Ragins Train Sets

[mint cargo]

And as suggestion for liveries, here´s some ideas of repaints for AEM-7: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3506271508&searchtext=

[strange quiver]

yee, I've been looking at that

I'll just be doing the ones on my livery list tho

[strange quiver]

rate the meatball

I think it looks good so far

and I've had the original NARS AEM-7 to use as a reference

also I just noticed, the AEM-7 has an additional rib along the side, which the ALP-44 doesn't have

doesn't look too bad when I add it

[turbid bronze]

Ribbed for your pleasure

[strange quiver]

you know it 😉

I really like locomotives with corragated sides tbh

[signal gate]

The solebar

Is deep and facets out not in

I’d consider making it lighter

Sorry, might be unwanted observation 😛

[strange quiver]

I just don't think it contrasts well

[strange quiver]

nono, feedback is very much encouraged 🙂

[mental musk]

not bad, but I would make the side view front walls 100% vertical to difference it from the E60

[strange quiver]

but they're not like that irl?

[mental musk]

difficult choice

[strange quiver]

might give the ALP-44 this as it's base livery, but it's a nice omage to the original NARS

[mental musk]

Bonus fact

2 E60s also were painted like this

btw

I just cant wait for the update...

[strange quiver]

yee, I know, and they'll be getting that livery too

[strange quiver]

A second meatball has hit my grf

[gritty bone]

threw my suggestions to ya. just some light stuff wouldn't hurt to see.

[finite mountain]

Toasters :D

[strange quiver]

Oooh, I'll have a look

The steam roster atm is very WIP and I'm not fully sure what I'm doing with it

I do need to get around to drawing some steam locomotives tbh

[gritty bone]

Ya could borrow some tips from the ancient US set as a guide for the m1. It’s included in there

[finite mountain]

Would love to see this one added to your list

[strange quiver]

Well thats the plan :333

I went through and mostly looked at NARS for inspiration

[strange quiver]

Whats that one?

[finite mountain]

Timken #1111, better known as "The Four Aces"

[gritty bone]

Timken four aces.

[finite mountain]

It's a ALCO 4-8-4 "Northern" A-1

The only one of its type built for the Timken Roller Bearing Company in 1930

It was the first locomotive to have roller bearings on all of its wheels and was used to advertise roller bearings to railroads across America

It was later sold to the Northern Pacific after the crown sheet was damaged and renumbered to #2626 and worked on the railroad until it was scrapped in the 50s

It was sold because Timken tried to get Northern Pacific to repair it but Northern Pacific refused to repair locomotives they didn't own

[strange quiver]

Alright, it can be an option then

[frosty sand]

For an American steam locomotive history and design overview, I highly suggest this book: https://archive.org/details/american-steam-locomotives

[strange quiver]

oooh, I'll have a look

but yh, that's gonna be the biggest issue for me, research

tbh it's a big issue with just US stuff in general since I have fewer resources

but I also have to work out how I want to lay out the steam set because it can't really work the same as the diesel or passenger sets

[strange quiver]

I'm trying to draw the HHP-8 atm and I've got this stuck in my head the entire time

https://youtu.be/9QL8DHSNaEM?si=cwqWNuXnISvl_Oc5

I'm gonna have to do the avelia liberty

[frosty sand]

That book talks about the technological periods, from short small trains to drag freights to Super Power. I’d love to see these periods represented in OpenTTD to really make you feel the passage of time.

[strange quiver]

yee, it's something I'll look into

tbh the steam set will probably be a lot more generic and more horse like? because that's the only way to make it feel realistic

especially since so much was custom built early on

[frosty sand]

It’s all similar enough, hard to tell the difference with pixels 🙂

I like how NARS mostly just has wheel arrangements instead of strict adherence to any railroad or builder. Special cases aside, of course.

[strange quiver]

yeah, and that's basically what I want to do

like I don't think any player is gonna care about the difference between the thousands of consolidations built in the late 1800s

and if they do, then they can draw them 🙂

[frosty sand]

Yep 🙂

I’d like to suggest one livery for the most part, but generic engines could have variants for cab placement: standard, camelback, and cab-forward.

[strange quiver]

maybe, problem is it'd be a lot more drawing to do

but I'm fine with applying it to specific locomotives that had it IRL

camelbacks and cab forwards is something I want to represent

[frosty sand]

Passenger and freight camelbacks, they came in most small wheel configurations it seems 🙂

I bet you could copy-paste a lot of steam locomotive parts, including cabs.

[strange quiver]

okay I'll include some at the very least, because this thing is so goofy

[strange quiver]

true, but we'll see

[frosty sand]

I just want to roleplay goofy New Jersey railroads 🙂

[strange quiver]

depends how I end up doing it, I still need to learn how to draw them

[strange quiver]

I know 🙁

but yh, priority will be Australian locomotives first, simply because I have more info on them and I can better use horse as a reference

and then once I've worked out how I want to do steam locomotives, I can do american ones

[frosty sand]

Oh yeah, fair

[strange quiver]

yeeee

but also, first draft of the HHP-8 and it's a bit meh?

idk, I'll have to experiment more when I'm back from my laser appointment

[frosty sand]

I forget you’re doing Aussie trains too 😛

[strange quiver]

I gotta represent our goofy trains somehow 🙂

[frosty sand]

Side view could do with some nose contouring, diagonal view…no idea, it’s a tough shape 🙂

[strange quiver]

yeah, I'll see what works

once you add the pantographs it looks a little better

but I'll tweak more in a bit

I at least have the NARS Acela Express and HHP-8 as a reference

[steep echo]

Re 460 vibes

[strange quiver]

Little bit tbh

[turbid bronze]

one thousand slaps in the face

[strange quiver]

My face now feels weird 🙁

Also its funny, because the lady was saying that since I'm male and have high testosterone, the hair will grow back faster

But even before starting HRT, I was already really low t anyway lmao

[turbid bronze]

Yeah nah it works, but you will hit a cutoff point where you’ll just have a bunch of hairs with no pigment and you’ll need to get electrolysis. I’ve been through something like 30 rounds of laser now. Pre-buy like ten appointments on sale, put it on afterpay, lol

[strange quiver]

yh, that's what I do, and that's the plan anyway

I'm just lucky that my T levels have always been pretty low, so I don't have too much hair on my body

but I also have a fairly high pain tolerance, so I'm not too fussed abotu electrolysis anyway

[strange quiver]

also, I think this works well?

🤔

[mental musk]

maybe make the font window narrower?

[finite mountain]

Here are the few non-Amtrak toaster paint schemes plus Septa's only ALP-44

[vestal minnow]

These trains ran on the west coast?

[severe elbow]

only the first one

[strange quiver]

it was also only for testing the OHLE

[severe elbow]

there was 2

[finite mountain]

I hope that Caltrain will use the AEM-7s to replace the MP15s on switching duties

[severe elbow]

may as well put your hopes on other things

there wont be any more switching duties anymore, they will only have units

[finite mountain]

Oh yeah, right

I forgot about EMUs

Well, they can always be used as rescue engines

[severe elbow]

Stadler units dont tend to break down a lot

especially EMUs

[finite mountain]

Well whatever the case, I hope 1 of them doesn't end up scrapped

[severe elbow]

theres already at least 1 preserved

[finite mountain]

Well, it would be cool if they turned the one painted in the Caltrain livery into a static display

[strange quiver]

oh yh, finished the HHP-8 sprite, not super happy with the front view, so I'm going to sit on it and re-work it later

[haughty pollen]

Looks fine to me

Remember that the HHP-8 is a lot less pointy than the Acela despite their similar appearance

[mental musk]

wait an moment...

