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Welcome to the Railsimroutes.net Blog, where I'll be posting progress updates, work-in-progress screenshots, information about the progress I'm making with active projects, as well as anything else I feel is worth mentioning. Hopefully more frequent updates here will make the wait for upcoming releases more bearable! News from 2008, all the way back to 2001, can be found in the News Archive.

Railsimroutes.net YouTube Channel My openBVE videos and other comments from users and myself can also be found via my YouTube channel.



Blog and Progress Updates


openBVE v1.0.6.0, Cross-City South v1.4 Updates

Posted by admin on May 24, 2009 at 11:50 pm

New openBVE release–v1.0.6.0

A new version of openBVE is now available, version 1.0.6.0; head over to the » openBVE homepage « to download the latest stable release. One of the three most noticeable improvements in this version (the other two being time acceleration and the ability to mute sound, more below) concerns the Smooth Transparency feature, which has been dramatically improved. If you’ve enabled this option in openBVE previously, you might have noticed that while the quality of the rendered scenes was much better with Smooth transparency enabled, occasionally, unsightly fringes appeared around some transparent textures, where translucent pixels were rendered. This was problem was also more pronounced on Cross-City South v1.4 due to the frequency with which texture transparency is used in the new scenery. This issue concerning texture transparency and the z-buffer is a complex topic which I gather not all OpenGL developers adequately address, however Michelle has found a way of solving the problem, and while the performance is a little lower than with the previous implementation (especially on routes where a very high number of polygons use texture colour transparency), the visual quality is far better, as the following comparison screenshots demonstrate (along with the new X-City South v1.4 screenshots below).

On the left, we have the » ATS-Sn/P Test route « in openBVE v1.0.5.0; click the thumbnail and note the fringes around the catenary gantry texture. On the right, we have v1.0.6.0–no such issue can be observed, and the end result is superb:

openBVE v1.0.5.0, ATS-Sn/P Test Route, Smooth Transparency option enabled--click to enlarge
Smooth transparency [openBVE 1.0.5.0]
openBVE v1.0.5.0, ATS-Sn/P Test Route, Smooth Transparency option enabled--click to enlarge
Smooth transparency [openBVE 1.0.6.0]

Similarly, here we have the » Chashinai Railway «:

openBVE v1.0.5.0, Chashinai Railway, Smooth Transparency option enabled--click to enlarge
Smooth transparency [openBVE 1.0.5.0]
openBVE v1.0.5.0, Chashinai Railway, Smooth Transparency option enabled--click to enlarge
Smooth transparency [openBVE 1.0.6.0]

For a detailed explanation about this solution, please see michelle’s » Developer’s Blog «

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Other welcome enhancements and changes in v1.0.6.0 include:

  • A time acceleration feature (Ctrl+J, switches between x1 and x5 speed);
  • The ability to mute the sound (Ctrl+M — now you can listen to music via your media player while in-game, which is quite a lot of fun when used with the time acceleration feature! 🙂 );
  • A consistent look is now achieved where fog and background images are concerned, regardless of viewing distance;
  • And more… Please see the » changelog « on the openBVE site for details.

If you’re still using openBVE v1.0.3 or 1.0.4, then after updating to the latest release, you’ll also benefit from changes which were introduced with v1.0.5, including amongst other things, a bug fix relating to odd behaviour where unwanted roll was initially applied to the external camera view, enhanced AI driver behaviour where cruising is concerned, and additions to the Doors parameter of the .Sta command.

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Cross-City South v1.4 scenery improvements

Firstly, apologies for the lack of project updates recently… Unfortunately I’ve not done quite as much as I’d hoped to in the past month. Nevertheless, I’ve been working on updating the scenery objects for Cross-City South v1.4, and this is proceeding quite well now. It’s proving to be quite time consuming, and the bulk of the work involves replacing a fair number of the previously 2D trees and bushes with more realistic partially 3D versions, allowing the scenery to look good even when the camera is panned to the side, such as when looking out of the windows, while also enabling the camera to be moved a little further away from the train in the external view without the scenery looking unrealistic. Hedgerows have also been improved, not just the trees.

