dragonsteincole's Workshop

[Ke|is 3,337]

I quite like the "BR Blue" version. Even if it is a train from UK I think it may fits in my japanese region. Fantastic job with those trains

[Odainsaker 2,136]

The train releases have been lovely, so hopefully these will make worthy additions.

 

The TransPennine Express operator was reportedly in shambolic state and lost their contract, but in SimCity, our UK trains will always run on time!  Actually, the metallic blue and silver livery of the TransPennine high-speed Class 802 AT300 "Nova 1" and Class 397 Civity "Nova 2" sets are pretty stylish in an azure dragon way:

(Photo by Tony Miles on TransPennine Express)

(Photo by PinPep/Rex/Shutterstock from The Guardian) 

 

__________

 

However, I am reminded of another stlyish Japanese train that will hopefully make a fun request:  Seibu 001 Series "Laview".

These are currently used as limited expresses around northwest Tokyo and Saitama on the Seibu Ikebukuro and Seibu Chichibu lines.  As they are especially used for leisure getaways from Ikebukuro Station into the forested mountains of the Chichibu area, these trains are notable for their capsule-shaped ends and huge picture windows:

(Photo by rlkitterman on DeviantArt)

(Photo from Klook)

(Photo by Junko Nagata a IAPONIA.GR)

(Photo by Edomura no Tokuzou on Wikimedia)

I'll be honest, with these windows I kinda wish they could have forgone the modern fabric curtains for natural bamboo draw-string blinds just for the wild contrast.

Of course, the design is most recognizable from its retro ovoid front windscreen:

(Photo by Inoue, Sayuki Photography)

(Supplied photo from Kyodo News)

(Photo by Junko Nagata a IAPONIA.GR)

I'm not sure if this train engine is from WALL-E, or if it is looking for Sarah Connor.

Fans can enjoy videos exploring the Seibu Laview at Hanno Station or the Limited Express in the mountains of Chichibu.

Though a limited express, it is not a high speed train, so probably regular heavy passenger rail for those SimCity's wanting a bit of retro futurism.

 

 

[dragonsteincole 1,400]

I will add these both to the list, but I must admit the Seibu 001 Series "Laview" got an audible "oooh!" from me, so i'm definitely very interested in that one

[rsc204 21,859]

So much great stuff for UK fans like me. You’ve pretty much given me an entire trains set, minus the tracks, to play with. Finally UK freight, high speed intercity and local services are all able to populate my game in excellent quality. No idea when I will find the time to install them, but very excited to do so. 

[dragonsteincole 1,400]

I haven't posted in a while, not worked on much for as long.
I'll pop it in a spoiler just incase, as it's not fun reading.
 

Spoiler

It is a sad truth that since September 2022, my father was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer (which had traveled to his left lung, left hip and brain). And whilst he fought hard and was doing well in his fight against the cancers, he was also diagnosed with heart failure in the first week of July this year. We gave him all the support and care, but there was just too many fronts to fight on.

He passed away on August 19th, and things have only just in the last week or so began to settle down again.

It shouldn't go without saying, but in the last few months, my time and my motivation to work on most things creative have taken a back seat to taking care of my father. The re-adjustment from that is taking a while, it may still take a lot longer, but I do think about the work i've done previously, and still feel immensely proud of it, and gratified that people have enjoyed them and felt so positive about them.

 

[Oidaas 1,650]

10 hours ago, dragonsteincole said:

I haven't posted in a while, not worked on much for as long.
I'll pop it in a spoiler just incase, as it's not fun reading.
 

  Reveal hidden contents

It is a sad truth that since September 2022, my father was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer (which had traveled to his left lung, left hip and brain). And whilst he fought hard and was doing well in his fight against the cancers, he was also diagnosed with heart failure in the first week of July this year. We gave him all the support and care, but there was just too many fronts to fight on.

He passed away on August 19th, and things have only just in the last week or so began to settle down again.

It shouldn't go without saying, but in the last few months, my time and my motivation to work on most things creative have taken a back seat to taking care of my father. The re-adjustment from that is taking a while, it may still take a lot longer, but I do think about the work i've done previously, and still feel immensely proud of it, and gratified that people have enjoyed them and felt so positive about them.

