Hi everyone, I believe there are people who are interested in the editor but feel they lack the expertise to give it a try. To be honest, before the TSW4 Editor was released, I never even considered game development myself, and I had only a brief exposure to computer science in school. I have no experience with Unreal Engine or any similar editors. So, I thought I'd share my journey as a complete beginner to provide some insight into what you can expect if you're thinking about trying it out but are uncertain. There are already excellent tutorials in these forums that I will probably reference a lot, but I still want to experiment on my own and perhaps encounter challenges that other inexperienced individuals like me might face but which may seem obvious to others. Let's see what happens. The Route: I've decided to recreate the "Röhrtalbahn," a privately-owned branch line in the rural Sauerland region of western Germany. I chose this route because I grew up there and always wondered where the tracks led. It was out of service for a significant portion of my life and only recently began serving some freight trains again. However, the history of this route is pretty rich. Here's a brief overview: Construction began in 1898 and was completed in 1900, when the "Kleinbahn Neheim-Hüsten - Sundern" was inaugurated. This 14 km single-track line had eight stations and quickly became a vital part of public transportation into the heart of the Sauerland. It also played a significant role in the creation of one of Germany's largest dam lakes. In the 1970s, passenger services were replaced by buses on the roads, and major freight services ceased after 2004. The name "Röhrtalbahn" comes from its location: "Röhr" is the name of the river, and "Tal" means valley in German, while "Bahn" translates to railway. The Challenge: Over time, this railway line underwent many changes, not only in terms of timetables but also in construction. During the 1960s and 70s, the Neheim-Hüsten station, where the branch meets the main line, underwent at least three documented track plan changes. The Sundern station, where the line terminates, was gradually dismantled from the 1970s to the 90s. This is why I plan to recreate this route during its peak: the early 1960s. I've done some quick research online, and it seems there's enough documentation to create a pretty accurate representation of the cities, villages, landscapes, and, of course, the track layouts. This project will require some time, but I'm genuinely excited about this journey and the final result. I hope some of you are as well. I am of course always open to suggestions, questions, general comments, or anything else. Feel free to reply to this thread, send me a DM, or find me on the TSC and TSM Discords @ pitti. (The . is part of my tag). Cheers
Well the route is not electrified and the only era-appropriate loco ingame is the DB BR 363 / 365 (with different labels), although it was never used on this route. Instead, they used this MaK 650 D, labeled V63. There were also T3 and ELNA 5 steam locos (with various wagons) and the VT42 DMU. As of right now, I don't plan on recreating them (because I don't know how to). If anyone would like to collaborate and build these, hit me up Otherwise, maybe I'll try my luck after finishing the route.
If you get to these stages and work out how to do it, please share with the rest of us: How to attach point motors or levers to points. How to smooth track to the terrain so it makes cuttings and embankments and how to define the angle of the slope.
I am struggeling with creating smooth tracks as well, there doesn't seem to be an obvious solution to that. However, I can help you in regards to the point levers and motors. This is a timed link to the editor preview stream, where they explain exaclty that: https://www.youtube.com/live/zNWuhovnLtI?si=52DU9p_-dpGmg0Le&t=2864 Hope this helps
I’ve watched that several times and have been unable to repeat the steps to smoothly attach a point motor to the node.
That's unfortunate... I'll try it out myself and make sure to include my findings in the next entry this weekend.
Angle of the slope can be defined in the track laying tool under gradient, and later modified by using the "change height at the end of track curves" (or so) tool. That tool is very useful but it's tricky to get it to work. The reason is that the default snap radius where it will activate is far too low, but it can be customized in the tool settings menu And with that you can drag your track sections up and down in the editor and control the gradients easily
Ah that is the angle of the gradient of the track itself 1 in xx permill or %. I was referring to the slope of the embankment or cutting created from forming the terrain once we know which tool or process does that.
For forming embankments the only tool I have found is "Snap Landscape to Track" in Route Building Mode". Under "Brush Settings" combining "Brush Falloff" and "Brush Radius" is not easy to use but lets you control the slope of the embankment to some degree. Would be easier in degrees though, but suppose over time could get use to the settings that work.
