And they're off ...

So there we are, our first stock pack for RailWorks is out there.

It's all a bit like being a dad again as it sets off into the world after all the development and challenges. The release itself seems to have been tantalisingly close for nearly a month with little issues that needed to be sorted and illness preventing the final clicks to let everyone play. Just in case you missed it, here's the link.

For good measure the website started throwing some errors over the weekend so the pack was held back while we traced what was going on there. If anyone is looking for a webhost we've used www.servage.net from the start and can't fault them when it comes to support, truely 24/7, always polite and speedy and more than willing to experiment to trace a problem. If you click the link above you'll even get a bit of extra webspace for good measure over the standard package!

What really makes release day great is when something like this appears in the inbox;

"Great product and the Masborough- Grangemouth activity is spot on with plenty of traffic and chasing yellows to keep you awake. Just wanted to add the detail you've incorporated into the Tankers is fantastic and the research to include the correct style tail lamp the icing on the cake. Great work and look forward to your future releases" Simon Barnes, Satisfied Customer.

Right, now where did those VDAs go ...?

Dirty Talk

The nice clean ex works pictures have all been very good, but lets face it wagons don't stay that way for long.

As a result here's a dirty version to make the clean one feels cleaner.

Safety First

After a bit of a struggle to find any suitable references we finally have a rear lamp that doesn't turn the entire train into a potential time bomb!

70t+ of petrol or diesel in a tank wagon and a lit oil lamp are probably not the best of combinations, especially when there's a large warning sign on the side of the wagon about naked flames.

The first solution to this issue was to use a barrier wagon to carry the tail lamp, therefore keeping the flame away from the volatile load in the wagon but this is neither practical or cost effective. As a result battery lamps were developed and deployed where required. Eventually the flashing versions we know today replaced the oil tail lamp across the network.

To accompany the 102t tankers we've modelled one if the earlier versions of rechargeable battery tail lamp manufactured by Chloride Bardic the well known maker of the hand lamp used by countless railway workers.

Death by Numbers

Just three of the eight instances of the number on each wagon!

It's been a few days of tinkering and changing since the start of the New Year. Still lots of little jobs to do, possibly making the Private Owner plate numbers dynamic may be going a bit too far?

Got Your Number

Just a quick screen shot before turning in of the tanks in game.

Most of the time today has been spent getting the dynamic numbers in place and blending properly. All that's left to do now is some final texture tweaks and refinements, like swapping out the strange coloured couplings now we know they're in the right place and work and making some dirty versions, some tweaks to the physics and completing the scenarios to accompany the wagons.

On a personal note I love those big red numbers, always thought them a bit rebellious as a kid when you saw tanks with numbers boldly applied on the ends and sides not constrained by a tops panel!