TSRE GenX - MAX OVERHAUL

[scottb613]

Hi Tony,

Thanks - just post the Eng file here - of the bad one - I’ll take a look when I am able.

Regards,
Scott

[GokuMK]

Thanks for the comments - yeah - for me [F] [Shift F] [Ctrl F] plus the new [TDB/RDB Terrain Brush] are game changers IMHO - I’m very happy with the mods - when I get back to route building - it will go so much faster with better quality output.

I did not improve terrain painting back then, because I treated it just as an temporary solution in waiting for true procedural terrain materials.
Texture painting has a major drawback, gigabytes of disk space used and long loading times.

[Tonya37]

Thanks Scott, but as I said it is no big deal, so please don't spend a lot of time on it. Another oddball - I cloned a route using Routeriter, (Command is duplicate) and it renamed all the files correctly. However TSRE5 did not recognise the .REF file unless I renamed it back to the original. Again very minor hiccup.

The more I get into GenX the more I like it.

Regards

Tony

[scottb613]

I did not improve terrain painting back then, because I treated it just as an temporary solution in waiting for true procedural terrain materials.
Texture painting has a major drawback, gigabytes of disk space used and long loading times.

Hi Piotr,

I completely agree about the limitations of texture painting. I’ve spent a great deal of time improving the terrain painting tools and workflow in GenX, and while the results are better than where TSRE started, the underlying approach still carries the same drawbacks you mentioned. Once a route begins generating hundreds of unique painted textures, disk usage, memory consumption, and load times all escalate quickly.

The recent terrain work has focused on two main areas. The first is improving the painting itself—higher resolutions, better brush controls, auto paint by tile, auto paint shorelines of water patches, and a much more efficient workflow. The second is terrain manipulation. I revised the [F] function for conforming terrain to track, roads, and objects, and added the new TDB/RDB Terrain Brush, which uses the track or road database as a guide to automatically raise, lower, level, or blend terrain along the selected alignment. It’s essentially a cleanup tool, and for route building it should provide a significant productivity boost.

I also agree that a more robust terrain material system would ultimately serve us better than continuing to generate large numbers of unique painted textures. Your original procedural terrain material concept still feels like the right long‑term direction.

Regards,
Scott

[scottb613]

Thanks Scott, but as I said it is no big deal, so please don't spend a lot of time on it. Another oddball - I cloned a route using Routeriter, (Command is duplicate) and it renamed all the files correctly. However TSRE5 did not recognise the .REF file unless I renamed it back to the original. Again very minor hiccup.

The more I get into GenX the more I like it.

Regards

Tony

Hi Tony,

No worries — I’ll take a look when I get a chance.

I appreciate the comments. Most of what I’ve done comes from hands‑on experience with TSRE, so I’m glad to hear the changes may be useful to others as well.

Regards,
Scott

[duke1234]

Useful doesn’t even begin to describe it

[scottb613]

Useful doesn’t even begin to describe it

Hi…

Thanks - it helps to know I am on the right track.
😉

Regards,
Scott

[scottb613]

Hi Folks,

TSRE GenX v0.9 running release work list
Updated 2026-07-31

APPLICATION PLATFORM AND COMPATIBILITY

• DONE - v0.9 is a major under-the-hood modernization of TSRE GenX. The complete application has moved from the aging Qt 5/qmake environment to Qt 6.11, CMake, a current 64-bit MinGW compiler, and updated supporting libraries. This removes dependence on obsolete development software, improves compatibility with current Windows systems, and gives future GenX work a maintainable foundation.
• DONE - The modern build and deployment system produces one consistent application package with its required runtime components. This makes releases easier to maintain and gives later graphics, texture, performance, and interface improvements a dependable base without repeatedly working around retired Qt 5 technology.
• DONE - The Route Editor, Consist Editor, Shape Viewer, Activity Path Editor, terrain tools, route-saving safeguards, settings, and MSTS/Open Rails file compatibility from v0.8 have been carried forward onto the new platform.
• DONE - v0.9 is a native 64-bit application for Windows 10 version 1809 or later and Windows 11. Retiring Windows 7 support allows GenX to use current Qt and compiler improvements instead of being restricted by obsolete operating-system requirements.

WINDOWS AND INTERFACE

• DONE - Application captions and editor windows now use stable modern Windows behavior. Popup placement remains tied to the active screen, and Object Selection dropdowns stay correctly anchored to their controls.
• DONE - Closing the Route Editor or returning to Main Load now dismisses every Route Editor helper and popup. Pinned helpers retain their saved positions for the next session but can no longer remain visible after the editor closes.
• DONE - Pressing Load without selecting a route now gives the distinct GenX error buzz instead of the normal button sound, making the rejected action immediately clear.
• DONE - Terrain Brush Settings fields now size correctly for their contents and UI scale, preventing clipped Size, Intensity, and Max Radius values.
• DONE - Water Helper's Above bed up/down arrows now adjust the water height in 0.25-meter increments.

