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Disable Maxis Steam Freight Locomotive

Started by Rady, May 07, 2009, 03:37:43 AM

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Rady

Hi there,

is there a way to disable the (standard maxis) steam locomotive that is towing the freight trains around my region??? I already installed several downloads to have diffferent locomotives / trains running but would appreciate to get rid of this maxis locomotive. It would be ok if it looked like an old steam locomotive but it rather looks like a circus train  :thumbsdown:.. Hope you know what I mean without me posting a picture ..

Thanks,

Rady
If it's a good idea, go ahead and do it. It's much easier to apologize than it is to get permission.

Visit my BAT thread: Slow BAT steady - Rady's first BAT attemtps

Amtrak7


RippleJet

#2
That colourful American 4-4-0 doesn't really fit in a modern metropolis, does it? ::)

I once made a mod that replaced the ingame steam engine with i-photon's BNSF GE Dash9 44CW:



That mod was attached to a ST post, which now however seems to have become archived...

Thus, I'm attaching it to this post instead. :thumbsup:


EDIT:
The file that used to be attached to this post had one significant error... a certain S3D file was completely missing... reuploaded further down... ;)

RippleJet

Seems like I attached the wrong file to the previous post... &ops

That was a replacement for the ingame diesel engine.
The mod that replaces the ingame steam engine is attached to this post instead.

I hope you get enough BNSF GE Dash9's in your game now... they are quite a bit longer than the ingame engines... ::)

Cheers,
Tage

Nardo69

Great idea! But I would like to see a rather modern steam engine instead - e.g. rivit's German 2-8-2 class 042 from this pack.

I mean it is not that I don't like steam engines - I love them - it's just that Disney style 4-4-0 ....

RippleJet

#5
Ok, let me know if these work as anticipated...

Two replacement options (both textures made by rivit) are attached for the ingame steam engine:

  • German Class DB23 2-6-2
  • German Class DB41 2-8-2

In addition to those two, I'm also reuploading the replacement for the ingame diesel freight train.
The file that was attached to my first post above was lacking one important S3D file... &ops

Thus, ingame diesel engine replaced by (texture made by i-photon):

  • BNSF GE Dash9 44CW

cogeo

This is ineed great!!! The Maxis steam loco is cartoonish!

I have another idea. How about replacing that small, green, awful "rail checker" unit? As far as I can remember there was a mod that removed it instead. But I'm talking about replacing it. Any stand-alone (dead-head) loco would do, although what would be really nice would be a small maintenance car ("draisine" or what) - I can post pics if needed, only this requires some modelling work too.

vershner

#7
Talking of steam trains, as anyone ever modelled a large steam loco, like a Big Boy, or an Allegheny? I've not seen one on the Lex or Stex so I guess not...

Nardo69

#8
Wow - that was fast! Thank you very much in advance; as I have a job interview tomorrow I cannot test them at the moment ...  :'( even though I waited so lon for them!

As a thank you 2 RL pictures:



023 042-5 on the turntable of the SEH (Süddeutsches Eisenbahnmusuem Heilbronn - Southwest German Railway Museum Heilbronn) during the 2007 Plandampf between Heilbronn and Heidelberg.



Fuel fired 042 360-8 during the 2005 Plandampf in the Palatinate in Wissembourg (France) during heavy rain. Unfortunately I don't have a big choice of pictures of this type.

About the number: in 1968 the Bundesbahn (West German Railways) implemented a new number scheme. Untill then steam engine classe were 2 digits, afterwars a "0" had been inserted before to declare them as steam engines. 1 are electric engines, 2 Diesel engines etc.

To separate the coal fired class 41 from the oil fired class 41 coal fired class 41 became class 041 and oil fired class 41 became 042. While the coal fired 041s went out of duty as early as 1971 (none of them exists anymore) the oil fired 042 stayed in service untill the end of steam era in October 1977. Because of this several are still existing and some of them are still in working order.

@vershner: Depends on where you live ... a Big Boy or Challenger is surely a great machine but absolutely unsuitable for non-american themes. And even on North-American maps Sc4 isn't able to produce halfgway adequate freight trains even for a (in comparison to the Big Boy) rather small German 2-10-0 class 44 ...

PS: If you want to see more I may put some nice German Steam picture in my RL thread ... ;)

RippleJet

Thanks for the pics and history, Bernhard! :)


Quote from: cogeo on May 26, 2009, 02:27:54 PM
I have another idea. How about replacing that small, green, awful "rail checker" unit? As far as I can remember there was a mod that removed it instead. But I'm talking about replacing it. Any stand-alone (dead-head) loco would do, although what would be really nice would be a small maintenance car ("draisine" or what) - I can post pics if needed, only this requires some modelling work too.

