What’s you guys thoughts on the editor so far, and what do you look forward to, and what do you think needs more explaining
Interested to hear your feedback. We tried to cover as much as possible, some things will be better explained when we can get to more detailed streams on usage of the tool.
About the stream - Good stream altogether, I have a lot of questions about OLE assets, can we make our own masts and gantries or do we just have to use what we get from DTG into the game ?
I see this editor as the modders "dream come true" to change in game assets to more closely mirror real world items.
As an overview, I think it was a really great stream. I can see so much potential it the editor and it was great to see what's currently / likely to be possible. Also, a really clear explanation of what won't be possible and why. Lots more to delve into which I'm really looking forward to, particially timetables and senarios. It was also great to hear about DGT's hopes for expanding 3rd and 2nd party teams and how this might work. My personal hope is that proven developers might be trusted with undertaking passion projects not financially viable for DTG, such augmenting unfished areas of DGT's older routes (track 3 SMH anyone?) or creating alternative, more competent timetables with newer rolling stock, as a route to becoming involved in the 3rd / 2nd party development. Exciting times.
Overall, we saw a basic thing that looks good. I need much more detailed information about the features. Or a detailed manual would be nice.
Yes. They did a couple very basic services showing how to place a loco and a wagon and making it move around.
Watched the first half hour or so and got to admit, I am very impressed. When I saw the difference between LiDAR and SRTM data, I swear there was a sharp intake of, “wow”. The track laying looks complex but not dissimilar to TSC, lots of options to choose from but many of course will not be used on the majority of track laid. Definitely going to be a case of getting in and having a go with a bit of trial and error. Setting things up in terms of folder structures etc. will probably need something clearly laid out as this looks slightly more involved than TSC, where of course we had RW Tools to help. I’ll try and watch a bit more later, see the actual track being laid but so far not thinking, “No way, this is above my pay grade, back to Trainz Surveyor!” Feeling quite buoyant.
How realistic is making "tiny" adjustments to current routes? Let's say, we will go and fix all the signalling problems on a DTG route. Can this be distributed as a few kB patch that only changes the few required text values and falls back to the base route on everything else, or would that have to be a full copy of the route definition that even with assets being fully shared probably grows into hundreds of MB, if not GB?
A timetable service was added recently to BML (using the unofficial editor) which terminates in Hove. There is no actual station there at present but I’m hoping the pc editor would make it relatively straightforward to add the platforms and maybe other scenery to the existing route.
I found the stream really interesting. Though a lot of it is well beyond my abilities in the time I have available. The things I’m most interested in are the timetable and scenario building (in editor, not creators club). So that’s what I’d like to see more of. So my question is (and sorry if it was answered and I missed it - it was late!). Can we create new new Scenarios and Timetables for existing routes?
Does PC Editor allows to modify DTG official routes and publish such changes for it? I thought any modification to official content is not allowed, but I might misunderstand something here.
Happy to see the editor come to PC at last. I watched the stream and didnt really understand much of what was going on but I am looking forward to seeing what the smarter folk amongst the PC community create/share
No changes to existing content, but there are some workarounds and such for some limited cases some of which are shown on the stream. But changing routes basically no. Matt.
Enjoyed the stream, some good explanations of various procedures. The track laying seemed more complex than thought it would be, with a million of different features to employ, but all the better for it. Hopefully things like superelevation and easements become second nature once we're up to speed. Didn't catch all of it, did they mention Google Earth implementation? The lidar stuff is mighty impressive, looks like we can lay track pretty much without utilising a published gradient profile? Obviously we can cross check it.
We glance over the google earth option and point at the menu you use to activate it, but it wasnt set up so we didnt turn it on - but yes, its there. Matt.
Watching the stream and the editor is superb! Only one question on the track: if you layout a curve without easement, can you use SuperElevation on it? A lot of questions on OHLE but I'll try myself to understand it... Hope for a write documentation for more understanding (as TSC have) just at the launch!
My other query which is maybe covered in part of the clip I haven’t watched yet, well two queries actually… 1. Is it possible to lay parallel tracks at the same time? 2. is it possible to lay lofts parallel/aligned to the track as we can in TSC, fences, telegraph poles or even an adjacent road? 3. Are there tools to align non lofted objects, e.g. bridges or station buildings with track orientation and gradient? Actually that was three, but all good basic stuff.
