---

The DHR is now ready for downloading

We have finally finished the DHR. It is available for downloading at this site (www.darjeelingtrainz.com) by following the Downloads link. You have to be a Auran/Trainz registered member though before you can get the password needed to unlock the ZIP files.

We think it is a great route just brimming with the "look & feel" of the real railway. Check it out.

 

Current mood: Happy


The DHR now has a Forum!!

We finally got us a forum just for the DHR.  Here is the URL. It is open to anyone, but if you own a copy of TRS2004, TRS2006, or TC sign up using your Auran username.  If you don't have those games, but would just like to have information on the real DHR, sign up anyway, we'd love to hear from you.

It's only been up for just a week now but we have 57 people signed up.  It's growing fast.  Once we release the route (target date is now March 14) this forum will really be hopping.

It turns out that just the content we created adds up to over 850 Mb, and if you add the content that we created, but didn't actually use, it comes to just over 1Gb.  We are supplying the content, map, and sessions as self-extracting ZIP files.  They are password controlled and you can get the password (once we release the route) on the Auran Forum.

Sessions are self-running trips over portions of the DHR.  Some of them run uphill and some run downhill, but all of them allow you to just sit in the passenger car and enjoy the scenery as you go by.  You can also stand beside the engineer, ride above the engine/cars, or go roaming all over the map while the train chugs along. 

More later.

 

 

Current mood: whooped. making all those ZIP files tires a person


We are at the Beta stage!

Hullo. We have entered the Beta testing stage of our little virtual railroad. This means that we have chosen several people with varying computer complexes to run our railroad and let us know what is not up to snuff. This is a very trying process as it means loading, changing, and reloading the railroad many times during a testing session. The load time on my computer is around 2 minutes - for some people longer, some people shorter.

The whole route runs, from end to end, just over 6 hours with a train observing all the speed limit signs and running automatically from start to finish. This includes 6 zig-zags and three loops. The time taken is a lot less than the actual train, but, then we only stop at stations for around 30 seconds. You gotta be agile to get on/off our train.

The scenery is spectacular and all of it created by our members. Just a very few items included are built-in to the game - mostly terrain textures. On our web site (www.darjeelingtrainz.com) we have a load of pictures if anyone is interested. This is the culmination of over two years work and we think it is worth every hour of it. To get to the, just follow the animated red arrow.

 

Current mood: Happy


Finally ... A release date

The worker bees of the DHR have agreed that the route will be released at midnight (0001 GMT) on the 29th of February, 2008. Since this is a unique date and only falls once every four years we thought that it would be ideal for this release. The route itself has been in the works for over 2 years. We have lost a couple of developers along the way, but the core has kept on with it.

The full 56 miles has been modeled, with special emphasis being put on major towns and train stations. We also applied extensive scenery on such scenic areas as the Tindharia Works, Batasia Loop, and Paglajhora. We had to guess at what some of the outlying areas looked like because we don't have any assets "on the ground" so to speak. The whole route has the definite "look and feel" of India and narrowgauge (2 foot) steam railroading.

We are hoping that the release will meet with approval even though some areas that we deemed "over scenicked" [is that a word?] were backed off a notch or two. What we are aiming for is to release the whole route but with some shortcuts in the scenery areas that will affect only frame rates, not the visual aspects. Later, after the first release, we will probably release a route fit for more robust computers and graphics cards. In either case, the best way to see our route would be ad a train driver (from the cab) or as a train rider (from a passenger car).

Every scenery creation we made for the route will be available on our web site for downloading should anything be missing from the original distribution file - known as a .CDP file. Anyone who created objects for us will also be free to release their own creations to the Download Station at Auran.com.

Our website is: http://www.darjeelingtrainz.com/

Take a peek at the site to get a preview of what is to come.

 

Still chugging along.

After I got back from my trip to Texas I started in again working on the DHR.  We have made quite a bit of progress, but still have a long way to go.  We would sure like to have this done by summer, but probably won't until maybe winter.  We are all working hard, but still need more helpers with what we call "set dressing".  Basically, you need a copy of TRS2004 (From Auran.com or your local megastore) and the ability to drop our content around terrain and tracks that have already been placed.  Nothing to it really.  Loads of fun.

I started on another area of the route called the Batasia Loop and dropped scenery all around.  Since we have a few DVD's and videos to look at we are able to get scenes that look much like the real thing.  The hard part (believe it or not) is actually doing the areas that we don't have video shots of.  We try to keep with the "look & feel" of India though and make the flora & fauna match the geographical area.

I will be putting together what we call a "skinny" route soon.  This is basically the route itself and consists of just baseboards with track on it.  The full route would be around 200Mb, but the Skinny only hits around 40 or so.

Anyone who wants to help can send me an email either here or on the email link at our site located at the URL of 'www.darjeelingtrains.com'.  Love to have you join our merry band.

 

Current mood: raising steam

Next page >>