Schouldn't there be 2 head lamps in the vertical view?

still, it looks really, really good

[strange quiver]

I know, it just still feels a little off

it's why I'm gonna sit on it for a bit and return later

[mental musk]

maybe now M7 and M8 MUs?

[strange quiver]

they're on the todo list, but I wanna do locomotives atm

[mental musk]

PRR E44

bonus fact: Some briefly operated in Amtrak

[strange quiver]

Yee, I know, but I also wanna focus on passenger locomotives

[mental musk]

it apears that at least one was modernised into subseries E44a. Likely thay were regeared for passenger service?

https://live.staticflickr.com/3053/2427146354_3c75da563d_z.jpg

although it seems that You already have most of passenger electrics . Maybe diesels now

[strange quiver]

E44A was just a conversion to silicone diode rectifiers to allow the power output to increase to 5000hp

not for passenger service

[mental musk]

You know a lot

[strange quiver]

I like to do my research before drawing stuff 🙂

[mental musk]

http://abpr.railfan.net/june05/06-26-05/NYNH+H370atNewHavenCT5_31_59JWSwanbergScanColl.jpg

http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/nh361.jpg

EP4 and EP5

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Speno_International_RMS101_at_CP_Yard_at_Coquitlam%2C_BC_on_September_20%2C_1987_(22423087108).jpg

do this one plz

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/EMD_F40C_Metra_602.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/AMTK_629_with_5_Emi_gap_Feb_1978xRP_-_Flickr_-_drewj1946.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/The_Tulsan_1969.JPG

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/GE_U34CH_at_Hillsdale_NJ.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/Amtrak_712_with_a_Peninsula_Commute_train%2C_October_1978.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/CDTX_Dash_8_32BWH.JPG

passenger locomotive photodump

[strange quiver]

I'm not doing that F40 variant because it was a one off

F40C and SDP40F are already done, and the U30CG, U34CH, and P30CH are all on the todo list

but I only do the locomotives I want to do, and right now I'm in the mood for electrics

[mental musk]

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/bJJgAOJJpwc/maxresdefault.jpg

what type is this?

[mental musk]

EP5 already done?

[strange quiver]

F69PHAC, but it's also on the todo list

[strange quiver]

it is not, but rn I want to work on the ALP46

[mental musk]

nice idea

btw it is an export verison of the BR101

after making it You can modify the sprites to make the dual power version

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/NJT-AMT_ALP-45DP_in_Kassel_Germany.jpg

(Did the ones exported to Canada ever work in pure electric mode?)

[strange quiver]

yee, it's an option

[strange quiver]

yee, they used to use OHLE in the Mount royal tunnel

but it got converted to REM so they don't use it anymore

[mental musk]

i have got an question

WHY thay converted that tunnel into an light subway?

[haughty pollen]

Probably because it can provide a much more frequent service than a heavy commuter train

I recall watching a RMTransit video about it

[mental musk]

might make sense

but generally If I am correct that tunnel was ealier operated with heavy MUs, subway style

still, don't expect an guy from europe (me) to understand trasit in america(n influenced countries)

[strange quiver]

this is a really annoying cab shape to get right >:/

[strange quiver]

hnnng

[haughty pollen]

ACS-64?

[strange quiver]

ALP-46

ACS-64 is gonna be worse since it has so litte greebles on the side 🙁

I've just been copying the ALP-46 in NARS and I think this looks good so far?

might be a case of looking crap until its in game lmao

I think this works

[severe elbow]

U34CH beloved

[strange quiver]

also, random thought, but a freight version of the ALP-44/46

ALP 44 would be cool if it was made longer and maybe a Co-Co wheel arrangement, and maybe additional weight?

ALP-46 could be given the ribbing?

basically an american version of this

[haughty pollen]

Basically one of these?

[strange quiver]

tbh, yh

I was thinking I'd keep the Bo-Bo wheel arrangement, but a Co-Co one would be cool too

[haughty pollen]

Yeah a freight would need to be Co-Co

This would be too logical in America though 😛

[strange quiver]

yh, but it would also be cool, and I vote for cool

and rn, I have no 90s/2000s era electric freight locomotives

[haughty pollen]

If we're doing imaginary stuff, I'd like to see a double unit like this as well

or like the Lok2000s from that site I linked a while back

[mental musk]

diffrent variants of the E60

it was build way into 90s

and highly likely still was in the catalogue in 2000s

[strange quiver]

ooooh, I could

[mental musk]

GO transit almost bought these...

[strange quiver]

I do have a vague idea on how to set up locomotives like that, so I'll post when I do it

[flat hare]

eh, i'm gonna use the hhp8 on intermodals either way and no one can stop me 😛

[strange quiver]

I was thinking of taking the GF6C platform and doing something like it

maybe allow the player to do weird B units with it?

[mental musk]

railfaneurope.net ❤️

[strange quiver]

ooooh, I love that goober thing

I don't think I'll copy that exactly, but I like it

I wanna try and get more creative for the imported stuff, so it's not just "american version of a european train"

[strange quiver]

Dw, I won't 🙂

[mental musk]

anybody mentioned B-units?

http://www.railfaneurope.net/liveries/fantasy/Rem12-12.gif

http://www.railfaneurope.net/liveries/fantasy/NYC_465_A_unit_cab_car.gif

http://www.railfaneurope.net/liveries/fantasy/L2mtrkaa.gif

http://www.railfaneurope.net/liveries/fantasy/amtrak.png

http://www.railfaneurope.net/liveries/fantasy/amtraktgv.png

[strange quiver]

🤔

dumb idea, but it kinda goes hard

[mental musk]

it is not that dumb

[haughty pollen]

Hell yeah, I wanna see that on heavy drag freights

[mental musk]

3 section electric locos exist

in china and russia

[strange quiver]

I'll bodge it together in the coming days then 🙂

[haughty pollen]

Looks like something the Virginian would have used if they'd stayed electric

[severe elbow]

oh definitely

i see that

virginian electrics are so cool to find pics of

[haughty pollen]

These are cool https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginian_EL-2B

[mental musk]

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1211939992117710848/1306288027731234836/GE_C60-E8_conrail.jpg?ex=68abe047&is=68aa8ec7&hm=5919413c167f15d58512ea2fef561f69e10967af3b6398eefc41f3b82002ddc5&

this would be sweeet

[strange quiver]

looks like a version of the E25B but with 6 axles

[mental musk]

https://www.trains.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Wabtec-Hydro-Locomotive.png

Oh My God...

http://www.trainweb.org/oldtimetrains/industrial/nl/BMEX_520.jpg

http://www.trainweb.org/oldtimetrains/industrial/nl/IOOC_431509a.jpg

[strange quiver]

I think it's fiiiiiiiiiine

but like the HHP-8, might need to sit on it for a bit

NJT has such an annoying livery that's only really possible with 3cc

devs pls get on it 🙂

[crystal crag]

We need 3CC, RGBCC, and the ability to set colors per vehicle type per group rather than per group as a whole

[strange quiver]

yeah

tbh RGB CC would be so cool fr

devs add pls

[flat hare]

it looks a bit too pointy in the / view i think

[strange quiver]

how so?