I’m currently adding pretty highly detailed vegetation just to test performance and visual quality, but once I’m finished I’ll likely perform a batch search and replace operation on all the scenery files to reduce the number of surfaces to improve framerates a little. I’m relatively happy with how the scenery is turning out, but I have to say, it’s just a little tedious; I’ll be glad when this task is over and I can get back to the animated objects!

Here are some screenshots to show the progress so far; the scenery, lighting and shading isn’t finalised yet, but the images give a general impression of the end result I want to achieve. The trees and hedges still look a little too repetetive to me–I’ll try and improve upon this if I have time… All screenshots depict the route at 1280×1024 resolution with 8x antialiasing, 16x anisotropic filtering, and with openBVE v1.0.6.0’s smooth transparency enabled. A fast graphics card will likely be needed for higher framerates with the latter feature in use, at least with openBVE 1’s renderer:

openBVE v1.0.6, Cross-City South v1.4, Smooth Transparency option enabled--click to enlarge openBVE v1.0.6, Cross-City South v1.4, Smooth Transparency option enabled--click to enlarge openBVE v1.0.6, Cross-City South v1.4, Smooth Transparency option enabled--click to enlarge
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I’m also experimenting with mixing both 2D and 3D trees to achieve a balance between visual quality and performance; 3D trees are placed near to the lineside, while 2D trees are placed behind these, and the overall effect looks reasonable to me; I hope you agree. It should work well, provided the player doesn’t move the camera beyond the effective scenery edge boundary which the 2D tree surfaces create–openBVE is still primarily a cab view simulator, after all. Here are some examples of the scenery testing location at Longbridge:

openBVE v1.0.6, Cross-City South v1.4, Smooth Transparency option enabled--click to enlarge openBVE v1.0.6, Cross-City South v1.4, Smooth Transparency option enabled--click to enlarge
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I’ve also added shadows beneath the trees and OHLE masts (another feature brought in from Watford Junction to Rugby), as well as beneath hedgerows to improve the appearance of the scenery. The shadows are simply very low resolution textures, which in the interests of performance, don’t use alpha channels, just ordinary texture transparency. The low resolution of the textures provides the necessary blurring:

openBVE v1.0.6, Cross-City South v1.4, Smooth Transparency option enabled--click to enlarge openBVE v1.0.6, Cross-City South v1.4, Smooth Transparency option enabled--click to enlarge openBVE v1.0.6, Cross-City South v1.4, Smooth Transparency option enabled--click to enlarge openBVE v1.0.6, Cross-City South v1.4, Smooth Transparency option enabled--click to enlarge
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Lastly, I’m also updating the pointwork so it’ll be up to the standard of Watford Junction to Rugby:

openBVE v1.0.6, Cross-City South v1.4, Smooth Transparency option enabled--click to enlarge openBVE v1.0.6, Cross-City South v1.4, Smooth Transparency option enabled--click to enlarge
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openBVE Help Guide updated

Just in case anyone hasn’t read through the comments on my last blog entry or otherwise noticed, I updated my openBVE Help and Information Guide recently, to include instructions explaining how openBVE can be installed and used by Ubuntu Linux users, either via the Add/Remove option, or by installing and running the program via Wine (which allows BVE 4 plugin DLL equipped trains to be used in Linux). I update the guide regularly as well, so if you need any assistance with openBVE which isn’t covered elsewhere, please visit the updated guide for more information: openBVE Help and Information.