 

Sorry to hear that, no need to hurry RL goes first.

[Terring 6,476]

This is really sad. You have my condolences

[Ke|is 3,337]

Really sad news, I am so sorry mate. Take your time, a good and speedy recovery is now the most important thing.

[art128 4,622]

14 hours ago, dragonsteincole said:

I haven't posted in a while, not worked on much for as long.
I'll pop it in a spoiler just incase, as it's not fun reading.
 

  Reveal hidden contents

It is a sad truth that since September 2022, my father was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer (which had traveled to his left lung, left hip and brain). And whilst he fought hard and was doing well in his fight against the cancers, he was also diagnosed with heart failure in the first week of July this year. We gave him all the support and care, but there was just too many fronts to fight on.

He passed away on August 19th, and things have only just in the last week or so began to settle down again.

It shouldn't go without saying, but in the last few months, my time and my motivation to work on most things creative have taken a back seat to taking care of my father. The re-adjustment from that is taking a while, it may still take a lot longer, but I do think about the work i've done previously, and still feel immensely proud of it, and gratified that people have enjoyed them and felt so positive about them.

 

Very Sorry to hear that.    Please take all the time you need to recover. I do hope you find the motivation again, it would be a shame for the community  to lose a talent like yourself with your superb quality automatas.

Spoiler

I know how you feel though, having lost my father to a similar cancer in 2012 and more recently this year my mother to a cancer as well.

 

[dragonsteincole 1,400]

I have just released the Maxis Passenger Train Remakes pack.

I will first apologise if there are any errors in this pack, this was a reintroduction into modding again after the break that was required this year. If there are any issues with them please report them in this thread and I will sort them out as I can.

 

[superhighway_410 90]

I just want to say thanks for uploading this. I just read through what happened and want to wish you my delayed condolences. I'm glad you took some time to recoup and am happy that you still have the motivation to do this kind of stuff. These look really nice, especially the El/Subway. I am so happy that we finally have Double-Headed Subway Trains (sans the ones Vester uploaded back on SC4D)

I tried to install the El/Subway Train (I have other mods), but have had some issues as they seem to crash my game. When I tried to drive one in UDI to see what they looklike, I noticed that the train cars spawn as a jumbled mess between the new ones and the vanilla ones before crashing. I did make sure that no other El/Sub automata was installed, but I'm not sure if there is another conflict that I'm not aware of. Let me know if you need an image, and apologies for putting you on the spot.

[dragonsteincole 1,400]

On 12/25/2023 at 9:56 PM, superhighway_410 said:

I just want to say thanks for uploading this. I just read through what happened and want to wish you my delayed condolences. I'm glad you took some time to recoup and am happy that you still have the motivation to do this kind of stuff. These look really nice, especially the El/Subway. I am so happy that we finally have Double-Headed Subway Trains (sans the ones Vester uploaded back on SC4D)

I tried to install the El/Subway Train (I have other mods), but have had some issues as they seem to crash my game. When I tried to drive one in UDI to see what they looklike, I noticed that the train cars spawn as a jumbled mess between the new ones and the vanilla ones before crashing. I did make sure that no other El/Sub automata was installed, but I'm not sure if there is another conflict that I'm not aware of. Let me know if you need an image, and apologies for putting you on the spot.

Thank you for reporting this, I will investigate the issue, as it is entirely possible i've overlooked something.
Edit: I've replicated the issue myself, will have to figure out the exact problem/fix tomorrow, so unfortunately for right now i'd have to recommend not using the El-Rail/Subway DAT for now. I believe I have fixed the error, and amended the download accordingly. it should be safe to continue downloading the file.
@superhighway_410 would you be able to re-download the mod and test to see if the problem has been fixed, or still persists?

  Edited December 27, 2023 by dragonsteincole  
Clarification regarding bug fix.

[superhighway_410 90]

@dragonsteincole Can confirm they work perfectly now!

[Gemeentekaart 72]

Hello, Dragon! Good morning from Indonesia! I'm a big fan of your models workshop, especially the "Track Checkers" and "Passenger Carriages - British Rail Blue".

At different side, I'm a huge fan of Replacement and Additional .dat files. I was curious about the REP and ADD .dat files, I've tried to use my re-skin livery as addition to the game, but it seems the model wasnt rendered after I change the IIDs.