[flat hare]

it looks amost as sloped as the hhp

[strange quiver]

ah yh, I get what you mean

I'll have a tweak tomorrow

[mental musk]

we have the ability to select colour per vehicle type (eg. locomotive, bus, goods wagon) for ages

[crystal crag]

Per group

Currently it's either per type or per group

[mental musk]

yeah, groups override this, if I am correct

[finite mountain]

Looks like a unrendered GEVO

[mental musk]

frame is similer to GEVO

[gritty bone]

Hear me out…

[severe elbow]

stubby gg1

[strange quiver]

P5?

I was thinking of doing those the other day actually

[vestal minnow]

https://www.ddinstagram.com/p/DNwcyDTZlU_/

[red stump]

PRR's old roster has tons of good stuff to flesh out an early 20th century NA lineup

[strange quiver]

Yee, its why such a large portion of that era is gonna be PRR stuff

[red stump]

that rules

[strange quiver]

Tbh the biggest issue is gonna be post 1970 electric freight locomotives

But I'll probably just make some up

[red stump]

prime time for creative license

a lot of the married pair locos would go hard with some NA oriented designs

as people mentioned previously

[strange quiver]

Yeah, but I'm gonna limit those to heavy freight

I'm thinking the general freight stuff will be a mix of cowl units and hood units

Tbh modern E44 with a GEVO cab or something would be cool

[red stump]

indeed

or even just your bog standard vectron type box geared for freight

[strange quiver]

Yeah, I do wanna do an Americanised version of the stadler euro dual and vectron series

[red stump]

or the NJT eurosprinters but also regeared

[strange quiver]

Njt eurosprinters?

[red stump]

yeah the alp-46

it's basically just a br101 but FRA'd

[strange quiver]

Ah yeah, freight version of that is gonna be easy

But other americanised version, I wanna make sure I'm doing something more unique

Ie same greebles and stuff, but different cabs

It should feel realistic enough that it doesn't take too much cognitive dissonance to think its real

[red stump]

if I had to guess I'd say there would be a lot of safety cabs like how there is now

just with a boxier feel

probably like an F40 but with catenary

[strange quiver]

Yeah, that's the sorta thing I'm thinking

[red stump]

you could create some sort of electrified double cab gevo haha

[strange quiver]

I'll try and follow the evolution that the E44 and GM6C started

[strange quiver]

Yh, but Americans like single cab hood units

And I think that would be more unique

[red stump]

believe me I know 😛 I see them roll by my house every day

[strange quiver]

Freight/mixed traffic electrics and electro diesels will all be an eclectic mixed of single/double cab cowl units and single cab hood units tbh

Or at least thats my current plan

[strange quiver]

Yeah 🙂

[red stump]

that works too

it would be interesting to see a bunch of single cab electric units as they tend to be uncommon elsewhere

[strange quiver]

Yeah, and that's what I want to do them

I want fictional stuff to be at least interesting

[steep echo]

Tf is up with the janky ass voltages

[strange quiver]

Its from the era before they were standardised

[steep echo]

I was hoping for something normal

[strange quiver]

Its why the NEC has 3 different OHLE voltages

[steep echo]

Like 1500/3000v dc or 15/25kv ac

Some American stuff looks cool and I’d like stuff to draw thats kinda random

[strange quiver]

15kv was only ever normal in Europe

[steep echo]

But i don’t wanna add stuff with weird voltages like that

[strange quiver]

In other places 11kv was more common

We even considered it here in NSW and Vic before going with 1500v dc

[steep echo]

Where trains were invented

[strange quiver]

11kv is simpler since you can just split a 33kv distribution line across the phases

[steep echo]

I have no idea how electricity works

It’s basically wizardry to me

[strange quiver]

But it depends on the countries electrical system

[strange quiver]

I have the electrical autism so I find it interesting 🙁

[steep echo]

Does America have any of those 4 voltages?

[steep echo]

I can certainly appreciate it, i have lighting autism but that’s just me wanting pretty stuff, the stuff behind it is wizardry though

[strange quiver]

The NEC from NYC to Boston is 25kv 60hz, and so is RTD and Caltrain

Otherwise 600v, 750v, 1.5kv and 3kv DC were semi common

MLWs pacific extension was 3kv DC iirc

[steep echo]

What would happen if you put a 25kv 60hz train on 50hz ohle?

[strange quiver]

Probably not much, modern VVVF equipment rectifies it to DC anyway

Oh also, the US has some 50kv in the west

[steep echo]

So it wouldn’t move or go boom?

I mostly just want a point of reference for trains that could in theory run on the big 4 European voltages

[strange quiver]

It could probably move under it, it just it wouldn't be happy, but I wouldn't know personally

It'd depend on the equipment and how its set up

[steep echo]

Ahh fair enough

So it’s not reasonable

Maybe in 2050 I’ll make American trains

[strange quiver]

Well it depends

But yh, idk

[steep echo]

Fair enough

Might look into DC stuff then

[strange quiver]

I just think American trains are cool, but I also don't bother simulating voltages

[steep echo]

But that’s less fun

Because Italy has plenty of cool DC loks

Yeah they are

I kinda wish i didn’t know about voltages

[strange quiver]

Yee, and weird 3 phase ones

[strange quiver]

You can just ignore them lmao

It doesn't add too much to gameplay

[steep echo]

I mean

Hmmm

Do different electric types take up much different space?

Actually no

[strange quiver]

Irl? Yeah, they can have different clearance requirements

[steep echo]

The power type impacts horsepower

[strange quiver]

But in game its just extra track types

[steep echo]

Oh i don’t bother with the track types

[strange quiver]

Not really, you can have a really powerful locomotives on DC, just look at some of the soviet or Japanese designs

[steep echo]

I just tend to segregate it myself

[strange quiver]

Its more to do with the number of substations and how much power they can deliver

[steep echo]

Yeah might they need to be bigger or smaller to get that power?

[strange quiver]

With DC you need more substations since you can't use as high a voltage

But also, the higher the voltage the more clearance you need

But in general, how much power an electric locomotive can deliver is based more on the infrastructure

Voltage is only a minor factor

[strange quiver]

Around the same size

A modern AC electric locomotive is basically a DC locomotive with an additional rectifier anyway

[steep echo]

I mean, Belgium is 3000v dc and NL is 1500, Belgian locos do cross the border with decreased power, how would it be made equal?

So that the loks could draw the same power on both sides

[strange quiver]

It'd come down to the locomotives, but I'm not sure

I don't know too much about specifically European locomotives

[steep echo]

Fair

I always just thought 1500 means half as much power as 3000 so more motors would be needed or something idk

[strange quiver]

No, it just means you need higher amperage for the same amount of power

[steep echo]

I’d like to not segregate my railways but i need to rationalise it with my autism yk

Ahh

[strange quiver]

So you can deliver the same amount of power, just more energy is lost as heat so its not as efficient

[steep echo]

How does this differ from old ones?

