Railworks America

plethaus wrote:Be careful, valid criticisms won't get you far on this site.

Wrong. Legitimate critisism is always welcome.

Umm why would you open the cab windows during a rain storm

The yellow looks dern good.

Being a long term watcher of the UP since it's near where I live it's hard to critisize any shade of yellow on UP locomotives since they come in near any shade after dealing with the Sun.

I'll have to try opening my car windows in the next rain storm I drive in and see what that looks like .

PhilCiborowski wrote:Hell for all I know the window thing is a game engine issue that cant be fixed.

No, it's not a game engine issue, and it can be fixed. Try opening the windows of the FEF-3 in the rain and you'll see (although you have to open them all the way before the script turns off the rain on those windows that are hidden behind the cab wall). It's just a matter of making the faces that are textured with the rain effect shader into separate nodes that can be disabled in the script when required. That's also how I did the defroster.

For anyone who cares, this engine's user manual can actually be previewed before purchase by means of a link on its DLC page, which is how I learned that it comes with 4 scenarios for the Sherman Hill route (all long freight runs ( ) and several freight cars, most of which have already been available with other DLC packs ( ). I'll be waiting for a major discount before I even consider buying this one.

OldProf wrote:...several freight cars, most of which have already been available with other DLC packs

That's not true. All of the included cars are different from what has been released before.

Let me say a few words about your feedback.

Rain FX: All my engines has the same "issue" with the windows when open. This is the first time someone complain about it, but is ok. I never figured out how to solve it. Now thanks to mrennie I know how to achieve it. So you will see it in future models.

Crew members: I think there is no much to do with the driver, I hope you do not pretend the driver to hold the throttle or something like that. I can do something with the other crew member ( what is the right word for him?) to make him fit better in the seat.

Cab view in the B unit: My bad, I missed that.

B Units numbers: In the 3D mesh you can´t place the number just over the car body, you need to left some space or you will get a wired texture effect. Anyway, coul you provide a screenshot of this?

Color: I took the RGB values for the UP liverie from the UP website according to the era. The colors are right. I think people could not know than railroad companies take a look at the models and approve (or not) them to be released. I love heavy weathering, but I can´t do it because UP will never approve that. I had to change a few things on this engine for UP´s request.

To LordMannu...

The other guy in the cab (at least in the USA) is called the conductor/fireman.

I didn't realize UP would be so picky that they wouldn't approve weathered locos. Strange....cuz UP somehow approved the weathered variant SD40-2 used on the Cajon Pass route. There must have been a much more lenient person in the approval process at the time. They now remind me of automobile manufacturers who used to not allow damage textures or crumpled car meshes in games they licensed their cars to. They have long ago since reversed that practice and you can wreck the hell out of their car models now. I guess it's up to someone to weather your GP30 and upload the textures to the file section.

As for any mistakes? My advice... find a reliably good beta tester that is very functionally familiar with Railworks, USA locos and rolling stock.

GSkid wrote:As for any mistakes? My advice... find a reliably good beta tester that is very functionally familiar with Railworks, USA locos and rolling stock.

They had that at one point.

UP GP30 In Railworks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_IgIYvQDr4

At least the F7s are correct.

Hack wrote:At least the F7s are correct.

I'm still trying to figure out who made those rolling eyesores. j/k

But in all seriousness... I forgot about the weathered DDA40X. And I own it.

LordMannu wrote:
Rain FX: All my engines has the same "issue" with the windows when open. This is the first time someone complain about it, but is ok. I never figured out how to solve it. Now thanks to mrennie I know how to achieve it. So you will see it in future models.

Glad to have been of some help to you.

Here are a couple of observations from me:

Negative (number denotes severity, strictly IMO):
Engine parameters in simulation not quite right: too powerful IMO, but without docs I am not sure. 2
No current shown in dynamic braking, probably due to its scripted nature because of the selector lever. 2
No sand filler hatches (but the old shape file didn't have them either?). 2
No drop steps and safety chains on the platforms. 2
No 26L brake stand. 3
Cars have different couplers from locomotive, cars' couplers seem to have bad physics. 3
No tail light on the caboose. 2
Raindrops on windows could be smaller through the use or larger texture. 1
Some strictly in-cab sounds audible outside. 1
No dynamic exhaust effects? 1
Opening a cab window should change the in cab sound background, the door on the engineer 's side does this a little. 1
Pneumatically operated windshield wipers' animations could be out of sync. 1
Headlights pure white, should be incandescent very light pink/yellow. 1
No step lights? 1

Positive:
Distinctive GP30 turbocharged sound
HiDef texture files with subtle weathering
Nice gauges, properly lit!
Independent 3 intensities front/rear headlights.
Working brake cylinders
Working class and numberboard lights
Working windshield wiper handles on the inside
Working cab light fixtures

Overall: 4 out of 5.

Good job by Cesar and his crew. Small mistakes could have been avoided by USA savvy independent testers' assessment.

There is some controversy over the cab windows' proportions will all of Cesar's models.

vs.

Personally, I like a good forwards view from inside. The Kuju SD40-2 I find claustrofobic.

I am probably too fussy or picky for some other posters, but all and everything is meant in a positive way to make an already good model better and close to perfect.