The Plan (as it stands now -- subject to change over the course of the coming weeks/months):
The plan is KISS (
Keep
It
Simple
Stupid!) I'm going with a historical theme. I would like to model the route somewhat accurately, but the focus will be more on my own childhood memories than the accuracy of distances and current operations, etc... I don't plan on capturing a specific year -- just certain elements that I'm fond of from riding anywhere in the early 80's when I was in grade school to the mid-90's college years when a day skipping class meant riding the El to Center City and doing some record shoppin'.
PHASE 1
Step 1: Model Temporary Cab for Budd M-3.
- It will be modeled for/with OpenBVE as that's the current version I'm using (on a Windows 7 PC).
- It's possible that the cab could be similar to an R32 (before refurb) or an R34 (after refurb)... I'm currently researching that. (Anyone have these to compare or know of another site offering these trains for download/viewing?)
- Initial design will be a "quick and dirty" cab only. Realism not important at this time. Some accuracy, but not detailed - realism will take a back seat to me just learning the code. (Interior and Exteriors will be done in a later PHASE)
- Test Train on NYCTA (A historical line to test on would be fitting I think).
Step 2: Preliminary Track layout and brief (very brief) route from Bridge/Pratt Station (Frankford Terminal) to Margaret/Orthodox (yes, that's only one stop).
- Track Texture - Partial ties (occasional full tie), no ballast (From yard to station were full ties/ballast, partial ties started right at Bridge/Pratt Station). I have plenty of photos, but will need to play with this as the spacing between full ties was not uniform.
- Design textures for both stops (I have a few sources for historical photos)
- Design just a few free objects (scenery) - start minimal with a few landmarks (Frankford Hospital and its parking structure, St Mark's Church which you can see in the near distance from Margaret-Orthodox).
- Test Train from stop to stop
Phase II
- Fill in more scenery for area between and surrounding the 1st two stations and complete Frankford yard (The route will start at the yard before heading into Bridge/Pratt)
- Complete through to Somerset
- Complete through to Girard
- Complete Spring Garden and portal (maybe go to 2nd street subway stop, but focus is above ground right now)
Phase III
Update M-3 model
- Re-do cab to improve on the "quick and dirty" preliminary model. (Focus on photo-realism and accuracy of detail)
- Create Exterior
- If time permits and desire avails - Create Interior (if not, leave for later phase)
Phase IV
Complete Subway through to 15th street.
Phase V and beyond. Let's see if I make it through Phase IV (shoot, phase I will be a challenge due to the learning curve although, from the looks of it, coding for OpenBVE and not focusing so much on every stinkin' detail like I have in the past will be a lot simpler than designing routes for Trainz
)
That's my plan at this point. Focusing on Phase I. I expect Phase one to take a few months. ETA for Phase I is Spring of 2010 if I'm doing all the work alone. Then you'll likely see me disappear for a while as the weather starts getting warm.
Again, I'm open to anyway who wants to jump in to take a crack at helping out - experienced or not. The more, the merrier. We'll learn together. Anything I put out there will be "open source". I intend this entire project to be open (so that later on, people can just grab and improve, modernize, whathaveyou) -- as long as the original author(s) are credited of course.
-Lee
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