Overhauling trains from the London Underground Network

Hi everyone, I'm SP1900, a generally new developer still getting to know the ropes for making stuff for openBVE

Some of you may know me as Sachin Shankar and I am currently doing a small overhaul of the London underground trains

LU project list is as follows. No scheduled completion dates because real life will always get in the way for those

D78 stock - Refurb: 90% complete
D78 stock - Unrefurb: textures prepared and seat models completed but will be modified from completed refurbished train

A60 stock: Train effectively completed, needs some tarting up and some small details added. To be released with a route also in the works

Class 483: Mostly complete, some interior details to be added

There will probably be more depending on how much time I get to do them in the future

It's nice to hear somebody finally getting to making models of LU trains   I was planning to do 73 and 96 models a few times, but have never went far enough with them.


The existing model of green 86ts has wrong dimensions and dodgy coding (sides go all the way down to 0 and texture transparency is used to leave space under the floor open, this results in a hole on top of the car), so it's okay to have a new and (I hope) better model of it 

Yeah, I noticed. I used the Low quality 92TS bodyshell and I'm doing a few tweaks and texture improvements to get it done. The red train and the green trains were kind of easy as they have almost the exact same designs the 92TS so it sort of makes sense to use the LQ bodyshell for the work. The Blue train is going to need a bit more attention as it closely resembles the 86 and 95 TS trains in shape and design. Textures are pretty hard to find so I've had to make my own which have turned out ok but are not accurate.

One update in my plan is that I am building a late 1980s A stock train which, hopefully should be done by the new year. Anyway, Thanks a lot

I've done a 83ts with animated bogies and wheels, Might be handy for your trains?

Wow!! I like it!! It’s very impressive!! If you don’t mind I’ll try to fit an interior for it along with animated doors to add to the overhaul. I might also make a fictional refurbished version. If you could send me this train I could get started quite soon. PM me

Brilliant work! Do you by chance have any other.lul trains that you made/not in public domain?

It’s been a while so I thought I might post some update pictures. Brought the D stock back to life so that’s my main priority

Why do people still use Sketchup...Its the most horrible way of doing models for games

Erm... Nope it isn't. It is a tool as any other. It's not the tool deciding over the efficiency of the model, it's the user. You can create a very efficient model using SketchUp with the right workflow, especially if you do a proper cleanup of the model in Blender (where you have to load it anyways for conversion to csv/b3d) or by hand in a text editor in the csv/b3d export. And just as well you can create a terrible model with tons of useless vertices and faces while creating an object directly in a text editor. So don't judge people by the tools they use. SketchUp has a very intuitive workflow for recreating exact objects from simple photos. It's easier to recreate the shape of an object based on poor snapshots in SketchUp than based on proper blueprint scans in Blender.

You can't create a efficent model in Sketchup, For the amount of cleaning up in Blender you have to do you might as well just start from scratch.

Well, it's a builder's choice.  Some tools may be more efficient in theory, but a builder can be more familiar with something else and thus be more comfortable with the process of modelling. I still stick to notepad + ObjectViewer because of being able to build model in the way I find more optimized and convinient to work with unlike building using modifiers in 3d software and making them work right. Plus, no need for conversion and ability to patch any flaws noticed in game manually and quickly.

I can't create a efficent model in Sketchup, For the amount of cleaning up in Blender I have to do I might as well just start from scratch.

That's how I'd have worded this in your place. I know it's a normal human reflex and I won't deny having it myself - but it's usually wrong to judge the possibilities of a tool one isn't overly familiar with by one's own abilities with it.

Personally I don't see any valid reason for slandering someone because of the tool they chose to work with... Everyone should use what they are comfortable with. In the end, if you make it on your own, it's the outcome that counts, not the journey.

I am more than familiar with Sketchup hence my view.

LDelsin wrote:Well, it's a builder's choice.  Some tools may be more efficient in theory, but a builder can be more familiar with something else and thus be more comfortable with the process of modelling. I still stick to notepad + ObjectViewer because of being able to build model in the way I find more optimized and convinient to work with unlike building using modifiers in 3d software and making them work right. Plus, no need for conversion and ability to patch any flaws noticed in game manually and quickly.

Yes I mainly use sketchup to create a suitable base for my model and then use hand coding to add smaller components such as seats, bogies and other minor detailing. I find it slightly more efficient to create a simple bodyshell with sketchup and most of the problems I have can be fixed with hand coding

I've always used notepad+objectviewer, alongside a pen and paper to sketch outlines and note dimensions etc. 
Isn't there a danger that SketchUp (which I don't like) + Blender (which I've never seen or used) might create inefficient, bloated code with lots of unnecessary bits in it?
But I agree with Delsin, it's a case of what you're comfortable with and what works.

If you don't know what you're doing the risk is very high. If you do know what you're doing, and follow your strict workflow, you get the same efficient model as when working by hand.

Well, I’ve been working on the D stock bogies I hand coded this part since it’s much easier to do this way  I will need some advice on how to make the shoe gear  I already have a texture but I’m not sure how to model it so that it’s 3D

Should be a simple box and a small shoe. You can send the model to me, I'll handcode shoegears 

Thanks to Delsin, bogies are now completed. Much better job than I did and it looks amazing!

Nice work, both of you. :-) I would consider making the wheels look a little bit more curvy, though.

I left the wheels as-is, only added flanges and tweaked textures a bit. It's easy to fix on user's end though, but seems like another patch for the bogies is coming 

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Thanks.

so it’s been a while since the last update  I’ve been sick so I haven’t been able to do much  but I have started doing the interior  there isn’t much so far due to lack of textures but more will be on the way

SP1900 wrote:Thanks to Delsin, bogies are now completed. Much better job than I did and it looks amazing!

Looking good, however the pickup shoe should be more of a boat shape than a square. Each end is angled to help it slide along the current rails better. I have one somewhere if you need a photo.