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The B&B gang has erected all of the tower parts and has them laying in a nearby field, waiting for the heavy lift equipment.One of the consultants on the job, however, has suggested that a method of reducing the weight of the structure may work to provide greater longevity, and improving something called "frame rate". The B&B foreman does not have a clue what the consultant is talking about and figures that he had had too much of the local brew.Translation: one of our colleagues is working on reducing the polygon count of this structure (which would otherwise be frightening, as would Boone Creek, further down the line) and when his suggestions come through, they will be incorporated. His bridge works sounds like "SRV".On a large structure like this, it is much easier to assemble it as a unit, as much as possible, in TSM, and then export it to MSTS. Then the tangent portion can be placed very accurately, and only 1 tower, and a spring bent will have to be positioned seperately to fit the curve at the north end. But a maximum polygon count of about 3,600 must be adhered to. Evidently, it is not necessary to texture hidden surfaces like where pieces but against each other etc.J. H. Sullivan, P.E. (retired)
Two of the modified towers assembled and waiting to be painted.The mod towers feature hollow main column and reduced poly braces. hidden surfaces are eliminated. This resulted in a 25% reduction in the poly count and gave a more delicate look to the structure.Actually, Jerry is using the silver texture of SRV_Bridge4 where mine defaults to rusty brown.SRV Ron
The original tower was 1100. The mod tower 888. The bent is 252 polys.The main columns and the lattace cross braces are 8 poly tubes. That is, they have inside and outside surfaces so you can see the inside and outside. ( 4 poly tubes can be used for solid columns.) The diagonals are 6 poly I beams. The bent braces are pairs of 2 poly rods. The top girder is a 6 poly boxEach pier is a 6 poly box.The simplest tower could be done as a 6 poly box. But then, they would look as crappy as the Two Medicine Bridge in the default Moria Pass.SRV Ron