Incidentally, since I replaced the X-City South executable installer with the .7z archive, downloads have been just as frequent as before, and I’ve had no more requests for help with installing the route than usual (and I don’t get many requests for help usually); indeed someone who was a newcomer to train simulation kindly informed me that they’d managed to install openBVE, BVE4, and Cross-City South with help from the guides I’ve prepared. So I’m assuming that most of you are managing fine with the installation process. 🙂

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Posted in openBVE | 8 Comments »



Animated Exterior Car Objects

Posted by admin on February 26, 2009 at 10:00 pm

openBVE / X-City South screenshot - see video belowAs most of you will likely know already, » openBVE « now enables developers to use animated exterior car objects. I was pleasantly surprised by all the positive feedback and comments regarding my last video which I uploaded to YouTube (thank you!), but one criticism which was pointed out several times was the disparity between the quality of the scenic visuals, and the rather simplistic objects used to represent the class 323 EMU–the objects were fine for BVE’s passing trains, but less so when you can move the camera up close and look at the details, or lack thereof. I didn’t think it was worth spending much time on this latter aspect until animation could be applied to the exterior car objects, but now this is possible, I’ve been working on some far better 3D models for the class 323. I had hoped to get this task finished sooner, but it’s taken longer than I originally expected unfortunately–the main difficulty was getting the rounded cab looking right, and texturing it correctly. However, I’m now happy with the appearance, and so I present the work-in-progress fully 3D exterior car objects for openBVE and Cross-City South v1.4. Incidentally, as with all my openBVE/BVE objects, these models are entirely hand coded, with no “help” from 3D modelling software.

Currently the objects are rather more complex than I originally intended (so far, the entire three coach EMU contains around 8200 vertices/4900 faces), and there is a performance penalty that comes with using them; on a fairly typical BVE route, framerates should be okay, but when paired with a very highly detailed and intensively animated route such as Cross-City South v1.4, a fast PC will likely be required to enjoy both extensively detailed animated scenery and detailed external car objects with reasonable framerates. What I intend to do, for those of you with slower hardware, is release alternative versions of the exterior car objects with lower polygon counts, and because of the way I’ve created the textures, the end result should still look good despite less complex geometry. Even these lower detail versions will be rather better than the previous objects though. Emoticon Smile So ultimately, if framerates are a problem, you can simply choose either richly detailed scenery, or richly detailed train objects, depending on which is more important to you.

Currently, the models include the following standard animated features:

  • Rotating wheelsets including wheelslip effects (with provision for animated suspension, and bogie rotation should such functionality be possible in future)
  • Bi-parting, sliding plug doors (some issues with door open/close sound synchronisation–see below)
  • Moving window reflections (twin-layered with transparency, to create a parallax effect)

The models also include the following animated features linked to plugin (UKMUt.dll) variables:

  • Windscreen wipers (left/right sweep, plus arc motion; the wipers aren’t perfect–see below)
  • Head and tail lights (both ends of train)
  • Interior lights (on or off via pantograph up/down button)
  • LED destination display with flicker (on or off via pantograph up/down button)
  • Working pantograph (all illuminated features also extinguish when pantograph is lowered)

I’ve also prepared another video to show these features. Please note, the 3D objects aren’t finished yet; some textures need updating, and I’ve yet to add interior fittings. Developers might want to continue reading on, as I’ll explain how some of these animations have been implemented, and share some sample code from the .ANIMATED objects.

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Video: Demonstration of class 323 animated exterior car objects (work-in-progress)

» Link to YouTube page (HD – best quality) «
» Link to YouTube page (High Quality) «

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I also thought you might like to see a high resolution image of Cross-City South v1.4 and the new high detail class 323; in this screenshot, I’m running openBVE fullscreen at a resolution of 1280×1024, with 8x anti-aliasing and 16x anisotropic filtering enabled (on a Radeon HD 2600 Pro graphics card). Bilinear interpolation was enabled in openBVE’s settings, with the Transparency mode set to Sharp. I was getting around 16-19 fps at the time; the framerates in the next version of openBVE will hopefully be a little higher due to performance optimisations where animated object normals are concerned, although this gain may be offset by the addition of more animated scenery objects to the route:


openBVE/Cross-City South v1.4 screenshot--click to enlarge

openBVE / Cross-City South v1.4 plus 323 screenshot–click to enlarge

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Rotating Wheelsets
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openBVE / Class 323 screenshot - please see video above

