Rolling Stock skinning ideas

[WPandP]

Ace,

They should be yellow versions of the default white cars, in both the 3D view and the 2D train list. I take it that the later-era cars look right for you, which means that it is correctly looking for the "Fruit-" named resources; the only such files that I have released are yellow. If you didn't have them installed correctly, the game should have crashed rather than substitute the old REFR skins/models.

Strange. Try unzipping again and replacing all the files, making double-sure they go to the right locations.

[Hawk]

but I don't have 1.06's extended limit to play with.

You also don't have the 20 extra engines that came with the 1.06 patch.

[Ace of Spades]

Ace,

They should be yellow versions of the default white cars, in both the 3D view and the 2D train list. I take it that the later-era cars look right for you, which means that it is correctly looking for the "Fruit-" named resources; the only such files that I have released are yellow. If you didn't have them installed correctly, the game should have crashed rather than substitute the old REFR skins/models.

Strange. Try unzipping again and replacing all the files, making double-sure they go to the right locations.

Ok...It seems that none of them worked for me. They all still look like the generic Produce car. I already loaded them twice, too :? ! I'll try it again & let you know.

The Goods car looks great! Is the Great Northern logo supposed to be backward on one side?

[WPandP]

I guess I could add in some comments in the ReadMe, to address those cars that are "mirror-imaged" on one side. The problem is, some of the car bodies use the mirror of the car side skin, whereas other car bodies apply the car side in the same orientation (i.e. legible) on both sides. There are a few that even use a different car side skin for each side, but this is rare.

I'm using car bodies that are the right proportions, so that the car sides actually fit. However, this means that for some, I have to tolerate the mirror image skin. Oh well.

If the game is not loading the "Fruit" assets when loading up Produce, then I suspect that you've not got the Produce.cty properly installed in CargoTypes. If you've still got the old version of Produce.cty located in the CargoTypes folder, even if it has been renamed (like, "ProduceBackup.cty"), I would bet that the computer is still reading from the file and re-assigning produce to be carried in REFR cars, not FRUIT. In other words, you've got two different files to tell the computer which cars to use, and it is loading the wrong one last. I had this happen to me when I started out; you need to move your backups out of their original folder.

Let me know if this was the issue; seems like another something to mention in the ReadMe.

[Ace of Spades]

Downloaded again & tried a third time.

I made sure I "replaced" all files. I only have one "Produce.cty" file in the CargoTypes folder (I hadn't backed up my files before I did this the first time, so I'm pretty sure I had the new .cty file each time). I still get the generic Produce car.

Is anyone else having problems with this one or am I just a moron :??

[bombardiere]

The other thing I wonder is when and if I will hit the wall, in terms of not being able to add any more car types. I have a suspicion that since I am creating CAR files, I might be limited by the total number of engines+cars, and we already know the limit for engines based on the default set of cars. I wonder if each new car I add means one less engine I can add, in other words. I guess I'll get to that point someday soon, as I have a lot of custom engines installed, but I don't have 1.06's extended limit to play with.

I don't think there is a limit for .car files. These seem to be independent. . But as you know there is a limit for cargo types and there may very well be a limit for .cct files. I don't remember if Milo ever checked still, but the numbering goes to 16, 11 of which are used.

If you don't have 1.06, the engine limit is 104 (or was it 106?) You can add new engines after that, but engine related events go haywire, and you becan losing extra skins.

Downloaded again & tried a third time.

I made sure I "replaced" all files. I only have one "Produce.cty" file in the CargoTypes folder (I hadn't backed up my files before I did this the first time, so I'm pretty sure I had the new .cty file each time). I still get the generic Produce car.

Is anyone else having problems with this one or am I just a moron ?

I don't know what is the exact problem, but i have noted that new cars don't (may not?) show up in saved games. My guess is that the savegame stores car and other information

[Hawk]

I just installed the new produce skins and I do see the new skin on the early cars (1829 and 1860) in game in in the train window, although I did notice the logo on the A car floating in front of the car but that was mentioned on Michael's site.

[Ace of Spades]

I don't know what is the exact problem, but i have noted that new cars don't (may not?) show up in saved games. My guess is that the savegame stores car and other information

I was looking for the new Fruit cars in a saved game, but the new Goods & Pulpwood cars worked when I added them mid-game.

I'll start another scenario & see if they work.

Edit: Bombardiere was correct---I started a sandbox & sent a Fruit train between two stations & the new cars were there. At least I know I'm not a moron & I loaded everything properly . Sorry for the mess, WPandP!

[WPandP]

I'm glad you got that figured out! I just wish I had been smart enough to give you that suggestion... thanks again, Bombardiere, for figuring it out. When I set up a little scenario in which to generate train loads with all the various cargoes (so I can review my work on the car skins), I encountered this very problem. At first, I created the scenario and placed a train in it; then I operated that train in the editor until it was loaded up with a variety of cars, and then saved. My thinking was that all I would have to do from then on was launch that scenario to see how the new cars looked. I was wrong, because every time I loaded it, it showed the same exact cars, no matter what I had done to the skins. It seems that the car skins don't get loaded into memory until a train comes to a station to pick up that cargo; once the cargo is loaded, though, the car that is carrying the load gets "committed" to memory, and gets saved along with the rest of the scenario. I ended up having to get my train to where it was empty but just about to arrive at the station to load up, and save the scenario there; now, each time I launch that scenario, the engine arrives at the station first thing, and it loads up all the cars in its consist, which correctly displays the modded cars.

[wsherrick]

Thanks again WP&P for the excellent work you have contributed. I have all the cars installed and they are working properly. The only issue and I believe it is a mystery as to how it happens; is the alpha channel,"glowing," on the extra cars and engines that have been created. The new rolling stock causes the grab irons of the flat cars to glow in the dark and it seems to effect the rubber cars on my game as well. It is something I can live with, but it has my curiosity aroused as to why it happens. I don't have the skill in computer graphics to explore it myself. I am wondering if anyone else has noticed the same phenomenom on their games?

It would be neat if grab irons glowed in real life at night. It would make night switching moves a lot safer when you have to grab on to a moving car in the dark.