First Entry, October 8th The first few days were very eventful. I went down a rabbit-hole of research for the route and got "first contact" with the editor. I will be going over: Getting SRTM and LiDAR, import challenges, editor challenges and a first overview of laying track. Getting Terrain Data Because I am working in Germany, getting a 1m LiDAR DTM is pretty easy. I understand it's not like that everywhere in this country, but in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia it's free. I came up to the website of Bezirgsregierung Köln, which links to this online GIS with up to date models. Select "Download" on the top right and work your way through the drop down menus. You will get .tiff files. Then just follow this LiDAR Guide (thanks Lulon). Unfortunately the Editor also needs SRTM data to generate the map and I found it a little more difficult to obtain that. There is an official german service from the German Aerospace Center, but that didn't work out for me (signed up, made a new profile, but every time I tried to log in, my credentials were "wrong"...). Luckily I stumbled across this video for downloading SRTM data through QGIS. You need to create a NASA account, but this prooved to work flawlessly. Importing Terrain I just followed what Matt and Will did on the Editor Preview stram click by click. There was a little confusion though: The editor only generated a part of the landscape, not the whole SRTM data. I found two ways to solve this: Either fly around the map to the edges of a tile and generate new tiles when you get there (takes a lot of work, depending on desired map size), or, when in route building mode, in the "create tiles" tab, set "Tiles Around Current" under Tool Settings to higher numbers. X relates to east/west, Y relates to north/south. If you put 1 for X and Y, the tool will generate 9 tiles: The one you're on, one in every direction n/e/s/w, and one in each direction diagonally. I tried to cut corners by putting both to 10, only to wait half a day for processing until the editor finally crashed and everything was lost... I ended up putting in X = 1 and Y = 2 because my route is almost a straight north-south route and just flying across the map following the tracks with the Google Earth overlay and saving after every new tile. Using the LiDAR like Matt and Will did in the stream was also a piece of cake. The only thing I did not expect to happen were these spikes in the terrain: I found that using the Flatten and Smooth tools in Landscape mode worked best to get rid of them, but it does take some time. Another issue I noted was that the TOD4 system unloaded when I moved to far from the starting square. I read in some thread (cannot find it anymore) that this happens because it was placed in the wrong level. To fix, select the TOD4 in the world outliner, left click, Level > move to persistent level. No Progress The main.umap file, which contains the landscape and all the work I did on it, does not show up anymore in the editor. I guess it has to do with the bug mentioned here. I was aware of this problem beforehand, but all the work up until now happened across a few days without any problems to continue where I left. The file is still on my drive but even trying to drag it into the editor again does not work. It says the .umap extension is not recognised, which is weird because all the tiles are saved as a .umap and I can load them up no problem. I'll wait for a fix. Meanwhile, I am taking this "time off" to try a few things and learn in a safe throw-away-environment before doing actual work on the route again. Here is what I learned so far: Laying Tracks ... is actually not as smooth as I thought (or hoped?) it would be. The first obstacle was making it follow the terrain. Well, "Snap to World" was unchecked by default and turns out enabling it solves most of the problems. Just make sure to put down shorter bits of track when the gradient needs to change, as only the starting point and end point actually stick to the terrain. Everything in between eiter goes flying or submerges. You will end up with some edges: Next, use the transition tool directly underneath the track laying tool, little roof shape with a curve inside. Select a node (white triangle). This is also harder than it should be, you have to hit a point exactly at the bottom of the triangle so that it turns yellow: Harry Potter fans probably going wild right now This will also highlight a bit of the track on either side. In the tool menu you can decide how you want the transition curve to be calculated (drop-down): either with a specific design (based on minimun and maximum acceleration, lengths, etc.) or just with a specified overall