A few RW developer questions...

[rwaceyw]

Hi All,

Considering a switch to RW (shock horror! ) for a developing tool and wouldn't mind having a few questions answered....i've searched the forums but can't find definitive stuff.

1. Could I, in theory, create a 'track spline' of a double track formation with auto-spawning trolley poles and wires?

2. How are different track gauges handled? I'm interested in laying NG rather than SG - is it similar to MSTS with different shapes or can I edit the 'rail width' if you will?

3. How complex can you get the driving style? I've seen the tap changing on the 86 however could I represent a series/parallel drive system used on tramcars?

4. How easy is it to implement the google maps images and DEM as opposed to DEMEX and Mosaic from MSTS?

5. I'd be potentially looking at making a 'donationware pack' - how does this stand with using items on UKTS? And, roughly, how easy is packaging everything into a 'one off install'?

Cheers all!

Dave

[Kromaatikse]

If you lay electrified track, the wires will be drawn automatically but the poles and hangers won't be.

Have a look at Phorum Peninsula for a demonstration of how narrow gauge is done. It helpfully includes some metre-gauge tramway and 2'3" railway.

In theory any physics could be modelled using the same brute-force scripting techniques as are used for the 86. Doing so is likely to be very hard work, however - you have to subvert the internal physics model into doing things your way. The 86 is a relatively good result, but if you put too heavy a train behind it, say hello to excessive wheelslip. For EMUs it is likely to be worthwhile.

[CaptScarlet]

In relation to no 3 I think there is some london underground stock either done by Dave Brindley or Darren Carter ( I not exactly sure though ) that replicates that type of drive system through scripting.

4- I believe is done using RW Decal - http://forums.uktrainsim.com/viewtopic. ... 04&t=98757

John

[rwaceyw]

Cheers for your answers guys - lots of useful info!

Looks like the only struggling point so far would be getting 3ft gauge track.

[hertsbob]

Hi

Not sure how the poles would line up with the wires, but I don't think there's any reason why you couldn't make your own lofted track with auto-populating poles.

Was going to link to the same stock as CaptScarlet... It's excellent.

DEM is very straightforward and decals are extremely easy with RWDecal.

Cheers

Bob

[skiddaw]

Hi

DEM is very straightforward and decals are extremely easy with RWDecal.

Cheers

Bob

I'll second that . I was a first time user of both with RW last winter and found them fairly easy to use.
I got excellent support on RW Decal with a couple of queries & RW Decal has had a few upgrades since then.
See http://www.rwdecal.co.uk/

[jp4712]

Kevin Martin made some 2' 3" track, I'm sure he wrote a tutorial somewhere on how he did it. In any case there are tutorials on creating your own track. Bob is right about the tram poles, you could make a tram track section with a 'loft' that auto-populates the track with a gantry every 60 feet. But on balance I'd be inclined to place poles manually given the curves and twists that you get with tram track compared to standard railways.

Don't forget that you don't have to muck about with scaling to achieve NG, it's quite easy to mix SG and NG in one route.

Even the default diesel-electrics simulate field-weakening as you accelerate so I don't think it would be impossible to script parallel and series working. One person to drop a PM to on this would be Darren Carter, he is doing exactlt this sort of thing with the London Underground stock he's involved with.

Lastly, you asked the question about authoring and packaging. Instead of zipping assets into a package manually, there is a 'packager' function in RW. What you do is to go through a menu of exactly what you want to package, and add it it. Anything can be added that wasn't protected by the asset author can be added to the package. If you ask the author for permission to include their content in your route etc, you don't need to say 'get X from here' but you simply include it in the package. It's very much like a UKTS community job, so you'd have to ask the authors of the assets that you want for permisison to include, but the asset can be included inside the route package instead of installing separately.

If you have never had RW but would like a quick play for free, go to the site front page to get details on how to get hold of a fully-functional but time-limited copy of RW.

Paul

[Kromaatikse]

Even the default diesel-electrics simulate field-weakening as you accelerate...

Badly. http://forums.uktrainsim.com/viewtopic. ... 1&t=107773

[Trainguy76]

1. Could I, in theory, create a 'track spline' of a double track formation with auto-spawning trolley poles and wires?

Yes, but the trolley poles need to be placed with a tool. (Not sure of the name of the tool.)

2. How are different track gauges handled? I'm interested in laying NG rather than SG - is it similar to MSTS with different shapes or can I edit the 'rail width' if you will?

This shows how to make a simple bit of track. (As in with a 3dModelling program) http://forums.uktrainsim.com/viewtopic. ... 2&t=102124

5. I'd be potentially looking at making a 'donationware pack' - how does this stand with using items on UKTS? And, roughly, how easy is packaging everything into a 'one off install'?

Please see this-

http://forums.uktrainsim.com/viewtopic. ... 1&t=103415

[Acorncomputer]

I would like to add that in RailWorks you can have many different networks of all track sizes (including trams) in one route and during a free roam session you can jump from network to network all day long if you wish without coming out of the scenario.

Check out the Phorum Peninsular (Steam) for this.

I have made my own track in 3D Canvas and although not easy for a novice, I did manage to create a track that worked and correctly created junctions. Depending on how enthusiastic you are, you can create many different types of track and you only need 3D Canvas pro and a graphics program (GIMP is good and totally free) or perhaps one of the free graphics programs instead.

[rwaceyw]

Cheers all - I took the plunge and bought RW - hopefully I can put all the above into practice!

Dave

[Toldrabald]

1. Could I, in theory, create a 'track spline' of a double track formation with auto-spawning trolley poles and wires?

Yes, but the trolley poles need to be placed with a tool. (Not sure of the name of the tool.)

Yep, first lay the tracks with electrification selected, then use the pole/gantry tool to setup the poles. If your track is simple double track without many curves and bridges it's done in minutes for several miles. Having junctions, crossings, split tracks however is something the tool does not really like. So here and there a few manual poles will need to be placed.