German road vehicle set [WIP, first version released]

[Hans Kruzer]

Or maybe to avoid getting fired by Uwe and getting arrested by the TTD Police squad I shall use Michael Blunck's steel rolls and draw my own little steel things.
By weekend I will probably be done with the Actros Sprites, then I'll work on the trailers which should be easy

pfff are you going to update the homepage for the set? Also can one of you send me trailer-sprite templates to base off? I only have a double axle, old Büssing which hasn't a trailer.

And here's the Mercedes-Benz Travego L that I tried to make. Its done but I'm sure it may need a bit polishing.
Also the tanker version of the Mercedes-benz actros too is here!

So whats left cargo sprites for the Actros
Tanker #2-a different-appearing liquid tank
Wood flatbed (timber or whatever the processed one is will be transported in curtain-sider)
Grain dumper
Recycling(Waste) type? (FIRS)
Car transporter
Machinery on flatbed

[Hans Kruzer]

Yay! Finally after about 2 and a half weeks we can finally say the rigid version of the Mercedes Benz Actros 2540 is done!!!!
In end it has 272 sprites in total which are capable of FIRS and (maybe) ECS cargoes. There are 10 variants which either are box, curtain-box, crane and bed, high dumper, dangerous/chemical/petro tanker, oil/milk/water tanker, wood flatbed, Container transporter, and Autotransporter.

First image is the entire set of sprites and the second is just a short preview of "/" views for you too see without having to download the entire image

Next week due will be the trailer versions

[STD]

Next week due will be the trailer versions

Cool done. Waiting for more trucks

[Valle]

Nice work, Hans! I really like those. So much, in fact, that they inspired me to draw a truck myself.

Uwe, are you still looking for sprite artists? I'd really like to contribute to this awesome project, knowing that as a total beginner, I have to learn a lot about drawing sprites yet. A first mockup of the Magirus-Deutz 230 D 22 AK "Bull" is attached to this post, based on the Actros by Hans Kruzer (wheels and the body alignment), the palette attached to this post and the scale found here.

[Uwe]

Hi,

it seems there is finally some progress going on here. Let's see if I can answer everything...

Concerning the new bus, I'm afraid it will not make too much sense to add it to the set, simply as there are buses with better stats available around the time. The speed of buses in the set is limited to reflect real life speed limits, so the only real distinguishing element is passenger capacity, and here any double decker coach outperforms smaller vehicles. On the other hand, if there is still room in the set after the trucks have been finished, one can check again.

@Valle: I'm still looking for more sprite artists. That truck sample looks promising. PM me if you need more information, I can also provide you with some existing sprites from which you might be able to reuse bits and pieces (or rather colors and pixels).

I am currently in the process of touching up the existing truck sprites by correcting some minor issues in shading and positioning of truck vs. trailer. These updated sprites will then be part of the next alpha release, together with the latest version of Hans Kruzers Actros sprites.

Regards,
Uwe

[Eddi]

Well, the balancing effect here could be running costs. Double-deck busses might get higher running cost per seat. but the most pressing ("realistic") argument against double decker busses for inner city busses is loading speed, which is why nobody outside (West-)Berlin uses them. and unless you're Hamburg, you build a tram line for higher capacity.

PS: did we ever get to a conclusion how to adress the tram (ingame)length-vs.-capacity issue? (because some trams use different scale than others, there is a huge inconsistency which hurts gameplay)

[Valle]

The fully loaded sprites for the Magirus-Deutz 230 D 22 AK "Bull" are more or less complete now. The sprites for empty and semi-full load will be drawn next and then they'll be put into a proper spritesheet. Please let me know what you think.

[Hans Kruzer]

1 word: wunderbar!

I really like the fact that the truck looks as good as what Daniel drew so it would fit easily into the set (unlike my sprites which need some desperate recolouring )

And a side question, do those purple cargo sprites become grain/iron ore/coal in the game?

I have some trailers done, I am 99.999999999% sure that the trailers will be out of line with the truck, but anyways here you go. The flatbed on the bottom is incomplete so you shouldn't probably use it.

[mtwist]

Keep up good work, I am seriously waiting for this set to be completed

Currently I am using version 0.23 since the latest alpha release doesn't contain usable lorries. Using this release version 0.23 I discovered that the cargo types of at least some of the lorries do not match the GRF cargo translation table (i.e. paper trucks using 0C as cargo type ID but the table index is 0A). Especially when using cargos beyond the climate specific standard ones this is troublesome - I am using paper on temperate implemented in an own GRF also using the cargo labels and a translation table.

[michael blunck]

@valle
Looks good, only the diagonal views from the backside (see picture) need some additional work, IMO. Firstly, why do their shapes differ? And secondly, roof and hood need a bit of reshaping in this view, to give the correct perspective.

Magirus.png (2.55 KiB) Viewed 2861 times

magirus_hood.png (1.92 KiB) Viewed 2836 times

And a side question, do those purple cargo sprites become grain/iron ore/coal in the game?

Yes. In this set all the bulk cargoes are visualized by using recolouring techniques.

@mtwist
Doh. "Paper in temperate" is a really outdated newGRF and shouldn´t been used anymore. In fact, it was only meant as a test newGRF.

regards
Michael

[mtwist]

Doh. "Paper in temperate" is a really outdated newGRF and shouldn´t been used anymore. In fact, it was only meant as a test newGRF.

