Railworks America

Hi,

I'm starting a new thread here for the public beta of the doodlebug, there have been a few error reports in various other threads and I think having only one place to collect them would probably be the best idea.

I just uploaded a new version of the doodlebug beta to humyo. The old one is no longer available. I'm not sure why the old one wasn't working, but the new one is several hundred kB larger. Which is odd, as far as I remember it should have the same files included as the one yesterday, I didn't do any changes to the model since then.

Whatever went wrong with beta1, I hope the new upload will be running on your PCs. I linked some assets of the default game (sounds etc.), so I'm not sure if you need the Kuju/RailSimulator(US) enabled to run this engine, or if it works without having these enabled too.

And finally, here is the download link for beta2 of the gas-electric:
http://www.humyo.com/FFYgFYd/Public/Moo ... 1TN77FnDwk

Please reply here if it still doesn't work.

Cheers!
Michael

Oh this is neet!

What ever you did the new download is working.

Couple things (you probably know):
- It did not have the SD40 horn (sorry, but we have to scare the cows with something less menacing)
- It is not triggering the crossing guards, except when reversing through them.
- Acceleration is responsive (which is expected with such a small bus), but the breaks are not so responsive. In other words, I can throw it in emergency stop and I coast for a few hundred feet.

Positive things:
+ The engine sound is spot on from what I remember in my ride last year.
+ lights, bell, horn all working
+ very responsive
+ Its FUN! Can I have one in yellow ? (j/k I can wait for the repaint kit)

Things I would like to see:
+ Even though the cab view is working and you are practically sitting on the engine (this is accurate BTW), it seems a bit cramped.
+ It would be great to have a passenger view

I will play with it some more tonight.

Ooh, glad to hear it's working now! No idea why it wasn't before but why bother if it is now.

Thanks for your comments! I'm honestly surprised that the engine sounds seem to fit, these are the standard UK class 37 sounds, I used these only as I like them best of all the default diesel sounds -- and because I thought we needed something a bit louder with the engine right behind the engineer.

- It did not have the SD40 horn (sorry, but we have to scare the cows with something less menacing)
Yes, I'll go 'horn-hunting'. Would any of the default RW horns work for this engine? Or does it need a custom horn?

- It is not triggering the crossing guards, except when reversing through them.
Do you mean the new animated level crossings? What could be causing this?

Acceleration is responsive (...) but the breaks are not so responsive
Forgot to add that to the 'known issues' list.
I was happy too with the acceleration and pulling power (you'll get one, certainly no more than two lightweight coaches up a 2.5% grade), but the TE curves are very bad. If anybody knows a bit more about phsyics and how to create prototypical TE curves, please let me know.

Its FUN! Can I have one in yellow ?
Thanks! I'll do the GN (one empire builder and one zebra-stripes!) and MW colors and a repaint kit.

Even though the cab view is working and you are practically sitting on the engine (this is accurate BTW), it seems a bit cramped.
I have nice images for the real 31's cab, so creating a static model won't be difficult. Animating it will be a different story then, but first things first.

It would be great to have a passenger view
A passenger view is already there, it only needs to be repositioned. Currently it sits at the same coord. as the cabview.

THANKS!!!
Michael

GreatNortherner wrote:- It did not have the SD40 horn (sorry, but we have to scare the cows with something less menacing)
Yes, I'll go 'horn-hunting'. Would any of the default RW horns work for this engine? Or does it need a custom horn?

I honestly can't remember the pitch of the horn. I'll need to see when NCRR is running their doodle and plan a side trip. But I expect that there would have been a variety of horns used. From simple truck horns to what early era diesels used.

GreatNortherner wrote:- It is not triggering the crossing guards, except when reversing through them.
Do you mean the new animated level crossings? What could be causing this?

Correct, It is only tripping the automated signals when running in reverse.

What sort of power do these things have? I mean, could you borrow the numbers from the (revised!) 101 DMU, for instance? come to think of it I don't even know what type of transmission it has :p time to go browsing I guess.

The one in NCRR has a manual transmission. Come to think of it the driver was pretty good. I don't recall him grinding the gears.

Hi,

A new beta version of the doodlebug is now available!

New and improved features:
- functional (but basic) 3D cab -- some switches and levers are still missing
- TS 2012 features (rain drops, lights, ...)
- improved LODs and textures
- revised physics (though still very much a work in progress)

SPECIAL THANKS must go to
- Kali for his help with the physics
- Dick Cowen for his help with the cabview basics

The model which is attached below is a fully working rail vehicle for TS2012 (works fine in legacy mode). It comes with sounds aliased to the UK Class 37, horn to the SD40 (until I can find out horn may be suited better). It has custom couplers and cab.

When you run this engine, please keep in mind that is a really slow and weak engine. It has barely enough power to get itself up to speed -- on level tracks it can pull one or (maximum) two light cars too. Maximum speed of the light engine is just above 50 mph. I have no idea if the traction and speed curves are anywhere near realistic though.

Please delete any older version of the doodlebug before installing this new beta, I had to change and re-arrange a lot of the files.

You can download the beta version as a freeware model here:
http://www.mediafire.com/?mc6on4ihaypzwzj
(Provider/product: GreatNortherner/SteamEra)

Please report and bugs you may find, and let me know if you notice anything that should/could be improved. Thank you!

Some screenshots are here: viewtopic.php?f=20&t=2088&start=30#p54184

Have fun!
Cheers,
Michael

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGOIRLqtd1g
Posted on the other thread also. Horn sounds.

What a very cool little machine.. :) :)