Message from RSDL's Adam:
Having monitored the forums over the last month, we thought we should aid in clarifying what will be released on the Monday 12th November in the Rail Simulator Developer Tools. So here are some details for discussion over the weekend. Derek and myself will seek to engage in this discussion when ever we can this weekend.
What they do not provide at this time:[*]Any fixes or patches to issues found in Rail Simulator. These would come separately and be clearly marked as such.[*]The ability to create geometry. Plug-ins for various 3D applications are still in the hands of their respective authors, but are expected to appear shortly.[*]The ability to create textures. Although functionality to take files from various packages and convert them into the appropriate format are provided, and more are expected to appear shortly.[*]The ability to reverse engineer aspects of Rail Simulator either for improvement of the default, or investigation for creating ones own content. The main tool - The Asset Editor does not feature extraction functionality to pull files out of the game for editing.[*]A final set of documentation covering all conceivable elements of Rail Simulator that users may wish to indulge in. Creation of documentation is seen as an on going process to be undertaken in conjunction with feedback and requests from the online community.[*]Final state tools or documentation - RSDL may and conceivably will release updated tools and documentation over time.[/list:u]
What they do provide at this time:[*]The ability to create and implement new versions of any aspects of Rail Simulators in-game content.[*]Examples of various objects and models to aid in the creation of new content. Although this is not an exhaustive amount, more is intended to be release over time.[*]Documentation relevant to the example content as well as other aspects of Rail Simulator
(including signal setup and scripting!). Again, this will not be an exhaustive list at first we intend to increase this resource as much as we can over time. We may even been superseded by the online community![*]Documentation detailing suggested creation and implementation methods when developing new content for Rail Simulator.[*]Additional functionality for the Scenario Editor, providing the ability to:[*]Create much more comprehensive in-game objectives.[*]Create additional railway traffic to the player train, and give equal objectives for this traffic to undertake.[*]Edit and re-author scenarios present in Rail Simulator or obtained from 3rd Parties
(bearing in mind that conditions apply to such actions).[/list:u][/list:u]
Additional material available shortly:[*]Tutorial Videos, separate to the Developer Tools, but detailing how to use various tools within the World Editor. These are on going and we have a release schedule for supplying more over time. These can be found at:
http://railsimulator.blip.tv[/list:u]