I am not using the outdated "Paper in temperate". Instead I am using a selfmade GRF implementing the paper cargo using a translation table (as my post clearly states).

In germanrvw.grf cargo translation table PAPR uses index 0A but the lorries refer to ID/index 0C.

[Uwe]

Hi all,

some answers for the questions that have been asked:

@Eddi: The set already aims to balance buses by using different running costs, loading speeds and purchase costs. That means double deckers have a lower loading speed than single deckers, and coaches load much slower than city buses. I fear there is not much that can be done to make a single decker coach outperform a double deck coach here.

And concerning the tram sizes, we haven't reached any conclusion either. Could you please specifically state which trams you refer to and propose a change that would result in a better balance?

@Valle: looks good, though I think the truck is a bit too short, or at least the front part is too long compared to the back, especially in side view. I'll try to get the code set up over the weekend so one can take a look at it ingame for better comparison.

@Hans: thanks for the trailer sprites, I'll also try to get them coded over the weekend.

@mtwist: Please send me that grf so I can check the issue.

[Eddi]

And concerning the tram sizes, we haven't reached any conclusion either. Could you please specifically state which trams you refer to and propose a change that would result in a better balance?

We had a lengthy discussion in the german forum, this is however only a small subset, there might be other trams affected.

the problem is that the trams aren't coded according to a uniform scale, so the capacity-per-tile varies hugely, and makes some vehicles extremely unfavourable. this is most obvious with the KT4D, but i think the most modern tram(s) are also affected. so what's needed is first recoding of the trams in a uniform scale, and then possibly redrawing the sprites to match that scale.

i have not played in a while, so i have no detailed data out of the top of my head. do you have a specific scale in mind with your set? my deduction last time resulted in that most parts of the set are around 1 tile ~ 24m. if you want, i can make a list of vehicle lengths according to that scale for the vehicles already in the set, but that may take a bit of time.

[Valle]

Thank you for the feedback.

@Michael thank you, I'll try take care of that. I wasn't happy with the diagonal rear views yet but somehow had out of ideas about how to reproduce the shape. Your modification looks gorgeous, thank you. I guess the pile of goods on the bed has to be flattened then.

@Uwe thank you. I drew it to a scale length of 7 meters according to this template. My dilemma with the Bull and its successor is that the Bull has a longer hood, which I wanted to reflect by moving the cab forward by a tile on the boxier and newer "Construction Bull" (Baubulle) that I want to derive from these sprites. If I shorten the hood on the Bull as well, it'll be difficult to differentiate their side views. I'll try to draw a 4-pixel hood without ruining the shape too badly, in which case its direct successor could get a 3-pixel hood. I hope that won't distort it too badly. Alternatively, I could try to let the bed absorb a part of the cab on the Bull or stretch the bed artificially, which would break the scale, though. Either way, I'll try to finish the sprites for the Bull this weekend.

[Hans Kruzer]

Yes. In this set all the bulk cargoes are visualized by using recolouring techniques.

Would that apply to extended bulk cargoes from, (ex.) FIRS, ECS? Like gravel and and stone and other nonsense

@Valle, I pretty much broke my scale for the Actros a bit, it's a metre or so longer than it should be, if it makes the graphics look better then do it

[Eddi]

yes, as long as there is a mapping from cargo label to a recolour table. otherwise a generic recolouring is used.

[Uwe]

Hi all,

I have completed the next alpha version (download at the usual location) which includes the latest versions of Hans Kruzer's Actros sprites. I did a lot of additional polishing on those sprites to make them look more in line with the other vehicles. Right now there is a mixture of updated sprites and non-updated sprites in use, you can easily distinguish them by their color scheme. Please also note that there currently is no code to support any extended cargo sets (I haven't installed them at the moment), generic cargo classes (liquid, bulk, ...) are used to decide which graphics are shown. That means that in this version there is no way to show the car transporter graphics. I am planning to add some randomization to display goods as different types of goods, like cars, containers, crates and so on, so that one can see the graphics even if no extended cargos are installed.

Regards,
Uwe

[Hans Kruzer]

That means that in this version there is no way to show the car transporter graphics. I am planning to add some randomization to display goods as different types of goods, like cars, containers, crates and so on, so that one can see the graphics even if no extended cargos are installed.

I like the idea of the goods refit can be a random selection of the car transporter, crates, etc. Right now all these sprites are based off default cargoes and FIRS, the only thing of ECS is the cars transporter.
I've also seen that in (Hungarian Truck set) the trucks have refits for the same cargo but each refit shows the cargo differently, and other than that if this goes through we will be the second vehicle set similar to that.

Also, is it possible to have the containers in random colours? Would that mean more sprites for each colour of container, which is then randomized on purchase
As for the purple bulk sprites, currently the set only has it for the default bulk cargoes, as far as I know

...Herr Kruzer

[Eddi]

you can also randomize container colours on load, not only on purchase. but this might need a new set of recolour maps.

[planetmaker]

you can also randomize container colours on load, not only on purchase. but this might need a new set of recolour maps.

Not necessarily. If you're content with recolouring them to a random company colour, all needed recolour sprites are ready to use