anybody know of a good train engine model? I've found lots of box cars (easy enough to just make too), but no engine so far. I have a trainyard in my map, and it would be nice if I could have a nice big idling locomotive sitting there too.

theres many in the source SDK :/

there are also a few good ambient sounds in the source sounds gcf file that may be of interest, like the distant train sound, which is quite excellent. good luck with your map.

i dont recall ever seeing a loco or a good one at least, source pwns in that respect that it has many train models

i made this a few months ago, i was going to make a map based on an old '30s style train station for dod, but i just forgot about the whole idea. i made this model to go in it, i started skinning it but the cabin wasn't uvmapped that well and i can't skin stuff that well. but if anyone else wants to try and skin it, and probably uvwmap it unless i can do it again.


http://img173.exs.cx/img173/6131/locomotive23ts.jpg

http://img173.exs.cx/img173/5563/locomotive41ps.jpg

damn that looks sik

That's one sexy train surgeon. :)

holy shiznit surgeon! thats awesome! can I use it? it would be great if someone skinned it, but for that nice a model, I'd learn how to do it myself!

that train would be so awesome on one of those objectives maps. watching it blow up on a bridge over a river...oh the possibilities

id does look awesome, thinking of the poly count scares me tho

everytime i visit these forums i ruin a new pair of pants

That would be a sorely inefficient model to have in a map.

Originally posted by Gorbachev
That would be a sorely inefficient model to have in a map.

yeah, and it would look out of place with the rest of my crappy work ;)

seems like a model with that much detail should be the main focus of the map.

it's around 10,000 polys so far, including the caboose (coal cart on the back), but that could be removed, it's not actually connected to the engine. and i might be able to get it lower, if i made the wheels plainer. right now there's a rim all the way around, and then the smaller rim on the front stick out aswell. i could have those either as flat circles, which might look out of place in source, or just cut down on the polys in them another way.
i also have no ideal poly limit to work with. weapon models on older games are usually around 1000-1500 polys each, and player models maybe around 2,000, but this is source and i don't know what models should be around.
but, you wouldn't have many of these in a map, it's not like a lamp post model or anything, you'd have maybe just one of these in the whole map, and with the HL2 model fade sphere things in Hammer that let you set individual clipping distances for models, so you could just set this to only render when you're in a certain distance. and after it's skinned, i could easily make a lower detail LOD model.


there's something else i was going to say but it's 1:30am and i can't remember. but if anyone wants to try skinning it, i can send the model, and uvmap the best i can if i have to.

you know im having a trainstation in my map im working on and such a model might come in handy, especially since the train will be inside of a trainyard with many walls blocking it. and itll only come into view if you enter the building.

I suggest combining a good skin with the train to create a lot of illusion, often it will look a lot better if you don't model out every single detail. While Source allows for more polies, it's not an excuse to just go all out, there are still limitations.

The train wheels are far too blocky.

Originally posted by CrazyTalk
that train would be so awesome on one of those objectives maps. watching it blow up on a bridge over a river...oh the possibilities


This would have been awesome for dod_train_b1 that I was working on before leaving the scene... the map was based around this particular objective ; )