Could you tell me why and how to fix it? I'm newbie to modding even if it was just re-skin for private use matters (currently), despite have been playing the game since I was kid 😂

 

Thank you so much in advance, Dragon! 🙏🏻

[RobertoR34 2]

 

Hey how's it going? My name is Roberto, and I'm a big fan of your work. That said, I would like to make a request, I would like you to reskin the el rail, transforming it into the san diego light rail, as shown in the answer above. I apologize if my English sounded bad, this language is not my native language.

[dragonsteincole 1,400]

Hello. It has been a little while since I posted here.

A long story short, after the passing of my father in August of 2023, unfortunately our family was thrown straight back into the same situation, only this time with my mother. Sadly, she passed away on March 3rd, 2024. It's maybe understandable that I was not able to dedicate any time to this during and after the matter.

I still browsed and looked at what was happening, and occasionally replied to comments or messages, but it's only in the last few weeks that i've felt any desire to return here more purposefully. For the time being, I will only be doing a few bits and pieces, no big commitments and no promise that I will be able to clear the backlog of requests I had built up.

A minor project that I will release in the next few days will be a request from @bhmantan for a tram-sized version of the Glasgow Subway automata. This is so it looks more appropriate on small, sharp curves on tram track. Here are some previews: 

 

The second project I have been working on is a bit of a mixed blessing. It is the JR Kyushu 787 Series train sets, and this set will be dedicated to the memory of the person who requested them, the late @Odainsaker. Sadly I was not able to complete their request whilst they were with us, but I hope that others will be able to enjoy them. This is the current progress of that set: 

[bhmantan 2,096]

Hi, sorry to hear about your mom too.

And thank you so much for allocating your time and working on the request,
I'm grateful for that.

The Kyushu one also looks really nice! I'd love to see it cruising through my cities when you release them later.

[rsc204 21,859]

It's great to see you back, I went through something similar a few years back, complicated because I am living abroad and COVID. It gets easier, hopefully you'll soon be back 'on track' .

[dragonsteincole 1,400]

I have released the Glasgow Subway (Tram Version) pack.

As mentioned before, this should better suit any tight in-road sections of tramway whilst looking futuristic for those that enjoy that sort of thing.

Elsewhere, the progress on the 787 series is good, I have windows and nightlighting sorted on the two replacement models. I will add some extra carriages shortly.

[dragonsteincole 1,400]

Something that came about on a whim today, was an idea to make a 'modern' set of double-deck train automata. I wanted them to have a vaguely british feel to them, despite there not being any examples of them operating in the UK for 50-something years. Hence I decided to make it a fictional set based around my own branding.
Here's the result of an afternoon's work so far:

I would like to maybe have a few variants, before releasing anything. But I am enjoying the results so far, and the process of making stuff again.

Edit: Loco 

[dragonsteincole 1,400]

I have just released the 'DSC Rail' DD Regional Passenger Set, my first custom/fictional automata!

What started out as me just wanting to make a double-decker train for my own use, morphed into this larger set. The vibe is 'British Amtrak', as well as having the mix of single and double-deck coaches, I also included an observation/sight-seeing coach as well because they always seemed cool. I may release more 'DSC Rail' packs in future.

[Ke|is 3,337]

On 6/3/2025 at 12:37 AM, dragonsteincole said:

Hello. It has been a little while since I posted here.

A long story short, after the passing of my father in August of 2023, unfortunately our family was thrown straight back into the same situation, only this time with my mother. Sadly, she passed away on March 3rd, 2024. It's maybe understandable that I was not able to dedicate any time to this during and after the matter.

I still browsed and looked at what was happening, and occasionally replied to comments or messages, but it's only in the last few weeks that i've felt any desire to return here more purposefully. For the time being, I will only be doing a few bits and pieces, no big commitments and no promise that I will be able to clear the backlog of requests I had built up.

