Loco Setup What Do I Need To Make A Loco?

What are all the things necessary for getting a loco running? I am trying to make my first loco, and I followed this tutorial, and I got my model in the editor from blender. Still, How do I get my engine with like a throttle and stuff in it? And, how do I get trucks and couplers?

Thanks, Ron

 

Its super complex, the documentation isn't all there yet.

 

It is indeed very complicated especially if you are starting from scratch rather than making a variant of an existing loco..
You will need all of the following

1. Skeletal Mesh for Vehicle Exterior (Blender model). This will need bones for all animated parts (wheels, axles, brake rigging, doors, windows and so on.) To suit Unreal it also has to be a single object with vertex groups linked to the various bones.
It will also need animations for the moving parts other than the wheels (e.g. Brakes on or off)

2. Skeletal Mesh for Cab / Interior. Blender model similar to the above with bones for all working control levers.
If your model is based on an existing DTG loco you may be able to use their cab.

3. Rail Vehicle View (RVV) – this is a special TSW Blueprint which controls how the loco appears in the game. It links the two skeletal meshes (interior and exterior) and adds other features such as couplings, coupling hoses, driver position, steps up and down etc. etc. and the Animation Blueprint. It also refers to the RVM.
This is a very complex blueprint and I suggest you make a child blueprint of a similar DTG one to get an idea of how it is put together.
If you have made something very similar to an existing DTG loco and can use the existing cab you can substitute your exterior model for the DTG one in this child blueprint. I have done this and the loco works in the Editor.

4. Rail Vehicle Model (RVM) – this is another special blueprint which controls the interactions of the loco in the game. There is no mesh attached to it so it is not visible itself but it references the RVV. It includes various blueprints for the controls in the cab and interacts with the Simugraph simulation. I believe the Simugraph inputs (reverser setting, throttle setting etc. are set up here.)

Again, you can use an existing RVM and substitute your RVV. If the loco is similar it may work in the editor.

5. Simugraph (Simulation Asset) – this is the asset which defines the behaviour of the locomotive in game. At present this is still a “mystery” area and although you can create your own Simugraph I don’t know if anybody has managed to get one working. My loco works with a DTG Simugraph except for the wheel animations.

6.Animation Blueprint – this controls the rotation of the wheels and other animations (e.g brakes applying) to match the simulation. As Animation Blueprints in Unreal are linked to specific skeletons I haven’t yet got this working. If you use an existing blueprint the animations will be mapped to the original skeleton and the mesh may be distorted if there are differences in size or location of the wheels etc.

7. Rail Vehicle Definition (RVD) this is a basic loco data asset which stores overall size, type of propulsion, whether it needs a tender, whether it can be controlled from another vehicle etc, etc..
You need this to be able to create a train formation which includes your loco. This allows the game to place your loco on the track and be used in a scenario.

All the comments about my loco refer to using the loco in Play in Editor mode. it is possible that using child blueprints of DTG assets or similar modifications may prevent the loco from being cooked and put into the game.

Apologies if I have missed some things out but I hope this helps give you an idea of where to start.

Good luck with your project !!

 

Ok, great. Thanks for all this information. I did read about variations, what exactly are those?
With the RVV, to make a child, do I just copy an existing one out of one of the folders for the locos in the editor?
Ron

 

What I meant by a variant is a model of a loco that is very similar to an existing one but with slight "external" changes.

To make a child of the RVV you find the RVV for the loco you want in the editor and then right click on it (to get options menu) and choose "Make Child Blueprint". The Editor will then make a new blueprint with the name "RVV-locoXXX -Child".

You can change the name and move this file to your own folder. Then you can open it (double click) and study or edit the blueprint. The child is not simply a copy of the original but an editable version which "inherits" functions and properties from the parent.

Good luck !

 

Cool, thanks very much for all this information!

 

Hey, thanks so much for all this information. Its INSAINLY helpful, especially the stuff about the RVV. Anyway, how do I add a collision model to my engine, so I can walk around on it and stuff? Thanks.

 

You've got me there ! I haven't sorted the collisions for my loco model yet.
For Static Meshes (buildings etc.) you can either add boxes in Blender (labelled UCX_xxx) or edit the Static Mesh in Unreal Editor and create and size new collision boxes there.

This doesn't work with Skeletal Meshes and after a quick test I think you have to add the collisions to the Physics Asset associated with your skeletal mesh.
Open that Physics Asset in the editor and find the Collision section on the Right Hand Side.
There you can (I think !) add new collision shapes (boxes etc.) and adjust the size and position of those boxes.



Hopefully this will work. You can let me know how you get on as this will help me when I come to sort out collisions on my own loco.
At the moment I'm finishing detail modelling and texturing. (See my GWR Pannier Tank Loco thread)

 

Thank you for the explanation.
I'll try to follow your list and see if I can import a working rollingstock.

I hadn't login for the past 16 months and still this type of information need to be scraped together with a trial and error approach.
I do that enough every day at work...