ROUTE EDITOR AND ACTIVITY PATH EDITOR

• DONE - Camera Terrain Lock now also protects against direct vertical movement through the terrain. Free-camera mode continues to allow unrestricted movement when Terrain Lock is disabled.
• DONE - Restored the complete GenX interface sound set. Activity Path Editor point placement now uses the normal placement sound, while accepted and rejected switch actions retain their distinct feedback.
• DONE - Corrected Activity AI crossing horn-pattern handling so valid horn instructions are recognized reliably.

CONSIST EDITOR AND TEXTURES

• DONE - Restored DDS rolling-stock textures throughout the Consist Editor. DXT1, DXT3, DXT5, and common 24/32-bit DDS artwork now appears in both the selected-stock preview and full consist viewport instead of leaving models blank.
• DONE - Invalid or unreadable common image textures are now rejected cleanly rather than being treated as loaded zero-size images.

BUILD AND LOCAL RELEASE

• DONE - The approved Qt6 Debug build configured, compiled, and linked successfully. The executable copied to TSREvcTST exactly matches the build output at SHA-256 942D9FAED2B95D38D9CFBBD9790A1B8868215EF50A5ADAD260 C7004DEB13189B.
• DONE - The Qt5/Qt6 UTF-16 compatibility probe, DDS decoder probe, and route regression harness all pass. The DDS probe covers DXT1, DXT3, DXT5, uncompressed 24/32-bit data, transparency, alpha, malformed input, and truncation.
• DONE - Local Push v0.9 documentation was rebuilt from the complete v0.8 project record. The master HIGHLIGHTS and WORK DETAIL now include the v0.9 migration, testing, DDS restoration, system/software modernization, and complete source acknowledgments. The v0.9 release notes and BBS document contain only the present-release highlights.
• DONE - Built the v0.8-style local runtime at dist/tsre-scomod-v0.9 and dist/tsre-scomod-v0.9.zip. The package contains the approved executable, Qt6/MinGW/vcpkg runtime libraries, plugins, complete runtime assets, launcher helpers, and synchronized documents. ZIP SHA-256: 5F3D9C20FD2A0494B6C32D5CF72AFDD67F13ED1465BF89865C 64E3783445A25D.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

• Special thanks to Peter Grønbæk Andersen. His independent Qt6/CMake port supplied proven build, dependency, deployment, and DDS-loading references adapted for TSRE GenX v0.9.
• Special thanks to Piotr Gadecki (GokuMK), original author of TSRE5, who created the application and shared that invaluable work with the community. His core editor and texture systems are the foundation of GenX, and his later native DXT and compressed-texture work provided the independent reference for DXT1, DXT3, and DXT5 color and transparency behavior.
• Special thanks to Eric Olesen (eric-from-trainsim), whose continuing TSRE 8.006 development is the direct source line for GenX and whose 8.006n Qt6 work provided the primary source/API migration reference.
• TSRE GenX v0.9 combines Piotr's original application and texture foundation, Eric's continuing TSRE 8.x development, and Peter's independent Qt6/CMake and DDS-loading work.

As this was an internal software upgrade - no release issued.

Regards,
Scott

[scottb613]

Hi Folks,

Capture.jpg

Download:

https://github.com/scottb613/TSRE5-SCOmod

TSRE GenX v0.11 community open-testing release
Updated 2026-08-07

HIGHLIGHTS

• DONE - Updated the application, CMake, vcpkg, Windows resource, launcher, and public-document identity to v0.11.
• DONE - Removed the final retained qmake project inputs and prerequisite; CMake is the only maintained build path.
• FIXED - Corrected Unicode-whitespace ENG/WAG token parsing so affected community Steam locomotives appear in Consist Editor.
• FIXED - Corrected NVIDIA-style uncompressed DDS loading for 24-bit RGB and 32-bit RGBA rolling-stock textures while retaining DXT1, DXT3, and DXT5 support.
• FIXED - Fixed excessive memory growth when repeated ACE references resolve to DDS. Resolved textures now retain both names and reuse one decoded cache entry without overriding Image Upgrade, Image Substitution, direct DDS behavior, or route TERRTEX exclusions.
• FIXED - Corrected cached-texture reload bookkeeping so terrain reloads retain the intended texture ID instead of falling back to texture 0, and released short-lived decoder worker objects after loading.
• DONE - Retired Classic Flex and made NextGen S-C-S-C-S Auto-Flex the only Dynamic Track solver and editor-owned placement choice.
• DONE - Unified `Ruler (water)` and `Ruler (vegetation)` with movable terrain-snapped points, fifty-meter posts, orange cube handles, and Undo.
• DONE - Retained the forest-green vegetation planning ruler with its terrain-following magenta influence corridor fifty meters to each side, bounded mitered joins, and perpendicular end caps for future foliage-spline work.
• DONE - Added a magenta two-point `Ruler (grade)` with Average Grade in per-mille, 1-in-X, angle, and percent.
• DONE - Made water, vegetation, and grade mutually exclusive while leaving the ordinary Ruler independent, and improved cube selection with a larger invisible pick volume and direct encoded-point handling.
• DONE - Added optional F12 Instance Protection while leaving Shape Viewer unrestricted.
• FIXED - Hardened New Route high-precision latitude/longitude handling and stopped invalid coordinate conversion from crashing the editor.
• FIXED - Protected encoded object-picking colors during selection rendering in every maintained Fog and Bloom shader.
• DONE - Added flat-face lighting to original 3D marker cubes, directional pyramids, and Sound Source posts while preserving exact selection colors.
• DONE - Made original shaded 3D markers the fresh-install default while respecting existing New Symbols preferences.
• DONE - Added guarded GitHub release workflows for immutable source tags, draft releases, ZIP SHA-256 verification, and deliberate publication.
• DONE - Completed a compiler-warning audit without globally suppressing diagnostics; corrected actionable correctness, ownership, file-write, overload, deprecated-API, and control-flow findings.

