Virtual Monorail, or How I'm Spending My Summer Vacation...

[BRWombat]

Okay, I’m not really on vacation, but in whatever free time I can cobble together (between work, family, church, and VM rehearsals) I’ve been building a virtual WDW monorail system for the computer. And as you might expect, it’s turned into a monster (keeping me from posting here as much as I’d like, for one thing)…

Just a few months ago I found an awesome train simulation program, Trainz, made by an Australian software company, Auran. It comes with a ton of content, but what makes it even cooler is that it includes all the tools for building your own worlds and trains – kind of like a computer-generated model train set, but with unlimited resources. (And you get to drive the trains when you’re done!)

What really attracted me to the program was that someone – not me – spent an enormous amount of time a few years back and completely modeled the trains, track, and operation of the WDW monorails, and his work is now packaged as an add-on to Trainz. Once I found this out, I ordered the program for myself (and then my wonderful family “gave” it to me for Father’s Day!).

The monorail modeler did a great job, even going so far as to create a virtual Contemporary Resort, inside and out, to drive through or stop in. He then made a fantastic sample track layout with the Contemporary and a “world” of mountains, waterfalls, and tunnels to drive the trains around in. Here’s a screenshot…



He did not, however, create the actual layout of Walt Disney World.

I’ve enjoyed maneuvering the monorails around the sample world that was included, but it only made me itch for the real thing. So… I started trying to figure out how hard it would be to recreate the layout of Walt Disney World – not with complete realism, of course, but just the general feel of the place.

I should have known better…

[BRWombat]

With Google Earth as a indispensable reference, I began first by laying out Seven Seas Lagoon and the land around it, and I added on the (prebuilt) Contemporary. I then added the tracks, using some generic stations for the Poly, GF, and TTC. I then modeled the land down to Epcot and ran the line down there. I found that someone else online had already created Epcot station – yay! Someone else had created Spaceship Earth – and done a really cheesy job of it, with a wand still attached that looked worse than the real one.

Nevertheless, I figured that if I stuck mainly with using various generic buildings that came with the program, I’d be able to model the place pretty quickly. I tossed in some old-timey looking buildings on Main Street and cobbled together two buildings for a facsimile of the train station…



…but then I realized -- I've got to have Cinderella Castle! How can it be WDW without the castle? So, I knew then that I’d have to figure out how to create content for the program, not just use it.

I downloaded the recommended 3-D modeling program and interface modules and read through every online tutorial I could get my hands on. Most of them warned that there was a steep learning curve to be able to do even the most basic things, and boy, they weren’t kidding. It was frustrating, a lot of work, and a lot of trial and error, but I finally created a decent cutout of Cinderella Castle to cap off the Magic Kingdom.

[BRWombat]

I still figured I could use buildings that were included in the program and come close enough to the real thing. Here’s the Polynesian, for example, using generic buildings…



Not great, but they’ll do. But what generic building could ever come close to looking like Space Mountain? There isn’t any. But here’s the deal: once I got past that initial steep learning curve on 3-D modeling and content creation, some amazing things become pretty easy. So… I built Space Mountain… (It'll look better when it's out of the "design" part of the software and into the operation, because then the sun-shading will show up all the detail.)



And then I threw out the cruddy Spaceship Earth and made a better one…

[BRWombat]

And once I figured that out, the rest became fun. As you can see, I’ve now added some entrance gates and the Leave-a-Legacy slabs…



I’ve put together the Innoventions buildings, Test Track, Mission: Space…



…Wonders of Life, Universe of Energy…



I set up some “backdrops” of the buildings around World Showcase (I don’t need to model them in 3-D, since I’m just doing what’s visible from the monorail)…

[BRWombat]

The past week I’ve been working on the west side of Future World, and have modeled the Imagination pavilion and the Land…





I’m working on The Seas pavilion right now, as well as a few extra buildings around the Epcot entrance. Once that’s done… yes, I’ll probably go do Main Street, the Polynesian and the Grand Floridian the right way. I have some more landscaping to do before I’m going to let myself set up the monorail trains and drive them around -- but that's not too far in the future, I hope!



Okay, now comes the request time of these lengthy posts. Another cool feature of this train simulation program is that multiple trains can be running at the same time, piloted by AI drivers, following scripts that I set up. I can step into any cabin and drive the train, or just sit back and watch it all run like a giant virtual train set.

Since I’m going for realism… It would be awesome if I could set up the speed limits and track sections used for warning signals as they actually exist. It would be even cooler if I could learn the exact switch locations and labels. (For instance, I’ve scoured Google Earth in both 2-D and 3-D and can’t for the life of me figure out how trains get into the inner resort loop. Does the switch just east of the MK entrance go to both loops as well as the roundhouse spur?)

If one or more of you monorail drivers out there is able to contribute any of this info, I'd really appreciate it – please PM me. (I don’t want you to divulge company secrets or anything like that, so if this request is out of line, please let me know!)

[hobie16]

Nice work!!

Take a look at Bryce. It's a ray tracing program that might help you out.

[DisneyMom]

Amazing!
I'll definitely show this to my younger son who is taking computer animation courses at the college this semester, I think he'll love it! :)

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

VERY impressive!! I'm am suprised that some sort of offical add on from WDW isn't available! beauty!

[Big Wallaby]

Wow, that's nice. I've played with the Trainz monorail, but I haven't done enough with the program to really get it. I've lost drivers and stuff so I couldn't control the next train, and between that and not having a lot of time to do other things than work, I've not had a lot of time to master Trainz.

Now, between the two, I prefer the real Monorail, and can't wait to drive it every day (I've actually driven once so far), but that is a really, really nice, Wombat. Any chance I could steal some files from you? I'll trade you the MAPO hold points!

But that is beautiful!

[GaTechGal]

WOW!! I'm so impressed. I'd love to see that in action. One question though, in your first picture, is that the OCEAN to the left of the Contemporary? Maybe it's just me, but it looked like waves. I don't think you get that kind of serf off the lake.