Atomic Systems

Hi all

I have been able to work out how to add route information to the front end route selection page for my route but I now want to add my own screen whilst the route is loading instead of the default loco.
On the assumption that I am able to produce the graphic myself, can someone indicate how I get this into the program to replace the default loco screen.

Hi All

I have been carefully examining default documents and have worked out how to get my own opening screen into my route.

Part of the problem has arisen due to the way I have been naming files using a non-programmer style which leaves spaces between words. Some parts of the RS program do not recognise files named in this way and so template export or other procedures often fail for no apparent reason but faulty naming often seems to be the problem.

I_must_learn_to_name_name_files_like_this or PerhapsLikeThis

If anyone has any comments or tips then please feel free but the net result is that not only can I now include a route description for my route but I can have my own loading screen. Now to spend a couple of hours making notes on how I did it.

Out of interest, how did you go about adding your own loading screen to your route. It's something lacking in the documentation at the moment.

Regards
Dave

Hi Dave

It was quite easy really but I will have to refer to my little notebook which is at home at the moment. I will put up my notes this evening but in the meantime, if you want to have a go, you will need to create a screen graphic which has a size of 1024 pixels x 512 pixels. This works out to 27.10 cm x 13.54 cm which is the exact size I created my temporary graphic in DrawPlus. Depending on your experience, of course, you can create this graphic in any draw/paint program.



This then needs to be saved as a .bmp file until I put up the next bit tonight.

Thanks for that. I am eagerly awaiting your notes.

It will really help motivate me if I can get a loading screen into my route in the early stages of building.

Thanks. Got bored and worked it out!

Simply save a 1024 x 512 image of your loading page as an ace (if using Art plugins, e.g. Photoshop). Or as a bmp and use bmptoace converter.

Added the following to my route template in Blueprint Manager belowGhost Entry area (before Weather Blueprint) in Texture ID:

RouteTemplates\loading_evr

Saved and rebuilt the route template. Also added 'Content\Routes\myUID\RouteInformation\En\Description.html with details of the route and the period the route is set in (copy template from any of the standard routes if in doubt). Copied the html file to the US folder as well to cover US versions..

Regards
Dave

Hi Dave

Well I said it was easy.
I was going to put up some instructions in a step by step manner so if anyone has a problem in following Dave's instructions, then post here and I will elaborate.

Hi all

As much for my own future record as anything, I have noted down the following that may help someone.

This is a step by step process for adding a bespoke loading screen to a route and an information page. It is aimed at beginners to this sort of thing and is basically a record of my experience over the last couple of weeks from trial and error and with help from the forum.

ADDING A LOADING SCREEN TO YOUR OWN ROUTE OR REPLACING THE SCREEN OF ANOTHER

1) It is assumed that you have created your own developer folder, and created your own route which places a blueprint in the TemplateRoutes folder of your developer folder.
The path will be something like Rail Simulator\Assets\YourName\YourNameAddOn\TemplateRoutes. This is where the loading screen image would normally reside but the route creation process does not create a specific loading screen but uses the default screen located elsewhere. You should therefore not see a TgPcDx file in this location but if you do, then it means that there is a non-default screen already associated with that route.

2) If you want to change the loading screen of another route then the path through the provider folder is similar such as Rail
Simulator\Assets\RSDL\RailSimulator\IslandLine\TemplateRoutes. In here there is a TgPcDx file called loading_islandline.TgPcDx.
For those who do not know, the TgPcDx file format is the texture/image format that is used throughout Rail Simulator and is converted from other common image formats through RS Tools. More of that later.

If there is no TgPcDx file in your TemplateRoutes folder then copy one from another route (the loading_islandLine one will do) and place in your folder. Now rename this file to the one that you finally want to have there but make sure the extension is left intact. Note that the convention for naming loading screens seems to be with the prefix of 'loading' so for my route the loading screen would be loading_TheBigLayout.

