I'm back...sort of? Anywho, mod talk

[dtrainBNSF1]

I didn't even know there was a N&W 611 pack out there (shows how long I've been out of the loop). I found it. I'll have to check it out once my new laptop gets here.

It just a copy of Smokebox's 844 model with a awkward looking 611 shell placed on top with child objects. Nothing that special.

Yeah, it certainly isn't perfect. But it's a start. They did say that they'll update it at some point. While the model isn't the best, the coaches and the aux tenders are really well done.

Could just be my setup, but the colors look horrid on my end, as well as the broken alpha channel on the locomotive and tender.

-Reworked car physics for Sherman Hill and the SD60M pack, including more accurate cargo weights and LD/MT variants when necessary.

Is it possible for these physics to be interchangeable with other generic rolling stock that's available?

You have to go into every wagon file individually to change its physics. It's not like a loco blueprint which references a sim file where you can change the address to swap out the physics. The wagon file contains both the information for the model's rendering as well as its physics in the same blueprint.

[dtrainBNSF1]

Sherman Hill SD70M - modded. Up next: SD40-2

[dtrainBNSF1]

Sherman Hill SD40-2: modded. Next up is the SW10, although I'm not finding much on the specs so far...

[dtrainBNSF1]

SW10: done. I wound up borrowing some specs from the SW7 as UP 96 was rebuilt from an SW7 with a 1200hp engine. Top speed set at 65mph.

That's 4 engines down. I'll work on the rolling stock tomorrow, then move on to the SD60M. I'm going to bed now.

[dtrainBNSF1]

Worked all day on the rolling stock mods. Had to make several MT and LD variants because when they updated and re-released the route for TS2016 they screwed up the cargo blueprint and put MassInKg lines in stock that don't work with MassInKg because even with the load box ticked they return no loaded value so the game treats them like they're still empty. I couldn't remove the cargo blueprint because then the stock wouldn't show up in the list so I dropped their MassInKg lines to 0 and just made separate MT and LD models (except for the double stacks, coal hoppers, woodchipper, and gondola - their cargo lines should still work properly). I am still in the middle of double checking all the weights with the Adv version of Smokebox's FEF-3 which has an in-game base weight of 378.8. Working a lot through TS-Tools. Still not sure what the main difference between TS-Tools and RW_Tools is supposed to be as TS-Tools seems to work just like RW_Tools from a modder's perspective but I will admit that having TS-Tools has sped up the modding process a lot. Modding 4 locos in a row yesterday would not have been as timely without it . Anyway, calling it done for the day. I work until Wednesday so I'll probably leave the project be until my next day off.

[dtrainBNSF1]

All of the freight stock has been modded and all in-game weights fine-tuned with the FEF-3. Next phase: Modding the SD60M and freight stock.

[dtrainBNSF1]

Work keeps me busy, but I managed to make some headway on the SD60M - fixed the issue with the combined power handle and now it has 8 power notches, an idle notch, and 8 dynamic brake notches instead of having no notches at all. I also found a formula for figuring out what TE values to assign to each throttle position:

T=2650(nP/V)
where
T=tractive effort in newtons
P=output hp
V=speed in km/hr
n=locomotive efficiency

In cases where I can find the correct charts, I can look up how much HP is at each notch. If I can't find that, there's another formula I can use to at least get me in the ballpark and will serve well enough for the sim. I will have to go back and revise what I've already done with the C45ACCTE, SD70M, SD40-2, and SW10 to update their throttle behavior with this new data.

Slowly but surely it's coming along.

[dtrainBNSF1]

Finally got around to finishing the modifications on the SD60M and accompanying stock. I'll now double check the locos from the base Sherman Hill packs to make sure that their mods are still behaving as they should. It'll be a bit, though as my next day off isn't until next Thursday. Still pressing on

[dtrainBNSF1]

I've got some time off now, so back to modding.

Quick question this week. I've initially planned on making separate MOD variants in future releases to separate modified locomotives from default locomotives so that my mods don't trigger tracks.bin errors on any default career scenarios and you can continue to play career scenarios with default stock for scores, make scenarios for the workshop, etc. but recently I've been thinking: do I really need to be doing that? Is triggering tracks.bin really such an inconvenience when all you have to do to resolve it is hit F2? And honestly if you're going to make a scenario with modified stock, chances are you probably won't be posting it to the Workshop with directions on downloading and installing a mod since that from my experience tends to turn potential players off but instead be posting scenarios with modded stock on sites like this.

So question: do you prefer any future mod I put out to overwrite default stock? Or do you prefer having separate default and modified stock?

(By the way, I know I might be late to the party but I just got ahold of Searchlight Simulation's enhancement packs for the ES44AC, ES44DC, Dash 9, SD70M, and SD70MAC after picking up the AC4400CW from Steam and good heavens they are SO GOOD! I'm loving these packs! I'll have to go get their packs for the SD70ACes and SD40-2s because that kind of stuff is so worth putting my money behind.)

So far the Sherman Hill stock is behaving well after last week's adjustments. I'm bugged by the trailer flat for the SD60M, though, because I think it's too heavy. I'll have to double check what the loaded weight of a 40-some-odd foot trailer is. Everything else is looking good for scenario adjustment now, so I'll be moving to that phase pretty soon. I've got tomorrow off, too, so that gives me more time to work.