Southern Pacific Set

[Ruiluth]

Well, it's been a while, but I'm getting back into OTTD and thinking about this set again. I had to set up a new dev environment on a new computer, and I'm getting back into it with a mini-grf focused on interurbans... just waiting to get permission to use sprites from NARS 2.03. After that I promise I'll get right on the caboose issue!

[Railwaymodeler]

I'm very glad this set is not abandoned or dead. My grandfather was a huge Southern Pacific fan, and I have a fondness for it too. I do hope to see more early passenger equipment, and a greater variety of Harriman passenger cars. A diner at least would be great. But regardless of how the set progresses, I am looking forward to whatever comes next!

[Nick_B]

I've loved this set for years but never really understood why there are no cabooses available before 1906 as the locomotives require a caboose in order to function. It makes anything 1906 and back kinda pointless as the Jupiter, Governor Standard and other early SP/CP locomotives can't be used until then as the NARS or US train sets don't have cabooses that are compatible with them.

Either a setting is needed within the config or a caboose being required needs to be removed entirely. The former to me would be the best option as it still gives people the option to require one on trains.

[Ruiluth]

I've loved this set for years but never really understood why there are no cabooses available before 1906 as the locomotives require a caboose in order to function. It makes anything 1906 and back kinda pointless as the Jupiter, Governor Standard and other early SP/CP locomotives can't be used until then as the NARS or US train sets don't have cabooses that are compatible with them.

Either a setting is needed within the config or a caboose being required needs to be removed entirely. The former to me would be the best option as it still gives people the option to require one on trains.

Thank you for saying so! It's nice to know that people are using and enjoying it. The caboose thing was actually an oversight, but unfortunately when I went to try to fix it, I realized that all the source code was on a hard drive I had lost. I just yesterday found the drive though, and it's been on my mind. I'll probably do both an early caboose and a config option. I like having the requirements by I guess not everyone probably does, so that makes sense. Thank you for the comment!

[Nick_B]

I've loved this set for years but never really understood why there are no cabooses available before 1906 as the locomotives require a caboose in order to function. It makes anything 1906 and back kinda pointless as the Jupiter, Governor Standard and other early SP/CP locomotives can't be used until then as the NARS or US train sets don't have cabooses that are compatible with them.

Either a setting is needed within the config or a caboose being required needs to be removed entirely. The former to me would be the best option as it still gives people the option to require one on trains.

Thank you for saying so! It's nice to know that people are using and enjoying it. The caboose thing was actually an oversight, but unfortunately when I went to try to fix it, I realized that all the source code was on a hard drive I had lost. I just yesterday found the drive though, and it's been on my mind. I'll probably do both an early caboose and a config option. I like having the requirements by I guess not everyone probably does, so that makes sense. Thank you for the comment!

Brilliant! It's great to hear you guys are still working on this set and know about that. Quick reply too, was never expecting a reply that fast either.

Looking forward to seeing what's in the future!

[Emperor Jake]

Thank you for saying so! It's nice to know that people are using and enjoying it. The caboose thing was actually an oversight, but unfortunately when I went to try to fix it, I realized that all the source code was on a hard drive I had lost. I just yesterday found the drive though, and it's been on my mind. I'll probably do both an early caboose and a config option. I like having the requirements by I guess not everyone probably does, so that makes sense. Thank you for the comment!

I'd recommend putting your code up on Github so that it can never get lost It might seem intimidating at first but it's very convenient once you figure it out

[JustMoreMemes]

I was gonna try a game with this when I remembered the caboose issue, and with my newfound NewGRF knowledge I made a quickly modified version that changes the release date of the caboose from 1905 to 1853 (10 years before the set starts, I went for this date since the default TTD vehicles appear 10 years before the game was meant to start.) and adjusted the model lifespan to compensate. Hopefully this makes v0.6 more playable for everyone until the next version comes out.

I'm not sure if this is allowed and it might need to get taken down for licensing, if that's an issue feel free to remove the attachment. The only thing modified is the caboose and a line added to the description saying it's got the fix, the license and readme are the same.

Southern_Pacific_Steam_Set-0.6 CABOOSE FIX.tar

Just extract the .tar and remove the .grf file, add that to your newgrf folder. I tested it and it works out of the box for me.

(719.5 KiB) Downloaded 213 times

[Ruiluth]

Quick update: I found my hard drive, and I got distracted with another project but I'm taking a look at this one again and looking at some new things. I'll probably get a hotfix out for the caboose thing, and then I might start adding diesels... Although, I'm consider something else: would it be better to have one massive set with everything SP, or have a separate set with the diesels and call it the Southern Pacific Diesel Set?

