Railworks America

Edit: Now available: http://www.3dtrains.com/products/rw/rou ... hapi.shtml

I've been burning my candle at both ends with my MSTS Sherman Hill route and Tehachapi Pass for Railworks. Sherman Hill was released a couple of months back as a pre-sale beta with weekly updates, and has been fairly successful thus far given the old age of MSTS. Sherman Hill is nearly there and things are going well, but I absolutely hate the MSTS editors!

This is a fishing expedition...

I've been considering the same thing with Tehachapi Pass and releasing it as a pre-sale beta. It too will benefit from weekly updates, but will also serve to help fund development. TP is set around 2006~2008, so no daylighting of tunnels, and searchlights still rule the day. Right now the scenery is only about 50%, but all track is there between Mojave and Bakersfield, signalling complete (one or two need to be updated tho'), so the main focus will be finishing scenery and shopping for a 3rd party to provide train sets. TP is near and dear to my heart, and my aim is to make it as close to the prototype with as few liberties as possible. I would also like to get feedback on making the route user friendly when making scenarios. Most think of the route as a point-A to B, but I've included the Arvin Branch and the line to Creal, plus a bit of track to service a water treatment facility off on the Jawbone. Yards at Mojave and two at Bakersfield should add up to a lot of railroading in a relatively small area.

I suppose the possibility to back-date the route is there, as there's been little change over the past few decades.

Any interest?

I love the idea behind it and I'm definitely interested!

Definitely interested!

But there is also a risk when paying for a WIP up-front: will it ever be finished? A single route is less of a risk than a T:ANE.

You've had fatal hard drive crashes before, and without a backup your work was lost. With the basic route already sold to a few users, there is little chance of a 'total loss', only a couple days work on scenery.

So it depends on the price/value/risk equation.

PS: how do you go about licensing BNSF (ATSF trackage rights) or will it be stripped of any ATSF/BNSF markings?

I like the idea. Count me in if you're gonna go ahead with it.

Count me in Marc, where do I sign up ? .

Regards claus

Marc,
Love the idea of TP. I used to run 58 (Barstow/Bakersfield/Buttonwillow) occasionally and particularly enjoyed the TP portion of the trip. Looking forward to this final project.

_o_OOOO_oo-Kanawha wrote:But there is also a risk when paying for a WIP up-front: will it ever be finished? A single route is less of a risk than a T:ANE.

One of the reasons to release as a beta is to help fund its development, otherwise I would have to take on smaller projects while the route sits idle.

_o_OOOO_oo-Kanawha wrote:You've had fatal hard drive crashes before, and without a backup your work was lost. With the basic route already sold to a few users, there is little chance of a 'total loss', only a couple days work on scenery.

Everything is being backed up at regular intervals, especially source files.

_o_OOOO_oo-Kanawha wrote:PS: how do you go about licensing BNSF (ATSF trackage rights) or will it be stripped of any ATSF/BNSF markings?

Paying for a license helps.

Marc I'm ready to start jumping back in here shortly after a much needed break. Just waiting on new computer parts so that i'm up to speed. Id be interested in helping with development. PM me youre thoughts on this project and where you want it to be. Etc...

Ian

Really, you have to ask?



Absolutely! I bought into a similar deal with the Panamint Crossing route and I would definitely buy into this - even to pay for the beta to help get this route out there - Espee bias aside....lol.

You got my vote the minute you posted the screenshots...

I'm in if you go ahead.

Forum is open: http://www.3dtrains.com/forums/index.ph ... hapi-pass/

I don't mind paying for a beta since I had planned on buying this route when it came out, so count me in. I have a higher-end machine so I'll be happy to report on my framerates and stress-test scenarios, scenery, etc.

Hack wrote:Forum is open: http://www.3dtrains.com/forums/index.ph ... hapi-pass/

Do you have a general track plan or does your route follow Run8's closely?

Hmm. Seems a bit interesting. I'll be willing to lend a helping hand.

_o_OOOO_oo-Kanawha wrote:Do you have a general track plan or does your route follow Run8's closely?

If they followed the prototype, then it should be similar. However, and not to slam their work, the terrain in Run8 isn't as defined as that in this one - at least what I saw at the loop.