• the skybox - to configure the cloud cover
• the weather - from rain to snow to clear. Weather can also be set from the Main Menu - Settings options and by using Session rules
• the wind speed - which will affect the swaying motion of Speedtrees
• the snowline - the altitude for assets that have a snow covered appearance option
• the date - for assets that have different seasonal options. Used with world origin to set the season of the year
• the lighting - the light levels and colours through a 24 hour period
• the water colour and water surface effects (smooth, rough, etc)
• the road traffic - enabled/disabled
• the world origin (geographic coordinates and altitude. Used with date to set the season of the year

• There is no Save or OK button on the Environment Tools Window. As soon as you enter or select a setting it will be set. When finished editing simply click the window Off button BUT make sure you SAVE before exiting Trainz.
• Seasons (for those assets that show seasons - e.g. snow, leaf colours, etc) are controlled by the Date and World Origin settings. January = summer in the Southern Hemisphere and winter in the Northern Hemisphere

TRS19 (all editions) has an additional control that adjusts the lighting level, as shown below

The Diurnal Cycle Steps: Click the Diurnal Cycle button to set the clock running through the full 24 hour cycle in just 30 seconds Click it again to stop the cycle The scene shown in Surveyor will display the lighting conditions that correspond to the time on the clock as the hand sweeps around.

The Time of Day

You can select a specific time by dragging the clock pointer arm to the corresponding position on the clock dial.

The scene shown in Surveyor will display the lighting conditions that correspond to the time shown on the clock

Each control point stores the RGB values for three different types of lighting in the scene.

• The Ambient Colour which is the directional lighting and mostly affects the hue of buildings and other scenery objects
• The Sun Colour which affects the colour of the sunlight and mostly affects the hue of the terrain
• The Water Colour which affects the colours reflected by water surfaces

Ambient

Sun

128

192

224

255

128

During the running of a Session the lighting will "morph" or "transform" at a steady rate from the set of colour values at one control point to the set of colour values at the next control point. Click the Diurnal Cycle button for a demonstration.

• If the control points are far apart then the transition will be gradual
• If the control points are close together then the transition will be faster
• If there are several control points grouped closely together then the transitions can be more dramatic

The places where you would need faster dramatic transitions would be at dawn (around 06:00) and dusk (around 18:00)

Each control point also stores the Skybox settings for that particular time.

	Steps: Select a control point for a specific time of day Click in a region of the Skybox (top, middle, bottom) - a while line or bar will appear across the selected region Set the RGB color wheels for the selected region Repeat for the other two regions and for other times of the day/night as needed

In the areas between the three regions the colours will be blended to create a smooth transition.

Do you need an Overcast Sky for your scene? For each daylight control point set each Skybox region (top, middle, bottom) to shades of gray (see Mixing Colours above). In the Environment Tab (see below), set the Sky Type to No Cloud 01

Set Date

The top section is a standard calendar selection tool that allows you to set the month and the day of the month. The only effect this has in Trainz is to set, with the geographic coordinates, the season of the year.

	The entered date can be saved in the Route, the Session or both depending on whether you are editing the Route or the Session
	You must make a change to an object in a Route Layer or a Session Layer for the date change to be recorded as part of the Route or the Session (or both)

If you:-

• Load a Session into Surveyor. Change the date then select and edit a Session Layer (add, remove or move an object). Save. The new date will be stored in the Session.
• Load a Route into Surveyor. Change the date then select and edit a Route Layer (add, remove or move an object). Save. The new date will be stored in the Route.
• Load a Session into Surveyor. Change the date then select and edit a Route Layer (add, remove or move an object). Then select and edit a Session Layer (add, remove or move an object). Save. The new date will be stored in both the Route and the Session.

Sick of Winter in Your Session During Winter? Want it to Always Be Summer or Spring? Set the date to a Summer or a Spring month (or a Winter month if that is your "thing"). This will be saved when you save the Session.

There is an order of priority with dates in Routes and Sessions

1. If the Route and the Session are saved with different dates, then the Session date will decide the visible season.
2. If a Session does not have a saved date, then the date saved in the Route will decide the visible season.
3. If no date has been saved in the Route and the Session, then today's date will decide the visible season.

• Latitude and Longitude in degrees and minutes (with seconds added as the decimal fraction of the minutes - 10'30" would be entered as 10.50)
• Hemispheres - North/South and East/West
• Altitude in metres

	The Latitude determines the sun angle and, with the Date, the season of the year.
	Setting a high latitude value North or South will NOT change the times of sunrise or sunset. They are fixed at 06:00 and 18:00.

The Reset button sets all values to their defaults.
Click the icon to accept the entered data
Click the icon to reject the entered data

1. Open the Objects Tool in the Surveyor screen
2. Select the Delete tool
3. Click on the World Origin marker

This road traffic tool:-

• only works on roads that have been designed to use road traffic (not all roads support traffic)
• does not set the road traffic characteristics - the number and types of vehicles, which side of the road is used. These features are set in the Route Editor - Region by assigning a Region to the route. Details on how to create and assign a Region asset can be found in Create a Region Asset Wiki page

Set the Sky

This sets the basic sky and cloud characteristics

Settings: Click the Sky Title (Cloud Cover) to select from a drop down list of sky types, or Scroll through the list by using the Scroll icons

The box below the sky title will give a preview of the selected sky.

Set the Weather

This sets some very basic weather conditions. The set conditions will be constant throughout the running of a Session.

	Settings: Move the slider to set the weather between Rain and Snow

There are Session rules that also control the weather, including changeable weather conditions. Check the Trainz Wiki Session Rules list at Session Rules - Weather

Move the slider to set the wind strength between zero (left) and maximum (right)

More Tutorials and Guides to Using Trainz

• How to Guides
• Driver Commands List
• Session Rules List (Alphabetical) with Parameters
• Session Rules List (Categories) With Parameters