Friday, March 18, 2016

Advanced Track Editor Tips

Select a particular segment.

The most common way to select a track segment is by tapping on it or by using the < and > buttons (which you can press and hold to jump from one segment to the next). However if you know the number of the segment you want to select, a faster way to select it is using POV mode. In POV mode, use the slider to navigate to the segment number you want to select. Then tap the blue segment number to make it the currently selected segment.

Enter values manually for precise control.

You can tap the number value for some of the track segment controls (e.g. "Horizontal Distance" and track settings controls (e.g. "Initial Delay") to enter a value manually. This lets you specify the exact value you want to use. Note that using values that are obviously unreasonable will probably cause the app to crash or otherwise behave in unexpected ways!

Hide the track rails or track ties by setting their color.

You can hide the track rails or ties by selecting "Clear Color" from the color picker. This is useful for changing the appearance of the track for building scenery.

Align tracks together for special effects.

The "Align track to..." feature lets you precisely line up two or more tracks so that their starting position and angle are the same. One use for this feature is allowing both tracks to start at the same station. The second track would not have a station but would start from the exact same spot as the first track. You can then adjust the "Starting Position" value in the track settings to ensure that the cars on each track are properly spaced apart. Another advanced application of this feature is creating tracks with alternating colors: Make one or more copies of the same track and align them together. Assign a different color scheme to each track. Use the invisibility control to only show one track at any point along the track.