All Hallows Eve (Halloween)

Well some screens at 'Marlingwood Pass' in Halloween style.

Using the Halloween DLC Scenario pack assests and light mod for the 66.






Click for some bigger screens :)

Well im off later tonight to play some Amnesia :) Also some more video's are in making.

Chris

Well Hello to all since being my first post, here are three videos on the route from 'Little Stow' which i hope all are enjoyed. Filmed on all high/highest expect partical effects at 1920x1200 with 8xAA and 8x MLAA etc.

Shall post some more screens over time and from a small activity im currently making.

Take One!

This video has been made with the help of Chris Harrison, my newest tester who will also upload some videos of his own shortly. There has been an account made on Youtube for the route and the blog has also been transferred to this account instead of my own private one.

Welcome to the blog if you're new here! I hope you enjoy your browse and I encourage you all to get involved by commenting, contributing and emailing in anything you feel like saying. Thanks!

The Other Side

Hello again! Nice to see you back for the first blog entry since the big update.

Here's a screenshot of a 421 zooming along the coast at 85mph, the lighting looks superb thanks to the new features.


I have also recruited a new tester who has already started to capture screenshots for the blog and other places, as well as going over the scenarios and infrastructure with a fine tooth comb. The screenshot below is courtesy of him - Christopher Harrison. Welcome aboard!

Meanwhile I am continuing to add scenery, check signals and the third rail to the places it's needed in. A slow but steady progress will see us home eventually. As always, please feel free to comment or email in any ideas for scenery/scenarios and I'll do what I can to accommodate them.

With some more help from Richard Scott, I have also got some more signs in the route now and have almost completed a substation model to be used along the route where the third rail is used. It's already feeling very southern and that's no bad thing!

Still Here

Sorry to any regular readers for the pathetic lack of updates on here as of late. I've been busy at work and this week, now that I'm on sick leave for a dodgy infected bite, I've managed to get on with things on the route again just in time for TS2012 to ruin it all!

I promise to post again within the next few days with some more up to date screenshots, hopefully with the shiny new lighting and weather effects!

James Woodcock has an almost pantwettingly good video when he was lucky enough to visit their offices to preview TS2012. It can be viewed here.

Although we should be grateful for this fantastic update, this is probably the last good chance to BACK YOUR ROUTES AND WORK UP (just in case... what could possibly go wrong?).

Nostalgia

How about this for a trip down memory lane? You don't have to reach that far into the dusty vaults of the mind to remember this sort of scene, from times when windows actually opened, seats were comfortable and the air was breathable.

I have just treated myself to the new 4CIG and I have to say I really like it. It'd be nice if it had a green livery as well although I'm sure someone will make one soon. The two main bad points are the clicking sound (something to do with the compressors I hear) every few seconds - it's too loud, far too loud, plus there is no passenger view. RSC have been a bit stingy lately with quite a few models coming out without a passenger view. It won't take much, surely...

Anyway, an update on the route's progress... it's slow again now as I have finally got a summer job to fund the beer and other luxuries that help me through the long nights on things like this. I am also dubious about cracking on with the scenery when the next update could make life so much easier. I can't help think though that it's cheating somewhat; what do you think? I'll do my best to keep you informed, I promise you I have been doing things every now and then though!

Please feel free to comment and so on. Oh and one last thing, the 4CIG will NOT appear in the route to drive for legal reasons, however, I plan to release some free scenarios with the main route that contain some extra paid DLC for those that wish to use them, for example the 4CIG, Tornado, NSE 47 Pack, 08 and some of Digital Traction's masterpieces.

Advertising!

Here are a few snaps of some of the adverts to be used in the route.

Cutting Edge

Today marked the arrival of the promised third rail assets and I've spent about 20 minutes before going to bed in placing them in the route. These screenshots feature a cutting between Maze Green and Hillwich on the route (based on real life stations in South East London, no prizes for guessing which!) including the discarded junk thrown onto the line from above over the years.



I've also started to create my own items for the route, meaning lots more exclusive signs (e.g. car stop signs, large station signs, adverts and more) to see and use in the route and hopefully your routes too, later down the line. The screenshot below shows some of these on offer so far, although the textures do need a bit of work first. I've also made a more region-specific and era-related circular whistle sign consisting of a white disc with a black W in as has been present for at least the last 50 years in the aforementioned cutting.

Going Live!

Well, not the release, but Coalburn Trench will now be released with almost full electrification via third rail conductors!

A custom third rail asset is being made and the vast majority of the route apart from obsolete branches, old yards and freight routes are being electrified. This will finally complete the jigsaw of the Southern-themed route which just isn't right without it. Justified at last!

A huge player in this decision was thanks to the kindness of Richard Scott, who again has allowed me permission to package with the route his superb EMU pictured below and was the turning point in this decision. Of course I've always wished to have it electrified but until now it was beyond possible for various other reasons.


I've written a new update on UKTS, click here to view it. Comments/replies are welcome both as a reply to that thread or on here (or via email etc. should you have the details).

I hope this news is greeted with as much of a sigh of amazement as it did for me when I heard the news that it could be possible, although understandably I'm far more charged up than I should be (probably the nostalgia that drives this high)!

The exams are over (hurrah) so work can continue at a faster pace, although this lovely weather we've been having lately isn't helping the cause!

Enjoy!

Get that City Feeling

I've spent a couple of hours a day lately doing some of the city up. Longchain Cross and Newgore feature here and are based on real life stations. Thanks to JT for the new items of course! Progress will speed up after my final exam at the end of May.

Chalking More Off

A few more screenshots of areas nearing completion. Above, screenshots of the area around Crowhaven can be seen. The granite walls of the freeware version are likely to be phased out by the more region-specific chalk hills. Thoughts are welcome as always!

Progress

Hello all. This is my first post since I've had my urgently-required items made for me by JT. Screenshots of some WIPs have been sent to them for release soon, but here are some that may not be included. Enjoy!

... Due to Congestion in the Newgore Area

Big clue as to what the area is based on if you commute in London regularly... I've been putting a few things into place here and there to replace the resource-draining old scenery. Enjoy these shots of the large viaduct and some period traffic (both the Tornado and 101 are not included in the route blah blah...) in the mean time!

Swallowhill Reach

There has been some progress lately in the area surrounding this station. It's just up the line from Hartermist Road as featured in most of the previous post's pictures but unlike Hartermist (based on Farningham Road in Kent), this one is fictional. This station doesn't have a footbridge or subway, instead it relies on a line crossing with gates, adjacent to a coaling stage for locomotives. The trains must block some of this crossing when refilling, hence the wooden gate.

The station lies between two forks which meet to form a triangle and there's an exclusive village around it.