Tangara Progress

One good post deserves another - Many thanks to whoever left the comment about the digital ampmeter. That little piece of info reduced the number of animation frames required down to 50 - a much more managable number. I hadnt begun to think about how to build the ampmeter, but now it will be easier than the speedo.

Ive pretty much finished the front end detail on the base model, except for the coupler and train-stop trip. Since there are no textures yet I highlighted the destination board so that it could be seen. That whole header area is behind glass, which for now I simulated by making the glass object see through in Gmax. I still havnt put glass in the windows yet. All of the attachment points for the various lights are in place, but hidden in the picture.

Hmmm. The cab side doors seem to a be seperate pieces to the body. Perhaps they'll be animated. I sure hope so - that will depend on me figuring out how to pass messages between the script that controls the exterior and the one that controls the interior. Its not that hard, just a matter of getting the code right.

I started putting the exterior script together. The one for the Control Trailer will be more complex than the one for the Motor Carriage, so its a good place to start. Im currently working on melding all of the "Stage 1" features together, and will consider the more advanced stuff when that is done. Due to the amount of time it will take to get all of the features in my head working, I think I will release it in stages as well, rather than waiting until its all done, That way I will have more time to work out some of the more complex scripting.

I finally figured out an easy way to keep that front end flat, and since then I have been working mostly on the Tangara, alternating between the model and the script. Ive spent some time researching and coding, and its coming along slowly.

The next step is to work on the rear end detail, and gangway, and then the exterior will be just about done, then it will be back to the Interior for the cab details and creating the interior model to be used in Cab View.

I guess I should have captured that screenshot with the passenger side doors open.

File Version: 303
Current Polys: 10,100 (excl bogies)

I underestimated the polys required by the exterior detail and have crept a little above my self-imposed limit of 10,000. Im now conciously aware of every new poly that I create. I'll go over it soon and see if I cant remove a few, and there are not too many more to be added.