Tools for Asset Repair - Images2TGA
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Content Manager Search Filters – Part 2a Red Alerts Trainz Assets Update Program Tall Treez 2 Update Trainz Designer? 2010 Route Building Competition Using Masks for Alpha Channels (Tutorial) Free Software Adding Images to Forum Posts (Tutorial) and more!
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Volume 1, Number 3
April, 2010
Trainz Community News - Volume 1 No. 3 April, 2010
Editorial
Contents 3 Community Comment - Trainz Designer? 6
2010 Route Building Competition
7
How to use Masks for Alpha Channels
11 Tools for Asset Repair Images2TGA 15
We Need Help
16 Errata - UltraTreez 18 TARM Tidbits - Content Manager Search Filters Part 2a 19 Red Alerts 20 Are We There Yet 21 2010 Video Competition Results 22 Tall Treez 2 Update 23 TAUP (Trainz Asset Update Program) 26
Software of the Month - Serif Graphics Suit
28
Adding Photos to a Forum Post
31 Trainz Life-Cycle Policy Update 32 Letters to the Editor 32 Publishing Notes
Editors:
John King Ian Woodmore
Subscriptions Click here to subscribe
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With this edition of the Trainz Community News, we’re proud to present the first in a series of tutorials on using PEV’s Tools. If you run into any trouble, or would like to ask PEV a question, please use the email address on the bottom left and we’ll pass you message onto him. Rather than having him answer everyone personally, we’ll publish his answers in the next edition of the TCNews. And yes, there will be a “next edition”. We’ve decided to make the TCNews an ongoing publication for as long as we have interesting stuff to share with you. Things are looking good for the next several months, but we’re always on the lookout for new tutorials, articles or snippets that you may wish to share with the Trainz Community. We’re planning a host of new features, but we still need your support by either contributing, or asking friends to download the magazine. We’re particularly interested in reaching Trainzers who don’t visit the Forums. At present we have no way of contacting these people, so we need your help to spread the word though your private emails, chats, web sites and third party forums. We can supply a small banner ad or even write an article or forum post for you. What we can’t do, simply because we don’t have time, is join the dozens of forums out there and post articles ourselves. If you’d like to help us with a little publicity, please feel free to contact us for more information. (Email link below left) I also wish to thank the people who supply us with screenshots for each edition. Until recently we only used one screenshot for the cover, but we’re now using them throughout the magazine to add a bit of colour and fill in the odd hole. Please don’t ask us to use your screenshots at this stage. We personally select screenshots from the Forum, then contact the owners for permission to use them. Finally, this month’s Community Comment is about the Trainz missing link - a module to create assets for your route. It doesn’t exist of course, but maybe it should. Please send your comments for inclusion in our Letters to the Editor column starting next month.
trainzcommunity@gmail.com
This Month’s Cover Davido’s NSWGR models and screenshots are popular with Trainz users all over the world. More screenshots appear throughout this edition of the Trainz Community news and we wish to thank Davido for allowing us to share them with you.
© Copyright 2010 Trainz Community News and contributing authors
Trainz Community News
Community Comment by John King
I
thought I'd give the 'Trainz Life Cycle Policy' some breathing space this month and throw the cat amongst the pigeons by discussing another controversial subject - Trainz Designer. Don't be surprised if you've never heard of Trainz Designer, because it doesn't actually exist. I guess that's the controversial part, as many Trainzers including myself believe it should! Trainz Designer is a figment of my imagination, but a few like-minded people have raised the subject on the Trainz Forums using different names including Loco Builder, which seems to limit things a bit. So what is Trainz Designer? In a nutshell, it's the missing module in Trains that would allow you to create simple models to use as personal assets on your route. It's a watered down version of gMax if you like, with all the unnecessary guff removed so that people like yours truly can whip up a quick model of a box car or the local pub and dump it somewhere on our route. Trainz Designer will never be a substitute for gMax, 3Ds Max or Blender in the same way WordPad will never be a substitute for Microsoft Word. However it would allow you to create very simple models and have them on your route within minutes rather than days. Should you wish to create something more complex, gMax or Blender will always be there. The concept of a dedicated designer isn’t a new one. The Abacus Train Sim Modeler has been around for several years. It seems to do many of the things suggested in this article and at US$40 or cheaper, it looks like reasonable value for money. I’ve never used the program, so I can’t comment on its features or ease of use. The user interface has a resemblance to gMax, yet it also draws on the “building block” principle discussed in this article. The Train Sim Modeler web site is here: http://www.abacuspub.com/ts/catalog/s461.htm
Page 3 So do we need Trainz Designer? Probably not, but Trainz will never be complete without it. Auran have gone to amazing lengths to develop Surveyor, one of the best landscape modelling programs available for the price. Yet they've offered no way for you and I to design objects to populate the landscapes that Surveyor creates, other than with models built with third party software. Even that's not seamless. Once a model is created, you still have to get it to work in Trainz, and that process opens up another can of worms. For a company capable of producing such an incredible program like Surveyor, surely it would be a walk in the park to create a simple piece of software like Trainz Designer? So why create Trainz Designer? Without it, Trainz is what you see today; a railway simulation game with a route building module. It's of value to a very small group of people with an interest in Trains, and that's about it. By chucking in Trainz Designer, a whole new world will open for Auran, the Trainz community, and thousands of people out there who aren't the slightest bit interested in playing trainz. I've already said what Trainz Designer would do for Trainzers, but think of what it may do for Architects, Landscapers, Project Developers, Municipal Councils, TV Stations and Movie Producers if they had a simple program that allowed them to whip up a 3D model of a completely landscaped housing estate, resort, golf course or major building project in a matter of hours or days instead of months or years. People would no longer have to visit a showroom to view a model, they could view it on their own computer by way of an interactive CD or Internet presentation. Greg Lane, the original developer of Trainz has proven that the Jet Engine, the core of Trainz can be used to do what I have in mind. Take a look at My Virtual Home to see what I mean. This program allows you to build a model of your own home and furnish it from a database containing hundreds of white goods and furniture components. Trainz Designer doesn't need to be so complex, however the concept of designing from a plan and adding premade components like windows, doors and stairs for buildings, or couplers, grab rails and bogies for trains, fits into my vision of the program. In the same way My Virtual Home uses simple textures for carpets, interior walls and brickwork, Trainz Designer should be able to do the same? Is it gMax and Blender that make things so complicated, or am I missing something there?
Trainz Community News My Virtual Home Many features of this program would work well in Trainz Designer.
Visit My Virtual Home here and download the free software: http://www.myvirtualhome.com.au/au How Should Trainz Designer work? The program should be based on simplicity and ease of use. We must never forget that more powerful programs already exist. Some of the design concepts used in Sketchup and My Virtual Home should be available for those who need to push the program to its limits, but an even easier modelling concept should be available for those of us who just want the simple things in life. My Virtual Home and Sketchup both allow you to draw two dimensional shapes that you can drag to create a 3D block. You can also work from dimensions or plans and manipulate the shapes once they are created. My Virtual Home does this a little more automatically than SketchUp, but Sketchup seems to have more flexibility.
Page 4 An “L� shaped house would be built from two rectangular shapes for the base and two roof sections. In the same way all shapes could be stretched, roof sections can also be manipulated to create overhangs and gables.
A free program called Yenka demonstrates the process of building from bolcks in the simplest way possible. For anyone slightly interested in this article, may I suggest you download Yenka and have a play. Not only does it use shapes as a method of construction, it's also a mathematics and science trainer, circuit board designer, and unwrapping program. It can import stuff from Sketchup, show dimensions and volumes of shapes you create plus much more. I actually used the program for designing the fuel and water tanks for my yacht. Once I created the shape, I was able to get the volume and measurements. I was then able to unfold the shape to produce the cutting templates for the tank itself. The program is simple yet very powerful. It's also free for home use. You do have to register however.
Yenka
Although building from plans should be a feature of Trainz Designer, I visualize a program that uses Lego style building blocks and shapes that you stretch and "glue together" to create an object. A boxcar for example, would be a simple rectangular shape with a boxcar roof section glued on top and a boxcar frame glued to the bottom. The ends, grab irons, brake wheels etc., would be selected from an ever growing library of components.
Yenka is too basic for our needs, but the ease of building with shapes becomes immediately apparent. Visit the Yenka web site and download Yenka: http://www.yenka.com/
Trainz Community News Creating models should be done from opaque shapes rather than meshes which would be an option. Unnecessary poly's should be removed by the software or controlled manually. Shapes would be glued to each other by clicking attachment points or by dragging and dropping. Another option where the user draws an outline and stretches it to the desired height or length would also make like so much easier. The following example demonstrates this feature. it took about a minute to create the model in Sketchup. I sketched this factory elevation from memory, but I could have also traced the outline from a set of plans. Then I stretched the two dimensional drawing using Sketchup’s push-pull tool.
Page 5 Finally, preparing the model for Trainz should be automatic with manual overrides if necessary. How Should Trainz Designer be marketed? If Auran or N3V takes the project on, they could sell it along with Trainz, but this would just add to the overall cost. Furthermore, some Trainzers may have no use for the program, whilst some who have earlier versions of Trainz may want to use it. As such, Trainz Designer would be best sold as a completely seperate program. If it's developed by someone else, it would be in their interest to ensure that it worked with all versions of Trainz. This should equate to more sales. Should it be exclusively for Trainz? Absolutely not! This module would open doors to a far wider audience including the Architects, Designers and Producers mentioned earlier. Marketed along the lines of Architectual and Landscape Designer, the demand for such a program could be enormous. Just my thoughts.
Lego Designer
Texturing the model should be easy. With the exception ofgMax and Blender, all the programs mentioned above make texturing simple. Sketchup Pro even allows you to design and texture models from photos using the PhotoMatch option.
Lego Designer has hundreds of shapes to choose from. The range of shapes and components on offer allow users to create amazing models from the humble Lego Block. Visit the Lego site and download Lego Designer: http://ldd.lego.com/
Trainz Community News
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Due to circumstances beyond my control, the Competition finishing date has been extended to the 1st May, 2010. All competitors have been notified accordingly. Judging will take place in early May and we’ll bring you a full report with heaps of screenshots in the May edition of the Trainz Community News. Please support the guys by visiting the Competition Gallery and viewing screenshots of their progress. http://digital-junction.com/2010/gallery/
mitch456yui
John
jadebullet
IamKJVonly2
skidmark22
niartcar
Trainz Community News
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By Eric Stork (Storknest) This tutorial was created using Paint Shop Pro 7, but the techniques used here should be similar to those found in other painting programs. A list of free programs appears at the end of the tutorial.
N
ormally when I made alpha channels, I used the Selections box and Save to Alpha Channel command off the Selections menu of my painting program. However, this has a limitation where at least one pixel of the image had to be selected. The selected area would be white and non-selected areas black. But with the new normal map standards of TS2009, it became clear another method was needed for times when gray or pure black is necessary. It is also possible to use a separate image for the alpha such as a BMP file but I don’t prefer that method. I didn’t know how to save such alpha images in TGA files until I learned about the Masks menu.
At this point, I should note it is hard to determine how the mask of a coloured image will come out. I gray scale my image before making the mask as this gives me a better idea of what I am getting and I can modify it before making the mask so I know what my alpha will look like. This is especially useful with normal maps to either get the plain black alpha some need, or control the mask image for your specular effect. First I’ll add a mask so you can see what happens. On the menu bar, I choose Masks then New, finally From Image.
This menu allows the creation and saving of alphas with gray shades and even pure black colour. It can be a little difficult to understand Masks at first especially when they are created in the image since they don’t initially show in a way you can understand. But after a few trials you should get the hang of them and find them easier to use in your creations. The graphic below is the sample image I worked with: And I get this box:
Trainz Community News
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Explaining what you see here: Source Window allows choice of making a mask from any open picture. If only 1 image is open, that will be the only choice from the drop menu, if more than one you can click the down arrow and pick the image. Since I normally am doing this on whatever image I have selected, I leave it at default setting. Create Mask From, the second and third choices when I tried them appear to only do black and white. Since there are times I use gray in the mask, I leave it at Source Luminance. Invert Mask data will of course do the mask opposite normal. In more detail, if you make a mask from a mostly white/light gray image, the mask is the same colours. But if this box is checked the mask is opposite, mostly black and dark gray.
Available Documents is normally set to the active image but if more than one image is open in the painting program, you can choose to save to another image.
Once I have my settings, I click OK.
If no channel is present, only New Channel shows in the Available alpha channels box.
Here is the same image with a mask added.
Normally I choose that and in the box that appears type Alpha Channel 1.
If a channel is present, I can save over it, useful if the first alpha I tried didn’t work, I just make a new one, modify it and save over the old. Alpha Channels can also be deleted from the Save to Alpha box. Notice there now appears to be a checked pattern in the image. That is how a mask appears, the pattern can be weaker (indicates more white/light gray) or stronger (more black/dark gray) depending on your image. To save this in an Alpha Channel, I go again to the Masks menu and choose Save to Alpha Channel.
Another handy way if an image is using the same Alpha Channel such as pure black or white is to open an image with that alpha and the one to receive it. Select the image to receive the alpha and choose Load from Alpha Channel. Since only one image has it, you will only be able to choose that image’s channel. This loads the mask into the other image (the one without the channel) then you just Save to Alpha like described above.
Trainz Community News An example working with a coloured image, a normal map.
Page 9 The result:
First I grey scale the image so I can see what the alpha will look like using the command off the Colours menu (second below Adjust).
Continued next page
Trainz Community News Here, I can further modify the image. For pure black and white, I could actually just flood fill the whole image, pure black is usually used for most normal maps. But for times when a specular effect is desired, the brightness of the image is modified using either the Colours menu (see last image on the previous page) and choosing:
Page 10 the effect gets stronger as the image gets lighter. In an image that is not a normal map, this may have a different effect, for example in a diffuse image white is usually preferred but slight changes can produce reflection or transparency. My normal map now looks like this.
- Adjust - Brightness/Contrast This will bring up the following box:
Normally I don’t change contrast as this affects the image detail. In the example, you can see if you look the box on the right shows the effect of my brightness setting, there is some barely noticeable detail, an effect like that will add a slight specular effect through the normal to the final look,
From here, I go back to page 2 where I choose Masks then New followed by From Image and continue as described. This concludes this tutorial on how to use Masks to make Alpha Channels that can be saved in TGA files. Image by davido
A PDF file with larger screenshots can be downloaded at the Trainz Resources Directory Right Click the above link to Download the file. Another tutorial by Eric Stork appeared in the March issue of the Trainz Community Newsletter. The PDF file containing the tutorial can be downloaded here: How to Scale Images Yith Your Body Right Click the above link to Download the file.
Trainz Community News
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Tools for Asset Repair by PEV
I
n this short series of articles I will describe the use of the tools I have written to bring assets up to date for TS2009/10. This month: Images2TGA..
