TrainSkin utility not working?

Seems as though the TrainSkin utility wont package my reskins. It says it is, it goes through the whole ordeal of packaging it, but when I open up RRT3 to look at it, I get nothing. I even open the Data>UserExtraContent folder and look for the GP7_UP.PK4 file (thats my engine, a UP GP7) but I can't find it.

Is this a widespread thing, and if so, how do I go about fixing it?

Or am I stuck with having to make my own engine in 3ds max 5?

-Chris (tm)

[EPH]

Once I conquered the PaintShop necessity of saving the file 'Uncompressed' instead of the default 'Compressed' I had no trouble with the Train Skin utility. Just make sure you don't save over the original name and that you use the correct files in the correct .tga uncompressed format.

Check how your RRT3 is installed; the utility saves to a default location I think, and if you have custom-installed RRT3 somewhere other than the default the utility might not work.

No error messages? No file in UserExtraContent at all?

Try saving a common train like the American under a new name but using all the original files, then search your drives for the new name and see if it comes up anywhere.

Let us know what you find - and welcome!

Thank you for your prompt reply. I have PSP set to export TGA's as uncompressed by default, because the other game I create content for, Trainz Railroad Simulator 2004, also requires TGA's to be uncompressed. I installed RRT3 and everything else in the default directory (C:\Program Files\Railroad Tycoon 3, right?). I get no error messages, and no popups. It actually says that it completed the packaging successfully. I even see some kind of temp files being made in the directory along with the TGA files, I assume these are files ti creates in the packaging process? I have all of my modified TGA's in the same directory as the default ones, do I need to move them to another directory?

Thanks for your patience! I'm really hoping we can get this solved so I can make some skins!

-Chris (tm)

[EPH]

Hmmm. I've got a head cold today and I'm a little muzzy, so I'm not going to address your problem directly. Let me describe how I do my skinning (since I don't have to concentrate very hard on that :? ) and we'll see if we can't get you up and running.

First, all you can do is repaint. No changing the original shape of the loco. Second, there are some oddities - the 'prong' cone on the front of the F3 or text appearing mirror-imaged on the other flank for example - that you will just have to learn to live with. The other serious issue is that the original skins were not drawn so much as copied, so they are in thousands of shades of colors. With many locos you may find it necessary to create a 'blank' by erasing everything but structural lines and then painting anew.

I have some separate folders set up in the RRT3\UserSkinningTools directory. I keep a full copy of all original train skins (TrainSkins) as Copy of TrainSkins. Copy also holds all of my skins, including blanks, and all PaintShop work is saved to Copy. I use a 'Z' prefix so they are always at the bottom of the folder, but that's just for my convenience.

Once a skin is done (or far enough along to need testing) I copy it to TrainSkins. The Utility only looks in Trainskins for the files to use. I have a naming series: ZSFWB_F3_Loco.tga, ZSFWB_F3_Profile.tga, ZSFWB_F3_Tender.tga all refer to the Santa Fe Warbonnet F3 (as seen in the Skins section of this site). Personally I never repaint the Beauty Shot.

All 3 files (2 if there is no tender) are copied to TrainSkins, as I said, and the utility is run. A quick check verifies the PK4 file (SFWB_F3) is in the UserExtraContent file and the Z files are deleted from TrainSkins for neatness.

Then comes firing up RRT3, finding a game in a time period that allows the use of the F3, and finding out what worked and what didn't. I usually take screenshots and go back to the drawing board at that point.


Feel free to email me at porterhopson@excite.com or PM me on this site if you need. I probably have as much skinning experience as anyone, which means I still work by trial and error: it is all a trial and most of it is in error! :shock: :lol:

[AZ Rail Rat]

EPH has it pretty much covered. I do the keep a copy thing and do all my painting in a folder called Paint Shed. I too had lots of trouble skinning both during C2C Beta Testing and what little I did after. Back then it was on my old WIN98 machine. Because I use a pretty cheap paint application, I lost interest. Have not tried with the new system I built.

One thing I do EPH did not mention, start RRT3 in Windows mode when loading a new skin. Don't know about XP, but WIN98 would just lock and not give the error dialog box in full screen mode if a skin did load and it was screwed.

Also, check out the MAPS section here. Look down for my !Skin This! map. It's a quick map you can load and spend more time testing your skin instead of laying track. Load a New Scenario with year you need. There's always plenty of money. It's the island of Sri Lanka (pre-tsunami) with a real quick paint job.

Don't give up. Half the fun of skinning is the JOURNEY - - - :? RIGHT :!:

Well I'm not sure of what I did right, but apparently it worked...everything's up and running now! The only thing I did was delete the GP7_UP_Body.pspimage I had been saving for text editing, and everything works fine now!

Time to upload my first two reskins!

:D

-Chris (tm)

How will i know hen it is done? :(!