More work after a small hiatus. Details into some of the processes that I use to make trains work in GMod.

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I took a bit of a hiatus for a couple of days, but alas, I have returned!

The current status:
Dogfish - Pretty much done, all I have to model is the braking system, and I'll do that on Saturday if i get some images from a friend, which would be after release.
14Ton Tanker - Not changed, but has been imported and redid the LODs/


What I have worked on since last post:
Texturing wheels
Rigging/animating wheels
Giving each model an LOD[Wheels, main models]. LOD = Level of display or lower quality models for farther away.
Importing into Gmod.
Slight texture work on main models.



I'd first like to start off by talking about a great map (I haden't taken any photos of it though) that was just posted. It's a version of Traincity [gm_traincity_v2], and it has both day and night maps in it. It is a beautifully done take on the original Traincity map, and i especially like the night version, it meshes so well with train-cars. You can find it here [not made by me]:

Day: https://steamcommunity.com/workshop/filedetails/?id=1124071931
Night: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1161953508

Currently I have this in gmod right now, and come to think of it, its on the new map I was talking about.

Dogfish and 14 Ton tanker on Gm-Traincity_V2. 

It wasn't too difficult to put them in gmod, and only had one easily resolved issue, I was nervous that with the high amount of tris, that there might be some corruption in the model, but thankfully there isn't, at least none that I can see.

I went back to do another thing, which is to model some LODs. LODs, or level of display models are models that take the same form and textural look, but have lower quality. Typically the smaller details are removed on LODs. Such as LOD1 has no rivets on it, this removes quality, but if doen correctly, the players will be too far to discern it. And LOD4 which is my farther has no details except for primitive shapes.

Heres a few images of the LODs

The wheels aren't included in the model ,they are separate.

Ballast* . My spelling isn't that great.

Foreground is the base model, what you see up close, 1.2k tris.
Background is what you see when farther away, 0.3k Tris (1/4 impact)

Every model in a game needs a physics model if it is to interact with its world physically. Physics models can be exact copies of the model, but this i able to cause lag, it is also larger unnecessary, and for these models in Gmod, impossible. These physics models are non textured invisible objects that are made out of as few shapes as possible.

The grey models to either side are the physics models, they are simple objects and the optimized yet work well. 

Wheels don't actually interact with anything in the world, they are just there for visual representation, so they get no physics model, and therefor are defaulted to "prop_dynamic", a model that can be moved, animated, but can't be enacted upon by or to physics. For physics on rails I use slider physics models, with a spawned in friction of around zero. They are separate from the main model so that the model itself can act like a normal metal, while the slider acts like a material with ~0 friction.  Articulated locos also use these so I can have them turn on an axis.

Physics model, has four sliding areas, and are angled like real train wheels so they settle into the tracks to lessen the likely hood of flange rub.

Will work more today and tomorrow, including fixing the sr 25 ton pillbox and then release. Next blog, you should see some different skins!

:D