The first things I tried to animate were the wheelsets. Initially I had difficulty getting this to work as anticipated, and observed unexpected results while using the Speedometer variable, i.e. the resulting wheelset rotation appeared as though it were based upon acceleration rate rather than an actual velocity value (and » Ron « found the same when he first tried to animate wheelsets, it would seem). I usually like to try and figure out solutions to such problems myself, but sadly I’m not the reincarnation of Pierre de Fermat, and as such, my mathematical knowledge was insufficient. Fortunately, a way forward could be found over at the » openBVE Japanese « site, which includes some helpful material covering animated objects and functions. The following function can be used to rotate each wheelset:

RotateXFunction = value + mod [(speedometer * delta), 2.765] / 2.765 * 3.14 * 2

Incidentally, 2.765 is the circumference of the wheel. The above formula works perfectly, but initially I wondered if it was more complicated than it needed to be, so I attempted to find a more simple alternative, and somehow arrived at the following formula, where the value 0.05949986086344 results from (pi / 0.88) / 60, where 0.88 is the diameter of the wheel:

Not goodRotateXFunction = value + speedometer * 0.05949986086344

Initially this seemed to work well, but on closer examination, the end result wasn’t as good as the more complex formula because the rate of rotation varies with the framerate, and I observed no difference in performance between the two anyway.

CorrectUpdate

Thanks to a certain mathematically adept someone, I now have a new formula which is better in terms of performance and ease of use:

CorrectRotateXFunction = value + delta * speedometer / WHEEL_RADIUS_IN_METRES
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Animated Doors
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openBVE / Class 323 screenshot - please see video above

The bi-parting sliding plug doors are comprised of a pair of 3D door objects, which slide forwards and backwards via a translation along the Z axis, with values supplied via the left/rightdoors[i] variables, e.g:

Right door animation (Updated):

[Object]
Position = 0.002, 0, -5.552
States = Class323_Door_2_R_Dark.csv, Class323_Door_2_R.csv
TranslateZFunction = rightdoors[0] + 0.864
TranslateXFunction = min[power[10 * (rightdoors[0] – 0.1), 3] + 1, 1] * 0.05
StateFunction = pluginstate[31]

[Object]
Position = 0.002, 0, -6.417
States = Class323_Door_2a_R_Dark.csv, Class323_Door_2a_R.csv
TranslateZFunction = -rightdoors[0] + 0.864
TranslateXFunction = min[power[10 * (rightdoors[0] – 0.1), 3] + 1, 1] * 0.05
StateFunction = pluginstate[31]

Left door animation:

[Object]
Position = -0.002, 0, -5.552
States = Class323_Door_2_L_Dark.csv, Class323_Door_2_L.csv
TranslateZFunction = leftdoors[0] + 0.864
TranslateXFunction = -min[power[10 * (leftdoors[0] – 0.1), 3] + 1, 1] * 0.05
StateFunction = pluginstate[31]

[Object]
Position = -0.002, 0, -6.417
States = Class323_Door_2a_L_Dark.csv, Class323_Door_2a_L.csv
TranslateZFunction = -leftdoors[0] + 0.864
TranslateXFunction = -min[power[10 * (leftdoors[0] – 0.1), 3] + 1, 1] * 0.05
StateFunction = pluginstate[31]

The StateFunction command is there to switch between illuminated and non-illuminated versions of the door objects, and pluginstate[31] is equivalent to the ats31 subject in the class 323’s panel2.cfg file (when used with Simon Gathercole’s UKMUt.dll), i.e. the Line Light indicator (so the lights appear to go out when the pantograph is lowered). The objects are also translated along the X axis so they “plug” into the bodyside when fully closed. Unfortunately the door open and close sounds aren’t fully synchronised with the door motion; with UK trains, warning beeps are heard before the doors actually start to close, but the beeps are contained within the door closing audio file, and of course the visible doors start to close as soon as the beeping starts. The duration of the door opening motion is also shorter than the duration of the door opening audio files. I haven’t tried having door animation controlled via plugin variables yet; when I have time I’ll look into this further.