A minor project that I will release in the next few days will be a request from @bhmantan for a tram-sized version of the Glasgow Subway automata. This is so it looks more appropriate on small, sharp curves on tram track. Here are some previews: 

 

The second project I have been working on is a bit of a mixed blessing. It is the JR Kyushu 787 Series train sets, and this set will be dedicated to the memory of the person who requested them, the late @Odainsaker. Sadly I was not able to complete their request whilst they were with us, but I hope that others will be able to enjoy them. This is the current progress of that set: 

This is so nice. I can tell you that I will give to this model a very good use. Thanks for your work mate.

[dragonsteincole 1,400]

I have released the 787 Series (JR Kyushu) Sets

Some more eyecandy shots for your viewing pleasure

[dragonsteincole 1,400]

I'm having a bit of a struggle deciding how I want to organise a pack of automata, and figuring out a good system would help for similar packs in future.

Using the above image as a guide, not gospel as it is a couple years old and there are a few more designs not pictured.
But essentially, I want to release this as one pack. As shown on the image, there are groups of locomotives, there are single locomotives, there are certain locomotives that will only be available for a certain rail type.

The current plan I have is: Have a REPlacement, and ADDitional DAT for each group of locos, for each type. I want people to have the option to use as many/few of the available locomotives as desired, hence wanting to provide everything individually.

For example: For the group 'BR Blue' there would be 4 DAT files. REP and ADD for Passenger, and REP and ADD for freight.
Each REP DAT would include 4 models, 1 Replacement automata, replacing the vanilla maxis automata, and 3 additional automata. And the ADD DAT would include the same 4 models, but all 4 would be additional automata

However, there are a few models I want to keep as REPlacements only. Namely, the Network Southeast, and Intercity locos. The reason for this is, there is specific rolling stock that would go well with these specific locos https://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/35467-dsc-passenger-british-rail-mk2-coack-pack/

With the above said, here's where I would appreciate some guidance:

Do people prefer to have the ability to pick and choose what locomotives to use from the pack (even if it results in a lot of DAT files being used)?

OR

Do people prefer to just have as many locomotives as possible available (with a lower amount of DAT files being used)?

 

Is there another way of organising the groups to be more efficient, or to better allow people to pick and choose what locos are used?
 

[rivit 3,402]

As you have described it - per line (passenger/freight) / per type (model)/ rep and/or add.  I think this is the easiest to understand as a user. If you want just one it will work drill down and pick it, if you want the lot then select from each group.   

This is less convenient as a mod maker because then the natural order is model/line/rep or add.  But frankly either of these two approaches has pros and cons.

Having the choice is preferable to fewer dats even if it means a little thought must be applied first.

[dragonsteincole 1,400]

On 3/30/2025 at 7:31 AM, rivit said:

As you have described it - per line (passenger/freight) / per type (model)/ rep and/or add.  I think this is the easiest to understand as a user. If you want just one it will work drill down and pick it, if you want the lot then select from each group.   

This is less convenient as a mod maker because then the natural order is model/line/rep or add.  But frankly either of these two approaches has pros and cons.

Having the choice is preferable to fewer dats even if it means a little thought must be applied first.

I feel like this is the sensible solution, and I have done almost the same method for the original Class 33 stuff. So yeah, choice is preferrable overall.
On that note, been working on some stuff so far, getting the basic REPlacements done. The following image from left to right: 

Steam Freight
Passenger
Freight

As a by-product of this, I have also created a Steam engine spawner, which I will include with the El-rail and Monorail spawner set I created years ago. That will be uploaded "Soon(tm)"

[dragonsteincole 1,400]

I have just made and released, on a complete whim, the 'Mirage Express' automata mod, based on the namesake from 'The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog'

So in the three hours between the last post and now, I had the fun idea to give myself a bunch of work, because "haha april fools". This is so goddamn niche I have no expectations of people using it or really knowing where it came from. But it now exists for SimCity 4, which it didn't beforehand. :v

It is based of the Vanilla Remake Passenger Train I released a while ago, and I did really enjoy going OOT with the nightlighting though. it'll stand out, thats for sure.

Fight a train as Sonic the Hedgehog, for free!

[dragonsteincole 1,400]

A little detour.

[art128 4,622]

16 hours ago, dragonsteincole said:

A little detour.

Nice!

Normal or school bus?

[matias93 7,535]

2 hours ago, art128 said:

Nice!

Normal or school bus?

A Unit 6 transit bus from Valparaíso: