Pak64 Vehicle Fixes and Equipment I Created for Simutrans.

[Phileksa]

I have fixed the Adler locomotive's alignment.  I also recolored it to the player's primary and secondary colors, versus green and red.  Who do I send the images to for inclusion in Pak64?

The locomotive appears to be a variation of the Stephenson Rocket.  As that locomotive was initially built in 1829, I also made a DAT file modification to introduce it six years earlier. I've replaced the pak file with the original start date.  So much for the easy way out!  

I lost my work on the "Grasshopper" Tom Thumb class of locomotives.  No matter.  I am apt to just skip it.

I also have two new locomotives, the E80HAC and E90HAC DPUs, in both A and B variants.  DPUs are like DMUs, but they can be inserted throughout the length of a train without costly upgrades to the intermediate rolling stock.  As such, DPU locomotives can be used throughout the length of any train.  With a short "DPU Cab" (not drawn yet) at the head of a train, a DPU could be a "push" train.  This would be useful in Simutrans by keeping the locomotive out of the platform area.  Which is an interesting testament of how rules of use can influence vehicle design.  But that's a topic for another time.

Any information about where to put the information regarding this new and upgraded rolling stock would be appreciated.

September 18, 2011
I just wanted to say that I've not forgotten about this project.  I just am a very very slow worker.  I am working on the split Adler and Tender, which will lead to a better Rocket model.  I'm just taking my time, as I usually do! 

[Dwachs]

just upload everything here in the forums. People are happy to test your stuff.

[Phileksa]

just upload everything here in the forums. People are happy to test your stuff.

I created a webpage, http://phileksa.weebly.com/ where I stashed the files at.  They're PAK 64.

ground.lighttexture.pak is a NeuTron specific light texture.  I played around with making more "NeuTron" specific terrain, but realized that it just didn't seem to go with what I wanted.  So it's kinda' mashed together with PAK 64 sprites.  Which is okay, because it looks pretty nice.  I think there should be another file, one that "erases" the coast line, but I can't remember for sure right now.  To those of you who like a "more natural" appearance to your game, I'd highly advise not using this.  "NeuTron" is a word play on "New Tron," as I wanted to try to give it some of that "Tron" look.  But that is more work than I really care to think about.

vehicle.rocket.pak is a modified Adler with a large driver fore and a bogey aft.  I made almost no other changes to it.  It isn't difficult to imagine the Rocket having an outside frame with buffers on it.  Originally locomotives and cars were made without buffers, and just had a chain to pull the vehicles behind it.  It worked all right for freight, but passengers were banged around so much they immediately stuck wooden beams between the cars to keep them from banging in to each other.  I may modify this image later to make it more "accurate," but I'm in no hurry to do so.

rocket.png is the image file for the Rocket, such as it is now.

The file vehicle.adler.pak is a revised Adler file with which you can overwrite the existing vehicle.adler.pak file in the pak folder under Simutrans.

The file adler-00.png is the modified Adler sprite file.  It can be used with the existing DAT files.  It's just the original Adler who's sprites were moved in to correct alignment and repainted in the Player Colors.

e80-90hac.zip contains 8 vehicle.ex0hac-x files, two per locomotive variation.  The E80HAC and E90HAC are DPUs, as mentioned before.  To reflect actual DPU performance, the "B" and "C" sections (intended to be placed somewhere other than the front of the train) have higher gear ratios.  It may not be entirely accurate, but these games never are.  With that said, I love Simutrans!

train_alignments.zip is a file that contains the footprint of railcars of various lengths.  The dat files for trains allow vehicles of different lengths to be modeled and specified.  When I tried using the templates provided by the Simutrans community, I got lost.  They seemed rather obscure.  So I created these and made certain they lined up in game, and draw my new equipment on top of them.  When they're turned in to "vehicles" themselves, you can see a train of flat board-looking things with red arrows on them cruising all over the place with a space between them.  The arrows should point to the front if you have things setup as I do.

I will also post future projects at the same page.

I will also add that when I update the list of available files, I will do so on this post, so as not to clutter up the forums.  

There are more "NeuTron" specific files, but I won't try to sort them out and upload them.  Unless it becomes necessary by uploading "NeuTron" specific vehicles.  Most of my "NeuTron" vehicles should work for most games people play.  "NeuTron Specific" vehicles would be things I develop to run between 1500 and 1830.  Some of those are planned to be "Steam Punk," most likely with lots of iron and brass.  "Steel" would be what permits most of the more modern equipment to run.

[Ters]

The locomotive appears to be the Stephenson Rocket, or a variation there of.  As that locomotive was initially built in 1829, I also made a DAT file modification to introduce it six years earlier.

According to Wikipedia, 1835 is the right introduction year for the Adler. It's not the Rocket, but (again according to Wikipedia) a Patentee class engine, which is the successor to the successor of the Rocket.

[Phileksa]

According to Wikipedia, 1835 is the right introduction year for the Adler. It's not the Rocket, but (again according to Wikipedia) a Patentee class engine, which is the successor to the successor of the Rocket.

Good to know!  After a little research on Stephenson's Rocket, they don't look alike at all!  I'm going to have to do some changes to make the sprites work!  

[prissi]

Since both rocket and adler are tiny, maybe one should make them a little larger even if they defy the other scale?

Anyway, it is good to have those in company color. I am away, but those will be included when I a back.

[Phileksa]

Since both rocket and adler are tiny, maybe one should make them a little larger even if they defy the other scale?

Anyway, it is good to have those in company color. I am away, but those will be included when I a back.

I think they may already be in a different scale.  I'm just working with the original sprites for the Adler.  I'm lazy right now, so the "Rocket" looks an awful lot like the Adler.  I'll update it eventually, when I grow tired of seeing it look like that.  Or perhaps someone else might get to it earlier.

I think my next project is the 4-4-0 American, which I believe was introduced around 1840.  It's also a small locomotive, but it's much larger than either the Adler or the Rocket.  From looking at the sprites, though, the Adler and Rocket appear to be about the same size as the 4-4-0 would be in game ... ?

My primary purpose right now is to fill in the gaps so evident early in the game.  There is a distinct lack of equipment prior to 1860 or so and I am trying to fill this out a bit, at least to 1830.  After that, I might try to make equipment that's suitable for use prior to 1830, mostly things like horse-drawn wagons and trains and sail-powered vessels.  But for now, I'm working on 1830-1900. I'm also apt to modify many of the vehicle sprites to bring them in line with my own creations over time. :p

Of course, the Adler included it's tender in the sprite.  Mebbe you're thinking about separating the locomotive from the tender and so making them larger for that?  I suppose it could be done.  The Adler and Rocket would end up being about twice their current size, due to the minimum size a car can be in the game.  Or they could remain one sprite, if you think that would work.  I'm not sure ... which do you think would be best?

Either way, over time, I will update the sprites to make them look better to me. I'm a "pixel artist," which means when I draw new equipment, it's literally pixel by pixel.  I don't have any 3D models.  It can take a rather long time to make something look "right."

The E80HAC sprites were a case in point.  It's a very very large locomotive, but one wouldn't know it to look at the very tiny sprites.  I worked on and off on that for weeks.

The E80HAC wasn't only intended to be used solely as a fictitious locomotive, however, but also as a template for the E-Series and F-Series locomotives I intend to create later.  I always preferred the B&O scheme over the Santa Fe "Warbonnet" scheme, so part of the project was creating a source sprite with that scheme, only in player colors. I will make smaller versions for the E and F series locomotives. I will also include a contemporary variation for the SD40-2.  It's also a template for new passenger equipment and other equipment I plan on updating or creating in the future.

A friend of mine said he might enjoy making Robotech inspired sprites for future vehicles.  But I won't expect him to.  It is an interesting idea, however.  Mebbe some sci-fi fans can create Star Trek or other big sci-fi inspired vehicles, too!

[prissi]

About the seperate tender: That would be very nice. The adler was drawn when all cars had to be at length 8 in simutrans. Since there is no minimum length in simutrans, any length would work, thus there is no too short.

About future vehicles: Why not, the timelen end already in 2040 for trains and earlier for cars.

[Phileksa]

I'll let you know if {and possibly when} I try it.  I make the changes because I tend to be fickle, and when I'm playing, I look at something and say, "Wouldn't it be nice if ... ?" 

[prissi]

By the way, vilvoh did some more early engines:
http://graphics.simutrans.com/displayimage.php?album=111&pos=0

However they are rendered and need some more pixel shifting to be really symmetrical in all views nd are without player color too.

[Phileksa]

By the way, vilvoh did some more early engines:
http://graphics.simutrans.com/displayimage.php?album=111&pos=0

However they are rendered and need some more pixel shifting to be really symmetrical in all views nd are without player color too.

I can look in to them.  I do not know when I'll get to them.  The American 4-4-0's are really interesting.  They will take some time.

For the record, should I record his name as "Vilvoh" or "Niwi?"

[VS]

My 2c: I think Niwi is name of the set, and Vilvoh is clearly the author So, copyright=vilvoh seems the right solution, while Niwi could go into name prefix (if used at all?).

[prissi]

Ah, I forgot, Raven did some other early locos too. They are maybe even easier to fix (pixelwise) and have more consistent style.
http://www.fast-function-factory.de/Download/19th-Century-experimental-src.7z

[Phileksa]

 

My 2c: I think Niwi is name of the set, and Vilvoh is clearly the author So, copyright=vilvoh seems the right solution, while Niwi could go into name prefix (if used at all?).

Okies.  I'll use copyright=vilvoh.

Ah, I forgot, Raven did some other early locos too. They are maybe even easier to fix (pixelwise) and have more consistent style.
http://www.fast-function-factory.de/Download/19th-Century-experimental-src.7z

This set looks like it has a really nice set of older rolling stock, and might require less work to "fix." I immediately noticed one of the locomotives looks like it might be the Adler, and another looks like it might be something similar to a Rocket.  I will have to run it a bit in-game to determine what changes I'll have to make to it.

I can post a pic on my page of the 4-4-0 American if you really want to see it, even though the sprites aren't finished yet. Of course, premature posting tends to lead to me not really finishing things.

[Edit] Wow!  Someone put bunches of work in to this set!


Pixel Art vs Rendering
I know this might make someone upset, but I have noticed there is a huge difference between rendering and shrinking an image versus drawing it pixel-by-pixel.  Rendering makes sense for bigger images, where you won't lose too much of the detail.  But Pak64 is, by modern standards, absolutely tiny!

The very small size of these sprites means getting them to look right very difficult.  It is really impressionist (painters) work, rather than photographic (renderers).

Rendering can give you a decent source image to work with, but the details are lost or appear distorted at these small sizes.

For example, my 4-4-0 American I'm working on has an area six pixels wide and four pixels high, and in this area, on one of the isometric images, I need to show the front truck or bogey, the piston, the valve gear, cow catcher, and parts of the boiler.  On this particular American (1837), the cow catcher is wood.  That's quite a bit to manage in just twenty-four pixels!

Up close (400%) the image looks almost nothing like what it represents.  When you zoom out, it manages to imply what is intended.  Furthermore, a properly done impressionist sprite is kinda' difficult to scale up.  Not only are the details not really there, but there's a certain degree of distortion necessary to make it "look right" with so little actual information.

I've always marveled at this facet of impressionism.

But the small size is also why I enjoy working on Pak64.  For me, it's easier to use a mouse to change and move around individual pixels than it is for me to draw large, sweeping images.  I don't have the tools for making large pictures, and even if I did, I'm not entirely certain I'd be comfortable using them.  My artistic training was mostly in Composition, Drawing with Pencils, and Painting.  So the digital media really doesn't suit me very well.

That being said, I am actually very happy to work on Simutrans sprites because it gives me an opportunity to use and improve a skill set I have which, like cleaning reel-to-reel data tapes, I thought was long ago outdated.