Topic: First mod, will not work...

[JT]

Here's the contents of ponyexpress.dat:

Code: [Select]

obj=vehicle
name=PonyExpress
waytype=road
engine_type=bio
copyright=JT
freight=Post
payload=1
speed=45
cost=22500
weight=1
power=2
gear=125
sound=horse.wav
RunningCost=45
intro_year = 650
intro_month = 1
retire_year = 1919
retire_month = 9
Constraint[Prev][0]=none
EmptyImage[SW]=ponyexpress-64.0.0
EmptyImage[NE]=ponyexpress-64.0.1
EmptyImage[SE]=ponyexpress-64.0.2
EmptyImage[NW]=ponyexpress-64.0.3
EmptyImage[S]=ponyexpress-64.0.4
EmptyImage[N]=ponyexpress-64.0.5
EmptyImage[E]=ponyexpress-64.0.6
EmptyImage[W]=ponyexpress-64.0.7
Attached is the file I made for the graphics (24-bit PNG with no alpha channel, and the rider's uniform and horse blanket are the player colours).

For whatever reason, this object simply refuses to load in the game whatsoever when using MakeObj 51. No errors are produced in MakeObj. Is this my fault or some other issue?

[edit] I just conceived of the possibility that MakeObj 51 might only be compatible with the nightly builds... and sure enough, that's the case. Gah!

Now on to tweaking...

[Dwachs]

nice idea!

[prissi]

Very nice. This will go into pak64.

Although, what do you feed this horse for 45 km/h ...

[paco_m]

45km/h is top speed for well trained race-horses, normally they can hold this max. 15min -
then you would have to change the horse or dig a hole for it;
i don't think that this is a realistic speed for post transport  

[JT]

Never said I was going to keep the settings as they were. It's all subject to balancing (especially because it's next to impossible to turn a profit as it is set up). The big hurdle was getting it into the game to begin with!

As for 45 km/h, I will probably revise that downward to 25 km/h or so, but the fastest race horses can achieve close to 40 miles per hour -- that's 65 km/h. The real Pony Express changed horses regularly throughout the route, so if you assume that part is abstracted then the mail can attain pretty decent overland speeds.

[prissi]

The Pony Express averaged nine mph over 25 mile stages.

(from http://www.ultimatehorsesite.com/info/farandfast.html)

However, since the stagecoach is allowed 25, 35 seems a nice compromise.

[skreyola]

Sounds cool!
I agree that 35 is probably a good speed. 25 is too slow. That's what the stagecoach does.

[JT]

(from http://www.ultimatehorsesite.com/info/farandfast.html)

However, since the stagecoach is allowed 25, 35 seems a nice compromise.

Wikipedia quoted an average of around 10-15 mph for a 10 mile canter. A rider would typically ride for 100 miles over 8 to 10 hours, changing horses 10 times. For a ten mile run, a horse can make a hard gallop if need be.

I did settle on 37 km/h in my local copy, after trying out 27 km/h and finding it too slow for comfort. (37 happens to be a nice prime number and all.)

[prissi]

Added to the pak with 37. Thanks a lot!

[IgorEliezer]

^ First mod, it's already included in.

[JT]

If you didn't already fix the bugs I had in the definition, then here's an updated version which fixes the compass directions, plus an updated graphic. To be honest I'm still not sure it's ready for inclusion in the trunk just yet; the graphic still needs some tweaking for alignment -- e.g., there's a huge jump when moving from SE to E (where S is towards the bottom left of the screen).

Code: [Select]

obj=vehicle
name=PonyExpress
waytype=road
engine_type=bio
copyright=JT
freight=Post
payload=1
speed=37
cost=22500
weight=1
power=2
gear=250
sound=horse.wav
RunningCost=45
intro_year = 650
intro_month = 1
retire_year = 1919
retire_month = 9
Constraint[Prev][0]=none
EmptyImage[S]=ponyexpress-64.0.0
EmptyImage[N]=ponyexpress-64.0.1
EmptyImage[E]=ponyexpress-64.0.2
EmptyImage[W]=ponyexpress-64.0.3
EmptyImage[SE]=ponyexpress-64.0.4
EmptyImage[NW]=ponyexpress-64.0.5
EmptyImage[NE]=ponyexpress-64.0.6
EmptyImage[SW]=ponyexpress-64.0.7

First mod, it's already included in.

First mod, yep, but I've actually been checking on Simutrans every year or two since around the beginning. I recall raving about it over ICQ to one of my internet buddies (ha ha, does anyone still remember ICQ?), not having heard of Transport Tycoon beforehand, so TTD's method of paying you based on bringing the cargo somewhere it could be used -- rather than to a specific destination -- struck me as amazingly strange when I first tried TTD a couple years ago. Locomotion never captured my interest enough either, although I loved the curving tracks. It's too bad Simutrans is so set on the 8 cardinal directions. I'd love to rig up a 16- or 32-direction graphic with three possible steepnesses of slopes (that's a total of 224 sprites per vehicle, if my math is right) so you could have comparable fineness. It'd be a nice challenge!

I seem to recall a forum older than the archive.forum.simutrans.com where I offered to do some building graphics when the only real buildings were Hajo's, but my priorities sort of fell flat (that old cathedral's perspective still grates on me... I've been meaning to draw a replacement for that). I think it was because someone suggested I work on pak128 rather than pak64, so I sort of gave up on trying to do true-colour graphics and found something else to play instead. ;-)

I'm glad the English tools and documentation have matured enough now to make modding a little more approachable, especially for us one-language-wonders!

[skreyola]

@JT: Yes, I remember, and I still have a UIN.

[VS]

Congrats on the inclusion - probably it works despite the title And since you remember the old old forum, welcome back! It's amazing that you came after almost a decade to take a look

Offtopic... Icq is still wildly popular in CZ, all my contacts don't have anything else (well, FB, but I'm not going there).