I am wondering - what is the prototype for the current canal "barges" in Pak128.Britain? In hull shape, they do indeed look like barges, and their size is consistent with them being barges, but their tall cabins and tall triangular profiled hull coverings look more like narrow boats. My research suggests that barges tended to look much flatter:
(http://www.geh.org/fm/mismis/m198119230001.jpg)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8486/8233562292_cc5250d5e5_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/pmarfell/8233562292/)
Moving the barge down the canal (http://www.flickr.com/photos/pmarfell/8233562292/) by Paul Marfell (http://www.flickr.com/people/pmarfell/), on Flickr
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Regent%27s_Canal_Limehouse1823.jpg)
whereas narrowboats tended to have the taller cabins and covers (probably because they had a smaller draught):
(http://s0.geograph.org.uk/photos/54/79/547994_3aa13500.jpg)
(http://hnbc.org.uk/oldsite/boatgallery/other/tay-tco2000.jpg)
(http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/huddexaminer/apr2011/8/0/canal-524599242.jpg)
(I should also mention in passing the type of boat that we do not yet have: the passenger packet boat, which carried both passengers and mail at a higher speed than ordinary canal boats, exemplified by this example of such a craft from the Grand Junction canal:
(http://www.rbkc.gov.uk/vmgallery/general/history/medium/vm_hs_0015.jpg)
These were distinct from the earlier "market boats" which carried passengers, but at ordinary canal boat speed).
Incidentally, there is a problem in the .blends Github repository, in that the .blend file whose filename suggests that it is the horse barge is, in fact, a rather large sailing ship. Does anyone have the original horse barge graphic, or does this have to be reproduced from the steam/diesel barge graphics?
I think part of the problem is that I just intended a generic canal barge without really distinguishing between the different types. I think they are probably more like narrowboats than the larger barges you describe. The blend has unfortunately been overwritten with the sailing boat, so sadly lost forever. I suggest starting from scratch and perhaps making appropriate graphics for each type?
That is what I have been doing: I used the basic hull shape of the barge and modified it to make the narrowboats for which I have produced unprocessed graphics in this (http://forum.simutrans.com/index.php?topic=11034.msg108920#msg108920) thread. I have also done the tub-boats, and am about to start on the barges, for which I shall again use your hull shape and adapt.
Excellent. I'll try to keep an eye out on your github commits but could you post somewhere here when they are ready for me to include in standard?
Will try to remember, although not always good at remembering these things. If you keep an eye on the canal overhaul thread in the Experimental subforum, that should give you an idea how progress is being made.
OK - I've had a look over there. Am I right in thinking you have made lots of render outputs but no in-game pngs/dats yet?
Yes, that's right - TygerFish was going to do the .dat files and graphics processing so that the work could be done more quickly than if I did everything.