The Plymouth Route- Release Notes

Changes for V1.7.0.0:

  • Trackwork rebuilt between Menheniot and Liskeard.
  • GWR 16xx Class Pannier Tank added to the passing train objects.
  • BR Class 50 added to the passing train objects.
  • Minor improvements to the three tunnels on the route [Entrance object, wall profile]
  • Large numbers of assorted objects rebuilt from scratch, with the majority of items in the route now being public domain.
  • A considerable amount of work has been done on Plymouth station, in order to bring it closer to the standards of the rest of the route.

Changes for V1.6.0.0:

  • Various bugfixes around Laira Junction area, including height of flyover/ signals, incorrect point object etc.
  • Trackwork rebuilt between St. Germans and Menheniot.
  • Approx 4km of track added as part of this. [8km total ‘newly rebuilt’]
  • BR Class 35 ‘Hymek’ passing train object added.
  • Larger variety in the road veichles.
  • Assorted minor improvements throughout Plymouth. [Trackwork gaps, add more vegetation etc. etc.]
  • Certain further objects replaced with improved public domain alternatives.

Changes for V1.5.0.0:

  • Trackwork rebuilt between Shillingham Tunnel & St. Germans.
  • Approx 1km of track added as part of this. [4km total ‘newly rebuilt’]

Changes for V1.4.0.0:

  • Trackwork rebuilt between Saltash & Shillingham Tunnel.
  • Approx 1.7km of track added as part of this. [4km total ‘newly rebuilt’]
  • More liveries for the MK1 coaches.
  • New/ improved 1960s motive power- New GWR 78xx (Manor) and BR Class 14 models.
  • Various objects replaced with improved versions/ alternatives.
  • Ongoing object improvements and fixes.
  • Various signalling and signage oddities fixed.

Changes for V1.3.0.0:

  • 1.5km of track added at the start of the route, bringing our starting point to just after Marsh Mills Junction.
  • Various additional liveries for the locomotive stock added.
  • Several new items of goods stock.
  • Completely new MK1 coach models.
  • Various miscellaneous items rebuilt/ replaced.

Changes for V1.2.0.0:

  • Trackwork and scenery redone from Keyham to the Royal Albert Bridge.
  • Approximately 1km of track length added as part of this.
  • Correct gradients to the Royal Albert Bridge.
  • Semaphore signalling improvements, including goods loop arms.
  • Minor improvements to the Royal Albert Bridge model. (A replacement is planned)
  • Improvements to the accuracy of the 1960s era routefile around Plymouth Station- 2 missing signalboxes and more bits and bobs.
  • Numerous fixes to the Plymouth Bay platform for 3D viewing.
  • Improvements to various objects.
  • All BMPs replaced with PNGs, along with some texture improvements as a result of this.

Changes for V1.1.7.0:

  • Trackwork & scenery redone between Devonport & Keyham.
  • Completely scratch-built bus models for the CityBus & Western National single deckers.
  • Some small tweaks & visual improvements to the scenery between Plymouth & Devonport, particularly around The Elms road bridge.
  • 1980s era nameboards redone in much better quality.
  • Small revisions to various miscellaneous textures. (Removing odd reflections, innapropriate bits etc)
  • Correct gradients added upto Keyham.
  • New models for the Liskeard & Royal Albert Bridge signal boxes.
  • Adjustments made to the stop positioning at all stations, to ensure optimum realism & signal visibility.
  • AWS magnet positions adjusted, and magnets fitted to track #2 upto Keyham.

Changes for V1.1.6.1:

  • Includes both BRSigs & BRSigs_Open in the download package. Both of these were released as free to distribute around the close of Trainsimcentral.
  • Revision to the folder naming convention for the 81xx (Still unreleased, but nearly there!)