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Animated Window Reflections
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openBVE / Class 323 screenshot - please see video above

The window reflections are made from two semi-transparent surfaces, which have texture shifting functions applied, based upon the current speed of the train, e.g:

Window reflection animation:

[Object]
Position = 0, 0, 0
States = ..\Class323_DMSO_1_WindowReflections.csv
TextureShiftXFunction = value + speed * 0.001

[Object]
Position = 0, 0, 0
States = ..\Class323_DMSO_1_WindowReflections_bg.csv
TextureShiftXFunction = value + speed * 0.0001

There’s a foreground reflection texture with transparency, showing near-track bushes, and there’s also a background reflection texture, showing a low resolution version of the backdrop (ground and sky) texture, and this surface’s texture is shifted more slowly than the foreground texture, creating a rather nice parallax effect when the train is in motion. The overall effect looks rather good in my opinion, but of course, if the reflection textures depict a Summer scene, but the train is used on a Winter route with snow, it looks a little silly…

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Interior Illumination
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openBVE / Class 323 screenshot - please see video above

Interior lighting strips, along with interior fittings and additional semi-transparent yellow surfaces to lighten the windows when viewed from outside at night (allowing adequate night-lighting effects while still being able to have daytime window reflections), are displayed when the pantograph is raised, and swapped for non-emissive versions when the pan is lowered, so it’s possible to turn the carriage lights on and off. When the pantograph is lowered, all exterior lights are also state-changed or translated so they appear to extinguish, and won’t illuminate until the pantograph is raised again. This is achieved using if[pluginstate[31] ... ] commands, as demonstrated in the next section.

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Animated Pantograph
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openBVE / Class 323 screenshot - please see video above

The pantograph itself can be visibly raised and lowered, with the head having a Y axis translation applied, and the upper and lower arms having X axis rotation, along with Y and Z axis translation applied. The pantograph animation is conditional upon the state of the value of plugin variable 31, or the ats31 subject in the class 323’s panel2.cfg. The code I’ve written which enables this is as follows (since updated on the 5th July 2009, thanks to a post by michelle herself):

Pantograph animation (updated 5th July 2009):

[Object]
Position = 0, 4.24, 9.071
States = ..\Pantograph_BWHS_Head.csv
TranslateYFunction = if[pluginstate[31] == 0, if[value > -0.97, value – delta * 0.49, -0.97], if[value < 0, value + delta * 0.49, 0]]

[Object]
Position = 0, 4.24, 9.071
States = ..\Pantograph_BWHS_UpperArm.csv
TranslateYFunction = if[pluginstate[31] == 0, if[value > -0.45, value – delta * 0.225, -0.45], if[value < 0, value + delta * 0.225, 0]]
RotateXFunction =     if[pluginstate[31] == 0, if[value > -0.29, value – delta * 0.145, -0.29], if[value < 0, value + delta * 0.145, 0]]
TranslateZFunction = if[pluginstate[31] == 0, if[value < 0.06, value + delta * 0.03, 0.06], if[value > 0, value – delta * 0.03, 0]]

[Object]
Position = 0, 4.24, 9.071
States = ..\Pantograph_BWHS_LowerArm.csv
TranslateYFunction = if[pluginstate[31] == 0, if[value > -0.45, value – delta * 0.225, -0.45], if[value < 0, value + delta * 0.225, 0]]
RotateXFunction = if[pluginstate[31] == 0, if[value < 0.27, value + delta * 0.135, 0.27], if[value > 0, value – delta * 0.135, 0]]
TranslateZFunction = if[pluginstate[31] == 0, if[value < 0.06, value + delta * 0.03, 0.06], if[value > 0, value – delta * 0.03, 0]]

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Animated Wipers and Working Headlights
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openBVE / Class 323 screenshot - please see video above

