Tsw 4 Editor - Important Dev Questions

Slightly confused now wrt what assets we can use (after a discussion in the TSC forums). I thought we were OK to use any assets from any TSW route that we own. However, if those assets were purchased by DTG from the marketplace (for eg foliage, I wouldn't have thought DTG would've made them themselves) then does that mean we can't use them - we would need to purchase the assets ourselves?

 

I guess that needs a more precise definition. "Use" means probably you can reference the assets in your route (placing them from withing their original folders and DLC). You can't copy and paste them into your own route pak file (technically possible with some effort) because you then deliver the assets without permission. So when you place a tree on your own route from a DTG route, users that want to use your route need to own the DTG route too, or it will not work. Same as in TSC at least.

I'm right DTG Matt ?

 

How many assets are shared between DLC? Track, trees, buildings, platforms, canopies, catenary parts, automobiles, etc etc???

A common assets library that has all these shared assets, and is updated when new shared assets are added, seems the better option to me.

Regarding trains and rolling stock, since these come from different parts of the world and not every creator will be interested in creating routes for regions he is not interested in?

Perhaps sharing standard trains and locomotives, of which we now have 5 or more incarnations, in a common railvehicles library, perhaps at some cost?

Surely such collections will build themselves slowly, but collecting all the current shared stuff will provide a good basis for a person wanting to dabble in creating a route.

 

Just a quick question, do you get the PC editor for free on epic?

 

Glad to hear that!

Speaking for me, I think the first step is how to create the terrain, because without it you can't do anything, especially if we can't edit your routes.

And if possible, could I ask to show this in the next Editor stream?

 

In Scenario Editor 2 will we still have to deal with the "challenge" of having multiple versions of the same thing? (I am thinking of the CL101 in particular where, at the moment, I have to uninstall one or two routes so that I don't keep selecting the wrong thing).

Also, and I don't know if this is a silly question, Will the new Editors work in a similar way to the Unofficial Editor? (Is it worth learning this so that we can have a bit of extra practice before the "Official" editor arrives?).

Thank you.

 

This is my main area of interest. If I can get my terrain and markers defined, that’s half the battle. Track laying, creating embankments, cuttings and tunnels etc. will hopefully not be too bad either. Assets, well the verdict is still out on that depending if if we get some sort of basic set a la DRS to at least create generic stations and a cross section of residential, commercial and industrial buildings, foliage etc. I have a feeling the tricky bit might be getting signalling and speed limits etc. working. We can see from MML this is where Skyhook struggled a bit and probably where some how to videos or wikis will prove useful.

 

Thank you and is that available from release on the 26th ?

 

Quick question. Are we able to get a head start and import DEM, sculpt and terrain paint in the UE and then port over to the TSW editor when it arrives? It's just that I have been playing around with the editor, adding assets/materials/sculpting/splines etc and have a bit of time available at the moment. Next month much less!

 

Good one.

I take it for DEM etc. this reference page I also posted in Creation Centre is the grail?
UDK | TerrainsFromDEMs (unrealengine.com)

Just how then do we import markers and/or a map overlay?

 

Excellent! My finger is poised over the TRS22 uninstall button, well once I've finished my current model railway plan.

 

Is LIDAR of sufficient resolution to avoid those toothed scan line artefacts in mountain slopes, cuts, dikes etc?

 

Thanks Matt, sounds great.... so I guess we can't get a head start in the current UE editor with importing LIDAR/sculpting/painting etc, then porting it over to the DTG editor when it arrives?

 

Well, seems like you can try your hands in UE at 'terrain simulation' and perhaps overlay a rough GE or OpenRailMap track plan to visualise your route in WIP?

 

Hi DTG Matt.

1) Which can be a valid trinagle "budget" for a complex object? Looking at some UE4 guides theres isn't a "perfect" number but it depends on the overall scene complexity. A 5 axles steam engine with tender or a two bogies electric engine can go up to 300-400thousand triangles or are too many (without taking LOD(s) into consideration)?

2) Based on your previous answer about Lidar data, which does not seems to be freely avaiable where I live (i'll have to double check), other format can be used instead? Like the classic hgt (RS/RW/TSC)?

 

Can the editor help to delete some assets and reduce the stuttering?
If I understood well, the loading of some assets increase the stuttering.

Is the Stuttering problem on the table of the devs?

 

That’s perfect. That’s what I was hoping for, that I’d be able to make content for the TSW4 version of GWE. Thanks for the clarification. Time to start planning my scenario pack!

 

I cant stand SRTM anymore.

LiDAR is available for nearly everything I want to do anyway. Its in plain Naked .laz files though. I have the GIS applications with which to handle these things anyway.

But one Question, Do you have to Install 4.26.2 of Unreal Engine first? (I know it WONT be the Chaos Physics based one)
I have 5.2.1 Installed.

