Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Tangara Progress

I spent whatever free time I had on Sunday evening and Monday working on the Tangara again. I started on the Train Stop trip arm, but decided to finish the front coupler instead. Here is the result. The coupler is finished, which now just leaves the remainder of the trip arm, and the intercar gangway to go. The rear coupler is fairly simple and will be incorporated into the gangway.

I did a quick poly count (below). Its starting to become difficult to give a proper estimate, since in Trainz the poly count generally only refers to the body, excluding things like bogies and pantographs, which have their own counts. I have quite a few objects in the scene which will be removed to their own files later, so I have to subtract them from the total, and on this occasion I was lazy and only subtracted the bogies. The count shown here is just to give an idea of the complexity of the model anyway.

Im aiming for around 12,000 for the exterior view (which includes a cut down version of the interior). Auran recommend 9,000 for a diesel loco, but an EMU has a more complex interior, and the Tangara is a double decker, so I believe it would be a little higher. Considering that and improvements in processor speeds in the couple of years since the Content Creation Guide was last updated, I think 12,000 is not too bad - I'll be using LOD anyway, so it'll be fine.

Anyway, I know I didnt add 2,000 polys since the last update, so I know the figure below is too high.

Poly count: 12,700
File Version: 348

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looking good Wylie.

Just wondering, an interesting little feature came to mind, and I was wondering if you'd considered it for the Tangara, that being Pantograph Sparks.

Personally I'm into Electric locos a fair bit, and have been a little sick of the lack of realism for them given in Trainz. But anyway, keep up the great work! Payware standard through and through IMHO.

Cheers
Alex

Wylie said...

Im not going to give away all my plans, but that is one feature that has been on my list since even before the original post.

I have been collecting snippets of scripts, and also writing my own, but at this stage the Tangara and 86 Class arent ready for the scripting phase just yet. Once they are, I'll be including as much realism as I can. Im a programmer, so scripting is probably my "thing" even more so than 3D modelling.

I already have plans for an elaborate CAB mode for both the Tangara and 86 Class. Electrics are different and the default deisel cab mode just wont cut it.

Ive already mentioned the 86 Class will have realsitic driving, with switching in and out of resistor banks, keeping an eye on the current demand, etc. The Tangara isnt quite as complex, but will still require scripting to properly emulate the combined throttle/brake controls of modern EMUs and Trams.

There is almost no support in Trainz (at least in TRS2006) for realistic electric locos. This all requires custom scripting, and I already have loads of notes on just how Im going to achieve that.

Wylie said...

Oh, About the sparks... I just found something in a previous post... have a look at the second picture, and a hint near the bottom of this post