[dead] Wagons: More train stuff

[Allotrope]

be warned they will be back in the next version as they will be needed.

well, as far as new versions go, you could have a separate download with only the new files (so people don't redownload the ones that haven't changed)...doesn't help the initial download but, perhaps an improvement for those in Vitduo's situtation

That's a good idea. Perhaps, using Github or SVN.

[JamesOFarrell]

Perhaps, using Github or SVN.

I should probably be doing that anyway. I've always been a shocker for source control.

Just loaded the new sprites into the game and they look good. The animation on that carriage is really cool I'm not sure we will be able to use it because of the limitation of the mod API but I'll see what I can do. I also have the power rails in game and mostly working, I should have a new build in a few hours to test.

[Allotrope]

I also have the power rails in game and mostly working, I should have a new build in a few hours to test.

Awesome!

I got lazy with the textures...and the modeling... Pixely blurs work wonders.

Accumulator Carriage

[JamesOFarrell]

I should have a new build in a few hours to test.

Yeah, that was a bit of an underestimation. I have the power rails in and working but I am having issues with the collisions detection. Hopefully I can get it sorted tomorrow, if not I'll release what I have and see if anyone else can think of a solution.

Pixely blurs work wonders.

That is really awesome, can't wait to see it in game!

[JamesOFarrell]

I've just uploaded 0.0.4. This version includes power rail but I am not quite happy with how it works so please read the power rail second in the first post and let me know what you think. I am very open to suggestions on this.

Allotrope, there is a new sprite in the game for power nodes that sit next to the track. I made a shitty one but I was thinking if we make a sprite sheet with a bunch of slightly different variations I can randomly assign them as they are created so it doesn't look so samey. Thoughts? interested? Let me know =)

Edit: Use 0.0.6. Adding power rails exposed a bug that will cause your game to be unloadable.

[Allotrope]

I've just uploaded 0.0.4. This version includes power rail but I am not quite happy with how it works so please read the power rail second in the first post and let me know what you think. I am very open to suggestions on this.

Allotrope, there is a new sprite in the game for power nodes that sit next to the track. I made a shitty one but I was thinking if we make a sprite sheet with a bunch of slightly different variations I can randomly assign them as they are created so it doesn't look so samey. Thoughts? interested? Let me know =)

Edit: Use 0.0.6. Adding power rails exposed a bug that will cause your game to be unloadable.

Figuring out how to get the shadows and angles right in Blender has been fun. 60 degrees from ground is too little, 90 degrees is too much. I've also been trying to figure out how much the view rotates from sprite to sprite. I ended up getting a little less than two degrees, but the results were just slightly off. It get's progressively worse as it nears the bottom of the sprite sheets. I'll upload the .blend file is someone is interested in messing with it. I'm using Cycles, so getting a shadow catcher to work is a pain.

tl;dr I am up for something new. Messing with a power-node sounds nice.

As for the power rail situation, is it possible to make a special rail just for power-nodes? Like a 'powered-rail substation'? It could be a separate entity. Either a special track piece or a node that behaves like the train stop (can be placed along the track edges).

[JamesOFarrell]

Figuring out how to get the shadows and angles right in Blender has been fun. 60 degrees from ground is too little, 90 degrees is too much. I've also been trying to figure out how much the view rotates from sprite to sprite. I ended up getting a little less than two degrees, but the results were just slightly off. It get's progressively worse as it nears the bottom of the sprite sheets. I'll upload the .blend file is someone is interested in messing with it. I'm using Cycles, so getting a shadow catcher to work is a pain.

That all sounds so frustrating. I hate getting stuck just experimenting for hours. I did it with the power node stuff yesterday, it can be very spirit crushing.

So i found out everything has a collision mask and if i want things not to be destroyed or effect placing other buildings I should set that. So I did and now everything works. I can get rid of power nodes. It will looks like the rail is powered by itself. I can also make the Locos more reliable by checking the track tile for power instead of next to the track. It also means that the proxies will be in a reliable position now so animation is back on the table. Not while the carriages are moving but when they are stopped we should be able to overlay things like the roboport hatch or the accumulator charge animation. Rotation might be an issue still but it is progress.

This all means we don't need a sprite for the power nodes. Sorry if i wasted your time. I'm happy to look at the blender file for you. While i suck at making assets I can work the tools. Upload it somewhere and i'll see if I can figure it out

Edit: New version 0.0.7 uploaded. I think it is feature complete (except for liquid storage wagons, see the first post) so it is just art and bugs to go! If anyone wants to help test this is the version to go with, things should not change rapidly anymore.

[Allotrope]

This all means we don't need a sprite for the power nodes. Sorry if i wasted your time. I'm happy to look at the blender file for you. While i suck at making assets I can work the tools. Upload it somewhere and i'll see if I can figure it out

Edit: New version 0.0.7 uploaded. I think it is feature complete (except for liquid storage wagons, see the first post) so it is just art and bugs to go! If anyone wants to help test this is the version to go with, things should not change rapidly anymore.

I'm aliiive.

It's all good! I've been half dead for the last long while now. I hadn't even started on the power nodes.

Here is the .blend for the accumulator carriage. http://www.filedropper.com/accum

How were you handling the liquid storage wagons? Attaching a storage tank to them essentially? In any case, I think the devs want to implement a better oil system in the game by v0.12. (https://forums.factorio.com/forum/vie ... ?f=3&t=678) It would be kinda awesome to mod one before they get to it.

Awesome! I'll mess with the new version a bit. I want to start a new game anyway.

[GewaltSam]

Looks good, I think I'll try this out

[starxplor]

As for liquid carts, isnt that the point of using barrels? fill barrels, stick em on a cart, and empty at the destination. If you want to be able to cart around other than oil, add new assembler recipes for filling barrels?

Edit:

Now that I am home, I noticed the download link is on google drive. Any chance it might be uploaded somewhere else at a later date? Looking forward to playing with this mod some day.

[Rahjital]

Tank wagons would work with any liquid, including those added by mods, and would keep their temperature. Barrels lack this versatility - even if you add recipes just for filling and emptying barrels with the fluids added in vanilla Factorio, the crafting menu becomes rather cluttered, and mods like DyTech or Yuoki Industries would make that even worse. It's the thing I'm looking towards to the most in this mod, although the other things are really useful as well.

[JamesOFarrell]

I'm aliiive.

Good to hear. I have also been AWOL the last few days but I am back on track (haha, track) with the mod

Here is the .blend for the accumulator carriage. http://www.filedropper.com/accum

OK, i worked on this today. I managed to get it sorted quite early on but I had to run a full render a few times and the latest version takes my machine about an hour to run. Here is a rundown of the changes I made

I set the animation end to be 256, a full rotation as the power wagon is not symmetrical. I set a keyframe at 257 that had a rotation on the Camera/Light node of Z:360. I also deleted the plane you were using for what I assume was a nicer light source, not because I didn't think it looked good but because I had no idea what it did until it was way too late and I didn't want to start from scratch again. I added a new dun and messed with the angle of the light. I also changed the render size to be 285x215 (what I thought was the same as the current wagon, it should be 218... whoops....) and the camera to a orthographic camera, not sure why put there is a factorio modding tutorial that says to use this camera so I did.

That sorted the animation out for the sprite but we were still missing the ground shadow. I moved the plane.02 (the ground) to a different scene and gave it a default material. I also enabled shadow rendering in it. Then i created a bunch of nodes so it overlays a transparent version of that shadow onto the ground. I found this image, it is a great example of how to set it up. I added an alpha scale into it as well as the shadow was way too harsh, you can see that in the blend file.

Once that was done I installed Spritify and ImageMagick (needed for spritify) and set it to 4 tiles across (rows) and 0 offset. I am not sure if this gets saved into the blend file or if you will have to do it yourself but you will defiantly need to install ImageMagick.

Once you render the animation and you get a huge sprite sheet you need to cut it up. You can use Image Magick if you are lazy like me, this command should do it, just run it in windows from the command line. You will need to be in the correct directory:

Code: Select all

convert sprites.png +gravity -scene 1 -crop 1140x1744  cargo-wagon-spritesheet-%d.png

Right, that covers the changes I made... I think, if I missed anything or you need my explanation to be clearer just let me know. I'll probably write a tutorial on this at some point, if i do is it OK to use your blend file as an example? This should work now for all the wagons you want to make if you leave the animation and the scenes alone, just replace the model. if the model you have is symmetrical you can get away with only half the frames so set the end of the animation to be 128 before rendering to save a buttload of time.

Download the blend file here and the updated version of Wagons (0.0.8) https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5wuQo ... sp=sharing. The only change in 0.0.8 is the new sprite and the associated fixes to the entity for the new sprites. I'm not going to update the first post with it because I am not sure how happy you are with the model. I think it is ready and if you are happy I'll make the edit asap, just let me know what you want to do.

How were you handling the liquid storage wagons? Attaching a storage tank to them essentially?

I basically was dropping an invisible tank when the carriage was stopped. It would connect to a near by pipe and fill up. Then when you started to move I read the amount of the liquid in the tank and stored it so it could be restored later. The issue come up that I can't actually write that value to the tank when it gets put down, there is just no function call for it sadly. I did think of a really dodgy hack involving an invisible assembly machine and a bunch of recipes that create liquids, then an invisible pump that had a really high pump rate to fill the storage tank but it was to dirty, even for my standards. I have not given up but unless I come up with less dodgy plan it will have to stay out.

Looks good, I think I'll try this out

Awesome, let us know of any bugs or issues. It is pretty stable now but I am sure i missed some

As for liquid carts, isnt that the point of using barrels? fill barrels, stick em on a cart, and empty at the destination.

It is at the moment but it feels like a quick fix. The development road map talks about oil wagons so I assume that will replace barrels long term. It would have been cool to see it working though.

Any chance it might be uploaded somewhere else at a later date?

Here is a non google drive link, it is version 0.0.8. The only change from 0.0.7 is a awesome new sprite. Any reason you don't like google drive? I use it because I have an account and I know the file won't disappear in 6 months time. Is there a better option?

It's the thing I'm looking towards to the most in this mod, although the other things are really useful as well.

As mentioned above I can't think of an easy way to implement this. I will get off my ass and request the feature be added to the API asap but I am not sure if/when they will happen. Maybe I could try my dodgy idea with the crafting recipes...

[starxplor]

Any chance it might be uploaded somewhere else at a later date?

Here is a non google drive link, it is version 0.0.8. The only change from 0.0.7 is a awesome new sprite. Any reason you don't like google drive? I use it because I have an account and I know the file won't disappear in 6 months time. Is there a better option?

Just a personal aversion to google. This includes blocking cookies and scripts from any domain associated with google, which breaks things like google drive/docs, even if the uploader makes a conscious effort to not require a google account(by default, google docs require a google account to view unless specified otherwise by uploader)

As for alternatives, I do not know. I run my own personal server that I can drop into the few things I need to get out there so I have never had to look into file upload services.

I got the mod downloaded, thanks for the link. I will be trying it out with a new world either later tonight or tomorrow depending on how many biter bases I can wipe out in my current world.

[JamesOFarrell]

Just a personal aversion to google.

I can understand that, they are getting pretty big and they love tracking users.

I run my own personal server...

Yeah, this is the best option, i used to do it for everything but I have become lazy for hosting files.

Right. I have uploaded v0.0.9 and updated the first post, non google drive link is available as well. Now with Requester Carriages which were not possible before 0.10. Sadly I requested the liquid API change to late so we didn't get to see it in this version but there is another user, Rahjital, who is also after this change and seems to be popping up to ask the devs about it in a few threads so I feel pretty comfortable that something will happen soon. Thanks Rahjital!

[Rahjital]

I just want to see the oil wagons. I already grew completely dependent on the logistic trains to resupply my defensive outposts and gas stations, and with a tank wagons I could finally separate rafineries from production areas. I don't want to bug the devs too much about including the liquid interface, but if it's not in the next bugfix update, I'll try to make sure they know about it.

[JamesOFarrell]

I just want to see the oil wagons. I already grew completely dependent on the logistic trains to resupply my defensive outposts and gas stations, and with a tank wagons I could finally separate rafineries from production areas. I don't want to bug the devs too much about including the liquid interface, but if it's not in the next bugfix update, I'll try to make sure they know about it.

I am glad I am not the only one using this mod. I only wrote it as an execute to play with the API and didn't expect to use the mod much but I have found the features really useful. I now run all my trains electric and load/unload them via logistics bots. Because there is no need for inserters train stations can be compact. You have to re-think how you use your logistics network but it is pretty awesome. I have a new mod that I am playing with for shits and giggles at the moment using some of the ideas from wagons to make setting up outposts even easier. Hopefully I'll have an initial release soon.

[Rahjital]

I still tend to use inserters for unloading trains in stations, since I usually unload trains straight into furnaces and assembly lines and inserters are both cheaper and more reliable for that. Or maybe it's just because I like my train stations big. What I really love about this mod is all the new stuff it allows me to do, things like needing just some rails and a stop next to anything I want repaired, or not having to make a massive system for refuelling my gas stations automatically by trains.

The pocket bots mod is really cool as well, really saves one the need to carry a roboport with himself just to clear a road through a forest. (among other useful things, of course. )

[Colombo]

Can you make artilery wagon?

[JamesOFarrell]

Can you make artilery wagon?

Artilery or turret wagon? Turrets should be easy and I was thinking of adding them.

[Colombo]

Can you make artilery wagon?

Artilery or turret wagon? Turrets should be easy and I was thinking of adding them.

Both:D

Artilery could be good alternative to tower creep or megaultrapowerarmor. Just make armoured train and rails near enemy base and use it to shell spawners while gunning down bitters with turret wagons:)