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What could be useful would be an easier and better way of adding vehicles to roads. Even the MSTS road traffic was better I think. Has anyone managed to add their own vehicle to roads yet? I have heard talk but never seen any evidence.

I asked about this some time ago and was told that the traffic is directly associated with the loft. There is a file that sets out the vehicles and their frequency but, unless you create your own loft, all you can do is modify the traffic file but you run the risk of having to do a reinstall if you ever have to do a Steam file check. It's more feasible for us now that Chris has worked out how to create lofts so we could, in theory, make the traffic levels realistic and use period vehicles.

Keith

There are some rules to be aware of when building models for use on roads, in Crafter they would have to face away from you along the Z axis and be the right position as regards the X and Y axis too I believe. in MSTS you could switch vehicles on the roads by just editing files, if I remember correctly you could also alter direction frequency and speed. Even my son who was 6 years old at the time could do it.

Here is a short burst of my AEC at idle, should be good for a loop. Took it tonight after a short pre-hibernation drive.

Paul

Rockdoc2174 wrote:I asked about this some time ago and was told that the traffic is directly associated with the loft. There is a file that sets out the vehicles and their frequency but, unless you create your own loft, all you can do is modify the traffic file but you run the risk of having to do a reinstall if you ever have to do a Steam file check. It's more feasible for us now that Chris has worked out how to create lofts so we could, in theory, make the traffic levels realistic and use period vehicles.

Keith

A while ago, I wrapped up my guesses how this stuff works here. Unfortunately for me, Andy (gougha) found a ready-made asset that suited his needs so I still don't know how far I was from the mark.

jp4712 wrote:Here is a short burst of my AEC at idle, should be good for a loop. Took it tonight after a short pre-hibernation drive.

Paul

Superb recording, it loops really well without any further need for loop markers. Rightly or wrongly, it reminds me a little of the Dovetail 1st gen DMUs. Thanks for taking the opportunity to record it before it is winterised.

Kind regards,
Chris

With regard to adding the bus to existing traffic. It can be done but only by the model maker.

The hierarchy of road sections is as follows:-

Vehicle Path blueprint calls the Traffic Control Blueprint and the Cross Section blueprint i.e it puts vehicles on the road.

Traffic Control blueprint calls the Vehicle Properties blueprint i.e it populates the road. This is where you would add further vehicles, by adding more Vehicle Properties blueprints.

Vehicle Properties blueprint calls the Scenery model i.e. its sets the parameters, max speed etc for the vehicle. This is where the problem lies as it calls the .igs file which means you need access to the creators model.

If adding vehicles to an existing Vehicle Path, I suggest copying and renaming the blueprints, to avoid them being overwritten when the sim updates.

There are a few other considerations to bear in mind. Lights look silly on stationary vehicles but moving vehicles look silly without them, so you really need two different models. I also recommend removing obvious markers (spokes etc) from wheels, so they don't appear static on a moving vehicle. Also, lofted vehicles seem to get turned inside out by the sim, so need 2-sided textures to look right. The Vehicle properties blueprint doesn't seem to like Child objects on a vehicle, so the sound can't be added to the vehicle, if it is to be used this way.

I have a feeling my model would be best left as static display.

Brilliant. With that amount of detail it should be a drivable "train"!

Absolutely stunning Brian. And to think that it doesn't seem 5 minutes ago since you started to learn the dark art of modelling!