NATURE SERIES 1 - TS2009

(Waterfalls / Rivers / Textures)

 
Thankyou for purchasing the NATURE SERIES 1 set. I know that you will have a lot of satisfaction from the additional realism that these will offer to your layout.

 

 
COPYRIGHT:

Please note that all items in the river spline set, including the texture files, are copyrighted by Michael Sutton. In downloading this set you agree to use them solely for your own personal use and not to distribute copies to any other person. While TRAINZ layouts containing these add-ons can be uploaded to any site these items must not be included with the layout.

 

 

 

 

TUTORIAL 1

RIVER SPLINES

 

 
OPERATION INSTRUCTIONS

While the following instructions are primarily for those of you who are new to TRAINZ SURVEYOR the more advanced users will also find important information here

The following menu locations and operation may vary slightly for different versions of TRAINZ

SUNKEN RIVER SPLINE

  • Start by experimenting on a flat base board
  • You'll find the river splines on the "spline objects" panel located under the region "SG_River"
  • Pick points to create a random curving river on top of your base board
  • When you're ready to embed your river open the "Track" panel

 

freebie01.jpg (84595 bytes)
  • For the sunken river spline type a value of 9.5 into the "Spline height" text-entry box. (20 for the Canyon River)
  • Now pick each of your spline points to drop the spline so that the rim of the river spline is just above the ground level
track_panel.jpg (20002 bytes)
  • For the Sunken River spline enter a value of 10 into the "Height value" text-entry box (21 for the Canyon River)
  • Set your radius dial button to a minimum.
  • Trace the circle along the approximate centre of your river to expose the river.
  • Pick the "height down" button (the top middle button on the panel) and push down the remaining exposed terrain.
  • If you have pushed too much terrain down at the edge of the spline enter a value of 0 into the "Height value" text-entry box to lift any edge terrain back up that may have been pushed down
terrain_panel.jpg (14140 bytes)
  • Experiment with creating hills to cover the flat edges and merge them into the sloping river bank edges 
FLAT SIDE RIVER SPLINE

The placement of the Flat-Side River spline is straight forward and needs no explanation.

Try experimenting on a flat base board with raising the terrain along the spline edge and then merging the terrain into and through the rivers edge. Try extending some hills into the water to create small beaches

freebie03.jpg (73259 bytes)
FLAT SIDE MOUNTAIN RIVER SPLINE

The placement of the Flat-side mountain river spline is also straight forward and needs little explanation.

The red "invisible track" will disappear in DRIVER but if you find it annoying then you can pull the spline points below the surface to make it invisible

The purpose of the river having a missing bottom is to allow the modeller to not only blend his terrain into the river but also to blend his textures into and under the river to gain an even higher standard of realism

river1.jpg (134504 bytes)
 

RIVER EDGE SPLINES

Once the River-edge splines have been placed as required select the appropriate "flat water" spline from the "Spline objects" panel. You will find choices of narrow and wide rivers in both transparent water and rapids.

You will find the "Flat Water" splines in the objects panel under:

/SG_River / Water

NOTE

Splines are designed to join in one direction. If you join the River-Edge splines together the wrong way the river edge may flip and it cannot always be undone. If this problem occurs join another spline from the correct direction. This will flip the river edge back the correct way and you can then erase the unwanted splines.

water-splines.jpg (11922 bytes)
 

RIVER RAPID ROCKS

You will find the "River Rapid Rocks" on the "static objects" panel under:

/SG_River

These are designed to be dropped into your river to give both sound and animation.

The stones can be raised or lowered to suit individual requirements

 

IMPORTANT TIPS
  1. When you first use enter Surveyor you may experience some delay with the Basic, End and Start sections appearing on your screen once placed. This delay is dependant on the speed of your hard-drive and the amount of content that you are loading into memory. ONCE ALL CONTENT HAS BEEN PLACED INTO MEMORY THIS DELAY WILL STOP.
  2. If you want to start (or end) your spline close to the end of an "existing" spline, BUT DON'T WANT TO CONNECT TO THE EXISTING SPLINE, hold the "Shift" key down to keep them separate.
  3. When picking spline points close to existing splines (including track) hold the "shift" key down otherwise the spline point you pick will not work.
  4. If you have difficulty working with the "flat water spline" because you can't see the spline points then use the "clear water - no bottom" spline and paint your river bed with texture.
  5. If too many rapids and waterfalls  are placed IN CLOSE PROXIMITY the water (smoke) effect will start to thin and eventually cut off. This reduces the load on the graphics card. While a number of rocks can be placed together experimentation will dictate the quantity for the best result - the quantity will increase the further the rocks are from a waterfall.