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Scenery File and Folder Tutorial

In this tutorial you will learn where to place the files and the naming conventions used for files and folders for a new Trainz Scenery item.

NOTE The name tutorial is used for the folder structure. Replace tutorial with the name of your model.

1. Custom folder

The following screen shot shows the directory structure for the custom folder. Some folders may not be present on your machine. If the scenery directory is not present then you will need to create it.

Figure 1 custom folder contents

2. Folders and their names

Open the scenery folder. Create a folder for the project and use an appropriate name. There is only one folder required for a scenery item which is the main folder. I have used tutorial for the name of this project. Replace tutorial with the name of your mesh. Avoid using spaces in the name.

3. File names

Once the folders are named correctly then you can move your mesh and its textures into the main folder. Rename the mesh as shown in Figure 2 but do not rename any of the other files.

Figure 2 Renamed .im file

Once you have done this you need to create a config.txt file and reference the new folder in it with the entry asset-filename tutorial When complete you should be able to start Trainz and the new object should show up in Surveyor. If it does not show up then you may have a spelling mistake in either the folder name or the config.txt entry.

4. Scenery objects with lights at night

In TRS2004 you can have a special mesh representing the lights of the scenery object This should be placed in a subdirectory called Tutorial_Object_Nightwindows

Figure 3 Folder structure showing the Nightwindows folder

Figure 4 Contents of the Nightwindows folder

5. Scenery objects with animation

In TRS2004 you can add animation to any scenery object using the mesh table to reference the animation.

Figure 5 Folder Structure showing the animation folder

Figure 6 Contents of the animation folder

6. Special scenery objects - turntables

The directory structure for a turntable is a little different form standard scenery objects requiring a Pit and a Spinner folder and should be setup as follows

Figure 7 Contents of the Tutorial_Turntable folder showing the config.txt file

Figure 8 Contents of the Pit folder

Figure 9 Contents of the Spinner folder

6. Special scenery objects - Level crossings

The directory structure for a level crossing is also different from a standard scenery object with a second folder names the same as the parent folder required and should be setup as follows

Figure 10 Contents of the main folder

Figure 11 Contents of the Tutorial_Level_Crossing sub-directory

7. Scenery objects with sounds

The correct location for sounds for a scenery object is in the main folder with the config.txt file.

Figure 12 Main folder showing the sound file

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