Engines

Burlington_Northern_3140 · Post by **Burlington_Northern_3140** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 11:50 pm

How do you make an engine for Railroads?

Star Ranger4 · Post by **Star Ranger4** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 7:13 pm

with a great deal of skill and no small amount of luck.

First you have to create the actual 3d model in the modeling program of your choice. Then you have to attach the correct joints for where swiveling parts go. then you have to create the animation files for the moving parts.

Finally, you have to correctly export these sub parts into their correct formats for use in NIFscope, where you have to assemble them correctly in order for the program to export the data the game needs.

oh, and misplace anything? the game blows up in your face.

snoopy55 · Post by **snoopy55** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 10:56 pm

Your question leaves you open to several replies.

You can take an existing one and do color and/or railroad decal changes.

You can, if you know how, take an existing engine, search for info on engines with the same basic structure and edit that structure in a 3D program. Some engines are nothing more than that. (can you cut the top off and make a slug?)

Or, you can take an existing engine, run it thru a 3D program, changing everything in the structure but the pivit points, and hopefully get a new one to work.

OR, and this is the easiest, you can run an existing engine, and dream it's what you want it to be

. This choice, while easy, really don't get it....

I wish you luck in whatever way you choose.

Burlington_Northern_3140 · Post by **Burlington_Northern_3140** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 11:32 pm

Thanks! I will start reading on how to use blender now. Then download Nifskope. Maybe an alco C424, or I know there is demand for an SW1.

CeeBee51 · Post by **CeeBee51** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 11:35 pm

There's a demand for just about any engine but for me I'm more into late steam/early diesel so the Alco would be sweet as would the SW1, a Century series, a Trainmaster, C-Liner or a whole lot more I could name.

snoopy55 · Post by **snoopy55** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 1:01 am

Burlington_Northern_3140 wrote:Thanks! I will start reading on how to use blender now. Then download Nifskope. Maybe an alco C424, or I know there is demand for an SW1.

The main thing with Blender and this game is the interfaces you need to do it. Blender doesn't work with NIF files as is, but there is material out there to do it. The ones I have, and I hope if there are others someone will post them, are:

blender_cgf_scripts-0.0.4-windows.exe
blender_nif_scripts-2.2.10-windows.exe
python-2.5.2.msi
PyQt-Py2.5-gpl-4.3.3-2.exe (PyQt4)
niflib-0.7.2-dll.zip

The last one, while it is suppose to be helpful, I couldn't get into how its loaded. My head was just into to many other things, or maybe it is beyond me. If you figure a simple way to do it or where the two files in it go, let me know.

And as to the SW1 CeeBee51 mentioned, I had gotten one of the members onto that, but he left us but left a copy of what he had gotten done. Lowell took it over, but hasn't posted anything on it. That and a SW1 calf would make a great pair for short runs.

Some good spots for info:

http://www.trainweb.org/willstrainart/FM_line.htm

http://www.thedieselshop.us/index.html

http://membres.lycos.fr/trainmaster/

http://www.railpictures.net/showphotos. ... ois,%20USA

and this one, which wouldn't open for me right now, but may later:

http://www.northeast.railfan.net/slugs.html

Get that production line going!