length. The latter is probably a lot easier to use if you just want to recreate a realistic example. Click "Transition Curves" at the top to make the change: Useful knowledge: As far as I know, you cannot change the height of a node after making a transition curve. You can however always undo your last change to get rid of the curve again, then use the Node Edit tool (black rail with a yellow arrow upwards) to raise or lower the node, then do the transition curve again. With this tool you can also edit superelevation (track tilting), even after making a transition curve. The node triangle may appear gray, but you can sill select it to edit tilts. You have to enter specific values in the Details Menu (default on the right side). The superelevation value is in degrees, positive turns right, negative turns left., as seen from the direction you laid the track. Alternatively, theres is a Super Elevation Tool, looks like a rail with a black circle around it. Just click on a node and turn it anyway you want by clicking and dragging the GUI. (Suggestion to DTG: combine the Node Edit tool and the Superelevation tool into one.) You can always create new nodes on existing track with the scissors tool. Make sure "Join Nodes" is checked, otherwise the track will be split apart. Junctions I noticed not all tracks respond the same way when it comes to creating junctions. Most of them need extra manual work, others, like the "KWG_TrackMain", do a lot of the work for you. For example, it automatically creates a junction motor where needed. This is regardless of track rules (which are a whole other topic I'm not familiar with yet). When playing around with motors and levers I noticed that not all of them are functional the way I expected them to be. To get to them, I just searched "junction" in the content browser and dragged up what seemed plausible. There are some that look like the motor or lever in the preview picture, but they seem to be just for show, like the Kassel Würzburg "DE_Junction_Lever_1". The ones that actually work with the track just look like a white ball in the preview, so those are what you want. For the most reliable results, make sure in the Details window "Snap to Junction Node" is unchecked, then click "Pick Junction" under Track Network, then re-enable the snap. Finally you can decide to flip the track side or not. This way worked with every Object I tested it with. I don't own Peak Forest, OldVern, so I didn't have a chance to test it with those assets, but maybe this helps. This is all I have come across thus far. I hope there will be a fix to the map loading soon so I can restart work on the terrain where I left. Until then, I will probably practise the track laying a bit more. Cheers
Looks nice. If you change the node snap radius in tool settings it should be easier to make the triangle yellow. Oh and you can try to see if your level is in File > Recent Levels.
One last thing you could try is to open the console (Window > Developer Tools > Output Log) and type in MAP LOAD FILE="../../Plugins/<Your Plugin Name>/Content/<Path to Map>" TEMPLATE=0 SHOWPROGRESS=1 FEATURELEVEL=3 for me it's MAP LOAD FILE="../../Plugins/HannoverBielefeld/Content/HannoverBielefeldMap.umap" TEMPLATE=0 SHOWPROGRESS=1 FEATURELEVEL=3 If that doesn't work I don't know...
Second entry, October 26th It has been a while, and this is still only a small update. I had a lot of work over the last weeks and not enough time to achieve what I had planned. I didn't even watch any of the masterclasses yet. However, I finally completed the next big step and laid down all the tracks. I present to you the Röhrtalbahn Route Map: You can see Neheim-Hüsten at the top, where the branch converges with the main line, and the terminus at Sundern at the bottom. Everything works superb and I already drove the whole thing up and down with a DB 363. I'd say overall this was an intermediate challenge. There are enough ressources to know how the stations looked and where everything was placed in the 1960s, but actually finding the right spot in the editor was a bit more difficult. The Google Maps overlay only helped at some spots because I noticed it being displayed about one to two meters east from where it should be. In the end I matched the position on Google Maps to the position on the terrain in the editor, rather than laying directly on the overlay. The track laying itself is a little confusing at first but I quickly got the hang of it. After one afternoon of trying things I became pretty fluent in creating the route. There is a pitch of about one degree basically along the whole route, which made the track laying a little more complicated then when I did my tests on mostly flat