- [WJ-R]: 1980s object removal (Castlethorpe/Hanslope area)
- [XCS]: Pending
- [UkTrainSys]: v0.3.2.0 released
- [Object Library]: Preparing...
- [Website]: Fifth version of website launched
My openBVE videos and other comments from users and
myself can also be found via my YouTube
channel.Blog and Progress Updates
20th November 2008
Rugby Area
Posted by Anthony Bowden on 20th November 2008 at 10:00 pmI thought I’d show the current state of Rugby station, as I haven’t posted any screenshots of this location yet (due to it being unfinished). I’ve only laid the track and electrified the area so far, but as you can see from the images below, this is a very complex location to model, with numerous tracks, diverging lines, two flyovers, pointwork, curves and so-on. There’s no finished scenery yet, and the supports are missing from beneath the flyover, but once these, and the station buildings and lineside buildings are added, it should look rather good.
Please note that in the overhead shots, a 2400m drawing distance is set with a high level of zoom used, hence the station looks somewhat shorter than it actually is, and the curves sharper than they actually are. The released route will be based on the track layout prior to the recent remodelling work at the real station (I have to draw the line somewhere with a route that’s being constantly upgraded in reality; this way I might actually be able to finish the project!!). The track layout depicted here is a mixture of the layout as it was in the 80s and late 90s, and I’ll remove the relevant tracks in the final route files, depending on the era being depicted in each one:
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Tags: openBVE, Screenshots, Trackwork, Watford Jn to Rugby
Posted in openBVE | No Comments »
Lighting, Shading and Contrast
Posted by Anthony Bowden on 20th November 2008 at 9:00 pmIn this first entry, I’m going to talk about shadows, contrast and realism. Recently, I’ve been playing around with improved shadows and lighting effects, which are now possible thanks to » openBVE’s « support for daytime/nightime texture transitions, as well as support for alpha-enabled PNG images which can be used as textures. Michelle and I briefly discussed time-of-day texture transitions and headlight glow effects recently, and it occured to me that not only could a glow effect be achieved with openBVE’s extended commands, but soft shadows could also be created. In these two screenshots of the Class 323 EMU on Cross-City South, you can see how these openBVE capabilities facilitate a rather nice effect in-game, which I feel adds to the visual quality and immersiveness considerably:
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A while ago, » Daniel Beardsmore « and I were discussing my Watford Junction to Rugby screenshots, and that while they looked good, there was just something… not quite right about them. He hit the nail on the head when he mentioned contrast–which is simply too low in my textures–resulting in a somewhat washed out appearance to many of the scenes:
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While helping with some of the » now resolved « openBVE plugin compatibility issues recently, I spent some time enjoying… sorry, testing… the rather stunning Japanese » ATS-Sn/P Test Route «, and afterwards, the deficiency in my own textures became even more obvious, as the ATS-Sn/P Test route’s textures have greater contrast and more shading, creating a much richer and more realistic and compelling visual experience, despite both routes using photo-realistic textures:
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The effect of shadows and contrast is also shown to good effect in the Joetsu Border and South routes (available here: » http://gri.s60.xrea.com «):
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Adding better shadows to Watford Junction to Rugby helps considerably, although I need to up the contrast further still, particularly in the vegetation textures, and add more shading to the track textures:
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Tags: Artwork, Cross-City South, openBVE, Screenshots, Watford Jn to Rugby
Posted in openBVE | No Comments »
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