NARS2 - the North American Railway Set [2.52 September 2021]

[Ruiluth]

I'd very much like to see a couple of additions to NARS2,for the 1940s...an upgrade of the generic 4-8-4 "Northern" that represents the more advanced designs such as the NY Central Niagara S2,the Union Pacific FEF-3,or Norfolk & Western J,
and the Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 "Big Boy".These are the engines a steam diehard would most cherish,if they could be available a few years longer than the ones they replace.

Eventually I'm planning to do that with my Newgrf, if you're willing to wait.

[Baldy's Boss]

He did, and while the streamlined Northerns have been shunted to a sidetrack, they're not forgotten by a long shot.

I hope whoever maintains that siding has been maintaining those still-awaited streamlined Northerns!
A post-WW II upgrade of that engine is sorely needed,reflecting the Niagara S2.UP FEF-3,Norf & West J line of engineering.(Or even a Porta-Wardale Red Devil technology).

[MarkSheppard]

I'm still alive here people; It's just that for the last year or so my life has been meh.

I started a job back in late April 2013 that absorbed all my free time, then on the Friday of Memorial Day Weekend in May 2013; I was assaulted and robbed on the job by two youths who broke a bone in my back; which left me chair-ridden; and all my OTTD sprite sheets and code were downstairs.

I healed up pretty fast -- I was walking around by Mid-late July 2013; but at this point I was kind of burned out on a lot of things; so OTTD grf'ing was a low priority.

Since then, I've finally managed to land a new job that actually has better hours than the old one; and gives me more free time (both days of the weekend off!).

Additionally, I've learned how to code (a little) in C++; which would help me in NML; along with obtaining several railroad data book copies at train shows over the past year.

I just need to set aside some time to get back up to speed after I'm done with some other pressing side projects.

[ISA]

First... get well (health and in real life)
Second... I actually never seen You around here in tt-forums (not sure why), but looking thru the thread and see what work You have done... keep it up!

[chuggles]

Best wishes, Mark.

I've got a slightly stupid question about developments over here (struggle to parse all the discussion, sorry) - are people working on something like NARS2 but in real-world liveries?

[NekoMaster]

Best wishes, Mark.

I've got a slightly stupid question about developments over here (struggle to parse all the discussion, sorry) - are people working on something like NARS2 but in real-world liveries?

Theres the US Train Set, while it has a fully functioning set, its old and development is dead.

[kamnet]

As far as I know, the only current development in regard to liveries of known existing railroads is being done by OzTrans in the Canadian Trains set, but those are going to mostly focus on Canadian railroads and maybe the few US railroads that frequently service Canada.

[PikkaBird]

NARS is mostly DanMacK's work: he releases his stuff as public domain, as far as I'm aware. And I've said before I'm quite happy for anyone to take NARS or UKRS graphics and use them in their own projects. So if anyone wants to pick up the ball and run with it...

[krtaylor]

Were you not satisfied with the variety of liveries in the US Set? It doesn't include them **all** by any means but there sure are a whole lot of 'em.

[Pack man]

I drew a bunch of stuff for this set and the US set, but there aren't any coders.

For me it's a bit easier to draw them up to match NARS, then modify them into IRL paint schemes. I would do more, but for me the newer version of MS paint that was included with my new computer is harder to work with, and the lack of a coder to use my sprites really kills motivation

[krtaylor]

Coders have always been the limitation. There's entire sets drawn, sitting around forever because there are no coders. There are some tools that make it easier but it's still the hard part.

[kamnet]

So borrow the code from a set that's compiled and released its source code. 2CC, Pineapple Trains, Iron Horse. Simple NML that you can replicate and replace sprites.

[Kaiser-NA]

I apologize if this sounds a bit nit-picky, but I have a question:

I noticed that the GP9s and SD9s in NARS2 drive cab-first. How difficult would it be to modify these files so that they roll hood-first?

I guess the best way to explain this is illustrate it.

Currently the engines roll out like so:

http://donsdepot.donrossgroup.net/dr1000/bn1804.jpg

How difficult would it be to flip them to this?:

http://archive.trainpix.com/bn/EMDORIG/ ... 40/283.JPG

I know what you mean. Converting massive images to links so they don't break the forum tables. - P

[PikkaBird]

You used to be able to reverse locomotives in the depot, but current versions of OpenTTD require a flag to be set on the vehicle to say it is reversable. One day, hell will freeze over and I'll release an update, which among other things will re-enable this behaviour.

Might be next week. You never know.

[Sylf]

Someone already wrote an override NewGRF that lets you flip the NARS2 locos.

[Kaiser-NA]

So THAT'S what that other grf is for

Great, thank you!

Also, this is sort of my first post on the forum, but I've played OTTD for about a month now and love it. I'm an American and I love the US Train Set and NARS2 and would love to see more updates/sets for North America. But I can't code myself, so it's not like I can complain about it. This set is great, though, thank you!

[NekoMaster]

So THAT'S what that other grf is for

Great, thank you!

Also, this is sort of my first post on the forum, but I've played OTTD for about a month now and love it. I'm an American and I love the US Train Set and NARS2 and would love to see more updates/sets for North America. But I can't code myself, so it's not like I can complain about it. This set is great, though, thank you!

If you search through the NARS 2 thread, you'll also find a climate override GRF that you can put in your OpenTTD newgrf folder to enable almost all locomotives in any climate.

[Kaiser-NA]

My other question has to do with the company colors. Are these 2cc? Because on the SD9 when I switch the primary color (blue), it will change, but secondary doesn't affect the front or rear colors (green). Yet, I see screenshots of these trains with orange fronts and backs. Am I missing a parameter setting?

Whenever I try to look at Pikkawiki, the format gets all wonky and nothing shows up :/


EDIT: I found a potential compatibility bug on the override grf

When this is being used with the NARS2 Override GRF, it loses the ability to change the second company color. When I move NARS below the override grf in the GRF list, I regain the 2CC ability, but can no longer flip in depot.

Is there some form of workaround for this?

[kamnet]

Sounds like a bug with the override newgrf.

[NekoMaster]

I have the override GRF and NARS 2.0 together and I'm not having problems with color. Maybe its the parameters you chose for NARS 2.0?
I usually go with " 0 7 1 1 5 1 ", this allows the set to be used with other vehicle sets and enables the Northern Pacific/Burlington National Style paint (black top and bottoms with band of color in the middle).