terrain. Especially the junctions messed things up: The fix I found is easy, but, with more junctions, time consuming. I know that the straight part of the junction is the one I laid first, therefore it follows the terrain correctly. This will be my reference. To get a height value at a point where I need it, I just created a new node (Scissors tool, make sure "Join Nodes" is checked). In this case, parallel to the node on the curvy bit you can see in the image above. I then copied the z value of the new node over to the one that already existed to smooth out the junction: This applied to almost every junction. One thing I was very happy about was figuring how to do those double junctions (I think the term is "crossing switch"?) - there is a tool for that! First, lay the tracks clipping through each other. Then use the "Weld Track" tool to create a crossing node. The tool looks like two black tracks crossing, with a yellow + in the middle. It will automatically snap to two overlaying tracks. Click once to create the crossing, click again to add the switches: Note that this will only work up to a specific angle of the tracks, and it will not work if any one of the tracks is not totally straight at the intersection. And that's all I have thus far. Next up, I will go over every track again to change the speed, define platforms and sidings, and to apply the gradient transition curves (it's all a little too bumpy right now). Then it's finally time to sculpt the terrain and nature surrounding the track. Cheers
A tutorial about joining tracks, as an addendum to the latest entry. Coming back to this forum after a while and catching up on all the postings, I saw a lot of people ask how to attach to pieces of track from different directions and angles. I just wanted to shed some insight in how I did it: With junctions. These are the tracks I laid for this example. The angle is a little exagerated for showcase, it also works with smaller angles. I already extended one of them further than it needs to be. This is important to create ample space for a connection. Note the red nodes, which indicate the ends of the two ribbons (the technical term for the pieces of track): I then started creating the curve from the shorter bit. I chose this side because here I laid the track only up to where it should be, regarding the real-life specification of the route. The Lay Curves tool should snap to the node so I can start laying a curve towards the other track, until it snaps there and turns dark blue. Be aware that for this to work, you have to turn up the Ribbon Snap Radius right at the top of the Tool Settings for the Lay Curves tool. I have mine set to 100cm. Also be aware that your Minimum Curve Radius (under the Design tab) has to be low enough to create the curve you are looking for. Click to create the new piece of track, which will connect the two straights with a junction. The junction node is black. Afterwards switch to the Select Track tool and make sure to switch to ribbon selection at the top of the viewport (red line in the image below, button should turn orange). Then click to select the overextended piece of track that currently ends on a red node: Hit the delete key on your keyboard. If the track, like the one I used here, automatically creates motors and whatnot to a junction, switch back from ribbon selection to proxy selection (button should turn white again) to select all the junk and delete it. You will be left with a connected track, indicated by white nodes. This will work for pathfinding. Hope this helps some people. If you still have questions, feel free to ask them. matinakbary Might this be worth adding to your documentation collection? Cheers
Hello, i'm trying to make a double slip (junction) but when it comes to the second clip to add the baldes it just says the curve is too tight? Any ideas?
I haven't given much thought to that yet. If I decide to sell it for money at all, probably not as much as the usual route price for the game.
You have to be careful, when it comes to that. Iirc, you cannot just sell your route due to some juristical reasons. So you have two possibilities: 1. You give it for free on a host website like TrainSimCommunity. Or 2. You contact DTG (tswpartners@dovetailgames.com) to become an official third party. In case that works out, your stuff can be sold. And not only for PC but for every platform. Everyone would benefit from this approach. But it's not like "Hey DTG, i made this, please release it." I think it takes a longer time to officially join the programme including some contracts and that stuff.
I heard about that and I am considering the latter. However I'll have to do some more work before I approach them...