Find me a model, or make me a model, and no problem... I can't make the model myself though... $%Grinno$%

vershner

@Nardo - Good point, the freight trains are tiny. Can they not be lengthened though?

dragonshardz

I think they have random lengths dependent on the amount of freight train usage on the track where the train is generated...for example, on a heavily used freight track I once got a train that stretched nearly 10 tiles, if I remember correctly.

jmdude1

i know that bigredfish made a mod that lengthened trains and adjusted speeds for those long, slow freights.  this was years ago though and the file was attached to a post on simtrop. in a long forgotten thread.
my freights are always 35 cars long, i think i downloaded the medium length mod.  i do have this file but BRF has been away for a long time now as far as i know. i can upload it but im not sure how i can get
permission or how that works.  any info on this from the pros?
maybe somebody can create some new files?

RippleJet

The freight train length is given with the property Freight Train Length in the Automata Tuning exemplar.
By default this is set to 9, 15 (minimum 9 cars, maximum 15 cars) in SimCity_1.dat.

The maximum train length can in theory be set to 255... ::)

However, this exemplar is included in NAM as well, by the name Automata Plugin.
Thus, if you want to change the freight train length, you'd have to edit the Automata Plugin that you have installed in the NAM folder.

All pre-NAM automata tuners, such as the one by BRF, are not "NAMpatible".
Thus, I doubt anyone would want to use it today.

vershner

Oh well then, 255 coal trucks would look fine behind a Big Boy.

Rady

Quote from: RippleJet on May 26, 2009, 01:35:25 PM
Ok, let me know if these work as anticipated...

Two replacement options (both textures made by rivit) are attached for the ingame steam engine:

  • German Class DB23 2-6-2
  • German Class DB41 2-8-2

In addition to those two, I'm also reuploading the replacement for the ingame diesel freight train.
The file that was attached to my first post above was lacking one important S3D file... &ops

Thus, ingame diesel engine replaced by (texture made by i-photon):

  • BNSF GE Dash9 44CW


Thanks RippleJet for this wonderful mod!!
If it's a good idea, go ahead and do it. It's much easier to apologize than it is to get permission.

Visit my BAT thread: Slow BAT steady - Rady's first BAT attemtps

straha

Editing the NAM Automata file is pretty easy, because even I was able to do it!  My freight trains are 9 - 55 cars long, and my passenger trains are 4-9 cars long.

I really like that model BNSF GE Dash9 44CW and it looks great pulling those long trains.  Do you know of any other long locomotives like that one?  I looked through the train skin thread, and didn't really find any more, so I guess there probably aren't, unless I missed some on that thread.

I had a case where I had multiple locomotives pulling the train, and it looked awesome!  Is there any way to control that, or was that a completey random/fluke thing?

I donwloaded the model file for the locomotive in the hopes of reskinning it for more variety, and there was a readme with it on how to do it, but I couldn't really follow it.  Is there any way you could make a step by step tutorial on how to do it?  Basically, getting the new skin on the model?   The readme indicated that there was no need for the actual model, just modify the skin png files, which I can do, and then something about changing some other file...sorry, I don't have the readme in front of me on this computer.
- Straha, the Bard of Hackney

RippleJet

Quote from: straha on June 04, 2009, 07:33:01 AM
I donwloaded the model file for the locomotive in the hopes of reskinning it for more variety, and there was a readme with it on how to do it, but I couldn't really follow it.  Is there any way you could make a step by step tutorial on how to do it?  Basically, getting the new skin on the model?

I hope Swamper77 could help you with that... ::)


Quote from: straha on June 04, 2009, 07:33:01 AM
The readme indicated that there was no need for the actual model, just modify the skin png files, which I can do, and then something about changing some other file...sorry, I don't have the readme in front of me on this computer.

Quote from: i-photon, Readme for GE c44dash9w model kit
Note: You do not need the model if you are just going to change
the colors. Create a duplicate of the .dat and change the TGI etc..
Then load a different color map for it.

Regarding the TGI's... if you want a new engine in the game, make sure you give the a unique number address (TGI) for the models and textures.

If you want an engine to replace one of the ingame engines, you need to change the Instance ID (IID) of that engine's S3D files (the engine itself and its headlights) to:


Model IIDHeadlight IID
Passenger Engine    0x10A90000    0x10A92000
Freight Engine0x10AA00000x10AA2000
Steam Engine0x117900000x11792000

In all replacements, the Type ID should be 0x5AD0E817 and the Group ID 0xBADB57F1.

joelyboy911

I was just wondering (out of curiosity only) is it possible to replace the passenger train locomotive with a steam train, which would make different sounds etc, in UDI?

Also, would it be possible for someone to take the TGV Lysandares (a black and white affair) and alter it to be a monorail/HSR train?

I also wonder, can the cars pulled by the steam train be modded independently of the freight train. I say this because I have some ideas for farms (found here) For which I would like a milk train to pull solely tank cars. I have not yet had any information regarding my requests on that thread, so hopefully this attracts it some attention.
SimCity Aviation Group
I miss you, Adrian

SC4BOY

Quote from: vershner on May 27, 2009, 01:35:40 AM
Oh well then, 255 coal trucks would look fine behind a Big Boy.

haha.. not with those silly little toy coal cars.. ;)