[Genma Saotome]

Walter Conklin, on 04 April 2014 - 09:46 AM, said:

Hello Dave,

Just curious - Why does summer have a snow folder in your proposed folder format for seasonal textures?

Thank you for your time.

I'm not making any "limiting" assumptions about what any route builder might want to do.

[ATW]

Since it does rain in the summer at times, it also snows in one way at times in summer in some conditions that it isn't really snow but what about "hail" being a summer snow.

[SVRy_Steve]

At least on the Sumpter route, snow in July in Sumpter is known to happen, I've seen it personally!

Steve

[Csantucci]

I have generated a patch that allows for a wider variety of terrain/transfer seasonal textures.
With this (not optimized) patch if there are no additional seasonal directories the behaviour is as now. So no compatibility problem arises.
If however there is one or more of following directories, and if the related terrain/transfer file is present therein, such file is selected for loading:
- SPRING
- SPRINGSNOW
- AUTUMN
- AUTUMNSNOW
- WINTER.

WINTERSNOW is not present, as its function is considered to be performed by the SNOW directory.
As outlined above, even only a part of such additional directories can be present, and they can even be only partially populated.
I did not add SUMMERSNOW, as it is completely absent in MSTS, but this could be discussed.

I would like to hear comments on this patch. I have a moderate fear that it could slow down in a non negligeable way terrain texture fetching, so also comments on this are welcome. Anyhow code optimizations could be performed.
 Helpers.cs.patch.zip (809bytes)
Number of downloads: 178

[James Ross]

Csantucci, on 13 April 2014 - 12:44 PM, said:

I would like to hear comments on this patch. I have a moderate fear that it could slow down in a non negligeable way terrain texture fetching, so also comments on this are welcome. Anyhow code optimizations could be performed.

I'm not even sure where to begin. You are aware that the existing code is a mess and broken in many places, right? Layering an always-enabled extra layer of wackiness on top of the existing behaviour is not going to end well. Let's try to actually make things work correctly first and add new features conditionally.

[Csantucci]

Providing this as an experimental option is a thing that I have considered, and not implemented by the moment so as not to do even more work and then get everything rejected. So, if introducing this as an experimental (conditional) option leads to approval, I will do that. If, as I have the impression from your words, anyhow I get rejection, I am not convinced but I will stop it here.

[R H Steele]

James Ross, on 13 April 2014 - 12:51 PM, said:

Layering an always-enabled extra layer of wackiness on top of the existing behaviour is not going to end well.

:offtopic: Ya know people, some days I just love watching the sausage being made. :rotfl: Although it is part of a serious discussion I'm still laughing over the above sentence. I have always considered it an improvement in one's character to add an "always-enabled extra layer of wackiness on top of the existing behaviour". :crazy: :lol2: You gotta love a guy that writes like that!

[Csantucci]

I don't find much worth laughing in James' words.

[R H Steele]

:sign_sorry: still :offtopic:

Csantucci, on 14 April 2014 - 05:24 AM, said:

I don't find much worth laughing in James' words.

Not being privy to all the conversations of the "butchers making the sausage" I take the comments as they appear. If you can separate the words from whatever associations you may have with the writer you may begin to appreciate the wit and humor of the phrase when applied to human behaviour. I cannot positively assert this, but I am assuming that James does not fully appreciate the wit of the phrase he wrote.

"Layering an always-enabled extra layer of wackiness on top of the existing behaviour."

Think of it the next time you see someone yelping into their phone while walking down a crowded street, whenever someone posts another cat picture on the web (this from a cat lover), whenever you see another human critter doing something inane. Inanity may as well be added to the list of fundamental human traits.

I can truthfully write that I love all the people who are working to provide "us children who still love playing with trains" with a WORLD CLASS TRAIN SIMULATOR! :) :sign_rockon:

[James Ross]

Csantucci, on 14 April 2014 - 05:24 AM, said:

I don't find much worth laughing in James' words.

Sorry, I'm just very unhappy with certain sections of OR's code. This is one of those areas.

I think any extensions to texture/seasoning should be implemented with both more opt-in (either the route or user) and with some more consideration of existing and future code, such that we can properly support something way more flexible (at least the kind of flexibility Dave suggests). So the kind of changes I'd like in this code are either 1) improving MSTS compatibility (we've still got e.g. bug 1292747 to figure out) or 2) replacing the whole thing with a new design.