[strange quiver]

Depends, I'm not too familiar with older AC electric locomotives

[steep echo]

Sorry if I’m being too off topic btw

[strange quiver]

But DC ones were generally resistor controlled

But I think AC locomotives used a different system, but again, not sure

[steep echo]

Fair

[strange quiver]

Nah, its fine

[steep echo]

I’ll ask some of the Dutch when they awake

[strange quiver]

But yh, I'm mostly familiar with DC since thats all we use in NSW

[steep echo]

They seem to know about this stuff

I will overcome my autism 🙏

[strange quiver]

Probably, and they'd know more about equipment in that region

[strange quiver]

random thought, but this Citirail livery would be a great, generic choice for a lot of 90s era diesels

[signal gate]

oof I want to Moose

but I have had enough of grf

[mental musk]

P5Am

[strange quiver]

there's no rush 🙂

[severe elbow]

NEC has multiple voltages, still does

[strange quiver]

I think this works for an ALCO PA?

time to do the other angles

[frosty sand]

You might try making the nose even one pixel longer, they're huge

It does look good, though!

[strange quiver]

making it 4 long looks right

[frosty sand]

Oh yeah that's better

[strange quiver]

the one in NARS is 6 pixels long, but that's too much imo

[frosty sand]

How does 5 look?

[strange quiver]

looks a bit too long imo

I think 4 is the right length

[frosty sand]

Agree to disagree, I guess. 5 looks ideal to me. 🙂

It's a big ol' snoot

4 looks like the right length for the FA

[strange quiver]

I know, I'm just concerned with how it compares to the truck and some of the greebles

the cab door is above the centre axle, and there's equal spacing of those panels

so it's hard to get it right

[strange quiver]

I didn't realise it was shorter for the FA

tbh the FA nose looks a lot more like the nose on the export DL500Bs

[mental musk]

make the nose more rounden on the sides

Now it is bloxy like on the DL500

[frosty sand]

The Chibi shortening is going to be a judgement call no matter how it's applied. I think in this case it's worth emphasizing/exaggerating the nose to visually set the PA apart from F/E/other cab units, even if other proportions like cab to truck positioning aren't quite right. Artistic license, eh?

[strange quiver]

true I suppose, but also, if you put it alongside an E unit it's obvious it's different

[frosty sand]

Fair enough. It's your trainset, my opinions are much less important than yours. 🙂

[strange quiver]

case and point 🙂

but also, you are probably right, I might try 5...

aaa, nah I think 4 is fine

but yh, I think this is fine

gonna do all the other angles now

and once I've done the PA, then the FA and EP5 can be easily done after

[frosty sand]

Love it 🙂

[turbid bronze]

https://tenor.com/view/borzoi-snoopa-lord-foog-dog-funny-gif-20125052

borzoi ass lookin train

love it

[strange quiver]

🤔

Looks like a PA, a Borzoi, and a shinkansen had a child

I'll code and do the base sprite tomorrow, but now I have to sleep

expect the FA and EP-5 in the coming days

[turbid bronze]

letmedoitforyou

[strange quiver]

I haven't heard that in ages 🙁

[turbid bronze]

My insta feed has been full of borzoi memes so it comes up every so often

[strange quiver]

sounds about right

[crystal crag]

You need to include this as a cursed train

[strange quiver]

Fiiiine

[strange quiver]

Random thought, but JP+ tracks includes a universal railtype

So I could probably code the EP5 to use that, and that way I can set it up to work as a third rail and OHLE locomotives too

Although that might not work since it'd then appear on non electric track too maybe?

Idk, I'll test it and see if it works, would be cool if I could include 3rail/OHLE dual voltage electrics

[strange quiver]

Also someone remind me to do something with the roof on these, they feel a bit meh

[crystal crag]

I have them in my set if you poke me in two hours I can send you it

[strange quiver]

Remind me in 2 hours to remind you about it :333

Isn't your set on github? i could just go look there

[crystal crag]

So what I just do is give my Dual Voltage trains the SAAZ tag and that seems to do the trick

[strange quiver]

oooh fair

do you have a code example?

[crystal crag]

also included is my weird Railtype Table. Somehow it works

[strange quiver]

easy, I'll have a look 🙂

[haughty pollen]

This PR would make multisystem electrics much more logical https://github.com/OpenTTD/OpenTTD/pull/14357

[strange quiver]

ooooh, hell yeah

well if it ends up going somewhere, I'd gladly use it

[crystal crag]

reminds me that I should check if badges are in yet. I don't know how to check.

[signal gate]

https://www.openttd.org/news/2025/04/13/openttd-15-0-beta2

[mental musk]

useless fact

Ealry production FL9s had an pantograph and could als work on DC OHLE

[strange quiver]

PA done, stole the old NARS livery because it's cool

[strange quiver]

FL9-ified ALCO FA? 🤔

the FL9 borg

all will become FL9, resistance is futile

[strange quiver]

PA/FA base sprites done, and I'm quite happy with them

gonna shower and then it's EP-5 time

gonna need to blunten the FA nose for the EP-5 I think

[turbid bronze]

Damn, nice.

[frosty sand]

LIRR's FAs were actually just generator/cab cars, with no traction power. More info:
http://www.trainsarefun.com/lirr/lirrFA/lirrFA.htm

[strange quiver]

oooh, neat

I guess it makes sense, means you don't need a specific HEP generator in your locomotive, and FAs would have been cheap

I think this works?

little iffy about it

[strange quiver]

hey, what track set do you use when testing these?

copying what you did doesn't seem to work, a when trying the lastest version of UKRS in NML the class 92 seems to only like 3rd rail when using U&RERMM

[crystal crag]

JP+
Technically a modified version of it but regular JP+ should work just fine with the latest tweak made to support Iron Horse

[strange quiver]

well when using JP+, the 92 doesn't seem to want to touch third rail

[haughty pollen]

Currently the only way to make a 3rd rail+overhead engine work is to set it to the dual powered railtype, and JP+ Tracks doesn't have one of those, meaning the engine won't appear

At least that's how the 92 behaves in original UKRS2

[strange quiver]

bugger

well, I guess the EP5 is just being an OHLE electric locomotive then

[strange quiver]

at least until this gets implemented :)))

[full river]

A little question, do you draw multiple sprite in the same layer? Example, you draw the windows of all 4 angles and all sprites in one "window layer"

Instead of "engine a windows layer" "engine b windows layer" which is separate

[steep echo]

@full river i can’t speak on behalf of ragin but i see no benefit to drawing windows on another layer, lights and overhead electrical equipment though, yes

[full river]

So, one layer for every engine light etc?

Got it. How about the body of each engine?

[signal gate]

shall we sort out all the railtypes shenans soon?

I think it can be sanitised

[steep echo]

No, for changing directions, not each individual light

[steep echo]

There’s 8 sprites per vehicle so you don’t really need more layers

[full river]

Ah, right. Each layer is for each different direction per engine

[steep echo]

What

[full river]

Oh, I get it wrong

[steep echo]

All 8 are on 1 layer

[full river]

Aahhh

[steep echo]

You can make a perfectly good vehicle on one layer

A sep layer for lights and panto is just good for reversing sprites

[full river]

Okay. How about company colours compatibility

Afaik you can't change hue of a specific px in one layer without messing the whole thing

[steep echo]

Most people draw sprites to a specific palette that deals with that

[steep echo]

These are drawn using those specific 8 shades of blue for company colour 1

[severe elbow]

i just did twice as many sprites in this case

[steep echo]

Annoying if you want to edit the vehicle later on though

[severe elbow]

true

this is why i wanna redraw everything anyway

im not happy with how ive drawn them currently

[full river]

Sorry for the extended question or confusion. I think I should asked it like this: one sprite sure can have different colours in different groups. Let's say the base sprite is white and orange. In another group the colour is pink and blue. Are those two colours made in the same layer?

Why did I put example of windows on the first place 😭🙏

Kinda my fault

[steep echo]

In groups do you mean vehicle groups?