The windscreen wipers aren’t as good as I’d like them to be yet; when the if[pluginstate[i] ... ] conditions are satisfied and the truevalue formulae are executed, the wipers can jump to a position mid-sweep rather than starting to move from their currently held position. The same problem can happen when switching the wipers off as well, although the way I’ve implemented it, the wipers will stop in whatever position they are in when the wipers are turned off. More work needed here… Each wiper is comprised of two arms, and a wiper blade. The code so far, is as follows:

Wiper animation (code for left wiper only; reverse the signs of each occurrence of ‘power[]’ for the right wiper, excluding the one in the last TranslateYFunction command):

[Object]
States = ..\Class323_DMSO_Wiper_L_1.csv
Position = -0.56, 2.27, 0
RotateZFunction = if[pluginstate[198] > 0, power[1 – abs[cos[time]], 0.5] * 1.3, value]

[Object]
States = ..\Class323_DMSO_Wiper_L_1a.csv
Position = -0.5, 2.27, 0
RotateZFunction = if[pluginstate[198] > 0, power[1 – abs[cos[time]], 0.5] * 1.3, value]

[Object]
States = ..\Class323_DMSO_Wiper_L_1b.csv
Position = -0.55, 2.28, 0
TranslateXFunction = if[pluginstate[198] > 0, -power[1 – abs[cos[time]], 0.5] * 0.73, value]
TranslateYFunction = if[pluginstate[198] > 0, power[sin[time * 2], 2] * 0.13, value]

The last TranslateYFunction command moves the wiper blade up and down at the correct speed, which when combined with the X axis translation, creates the overall effect of an arc movement rather than a simple left-right motion.

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The head (and tail) lights are linked to the proving lights in the cab (the ats20 and ats21 subjects in the class 323’s panel2.cfg). Each headlight configuration has it’s own csv object. The headlights will only be illuminated when the pantograph is also raised (dependent on the state of plugin variable 31, or the ats31 subject in panel2.cfg). When the tail lights at one end of the train are on, they automatically turn off at the other end of the train. For the rear of the train, the headlights can only illuminate if the tail lights are also off. The code which enables all of this is as follows (please note, I’m presenting two alternative ways of implementing the lights on the leading vehicle, the reason why can be found below):

Head and tail lights:

Class323_DMSO_1.animated (lead vehicle) OPTION 1

[Object]
States = ..\null.csv, ..\Class323_Headlights_0.csv, ..\Class323_Headlights_1.csv, ..\Class323_Headlights_2.csv
Position = 0, 0, 0
RotateYFunction = 3.1416
StateFunction = if[pluginstate[31] == 1, pluginstate[20], 0]

[Object]
States = ..\null.csv, ..\Class323_Taillights_1.csv
Position = 0, 0, 0
RotateYFunction = 3.1416
StateFunction = if[pluginstate[31] == 1, pluginstate[21], 0]

Class323_DMSO_1.animated (lead vehicle) OPTION 2

[Object]
States = ..\Class323_Headlights_0.csv
Position = 0, 0, 0
RotateYFunction = 3.1416
TranslateYFunction = if[pluginstate[31] == 1, if[pluginstate[20] == 1, 0, -600], -600]

[Object]
States = ..\Class323_Headlights_1.csv
Position = 0, 0, 0
RotateYFunction = 3.1416
TranslateYFunction = if[pluginstate[31] == 1, if[pluginstate[20] == 2, 0, -600], -600]

[Object]
States = ..\Class323_Headlights_2.csv
Position = 0, 0, 0
RotateYFunction = 3.1416
TranslateYFunction = if[pluginstate[31] == 1, if[pluginstate[20] == 3, 0, -600], -600]

[Object] States = ..\Class323_Taillights_1.csv
Position = 0, 0, 0
RotateYFunction = 3.1416
TranslateYFunction = if[pluginstate[31] == 1, if[pluginstate[21] == 1, 0, -600], -600]

Class323_DMSO_3.animated (rear vehicle)

[Object]
States = ..\null.csv, ..\Class323_Headlights_0.csv, ..\Class323_Headlights_1.csv, ..\Class323_Headlights_2.csv
Position = 0, 0, 0
StateFunction = if[pluginstate[31] == 1, if[pluginstate[21] == 1, pluginstate[20], 0], 0]

