Smokebox: Central Pacific Railroad #60 "Jupiter" 4-4-0

[ozinoz]

Photo fail - you didn't get them "rods down"

Nice pic - like most others, I too am now tipping May 10th, the 148th anniversary to the linking ceremony

[mrennie]

Photo fail - you didn't get them "rods down"

Nice pic - like most others, I too am now tipping May 10th, the 148th anniversary to the linking ceremony

I'll have to blame DTG for that, as they took the screenshot

[evafan002]

Looking at the shot of 119 on your facebook page would i be correct in assuming that the 119 will be finished much soon than the jupiter? seeing as you seem to be able to use a lot of the parts you already made and i cannot imagine that the scripting side of things would require much more than having a few name fields changed.. though i will admit to being clueless on that side of things..

[mrennie]

Looking at the shot of 119 on your facebook page would i be correct in assuming that the 119 will be finished much soon than the jupiter? seeing as you seem to be able to use a lot of the parts you already made and i cannot imagine that the scripting side of things would require much more than having a few name fields changed.. though i will admit to being clueless on that side of things..

It'll certainly take less time, but it's surprising just how many parts are different between the two locos. The boiler is almost the same, although the smokeboxes are quite different (not just the length, but the contours of the front and the smokebox doors). The rods are the same pattern except that 119's are longer. The Stephenson valve gear is almost the same, with the exception of the reversing gear and valve rods - those are very different. The cab floor is almost the same. Almost everything else is entirely different.

You're right about the script - 90% of it can be used from Jupiter. The physics are almost completely scripted, so I have to change all the data in the script about wheel circumference, weight on drivers, tractive effort, etc. Jupiter is a wood-burner, while 119 burns coal, so that affects the script and the simulation files.

All in all, there's a lot of work to do, but I'm finding that some new techniques I developed for Jupiter are making it a little bit quicker.

[mrennie]

Jupiter is here at long last!

http://store.steampowered.com/app/562379/Train_Simulator_CPRR_440_No_60_Jupiter_Steam_Loco_AddOn/

The store page has a really lovely video that shows how to operate the locomotive.

I was asked to remove "Schenectady" from the builder's plate on the smokebox, but last night I sent a little texture patch to the File Library here at RWA that will put it back in (above "Locomotive Works"). I suppose it'll be available soon (when Bob has time to look at the uploads).

I'm also about to upload a couple of timetabled scenarios to the Workshop - one on Horseshoe Curve, the other on the Raquette Lake Railway. I'll do more over the coming weeks.

[evafan002]

Purchased... do i really need to say anything else? well other than that it turns out she is even more beautiful in game than your screenshots showed

[mrennie]

Purchased... do i really need to say anything else? well other than she is even more beautiful in game than your screenshots showed

Thanks! I hope everyone else forms the same opinion.

Here's a link to the video ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTns5Jdq-ZY

[Sagefuncom]

Got it! First Smokebox product I've ever purchased in my life. Will try it out later today and I'll tell you guys what I think; maybe make some good ol' 19th century routes...

[mrennie]

Got it! First Smokebox product I've ever purchased in my life. Will try it out later today and I'll tell you guys what I think; maybe make some good ol' 19th century routes...

I'm excited to see what people do with the track and scenery assets in the package.

[evafan002]

may i also add that i find the clunk sound you get for trying to move the reverser before the reg is properly shut oddly satisfying to hear....

[mrennie]

may i also add that i find the clunk sound you get for trying to move the reverser before the reg is properly shut oddly satisfying to hear....

It gives me a fright every time I hear it!

[evafan002]

may i also add that i find the clunk sound you get for trying to move the reverser before the reg is properly shut oddly satisfying to hear....

It gives me a fright every time I hear it!

same.. and yet.. it just sounds so.. effective is one word for it i suppose.. another would be realistic.. either way the sound-set for Jupiter is one of the best i have ever heard in any train sim... not to put down the fine work you did on your older locomotives but the sound-sets all seemed to lack a certain something.. nothing that i could ever put a name to or describe but i can say that whatever it was that was missing or not quite right is not missing from the sound-set of this loco. it sounds perfect.. I could just about make an mp3 of the sound of this running at 20 mph and put it on a loop... i would never grow tired of hearing it that's for sure. also may i ask if the scripted brake man only works with the rolling stock included in this package or will it work with anything we wish to put behind jupiter?

[AmericanSteam]

Excellent work.

[fraserm]

Bought it. 'Nuf said!

[mrennie]

may i also add that i find the clunk sound you get for trying to move the reverser before the reg is properly shut oddly satisfying to hear....

It gives me a fright every time I hear it!

same.. and yet.. it just sounds so.. effective is one word for it i suppose.. another would be realistic.. either way the sound-set for Jupiter is one of the best i have ever heard in any train sim... not to put down the fine work you did on your older locomotives but the sound-sets all seemed to lack a certain something.. nothing that i could ever put a name to or describe but i can say that whatever it was that was missing or not quite right is not missing from the sound-set of this loco. it sounds perfect.. I could just about make an mp3 of the sound of this running at 20 mph and put it on a loop... i would never grow tired of hearing it that's for sure. also may i ask if the scripted brake man only works with the rolling stock included in this package or will it work with anything we wish to put behind jupiter?

Thanks Grant! I think there are two things that made the difference when it comes to the sounds. Firstly, I got high-quality original recordings from York 17 (the chap who did the recordings for me is a professional film-maker), so I had the authentic sounds to begin with, instead of having to try to recreate sounds myself from scratch. Secondly, I invented a technique to modify the sounds according to the cut-off, and that adds a lot of realism, especially at speed. I did actually apply that technique to the latest patches for the Connie and FEF-3, but they are still stuck with the artificially created sounds.

The brakemen depend on the scripting that's attached to the CPRR cars, so any other cars won't respond to the whistle - however, if they have handbrakes, you can always try to set them manually using the coupling view in the F3/F4 HUD.

One thing to be aware of is that the brakemen work using messages that the scripts send from the loco along the consist. If you put a non-CPRR car into the consist, it won't forward the messages, so any CPRR cars behind it will ignore the whistle (they won't be able to "hear" it). Basically, you should put the CPRR cars at the front of the consist, non-CPRR at the rear.