Routes

TBD: Everything about creating and sharing routes.

Surveyor

• Ground Editing Tools - everything you ever wanted to know about terrain editing in Surveyor, including new TS2009 features.
• Ground Types - TS2009 allows a different ground type for each baseboard.
• Planning - approaches to route design.

TS2009 Routes

Routes built for inclusion in TS2009 are expected to meet certain quality and performance guidelines. Full details will be made available as TS2009 development proceeds, however the following recommendations are a good starting point:

• TS2009 track assets should be used for all track. Track made for older Trainz versions will look sub-par, and will generally perform worse.
• TS2009 ground textures should be used exclusively. There is a significant visual difference on any modern video card.
• A mix of 10m- and 5m- ground grids should be used. The 5m is used near the track when the high detail is required, the 10m grid is used at all other times for performance reasons.
• Alpha-blended objects should be avoided. The performance of alpha-blended objects is generally poor, and better visual quality can result from other techniques.
• TS2009 trees should be used. The older trees are typically alpha-blended and appear unfocused in addition to performing poorly. Mixing the two types can lead to a jarring visual experience where some trees are in clear focus and some are blurred.
• Other TS2009 scenery objects should be used where available, to avoid degredation in performance or visual quality.
• Where feasible, repeats of the same scenery object (eg. grass, trees, rocks, buildings) should be used in moderate proximity, rather than many different type of object. This allows significantly better performance. This peformance gain does not apply to alpha-blended objects.