Flashing Rear End Device
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User Repaints of Diesels
West Locomotives
Helpful Tips:
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WINDOWS VISTA
Is Train Simulator locking up, stuttering, or otherwise spazzing out, when loading in Vista? Turn off any advanced graphics features(i.e., any filtering or buffering) and try it again. You might even have to match your display resolution to your settings in MSTS. Once you have it up an running, you can begin to add in graphics features, one by one.
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MAKING LEAD UNITS FROM TRAILING UNITS: (Example for CSX SD70MAC set)
1. First of all, you need to copy & paste the entire locomotive folder of the lead unit 'CSX750' (in your Trainset folder), so that you have a new folder named 'copy of CSX750'.
2. We'll be making 'CSX789' into a lead unit, so you will need to rename the copied folder to 'CSX789DU' -for 'drivable unit'
3. Now rename the files inside 'CSX789DU' to:
CSX750.eng
to CSX789DU.eng
CSX750.s to CSX789DU.s
CSX750B.s
to CSX789bDU.s
CSX750.sd to CSX789DU.sd
CSX750B.sd to CSX789bDU.sd
4. Using 'Wordpad', open the .eng file and rename ALL file references 'CSX750', to 'CSX789DU'. There are five of those lines to change(including the FreightAnim one, which should read CXS789bDU). Now go to the bottom and locate the 'Name' line:
Name ("CSX #750 SD70MAC")
Change it to read "( CSX #789 SD70AC )" - SAVE
5. Open both.SD files and rename the shape file reference to 'CSX789DU' and 'CSX789bDU' respectively- SAVE
6. Copy and paste all ACE files from the CSX789 into the new locomotive folder: 'CSX789DU'. Overwrite for all.
7. Locate the new locomotive in your activity editor and build your consist. note: we haven't effected the trailing unit #789 - it's still there
*For those of you who know how to alias the cabview & sounds (and save a little hard drive space), you can do that too. We just want to make it easy for the first-timers. Aliasing can get tricky if you've never done it before
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AIR HORNS:
Operating the air horns on our locomotives can be tricky. The default locomotive air horns that came with Train Simulator were made so that they would loop(play) endlessly without any pops or clicks. In order to accomplish that, the sounds had to be sythentically smoothed out, which left us with a very strange and unrealistic horn sound. Although they will play as long as you want to keep pressing the space bar, we felt like the gain made in the looping ability came at a cost to the character of the sound.
We wanted our horn sounds to maintain their natural modulation, shape and character. The horn sounds we use have not been excessively modified, and have most of their original character. The only problem is that some of our horns will not seamlessly loop. They have been made to give a medium to long blast, and a short one. We suggest that you play aorund with a specific horn sound until you have a feel for how long you need to hold the space bar to get the long blast, and then how to get the correct short blast. The short blast is most easily achieved by briefly pressing the space bar just before the longer blast has ended.
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WORLD OBJECTS TEXTURE QUALITY:
The textures for animated objects on a locomotive shape are governed by the WORLD OBJECTS TEXTURE QUALITY slider in Train Simulator. So if you want a locomotive's trucks, wheels, and wipers looking their best, adjust this setting to it's maximum.
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SPOTTER CAM:
If you have figured out how to hack your 'camcfg' file, there's another small tweak that can improve the realism of the sim. The 'Spotter Cam' is cam 4 on your keyboard, that changes to various random positions, ahead of train movement.
Part of the code for that camera entry in the camcfg file will adjust the height of that camera. In the 'ObjectOffset' line you will find three 'x,z,y' values that (upon load-up) refer to a center point on the lead engine. If each of those values were (0 0 0), the camera would be at ground level looking at the center of the engine(underneath the fuel tank).
The middle 'z' value is usually set at 3.0. The problem with that number is that the spotter camera's perspective is 3 meters high, and nobody is that tall. A value of 1.75 would be closer to an average person's height, or half of that if you were in a car, or sitting down. Another point to consider is that railroad grade in North America is typically higher than ground level, so that 'z' value could be as low as 1.3 to compensate for the fact that default MSTS does not have an elevated 'rail bed', and the rails are basically flush with the ground. The terrain ultimately decides the placement of the Spotter Cam, and will place you up on a hill side etc., but at least when you are at track level, your height will be more accurate.
If
you want to try changing this value, open your 'camcfg' file (in the 'GLOBAL'
folder of the Train Simulator program folder) using 'wordpad'.
Here is what that camera's entry looks like, with the 'z' value in red:
camera ( CamTypeSpotter
CamType ( CamTypeSpotter CamControlFull )
Fov ( 45 )
ZClip ( 1.5 )
WagonNum ( 0 )
Description (Spotter_Cam)
ObjectOffset (0.0 1.75 0.0 )
)
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HACKING the CAB CAM:
The Cab Cam is for the cabview. It's the first camera entry in your 'camcfg' file, and if you change the 'Fov' value from the default value(as MSTS Bin did), it will skew the outside world, as it appears from inside the cab, and the front of the locomotive might appear to be off the track. Open your 'camcfg' file and 'hack it back'...
camera ( CamTypeCab
CamType ( CamTypeCab CamControlViewSwitch )
CamaraOffset ( -0.51231 4.28496 10.0387 )
Fov ( 60 )
ZClip ( 0.5 )
WagonNum ( 0 )
Description (Cab_Cam)
)
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TO SHINE, OR NOT TO SHINE:
Most of our locomotives have a high specular lighting value or 'HiShine', as it is also known. That means that the surface will have a higher response to simulator light, and appear to reflect sunlight at the appropriate angle. Sometimes it looks great, and sometimes it doesn't. On an overcast day, the surface should not have any 'sun glares' coming from it. MSTS' graphics are not capable of distinguishing that, so at this point, It all comes down to personal preference.
If for any reason you would like to change the specular lighting of any of our models, 'Shape File Manager' will do the trick. Paul Gausden created Shape File Manager for just that reason. It can be downloaded from many websites, but www.train-sim.com is the one most familiar to the us(do a search for 'Shape File Manager' in the file library - if you haven't purchased a first-class membership to Train-sim...it's worth it).
After you uncompress one of our shape files in 'SFM', you will see all the objects that make up the locomotive's shape. Objects that usually have a 'HiShine' value, have the names 'HOOD, CAB, ROOF' etc. A 'Normal' lighting value may be what you want here. 'LoShine' is a higher specular lighting value than 'Normal'. Number boards and cab interiors always have a 'HlfBrt' lighting value on our locomotives, so don't change those.
...to be continued
Please take a look at our cylindrical hoppers released as FREEWARE. They can be found on our Rolling Stock page. They also have a repaint kit to help you reskin them yourself.
>>>Special addition locomotive releases are available for several locomotive sets. Check the Special Additions page, and send an E-mail to us
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