I usually just keep the latest Version only, In order not to waste space. I got rid of 4.26 etc, ages ago. Since I thought "theres going to be no Editor for TSW, so why bother to keep it, and I uninstalled the 4.26 version. Is there anything I need to re download from Epic launcher?

 

Great News. So it will appear in Epic Market Place, Or be Downloaded with TSW 4?

I have a feeling I need another New 2TB SSD. I am going to buy a new one anyway, And I have a spare M.2 slot awaiting for it. Seems like I will have to just buy it sooner.

 

So either way, I WILL still be needing that new 2TB SSD.

 

Thank you Matt. I'll do a better search for LIDAR data.

Interesting. Did not know that there was such limitation in EU4.

 

Indeed. The zig zag line in Peru probably ruled out or even routes like Oslo to Bergen which climb to quite a high summit.

 

Do you stay with the 4.26 in the future ?
Is the dlss integration in question?

 

My usual route (never finished in MSTS, and in RS/RW/TSC) starts at around 2-300m and reach up to 835m. I hope it will be within "specs".
Based on the BerninaBahn, which tops at 2,253m, it should not be an issue.

Thank you. I'm reading some pages about the Z-scale. When is set to 100 generates a range (-256 to 256m) that is realy too small. Strange decision by Epic.

 

I doubt any train sim could handle the Peruvian Central which basically goes from sea level to something like 15,600 feet above, not to mention the Andes towering even higher than that!

 

Thats a pretty strange limitation.

But I dont think it will be affecting any Place that I will be creating.

 

Yes. I was getting a bit worried for a moment when I read that.

 

Quick questions... Are we able to easily use different types of track in a route and blend them as in TSC? For example going from brown ballast wooden sleepers to new grey ballast concrete sleepers etc? Also, how easy is it to lay track with superelevation? Is it as painful as in TSC?! Can we lay canted track with pointwork? Thanks.
Really looking forward to this editor....

 

Track Answers. I'm not a track guy but I do maintain the tools:

Some track on some routes is set up to blend ballast colours (like the german track that can blend between grey and pink granite over distance), all track with the same ballast design and different sleepers/rail can be swapped between at will at any point.

Superelevation is easy, you can modify it after having laid the track if you need to, along with track height and track rule and any properties within the track rule.

Laying superelevated junctions is tricky but doable (expect to spend a good 30 minutes per junction getting it smooth) - you have to lay a normal junction, add the superelevation (which breaks the way the track renders) and then massage it until it's nice and smooth (adding track cuts, adjusting the relative rail heights at the V crossing. There are examples on some German routes from the last few years (Dresden Chemnitz? I recall Lukas building it very carefully).

The key rule and limitation of TSW's track renderer is this: within a junction (between the switch rails and the crossing) the junction has to be planar - flat. It doesn't have to point perfectly up, but it does need to all be on one imaginary surface. Beyond that there are no rules and you can build barrel rolls if you really want to.

 

For German needs that really easy since the whole thing is canted, not each track for its own with the need of fiddling the crossing track to somewhat that works (it would not work IRL). Simply lay it out flat, then select the whole construction, and cant it over one edge (the curve inner one of course). Most people seems not to know that on a superelvated curved junction the outer track is higher than the inner to make that work.

 

Great, many thanks for taking the time to explain the track details Matt, Will and Maik. Can't wait to get my teeth into this.

 

Oh that's actually a way better way of doing it. I think the specific case I was thinking of was a track that is turning towards the right (with superelevation) but diverges into a wider radius curve that was flat, maybe somesone can sleuth up the specific junction I'm thinking of. (Or I could ask Lukas!)

 

In terms of the service mode/timetable editor. Is it possible to create the sort of timetables that Joe creates within the editor being provided? I'd love to create a new timetable for the likes of ECW.

 

Yes, 100%

 

Yes. Exactly the same tools. Being able to simulate and package your own timetables is a top priority for us.

I think people are going to be surprised just how much work it is to make a good timetable, though

 

Reference track laying, sounds like elements of both TSC and Trainz Procedural at work. In Trainz it can be very difficult to get the procedural junction to render properly if the radius is too tight or the diverging routes require to go off at different gradients. You need to insert a spline point just beyond the junction and keep it at the same height as the points.

I assume TSW supports diamond crossings that the signalling can see without having to interlocking towers. I bet slip points are interesting!

 

Excellent! I'm guessing it's not possible to modify existing timetables?

 

Question - can assets be imported from TSC into TSW

 

Out of interest, since I will not delude myself that I have either the time or ability to learn to use the editor, if somebody started building a route when it was released but took over a year for it to be finished - it could still be released on TSW5?

I guess that's come out as a very leading question, which it isn't intended to be. So let me rephrase: If the project somebody creates takes a long time to finish (let's say 1-3 years), is it currently expected that it would still be possible to release it for whatever version of TSW is then being supported?

Hmm. That's still somewhat leading, but hopefully you know what I'm trying to ask without asking an unanswerable question...