Railworks America

Hello fellow TS and general train enthusiasts! I am in need of some assistance. How would I go about making some gentle hills in TS. (Correction: Making gentle hills quickly and efficiently) I had heard that the Noise tool supposedly creates varied terrain, but I have not figured out how to use it aside from it acting as another Level tool. Any tips from y'all?

Prior to using the noise tool, you can do a very rough approximation of where you want hills by using the 'level' tool, to raise large areas.

Then the noise tool can be adjusted to vary the height of elevations and depressions, and the speed with which they occur as you flourish the cursor over the terrain. Afterwards use the 'smooth' tool delicately to lessen the precipitateness of the 'noise.'

You could avoid using the noise tool at all, by doing some general heightening with the level tool, then some smoothing along the edges and at some places within the heightened area.

Then use the lower and raise tools to make the terrain conform to more natural patterns of erosion and flow of water down hills.

I think you can get better natural looking hills if you import DEM data of the region you want to make route of.
In regards of your question, the natural hills can be made via increase height tool and then smooth the terrain.
In game the terrian is actually a square mesh of big size so be careful as you won't be able to make super smooth terrain like those AAA games.

RailWorkshop wrote:I think you can get better natural looking hills if you import DEM data of the region you want to make route of.
In regards of your question, the natural hills can be made via increase height tool and then smooth the terrain.
In game the terrian is actually a square mesh of big size so be careful as you won't be able to make super smooth terrain like those AAA games.

My issue with the DEM data is that my terrain is way higher than where the DEM data would be. This is a factor from making my track according to track chart data.

Yes DEM data have issues.
Since they are not very accurate for India, I suppose NASA had more accurate HGT data files.
Now I am only making my route compromising with DEM.

Regarding DEM data accuracy, it's equivalent to a very low resolution image. And this is combined with the TS/RW terrain system which is not better than the MSTS terrain. It will never be detailed enough in RW to make everyone happy. The data that's available is still fairly accurate though, and good enough for TS projects, which is all that matters.

One can create their own embankment lofts and export anyway. Cuttings are more of a nuisance, but there may be somebody who has found a workaround. There are routes which use rock walls, so I'll assume the same can be done for cuttings.

TheTeenageFoamer wrote:My issue with the DEM data is that my terrain is way higher than where the DEM data would be. This is a factor from making my track according to track chart data.

I have noticed this kind of problem, but when it's a metre or so out, I try to raise the track a couple of dozen metres earlier than what I previously did. I measure lengths using digitalised curve and gradient charts viewed in Irfanview. It shows the pixels of the selection at the top of the screen. You can determine the rough length of the particular gradient by selecting the portion and adjusting according to the number of pixels. I have the digital charts sized in a way so that each mile amounts to roughly 40 pixels.

For example, if you've got a 1 in 120 decline, and then it changes to an incline, you can simply shred portions off the decline, and start the incline say 50 metres earlier. Doing this over a several kilometres makes a difference. It is still rather tedious, but it's much better than having a 30 metre deep cutting in flat countryside.