[Hack]

I've been placing the finishing touches on my F-Units and may have run into a problem. One of my beta testers reports that the loco doesn't show in OR, while another tester (and on my copy) the loco consist works fine. I searched through various threads on the subject (one and two) that seem relevant to what my beta tester is seeing.

FWIW, he says my older sets work without issue. It still could be me tho', as it's been a few years since I tinkered with GMax and MSTS. :)

The Particulars:

• The loco was originally built in 3DS Max and exported to *.3ds format, imported into GMax and configured further there (materials, material IDs, etc.).
  
  
• The materials are those only found in the GMax material editor (TexDiff/OptSpecular25, TexDiff/OptSpecular0, and BlendATexDiff/OptSpecular25/Test Only (for glass).
  
  
• Hierarchy:
  
  MAIN (A Unit)
  ---- BOGIES1
  -------- WHEELS11
  -------- WHEELS12
  ---- BOGIES2
  -------- WHEELS21
  -------- WHEELS22
  ---- GLASS > (semi transparent, sorted subobject)
  --- CHILDOBJECT01
  ~ snip ~
  --- CHILDOBJECT15
  
  (B Unit is similar, except glass object replaced by transparent wire subobject.)
  
  
• Level of Detail:
  
  5 LODs (A Unit)
  
  LOD1: 41,026
  LOD2: 21,648
  LOD3: 8,017
  LOD4: 2,387
  LOD5: 900
  
  5 LODs (B Unit)
  
  LOD1: 33,505
  LOD2: 15,907
  LOD3: 5,768
  LOD4: 1,681
  LOD5: 501
  
  
• Model was checked for isolated vertices and/or any on-edge mapping issues.
  
  
• ENG and SD file contain nothing special from my previous MSTS items (other than adjustment for length and updated physics).
  
  
• ENG file calls out for a common shape (A or B Unit), but otherwise uses a different name than that of the main (locos) or FreightAnim shapes (number boards).
  
  
• Each loco uses 2 2048 x 2048 main textures, one 512 x 512 texture, and one 32 x 32 texture with some textures being shared.
  
  
• The locos contain a FreightAnim tag in their ENG files, but those files are fairly small (about 2 dozen polys total) and uses a single 512 x 512 texture.
  
  
• 3D Cab is currently 38,635 polys (needs a diet), a similar hierarchy as the locos, but contains only one LOD.
  
  
• Problem PC Specs: Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit, Intel Core-2 @ 2.40GHz, 15.0 GB, nVidia GT630 (2Gb).
  
  
• My PC Specs: Win XP Pro, Intel Core-2 @ 2.93GHz, 4 GB, nVidia GTX275 (2Gb)

I tested the sets on the current and testing builds (and previous two builds) without issue, and I see no errors reported in the OpenRailsLog. Is there something I'm overlooking? I didn't see any follow up to the above posts, what the problem might have been, or even what to fix. :huh:

[edwardk]

 Hack, on 05 April 2015 - 06:58 PM, said:

I've been placing the finishing touches on my F-Units and may have run into a problem. One of my beta testers reports that the loco doesn't show in OR, while another tester (and on my copy) the loco consist works fine. I searched through various threads on the subject (one and two) that seem relevant to what my beta tester is seeing.

FWIW, he says my older sets work without issue. It still could be me tho', as it's been a few years since I tinkered with GMax and MSTS. :)

The Particulars:

• The loco was originally built in 3DS Max and exported to *.3ds format, imported into GMax and configured further there (materials, material IDs, etc.).
  
  
• The materials are those only found in the GMax material editor (TexDiff/OptSpecular25, TexDiff/OptSpecular0, and BlendATexDiff/OptSpecular25/Test Only (for glass).
  
  
• Hierarchy:
  
  MAIN (A Unit)
  ---- BOGIES1
  -------- WHEELS11
  -------- WHEELS12
  ---- BOGIES2
  -------- WHEELS21
  -------- WHEELS22
  ---- GLASS > (semi transparent, sorted subobject)
  --- CHILDOBJECT01
  ~ snip ~
  --- CHILDOBJECT15
  
  (B Unit is similar, except glass object replaced by transparent wire subobject.)
  
  
• Level of Detail:
  
  5 LODs (A Unit)
  
  LOD1: 41,026
  LOD2: 21,648
  LOD3: 8,017
  LOD4: 2,387
  LOD5: 900
  
  5 LODs (B Unit)
  
  LOD1: 33,505
  LOD2: 15,907
  LOD3: 5,768
  LOD4: 1,681
  LOD5: 501
  
  
• Model was checked for isolated vertices and/or any on-edge mapping issues.
  
  
• ENG and SD file contain nothing special from my previous MSTS items (other than adjustment for length and updated physics).
  
  
• ENG file calls out for a common shape (A or B Unit), but otherwise uses a different name than that of the main (locos) or FreightAnim shapes (number boards).
  
