Railworks America

Hack wrote:I posted most of the following over at TS.com in response to a problem displaying installed 3rd-party routes...

TS2013 has a new way of presenting routes and rolling stock, which I believe all will now require a route "metadata" file in order to display and/or filter properly. The files, a route metadata and an optional 256 x 128 image, help you navigate the various routes and trainsets you might have installed. I haven't investigated the whole mess, but the previously mentioned files need to be in a folder within the developer's main route directory called PreLoad (check the default files for guidance). I created a few for some of the route projects I'm tinkering with and all show up in the -drive by route- section without issue (except that the current Blueprint Editor is busted - restored from my RW3 backup and it worked like a charm):

Assets
---- Developer
-------- Add-on
---------------- Preload <---- this folder contains the Metadata Blueprint and the optional 256 x 128 image

BTW, I miss the main user-created loading screens of the past versions, but perhaps I'll come across more interesting tweaks over the weekend. Overall I'm very impressed with the new TS2013 update - everything loads and runs faster, plus several the update addressed a few visual bugs that have been around since the days of RS. Right now, I'm in hog-heaven!

eyein12 wrote:hey marc how do you create the meta data blueprint then so that an old route displays properly?

1. Create a new folder within your developer\add-on directory called "PreLoad"
2. Open the Blueprint Editor (BE) - I had to use a pre-update backup copy since the current one threw up errors upon export
3. From BE, right-click on the PreLoad folder to create a new Blueprint, select Metadata blueprint from the list, and then name the new Blueprint something meaningful
4. If not already open, double left-click the Metadata Blueprint from the left pane to open in the right window
5. Click the '+ sign at the top-left next to the words Meta data... and then click the Insert first button
6. Provide a name for the route in the Name field (this is for the in-game display)
7. Change the filtering options to better categorize the route (true or false options)
8. Optional: If you have 256 x 128 thumbnail (in ACE format) for the route, enter the path to the image in the Thumbnail texture ID field
9. Enter the route GUID (the long number given to your route) into the Route GUID field
10. Export and test in the sim

artimrj wrote:Dumb question from me, how do you make an ACE file? Haven't played with ACE files since MSTS.

artimrj wrote:I read that some people were doing things to the loading screen so they removed it. However if you play off line, it will be there. I could not get an answer as to what some people were doing with it. I guess they were bad boys??