Dialogue Between US and Russian MSTS Users

[PerryPlatypus]

Hello! I do not know how good the English speakers on here are, so I will try to avoid complicated words.

I am from the United States and have been working on different mountain routes in the northwest part of my country. I wanted to ask some questions about the Russian route and scenery object creators.

Many of us in the United States have been amazed at the high quality of Russian content, like the high detail in locomotives and the packages of realistic trees and bushes available from this website.

One thing I have noticed is that there are very few "real" Russian routes. Most are completely fictional or are "half-real". I would like to know what the reason is for this? Is this intentional, or is it because route builders from Russia can not get the terrain data or the maps necessary to accurately make real-life routes?

In the U.S. many route builders use a program called DEMEX which automatically creates realistic terrain, shaping the hills, mountains, and valleys according to their real-life size and position. I wonder if Russian route makers would benefit from this program? Are you guys aware of this program? Or do you not know how to use it?

The point of my post is I would like to offer my help to any Russian route makers who have trouble using any American-made computer programs that help with making routes. I have looked at "Google Earth" a lot to observe different real-life Russian railroads, and the most incredible one I have found is on the old Baikal-Amur railroad where it passes through the Severomuysky Mountains (forgive my spelling). I wonder if any Russian route builders have looked at this area, or if there is just not enough information about that remote area to easily make a route!

I hope all of my questions make sense, and that we can open up more of a conversation between the United States and Russian route builders.

[Иван Андреев]

Hi Perry,

You ask why "most scenario have completely fictional or are "half-real"?
Because it's not commercial product, authors are amateur and make as they can for self and friends...
Use they DEMEX or not I don't now.

Best regards?
Ivan from Texas

[Garikk]

Да, ведь действительно, почему никто не делает настоящие маршруты? Это явно не из-за коммерческих вопросов

[vicente]

First of all, developers of Russian routes does know to use DEMEX programm. This forum even has a corresponding topics. But, of course, may to be some questions to users of DEMEX that have experience in using this software. So, thanks for your help offer!
Secondly, a realistic landscape does not yet make the route 100% realistic. Also it is necessary to take into account in this case the station structure, track development, the exact correspondence of the location of objects and so on. All thouse together makes the route "real" , "half-real" or "completely fictional".

Regards!

[GeneZone]

Сообщение от Garikk

Да, ведь действительно, почему никто не делает настоящие маршруты? Это явно не из-за коммерческих вопросов

Тяжело потому что. Ты ведь знаешь: рельеф, профиль, ТРА, текстуры, объекты... И всё должно быть реальным, если речь о "настоящем" маршруте.
И это ещё не всё.

[art-trans]

Ага... а ездить по реальному маршруту, к примеру, от М-Киевской до Калуги мы будем на челябинских электровозах, октябрьских тепловозах и на александровских электричках.

Sincerely yours, A

[PerryPlatypus]

Ivan,

There are hundreds of US routes that are available for free where the creators used DEMEX for the terrain. But I do not know if it is more difficult to obtain DEMEX as a user in Russia.

Vicente,

If anyone has any questions about DEMEX, I would be happy to answer! I am very experienced with the program. There is also a way in DEMEX to remove the "skew" that occurs in Russia due to the map projection that Microsoft chose to use.

Also Vicente, I am aware that there are many things to take into account. I have been working on several routes so I know how important it is to know the alignment of the track and scenery. But based on the extreme level of detail in most Russian routes, I think that Russian route makers are completely capable of doing so if they had the available tools and programs! I don't know whether or not Russian route builders use "Marker" files. The way I make routes is to use Google Earth to place markers that show very accurately where the tracks and roads go, and then import this file into the MSTS Route Editor. Doing this takes a few hours of extra work, but combined with DEMEX, it allows for extremely accurate routes!

One helpful thing is that in the U.S. we can often find engineering blueprints or drawings that show the grades (steepness of the track) and curves with high precision!

If there are any US-made programs for MSTS that any Russian route makers need help with, I am glad to help!