Introduction Trainz uses a render engine called Auran Jet to display and move objects within the simulator. Auran Jet supports a suite of proprietary file formats that define 3d objects, surfaces, animations, sounds and so on. Any 3d object or surface can be modelled as a series of triangular facets, on to which surface colouring (textures) are added. All of this information is gathered together in a "mesh". The mesh contains all of the 3d geometrical data needed to define the shape of the object as well as the texture specifications to select surface colouring, and the texture mapping details to correctly place the texture images on to the various portions of the surfaces. The Auran Jet mesh type is now the "Indexed Mesh" which has superceded the "Progressive Mesh" ('pm'). The progressive mesh was the same as the indexed mesh but with the addition of data that could simplify the mesh for distant viewing. (lower the Level Of Detail). Auran later chose to use multiple 'im' meshes instead of a single 'pm' for their LOD method. The Indexed Mesh contains references to 'textures' for surface colouring. A 'texture' is a special form of image file with in-built features to achieve LOD and to control rendering within the game. The latest versions (TS2009 onwards) use DXT compression to reduce texture file size. DXT compressed images are now directly supported by most video cards.
Reskinning Many users of Trainz wish to make their own versions of rolling stock or scenery based on existing assets in the game. This can be done by recolouring the existing assets; a process called 'reskinning' To reskin an asset the textures need to be edited. The Auran texture format cannot be opened with normal imaging programs like Photo Shop, Paint Shop Pro, or the Gimp.
Hence I decided to provide an intermediate conversion to a format that could be readily edited. I chose the TGA format because it supports an in-built Alpha channel for transparency. Initially I provided a program called Texture2TGA that just performed the conversion. Now I supply Images2TGA that has many more features. I don't propose to write about reskinning. Sufficient to say that many tutorials are available so I will just say that the Images2TGA tool can assist in this process.
Repairing Downloaded Assets TS2009/10 only supports DXT compressed textures which are made by conversion from image files when assets are committed into the game by the Content Manager program. If you wish to download or import an asset from an earlier version and it has texture files in the Auran binary *.texture format, you will find that Content Manager will not import them. To succeed the textures must be converted to TGAs. I recommend using my Images2TGA to convert to TGA files and generate the required *.texture.txt files.
What Can Images2TGA Do? 1. Display images. The program can open any image type used in Trainz and display the image and alpha image (if present) Trainz supports .texture, .TGA, .JPG, and .BMP image files. All of these can be opened. All images can be viewed full size. Transparent sections can be viewed against a selectable coloured background. 2. Convert to other formats. Once opened an image can be saved back to .TGA, .JPG or .BMP formats. There is no need to save to .texture files as these are created when assets are committed into the game. When texture images are saved to TGA format the appropriate *.texture.txt file is generated automatically. 3. Add or remove Alpha channels. 4. Open the image or alpha image in you favourite image editor. 5 Merge an external image as an alpha channel.
Trainz Community News
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Using Images2TGA
Manager (TS2009/10 only) to allow you to run Images2TGA directly from the Content Manager.
Installation
If you have installed Trainz 2009/10 in the default folder then you should have a folder named:
If you don't have this program, please download its installer program (PEVImages2TGA_setup.exe) from my PEVSoft Download page: http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/~villaump/pevsoft.htm
‘C:\Program Files\Auran\TS2009\bin\CMPData\tools' In this folder create a new folder named 'OpenWith' (one word). Use NotePad to create a DOS batch file comprising the following two lines:
Run the installer and the program will be loaded on to the Program Files area of your C: drive, along with a desktop icon and an entry in the @echo off PEVSoft folder of your All Programs "c:\Program Files\PEVSoft\Images2TGA\Images2TGA.exe" -trawl %1 menu.
Setup Before attempting any conversions you should connect Images2TGA to your favourite image editor (Photo Shop, Paint Shop Pro, Gimp or what ever.) To set up editing, open the Images2TGA program and click on the 'Editor' in the main menu. You will be prompted to locate your favourite image editor. An open file dialogue will appear allowing you to browse to your editor program. Click on it to select and save its location for future use. Also you should create an 'OpenWith' macro in Content
Save this file into the new 'OpenWith' folder with the following file name: 'Images2TGA.bat' In Content Manager you will find that you now have an Open With option in the right click popup menu. Using this option Images2TGA will automatically search the opened asset folder and its sub folders for texture files to convert to TGAs. All textures in the asset should be converted and appropriate texture.txt files created. I recommend, also, that you you make Images2TGA.exe the program that opens *.texture files when you double click them in Windows Explorer.
Opening a File The program can open Trainz Image files only. (.texture, .TGA, .BMP or .JPG) To Open a File, start the program and click on the File menu. Click on Open and the open file dialog box will be displayed. The file extensions are filtered so only the correct types are available. Files can also be opened by double clicking in Windows Explorer. You must add the .texture file extension to the list in Windows explorer and point it to this program before this will work. The name of the Last File opened is also displayed. Click on that to re-open the file. The Exit option closes the program.
Once the file is opened its image is displayed along with any alpha channel.
Trainz Community News Full sized versions of the images can be viewed by right clicking on either image and selecting Display Actual Size from the pop-up menu.
Page 13 Note that the transparent portions of the image have a checker board pattern in the background colour.
The background colour can be changed by right clicking on the main image and selecting Transparent Background. A colour selector will appear for you to choose a new colour.
Convert To TGA The opened Image can be saved as a TGA, BMP or JPG file. If it has alpha data this will be lost if saved as BMP or JPG. Hence the program automatically offers to save as TGA when the image has been loaded from a texture. Transparency can be enabled to view masked or blended alpha images against the window background. To view transparent, right click on the main image and select Display Transparent from the pop-up menu.
To save an image, click on the File menu and then click on Save As. The Save File dialog will be displayed and you choose the file type to save, and enter a file name. Then click the save button to complete the save of the file. When you save a *.texture to a TGA the program will automatically make the appropriate *.texture.txt file. If you have lots of textures to convert to TGA's use the trawl facility included in this program.
Creating an Alpha Mask A masked alpha channel can be added or substituted for an existing alpha image. The mask is created by right clicking on the main image, and selecting Create Alpha Mask from pop-up menu. (See image next page)
Trainz Community News
Page 14 Click on the colour that you want to be transparent and the new alpha mask will appear in the Alpha image panel.
The tolerance input window will open and you can adjust the colour tolerance with the spin-edit box.
Adjust the tolerance and try again if you are not satisfied with the result. Note that this process makes a masked alpha channel. Masked alpha channels have only two values, black and white or 0 and 255, in the colour data. If there is any pixel with a value other than 0 or 255 the alpha channel is considered blended. For TS2009, you must be very careful to ensure that you have only black or white in your alpha images. Any intermediate values will hinder performance and in some cases will not work in TS2009 native mode.
The tolerance is the value plus or minus that is selected from the RGB value (0-255) when you pick a colour (next step).. So if you enter 5, any value between plus 5 and minus 5 of the select colour value will be made transparent..(Black on the alpha image). When you have accepted the tolerance value, the colour picker is enabled. Notice that RGB values appear next to the cursor and change as you move the cursor over the main image.
Editing the Main Image or Alpha Image The image and alpha channel can both be opened for editing in an image editor such as Gimp or Paint Shop Pro. If you have connect Images2TGA to your editor as explained in the SetUp section above, you can open your editor from Images2TGA. To edit the main image, right click on the image to bring up the pop-up menu.
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Select Edit and your editor will open with the image in it ready to edit.
The Convert BMPs option enables conversion of BITMAP images to TGAs
Similarly to edit the alpha image, right click on the alpha image and so on.
If none of the above options is set the program will display a message and do no conversions.
When ever you save the image file in your editor the file will be updated in the Texture Viewer.
Trawling must be launched from the command line (typically from a batch file in the 'Open With' menu of Content Manager 2), as detailed in the SetUP section above.
Note: In your image editor, do NOT save as a different file name, just press the save button.. If you save to a different file name, the connection to the Images2TGA will be lost, and it will not reload the saved image. Also, do not change the size of the image.. It will not merge with the other channel if you change the size.
