Still a work in progress, so some things are bound to change. I wanted to sort out the functionality of it before going into the details. The texture is just base materials, I haven't done any weathering at all. The model of the SW1500 is 76cm shorter than it's younger brother, the MP15DC, and has been recreated rather faithfully to it's real life counterpart. Currently, the loco is subbing in on OSD services and getting placed in the double-headed units, although the plan is to have it run in the single loco services as well, especially since it has pretty much the same power as the GP9rm.
Keen eyed individuals may have noticed that my CSX MP15DC doesn't get any snowfall on it, or rain effects either for that matter. This is a fault with the default MP15DC material, which doesn't have weather FX enabled. I managed to fadangle my way around this a bit. Had to create a Weather Mask for the SW1500 as well, but as you can see, the locomotive is no longer bare under snowfall and matches other rolling stock quite well.
That's what I'm trying to work out. Is it a skin places on another loco or a ground up build? Nice work none the less
In reality, the SW1500 is the predecessor of the MP15DC. They both have the same exact engine. However, the SW1500 frame is shorter and they have different bogies. What you are looking at is a new loco. The simulation is based on that of the MP15DC however heavily modified to accommodate the loco being much shorter. Having said that, the exterior model underwent heavy changes to make it look like an SW1500. New exterior and cab models New skeleton and animation set New textures New collision mesh To put it into layman's terms, yes, it's based on the MP15DC, because IRL MP15DC is based on SW1500, but it doesn't use any of the actual MP15DC files. So players will be able to use the CT MP15DC on SFJ, the CSX MP15DC Yn3 on SPG, and the SW1500 on OSD.
Possible? Probably. However the ICE is constructed as each car being it's own vehicle essentially, and modding would entail an absurd amount of work.
I chose to do the SW1500 because of the similarities with the MP15, I decided I could represent it rather accurately within the game. Truth be told, I didn't realize there is a length difference between the 2 until I was well into the development, and put the project on hold because I couldn't get the axles in the right position. Once I figured out how to move the axles, I resumed the project. In any case, my ultimate goal is to have a fairly realistic experience for the player, and I know this may sound weird, but when I'm driving it, I could feel the size difference. The way the loco sways and drives on turns is different, which is really cool, and the view from the cab is quite different as well, because the box from the top of the hood is not there, and neither is the monitor, so you have a clear field of view.
Thanks in advance for providing another switching locomotive for TSW2 -- I'll gladly drop some dough in your wallet for this. Even though (I'm guessing) it won't bring a new batch of yard work runs with it, maneuvering a new engine will be a joy. I cannot resist quoting a bit of da Ponte (Mozart's librettist): "You're a genius, a magician, bravo, bravo, what a crafty man you are!"
Great work ! DTG should grab this, give you full credit, and make it an official free upgrade to Oakville. It will nicely complement the passenger stuff they're working on to give more variety. A bit worrying that the default MP15 does not have weather FX enabled... shouldn't all vehicles have that? That was a big selling point of TSW IIRC.
Yeah. I mean, I guess they "overlooked" it for both the UP GP38-2 and CT MP15DC because SFJ doesn't drop below 32F and so there is no snow on that route, however, the wetness effect doesn't work on those 2 either, and it's clearly visible even in main menu when adjusting the "Wetness" slider.
I don't have the 465/9 Loco, nor am I aware of it's intricacies, let alone the 465/2. Your best bet would be to ask in the Train Sim Community Discord, but my assumption would be no because of the refurbishment to the cab.
I suppose it's the same answer. Technically should be possible, but much more work than a single locomotive - which already takes a lot of time.
Did you mod the physics, or leave the Simugraph data alone? Obviously the shorter wheelbase makes a difference to the ride, and the prime mover is essentially the same; but the SW1500 weighs less and IIRC had earlier-generation traction motors.
No there were no changes to the simulation besides the length of the loco. The SW1500 weighs 248,000 Lbs, and the MP15DC weighs 250,000, that's an 0.8% difference. Also, the SW1500 has four GM - D77 Traction Motors, and so does the MP15DC. Exactly the same TM's. As far as I'm concerned, the real-life performance difference in them would be negligible. There is no point for me to spend God knows what sorts of amounts of time to ever-so-slightly lower the performance of the SW1500. The thing is - we still have no way to properly read/display the contents of the Simulation Asset. I had to look for float values blindly just to get the length changed.
Believe it or not, the formations are those of default OSD. I just added the loco, which is characterized as also being CN, and thus the game substitutes it in. However, we want it to be in the single loco services as well.
While I agree with the first 2 parts of your idea, surely DTG should throw more than just kudos to TheShotte -- i.e.: $$$.
The problem is licensing. They would have to license the usage of the loco with CN/EMD or whoever. I can release it freely skirting the copyright laws, but as soon as money gets involved, the proper licensing needs to be obtained.
Yeah of course. Donations are donations, and as such are optional, and you can choose not to donate. As long as I'm not charging money specifically for the download (it will be available on Train Sim Community to download freely) than I'm good. Having said that, DTG could always make moves to get it legal by reaching out to CN and taking care of all the legalities, but that would be a complicated process which would result in this turning into DLC.
Well, that gets gnarly, and really refers back to the content of whatever contract DTG have with CN. It may contemplate a license for "the Oakville route" and whatever rolling stock runs on it, and CN collect a royalty on every copy sold. In that case, your loco if added wouldn't upset the apple cart (indeed, if it helps increase sales then it's to CN's benefit). AFAIK, EMD/Progress have never trademarked a locomotive. That's a very new phenomenon, and only applies in a couple of cases (notably the Shinkasens and Hitachi's trains). In the case of the ICE3 the trademark was filed by DB, not the manufacturer.
This looks really cool. I assume it will require users to own Peninsula Corridor and the Caltrain MP15DC? DW