How to Make Good Scenery
Trainz aficionados are a diverse group with varied interests in one or more of the multiple aspects of this game. Developing the scenery that surrounds the tracks is one such aspect, but one that only a seemingly limited few have really mastered. This How-To page will introduce those interested in improving the look of their route to techniques they can learn and apply. Although scenery objects (assets) are important and will be discussed, the focus here is on the landscape itself: the use of the Topology (sic) and Paint tools in Surveyor Mode. Although applicable to any version of Trainz, the text is based on the tools and renderings available in TRS2019.
For every route builder, the first consideration is achieving a scenery consistent with the landscape they are mimicking. Choice of objects, particularly vegetation (types of trees, for example.), is perhaps primary but topography—creating the terrain of hills, mountains, gullies, etc.—is of equal importance and should be the starting point for a new route or expansion of an existing route. Another rule requiring consideration is the "decrease detail with distance" rule. The computer will attempt to render everything you have added within a scene, a scene that is constantly moving with the train being operated. Great detail may be called for close to the track, but not at distances far from the track; details should decrease with distance on the premise that no one is really going to notice them, no matter how much fun they might be to create, and renderimg them places a cost on performance.
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Layout
As a general rule, Trainz users that develop routes tend to follow one of two layouts: the Linear model or the Area model. Placement of map squares end to end allows the Linear model to develop long track runs with minimal effort. An excellent example is "Belarusian woodland" by Oleg Khim. The Area model (a large map of many squares) takes more effort but can better render distant scenery. An excellent example of this style is "Sebino Lake, Italy (1980s)" by jango. The two layouts styles are sometimes combined with Area layouts used for places of cities, dense industries, and complex train yards, connected by long runs of Linear layouts. An example approaching this style is "Coal Country" by Scratchy. Note that layout choice is independent of prototypical vs. imaginary route design.
With the Linear model, the edge of the map is always a short distance away from the track, dictating specific scenery choices to obscure this fact from the view of the train. The Area model is especially suitable to creating mountainous country, such as depicted in "TRS19 Canadian Rocky Mountains - Viktor Lake to Ross Peak & Glacier" by RoysTrainz. Mountains that rise high above the track elevation require space to gain that elevation without displaying unreal slopes. The Area model can also be used to compress a lot of track in a small baseboard by separating track areas with tall features (hills or backdrops). This layout "folds" a Linear track into an Area layout following techniques used by model railroads.
Hills and Valleys
Enhancing topography changes a flat baseboard into one with hills and valleys, opening up opportunities for road and railroad cuts, viaducts and bridges, and, of course, tunnels. Varied topography establishes glimpses of the wider world as a train moves down the track. Of course, a generally flat terrain is realistic for many parts of the world and certainly not a 'bad' thing. Topography on a Route is developed using the Topology tool in Surveyor mode (correct term would be "topography"). The top row in this tool menu has settings for Height up 'U', Height down 'D' and Adjust height 'A'. These settings determine what the topography tool will do when applied to the surface of the map and a selection must be made before the tool will work. However, before applying, set the radius and sensitivity of the tool with the Cursor radius '+/-' and Sensitivity '[/]' dials, respectively. The next row has additional settings, the most useful of which is on the right: the Plateau 'P' setting. The Get height 'G' setting appears to do nothing in Trainz2019. The Use height 'H' setting sets the topography tool to draw the ground at the height setting entered in the box to the left.
The process of creating a varied terrain starts by raising (and perhaps lowering) the ground surface using moderate radius and sensitivity settings. Practice using different settings for radius and sensitivity to develop skill in using this tool. Once the basic terrain has been established, the Plateau 'P' setting can be an excellent smoothing tool. Set the sensitivity high and the radius dependent on how large an area to be smoothed. This setting uses the elevation at the tool center and moving it quickly over a limited area, regularly resetting the center point will change a rough surface into a smooth slope. Again, practice is necessary to acquire this skill. Assuming your tracks are already in place, this setting (with diameter at small) allows you to bring slopes in close for realistic cuts or fills near the line.
Coloring (Painting)
Coloring the landscape ("ground texturing") is accomplished with the Surveyor Paint tool. This tool opens a display of all the of the "paints" or tiles residing locally on your computer. Each combines colors and textures (in 2D) providing hundreds of possible choices for painting the ground. This tool is a paint brush with the ability, after selecting a tile, of enlarging the tile image (Texture scale 'Ctrl [/]') and changing the tile orientation Texture direction '[/]'). The diameter of the brush tool is set by the Radius '-/+' dial. A Get texture 'G' tool turns on a pointer that, when clicked on a painted location on the map, loads the tile in the brush. The loaded tile is shown in the square directly above the "Radius" dial. If you locate a tile by typing a word/name in the box above the tile display columns, the square displaying the loaded tile does not work if you then select a tile using the selection tool, even though the selected tile is likely loaded into the brush. We say "likely" because a painted area can become a combination of several different tiles, with certain tiles dominating the selection tool to the exclusion of what is displayed.
Once a selected tile is loaded, the image is painted across the terrain.
Open up the Edit Menu (top menu bar, second from left) and pick Edit Environment from the list. This opens up a small window titled Environment - Lighting. To the right of the cloud preview window and boxes to select ambient, sun, and water color is a vertical slider. Clicking on the green dot at the bottom of the time dial turns the slider on for midday. Now adjust the slider to set a proper brightness; too bright, and your color tile selections will look washed out.
Picking tile colors
The number of choices of coloring tiles is large, easily in the hundreds. Picking a suitable tile is first a matter of deciding what sort of ground you wish to portray. The basic categories are going to be: vegetation, rock, bare soil, and water. Vegetation is likely to occupy the largest area of the map, except in very dry climates (e.g., deserts, dominated by bare soil) and rocky areas with thin soils. Water is discussed in more detail below under "Water Features".
Tile basics
Initially, decide on a suitable "theme" color best representative of the location and type of terrain you intend to emphasize (say, dry grassland) and paint broad areas with this theme color. The purpose here is to unify your rout's overall look. Of course, you might have more than one theme color if patches are typical or hills look different than valleys or plains.
Water Features
Of all the various landforms one can create, water features hold the greatest potential for enhancing scenery along a Route. And water is superbly rendered using the water tools found in Surveyor Topology - Get height. Three tools are provided: Add water 'W', Adjust height 'E', and Remove water 'Q'. An input box for setting water surface height is provided. The Add water tool paints a surface in the same manner as coloring, described above. However, the water surface has unique properties, the most significant being it is transparent and reflective. Improvements in rendering of these properties with each successive Trainz version has certainly been a major contribution to making a realistic CGI.
Painting water establishes a level surface at the setting in the water surface height box. Expanding this surface always maintains the same height as long as you begin painting from the existing surface (no need to adjust the setting). The Adjust height 'E' tool adjust the entire connected surface all at once, but does not change any other water surfaces on the map not connected to the one being adjusted. Thus, you can create a series of lakes at different elevations so long as the water surfaces of each are not connected. Determine this independence by selecting Wireframe View in the Display Menu (or pressing F9). This displays the baseboard in white and the water surface(s) in grey, removing all the painted surfaces. Use the Remove water 'Q' tool to disconnect close-by water surfaces that you wish to set to different heights. Working upstream of a long river, you can progressively raise the surface of segments at points with rapids, waterfalls, or dams. Just be sure the water surface is broken at these points. An oddity built into the Adjust height tool is that if you hold down the Shift-Key while raising or lowering the water surface, the surface becomes bendy, going up or down within a limited area, no longer representing a level surface. If you bend it too much, it snaps back to a level surface at some new height.
Water Color
Because the water surface is transparent, the color of the water feature and/or the nature of the bottom can be established by coloring the underlaying board surface. Over a baseboard without coloring, water has a bluish-green cast and the board grid shows through. Creating muddy water or an algae-colored pond then becomes a matter of selecting an underlying color producing the desired result. The intensity of these underwater paints is controlled not by the distance between the water surface and the baseboard (water depth), but by distance from a shore. At around 40 m from a shore, the bottom fades away (no matter how colored) and water color darkens. This property is one of the great improvements made between TRS2012 and TRS2019 versions. Essentially, realistic deep water is built in and need not be rendered by painting the bottom with progressively darker color or physically lowering the surface (which never worked anyway). Thus, the offshore bottom need not be any deeper than the nearshore shoaling. Ocean depths are not rendered by depth or coloring; you can bother to color or not color deep water bottom. See "ocean" below to learn how to change the color of deep water on your route.
Open up the Edit Menu (top menu bar, second from left) and pick Edit Environment from the list. This opens up a small window titled Environment - Lighting. Here you can set the color of your water features (one setting sets all). Make sure the time dial is pointing straight down (noon) and click on the green dot below it. Selecting any dot turns on the tools that establish the color ambiance of the Route at the time of day represented by the position of the green dot, but starting with noon is most influential for the daylight hours. The three boxes to the right of the cloud preview determine what the color dials will influence; the bottom box is water color. Selecting that box and then tweaking the red, green, and blue color dials allows setting water color over a wide range. The vertical slider to right sets the overall brightness of the scene (not just water).
Water Surface
In addition to transparency and reflectivity, the water surface in Trainz has a third unique property: that of water surface condition. Nine different "sea state" conditions are available under Edit Environment in the Edit Menu. Select Environment (sun rising icon) and note Water (2nd from bottom). Click on the text window to produce a list of available options. If your water surface is showing behind the Environment - Environment window, you will see instantly the effect of changing the water surface property from "glassy" through "rough". The setting will apply to all the water surfaces created on your route, so you may have to compromise if you have both ocean and inland lake/pond water features. Click on "X" (top right) and your selection is saved, the window closed.
Ocean and large lakes
Sea coasts and large lakes are extensive water features extending out to some horizon from the shoreline.
Problems
- .... List problems here
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