[full river]

Yes

[steep echo]

What you see in game with 2cc isn’t what you would call base sprites

[full river]

Ah

What are they called

[steep echo]

This blue would be recoloured by the game to make any cc1

To get cc2 you need to add green

[full river]

Oooohhhh

[steep echo]

Like blue it uses 8 specific shades of green that the game recolours

The green can be done with a different layer but generally isn’t

Doing green on a different layer makes things easier but requires more fancy code

[full river]

So for the cc compatibility I only need one layer (excluding pantos etc) but with two base colours?

[steep echo]

Yes

And it has to be those specific 8 shades of Green and blue

[full river]

Technically, I can make a vehicle with the base colour of grey but with two cc stripes

Right?

[steep echo]

.

[full river]

Alright

[steep echo]

Yes

[full river]

I get it now. Thanks for your responses <3333

[steep echo]

In future it is best to ask in #add-on-development

Rather than us spamming this thread

[full river]

Alright. Didn't meant to went around and around for a while. Sorry for y'all inconvenience

[strange quiver]

still meh about the EP-5, but I've got a decent NH&H collection going

[signal gate]

nice

[mental musk]

interestingly the EP-5s were originally.... white-yellow

Although from what I have heard thay were repainted beforee entering serive

[strange quiver]

yee, and with CC you can do it yellow, blue, green, or whatever you want

[mental musk]

https://ogrforum.com/fileSendAction/fcType/0/fcOid/85480113068418295/filePointer/85620891480023828/fodoid/85620891480023826/imageType/LARGE/inlineImage/true/GE EP5 NH 372 Yellow.jpg

weird to repaint brand new locos...

somebody must have realle hated yellow

[severe elbow]

Not really

Happens quite often

[mental musk]

what an waste of money and materials...

[severe elbow]

Again not really when liveries are just wraps now anyway

[mental musk]

Wraps...

Look great only from distance

whan You came close and notice that some parts are in other (base) colour...

[severe elbow]

When they pass you at speed it doesn’t really matter

[mental musk]

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/QOA1CvTT-BI/maxresdefault.jpg

[severe elbow]

That’s quite obviously not finished

[mental musk]

to my knowlage it operated in that condition

https://live.staticflickr.com/907/41335360485_41ea54a99b_b.jpg

(I really like the colour combination)

[severe elbow]

We both know damn well db are lazy

[steep echo]

DSB uses wraps

They’re fine

[mental musk]

Cant wait for the update on the bananas

BTW

maybe add tags or change name to make Your sets easier to search up?

[dim pulsar]

tags are not a thing anymore

I suggest adding "Ragin" to the GRF names

[frigid drum]

Bring back tags

Or I'm gonna revolt

[late pewter]

Lets throw a dead crow on the bananas servers with a message

[mellow loom]

Yeah tags were nice

[frosty sand]

Being able to search by uploader makes a lot of sense, feel free to open a feature request on GitHub (a Discussion, probably)

[steep echo]

why were tags removed in the first place?

[turbid bronze]

Bananas in general is a pain in the ass to search through unless you know the exact name of the .grf these days

No idea why tags got removed

Colossal usability downgrade

I want to be able to sort by date, I want to be able to sort by date last updated, and yes, I even want to sort by downloads in some cases, or downloads over a 1wk period/1mo period.

That's how I use Nexusmods at least.

Usually I sort by last updated and look for names that stand out, a mod that gets updated often is usually a good sign to me

[steep echo]

100%

[strange quiver]

EMD FT base sprite done

gonna work through and try and have the base sprites for the F3, F7, and F9 done by tommorrow night

[mental musk]

were thay externally diffrent?

i do not think so

hmmmm

I think I have seen this paint job somewhere.... 😉

I know that the FT differred from other ones mostly with the fact that the A and B units were permanently coupled and the B was shorter than in later serieses

[strange quiver]

That was only optional

Some railroads ordered them with couplers between them

E.g. ATSF

[mental musk]

didn't knew that...

[strange quiver]

F3 base livery done

[strange quiver]

F7 done, surprisingly, it's basically the same as the F3 stat wise lmao

although tbf, late F3s, and the F7 are effectively identical

it's also why I won't do the F5, since that's technichally not a separate designation, since it was just an F3 in an F7 body

[mental musk]

there was also an F2

[strange quiver]

yh, but that was an and F3 with the generator from an FT

it only existed while EMD was sorting out the D12 generators for the F3, since they had issues early on

[frosty sand]

The first time I heard of an F2, it was with a photo of a Rock Island loco that was wrecked and got rebuilt without its top headlight. I was very confused and thought all F2s were like this, and they were somehow eluding me.
https://www.railpictures.net/photo/406226/
https://www.railpictures.net/photo/405062/

[strange quiver]

that's odd looking

it looks like some weird european design tbh

[strange quiver]

F9 base sprite done

that's all the F unit base sprites done so aaa

[strange quiver]

Not sure what to draw, but I'm keen to take suggestions

Anyone got any passenger or mixed traffic locomotives they particularly want to see?

(American of course)

[twilit grove]

Beer train

[strange quiver]

It has to be real >:/

[mental musk]

what era/period still has gaps in Your set?

F40M-2 maybe?

F69PHI ?

BL2 ?

[strange quiver]

maybe

F40M-2 I'm still 50/50 on even including since it's just an F40 with a different cab

F69PHAC I'm tempted to include, but it was also a prototype

BL2 is also a freight locomotive and I don't want to do them atm

but I'll see how I feel

I'm thinking either the GG1, F59PH/F59PHI or the Charger

[mental musk]

GG1

you can make the P5am quickly after it

[strange quiver]

well we'll see what I feel like

[strange quiver]

🤔

[severe elbow]

😱

I have a model one so I like these a lot

[strange quiver]

ooooh

we love the GG1's

also just doodling while in a meeting, but I could also easily modify it for the R1 too

but I'll do it later lmao

[strange quiver]

base sprite looks good imo

I really need more PRR specific coaches, but this'll do for now

also not hiding how much I based my sprite on the one in NARS 🙂

[strange quiver]

oooh, yh, I'll do those in future

[twilit grove]

Good boy

[strange quiver]

I'm a grown woman >:/

R1 done too

basically same stats as the GG1, just slightly more powerful and heavier, but also costs more to buy/run

[frosty sand]

You asked for ideas but I don’t know where you keep your spreadsheet of ideas already suggested, so likely repeats:

• RDC
• RDC with jet engines (“Black Beetle”
• UAC TurboTrain
• RTL TurboLiner
• Acela (original)
• Acela (JetTrain turbine version)

[strange quiver]

It's pinned 🙂

[frosty sand]

You expect me to READ smh

[strange quiver]

but yh, should really do the Acela...

[strange quiver]

true

tbf it also a massive document 🙁

[frosty sand]

Nah, I’ll take a look sometime 🙂

I use Discord daily and always forget that you can pin things

[strange quiver]

goober

also, random though, but on my list I have the New haven EP-2 and the MLW EP-3 to be done as the same locomotive, and they're very similar, so idk if it's worthwhile splitting them

the only different is the wheel arrangement, and the EP-3 puts out 1000 more hp

fuck it, I'll split them

it does also mean that in 1919 you get 3 electric passenger locomotives lmao

[signal gate]

are you balancing trees?

or just yolo swag IRL?

