Real interest in the sim.

I think I ought to tick the last one! 

@graymac: You should have, looks like nobody has found the balls to do so yet! :-D

I can't guarantee how much 'real' interest there is, but for what it's worth, the main site has ~1,000 unique hits a day.
That translates to ~250 downloads.

To share a bit of stats with you, BVE Klub has approximately 300-900 page loads per day and about 100 clicks on content downloads. Either Friday or Saturday is "strong", the normal weekdays are usually "weaker".

Dexter wrote:looks like nobody has found the balls to do so yet! :-D

I have 

I'd consider myself somewhere between the first and the second, though much closer to the second, especially these days.

Results so far look like a covid restaurant  -   more cooks than diners

That was actually one of the points... I am guessing the regular users just can be asked to answer. They come here seeking answers, no to answer something on their own...

Movingmillion wrote:I'd consider myself somewhere between the first and the second, though much closer to the second, especially these days.

Hi,
I think this more or less describes my own situation at the moment. I am still learning my way through the (Open)BVE world, having recently rediscovered the sim. In time to come, I would like to do some work on cleaning up the Dutch routes as published by Martin Fonda quite some time ago (I am in the Netherlands myself), but I want to first get acquainted with all the "what and how".
So, do not expect many results from me in the near future, only questions!
So far,
Hans.

Can't run BVE on my current hardware and haven't developed for years, but still check in now and then.

I've made my own route with the help of GB Maps http://gbmaps.karyait.net.my/ but it needs scenery objects. I can use Blender and SketchUp to make objects but there doesn't appear to be a tool to convert the Blender or SketchUp objects to BVE format. I've done quite a few sceneries for X-Plane as they have a conversion tool.

There's a Converter from SketchUp, but you can actually export to .obj format and just use that in OpenBVE.

Converter from .obj to .b3d:
https://bveklub.wordpress.com/letoltes/#Alkalmazasok

Is GB maps easy to use or is it professional.

adstar wrote:Is GB maps easy to use or is it professional.

GBmaps uses google maps to allow you to plot out a route and then generates the route using objects inputted into the program (I think,). It does take a bit of time to get used to and sometimes there can be quite a bit of setup (mostly if you're inputting custom objects into the program) but it might be helpful for those who like to visualise the routes they build. Personally, doing it the old fashioned way works for me even though I'm still way too slow!


Back on the forum topic, used to just be a user of the sim until a few years ago when I thought it would be fun to make things that weren't in the sim or at least better versions. Took me 4 years to get the hang of it but I'm glad I did. Getting into contact with other developers for the sim has helped me improve on things that I make as well

Phonteus Nevolius wrote:There's a Converter from SketchUp, but you can actually export to .obj format and just use that in OpenBVE.

Converter from .obj to .b3d:
https://bveklub.wordpress.com/letoltes/#Alkalmazasok

Thanks I will try it

adstar wrote:Is GB maps easy to use or is it professional.

It works great as far as plotting the basic route on Google maps is concerned, then you just add your objects. But the set of tracks lacks fine detail. It hasn't been updated since 2017. I will update with a picture later, I'm still trying to solve a "no sound" issue.

Raffles wrote:I've made my own route with the help of GB Maps http://gbmaps.karyait.net.my/ but it needs scenery objects. I can use Blender and SketchUp to make objects but there doesn't appear to be a tool to convert the Blender or SketchUp objects to BVE format. I've done quite a few sceneries for X-Plane as they have a conversion tool.

There is a good plugin for Blender but it has not been updated for new Blender versions. You have to use a 2.7 version I think, from memory.
You can build your objects in a later version of Blender, save them and open them in 2.7 and use the plugin.

Here is the link-
https://bveworldwide.forumotion.com/t1576-modeling-for-openbve-in-blender-3d-editor?highlight=blender