TransDEM Forum

Sorry if this is a bit controversial, but given Transdem is actually a multi format (Zusi and Trainz) utility, can Roland advise whether he has given any consideration to exetending functionality to Railworks, or even if it is possible?

At the moment to get anywhere near what Transdem offers for Trainz you need to use two programmes - ReDem which you have to merge and convert to BIL data in Microdem beforehand, then RW Decal but the disadvantage of the latter is it actually masks the terrain so you have to keep sliding the decals in and out to work underneath them. One drawback could possibly be the limited number of terrain textures available in RW plus having to commit to a particular set when creating the blueprint but I'm sure Roland is clever enough to think round that one.

If the answer is "no", I'll happily accept that and continue to use Transdem for my Trainz projects, but it would be nice to have the ease and flexibility for the other sim too.

Hi Vern,

welcome to this forum.

My assessment of Rail Simulator/Railworks has not changed. I think they are targeting a slightly different market segment compared to Trainz. Their focus does not seem to be on the creative route builder. With its limited dissemination, a much smaller and supposedly less ambitious route builder user base, some basic built-in support for geo data and some already existing third party tools I don't see much potential for a rather sophisticated tool like TransDEM. Keep in mind that writing a native exporter would require a significant amount of time.

No problem Phil, you know I periodically ask the question...

Besides I'm sure you have enough to do getting Transdem ready for Zusi 3

Besides, RailWorks does not really need a utility like TransDem because it has built-in DEM import, and one can put the trackwork into the layout using GoogleMaps. I know this because I was once a user of the predecessor of RailWorks and very disappointed because all the good things there are payware. So I returned to Trainz.

Dralex

Yes, it has, and despite this apparent feature Vern has kept asking.