[OpenTTD] Modern Maglev Trains

[Erato]

So, I've redone 7/12 right now. Busy with exams, so I'll leave you with this:


In other news, I found the name for the Line S1's vehicle: "玲龙号", Línglóng Hào. If I have to trust Google Translate, this means "tingling (the sound) dragon". If I have to trust my Japanese dictionary, it's "<sound of jewels> Dragon edition" so it's something along those lines.

In other other news, the Changsha maglev line has started trial runs, making it the 4th maglev train that is operational right now.

I would like to know, why don't maglev trains get more love here on the forums?

[kamnet]

I would like to know, why don't maglev trains get more love here on the forums?

Way back when they got an uncool rap because they ended up being the fastest trains, and other than being expensive it made for a boring end game. And they were not steamers. So they were not considered cool.

I think if you develop a nice set that are either real or based somewhat in reality, people will come around. I like what you're doing.

[Erato]

I would like to know, why don't maglev trains get more love here on the forums?

Way back when they got an uncool rap because they ended up being the fastest trains, and other than being expensive it made for a boring end game. And they were not steamers. So they were not considered cool.

I think if you develop a nice set that are either real or based somewhat in reality, people will come around. I like what you're doing.

Ah, I see. Thank you. Anyhow. Because I don't have enough time to redo the UTM-02 and the L0 because of exam reasons, I redid a simple train and added it's prototypes:

Ich presentiere: die M-Bahn Trilogie:

Von oben nach unten:
Das eksperimentelles Fahrzeug: die M 01
Das Testzeug: die M 70/2
Das lätztendlich benutzte Fahrzeug: die M 80/2

For the interested: the newest version. (absolutely not compatible, use on new games only.).
Most trains should be balanced now, with the notable exception of the L0 Series Shinkansen :\ I have no idea how much it would weigh. I can't even guess because there exists nothing comparable.

MMT.grf

(38.5 KiB) Downloaded 134 times

All trains except the HSST-03, the UTM-02 and the L0 series should have gotten a make-over. I like it really well so far. Please note; if you're looking for the Line S1, look for the Linglong Hao.

If you would like to suggest / remark something regarding the balancing based on other packs, especially the 2cc pack, please do so. Please note that the 2cc maglev trains are overpriced AF. IRL, the ICE-3 should cost about as much as the Transrapid 08, but if I equalise them, then my set would be too damn cheap.
I will soon make the reliability decay of maglev trains slower, just like in real life. So that's a thing in the next version.

[Erato]

Version 0.5:

MMT.grf

(44.15 KiB) Downloaded 137 times

Changelog:
- Redrew the UTM-02
- Redrew the L0
- Redrew the HSST-03
- Added the Birmingham Maglev
- Added the Transrapid 09

I edited the OP. The download should be there too.

Version 0.4 is not compatible with version 0.5

[Erato]

So, I've got one of the last updates for this. This version is not compatible with the previous one. There won't be a new update for a long time, so you might as well consider this the last update.

Added:
Transrapid 05
Transrapid 06
Transrapid 07
HSST-04
HSST-05
HML-03
UTM-01
MLX01-901
MagLev-Cobra

Fixed:
Alignment

Version 1.0:

MMT.grf

(83.91 KiB) Downloaded 160 times

[The_Destroyer]

Hey!

I just wanted to say that this is an awesome set! (I forgot I had it and thought it was part of 2cc, heh) I myself love maglevs for their speed and these are well done. (not sure why anyone would hate maglevs making end-game too easy, I mean OpenTTD isn't exactly hard in any era past the first station), it's a shame there isn't more attention to this!

[Malwatt]

Transrapid is now up to TR09. I doubt if it looks a lot different to your pix except it's red rather than white and blue (as per Singapore). One difference to think about is that it's driverless, completely controlled from a central operations room, so no signalling required. "Trains" follow each other on the guideway, crashes are not possible as the motor in the guideway is only powered up when a vehicle is present and there's always an unpowered block between "trains". How this can be simulated is a mystery to me. But then I'm no expert!

[supermop]

Transrapid is now up to TR09. I doubt if it looks a lot different to your pix except it's red rather than white and blue (as per Singapore). One difference to think about is that it's driverless, completely controlled from a central operations room, so no signalling required. "Trains" follow each other on the guideway, crashes are not possible as the motor in the guideway is only powered up when a vehicle is present and there's always an unpowered block between "trains". How this can be simulated is a mystery to me. But then I'm no expert!

Of course, transrapid trans can still crash with an unpowered object on the track ahead though - as happened 10 years ago.

[Malwatt]

Tracks are now constantly scanned by Lidar to detect objects on the guideway. As you'll probably know, the accident 10 years ago was the result of control room engineers not checking that the works on the guideway were finished and the transponder on the work machine being turned off. Double negligence, sackings ensued. All very sad.

[V453000 :)]

Don't be afraid to make the "new style" with more shades of grayscale. If you feel like it's extreme, it is most likely correct. The current pictures look way too flat, almost completely white is very eyehurting, especially with something dark like OpenGFX

[Erato]

Don't be afraid to make the "new style" with more shades of grayscale. If you feel like it's extreme, it is most likely correct. The current pictures look way too flat, almost completely white is very eyehurting, especially with something dark like OpenGFX

I've been trying a little something. Opinions?

Transrapid is now up to TR09. I doubt if it looks a lot different to your pix except it's red rather than white and blue (as per Singapore). One difference to think about is that it's driverless, completely controlled from a central operations room, so no signalling required. "Trains" follow each other on the guideway, crashes are not possible as the motor in the guideway is only powered up when a vehicle is present and there's always an unpowered block between "trains". How this can be simulated is a mystery to me. But then I'm no expert!