  
• Each loco uses 2 2048 x 2048 main textures, one 512 x 512 texture, and one 32 x 32 texture with some textures being shared.
  
  
• The locos contain a FreightAnim tag in their ENG files, but those files are fairly small (about 2 dozen polys total) and uses a single 512 x 512 texture.
  
  
• 3D Cab is currently 38,635 polys (needs a diet), a similar hierarchy as the locos, but contains only one LOD.
  
  
• Problem PC Specs: Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit, Intel Core-2 @ 2.40GHz, 15.0 GB, nVidia GT630 (2Gb).
  
  
• My PC Specs: Win XP Pro, Intel Core-2 @ 2.93GHz, 4 GB, nVidia GTX275 (2Gb)

I tested the sets on the current and testing builds (and previous two builds) without issue, and I see no errors reported in the OpenRailsLog. Is there something I'm overlooking? I didn't see any follow up to the above posts, what the problem might have been, or even what to fix. :huh:

Is BOGIES1 & BOGIES2 the exact spelling in the shape file? If it is, the correct spelling is BOGIE1 & BOGIE2. Max length is 6 characters.

Edward K.

[Hack]

Sorry, no. BOGIE1 and 2 and no 's'. :)

[copperpen]

With your beta tester who does not see the engine, does the OR log point to anything?. Are your two testers using the same version of OR?.

[Hack]

Yes, but as it turns out this may be a user issue. I'm waiting for confirmation.

[cr-stagg]

When the Shape file designated by an ENG file's WagonShape line is not in the folder or there is a spelling difference between the entry in the WagonShape line and the Shape filename, ORTS will display a blank engine shape. The exhaust will be billowing out of a non-existing vent, and if the lights are turned on, the lights will display. And if there is a FreightAnmi, it will be displayed. But no shape frame nor skin will be displayed. Of course this will not be noticed until one of the exterior views is used because the Cabview will be displayed first.

MSTS on the other hand will give 3 errors:  Failed to OpenShape, Failed to load ......, and Can't ...... add to world. Then MSTS will crash back to the desktop.

When the engine is tested with ConBuilder it will report an Error saying that the file referenced by the WagonShape line is missing.

[Hack]

I found that the B-Unit had an extra parenthesis, so I'm going to see if that solves things for the tester.

[Eldorado.Railroad]

Firstly, does it show up in shapeviewer on the beta testers machine?
Can he post those screen dumps from shapeviewer here?

For models that are that size, it is my first line of defense, does it show in shapviewer?

On your end, does the hierarchy in SHAPEVIEWER, show that there are subobjects? Can you post your screen dumps here?

Always glad to push the inside of the envelope!

[cr-stagg]

 Eldorado.Railroad, on 06 April 2015 - 01:16 PM, said:

Firstly, does it show up in shapeviewer on the beta testers machine?
Can he post those screen dumps from shapeviewer here?

For models that are that size, it is my first line of defense, does it show in shapviewer?

On your end, does the hierarchy in SHAPEVIEWER, show that there are subobjects? Can you post your screen dumps here?

Always glad to push the inside of the envelope!

I won't embarrass the other beta tester by naming him. But the problem was he Uninstalled the Initial version and then installed the update. The update only contained ENG files and an SD file. No shape files or ACE files. So the without the shapes OR displayed the consist as I described in post #6.

So no, the Engine does not show up in Shapeviewer on Craig's machine.

I knew immediately what the problem was when he asked me about it because I have been taking every test that ConBuilder does testing ENG, WAG and CON files then creating files that should cause ConBuilder to error. Then testing each to ensure that ConBuilder reported the error and then seeing how MSTS and ORTS reacted. As I said in post #6 when the Shape file designated by an ENG file's WagonShape line is not in the folder or there is a spelling difference between the entry in the WagonShape line and the Shape filename, ORTS will display a blank engine shape. The exhaust will be billowing out of a non-existing vent, and if the lights are turned on, the lights will display. And if there is a FreightAnmi, it will be displayed. But no shape frame nor skin will be displayed.

And when Craig correctly installed the initial and the update the problem was solved.

[Eldorado.Railroad]

 Hack, on 05 April 2015 - 06:58 PM, said:

[*]3D Cab is currently 38,635 polys (needs a diet), a similar hierarchy as the locos, but contains only one LOD.

Naw.....I would leave it for now...as I recall...when you are in 3D Cab mode...the other exterior model is not in sight...so no resources are being used to display it. In practice I have found that the tedium required for good LODs are not really needed until everything that is displayed around you..including trees are xx,xxx polygon monsters. I do not know what limitation you are experiencing with your hardware, but I test with a rather modest setup and 180,000 polygons without LODs does not really seem to affect framerates if we are just dealing a couple/few engines. I do think it is very good practice that rolling stock should have LODs for Open Rails.

Regards and thanks for your courage in trying this out!