I was gonna try a game with this when I remembered the caboose issue, and with my newfound NewGRF knowledge I made a quickly modified version that changes the release date of the caboose from 1905 to 1853 (10 years before the set starts, I went for this date since the default TTD vehicles appear 10 years before the game was meant to start.) and adjusted the model lifespan to compensate. Hopefully this makes v0.6 more playable for everyone until the next version comes out.

I'm not sure if this is allowed and it might need to get taken down for licensing, if that's an issue feel free to remove the attachment. The only thing modified is the caboose and a line added to the description saying it's got the fix, the license and readme are the same.

Southern_Pacific_Steam_Set-0.6 CABOOSE FIX.tar

Thanks for doing this, I don't mind at all. I'm just glad to see the interest!

[Ruiluth]

Version 0.7! Finally, right? Mainly just a caboose hotfix. Next version will probably be big, I have a lot of plans.



This project is getting kind of absurd though. It's all just one big .nml file that's over 9000 lines long. I'm probably going to have to do some refactoring.

Changelog:

[+] Spoiler

NEW: Central Pacific crew car (1863)
NEW: Cupola caboose (1872)
NEW: Bobber caboose (1877)
CHANGE: wheel arrangements in loco names
FIX: some formatting in descriptions

[+] Spoiler

Also, check out these awesome pictures I found while doing research:
https://californiarevealed.org/islandor ... p%3A112109
https://californiarevealed.org/islandor ... p%3A112074
https://www.alibre.com/forum/index.php? ... ction.834/

[bigyihsuan]

Nice, will 0.7 be put up on Bananas? It only has up to 0.5 currently.

[Ruiluth]

It is up, but for some reason it's on a different branch. I tried to put it on the same but it's showing separately and I'm not sure why. You can't see it at all?

[PikkaBird]

It is up, but for some reason it's on a different branch. I tried to put it on the same but it's showing separately and I'm not sure why. You can't see it at all?

That would be because you changed the GRFID.

[Ruiluth]

It is up, but for some reason it's on a different branch. I tried to put it on the same but it's showing separately and I'm not sure why. You can't see it at all?

That would be because you changed the GRFID.

Huh, so I did... I have no recollection of why... Is there a way to remove the old version from bananas, or at least hide it so there's only one copy?

[PikkaBird]

I'm a little bit hesitant to post this, because it would be antisocial to overuse, but you can edit the metadata of the old version and set the maximum OpenTTD version to <0. That will hide it from the content download.

[Ruiluth]

This might be a terrible idea, because I've invested a lot already into the graphics, but... I finally got around to taking a look at Timberwolf's trains because I keep seeing them, and I got so jealous of the quality that I began considering the possibility of redoing SPS it in similar quality. Then I found that Timberwolf posted his tools for use, and I spent the evening on this. It seems like the results speak for themselves, but it might take a lot of effort to redo everything like this. Well, not exactly like this. This was as much detail as I could put but for most I'd probably do quite a less and just make it work. It might be fun but it might be too much, and it would mean starting over instead of continuing to update the current version. What does everyone here think?

Prototype photo of A-3 4-4-2 no. 3025


My voxel model.


The spritesheet it produced.


Comparison of high and normal resolution, and my current sprite. The difference is... striking. I'm no pixel artist. I did my best, but this seems like a way better way to do things.


Official company blueprint.

[Railwaymodeler]

If you went the voxel art route, I wouldn't complain. Personally, I am a bit of an Espee fan (As was my grandfather) and I think the nicer looking trains would be more than worth the wait. This is especially true of the early locos, like the Jupiter. Those look a bit odd right now, at least to me, as TT scale didn't really lend itself to those smaller locos and their complex paint schemes.

Plus it would be nice if the windows were more visible at higher zooms on the Daylight cars, it would be more obvious then that some cars are different from others.

[Argus]

That would be great. I think it's worth the wait.

[Ruiluth]

I'm finding that discussion helps my creative process a lot, but it's difficult to keep track of forums for me. I've created a discord for my projects if anyone wants to give feedback or discuss. I have a few projects in the works that I have over there, including the SP AC-12, UP SD40-2, and Budd Metroliners. Come join if you want to get in on my creative process.

https://discord.gg/N6XcDNHKht

[PikkaBird]

Discord is a good tool for collaboration.

Are you aware of the official discord ( https://discord.gg/openttd )? You might get more interest with a development-forum thread there, or just chatting in add-on-development, rather than starting your own server.

[Ruiluth]

Discord is a good tool for collaboration.

Are you aware of the official discord ( https://discord.gg/openttd )? You might get more interest with a development-forum thread there, or just chatting in add-on-development, rather than starting your own server.

I wasn't, but now that you mention it I definitely should be. I'm still gonna keep my server up so I can keep it all in one place and for non-OTTD stuff (like Cities Skylines and Transport Fever) but I'll definitely join the official server too.