If you click on "Images2TGA.bat" in the Open With menu of Content Manager 2 or 3 the program will convert whatever textures or images it finds to TGAs with texture.txt files. (Continued next page)
Trawling Images2TGA can be used to trawl (or search) for images to convert.
We need your help . . .
Before attempting to trawl, the type of images to convert to TGAs must be set.
The Trainz Community web site is about to open.
From the Options menu select the image type or types that you would like to convert to TGAs.
We need someone experienced with Joomla! to assist us in preparing the site prior to opening. The script is installed and ready to go, but none of us are familiar with Joomla! and we need help! We need someone who can assist us with site development and answer questions as they arise. This is not an ongoing job unless you want to join the team. We just need someone to show us how to do things like enter content and graphics so that the site looks professional from the outset. All editorial, artwork and photos will be supplied. We’re also thinking of using a module called K2, but we’ll take your advice on that one.
If you think you can help, please email us ASAP. The address trainzcommunity@gmail.com Image by davido
The Convert Textures option enables conversion of Trainz Binary textures (.texture files) to TGAs. The Convert Textures option is set by default when the program is run for the first time after installation. The Convert JPGs option enables conversion of JPEG images to TGAs.
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The files processed are listed in the text box below the alpha image as the conversions progress. The program keeps a log (named Trawl_Log.txt) of files found and shows the actions taken on each file. The log is accessed from the File menu and clicking on View Log. The log file accumulates data every time trawl is started. The Log should be deleted after large trawl conversions. A delete option is included in the File Menu.
Merging a Separate Alpha Image
Errata
If there are two images that are used by the texture.txt file to make a composite transparent image, the two images can be merged into a single TGA image with an alpha channel for transparency.
In this article we erroneously referred to the UDK version of Speedtreez. Please ignore this.
Open the primary image defined by the 'Primary=' line in the texture.txt file.
Sorry Mcquirel, with all the yelling about Speedtreez that was going on at the time I got my facts muddled, I do apologise.
(Continued next page)
March 2010 Page 31 Mcquirels Ultratreez
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Use the Images2TGA File menu, and "Open" to choose the file. When the primary image is displayed in the left pane of the program window, click on File menu, then select Merge Alpha Image.
From the open file dialog choose the image nominated in the 'Alpha=' line of the texture.txt file; in this case cambridgealpha.bmp. The new image should appear in the Alpha Image pane of the program window, and the file definition should change from No Alpha to Masked Alpha or Blended Alpha. (See opposite) You can now save the image as a TGA. If the primary image and the alpha image are different sizes the merge will fail and no alpha image will be loaded. The program will display a message about non matching image sizes.
Removing an Alpha Channel To remove an alpha channel from a composite image, right click on the alpha image panel and select"Remove Alpha Channel" from the popup menu. (See opposite) A confirmation box will be displayed.. select "Yes" to remove the alpha channel, or "No" to retain it.
Š 2010 PEV and Trainz Community News
Trainz Community News
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TARM TIDBITS by Ian Woodmore
Content Manager Search Filters Part 2a Building Custom Filters to Evaluate Trainz Life Cycle Policy
R
ecently Auran released their Trainz Life Cycle Policy. There has been much comment and speculation in the main forum as a consequence. I thought we might use this as the basis for demonstrating how to use a composite search filter to evaluate the effect of this policy on assets that you are interested in so that you can make a more informed judgement. Here are a set of filters that will show you what has legacy trainzbuilds. They are based on the Auran default search filter 'minimum build version' and on wiki information that defines the build numbers. Using a similar technique to that shown in Part 1 last month a filter can be built to group all trainzbuilds applicable to a particular Trainz version. Author
initially empty
- equivalent to name or all
Obsolete
False
- excludes obsoletes
Minimum build version
X
- The lowest build number of the Trainz version being evaluated
AND NOT Minimum build number
- defines the range Y
- The lowest number build of the next highest Trainz version
Substitute the values in X and Y columns of this Table for the filter you want: Notes: Does not separate FR and DE versions of
TRS2007 and TRS2008 Obsolete values are additional and cannot be
downloaded Total assets at snapshot were 169,906. Yours
will be different. Data derived from my TAD based on maxi builtin+whole
DLS+some external website assets. Figures were derived mid-March 2010. Use the Author part of the filter by entering author name
or #kuid group to see the impact on a specific author. Substitute Faulty, has Warnings, or Missing Depen-
dencies where Obsolete is. Build yourself a similar table to above to see how you
might be affected by the Life Cycle Policy.
I have said many times and it's worth repeating. All Content is Global, and most of it can be used in any later version than the specified trainzbuild. However, as the trainzbuild increases so does the stringency of the validation tests. If you meet the validation as defined by TS2010 build 42287 currently, or later builds as they occur, your assets will work in TS2010 native mode and they should do in most other legacy Trainzbuilds unless the assets use specific features only available in the later versions.
Trainz Community News
a. Logon Problems new servers Logon problems and a host of secondary issues should ease after Auran has cutover to the new servers. If you have any specific issues related to logon raise a ticket at Helpdesk, but also let us know.
b. FCT and the 100MB limit problem There is a bug in TS2010 SP2 but it has probably been there since TRS2006. CM sometimes refuses to recognise FCT and limits your download to 100MB. It may, as a consequence, also indicate by red banner that it is unable to contact Planet Auran. Usually can be cleared by exiting CM and immediately re-launching without waiting for TADDAEMON.
c. EDR and Location unknown After carrying out an Extended Database Repair (EDR) ALWAYS exit CM, wait 60 secs for TADDAEMON to
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finish housekeeping and then re-launch CM. After a few minutes any assets in location unknown should be resolved and return to correct category (usually DS or Obsolete or Out of Date). This action will only be successful if you are able to logon to Planet Auran.
d. File Access Error File access errors are still prevalent in TS2010 SP2. Auran is aware of the issue.
e. View Dependencies There has been a change to the coding to correct missing assets data. While one problem was fixed, another involving obsolete and out of date assets remains.
f. Main View Tabs You may experience rolling of the TABS in CM Main View and be unable to stabilise the display. You may also have to use Windows Task Manager or Performance Manager to exit CM and then re-launch immediately. Image by davido
Trainz Community News
Page 20
Are We There Yet? Are We There Yet? is a regularly updated diary of achievements, current projects and future plans for a small group of people trying to repair damaged assets in the Download Station and establish a community of supporters for all Trainz versions. You can show your support by subscribing to the Newsletter or joining the community as an active member.
What the Abbreviations Mean TARM - Trainz Asset Repair Managment. This project covers the following: MADE - Missing Assets Directory and Exchange. A list of missing assets that will form the basis for finding Missing Assets. RUMMAGE - is what you do when looking for something you have lost. In this case Missing Assets. TARG - Trainz Asset Repair Guide. The ABC of Trainz repair. TARL - Trainz Asset Repair Library. A repository for repaired config files. TrainzAuthor - Lists all authors that have TS2010 SP1 built-in assets, or that are faulty, obsolete, out of date, have warnings or missing assets.
Had to move all assets to TS2010 clean instal and reestablish stable status. Added 11,000+ assets from European external websites. Found some missing assets. Progressed red flag repairs. Progressed repair procedures. Prepared articles for Newsletter.
Mar 2010 Anticipate that all red flagged assets that can be repaired will have been completed. This is an important milestone in that it defines what can and cannot run in TS series native mode. This has now been delayed due to addition of European assets significantly increasing red and yellow flags in CM. The Auran server update has also slowed this work.
