Tangara Update

Ive started putting together the interior of the Tangara. There is still a lot more work to be done on the exterior, but this way its starting to look less like a brick and more like a train. I'll be adding the door level flooring and bulkheads next and then I can start laying down the floor of the lower level seating area. I havnt quite decided if I will keep the stair area open and model it, or whether I will cheat and slap a photo on either side of a bulkhead. Modeling it will probably look better, but will use up a few more polys, especially for the stairs and railings.

Ive been doing a little experimenting, and reading as many tutorials as I can get my hands on (even the Flight Simulator ones - I learned a neat trick from an FS tutorial that helped me solve a problem with the S Set cab, and just tonight I discovered the "Flip" button which helped me put in the curved interior walls seen above.

At work today, I figured out how to model the skirt (purple section) as it is flat over the wheels, but curved in other places. I think it will be a lot easier than I originally imagined, but Im going to have to delete the purple block and create it again to give it some properties that it needs first. (apparently "Editable Mesh" isnt so editable after all :)

Current poly count: 178 

S Set Cab Update

The S Set cab is coming along slowly. I just realised that its for a Comeng type, due to its shape, but I should be able to detach everything and slice it up a little to make the flat faced Goninan type cab fairly easily.

It doesnt look much different to the last photo, but believe me, GMAX is deceptive that way... you just dont see the hours that went into something that looks as simple as this update.

I lost a whole day trying to figure out how to fix a problem I was having with the gmax boolean tool. It left the window sills as I wanted on two windows, but on others it either lost part of the sill, or it didnt produce it at all. I finally deleted the broken bits of window sill, and extruded new ones, which bunched up the polygons a bit, but a smooth modifier fixed that.

As you can see, Im also doing the guards area. I havnt figured out how to change cameras in Trainz yet (I havnt really tried) but I believe you can place a camera at the observer's point of view, so you will be able to see the guards perspective. I've yet to put in the driver's and guards seats, and some of the finer details (hand brake, door controls, light fixtures, HAL9000 (Black box) and some structural peices. Once that's done, I can put it aside until I get some pics of the controls. I have a couple of sources lined up for those.

The drivers compartment door will be propped open, as most drivers leave it this way. I cant blame them - their cabin is pretty small. I have a new appreciation for Sydney train drivers after modeling this.

Current poly count: 222. Now, its back to the Tangara for a while. I still havn't seen much of my wife :)

Another day, Another screenshot

I've started on an S Set cabin, since Im still stuck on the Tangara. Cabs are a lot of work, and most of it is in front of me... gauges, levers, scripting etc... not to mention the textures. Hopefully I'll be able to get some reference pictures of the controls so that I can lay out the drivers console. So far, its 135 polys, but that will go up as I add the interior. Oh well... back to it. (I wonder what my wife looks like :)

Rent-a-cops Sheesh!

Last weekend, I went to Central Station to take a few "Research" photos of suburban trains. On the way there I stopped to take a few shots of Sydney Yard from the park that runs alongside it. It was kind of amusing, but just at that moment the police decided to drive through the park (normally closed to traffic). They stopped near me, deciding if they should bother getting out of the car or not, while I was taking a few photos through the fence. After a short while, they moved on. I guess I dont look like a terrorist.

It must have been no more than 2 minutes after I got to Central and started taking a few photos that the Cityrail Police (glorified security guards) came up to me and asked what I was doing, to which I replied "taking photos of trains". Well, actually it was just one of them. The other three had enough common sense to see that I was taking photos of trains, and didnt have to ask. This guy had a real problem with it.

He said. "You cant do that here". I asked why not, and his answer was that sometimes grafetti artists attack a train and then take photos of it as it travels around the network. I was like "Do you see any grafetti on this train?" He didnt. There was none. Not too bright this guy. I guess the others must have nick-named him "Tail Light", because he's not as bright as a headlght.

According to him, I had to get permission from the Station Master, which technically, is probably true, but lets check reality for a moment. People take photos all the time, at all kinds of places, including many rail fans and even train drivers with access to closed areas and trackside, who put their train photos up on the web for all to see (its just that none of those pics have the close-up detail I need to model complex parts like bogies etc). Heck, 3 weeks ago thousands of camera-toting rail fans decended on Sydney Terminal for the "150 Years of Rail" celebration, and between them, took more photos than you or I could in a year. (One of mine is above). I even managed to get a few photos from the narrow end of the Mortuary Station platform, which I normally wouldnt have access to. I didnt need to ask permission for that, and no one bothered me (or any of the other photographers) on that day.

Get real. I know its a different world now, after 911, but Im not plotting to drive a train into a building or anything. The truth is that you have a better chance of being killed in a car accident than in an act of terrorism. People are just paranoid, especially those who need to be seen as being concerned for the public's safety.

What stopped the train?