Two, maybe silly, questions, that were in my head since the editor was announced. As this is basically a full fledged unreal engine editor with DTG plugins. Would it be possible to use the editor to expand the gameplay loop? i.e. bring additional systems, like money, train licences, to custom build routes? Can this editor be used to create a plugin, that would expose some of the train parameters (i.e. speed, location) via some API (UDP/Shared memory)..etc. For the purpose of integration with custom cockpit hw, or SW like simhub? Anyway, I'm just midway through the stream, and it really shows how much complexity it is behind even such basic things like doing a turn. Great move with this one DTG, I can see this dragging ower the creative types from TSC, and really boost the 3rd party scene in TSW.
Matt I know you have done a livestream explaining the PC editor, but would you consider doing similar to your TSC editor series on YouTube for the TSW editor?
Expanding gameplay loop - probably not, but hey, i'm sure creators will explore cool things we haven't thought of Hardware interface - something wicked this way comes... to be announced/discussed, possibly a little post release. Matt.
People using these tools can and will make a mess of things sometimes, especially while they're still learning the ins and outs. Are you making any additional debugging tools available for players in-game as well? Like in case something goes wrong with a mod it's easier to troubleshoot.
I would love to know if it's possible to do these "gameplay packs" that DTG, Rivet and Skyhook have done so far, but for existing content aswell. For example, I'd love to try myself on a retro gameplaypack on the US routes, using the Clinchfield and Santa Fe F7 DLC. EDIT: By that I also mean doing different liveries for the rolling stock and loco, just like the UP gameplaypack did with the heritage units. Or changes to the model aswell, as Skyhook did to the heritage unit with the window in the door.
You can literally play the entire game in the editor, where all the possible debugging tools and console commands along with *extensive* logging are all available. There wont be any debugging tools added in-game outside of the editor though, no. Matt.
Scenario packs - yes Reskinning a train - most likely Modifying a train model - no, because you dont have the 3D model source for the train. Matt.
You can add new things, but nothing pre-existing in the route can really be touched (as it's already, what we say, 'cooked'). I asked Will for help on part B of your question - thanks Will! - The size of map tiles is generally quite small if it just contains extra bits of scenery for example the biggest tile (uncooked) on Voralberg is 113MB, so unless your building whole routes or using custom assets you should not reach more than a few hundred MBs. A tile adding a few bits of additional scenery to a route will probably just be a few hundred KBs.
Can anyone clarify whether the editor will appear on the official release date of the 26th for everyone, or will the early access also apply on the 21st for the editor?
Watched to about an hour in now and mostly looking good. Couple of points arising (sorry!). Is there a way to have junction switches/levers place by default and just alter as necessary? Placing them on each node after creating the junction could get a bit tedious at a complex location. If using eased track, how do you continue at the same radius, for example if laying a shallow curve that goes out of view range? How would I get a track plan in there, e.g. a model railway or a detailed plan of a station as a template. I'm pleased to see that the track tool is much brighter and more visible when laying eased track than in TSC, where it is almost impossible to see the projected course. I have a feeling exporting scenes into Blender and working on them might be above the pay grade of some hobby level users, hence why a good supply of basic assets is essential.
1:08:20 will get you to the point of adding a formation. Also lots of interesting stuff including track laying demonstrated before this.
Extending existing routes is something everyone would love. Would it be possible to supply an uncooked route to a DTG approved partner with the necessary skills to enable this to happen? I don’t count myself in that group of course, just fishing for possibilities.
No way of having junctions in by default, no, but it's not that bad particularly with all the auto aligning in there (we used to have to do it all by hand...) Eased track - for most "real world" track laying you probably wont use the auto tool like we were using, you'll lay your eases and curves separately. In that instance you can lay the ease to the curve, then do the curve in multiple steps as needed, then ease out, or ease to a different curve or whatever you need really. Laying enormous curves is a challenge, but as Lukas has shown on Wurzburg, it's possible to do multi-kilometer curves. You can also adjust draw distances of the track highlights to let you have more of a birds eye view for some things as well - e.g. use the top down ortho view with a larger draw distance perhaps. Track plans - I asked our lead engineer about this a while back and he said he generally brings them into google earth, traces KML from them and brings the KML in. I guess nothing stopping you making them into decals and placing them on the terrain either, a few options there really. Go learn Blender, seriously, it's not that hard (even I can do it.. and I'm artistically challenged) - Udemy have an absolutely stunning course on Blender that i'm working my way through as a rank amateur. Even if you dont do the detail - being able to extract something out to Blender and do a simple model around it will make life much easier in the long run, rather than fighting with the landscape system to solve a bad edge or something - just hide it out of the way and drop a simple model in its place for a nice finish instead. Set your expectations to simple, a basic model that takes very little time (even for a beginner) to make will usually be far better than trying to fight the landscape or something to get what you're trying to do. It'll be tempting to use the tools in unreal to make the landscape SUPER detailed but it'll have an enormous impact on frame rate and memory usage - so please don't We'll include some basic tutorials of this in what we do though which will hopefully make it more clear and straight forawrd to understand. Matt.
Trusted Third party developers already have direct access to all our source and there's the potential for a discussion there. Matt.
I have a couple of questions regarding the blueprinting of timetables: It looked like you cannot use generic UE4 blueprint elements like variables/if-else/etc in the timetable as the list of available instructions was very small and I couldn't see the usual large number of options. Will it be possible to use all the might of blueprints for timetables, including functions, macros, variables and so on? If not, I'd heavily suggest adding/unlocking that possibility because without that timetables in blueprint are unnecessarily hard to handle/limited. Will it be possible to extend the Go to instruction to be more intelligent? As in: don't chose specific stopping point but platform and the extended instruction chooses a stopping point based on the formation length. The stopping points would have to be configured only once or could maybe even be fetched in-editor from the stop markers. This would also fix the annoying problem of the instruction stop point being wrong with respect to the physical stop marker at the platform. Currently (as it looks) the stop position would have to be specified for every individual service for every stop of an entire timetable. That's far too errorprone. How can a go-to instruction be made invisible to the player? How can text pop-ups be added at certain points in a service? How can achievements be added to a service (timetable instructions seemed to not include any of that stuff)?
Thanks Matt! As I say so long as this runs without turning the laptop into a banshee, I can see TSC and TRS19/22 getting the heave ho. To that end I'm just installing the standard Unreal Editor for a quick stress test (the hardware, not my brain ).
Does this include, say, adding co-acting signals by "cloning"/copying the signal asset from the cooked route and have them show the same aspect as the original signal in the game? More generally speaking, can you add assets that process/use/link to the realtime game data (signal status, switch status, track circuit status, etc.) created/used/processed in the cooked route?
I am not entirely sure what you're asking - bottom line you can't modify anything that's there. You can probably clone a signal the same as you can a loco, but you can't place that signal on a DLC route because that requires modifying the track database, refilling all the track sections and changing signal routing tables around that signal as well, but to adjust its behaviour for your own route - sure, I imagine that's possible. I don't follow the second half of what you're asking at all - can you be more specific with an example or two Matt.
He wants to put an asset onto a route that asks a signal "Hey Signal, how are you today. What is your next Aspect to show" or something like that I guess that would work to some extent.
You can't do any form of scripting at all in a timetable, they are there to control and direct the movement of trains alone. In scenarios you can use a combination of the timetable for the trains, and the objective manager blueprint - which is a full spec fully capable blueprint - to do anything else you want, with the full power of blueprint at your disposal. You've got a LOT more flexibility in a scenario. Service mode timetables have to be predictable and able to be simulated reliably and have all the data saved so they can be resumed at any point, so there's no means for logic to go in there at all, and never will be. You don't specify the exact stopping point (unless you want to), if you are stopping at a platform you can just click anywhere on the marker and it will automatically stop the train at the appropriate stopping board. There is no way at the moment to just say "stop at Doncaster" and have it figure out an appropriate platform and such. This may happen in the future, maybe, but no plans at the moment. There are many reasons for the physical stop not matching the marker, usually due to the markers not being right or the author using an exact-stop where a within-stop would have been more appropriate - but for sure the design is that for a platform you should be clicking on the marker and it will pick the appropriate stop board for your train. Tick box to make it invisible. If it's a go-via, there are two types - one which comes up as an objective (useful in manual areas where you specifically need the playe to know where to go) and one within the go-to objective itself where you can add a series of internal waypoints used to direct the path, but are not shown to the player at all. Using objective blueprint in scenarios. No means to do this in services. Outside of delivering content as a third party, you dont have the ability to do this. As a third party, we'd work with you to agree what achievements you want to define and then we set them up on the steam/console backends, and configure the core game to pop the achievements based on the agreed criteria. On Steam the pop rules are defined on their server, on consoles its usually defined in core game files. Matt.[/QUOTE]
ah yes, in principal i guess i can't see any reason why you can't query anything at all. In practice I dont know what API is present to facilitate that But, calling functions in the API is certainly unconstrained afaik, if it's there, you can use it. Matt.