Third entry, November 16th I want to start this entry by thanking everyone for their continued feedback and support for this project. Since the last entry, I got some lovely DMs and found myself represented in some videos on YouTube. It's very pleasing to know that people take interest in this work - especially since the last few weeks have been especially rough with the editor. Also I love seeing many other route diaries appear on this forum. It's inspiring to see all the different approaches to route building. Shortly after my last entry I stumbled across an online document with some additional structural information about the Röhrtalbahn, things like signage and the minimum and maximum curve radius. The latter was especially useful for reconstructing tracks that were dismanteled over the years. The route map didn't really change though. And this, I'm afraid, is all there is for progess this time. I really wanted to achieve more, but I encountered numerous problems with the editor over the last two weeks. So let's talk about that. Semaphore signals do not work. That's pretty much the conclusion I came to. I went along exactly like shown in the signals masterclass, except using the "form" blueprints instead of the light signals. Well, placing worked fine, they look really good, but I didn't get much further that that. I wanted to edit a signals route table, so I clicked on it, and the editor crashed. Every time. No matter wether I clicked on the model in the viewport, or the actor in the world outliner. Every time I wanted to interact with a semaphore signal, the editor crashed, independent of the type of signal. This problem does not ocurr with the more modern light signals. Some usefull knowledge I found out by accident: If you are using the Link Objects tool and open up the route map, you can click on the little flags and, voilá, open their details to edit the properties. I was a little shoked upon finding this and thought my problems would be solved. But no. For whatever reason, when filling the track sections, there are no route tables created for the signals. Not a single one. The signals all have their own unique name and ID, the paths are clear and the track sections work - but the signals just don't care about that. I could not find a workaround, and at this point, I was too frustrated to search any longer. I just decided to get rid of the signals for now. Problem: It seems like you have to click on something to delete it. But, well, when I click on a signal, the editor crashes. When clicking on a flag in the route map and pressing delete, nothing happens. The detail window closes, but the signals are still there. And the signal properties. (Please add this as a way of deleting stuff, DTG, thank you.) So scrap that idea. Next idea: console command. Did some googling and documentation but found no obvious command to get rid of an actor. Maybe I didn't search for the right term or my limited knowledge of programming made me miss a result, but frustration really started to build up now. Inspired by a UE forum entry, I came up with my second idea: a blueprint to influence actors. Now we're getting somewhere. In the content browser, right click and select Blueprint Class. In the pop up, select actor. Give it a name if you want to and double click the blueprint to open it up. In the new window, switch to the "Construction Script" tab. Right click to add nodes, start typing to get what you need. What you want is this setup: In the "Get All Actors Of Class" node, set the actor class to whatever it is you want to get rid of. You can see the class of an actor in the world outliner. Note that this will get rid of every actor of that class. Compile and save the blueprint. Then, drag it over the viewfinder - no need to drop it, it loads and deletes all the actors as soon as you cursor touches the viewfinder, then just release it back over the content browser. I tell you this because I was unable to delete the blueprint from the world after dropping it in. Clicking on it wasn't the problem this time, it just ignores any delete-button presses or right-click menu actions. Don't ask me why. Alright, the signals are gone - not. If you open up the route map, you will still see the little red flags (how ironic...), and both the track sections and Link Objects tools will tell you that there still are signal properties left. There is no way to select them... That, deat DTG, would also be a welcome addition to the editor. In the end I created a new track node just before and just after the signals, deleted the bit of track and laid new one. Finally, they are gone. I can rest now. I decided to postpone the signal stuff. Maybe there will be a fix at some point. I don't know. Honestly I'm a little sick of it. Nature is stubborn. Instead, I tried to make the landscape look a little more, well, like a landscape. Trees, grass, and so on. The included content is fine - but let's be honest, we want to make a little statement. Stand out from the crowd. So I went on the marketplace and got hold of all the megascans and other assets that work with my setting. I then followed this quick tutorial by Daunfr59 to get them into the editor. Well, the assets look great in the normal UE editor. Honestly, I am really impressed how far digital recreation has come. Problem: They don't look as good in the TSW4 Editor. All the materials just stop working. There are some nodes in them that work fine in the normal editor, but are just broken or nonexistent in TSW4. And I am in no way capable enough to fix any of that (yet). But I will keep trying. I used the same version of UE4 that tsw uses, maybe I need to use an older one or change some settings or whatever. I will update you when I find out. Cheers
I think the issue in this case it that the material functions are broken in the TSW editor at the moment. Including ones that are built into UE4.
Unfortunately not, at the moment. The problems with signals and faulty material functions brought working with the editor to a halt for now, in combinaiton with my life becoming more stressful as well. However I am in the area this week to get some pictures of the stations and start with 3D modeling, as long as the editor continues to defy me...
