Just wanted to give a quick update. I have spent some time today learning how to get things going on the route creation front with the help of Lukas, my goal is to get a tutorial created which covers the first steps: Finding LIDAR and SRTM data Processing LIDAR data to the correct format for TSW Importing all the data Creating the route, importing SRTM then LIDAR data (you do need both) I think that'll do as a first tutorial - and can come back on things like landscapes, track and other stuff in subsequent but I wanted to get this foundational stuff covered first. I've walked the process now once and happily it's a pretty straight forward job - albeit there's a lot of steps barely any of which are obvious (including console commands) - however on the flip side, last time I looked at route creation it was a much more fiddly pain to do and this looks MUCH more straight forward. The LIDAR data processing is a bit more tricky - I'll aim to give some insights into what you're trying to do, and show how it's done for the UK data and perhaps US and German if i can get a handle on that, and then hopefully you can use that insight and apply it to your local territory. Once you've used QGIS to create the right data type for LIDAR everything after that is just a sequence of steps in Unreal. Unfortunately, my test route has uncovered a bug in the LIDAR importer so i'm going to hang fire while Lukas fixes that this weekend and come back to it in the week. Just wanted to give an update. I'll aim to post it in here first, it can then go up as an article later perhaps and i'll demo it on a stream so you have multi-media to follow. Matt.
If I may, I suggest you show how to run batch processing of some of the steps required. I was very happy to see this is an option, and I see some struggle to get their head around this. Let me know if you need any input on this matter.
You're a star thank you. Just goes to show that the Devs do actually take notice of what people are saying, unlike a lot of other game developers.
Yeah i'm going to basically start making a small route and just walk you through the process as I do it - we can learn together The QGIS processing is all done batch, the command lines for making the route do it all batch etc - compared to how manual it all used to be, this is really neat actually now, it's just extremely non-obvious, particularly the newer console commands that do a ton of work for you. Basically to make the route, you make a KML file (has to be a specific way of making it) and then it will use the KML file to auto build the tiles, import terrain etc. I'll try and showcase some manual vs batch options - e.g. you can auto import lidar, or you can use a brush tool to bring it in, lots of options. Matt.
I'd just like to ask that creating non-route content, such as trains and scenarios, is not forgotten as a subject for tutorials. Not everyone has the time to create a route.
Great news. Everything I know and am continuing to learn about TSC was from your tutorial videos so I look forward to being able to build something in TSW along with you. Although ultimately I’m only interested in Timetables and Scenarios, I’ll have a play with the rest of it just for interest to see what I can do.
Great stuff Matt. Any and all help appreciated at this stage. We will get there. Out of interest and obviously not a high priority but what sort of scope is there for refining the AI, so that functions like getting the SRTM set up and importing kml markers can be done without deep delving into menus. Maybe launch from the route set up screen.
This does sound like very good news. I was literally going to write a post tonight asking if all the "brighter" folks amongst us could work together to try and do a "Route Building for Dummies" type instruction manual where I was quite happy to be the dummy and, basically, do whatever everyone told me and then report back on how successful or otherwise I had been. Now, perhaps, some of that idea is going to happen anyway? One question I would like to ask is that could we have a brief description of all the acronyms regularly thrown about in conversations about route building. I know I could google these but, TBH, it would be helpful if these were explained as the chat went along. (Particularly for us novices). Finally I also noticed, in another thread, that there was a suggestion that time would be well spent looking into the Unreal Engine in general rather than just concentrating on the TSW4 editor. Is that a good first step? I have a bit of time on my hands now that I have retired so I wanted to know where I should look first.
Well worth understanding UE4 basics yes. If you want to do anything beyond the most basic gameplay you'll need to understnad blueprint If you want to make new kinds of signals you'll need blueprint Making the non-railway related bits of routes is no different to making any unreal map Well worth it. Matt.
Is there any easy way to revert a tile from Lidar back to SRTM? Alternatively is there a way to cut parts of a tile to SRTM to hide the boundaries between Lidar and SRTM?
I think the biggest one for me to get my head round is what an "actor" is? After giving up trying to get the maps and kml markers to display despite putting in my API key and ticking all the boxes, tried to play around with a mesh or decals to at least get a model or miniature railway plan in there to work on. That's drawn a blank too at the moment. Think I will start over tomorrow with a blank route and just see if I can lay some track!
DTG shouldn't need to produce a tutorial on that except in how it specifically interacts with TSW, Actors are a standard Unreal Engine concept.
I think the simplest explanation is that it's a group of objects tied together that can be placed in the world. It can also contain scripts that do not trigger with user input (updating on every frame or some sort of event is possible) and a construction script (small rabbit hole if you ask me). If you put together an actor in the content browser (Right Click > Blueprint Class > Actor) and place it in the world, you can then edit it and the changes will apply to all instances that you've placed before, which is pretty nice. The fact that, for example, placing a static mesh creates a single-object actor is just an internal thing and not something a user should worry about in my opinion. edit: It seems like there's a whole lot of documentation on a basic feature like this. https://docs.unrealengine.com/4.27/en-US/Basics/Actors/
This was your original suggestion weeks ago in the editor intro video and it was spot on! I did a UE4 tutorial course that was well worth the time and I found it fun to do as well. You also made a recommendation on a Blender Udemy course a while back and that has been gold as well. I'm really enjoying it. Thanks Matt.
This is one youtuber i first followed after buying a UE5 course off Udemy How to Make a Game in Unreal Engine 5 - UE5 EA Beginner Tutorial - YouTube