[strange quiver]

yolo swag irl

[strange quiver]

also if it ever becomes doable, the EP-2 does have the ability to run on third rail too

[mental musk]

maybe also the stream lined version of the RDC?

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/New_Haven_140_Unique_Budd.jpg

maybe make it slightly faster but with slightly less capacity

(Intercity version)

[mint cargo]

I Have been think, you cold make the New Haven EP-4 https://www.flickr.com/photos/alcomike/33250112922

[mint cargo]

Other suggestion, for a multiple-unit trainset, could be the New Haven Comet Three-Car articulated unit. Only one are building, and scratch in early 50s. I Personally like more this design than the CB&Q Zephyr, and is one unit that is not much know.

[wind valley]

when you do acela liberty, it is required to have this horrid gap between locomotive and coach that sticks out by 1px on both in opposite directions

[mental musk]

WHY

it looks terrible

it looks just like thay mixed locos and coaches form diffrent set types

[wind valley]

it is

the loco is based on the avelia horizon, and the coaches are based on the AGV with pendolino tilt system

so it's an amalgam of at least 2 different train sets

[mental musk]

AGVs are distributed power MUs

Automotorice Grance Vitesse

[wind valley]

yeah

but not powered

[mental musk]

I sometimes wonder HOW such famous companies as Alstom can make such things... things that look like thay were put together in 5 minutes in an coffe brake

[severe elbow]

because amtrak ordered it

[strange quiver]

Sure :3

[strange quiver]

Yee, I'll do that one too

[gritty bone]

I know a couple of guys that’ll help

Wait I just realized something

Has anyone suggested the Pennsy S1?

Cause I have something pertaining to that locomotive blueprint wise

[strange quiver]

Its on my todo list for steam locomotives, but I don't plan on doing them for a while :/

[gritty bone]

Don’t blame ya

[strange quiver]

Well I was thinking of doing the P70s or P85s

Tbh I just need more Intercity coaches for the American set

[gritty bone]

P70s is a different beast

Last I checked I think it was a void of Rebuilds

[strange quiver]

Well tbf I'm just gonna do a genericised version

I'm not going to do anything hyper specific

[gritty bone]

good

Keep it that way

[strange quiver]

Makes it easier for the player :3333

Also I have to do them in a way that works with other coaches and liveries lmao

[strange quiver]

🤔

G1/2?

It can go in the goober section

[late pewter]

May i suggest the GE 25 ton? My arguments are that it looks like a tractor on bogies

[strange quiver]

Yee, iirc it's on the list

It might be a while since my main focus atm is main line stuff

[severe elbow]

2 section GG1?

[strange quiver]

nope, just a GG1 that got into an accident so they cut it in half

[severe elbow]

I am making a suggestion

[strange quiver]

it's going on the goober list :3

[haughty pollen]

GG1 B-unit? 😅

[strange quiver]

what would that even look like?

it's dumb, but I love the idea

[crystal crag]

You know those like, small motor units for like, stadler MUs? That but it's just the middle bit of a GG1 with a pantograph

[strange quiver]

you're basically just turning a GG1 into an EP-2 at that point :3

[crystal crag]

Yes

GG-2

[strange quiver]

sure

why not

[haughty pollen]

I remember seeing a drawing of multi-section GG1 but I can't find it now

[signal gate]

it's on that mad fake trains site

[strange quiver]

please find it if you can, I want dumb stuff like that

[signal gate]

don't have it saved here

[turbid bronze]

Please do the Jawn Henry at some point, it's ridiculous

[strange quiver]

wtf is that?

[turbid bronze]

Also the Chesapeake & Ohio one which was apparently even bigger

[strange quiver]

is that even real?

[turbid bronze]

Steam turbines!

[strange quiver]

ooooh

yh

I've love to

I think some are on my list already

[turbid bronze]

steams last ditch effort to stave off Diesel

[strange quiver]

ah fair

I guess they can go in the steam roster then

[turbid bronze]

they're freakin HUGE

[strange quiver]

god it looks like something from fallout

[turbid bronze]

Doesn't it just?

[haughty pollen]

I actually attempted that one once

[turbid bronze]

The Chessie had a backwards boiler too, boiler at the back and the turbines up front

[strange quiver]

oooh, I might have to steal that off you

because yh, idek what to template it as?

maybe like 3 8 long sections?

[turbid bronze]

fuckin yuge

Yeah the tender is more traditional but the main body would easily be two 8long sections

[haughty pollen]

The red lines indicate vehicle length in 8ths

[turbid bronze]

GE built a couple steam turbines for UP as well:

[haughty pollen]

So 6/8+8/8+6/8

[turbid bronze]

there's a few of the odd ducks on here https://www.steamlocomotive.com/types/turbine/

Apart from Pennsyvania Railroad's one most of them were styled to look more like the modern sleek diesels

Anyways, that's my dumb ass request 😄

[strange quiver]

I'll have to have a look

I think it's fair for them to go in the steam roster, but that also means it'll be a while before I get to them

[turbid bronze]

Yeah that's fine I'm in no hurry

But yeah the jawn henry is fun because it's already fucking huge (coal bunker was in the front of the thing! and it pulled two tenders, one longer than the other with a funky little observation deck on it.

went through a LOT of water

[strange quiver]

I could imagine lmao

[mental musk]

Is Jawn Henry an type designation or just an nickname?

[strange quiver]

we love when I go to do a locomotive, and when researching it, turns out I put it entirely in the wrong category 🫠

[strange quiver]

it's so friend shaped

[severe elbow]

We love

[turbid bronze]

Emotional support locomotive

[strange quiver]

Friend shaped

[haughty pollen]

I found it 😄 https://web.archive.org/web/20210319054115/http://sbiii.com/bwapgg01.html#gg16dome

This is what the multi section GG1 should look like

[strange quiver]

okay that's kinda cool

[turbid bronze]

Holy shit yes that’s cursed I love it

And I need it

[finite mountain]

Since someone brought up Union Pacifics steam turbines, I thought I would highlight UPs other turbine locomotives

The gas turbines

[haughty pollen]

You can find some fun stuff on that site but it's an absolute maze to navigate

[crystal crag]

A Garrwhat

[mental musk]

http://www.railfaneurope.net/liveries/fantasy/pix.html

more railfiction

[nova mauve]

when were posting oddities... recently found this. Have zero information about it though...

[late pewter]

Looks fun until the first curve

[frosty sand]

Quite obviously photoshopped

[mental musk]

I am 100% sure that this is doctored photo

[strange quiver]

🤔

(don't question why I'm not at work)

[turbid bronze]

Ask you no questions and you’ll tell me no lies.

[haughty pollen]

Gotta love a vintage boxcab 🥰

[strange quiver]

fr

idk why I didn't do more until now lmao

really happy with how it's looking too

Livery time 🙂

[haughty pollen]

Will these have modern-ish liveries as well?