Update to TS2010 SP2 build 42287 in progress This is the new validation baseline. Playing catch up on February tasks Downloaded significant quantity of DLS assets for use in CONTROL version of Trainz. CONTROL assets are unmodified containing any defects. This is Milestones used for comparison with the TARL repaired version to ensure that repairs are relative to what other The major moments in Project TARM development. Trainzers will see. The unavailability of Auran Dec 2009 servers slowed this activity as did a number of SP2 patch issues. Release of TS2010 SP1 build 41615 heralds the validation baseline against which all repairs are judged. Quantity of missing assets has increased significantly because of European website assets inclusion. This Jan 2010 also impacted by non-availabilty of Auran servers for TrainzAuthor complete. much of March. 20,000 reworked config files in final stages of Disappointing but not unexpected response to 'Notice checking prior to uploading to TARL. of Intent for Project TARM' in main forum. See 100 repair procedures in draft for TARG. c o m i n g a r t i c l e i n TA R M T I D B I T S o n copyright/license issues. 10,000 Missing Assets named and the start of the RUMMAGE. Evaluating impact of Auran Life Cycle Policy on Project TARM First TARM Tidbits and Red Alert articles published. Approval by David Drake for repaired config files for all or any of his ~10,000 assets to be hosted on TARL at Work starts on Comprehensive Manual for Trainz and Trainz Community website. extensions to produce CCGTS and Wiki. Apr 2010 Update to TS2010 SP2? Not yet available. Expanded capabilities of TrainzAuthor as a control Playing catch up of February and March tasks document. Survey of config file tag license and assess impact on May 2010 Playing catch up of February and March tasks TARM.
Feb 2010
Trainz Community News Jun 2010
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TARDIS ODOMETER
Official Trainz 2010 Video Competition Results
Marks the monthly progress of Trainz and the elimination of defects shown in my Content Manager. This will be different for each Trainzer. Mine relates mostly to DLS in toto (275GB) but also include additional assets from European websites.
N3V Games recently invited members of the Trainz Community to participate in a competition where they were asked to create a 30 second video promoting various aspects of TS 2010.
Tentative target for TARL, TARG, MADE and TrainzAuthor to go live at Trainz Resources Directory.
Total assets shown in TAD – 170,430 Builtins for maxi TS2010 – 24,045 Obsoletes – 19,215 Out of Date - 188 Faulty – 4,075 Warning – 27,731 Missing Dependencies – 4,079 Missing Assets - >10,000
TARG PUBLISHER Tracks the progress in developing and writing the repair procedures and associated tutorials, tips and tricks.
Repair Schemes: Required - TBD Draft - 40 Ready - 10
TARL ARCHIVER Note these figures were also affected by the 11,000+ assets added from European websites, but the overall percentage of non-compliant assets has not significantly changed. Fixits required – 29,575 Under review Auran Life Cycle Policy will increase this. TARL ready - 19,168 Total – 48,743 (30% of Total assets noncompliant with CCGTC and wiki)
There were five categories with prizes of $50 Gift Vouchers which can be spent at the Auran Store. The categories were: * Driving * Locos * Surveyor * Scenic Environments * Best Video Layout For some reason, Trainzers don’t seem to respond well to competitions of any kind, and this one was no exception. Only six competitors came forward, so N3V Games decided to award prizes to everyone. The prize winners and links to their videos are listed below. As there was no outright winner, the names are listed alphabetically. Congratulations to all concerned.
chefbyte http://animoto.com/play/4lS5wHEG6302qvAOyASyIw?
chrisracer8903 http://animoto.com/play/6oMv7F41yTA1pb8rAalH7A
hert http://animoto.com/play/eNSLe6ipAOSk3wMQwH7HLQ
jammydodger http://animoto.com/play/l5U36tF9V0tej5tdyYLtHA
razvan100 MADE RUMMAGE
http://animoto.com/play/mWT8ot2w4sqqUypF3XsCCg
The increase by 11,000+ assets from European websites was a mixed blessing. So far I have found 268 missing assets, but at the cost of having 1,000 more.
zieba111 (three entries)
Missing Assets - >10,000 Found - 268
http://animoto.com/play/rtFYjGsEGfH1qvBJ6dLOSg http://animoto.com/play/jmJvhiSY4PbWnuov51pAmQ http://animoto.com/play/WxxpUMcAQstsfQlK5TukKw
Trainz Community News
Page 22
by Ian Woodmore
I
n 2006 Steve Forget launched TARL Mk 1. This database hosted some 8,000 assets' config files with instructions on repairing associated mesh and texture files. Most of the assets were in trainzbuild 1.3 through 2.4 and repairs were based on the TRS2006 CMP 1.0. Other features of this database were a Missing Assets facility, and the ability to search by a number of different parameters including author. Some 500 authors including Auran were represented. A founding contributor to TARL Mk 1 was author David Drake (dmdrake) and (TallTreez) who enthusiastically supported the facility by allowing any defective assets' config files within kuid groups 33404 and 99446 to be hosted at the now defunct Trainzhaven website. This initiative was known as TallTreez 1.
are available on the DLS. Many of Jankvis' newer trees are based on David's innovative 'Perfect' series which utilise a twisted billboard approach rather than crossed billboard. Once again David is leading the way by reaffirming his support of Project TARM and allowing any or all of his assets' config files to be hosted at the Trainz Community website when it is launched. This website will be the host for the TARL Mk 2 and MADE databases along with the TARG. On behalf of the whole Trainz Community I thank David for his enlightened attitude towards our hosting his repaired assets regardless of their individual copyright and license conditions. Without his support TARL Mk 2 would have been stillborn. I have dubbed this initiative 'TallTreez 2. Not only will repairs be made to David's assets, they will benefit from the Trainz Asset Update Program (TAUP) to ensure David's trees are available in TS2009/TS2010 after Auran's Life Cycle Policy takes effect in September 2010. I will be outlining TAUP in another article.
NOTE: The repairs and updates to David's trees are designed to eliminate wherever possible TS2010 Content Manager validation reporting defective assets for any Trainz version, and to counter the likeliehood that current warning (yellow flags) become errors (red Indian Creek Trestle - David Drake flags) in future Trainz builds. This is to ensure the defect David is well known in the Trainz Community for his trees free continuance of these assets in routes/sessions that have been the mainstay of flora in many routes and imported from legacy Trainz versions, or utilised in new sessions. Other authors have emulated David after TS2009/TS2010 routes/sessions. These amendments do gaining permission to clone his assets. David's not change the visual impression of the trees (including contribution alone contains nearly 10,000 assets out of the alpha channel impairments), nor do they employ any 170,000 total assets I have. The majority of David's assets TS2009 or TS2010 new functionality.
Trainz Community News
Page 23
Overview by Ian Woodmore
T
he publishing of Auran's Life Cycle Policy requires the Trainz Community to reconsider what legacy assets should survive, and to what extent these assets need repairing and/or updating for use in TS2009/TS2010. It is plain that without the legacy assets there is no Trainz in its broadest sense. For instance, we would not have a Murchison 2 Addon without the use of some 2,000 legacy assets. The same applies to most other routes/sessions. It is a nobrainer that we should repair any defective assets so that we may enjoy our favourite routes/sessions/assets on our own computer, and if we can tap into the efforts of someone else who has already made these repairs so much the better. We can then get on with playing existing and new routes/sessions, or building our own Trainz Worlds, even uploading these for other people's enjoyment. I have described in earlier Trainz Community Newsletter issues some of the elements of Project TARM, mainly from the repair perspective. In this issue I will try to indicate that the best course of action in repairing is often to update an asset to comply with the CCGTC/wiki so that the Content Manager sees no defects. Thus a successful validation enables the asset to be used in any Trainz version route/session, but with emphasis on allowing its use in both compatibility and native modes of TS2009/TS2010. Similarly, it is inevitable that what is currently a warning (yellow flag) today will most likely be an error (red flag) in a future build. It is not so much that the goalposts are shifting, but that the refereeing is now of a higher standard. There are two broad streams of activity in Project TARM: Trainz Asset Repair Program (TARP) that encompasses TARL, MADE and TARG with emphasis on repairing errors. This is the red stream; and Trainz Asset Update Program (TAUP) that seeks to converge on compliance with the latest Trainz documentation so that the future is taken care of. This is the yellow stream. Defective assets have red and yellow icons in Content Manager (CM) after validation to the latest build, some have both. In some situations there is no clear division between repair and update, and an update is then the most efficient method of repair.