[Object]
States = ..\Class323_Taillights_1.csv, ..\null.csv
Position = 0, 0, 0
StateFunction = if[pluginstate[31] == 1, if[pluginstate[31] == 1, pluginstate[21], 0], 1]

In Option 1 above, the lead vehicle’s headlights are changed using StateFunction commands alone. This method works fine, but the first time each state is changed to, you’ll see the object’s texture isn’t loaded until a fraction of a second after the object is displayed, leading to a flash of colour which is a little distracting. Using Option 2 gets around this issue however, because the headlight objects and textures are always loaded upon swtiching to an external view, and are displayed by translating the relevant object along the Y axis instead, conditional upon the value read via the pluginstate[i] variable. As these textures are always loaded in an external view, StateFunction commands alone can be used in the rear vehicle.

Incidentally, the RotateYFunction = 3.1416 lines simply rotate the relevant objects 180° around the Y axis (the value is in radians, rather than degrees).

What I need to do next, is add interior fittings such as seats, luggage racks, LCD TV screens, and so-on. I might make some more progress with the route itself instead though, as to be honest I could do with a break from modelling the minutiae of train objects for a while. Emoticon Smile

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Posted in openBVE | 42 Comments »



openBVE’s Object Animation

Posted by admin on November 26, 2008 at 10:00 pm

If you’ve visited the » openBVE Homepage « recently, you’ll know that Michelle has released openBVE v0.9.1.5 and DemoRoute1, and these introduce animated objects to the community for the first time. While the new animation capabilities are just a preview, aren’t supported yet and are subject to change, I’ve been playing with the new functionality to see what might be possible. As the animation capabilities may be altered in future versions of openBVE, none of these X-City demonstrations should be considered final.

In Michelle’s DemoRoute1 we can see an animated departure screen, clock, an A320 flying overhead, flashing level crossing light, moving cars and simulated interaction, and an escalator. These are the kinds of features I’d like to add to Cross-City South v1.4 as well, as they’re just brilliant–but rather than show you what Michelle has already demonstrated, I thought I’d start with something a little different. In the video below, I’ve used .PointOfInterest commands, and placed animated sheets of rain to create the effect of precipitation (achieved via texture shifting), moving clouds achieved via the same method, and animated water on the canal.

Note: openBVE will have built-in rainfall in future, so using animated objects to create this effect won’t be required eventually; but I was curious to see if such effects were possible with animated objects alone.

Download openBVE / X-City South video - please use the YouTube links to the rightVideo: openBVE v0.9.1.7 and X-City South v1.4 (textures not finished yet)

Animated clouds, falling rain, moving water, and a passing train

Note: This video is now included as part of a compliation on YouTube.

« [YouTube “High Quality” version] | [YouTube “High Definition” version]

Class 150 objects from » Network West Midlands «

A note on the passing train–this is just a fun experiment, and animated objects aren’t really suited for this purpose as the animated object doesn’t follow any track, but rather a direction defined in the animated object file; I probably won’t include it in the final release route as there’s no sound accompanying the train. However, the technique is suitable for trains passing over or under bridges for example, like in the » IIYAMA Line 2060 « route, where the train is some distance from the player, moving across the screen (Lichfield Trent Valley on the Cross-City North route could also be a suitable location for such an effect):


openBVE screenshot

The moving water in the above X-City South v1.4 video also needs some work, but involves a static canal object with ordinary texture, and then two animated, texture shifted alpha-enabled surfaces overlaid; one moving left to right (to match the cloud’s direction of movement), and the other moving along the Z-axis. When combined, they make the water appear to ripple slightly if you look closely for a few seconds, particularly where the tree reflections are visible on the right.

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Posted in openBVE | No Comments »



Lighting, Shading and Contrast

Posted by admin on November 20, 2008 at 9:00 pm

In 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:

openBVE screenshot

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 «):

openBVE screenshot openBVE screenshot

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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