The blue can be set to red thanks to company colours. In OpenTTD, trains must operate with signals, and a driver will always die when a train crashes. Those are the limitations of OpenTTD, and we'll have to live with it.

[Cecil Cityscape]

Awesome set!!! Just a few suggestions. The alignment is slightly off on the trains, so when you are using other maglev tracks, it looks a bit wierd. Also mail cars would be very cool!

[Erato]

Working on the next version of the set. This time with cargo wagons. Tell me what you think. Because of realism, this is both a wagon and a locomotive, so you can just have a bunch of wagons push each other. Also, the next version will have Soviet Maglevs. However, they're rather early-game... It's something.

Awesome set!!! Just a few suggestions. The alignment is slightly off on the trains, so when you are using other maglev tracks, it looks a bit wierd. Also mail cars would be very cool!

Fixed the alignment Also, consider the mail cars added.

Thinking of adding another maglev train, and redrawing a few more trains. I've made good headway: 18 done, 12 to go.
When I'm done I'll upload it to bananas and to the forums.
Also, the latest version *should* be compatible with the last. I'll be checking to make sure.

[kamnet]

Thank you for continuing to expand and improve this set!

[matyy]

Awesome set. I love maglevs, just not those generic fantasy ones, that were there before.


I wonder about the loading times, though: These Chinese urban maglevs take as long as an express train. Did you do this on purpose? Shouldn't urban Maglevs load a bit faster?

btw. I use it with the Shanghai Maglev Inspired Tracks, looks awesome: viewtopic.php?t=49287"

[Erato]

Awesome set. I love maglevs, just not those generic fantasy ones, that were there before.


I wonder about the loading times, though: These Chinese urban maglevs take as long as an express train. Did you do this on purpose? Shouldn't urban Maglevs load a bit faster?

btw. I use it with the Shanghai Maglev Inspired Tracks, looks awesome: viewtopic.php?t=49287"

Thank you. (EDIT: The original fantasy ones won't even show up anymore in the next version, it's like Christmas all over again.)

In the next update, the trains will look even better with SMITS. (That's a change I made to make the FS-track set look less horrible.) Also, most trains will get a redesign. This is how that would look in the next update:



As for the loading times. I have them all set to the same. I'll have that balanced to match the 2CC set more or less. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. (They're currently all set to 40) I'll also throw in a parameter to speed them up or slow them down.

EDIT: spelling

[Erato]

There's a new version!

Modern Maglev Trains 1.2.grf

(158.45 KiB) Downloaded 134 times

Added:
TP-01 - Soviet Union - 1979
TP-05 - Soviet Union - 1986
E-01 - Germany - 1990
ECCO - USA, Freight - 2006
CMS-04 - China - 2009

Feature:
Disable vehicles from certain regions using parameters.
Change the loading speed using parameters.

Visual:
Shifted the vehicles to align better with alternative tracks.
Retextured most vehicles to make them easier on your eyes.

This version is compatible with version 1.1.

[matyy]

Hmm, did you already change the loading times? I guess I had some other problem, because now it takes just a few days to load what took 12 days before. Anyway I am happy

Here some live action footage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynpyB2KvyHw

[Erato]

I am currently working on a complete remastering of the Modern Maglev Trains Set. Both on the code and the sprites will be (almost) completely redone. I will attempt to extend the set to include 53 maglev trains. It will not be compatible with MMT 1.2.

Things I want to get done in this ultimate version of MMT, effectively MMT 2.0:
- Allow for CC and for the real colours. Make it so you can switch between them using parameters.
- Add different liveries for several trains if you chose the real colours. Most notably, the Linimo will get 11 alternate liveries.
- Separate sprites for when trains are loading at stations.
- Even though mail maglevs don't exist and probably never will; the option to refit all passenger trains to mail and valuables.
- Goods wagons for the Transrapid 08 and 09. High speed, high cost, just goods.
- Low speed maglevs for all non-goods cargotypes (Link: pdf)
- ECCO will carry just goods, fluids and livestock.
- Separate passenger wagons for low speed, mid speed and high speed MUs.
- Better balancing on my end (gonna need some help with that) and parameters to tweak the costs on the user's end.

I've currently completed 2 of the trains: the MBB Prinzipfahrzeug and the Transrapid 02. Here you see a compilation of all the trains that are currently in the set. It also shows you when it was made (every column is a remastering of the sprites) and what it used to look like. Personally, I like this image because it shows me how far I've gotten. I have to agree, sometimes the redone sprites weren't an improvement in the least. But to me that's just an artefact of the process. The sole flags in the left column are slots for trains that I haven't included in any version yet.


What can you do to help?
If you can, donating information like mass, passenger capacity, length, height and width where I don't have it yet (red, yellow and blue) would help me a lot with not only spriting, but also balancing.
Making sprites is always welcome. The scale I use is 1 px = 0,5m.
Also, more pictures of the non-operational maglevs; like the M 70/2 , the ECCO, the ROMAG and the DMV-92 would be awesome.

Here's the sprites for the MBB and the TR02:



Feedback is always welcome.

[Erato]

So I got some stuff done for MMT 2.0:

ITS trains, 1990, low speed (36km/h), low capacity, low cost maglev trains. Carries cargo.
ITS Personen-fahrzeug (Passenger train)
ITS Massengut-fahrzeug (Bulk cargo)
ITS Materialzug (Wood, Steel, Paper, Oil)
And passenger and cargo wagons for extension.



The main advantage of this over normal trains is hills. This train takes hills like a champ, regardless of the steepness you set.

Ideal for use with the low-cost low-speed maglev tracks I'm developing for the Maglev Track Set