The Siskiyou Line

[BoostedFridge]

Update: I decided to add the RWA Lakeside route assets to the Siskiyou. I was struggling trying to make some old freeware RW2 type assets work, and was getting frustrated. The versatile and high quality assets that Rick, Wayne, and Michael made for the Lakeside look great on the route, and have saved me a ton of time already.

Also, I think I've finally found the right texture and asset combination for the distant hills for the North end of the Shasta Valley. I've finished off quite a bit of this scenery in the past week, and should have some new areas complete and ready to show soon.

20161206010231_1.jpg

20161206000607_1.jpg

[ssbobz]

Looking good!

[JM1261]

Looking good!

+1, excellent work!

[BoostedFridge]

I got some good progress on the route this week, and will soon be able to show off some finished scenery near Snowden hill.

After laying grass for hours on end its nice to take a break and enjoy/test the work you have put in. I took a loaded train of 40 boxcars 'west' from Montague, and ran them through to Weed. Between checking scenery, and setting up for screenshots, I goofed up and overbraked on a downhill section right before a grade change uphill. Due to this it took me almost 10 miles of running in run 8 just to get back up to track speed! This reminded me of a big reason why I chose to build this route in the first place; the operating/driving challenge! I'm really looking forward to writing some challenging scenarios for you all to test your mettle behind the controls!

Until that time though, some more pics...

MERVY Near Montague.jpg

MERVY near Grenada.jpg

[BillS]

The ground cover, along the edge of the road, looks great!

[Ericmopar]

Looks nice Boosted. Don't give up now.

[gtrtroger]

Yep, and the grade challenges are not going to get easier....lol.
Looks great. Keep up the good work!

[BoostedFridge]

Below is a picture capturing my favorite era on this rail line. The contrast between reality and Railworks is still pretty broad, but I've done my best to emulate the scenery as best I can. This is the bridge over the Shasta River just 'west' of Montague.

RVMEY Shasta River Bridge.jpg

Photo by Eric Blasko

RVMEY at Shasta River bridge.jpg

[gtrtroger]

Snappy!

[ssbobz]

You've done an exceptional job there matching the photo.

[buzz456]

That is really really nice. Small suggestion if you have 3DT trees? One of these would be even better. I think the one on the left which is a Rio Grande cottonwood might even be what those are. In any event the scene is awesome.
left Kukui middle Paper bark maple right Rio Grande cottonwood.

3DT Trees.jpg

[BoostedFridge]

Thanks for the feedback Buzz! I do have the 3D trains tree/foliage pack, and have been using it along the route. I do agree with you, those trees you suggest are much better suited to matching the ones in real life.

My quandary is that so far I have kept to only true three dimensional trees for use within about 30 yards/meters of the right of way. I like how they cast shadows, and seem to 'blend in' with the grass and ground cover I'm using. I layer in the 2d trees from that distance and further out.

That said, since I have been trying to limit the payware required, I only have 6 types of 3d trees from Donner Pass, and 4 from the 3d Trains pack. I am very limited in the selection and types I can use.

2d trees look fine up close to the tracks in screenshots, but I've always thought they stick out a bit during game play.

I am open to any feedback, comments, or suggestions on this.

[Ericmopar]

It looks great.
All I can add is, just try and capture the spirit of an area.
I remember when I was redoing Donner, I started to get obsessed around Stanford Curve and spent days there. I then realized all a person can do is recreate some of the land marks and feel of the scenery in an area.
When I place 3D trees, I place the larger number with the tree groups or asset placement blocks. Then I sprinkle in some individual trees close to the track, with a random flick of the wrist, so that the 3D trees have different profiles. That helps the scene look more natural. I also will randomly "sink" a few to look shorter.
I'll use the mass asset placement blocks for large areas of 2D brush and trees, but will still sprinkle in a few different types of Fir or whatever, into the treeline to make it look a little more real.
I also prefer the irregular placement block design to the old squarish one. I've noticed trees place with the irregular one don't seem to pop into view so violently for some reason and a person can place the objects in a more natural looking pattern.

I also use a -.30 offset on hills and mountain sides, sometimes more. that helps with placing trees so the edge of the trunk bottoms aren't sticking out from a hillside. Sometimes I still have to highlight the trees/shrubs and manually push them down a bit with the "B" key.

[buzz456]

Using the irregular shape thing you also can place the trees by thinning or thickening them and by making them different height trees using the percentage thing. Also the randomizer will show a very different look if the population is set fairly sparse. I have a lot of scenery there at one time on the MRL and am still getting very high frame rates.

[BoostedFridge]

Update time. Plugging along the last straightaway in the Shasta Valley before the line curves north at Snowden, and begins a twisty descent to the Klamath River near Hornbrook. Lots of distant terrain painting to do here still because of how far you can see, but we're getting close to where the fun begins.

MP377.jpg