Floating decals

[dkightley]

Has anyone come across this?

The decal is floating about a foot above ground level, which the "floating" decal conforms to. The ground level is a DEMed surface with an altitude of around 220 metres.

All is okay at lower altitude.

Any suggestions as how to work around this???

[alexedwin]

Hi

I just found out this myself.
My route is higher (hills & mountains), so it's every decal I place does this.

Plus I got the dreaded proc error while applying DEM to my route.

Just Great.

Alex

[Edit] I've just checked Railsimulator.
The same thing is happening there.

[alexedwin]

I've reverted to previous DEM data.
No change, still floats.

Bah! Humbug!

[alexedwin]

Have sent an email to support.

Cheers,
Alex

[dkightley]

I'm glad someone else is suffering from this....well not glad they have a problem, but glad I'm not the only one with the problem....if you get my drift.

And I thought I'd mentioned that it was the same with RS...which was the first thing I checked...but I must have forgotton.

Alex.... Do let me know what you get back in response to your email.....I'm unable to progress with things at the moment.

[pauls]

Hi Doug,

Have you tried changing the height of the decal in the tiles bin file ?? - Might be worth a try - just ensure you make a backup copy first.

Cheers
Paul

[dkightley]

Paul

I can't find a parameter in the bin/XML file that would indicate the height above the terrain....there's just a Length and Width....and not much else!

[EDIT] I think you might be meaning the height position parameter of the tile definition in the scenery bin file....which at the moment looks quite scary!! I think I need to do a bit of isolated testing here!!!!

Watch this space! Gulp!!!

[dkightley]

Results of some playing with the parameters in the Scenery bin file.....

Adjusting the Height parameter only moves the placement markers up and down in "edit" mode.....the actual drawing of the decal is unaffected!

So...its back to the RS guys to add to their list of defects.....

[pauls]

The line you should try changing is this one in red...........

<Component>
<cDecalComponent d:id="903647624">
<Width d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="0000000000007940" d:precision="string">400.0000</Width>
<Length d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="0000000000007940" d:precision="string">400.0000</Length>
</cDecalComponent>
<cPosOri d:id="865018472">
<RFarMatrix>
<cFarMatrix d:id="865018484">
<Height d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="000000803E994740" d:precision="string">47.1972</Height>
<RXAxis d:numElements="4" d:elementType="sFloat32" d:precision="string">1.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000</RXAxis>
<RYAxis d:numElements="4" d:elementType="sFloat32" d:precision="string">0.0000 1.0000 0.0000 0.0000</RYAxis>
<RZAxis d:numElements="4" d:elementType="sFloat32" d:precision="string">0.0000 0.0000 1.0000 0.0000</RZAxis>
<RFarPosition>
<cFarVector2 d:id="865018536">
<X>
<cFarCoordinate>
<RouteCoordinate>
<cRouteCoordinate>
<Distance d:type="sInt32">73</Distance>
</cRouteCoordinate>
</RouteCoordinate>
<TileCoordinate>
<cTileCoordinate>
<Distance d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="0000002089088140" d:precision="string">545.0670</Distance
</cTileCoordinate>
</TileCoordinate>
</cFarCoordinate>
</X>
<Z>
<cFarCoordinate>
<RouteCoordinate>
<cRouteCoordinate>
<Distance d:type="sInt32">152</Distance>
</cRouteCoordinate>
</RouteCoordinate>
<TileCoordinate>
<cTileCoordinate>
<Distance d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="0000002004BF7B40" d:precision="string">443.9385</Distance>
</cTileCoordinate>
</TileCoordinate>
</cFarCoordinate>
</Z>
</cFarVector2>
</RFarPosition>
</cFarMatrix>
</RFarMatrix>
</cPosOri>
</Component>

Cheers
Paul

[dkightley]

Paul

That's the line I have tried changing.

The decal stays put....and the only thing that changes is the position of the markers that appear when you highlight the decal in the route editor. Add 10 onto the value....and the markers hover 10 metres above the decal when you highlight it.

[pauls]

Hi Doug,

I just sent the above and you answered at the same time. Sorry it didn't work for you. Did you try a radically different height figure ?? - try something well below the height of the mesh surface.
I'm sure changing this value made a difference when I was trying to figure out how to use decals as OS Map guides.

Another possibility might be to play with the <x>, <y> , <z> values above - my first guess would be to try the <z> value.

Just a wild guess for now - but its worth a try.

Cheers
Paul

[dkightley]

I'll have a play over the next day or so...and report back.

[class43HS125]

hi,
A simple fix i used with this problem in RS was to click on the decal, after all its only a placed object, and then use the V and B keys to adjust its height. true it only moves over a very small range but it sat back on the ground.
I have also used this in RW to get Decals to "resurface" when they appear to load just below ground level.

Ross
NZ

[alexedwin]

Hi all

I've been requested to send screen shots to RS.COM. (Which I have done)
So they seem to recognize there's a problem. (not in so many words)

Ross: I'll try that out imediatley. Thanks for the heads up.

Cheers,
Alex

[alexedwin]

Hi Ross and all

Tried your suggestion but it did not work.
The normal selecter moved very slowly but my decals didn't move at all.
The keys V & B do work on track because it has the vertical selecter enabled I assume, whereas the decals do not.
[EDIT] I've also tried the J key which sets objects to the terrain height from their origin height. (Did not work either)
[EDIT] Tried RailSimulator, same thing. The selector moves, but the decals do not.

Back to the drawing board.

Cheers,
Alex