[strange quiver]

if there's demand, there's nothing stopping me from doing them

rn I'm only doing one livery per locomotive, but if it's in my livery list, I can theoretically do it

tbh a P5A in the Amtrak livery would be cool

[haughty pollen]

Oh yeah I love the clown nose livery

I have a thing for newer liveries on old locos

[strange quiver]

well, I'll make sure to do it when I can lmao

but yh, P5 looks good in game

I really need more PRR coaches lmao

[turbid bronze]

I fucking love boxcabs

[strange quiver]

also having a look, I could also easily do the L6 and O1 too

and the DD2

friend shaped

[strange quiver]

done, frop top to bottom, the R1, GG1, L6, DD2, O1 and P5

all relatively similar, but they were like that, and it makes it easy on my end lmao

Kinda tempted to do the EF-3B too, since that's very simple, but I've also done 4 locomotives today and I need to rest a

[haughty pollen]

Very nice

I didn't even know there were that many GG1-shaped locos haha

[strange quiver]

yee, they had a few

4 different classes, R1, GG1, P5AM and the DD2

but the R1 and DD2 were only prototypes

also if anyone wants to have a play around

[mental musk]

You can also make the P5am

An P5a (improved P5) with GG1 style carbody

[strange quiver]

Yh, but it'll require a little more re-working to do

[mental musk]

i wonder if You are planning an bonaNAS update for ingame downloading soon ?

(like in this year)

[strange quiver]

I'll probably post it when I get bored, like last time

so idk when I'll put it up

[strange quiver]

had a go at P70 coaches, and I'm not happy with them...

but I might add more coaches from this era to get experience

fuck I forgot to add the diaphram

okay, fixed

I also added an alternate observation car in case you want the tail of the train to be different, it's the same stat wise

gonna do this for a lot of American coaches, where relevant

Thankyou tyler 🙂

[frosty sand]

I am hyped but have nothing intelligent to write 🙂

Those open observation decks are nice when going slow, probably useless behind a GG1 though 😛

(One of the reasons they switched to enclosed observation cars)

[strange quiver]

yh, but fnnuy

[frosty sand]

Amtrak allows private cars on the NEC (for now) but prohibits anyone from riding the platform. Apparently some people have gotten in big trouble going out there at 100+ mph and getting caught in the act

[strange quiver]

lmao

Amtrak's no fun 🙁

[mental musk]

i wonder if thay allow private coaches with drop-down windows?

Becouse leaning out of the window of an train is fun

[crystal crag]

until you get to meet lineside equipment

[severe elbow]

It’s called modern safety standards

Which are far too strict I agree

[dim pulsar]

"typical american driving speed"

[severe elbow]

No thats 55mph

Which is far too slow

[crystal crag]

@strange quiver so how do you compile your .grf?

[strange quiver]

literally just a .bat file that goes to nml

it's dumb, but it works lmao

[crystal crag]

Do you have an NML folder and an nmlc file?

Within the same place as you work in?

[strange quiver]

pretty much

[crystal crag]

Ah you use the .exe

nods, think

Might be a little more involved for you to get badges working than me but I can figure it out, need to take care of some things first and then I can send you what you need

[strange quiver]

all good, thanks for the help 🙂

[crystal crag]

You work with one big NML file rather than smaller PNML, right?

[strange quiver]

yee

[crystal crag]

Do you have python installed?

[strange quiver]

no

[cold scarab]

😵bat scripts

[crystal crag]

Hmhm...

[strange quiver]

it does the job 🙁

[crystal crag]

I mean I use one too!

But mine uses Python

andythenorth — Yesterday at 12:57
unless you're tied to the exe, building nml is trivial```
:(

[cold scarab]

It just feels weird to have a bat

[crystal crag]

How viable is it for you to install Python, ragin?

[strange quiver]

like I could, I just don't know what I'd use it for

[crystal crag]

Compiling .grfs

It's all I use mine for tbh

Thing is I don't know how to get you a .exe to work from instead, I'll send you a thing to try but no guarantees it'll work

[cold scarab]

nmlc is python based anyways

[crystal crag]

Here, drop the contents into your grf folder. If we're lucky, 'build' has the Badges functionality but I'm not confident. Otherwise, it'd be pybuild but you'll need python for that

[strange quiver]

I used it, it builds the GRF fine

[crystal crag]

does pybuild work?

or did you just try build?

[strange quiver]

nope

I just did build

[crystal crag]

nods

so build might just use your old nmlc which would mean you don't have badges yet

You can test by moving your old nmlc.exe out of the folder

and seeing what happens if you run it again

[signal gate]

it would be long-term better to see if we can get the PR merged 🙂

I appreciate that's less immediate

[crystal crag]

It would be, I don't know who to poke for it

[strange quiver]

tbh if it's something that'll eventually be merged, I'm fine with waiting if it means I don't have to change up what I'm doing too much

[turbid bronze]

I do everything using the windows linux subsystem thingie

if I'm not actually on linux

I got Fridaemon setup with Ubuntu on WSL on Windows 11 pretty quickly, was about 15-20mins to get everything going

that's back when roadstops needed to be done using JGR's branch of NML

[haughty pollen]

Damn, you still use monolithic .nml files? I did the same for ages until I switched to modular .pnml for JP+ Engines because it was getting way too big and cumbersome otherwise. It might be a lot of work to start with but trust me, it'll make life much easier in the long run 😉

[strange quiver]

I know, but I'm also terrible with anything more advanced than what I'm doing now 🙁

[turbid bronze]

Modular files is pretty easy. You just have one file and you do a line that's something like #include /some/other/file.pnml and then on compile it just glues all the files together.

theres a few different ways to achieve it

[haughty pollen]

I use StarRaid's NML compiler. It's just a simple python script, no need to touch makefiles or anything

[turbid bronze]

yeah I got taught the makefile method and using gcc preprocessor by patchman like... 15-20yrs ago?

[haughty pollen]

and you can have a .bat file that runs the compiler script and then runs nmlc so you can still have one-click compiling

[turbid bronze]

make files are easy if you don't violently fucking overcomplicate them

Mine are simple as

[strange quiver]

I'll have to look into it, but I also don't wanna change things up too much

[turbid bronze]

Yeah, there's definitely hard and easy ways of doing things

But switching up from monolithic NML or NFO to modular files can definitely make your life a lot easier

[strange quiver]

I'll have to look into in time then

[turbid bronze]

Yeah if you do it right its not hard to retrofit to an existing project. Take all the NML chunk for a particular train for instance, cut, paste into a new file, put an include pointing at the new file in its place

then tweak your compile script to hook it all together

[strange quiver]

well I'll look into it

[signal gate]

there is an incoming PR for #include in NML

I've tested it, it works

but previous comment applies

when I'm the only reviewer, devs discount me because I talk too much and sometimes make mistakes

https://github.com/OpenTTD/nml/pull/358

and TBH, I don't campaign to add them

because I already ask a lot of requests

and when they get added, I have to write the grf spec docs if no-one else does

[and I can compile NML locally so eh]

also ... sorry for hijacking the thread 😛

[strange quiver]

Its fine lmao

But hey, I at least appreciate the docs, otherwise I'd have no trains 🙁

[signal gate]

I'd encourage more grf authors to spend a bit more time on the tooling

we're slowly, quietly, losing core devs

one of the things that draws core devs back in is extending the content APIs

but it's unappealing when there's no help with the grf spec docs or tools

core devs just like to do interesting things

when it's too much like work...the fun stops

[turbid bronze]

i feel like the devs need to remember that most grf devs don't live on github and a hell of a lot aren't technical enough to compile their own nmlc off a pr

[signal gate]

well yes, but unlikely to change

volunteer project etc

grf devs will either step up and contribute or the project will slowly wither again

me and TB put a lot of effort into stopping it dying a few years ago

[crystal crag]

I need to get the time and focus to actually dedicate myself to a larger project and get properly into things, but I'm too much at the mercy of my own whims so it's hard to actually focus on getting familiar with stuff like this

[grave cedar]

what are the packs that are currently availible

[strange quiver]

As in the packs I've made? Or badges?

