Plymouth Route Update & BVE Cornwall news in general

[leezer3]

After nearly a year with no word, I thought I really ought to have something to show
On that note, I've updated the Plymouth Route again, if nothing else finally removing demo from the name after nearly 7 years.
Obviously there's some other changes, namely the addition of a few more passing trains, some more textures and additional platform canopies plus the usual assortment of fixes and other tweaks.

Work to correct the unprototypical curves is ongoing, nowhere near done yet and has nothing to show in this release unfortunately, but it will happen, sooner or later anyway.

Screenshot of the day:

The sky is broken because of Vista and Nvidia, I've currently been forced to the level of running BVE in an XP virtual machine Should work nicely in the released version though.

Download etc. at my site as always.

Cheers

Chris Lees

http://www.bvecornwall.co.uk

 

[dennis63uk]

I have downloaded it. it is a great route. got one problem the timetable is not square and cannot read it at all.

Cheers Dennis

 

[leezer3]

Arrgh, shouldn't be
All that got changed with the timetables was the changing of the version number & conversion to 256 colors & they were working before.
Try these 24-bit color versions-
http://www.bvecornwall.co.uk/downloads/test.zip

Cheers

Chris Lees

http://www.bvecornwall.co.uk

 

[Boxcars]

Hello again Chris!

Cheers for the updated route. I too am having probs with the timetable and can't seem to correct it with your 24 bit versions (probably because I don't know what I'm doing ). My fps seem low too (integrated graphics and all that) but still enjoyed having a run along it in the HST. I love the Royal Albert Bridge and the Union pub is just visible in the HST's far left window as you drive across. I've sunk many a pint :drunken: down there in the past. Anyway, well done mate, and it's nice to know you're still around improving your route but Uni comes first! :read2:

Cheers,

Neil

 

[leezer3]

Really ought to have been clearer
Unzip the file I posted above to C:\Program File\BVE & see if that fixes things. They're identical other than the version number to the files that were previously in the download.

Unfortunately, Nvidia & Vista don't mix full-stop and Vmware gives some graphics errors so I can't test things very easily

Cheers

Chris Lees

http://www.bvecornwall.co.uk

 

[eezypeazy]

The timetable bitmaps don't obey the "power of 2" rule - they are 366 x 366; try resizing them to 256 x 256.

Nice to hear from you, Chris...

Regards

eezypeazy

 

[guillyman]

You just beat me to that one, Tom! (The power of 2 rule seems to work up to size 1024, but not with 2048, by the way, although why anybody would want a bitmap that big is beyond me...)
And Chris, nice to see you up and running with a route well up to the usual standard, and hope uni life is treating you well.
Regards to all,
Alan.:thumblef:

 

[leezer3]

It was working before I touched it, honest!
(FWIW, I was under the impression that the power of 2 rule didn't apply with this particular texture, and that things normally only messed up when transparency was added as well?)

More pixels= More texture details! I've used several 512x 512 bitmaps, which I feel is the limit for what I need atm, but MSTS has certainly used 1024x1024 in places.

Uni isn't bad really, no idea whats going to happen when I finish in July though, scary thought!

Cheers

Chris Lees

http://www.bvecornwall.co.uk

 

[guillyman]

I'm still investigating exactly how these bitmaps are applied in the program. As I see it at the moment they seem to obey the same rules as in .csv and .b3d files. Here the bitmaps are pasted onto a face with instructions as to what proportions of them are "peeled" across the surface in each direction, so the sizes must obey the "power of 2" rule regardless of transparency. The texture details are limited therefore by the size of the surface, so a decision has to be made accordingly as to the optimum size of the bitmap being applied.
This is not a criticism, Chris, your routes are great! Just keep 'em coming and don't fall down any mineshafts... Best of luck for next summer (I take it this is the 'big one?'
Regards, Alan.

 

[Stooopid]

I'm still investigating exactly how these bitmaps are applied in the program. As I see it at the moment they seem to obey the same rules as in .csv and .b3d files. Here the bitmaps are pasted onto a face with instructions as to what proportions of them are "peeled" across the surface in each direction, so the sizes must obey the "power of 2" rule regardless of transparency. The texture details are limited therefore by the size of the surface, so a decision has to be made accordingly as to the optimum size of the bitmap being applied.
This is not a criticism, Chris, your routes are great! Just keep 'em coming and don't fall down any mineshafts... Best of luck for next summer (I take it this is the 'big one?'
Regards, Alan.

Not neccessary does both edges have to be power of 2. It only needs to be power of 2 if transparency is required.
If no transparency is needed, as long as one edge follows the power of 2 rule and the file is saved in 256 colours, it will display without be tilted or anything.

But sometimes, both edges need not follow if the whole texture is applied on the face. As long as one edge is an even number, it'll work. Needs a bit of trial and error

 

[guillyman]

I'm just going to experiment with that, Stooo. It strikes me that the safest way is to stick to the power of 2 rule anyway, then there are no probs. It certainly is my experience that bitmaps which do not obey either the "p.o.t." or the 256-depth colour rules give trouble. It' not just me saying this - please refer to the guides from Dennis Lance, or those from Alfred Barton, or even those from Luigi at Altervista, translated from the original Japanese guide from Mackoy!
If all the wonderful people who write the routes for us all to enjoy :grin: took a moment to check that their bitmaps conformed to the guides then we wouldn't have to spend so much time putting the bitmaps right before a route runs correctly. This is not a criticism, Chris and Tom and others, and I do not want to alienate anybody, but while people like you, Stooopid, keep saying things as in your post then problems will arise! Don't forget, it may work on your computer, but may not necessarily run properly when transferred to another. (Help me out here, Chris and Tom, masters that you are...)
Let's all keep to the rules of the original programmer and all will be sweet!
Regards to all, Alan.
P.S. You're an early bird, Stooo.