Changes for V1.1.6.0:

  • Various minor fixes.
  • Trackwork and scenery redone between Plymouth & Devonport.
  • The bay (Gunnislake/ Liskeard) platform is now available as a starting location.
  • The Laira Junction mainline is now available as a starting location.
  • Various small improvements to the buildings around Laira Junction.
  • Code modularised & restructured upto and including Devonport.
  • Reduced the number of duplicated similar internal textures. (Mostly caused by the endless rebuilding works)

FURTHER NOTES

This route is best viewed from the cabview. Having said that, I’m now actively building with full 3-D in mind. It should be possible to hover a short distance above your train, and do a decent amount of camera panning with no major ill effects on much of the route.

My thanks are due to:
* All the object authors, without who this route would not have been possible- I apologize in advance if I’ve vandalized your hard work beyond all recognition.
* Uwe Post and Thomas Tschofenig, for creating RouteBuilder, which first got me into BVE Route coding, and has created many of the tracks etc. here.
* The members of the Train-Sim.com, Transport Forum & UKTS BVE Forums, for answering all of my questions etc; Thanks guys!

OBJECT/ CONSTRUCTION CREDITS

PLEASE NOTE:

This route has now been going for well over 10 years. This object list is as comprehensive as I can make it however, in the time since many objects were added I’ve either made major changes to the original object, or merged parts of different objects together.
This list also only includes objects built by, or based upon those by third parties.
If in doubt, please check the header of the object file in question and drop me an email.

You will also find that of recent years, this list has been getting somewhat shorter.
This is intentional- Basically everything new is a highly custom object to fit into it’s surroundings rather than smaller generic objects.

RouteBuilder- Some older track and pointwork around Plymouth Station.
Tunnel- Steve Green, mods by myself
Black saddle tank- Alan Hudnott, with some modifications
BR Class 47- Base model & Intercity livery by Stephen Thomas
BR Class 25- Base model built by Alan Hudnott, with various modifications. BR Blue livery from photographs by Steve Jones.
Vintage Lorry- Richard Scott
Coaches- Some textures based upon photographs by Steve Jones. End texture by the TSC Team.
BR Color Light Signalling- Some parts based upon BRSigs & BRSigs_Open libraries & objects by Anthony Bowden & the TSC Team.
Track texture by Paul ‘ee16csv’
Houses #1- Nathan Whittington -http://members.aol.com/nwhittington
BVE File Convertor- Highly useful utility by Smace, has been used for tinkering with many files.
Animated steam- BVE Argentina
Some wagon textures- Derived from photos by Paul Bartlett; http://gallery6801.fotopic.net/
Some cricketer textures derived from photos by alister667- http://www.flickr.com/photos/alister667/
Some road traffic based upon original public domain objects by Graham Mace ‘graymac’:
Commer Van
Vauxhall Cresta
Transit Van
Scania Lorry (Cab shape)

A Note On Copyright:

Of late, copyright has become a rather thorny subject within the community, with threats being made over the use of objects which were freely given at the time, and the creation of certain ideas.

When OpenBVE was created, Michelle advocated placing everything under the public domain, in order to try and allievate this problem.

I support the aims of this initiative, although I personally prefer clearer OSS licencing. I was also there before this sim was even concieved (Anyone remember Mechanik back in 1997??), and I refuse to let others with an agenda spoil things for the end-user.
Was this the right choice?- I don’t know. It probably would have been easier to drop this altogether, and move onto something else…..

All I know, is that when I started this back in 2001, this route wouldn’t have been possible without drawing on the help and hard work of others, who gave it freely in the spirit of co-operation.
I have also invested thousands of pounds into books, camera equipment and trips to the ‘real’ thing to pursue this hobby and bring you the route you see today.

You are welcome to use anything that I’ve created for this route for your own purposes, under whichever Open-Source licence you see fit, or for that matter, no credit at all.
My personal preference is for the BSD 2-Clause licence, which is what I release any programs under, but I’m not here to place restrictions on what you wish to do.

All I ask, is that before you release something, you take a step back and consider the hard work of those who made it possible-
Copyright, and other using your work is a priveledge, not a weapon, and I will never use it as such.