[grave cedar]

Packs you made, jus wondering since i had to reinstall OpenTTD

[strange quiver]

well there's only really the Oceanian Rail Pack stuff

so if you search "ORP"

but there's also the North american rapid transit pack too, and that can be found with "NARP"

[grave cedar]

yeah

[strange quiver]

yee

otherwise all my north american stuff is generally WIP

tbf all my stuff is WIP

[strange quiver]

also if you wanna test my locomotives, there's this GRF

[mellow loom]

I use a bat file

Quicker to type ./build.bat than to type the python command. Plus the batch file contains the python command if I ever forget it, plus it moves the file to the right place after build so I can just reload the newGRF in game

I could put the move into the build script but it wouldn’t work on everyone’s PC, so a .gitignore’d batch file is neater

[signal gate]

I have seen a lot of opinions about build systems over the years

it's like people arguing about fat sharpie vs HB pencils

or lined vs. unlined notebooks

if it's local, and it works for you, you've already won

[turbid bronze]

Yeah I don’t give a shit what build system people use, so long as it isn’t whatever the hell they did at the openttdcoop devzone to a bunch of the old grf’s they took over. Most were grfcodec decompiled shoehorned into a makefile+gcc preprocessor+svn bullshit mess on top.

[strange quiver]

what even was openttd coop?

everytime I hear about it, it's people saying it was a bit odd

[haughty pollen]

opentttdcoop multiplayer servers and openttdcoop devzone were mostly separate things, but hosted at the same site

[turbid bronze]

Yeah, honestly they were fine, I just thought it was funny they took a 10(ish) line makefile I gave them and turned it into a behemoth lmao

[haughty pollen]

The multiplayer servers enforced a very rigid and specific building style often known as "coop style"

[turbid bronze]

And now the website has been busted for a decade and nobody has fixed it yet they keep paying their hosting bills.

[haughty pollen]

The devzone was a place where people hosted GRF source code using SVN before Github was really a thing

[strange quiver]

fair enough then, it's interesting

tbh the coop guys seem to do their own thing? they never really pop in here do they?

[turbid bronze]

Back in the day they had their own IRC as well

[haughty pollen]

It's been pretty much dead for years

Though some people still play coop style and there's servers for it

but it's mostly not the same people that founded the original openttdcoop

One of them went on to become a Factorio dev

[turbid bronze]

Their style of play heavily influenced a bunch of YouTubers so now impressionable twelve year olds think that’s the only way to play TTD

Honestly I never really had a problem with them back in the day.

Wasn’t my cuppa tea but whatever.

[haughty pollen]

I played on their public servers a few times, which didn't enforce their playstyle

[modest violet]

there are (or were might have been lost) some very interesting blog posts and stuff from those guys about some of the game mechanics and stuff
I find alot of the coop-style stuff intriguing, but its not stuff that i want to build in my own saves

[signal gate]

Coop was phenomenal at the time

FIRS, NUTS, YETI, OGFX+ grfs were all coop derived

And some of the good GS

[mental musk]

I must say that I love the NUTS set

[mint cargo]

I Remember some years ago on Facebook, the owner of this site have share the zip archive on a old fantasy trains groups of they entire collection of goober designs they have make, if ones very secret too. I have make the download of them, and share here the drive link of archives if anyone be interest to see. Some very interesting designs, even some UP GTEL-Electric things... Link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/13SkRyuw1oRWctWKXh6HNyM0OmzBCabeU?usp=sharing

[strange quiver]

://///////

the roof greebling on these is annoying to do

[turbid bronze]

Looks great though

[strange quiver]

I suppose

little noisy though, but I feel it isn't detailed enough

it's fine I suppose

time for the B unit

[frosty sand]

Nice boxcabs!

[strange quiver]

I'll code them up and see how I go

[strange quiver]

🤔

roof just looks too noisy though

[wind valley]

are these all 0.5tl or just not inputted yet? 9 and 11 look shorter

[strange quiver]

long ones are 8/8 while the short ones are 7/8

[wind valley]

thumbs up

[strange quiver]

yee 🙂

[turbid bronze]

BIG

[strange quiver]

now I have to work out how to code it, or do the purchase sprite 🙁

I'm thinking of coding it as an articulated unit, but I could also use my F-unit code

[turbid bronze]

Just code as separate A and B units?

[strange quiver]

that would allow it to be more modular, but idk how it'd work with changing length

[turbid bronze]

So people can do AA/AB/ABA/ABB as they please

[strange quiver]

I suppose, but it just doesn't feel like it's in line with everything else I'm doing in the set

[turbid bronze]

😮

[strange quiver]

idk how to phrase it, but I want things to be more automatic than they were in NARS

[strange quiver]

I'll try the F unit code first and see how that goes, since it would mean people could do this

[strange quiver]

idk wtf I've done by I can't even get it to appear in game for some reason?

guess i'm going straight to doing it as an articulated engine

[strange quiver]

not super happy with this, but it works for now

I think I'll have to leave them coded as articulated units since it simplifies things, but it also makes the purchase sprite massive lmao

it does bring into question how I'll do future ones though

I think for some future ones, I'll code them the same as the F/E units since that might work better

but I'll decide in future

also this would probably be a good use of badges, since I could layer on top that it's a 2/3/4 part articulated locomotive

Also the EP-1A apparently had a streamlined and non-streamlined end...

so whenever I do it, I'll probably just do it as two streamlined ends for more variety

also looking at earlier electric locomotives, I might have to play with things a bit

rn I've got the GN Boxcab as one of the first, but it also has a top speed of 25kph

so I might make it something more generic...

[mental musk]

could be an remodeling/modernisation with restyling

[mental musk]

generic or based on certain class?

Reminds me of MILW locos

[strange quiver]

thats what it was

[strange quiver]

based on the MLW EP-1/EF-1

[mental musk]

I must say that it it an very good facelift! Fits it really nicely

in my opinion most train facelifts look poor

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ9QGOjKbMWhy1NE6PLMa4e0iP1nrjn4GTtgw&s

hmmmmmmmmmmm

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSB8GckfzQ5oH75072HttnYs9jqqXv6y6NzGA&s

https://train-station.com/auction/images/pw-520.JPG

[strange quiver]

all of those are too generic to really do anything with

[strange quiver]

also, genercised version of these done

bumped its top speed up to 96kph, but kept the stats otherwise the same

otherwise I don't think a 1500hp locomotive only capable of 25kph would be super useful, even early on

[mental musk]

I really love the coach sprites

[strange quiver]

thanks :3

[turbid bronze]

Good enough. I'll take it.

Approved

[strange quiver]

sure, I'll take it

[turbid bronze]

https://tenor.com/view/knuckles-approved-gif-27640148

Sprites look good

Really like how the diagonals came out.

[strange quiver]

thanks :3

[wind valley]

nars b-units were already automatic

[haughty pollen]

Old NARS used the ctrl-flip technique to allow switching between A and B units

Nowadays variants are ideal for that kind of thing

[wind valley]

ooo b-units as variants, that would be best, i think

so that i can go full hyasi railroad and use a single emd f-unit b-unit for trains lol

[mental musk]

it was radio controlled from an interlocking tower and operated as an shunter

[frosty sand]

I don't think it was radio controlled. B units have hostler control stands for moving around the yard. (Even GP60B units)