VERIFICATION STATUS

• TESTED - The v0.11 Release build completed and all four configured automated tests passed: text encoding, DDS decoding, Unicode-whitespace parsing, and the route-regression harness.
• OPEN TESTING - Manual checks remain for the new rulers and difficult-angle picking, Auto-Flex/Open Rails behavior, selected rolling-stock textures and cache memory, instance handling, New Route coordinates, shaded marker selection, settings defaults, and representative route save/reload.

v0.11 is a work-in-progress release for community testing and discussion. Install it in a separate folder rather than over another TSRE copy.

Regards,
Scott

[scottb613]

Hi Folks,

I think I've addressed most of the reported issues.

One thing of note - I added "normals" shading to Piotr's original 3D Interactive Objects - they look MUCH better and you can tell which way they are pointing. F12 configures the option New Symbols are Eric's - unselect for Piotr's.

Multi-User Status

The inherited Multi-User editor code is present and compiles under Qt6, but it is not production-ready. The server currently fails during startup testing before opening its network listener, and the feature has no completed multi-client regression testing.

Several important areas remain unfinished, including reliable saving, edit-conflict handling, authentication feedback, error recovery, terrain synchronization, and connection cleanup. At present, simultaneous changes are essentially “last update wins,” which risks lost or inconsistent route edits.

Multi-User should therefore be considered an experimental legacy prototype. It requires dedicated stabilization, two-client testing, and route-integrity verification before it can be offered as an operational feature.

It's on the list, just not now.

Regards,
Scott

[yellowdog]

Hi, Scott
This latest GenX version appears to address my initial request, i.e. more than 1 instance is now possible. Thank you!!

However, it looks like it now suffers from the same challenge as Eric's current testing version: shapes displayed in the consist editor and shape viewer rotate uncontrollably fast when rotating with the depressed left-mouse button and just appear to flop over and die when rotating with the depressed right-mouse button. I pointed this out in Eric's testing thread and Goku responded:

That is a bug. QT6 has more changes under the hood than just lacking DDS QImage plugin.
It is related to new way of handling mouse events.

[scottb613]

Hi, Scott
This latest GenX version appears to address my initial request, i.e. more than 1 instance is now possible. Thank you!!

However, it looks like it now suffers from the same challenge as Eric's current testing version: shapes displayed in the consist editor and shape viewer rotate uncontrollably fast when rotating with the depressed left-mouse button and just appear to flop over and die when rotating with the depressed right-mouse button. I pointed this out in Eric's testing thread and Goku responded:

Hi...

What's you first name? I usually try to remember them - drawing a blank.

Yep - optional - if you turn it on in F12 - it will still allow only one open occurrence - Shape Viewer is not affected or included in the instance check.

Thank you for reporting this.

The F12 Mouse Speed setting does not come into play here. The Consist Editor and Shape Viewer use a separate rotation control.

I found that the viewer was mixing two different mouse-position scales. This normally goes unnoticed with Windows display scaling set to 100% - but at 125% - 150% - or higher it can turn a very small mouse movement into a very large rotation. That explains the rapid spinning with the left mouse button and why the right mouse button can make the model immediately fall onto its side. With my settings - I do not see an issue - the controls work smoothly.

I will correct the viewer so both mouse positions use the same scale. This will apply to both the Consist Editor and Shape Viewer.

Regards,
Scott

[yellowdog]

This normally goes unnoticed with Windows display scaling set to 100% - but at 125% - 150% - or higher it can turn a very small mouse movement into a very large rotation.

Regards,
Scott

Ah, thanks for the explanation! This was definitely the issue as I had my scaling set at 125% and would not have made that connection.

[scottb613]

Ah, thanks for the explanation! This was definitely the issue as I had my scaling set at 125% and would not have made that connection.

I have added native scaling into TSRE via F12 UI tab - I find "1.15" works best for me - anywhere from ".75" to "1.25" seems to work well. Default is set to "1.0". Scales both the panel sizes and fonts.

Regards,
Scott

[GokuMK]

These mouse issues come from changes in mouse event handling. Older QT used int, new QT uses floats. It's now independent of pixel space or something like that.
Scaling alone won't fix it, it may help, but it will still work janky.