Route Upload Specifications

[landnrailroader]

Are we still using a more or less formal framework to describe routes that are being uploaded, either as complete or incomplete. I don't find it anywhere but it is probably like a coiled snake - ready to strike me anytime. I will soon be uploading a new Knoxville Division route which will be about 75% detailed but no mileposts or signals or other interactives although I will have markers for those items. It will include the route of the ARCO unit coal train that operated from late in 1967 to 1994, and the last active coal mine in Tennessee which shut down in 2019. It also includes the Knoxville to Middlesboro line which has been bought by R.J.Corman as well as Clinton, TN to Clairfield, TN, also bought by Corman. Sometime after that, there will be the Big Sandy Sub. One issue I have is that I can get TSM to run on my Win-7 machiine and create objects but then those do not appear in ORTS. I plan to do my TSM efforts on my ancient XP machine and I have several bridges to do.

I keep seeing comments about something called "Blender". Is it freeware and if so where do you get it?

J. H. Sullivan (landnrailroader)

[rdayt]

https://www.blender.org/

Randy

[charland]

Blender is free but I don't think it will work on your XP machine... or my Windows 7 machine for that matter. Blender is just for people who can't run TSM! :-)

I did make a page in the Route Specification forum for the last route I posted. When it comes to posting frame rates Open Rails has so many variants that unless you post what ever setting you used nobody will get the same frame rates.

Are you able to run Open Rails in XP?

Paul :-)

[eric]

Hello from Nemo...

I still believe the Route Spec forum serves a purpose. I wish more people would use it to more completely describe their routes and any dependencies.

I am going to be rolling out a new catalog classification in a couple of weeks, where we will have categories and buckets for routes. Routes which are complete obviously will be listed as complete, routes in progress as well as routes which are track only will have their own bucket.

That way, anyone searching for a route will be able to see what state it is in, and if somebody really wants to look just for completed routes, they can search based just on that classification.

Likewise, diesels will have a major category of diesels, but we will have buckets for first generation, second generation, and modern diesels. The current early hood and cab units will be moved into the first generation bucket. Items like a GP30 thru GP50 and SD40 thru SD60 will be moved into the second generation bucket.


Just for fun, here's a different type of Route building we've been working on today and yesterday....

https://youtube.com/shorts/sER9MuLReEs?si=scnVIzZF2C6bhwjD

[superheatedsteam]

You can still download older versions of Blender that work on older operating systems. For Windows XP that will be version 2.76.

https://www.blender.org/download/requirements/

If you go to youtube and search for “blender 2.76 tutorials” there are many to choose from. You will get an idea of how to use it and if it is something you wish to persist with. Transitioning to Blender from a modelling program that you have been using for years will take time and effort to break the muscle memory. Because you know what a vertex, edge and face are, it's just a matter of learning how a user interface in a different program does those same things. Expect a period of frustration and unproductive work. For me it was a couple of months before I was sure I had made the right decision for me, but I don't regret a moment of it.

Blender is better suited for those who a new to 3D modelling due to the wealth of learning resources available for it. It is also a good option for existing 3D modellers who find that their existing 3D software does not meet their requirements.

[eric]

Questions for Jerry:

1) are you planning to build scenery objects with animations

2) did you use CAD software before? The complexity of Blender reminds me of AutoCad in some ways.

It's only needed if you don't have a working TSM or Sketchup installation for non-animated structures.

Learning Blender has some challenges, but if you've ever used AutoCad, the concepts might be easier to grasp, with one major difference: everything you create is a 3D object vs a 2D drawing. I find it challenging to create a line drawing and make it 3D.

[landnrailroader]

I was just more curious than anything since I have seen a lot of comments about it. AutoCad? I never used it, the system I managed for 20 years used Intergraph IGDS software which ran on a host machine with several terminals. Then the last few years I had Microstation with copies on up to 25 PCs and a license pool on a server. Microstation is far superior and much easier to use than AutoCad and many think AutoCad is less expensive and it was, but you paid the difference in productivity. TSM runs fine on my Win-10 machine but I could not get MSTS to run on it so for whatever reason, objects created do not crash ORTS but do not display either. So I do my creations on the XP machine and then take them to the Win-10 machine. A bit cumbersome but it works.

Jerry