree nodes. Continue?” click Yes.This reduces the route file to its bare essentials to improve performance.8. Click File, then click Save Quad-tree.
9. Click Edit, then click Generate Flagged Tiles.
This displays a message that indicates the number of tiles to be generated and the number of tiles flagged, then asks if you want to generate these tiles; click Yes.In the status bar at the bottom of the screen you will see that the Route Geometry Extractor is creating the tiles one by one.10. Right-click one of the blue tiles to show where you want the route to begin, then click Route Editor Start Tile.When you exit the Route Geometry Extractor, you will need to build and populate your new route.To build and populate the new route1. Launch Train Simulator Editors and Tools. Note: The newly created or edited route will not appear in the list of routes available for editing. To find the new route:2. Exit from Editors and Tools.
3. Re-launch Editors and Tools.
4. Click Route Editor.The Select a Route dialog box appears.5. Open the drop-down list.The new route appears in the list of routes. Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Ranulf (64 posts)
Nov-25-01, 10:01 PM (EST) 8. "RE: Stranger in a strange land" Uh WOW thank I think I'll save all that and read though it slowly.Thanks again Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
akochan (108 posts)
Nov-26-01, 09:37 AM (EST) 9. "RE: Stranger in a strange land" Or you could just read it in the editor's help file...Try reading it and the tech doc's and the forum here. Yes, it's time consuming. Yes, it's frustrating. It's also the only way to figure out the editor unless you buy Michael Vone's book which costs money (which after buying the game few of us have )-Andy
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Ranulf (64 posts)
Nov-26-01, 03:27 PM (EST) 10. "RE: Stranger in a strange land" uh yeah that was a interesting cut and paste job , but thanks all the same, I really don't have that much time to do this at them moment so thats for the info even though it was the help file.oh and yes I do OWN the game Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
crow357 (84 posts)
Nov-26-01, 04:13 PM (EST) 11. "RE: Stranger in a strange land" Well, I started typing out the instructions on how to start a route and said, "Hey wait, that's really close to the help file", so I just copied and pasted it in. Saved myself a whole lot of typing and you got the instructions that you asked for. Sorry. It took me all of 5 minutes to sit through and follow those steps and I had a test route created. Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Ranulf (64 posts)
Nov-26-01, 04:39 PM (EST) 12. "RE: Stranger in a strange land" Thanks anyway I don't know what I'm doing but it all workedAs I seem to have my own little thread here I might as use it.I've come across a annoying thing, the place I want to build is right on the border of the map regions it couldn't be more on the border if it tryed can you only zoom to regions on that map. Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
crow357 (84 posts)
Nov-26-01, 07:44 PM (EST) 13. "RE: Stranger in a strange land" I ran into that on a test route. I think all you have to do is create a new quad tree in the other region. Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
akochan (108 posts)
Nov-26-01, 08:32 PM (EST) 14. "RE: Stranger in a strange land" Even if you can't see both quad trees at the same time (they're in different regions) you can still use both. Just make the two quad trees, and add both sets of tiles.Just so you know, the terrain will all be flat and featureless so unless you need the proper lat/long coordinates for markers for a real-life route, don't bother. Just make the shape you want for the route anywhere on the map; doesn't matter if it's in the ocean even. You will get the same flat terrain everywhere on the maps. The only time you need exact matches is if you're using marker files or DEM data to make real life terrain after the terrain tiles have been generated.-Andy
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LawrenceKellie (729 posts)
Nov-26-01, 10:12 PM (EST) 15. "RE: Stranger in a strange land" Ranulf, Crow357, and Akochan.It sounds like you are making more work for yourselves.See the thread at:http://www.train-sim.com/dcforum/DCForumID6/2334.htmlMy detailed instructions on this point.Lawrence Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

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