So, I spent all day yesterday working on the Tangara, with very little to show for it, other than a few smoothed edges. Im still learning gmax, so I dont know if its my methods or the less-than-intuitive software that is causing the problems (probably the former) but nothing seemed to work. I cant seem to get the curvature of the roof right at the front. Maybe I just have to approach it a diferent way. I'll think about it some more and try again next time.

Another thing I've been wanting to model is a Train Stop (see the picture). This gizmo sits next to a signal and when the signal is red, the little arm near the back is raised up to activate the brakes on any train that tries to go against the signal. In Sydney, the suburban trains often trip past them, meaning they stop at the red signal, wait a couple of minutes, then move forward a few feet until this thing trips their brakes, then stop again (duh) and wait for the brakes to recharge.

In Trainz, if a train passes a signal at stop, the emergency brakes are activated. Why? What trippped them. Maybe the driver is asleep and didnt see the signal, and so cant operate the brakes either? This little baby is the answer, and will forever banish the question: "Ok, but what exactly stopped the train?".

I have the model about half way finished already (its fairly simple as you can see) but the hard part will be scripting it. I know there are a few existing scripts that do something silimar to what I need, so hopefully I can use them as a learning tool, and combine a few ideas from each to create what I need. (With credit where its due of course).

I finally figured out that the S Sets on the DLS must have the required attachment points for a cab. Its a pitty about the one chosen though - I feel like im driving a truck. Pedels and a round wheel like thing? What the!? Im thinking about doing an upgrade. Building a cab and dropping it in. I'll see how I go. I might do an M Set cab as well, for the bug.

First Post!

Well here it is, the first post.

I decided to document my experience with Trainz Railroad Simulator. (or Railway Simulator for those of us outside of the United states, like me). I have the new 2006 version, though the link above points to the 2004 version, simply because their 2006 website isnt much to look at yet.

Lets go back a step. I created this blog weeks ago. It was originally going to be a place to put a few thoughts about a lot of crazy stuff that goes on around me. I had heard the phrase "Out where the busses dont run", meaning crazy or out of your mind (Im too embarrassed to admit where [Miami Vice]*cough*) and it stuck with me. I thought it was a great way to describe someone who was really "öut there" crazy.

I didnt do much with the blog, so, when looking for somewhere to put a few "progress" updates for the Trainz projects I am working on, I thought "No Busses" would be appropriate.

[Edit: Since this post, the blog name has been changed to Redfern Workshopz]

So... Lets be honest. A month or two ago, I was cruising my favourite BitTorrent sites, looking for a few of my favourite TV shows, since I refuse to be a slave to commercial TV's scheduling, and found TRS2006. I thought, hmmm this looks interesting, so I downloaded it, installed it, and took it for a spin.

I was blown away!!

First up, I must thank Natvander, Davido, and the Cardiff Workshops guys for their Wadalbavale branch line. That, above anything else was what impressed me so much about this software. They have done a ton of work in the Trainz community, and have created a lot of custom "Aussie" content and textures which makes this module really look and feel like country New South Wales. Its as close to "being there" as you're gonna get on a 17in computer monitor.

I dont play a lot of games or simulations - I have too many projects that Im constantly working on, but this one hooked me. A week later, I went out and bought it, and I have to say its not because the game's serial number is an integral part of the Download Station, but because I do buy the things I download and decide to keep. Im just tired of buying something and finding out that its not what I thought it was. Modern technology allows me to preview and make better selections. So discovering Trainz was a happy accident.

So anyway... why are you here? Its surely not to listen to me ramble. Of course, its for an update on my Trainz content... First, i'm gonna make you read some more...

So, who is this new guy, promising to deliver us a Tangara for Trainz, and why is he bothering since there are already a couple in the works?

Im a computer geek. I work in IT as a Performance Analyst. I find that I pick new things up fairly quickly - give me a technical manual for a piece of software, and I'll be running rings around it in no time. Trainz has such a manual. I love building things, whether its writing programs, or making 3D models - its like an obsession at times. I just have to add more and improve on it. At the same time, I often get distracted, or get interested in something else and leave things for a while before getting back to them, so don't hold your breath. Oooh. Shiny!

Why am I building a Tangara? Why not? I've downloaded and played with the available Sydney suburban trains and as noted by many, theres at least 2 missing - The Tangara's and the V Sets. There has been talk on the Trainz forums of building a Tangara for over a year now, and in true Cityrail fashon, it seems to be running late, so I did what any geek with a computer and an obsession would do. I started building one myself. I dont use the word obsession lightly. My wife and I have already had arguments over the amount of time I spend at my computer in Gmax or Trainz, and its only been a few weeks. We seem to have found a compromise and its been better recently.

So how far have I gotten? The answer is "Not very" - there is a steep learning curve, but its progressing. In order to satisfy all the "gimme's" out there, Im going to release it in pieces, using the Auran KUID versioning system. First you'll get your basic 4 car train, then it will be updated with passengers and other cool stuff, and then finally a real cab. Thats the plan, I may change it.

So, here it is. A bit disapointing, but if I can stop writing all of this garbage and get back into Gmax, it will get better. Enjoy: