•This is a summary before you buy this package, please read it carefully•
At this moment, we are very proud to be able to offer you another product with our brand. If you are already our customer, you notice that we are constantly developing new techniques and improvements in our models, with each new release, you can expect new improvements added to it. That's exactly what happened in the Sierra Railroad No.3 Ten-Wheeler project; so we recommend that you take 5 minutes to read this post and understand all the details.
The first step for this project, after we had decided what was really going to be done, was to have a good drawing in hand with all the measurements of the machine and the tender. This is a locomotive very well known by train enthusiasts and especially old steam locomotives like this one, from the end of the 19th century. Fortunately, thanks to some technical information about the locomotive released through the RAILTOWN 1897 STATE HISTORIC PARK website, it was possible to make calculations and draw the locomotive in line with the real data.
The work of measurements, calculations and until we had the drawing 100% completed in hand took about 3 months, adding that to another 2 or 3 months to finish the rest of the project that included, the complete construction of the 3D mesh, all externally and internally visible parts of the locomotive, and everything that can be interacted with by the player. By far this was the biggest project our team has ever been able to experience, it was challenging to deliver it in the most effective and convenient way.
Exclusively in this project, more than 280 textures in high definition were created and used. We did this to achieve the most satisfying visual result possible supported by Dovetail Games Train Simulator 2022. Practically, each part built in 3D on this locomotive has its own texture, with 2K or 4K resolution. But unfortunately, this came at a cost at the end of the project; and you will understand why.
It was tricky as we didn't expect our website hosting servers to have a 1GB limit for each file placed here. Therefore, when you finalize your purchase of 1891 Rogers Ten-Wheeler locomotives, you will not receive the textures in the automatic download.
On the product page you will have all the information and guidelines and it is not complicated. You will automatically pay and receive the complete locomotive, and a separate link will be available for you to download almost 3GB of high definition textures for this model, on the same page. Just install the .RWP files and no installation order is required. And, of course, carefully read the operations manual.
So, we found that TS is capable of handling massive, highly detailed textures! But on the other hand, it's not worth it as it takes up much more disk space than anything else. Of course, our next projects will not receive this amount of textures, but we will approach it in another way to maintain or improve the quality of the final model.
And you may wonder: Why didn't they redone all the textures? And the answer is simple: We didn't want to spend another 1 or 2 whole months on this model, once it is finished and working perfectly. Also, it was tested numerous times, and in the end our team and our beta testers approved it. It will not harm you at all. Just make sure you have a good amount of free space on your hard drive. (approx. 8GB per bundle after unzipped and installed on your TS).
In one of the last updates before this launch on our Facebook page, we made it clear that we will have two releases for this locomotive, and perhaps a third in the future. The first release is this one. The second should arrive next week, and the third still doesn't have a forecast. We decided to release the bundles separately, as they literally have differences in 3D mesh and textures. The rest, it's all the same, but still; it's a new product, so they are separate.
This bundle is the 1891 Rogers Sierra Railroad Ten-Wheeler No.3 Bundle with 4 Sierra Railroad variations. The next bundle will be the 1891 Rogers Movie Livieries for Ten-Wheeler with 5 variations of the locomotive in movies. And as you already know, all textures are available for free on the product page due to the large file size which was not supported by the automatic upload from our store.
The third bundle if it comes will be the 1891 Rogers Locomotive & Machine Works Ten-Wheeler Bundle, with all units in original condition.
So if you put the textures in the wrong bundle, they will "show up" but not match the model, right? To avoid this, use the textures only with that bundle they are offered.
Other information about the locomotive and its use in the TS, you will find in the Read Me file and in the Operations Manual that comes with the bundle. We hope that we have made some considerations clear, if you have any questions, please let us know through one of our communication channels.
Enjoy!