Here is a list of some updates that may be needed by an asset to ensure its availability for use in routes/sessions:
1
bogey tag transition to bogies container – specific to TS2009/10. The tag bogey has been superseded by the bogies container. Currently tag bogey is still valid for legacy assets.
2
boolean tags correction – Tags that require a boolean value to act as switches can only be two state in Trainz (either 0 or 1). Some authors have used a value greater than 1. This is no longer accepted and a warning is generated. Method of repair is for any value greater than 1 to be set to 1. Generally this causes no side effects. However, authors should note that tag opacity can no longer have decimal values when being used to indicate the degree of transparency of a window.
3
category-class corrections – Quite a few assets can be found that have an incorrect class code (correct codes are shown in the wiki). The majority of these are designated as 'FT' as this was a default in the early config file templates. Thus you have people and buildings masquerading as trees. With the significantly better search capability in the latest Content Manager it is necessary to correct this categorisation defect. Currently, CM does not give any indication that the code is incorrect, provided it is a valid code. For Project TARM purposes this is dealt with as a yellow stream activity.
4
category-era tag format – The format changed some years ago from a multi-line to a single line (see the wiki). However most of the legacy assets still have the old format. The older format resulted in many incorrect variations such as mixed formats, misspellings, white space between code and quotes, missing 's' or capital 'S', missing numbers in sequence, era decades outside the accepted range, dates were not decades, no value at all, and attempts to use 'all' or 'no' to show range extremes. Some of these are red flagged, others yellow. Because there are thousands of assets affected I have adopted a common solution and that is to convert all to the latest format. For Project TARM purposes this is classed as a yellow stream activity.
Unfortunately, there is no magic PEV tool to trawl through all these and so your best course of action is to
Trainz Community News substitute my sanatised config files. When a full range of eras is required the format becomes cumbersome. I believe Auran should consider updating the format so that only the earliest and latest dates need to be entered in the config file eg category-era "earliest date; latest date" results in category-era "1820;1964".
5
Page 24 yellow activity as part of a general clean up of config files.
9
Kuid-table clean up – Initially I did little in this area other than correct warnings caused by bad kuid formats. I have since discovered that some of the weird obsoleting/out of date issues we are suffering from may be due to old asset versions being listed. This results in false missing assets occurring when using 'View dependencies'. Trainz validation should deal with this automatically but currently does not. In fact this is one of the reasons that obsolete dependencies are being downloaded. This will be treated as a two part clean up getting rid of the obvious flagged defects. Chasing down the missing assets issue will be a hard slog and requires considerable detective work. For Project TARM purposes this is dealt with as a yellow activity.
10
Mesh-Table Container – Few of the early assets used mesh-tables. They used tag 'asset-filename' in conjunction with progressive meshes (PM). For reasons explained in the wiki, PMs have been obsolete for a number of years and are now superseded by IM. As a matter of policy I have decided to update all PMs and use IMs in conjunction with mesh-tables. This also applies to aliased assets where both the aliased and alias need to be treated. It also affects any asset using PMs that doesn't have a shadow as this results in a red flag. This approach allows for greater flexibility and future proofing. For Project TARM purposes this is a yellow activity.
category-region tag format – Similarly for regions (see wiki for codes). Errors and warnings are generated by CM for three character codes being used instead of two character, use of 'all' to indicate global, or empty value. Others like no category-region tag, 'TO' which is Tonga being used because it was default in early templates, or 'NO' which is Norway being used to indicate not specific to a particular region, do not generate flags but are wrong nevertheless. Treatment is as for category-era. For Project TARM purposes this is classed as a yellow activity.
There is an undocumented code "00" which is allowable to represent global. There is a need to incorporate a new code "EU" to represent European Union in the same fashion as "US" represents all states of USA.
6
Eliminating Obsolete tags – Many early tags such as 'origtype' are no longer used. Others like 'autoanimation 1' have been superseded by the introduction of mesh-tables. These tags result in yellow flags currently and are deleted. Therefore there is no backwards compatibility for Trainz versions requiring these tags. For Project TARM purposes this is classed as a yellow activity to bring config files into compliance.
7
Empty tags will get red flagged – Some tags will result in red flags if no value is stated (eg 'name'). There is no point in declaring a tag unless it has a value so these are deleted. This is not universal as other tags such as personal details are optional and most of this information can be found in the Planet Auran profile. In the case of the obsolete-table container it only needs to be specified if there is a reference to the older kuid format. An empty obsolete-table container should be deleted. For Project TARM purposes this is classed as a yellow activity.
8
Garbage – This describes any words or characters or speech marks that result in an error or warning by CM as a result of misplaced double quotes, or missing brackets, or incorrect use of remarking lines such as in smoke containers. Usually affects tags 'description' and 'license' but may also impact on 'tags 'username' and 'asset-filename'. Some of this garbage is innocuous, some is potentially dangerous. For Project TARM purposes this is dealt with as a
We are very fortunate that Peter Villaume (PEV) has developed some great convertors, and viewers to help us with this issue. PM2IM, Mesh Text Viewer, and Trainz Mesh Viewer are relevant to this update. PM2IM can trawl through many thousands of assets in a very short period, or deal with them on an individual basis. What it can't do currently, because of the intricacies of the various mesh-table requirements, is automatically update the config file. This is where the sanatised config files in the TARL database will provide an easy way for you to update. See the Toolman articles by PEV for more details. I shall be producing a repair scheme to assist you and this will be part of the Trainz Asset Repair Guide series. It is possible to update aliased assets, pantographs, and shadows by this means, and I think maybe paintshed assets.
11
Profile – The personal details shown in config files constitute part of your profile. Unfortunately, it is difficult for the author to keep these up-to-date once they are uploaded to DLS or an external website without issuing a supersession. This information is
Trainz Community News partly available via your Planet Auran profile. This can be accessed directly, or via the profile button in CM Asset Details window. The personal details section of the config file is optional. Auran's preference is that everyone use the Planet Auran profile. However this needs updating to include website details and possibly license statements. The search facility also needs to be updated to allow kuid group (author ID/ Username ID) searches. The search facility is currently only partially working (country searches are producing spurious displays). For Project TARM purposes any tags with no values/strings or with characters used as fill, except tag license, serve no useful purpose and will be deleted. This is a yellow activity.
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Page 25 character as in many European languages you have nothing further to do. This is a yellow activity for Project TARM purposes.
14
Thumbnails – The old way was to include icons and preview images in an art folder and tag 'thumbnail' in the config file. This has been superseded by the thumbnails container. Many old files have no thumbnail tag. A thumbnail is a mandatory requirement for upload to DLS. As long as you don't include thumbnail tag along with thumbnails container there is no current problem for the user except no pictures prior to download. Eventually though this issue must be addressed but as there is no automated trawl capability is considered low priority at the moment. Note PEV's tools incorporate a thumbnail capability on an individual basis but does not address the situation where a main mesh may have subsidiary meshes such as bogeys. This is a yellow activity.
15
Trainzbuild Rationalisation – Not clear how to tackle this problem that has been exacerbated by the Trainz Life Cycle Policy and that some assets will not be backwards compatible when generated in TS2009/TS2010. Still trying to identify what is what here. If I leave the trainzbuild as original then the config file in most cases is fully backwards compatible for Trainzers still using legacy unsupported Trainz versions come Sept 2010. On the other hand, the big unknown is associated with validation for aspects that are version specific. My initial approach is to leave trainzbuild as original and clear all errors and warnings in accordance with the latest TS2010 build. For the majority of assets this will be OK. We will deal with the exceptions as they arise on a case by case basis. Currently this is a yellow activity where only assets with a missing trainzbuild tag are actioned, but with the understanding that the latest validation must always prevail.
16
Water – There are a number of assets that show an error as the kuid of the legacy water is obsolete. Previously this was ignored with the game using the latest water techniques. This issue is now being flagged. One approach is to substitute an acceptable kuid, but I have not explored what impact this could have on water animation or color. Not under action.
17
Others – There will no doubt be other changes that need addressing and I will add those to the list as either I discover the omission or someone advises that I didn't include a particular change. All help gratefully received.
Shadows – Very few early traincar or bridge assets had shadows even though it was Auran's intent that they should. The lack of shadows are now causing defects and fall into two classes: a. PM main meshes with no shadow which is classed as an error (keyworded 'fshadowpm' in Project TARM); and b. IM meshes with no shadow which is classed as a warning (keyworded as 'noshade' in Project TARM).
Treatment is similar for both classes but obviously getting rid of red flags take priority if you wish to use the asset in native mode. It involves incorporating a shadow statement in the mesh-table, and using PEV's quickshadows utility to produce a 'shadow.im" file. There are thousands of assets affected. Quickshadows does not have a trawl function and thus while the amendments are relatively uncomplicated, once given guidance, they are manually intensive. This pain is eased by using my sanatised config files. Config files that have been amended are keyworded 'quickshadows' to indicate that you need to generate the shadow.im file using PEV's utility. This is a yellow activity for Project TARM purposes.
13
Textures – Problems with textures have many causes. Two of the major causes are firstly that a *.texture file is used in lieu of *.texture.txt and *.tga files, and secondly that some meshes have textures in slots that are no longer supported. Fortunately PEV to the rescue with two great convertors;Texture2TGA and a more versatile Images2TGA, and an option in PM2IM to strip unwanted textures. These have a trawl function and can whip through thousands of conversions in short order. See Toolman series for more details. The good news is that unless there is an accented
Trainz Community News
Page 26
Software of the Month
T
his month’s free software offering is a suite of graphics programs produced by Serif Software in the UK.
PagePlus SE
Serif produces a range of high quality professional software which isn’t cheap. To encourage home users to try their products, they offer free superceded versions for personal use. These are called Special Editions or SE and in some instances a few features have been restricted. For example, the powerful WebPlus is limited to ten web pages or so per session, but that’s more than enough for the average user. I currently use three programs, but I’ve also tried others. All have been capable of doing what I want. Serif has an interesting marketing strategy. They offer more recent versions of the software for around US $20, These full versions have no restrictions at all, so if you really like something, a cheap upgrade path is available.
PhotoPlus SE.
PagePlus is a powerful Desktop Publishing program capable of producing everything from business cards to Invitations, magazines and books. I use this program to create The Trainz Community News and other eBooks. I did upgrade to Version 9 because I needed the ability to convert my documents to PDF. Other than that, the SE version was fine. To my knowledge, PagePlus SE is the only free Desktop Publishing program available.
I actually use this program for anything I can’t do with IrfanView. Some unnecessary features are restricted, but the program is still able to do anything I want.
WebPlus SE
PhotoPlus is similar to PaintNet, but a lot easier to use. An unrestricted version of PhotoPlus 9 is available for around US$20, but you shouldn’t need it unless you wish to get really serious. Then The Gimp may prove to be a better option.
Although I use a similar program called WYSIWYG Web Builder which costs around $40, I love the way WebPlus and Web Builder allow you to create web pages without having to learn HTML. I tried WebPlus SE but opted for Web Builder because of the fantastic support.
Trainz Community News WebPlus is ideal for someone who just wants to create a web site or two and doesn’t want to spend any money, but Web Builder’s growing list of extensions and the Forum support is fantastic.
Page 27 To my knowledge, DrawPlus SE is the only free fullblown Vector Graphics software available on the Internet. Although less powerful than Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw, it’s still capable of handling quite complex tasks and producing excellent results. If you’re looking for a friendly Vector Graphics program to design anything from business cards to a 50 foot yacht, this free program may well be the answer. Once again, the $20 upgrade offers even more power and additional features.
Digital Scrapbook Artist Compact I don’t know anything about this program, but if you or your family are in to scrapbooking, it should be a bit of fun. WebPlus SE is a really powerful program, but you may find the SE restrictions a little too imposing. If you decide to upgrade to the unrestricted version 10, I would suggest that you pay a little extra and purchase WYSIWYG Web Builder.
DrawPlus SE
All Serif free software can be downloaded from:
http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/
Other software mentioned in this article: IrfanView: http://www.irfanview.com/ PaintNet: http://www.getpaint.net/
The Gimp: http://www.gimp.org/ WYSIWYG Web Builder: http://wysiwygwebbuilder.com/ CorelDraw Adobe Illustrator are both expensive.
Trainz Community News
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How to Add Photos to a Post by John King
A
section can be larger than 800 x 600, but please use common sense when submitting large photos. Contributors to the Screenshots forum often waffle on about high resolution, but the reality is that very few computer monitors (if any) can actually display high resolution photos. Most PC’s display images at 96 dpi regardless of the original resolution, so why bother making a photo 300 dpi, only to have it converted to 96 dpi by your graphics card.
PerRock has created an excellent thread on the subject and you can find as a Sticky in the Screenshots section on the Trainz Forum. The thread is entitled Making, Using and Posting Trainz Screenshots to the forums and it probably covers more things than I’ve written here. As such, I suggest you also read the entire thread.
I’ll be discussing screen resolution, cropping and resampling in future articles, but please keep in mind that the larger the photo in physical dimensions and kilobytes, the less popular it’s likely to be. Most Trainzers are not into high resolution graphics, and they won’t sit around waiting for your huge photos to download.
Each month we’ll bring you a suggestion or two that should make your visits to the Trainz Forum a little more enjoyable. Some articles may consist of a single paragraph, or some may be detailed tutorials like this one.
dding a photo to a Trainz forum post is relatively easy once you know how. The procedures outlined here work equally well for normal posts or signatures, but I’ll cover signatures in a separate article.
The thing to understand when reading this article or the forum thread, is that the Trainz Forum does not store your images. You must store them yourself, either on an external web site you own, or photo sharing web site set up specifically for this purpose. There are several photo sharing web sites, but read PerRock’s comments before choosing one. Although it seems like the image is embedded in your forum post, the truth of the mater is this: When someone views the thread, the Forum software accesses the Internet, goes to where you have your photo stored, then displays it in your post. This happens every time a thread is viewed and that’s why the Screenshots thread is so slow compared to other threads with less images. If you eventually delete the image from your web site or photo sharing web site, the image will also disappear from the Forum thread. This can be very frustrating for people such as new users who are often visiting very old threads for the first time. To avoid this issue, it pays to never remove any images associated with any thread on any Forum.
1
The first thing you need to do is prepare your images so they will conform with the Trainz Forums Code of Conduct. The rules state that for normal threads (anything other than Screenshots), the image must be no larger than 800 x 600 pixels, but of course it can be much smaller. Photos for the Screenshots
A great free program for preparing images and converting TGA images to JPG is IrfanView. My future articles mentioned above will be basesd on that software.
2
Sign up for an online photo sharing account with someone like Flickr or ImageShack. An alternative is to place the images in a folder on your own web site if you have one.
