Railworks Signal Construction Question

[SMMDigital]

Yes, a convoluted mess it is. As I understand it, a single head signal goes something like this:

Scenery Blueprint - Post.Igs

Animated Scenery Blueprint - Head.Igs. No IA or BAN file is needed.

Signal Blueprint - References the Post.igs as primary geometry. References the Head blueprint as the Child. References a specific LUA. THAT Lua references THREE MORE lua's located in the Common scripts folder.

Did I miss anything?

[Trainguy76]

Did I miss anything?

I don't think so.

Four lua's and one dependent animated signal blueprint from the post. Does anything reference the post? No, nothing does so the post is the top of the chain.

[Trainguy76]

Okay,

The post folder blueprints are only the model of the post. These reference the head folder blueprints which include the heads themselves. Clever.

[Trainguy76]

Here's the results from today, I may have the red named incorrectly, but this is the 'heads.' Not sure how to "attach" the post.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkrsSEuGVMM

I think the head should be flipped.


EDIT

Here is the progress on the head now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6pPE-0zodU

Works just like the default "Head 2H 0T" signal.

I still don't know how to do the post.


Here's the hierarchy used for the head.

I would recommend a heirarchy where it goes

head3
-color
-color
-color
-head2
--color
--color
--color
--head1
---color
---color
---color

Head1 should be used for the same purpose as the top head in a default 2H signal.

[g_nash]

I still don't know how to do the post.

Open this bin in RW Tools ....... Railworks\Assets\Kuju\RailSimulatorUS\RailNetwork\Signals\US Modern\Post\US BNSF Post 1 Head 1T Tall.bin

scroll to the bottom of the file and look at these values ( ***** ) in the child element

Code: Select all

<cHcRMatrix4x4>
<Element>
<e d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="000000000000F03F" d:precision="string">1.0000</e>
<e d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="0000000000000000" d:precision="string">0.0000</e>
<e d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="0000000000000000" d:precision="string">0.0000</e>
<e d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="0000000000000000" d:precision="string">0.0000</e>
<e d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="0000000000000000" d:precision="string">0.0000</e>
<e d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="000000000000F03F" d:precision="string">1.0000</e>
<e d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="0000000000000000" d:precision="string">0.0000</e>
<e d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="0000000000000000" d:precision="string">0.0000</e>
<e d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="0000000000000000" d:precision="string">0.0000</e>
<e d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="0000000000000000" d:precision="string">0.0000</e>
<e d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="000000000000F03F" d:precision="string">1.0000</e>
<e d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="0000000000000000" d:precision="string">0.0000</e>
<e d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="0000006085E98B3F" d:precision="string">0.0136</e>
<e d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="000000403E4A1540" d:precision="string">5.3225</e> ******
<e d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="000000A00628B9BF" d:precision="string">-0.0983</e> ******
<e d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="000000000000F03F" d:precision="string">1.0000</e>
</Element>

[Trainguy76]

Railworks\Assets\Kuju\RailSimulatorUS\RailNetwork\Signals\US Modern\Post\US BNSF Post 1 Head 1T Tall.bin

scroll to the bottom of the file and look at these values ( ***** ) in the child element

I'm sorry I can't really "read" that. I don't know what I'm looking at.

[g_nash]

bit lost here mate .. if you're following the example files then you've exported a post , a head and setup the blueprints . post blueprint refs the head as a child , position head and you should have that data in the bin when exported you can tweak the bin if it don't look right . maybe check the example files again to see if you have the same setup , it all should work ok

[SMMDigital]

This wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it was going to be, thanks to everyone's input.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MF9sqO5EUiE

The manufacturing process was as follows...

- Make Post
- Make Head - Position head in same place you want it on your post in RW before exporting. Follow Trainguys' heirarchy to the letter, or it won't work.
- Blueprint Post as a regular scenery object.
- Blueprint Head as an Animated Scenery Object. You do not need an .IA (pre-BAN) file.
- Make a Signal Blueprint with the Post as the primary IGS asset. The head will be a Child asset, and will refer to the Head.xml file.
- Export
- Place in Railworks.

I've included the source files, in their proper directories, at http://www.smmdigital.net in the Sidebar. Just download, scan with an anti-virus scanner, and unzip to the Railworks\Source folder for further examination.

[g_nash]

looks good mate

you can do fun things with these if you think about it a bit .. "post" can mean different things > a gantry is also a post and two heads don't really mean one above/below the other and a bit of scope for older usa stuff if you look at how some of some of the german and uk signals ( feathers ) and scripts are setup ,, just sayin'

[SMMDigital]

looks good mate

you can do fun things with these if you think about it a bit .. "post" can mean different things > a gantry is also a post and two heads don't really mean one above/below the other and a bit of scope for older usa stuff if you look at how some of some of the german and uk signals ( feathers ) and scripts are setup ,, just sayin'

You are correct sir! Actually, this signal that i've built is an anomoly - you don't see many of them. Most of them have multiple heads that are offset to one side (making it look even more like a Saguaro cactus). The most common variation on it is the 3 over 2 head signals. Making this set is going to be interesting.

[SMMDigital]

Screen shots of the painted "complete" signal:

smm_sousig_1P1T.jpg

smm_sousig_1P1Ta.jpg

smm_sousig_1P1Tb.jpg

All textures came from the signal that I photographed yesterday. These were made by Griswold Signal Company, Minneapolis, Favresotta. I wonder if they are still making signals or if they have gone on vacation?

[SMMDigital]

Sorry folks, I know i'm blathering on here, but i'm trying to get out as much info as possible so that anyone else who wants to build signals for RW will have a heads up on what to do.

Below is a photo of the two-head signal. I did find an issue with the heirarchy while building this signal. I nested the second head inside the first as was suggested earlier, and the signal would not work. It would only allow two track links instead of the three required. I moved the second head and it's associated lights out to a group of it's own and that fixed the problem. This is specific to 3D Canvas.

smm_sousig_p2h2.jpg

My next concern is to build a 3 Aspect Target over a 2 Aspect Target. I'm not sure how this signal would behave though, being that there will not be a green light on the second head. Any ideas?

[Trainguy76]

My next concern is to build a 3 Aspect Target over a 2 Aspect Target. I'm not sure how this signal would behave though, being that there will not be a green light on the second head. Any ideas?

Just fine? If you watched my first video linked above, one was named incorrectly, and didn't stop the rest of the signals from working.

[SMMDigital]

Yes, I did watch the videos - quite clever the way you set up those test signals. I did build a 3-over-2, and it worked correctly for the test I gave it. since the two-aspect head only has a yellow and red light, I simply renamed the orange lens to green. my concern about this is what happens when the signal script calls out an actualy yellow for this signal and doesn't find the part? Dark signal, or will it throw an error?

UPDATE: ANSWER - The signal simply goes dark. On the prototype, this 3/3/2 configuration is almost always seen on passing sidings, and I don't think I can ever remember seeing it displaying anything other than a Red aspect. I may just make this a special "for looks" and passing sidings only signal, with the 3rd head as a dummy.

[SMMDigital]

I am getting ready to blueprint these signals, and I need some user input. I'm looking through all of the blueprints for the USMod signals, and i'm wondering, do we really need all the stuff that the RW system has? A 3H3T 40/50 signal? Seven special signals with two heads? Does anyone out there actually use all of this stuff, or could I get away with the basic signals up to 5 or so links and the EOT signals?