3) We now turn to the creation of the image. As shown in an earlier post, create a graphic of the size 1024 x 512 pixels which is 27.10cm x 13.55cm if creating in a draw program. At its simplest, create a filled rectangle of the right size and add some lettering over it. Export the image as a .bmp file to somewhere easy to retrieve from or if you are using a professional graphics program, then export as a .dds file.

4) Now using Mike Simpsons RS Tools, choose to open a TgPcDx file from the top left hand menu, navigate to your RouteTemplates folder, highlight the TgPcDx file you renamed and click the open button. This will open the document in the RS Tools screen. Do nothing at this stage but click on conversions at the top and select convert RailSim to .dds. This will convert the file to a .dds format and place it in the RS Tools Tempfiles folder.

Now find your newly created loading image. If it is already in a .dds format, rename it to exactly the same name as the file you have just created and then replace the original image with yours in the RS Tools Tempfiles folder.

If the file is still in a .bmp format, then it will need to be converted to .dds. The free program I use to do this is Paint.net. You can load the .bmp file into Paint.net and save it out as a .dds file. (Note, only the very latest version of Paint.net seems to do this). You can save it out straight to the RS Tools Tempfiles folder with the same name as the file to replace.

Either way you will now have a .dds version of your image residing in the RS Tools Tempfiles folder with exactly the same name as the image you placed there a little while ago.

5) Now load up RS Tools again and select tools\convert.dds to RS. This should open up in the RS Tools Tempfiles folder by default. Highlight your converted image file and click open. RS Tools remembers where the file of this name originally came from and advises you where it will go back to. Click OK and the file gets converted back into TgPcDx format and is placed in your own RoutesTemplates folder or the similar folder of another existing route if that is what you are doing.

6) You now need to use RS Tools to open up and edit the .bin file. From the top left menu option, chose open RailSim file. and navigate to your TemplateRoutes folder (or the TemplateRoutes folder of the route you are amending). You will not see your new TgPcDx file there as this routine will not show it but it is still there. You will see, however, the route .bin file. You may see other files but the one you want ends with .bin only. Highlight this and click open button.
The document opens up in the RS Tools window.
Go down the lines until you see an entry on one line which says <GhostEntry/>
Immediately under this is the line starting <TextureID d:type="cDeltaString">Kuju\RailSimulator\templateroutes\[00]loading_bathtemplecombe</TextureID> or something like that.
Edit this line to replace the wording between the >< with the location of your screen loading file. This will be something like >YourName\YourNameAddOn\TemplateRoutes\loading_YourRoute<
Using the top left hand menu choose Save RailSim File and the file will be sent back to its correct location complete with amendements.

7) Now when you load your route in the game, your screen should show whilst loading.

ADDING AN INFORMATION PAGE TO YOUR ROUTE

1) When you create a new route, an information screen is not automatically added to the route so when you are in the opening screens chosing which route to use, there will be a blank white space where information usually is. (Mk 2 upgrade might have fixed this). If you want to add some route information yourself, then this is relatively easy.

2) Navigate to Rail Simulator\Content\Routes\YourRoute\RouteInformation\En. You can identify which route is yours by using RS Tools Tools\check Routes or Scenarios. If you find that there is no RouteInformation folder, copy one from another route and place in your route. You really only need the folder marked En so any others can be deleted unless you want to provide information in other languages as well.

3) Inside the En folder is an html file which will open up in a web browser if you double click on it. You actually want to open it up in a standard editor so that you can edit the html formatting. If you are not familiar with html language it should still be quite evident which bits to edit. To start off just replace some of the existing text but you can always go back and make a better job of it when you are familiar with the way it works.

4) Save your file back to your RouteInformation folder (save .. not save as) and then when you run the game your route information will show up when the route is selected.

I hope this helps somebody but at least I can come back here when I forget how to do it.

Thanks for that Geoff. You are becoming a veritable font of wisdom in these matters.
Regards James

Well put Geoff.

A great asset indeed. Just to confirm that MK2 doesn't create the RouteInformation folder by default. The game just replaces the missing RouteInformation with a blank white page at present and the loading screen to a default as well.

Regards
Dave