Mileposts

[ukrichb]

Hi,

I thought I would run before I could walk (I still want to make my own lower quadrant signals, but am having a bit of trouble with that).

I am trying to make some GWR mileposts...where I can enter my own number. I have read this document.... http://tscdevdocs.co.uk/reference-manual/art-guidelines/asset-authoring-guidelines.html#TOC-Mileposts. I am using the milepost blueprint and am using the named texture file with all the image files with numbers from 0 to 9 as the primary named set. Nothing in the secondary one. Can someone explain to me what a quad is and how I group the objects in 3ds that show the numbers? Only one digit seems to work. I think it is all in how you name the numbers in 3ds and how you group them.

Any help?

Richard

[AndiS]

I would serz the GeoPcDx file of the Kuju mileposts (or any others that work). I only tried that with signals but if you search for "name" in XML-File that serz.exe or RWTools give you, you should see the naming magic. The documentation is really terse on this. I never tried mileposts myself, mind you.

[ukrichb]

Hi Andy,

Yes I will try that. I have a feeling it is how you “link” the objects in 3DS. You don’t actually attach them…it’s how you name them. I’d need the 3DS file and the train sim files to figure it out. I almost got it working …but when I type 1-9 miles, the digits of the 10s and 100s are showing. For example…9 miles shows up as 9 miles and also 90miles and then something weird like 020 miles.


I will keep digging. If I figure it out, I will try and post how I did it in case someone else wants to do it.

[ukrichb]

I finally figured it out. The "how to" documents state that you have to create a single object with the name 1_XXXX_primarydigits_1, 1_XXXX_primarydigits_2 and 1_XXXX_primarydigits_3 for the single, double and triple digit numbers. The problem I was having was how to link the 2 and 3 quads together in 3DS to create a single object with the name 1_XXXX_primarydigits_2 and _3, to which the multiple layer images of the numbers could be attached. I searched different ways of doing it. It was not...

1) Grouping the objects together (This means they don't show up at all)
2) Adding an "Edit Mesh" modifier and then "attaching" the objects
3) Creating a single quad with 3 separate faces and assigning different material IDs to each one
4) Joining the objects.

If anyone is interested, in 3DS to create the single double and triple digit numbers, you create the two and three quads, give them material IDs of 1, 2 and 3 and then convert one of them to a "Compound Object" and then select "Connect". Then click "Pick Operand" and then select the appropriate quads that you want to link. This creates three single objects, named 1_XXXX_primarydigits 1, 2 and 3....and it finally worked!

Yay!

Now I just need to find the dimensions of a GWR milepost and create the model!

[AndiS]

Sound complex. Good to get somewhere in the end.

The dimensions should be the easier part, though I don't have any at hand.