Platform won’t Load in MSTS

Take a quick look at the model in ‘wireframe’ mode and you will see the individual triangles.

Richard… Screenshot attached (hopefully) of the platform I’ve built. andnbsp;Everything is in the correct spot using wizard but the shape file won’t load in the Route Editor. andnbsp;Perhaps it is too large ( 1240KB uncomp., 62KB compressed). I’ve tried it both ways but apparently the supporting posts which I tapered and subtracted to create the correct appeareance have too many points, vectors, etc. for MSTS to handle. andnbsp;Is there a way I can reduce these points without scraping all my work to simplify the design? andnbsp;It’s based on a prototype so I’d like to save it. andnbsp; Anyway to reduce faces andamp; points in 3D LP? andnbsp;HELP!

Thanks to all. andnbsp;Went back and broke the model down into component sections. andnbsp;The problem was with the support posts for the station platform. andnbsp;Since I wanted to achieve the curved effect on these beams I created a lot of extra faces (and vectors in the shape file). andnbsp;I simply compiled these as a separate file to be installed within the route editor and everything went well. andnbsp;It was a very high poly count that did me in initially.
All is well

MSTS does have problems with large (large number of faces, not overall size) models which are a single object or group. If you can keep the individual bits as separate objects, and group them in a hierarchy of groups it might be able to load it. This will also allow the Wizard to create ‘distance models’ removing details as you move away from it, improving frame rates.

Speaking of frame rates, a model this complex will be a bit of a killer for frame rates. Make sure you go round and delete any faces that will not be seen, such as the ends of the posts and any underneath faces. Also, consider making complex shapes using transparency on a single face rather than building it up from lots of separate objects. andnbsp;Reduction of the ‘poly count’ is the name of the game.

You may need to put this shape file to a dat file (I forgot the name
but I am sure it is *.dat) so that MSTS will read this file and determine
which shape file to be loaded.

I don’t know, but I am not the andquot;expertandquot; on how to get around MSTS limitations. The best source for this information is the MSTS specific discussion forums.

Richard

Good suggestions. andnbsp;When I get a little more comfortable with this I will try it……reducing the poly count seems very, very important. andnbsp;As built, the station (since I only installed one of them on my route) doesn’t cause a big andquot;frame hitandquot; when I run past it since it located in a rural small town. andnbsp;Frame rates drop from 18-19 down to 14-15 when passing the station. andnbsp;I will certainly give your approach a try. andnbsp; Thanks again. andnbsp;Does deleting faces (such as the tops and bottoms of things that don’t show) affect the texturing? If I’ve already done the texturing and go back and delete these surfaces won’t that louse everything up and I’ll have to retexture the whole model?

joe Cooney, Ocala, FL

Congratulations on building a good looking model. However to make it a good and useable model needs a bit more work. I am still learning this the hard way myself. You can make it look just as good, but with a low poly count and then it will be a great model. Hopefully the pic below should give you some ideas.

I created a simple texture with the post shape done in the transparency layer.

I then took a cube primitive, delete 4 sides, leaving the left and right side. I applied the texture to both sides and resized the cube.

I then took another cube primitive, deleted 4 sides leaving the front and back and painted them solid. I resized the cube to complete the vertical post.

Then I cloned this cube, resized it and rotated it 45 degrees on the X axis and put it in to complete a suport.

I then cloned this cube, rotated it 180 degrees on the Y axis and finished the other support.

Taking into account the rendering deficenceies in 3DC, and with a little more care, it should look just the same as your posts once it is in MSTS. This post has 8 rectangular faces, ie 16 triangular ‘polys’. I suspect one of your posts has 100+ polys, and with 12 of them on your platform, that is equivalent to a well made locomotive.

Please don’t take this as criticism, I made all the same mistakes when I started making models and just wanted to take the opportunity to point people towards finding better ways of doing things.

I understand…..just thought there was a andquot;no sweatandquot; shortcut. Thanks again. andnbsp; andnbsp;It looks great as is….I will work on reducing the facings on the support posts. andnbsp;Already went back in and deleted the faces that are hidden from view. andnbsp;How about using the shaping tool to curve the beams? andnbsp;Will that create more faces?
Joe C.

Yep, I believe deleting faces will mean you have to re-apply all the textures again to that object. Richard has been working at making more operations work without doing that, but I don’t think he has done the face delete operation yet. However, having built the model, it does not take too much work to reapply textures (and of course there will be fewer faces that need textures <!– s:-) –><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!– s:-) –> )