Autorack Scrunchies

[slider38]

I downloaded the BB TTX Autorack and am trying to convert it into an Auto-Max car - I found an image on the internet to use as an example. Anyway, when I tried testing it, all the cars were scrunched together. I thought that perhaps the runlength was wrong so I tried increasing it, first to 38 and then to 42. That didn't help, so I assume that the problem is in the dummies.nif file, which I know nothing about. The original TTX posting was yours Snoopy. Perhaps you could take a look at the dummies file and put me on the right track here for a fix. The attached pictures show how the original files look, and how my files look. Things are a bit tight, but I have no idea what to do with a dummies file. The original xml with the BB showed a runlength of 30. Is that correct? Slider

auto_scrunch.jpg

[snoopy55]

Runlength has nothing to do with distance between cars. I really have no idea what that does since I have found no reason to mess with it. What you are looking for is in the dummies NIF. This is a bit of a touchy item, so take your time at it.

First, copy the two dummies for the Auto Car and rename them to match your new car. If you are using the original for the V1, leave that one alone. On to the V2.

Open the NIF and click on line 6. Go down to Block Details and make note of the value of Y in the Translation line, about halfway down. It's -106.1577
Go up and click on line 7 and make note of the Y again, -72.7699. I should note here that line 6 is the coupler point where it hooks up to the next car, in the back in this case. Line 7 is the pivot point for the truck, again, the rear in this case.
The difference between the two is 33.3878. This number is NOT the same for all cars, and in some cases, this number is not the same for the rear and front. Go figure
I'll let you get the numbers for the front yourself.
Now, go to your car itself. In it you will find b_wheel_01 thru b_wheel_04. These are the axle points. Halfway between them is the pivot point. You're looking at the X in this case. b_wheel_01 has a value of 89.8660, and b_wheel_02 has a value of 55.9709. The algebra formula we are looking for is W01+((W01-W02)/2). In laymen terms, subtract b_wheel_02 form b_wheel_01, (33.8951) divide that by 2 (16.9475) and add that to b_wheel_02 (72.9184).
If you look up at line 7 you will see that the numbers are close. Line 9, the front pivot point, is 73.0307, which is even closer. Ignore the negative, that is of no concern here.

Go and do the calculations on your new Autorack and come back.

Ok, this is where the dummies numbers come in. Take the number you got from your calculation and put a negative of it in line 7, the Y in Translation. Put a positive in the same place in line 9.

Now take the numbers you got in subtracting the pivot from the hookup and adjust those two numbers. Be sure to get the positive and negative correct. This will give you a base to test with.

From here on, any adjustments you do with the hookup values, do it equally to the front and back. While adjusting only one will look OK for a string on these cars, it may not look right if other cars are connected.

Now that I've totally confused you , take two aspirin, have a cup of coffee , stay away from the liquor , and feel free to question me .....nicely.

[slider38]

Thank you for the Dummies lesson (or perhaps Dummies lesson for dummies). Things look good now. The numbers I settled on are HB y = -170.9, PB y = -120.3, HF y = 170.7 and PF y = 119.83. If you have time you might want to update the TTX BB. All I did was repaint the diff file and make some adjustments to the nrml file, so I would assume it will suffer similar spacing problems. Thanks again for your help Snoopy. I'd never have gotten anything much accomplished without your and Bobby's help. Slider

[snoopy55]

Thank you for finding that. The problem originates in the B&R map itself. They had three Autorack cars, V1, V2 and BNSF. Their only engines running V2 were set to run Passengers and Mail only. All the rest were BNSF. So when I did the cars, I naturally used the V1 and V2 dummies. Figuring this, when I did up the BN Autorack Car, I used the same ones. Silly me ....

will update them now. Thanks so very much. Few people who find errors report them.

[Renothian]

Well I found one I can't figure out... all other custom cars look fine and great, and the files for either TTX or BN autorack look fine when I look at the files themselves, but only on these autorack cars and no other cars, when in game the green looks like its splattered and smudged all over the car like fungus growing on it, nothing like its supposed to or the picture shows... I don't get why just this auto rack :S

[Renothian]

autorack1.jpg

I just wonder why the autorack I got here, either TTX or BN looks like this, is it supposed to look like this?

[bobby]

autorack1.jpg

I just wonder why the autorack I got here, either TTX or BN looks like this, is it supposed to look like this?

Ok i just looked at this BN Autorack traincar and the Nif had some name errors in the files used which did not match up the emsk nrml and spec were not right so i fixed this and will I check the TTX one and see if it is the same problem. And will Update them in the Building Blocks ASAP.

SMRailroads!0000.JPG

The TTX Autorack seems fine to me as show below.

ttx_autorack.JPG

[Renothian]

Well yours looks fine, yes... and so do the select other custom cars I use... except this autorack, when I use it, it looks like a shading problem, I see its got SOMETHING to at my end, but I don't get why just this car... the green on the ends on mine looks like moss growing around the sides... hmm...

I gotta get some sleep, I'll check it out tomorrow, thanx

[bobby]

Well yours looks fine, yes... and so do the select other custom cars I use... except this autorack, when I use it, it looks like a shading problem, I see its got SOMETHING to at my end, but I don't get why just this car... the green on the ends on mine looks like moss growing around the sides... hmm...

I gotta get some sleep, I'll check it out tomorrow, thanx

Well the BN_Autorack traincar I fixed it before i ran it in the game.
The File in the Traincar Building blocks forum has been for it now.

As for the TTX_Autorack I can not see any problem at all with its Nif or files.
So Check your Games settings for the graphics and try changing them and see what happens.

We test all our files before we upload them but sometimes we miss an error or upload a wrong set of files and if folks out there dont let us know about any problems they do not get repaired so we appreciate that you took the time to post about it and do hope that you continue to post about any more you may find.

[snoopy55]

Well bobby, your not quite correct in that. NOW we test them in map before uploading them. The early ones, such as those two Autoracks, were pulled directly from the maps. At that time Mod makers chose to name every file for the name of the car. In cases like the BN Autorack I took the '_bn' out of the file names because the SPEC, EMSK and NRML could be used in any Autorack Mod. The TTX version was supposed to be done the same way. I'm guessing it was done before I started using common names for those three file types. Somewhere in the rush of things I screwed up on the BN version.

Hey, I try to be perfect all the time, but more often than not it gives me a headache so I have to settle for 'not quite so perfect'