3
Transfer the images to your Photo Sharing account. Because the way you do this may vary between account providers, I’ll leave it up to you to figure out how to do it.
4
If you’re using Internet Explorer or Firefox, open the Forum and your Photo Sharing site in separate tabs (I’m using Flickr in this example). The first tab is the Forum . . .
Trainz Community News . . . and the second is Flickr:
Page 29
8
By clicking the Trainz Forum tab you’ll be returned to your partly completed post. On the second row of the Message toolbar you will see an icon that looks like a small painting of a mountain. If you hover the cursor over it, a message saying Insert Image will appear. Click the icon.
You can now flip between sites by clicking the appropriate tab.
5
6
Working in the Forum tab, go to the thread where you wish to post your image and click Post Reply. Add a title if you wish, but always supply some information about your image, because if you don’t, people are sure to ask!
Now we’ll add the image. Click the Flickr tab and navigate to the page containing your screenshot. You don’t have to be in Administrator mode, just find your way to your personal gallery and locate the correct image.
The following window will appear:
9
Enter the address of your image in the http:// field. The easy way is to delete the highlighted entry http:// and then typing Ctrl V by holding down the Ctrl key and hitting the V key. This is the Windows keyboard shortcut for Paste.
Click OK
7
Place your cursor over the image and right click. The following window will appear:
The image should now appear in the message window.
Click Copy Image Location.
Trainz Community News
10
You should always preview you post before committing it to the thread. Click the Preview Post button and you’ll see how others will also see your post.
Page 30
Adding a HyperLink There will be times when you want people to click the image and be sent to another web site. This is called Hyperlinking, and it’s very handy for graphic signatures like the Trainz Community Newsletter signature in the images opposite. When someone clicks the signature, they’re sent to the Newsletter download page. Hyperlinking Screenshots is not a good idea, so please restrict hyperlinks to images in the general forums and only use them when you want someone to visit another site to do with the post. Sending people somewhere else may breach the Trainz Forum Code of Conduct.
Click the image in the Message window. This will highlight it. If the image is a bit small, you may wish to center it.
Click the
Click the
Insert Link icon. (See red box in image
below)
image in the Message window. This
highlight it. Center Align icon in the Message Toolbar.
Click the
The following window will appear.
Preview the post again to make sure everything is exactly as you want it.
Enter the URL or Address of the linked website in the http:// field. (Red box in image below) Click OK Click the Submit Reply button
Next Month
11
Click Submit Reply and your new post will be added to the thread.
Creating and installing a hyperlinked graphic signature that complies with the Trainz Forum Code of Conduct.
Trainz Community News
Edited by John King
T
he Trainz Life-Cycle Policy continues to be confusing to most Trainzers and particularly disturbing to owners of all versions of Trains up to and including TRS 2006. I think it’s far too early to jump to conclusions because Auran (N3V) won’t be discontinuing support for these products until September, 2010. In the meantime, we’ll do our best to keep you informed and try to demystify the policy so that everyone understands exactly what’s going on. What we don’t want to do is panic. At the end of the day, there will be a simple solution that will keep all Trainzers happy. That solution may not come from Auran, but as they’re currently supporting all versions of Trainz, we need to allow them time to fine-tune the policy before making decisions of our own. This is part of a post that appeared in the Trainz Forums on April 6th, 2010. It was written by Zec Murphy, Customer Support Rep for Auran Games in response to a question by Ronayne entitled A question about all the fuss: . . . . in regards to removing content, we have not finalized any plans regarding this. At this time, we will only be removing content if it either breaks the COC or the Terms and Conditions for uploads. In future we may remove content that is faulty, however we may also implement methods by which these items can be repaired as well (and hence would work in native mode in TS2009+). Items that cannot be repaired would most likely be removed, however these items would have an extremely high likelihood of not working in any edition of Trainz for most cases (scripts are a different case here). The preferred situation is that creators update/repair their own content, however this will not be the case for many items, and as such we are investigating different avenues of action that we can take here. However, regarding content already on the DLS, nothing is yet confirmed, and as such the current policy regarding content (namely that it must abide by the COC and the Terms and Conditions for uploading) is still in effect. Of course, new uploads for 04/06 at this time are passed through the same level of error checking as TS2010 assets (with the appropriate exceptions for legal tags for the older editions, such as the older 'bogie' tag format,
Page 31 based off the build number in the config.txt file). As such, these items would not be removed in the foreseeable future. Of course, if we removed every single assets that was older than TC1 from the DLS on the 1st of September, then we would also have to remove many items built for the newer editions due to the number of these assets used by asset creators (including route builders, etc of course). This is not an action that we would take lightly, nor is it something that we plan to do. This may, of course, change in time. However, at this time, this is the current situation on this matter. Obviously Auran wishes to retain as many assets as possible on the DLS, but it’s also natural that they want the assets to work with TS 2009 and TS 2010. Unfortunately, many creators of older content have moved on or are showing no interest in updating their assets. Auran may take it upon themselves to repair the broken assets, or even call on people like Ian Woodmore to help them. It’s in Auran’s interests to have as many assets as possibleon the DLS, however it’s also in their interest to ensure those assets work with the latest versions of Trainz. To read the full forum post, please click or paste this link: http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showpost.php?p=5 91110&postcount=22 To read why Auran won’t be supporting older versions of Trainz, plese click this link: http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showpost.php?p=5 91108&postcount=144 image by davido
Trainz Community News
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Publishing Notes If you’ve been with us from the outset, you will have noticed subtle changes to each edition of the TCNews.
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When we first kicked off we thought we’d eventually amalgamate with Trainz Magazine, so not a great deal of attention was paid to layout or design.
From now on, we would like to share some of the letters we receive with you, so we’re starting a regular Letters to the Editor column.
When we decided to continue with the publication, the original layout was more or less maintained, but slight improvements have been introduced with each new issue.
ach month we receive about a dozen emails or PM’s about the magazine or the TARM project. Until now those letters have often been shared between our volunteers, but that’s it.
When you write to us, please tell us if you wish the letter to remain confidential. We will always respect your wishes and never publish anything until we have your permission. If we think your letter may be of interest to others and you haven’t asked for it to be kept confidential, we will ask for your permission to publish it when we send our reply. If you wish to write to us for the purpose of having your letter published, please write Letter to the Editor in the Subject field. Your co-operation will be greatly appreciated and we look forward to hearing from you, but please don’t ask questions that should be answered in the Forum. A link to our email address is on the bottom left of Page 2.
The following sponsors have generously donated prizes for the 2010 Route Building Competition.
Because the TCNews is distributed electronically, we’ve also faced the dilemma of quality versus size. By using the Times font throughout, keeping images to a minimum and using highly compressed PDF files, the magazine seldom goes over 1.5 megabytes, compared 9 or 10 megabytes for a similar sized Trainz Magazine. As nobody has complained about the noticeable lack of quality, we’ll continue using compressed PDF’s to make distribution easier. What we will do however, is refine the TCNews over the next few months to give it a more magazine like appearance. Some of the refinements may include:
Three columns instead of two. This makes the placement of photos easier
10 point type instead of the current 11 point. Most magazines use 10 point type and it would allow us to reduce the size of each edition by several pages. That’s important if you’re actually printing and filing the magazine.
A4 instead of American Quarto. Half our readers live in countries that use A4 paper. Once we can establish if A4 is easily accessible in the USA and Canada, moving across to A4 makes a lot of sense. In the May issue of the TCNews, we’ll include a sample page in 10 point type, with a three column format and designed for A4 paper. We’ll then let you have your say. We’ll listen to your advice and produce future copies of the TCNews accordingly. If you know of other improvements we can make, please drop us a line and let us know. We’re producing the magazine for you, and we want you to enjoy it!