Hi, is it possible to have dirt/gravel cargo "platforms" that would suit the rural 1800s (at least in North America)?

I realize this mod was mainly created for passengers and the cargo options came later, but so far I am using it mainly for cargo. I thought it would be nice to have stations where the cargo just sits on the ground instead of on a built platform, for 1800s stations like this one:
https://imgur.com/a/WFl3O7F

There's a truck station on the right that has dirt "platforms" (from this mod below). Is similar possible with the free style station?
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2264014901

Thanks!

It's possible but not that easy coz I do have a variable for platform height across the app, but I always set it to a constant value + platform meshes are all 1.2 m high.
So it's possible but rather a lot of work.

Ah ok, thought it would be, especially since they are basically drag-able "tracks" in disguise, so more complex than static modules. I found some other mods that do bare ground versions of vanilla stations, so I'll check those out. Thanks anyway tho.

Oh I started a thread on your Street Fine Tuning mod a couple days ago. Just mentioning it in case you didn't see it (I heard that Steam doesn't send notifications for new discussion threads on mod pages). Cheers

It is possible now. However, I cannot make the platform lower than 25 cm above the track.

Oh hey I didn't see your last message until now! 😮 I popped in here to mention I'm working on something, completely forgot I already started this thread on it a year ago...

Anyhow yesterday I started experimenting with making bare ground cargo "platforms" (invisible/transparent) and I'm making good progress. Blown away by the amount of code in this mod, wow, so as a beginner I'm spending a lot of time learning its layout. I reallyyy like the "mdlhelper" concept that puts all track .mtl refs in one place instead of scattered across dozens of .mdl files like vanilla does! Think I'll adopt similar idea in my next mod, makes testing/updating so much easier!

Anyhow back to topic, yes if it all works out well I was thinking this is could be a good add-on mod I could release. It's purely cosmetic changes, doesn't touch the building/function of the stations. But I wanted to ask if you've attempted something like this before, as maybe you already have provisions in the code for it. (I've been re-using your empty/invisible mtl/mdl files that you use for the track that "hides" under the platforms.) And now that I see you were looking at it again in Dec, I'm wondering if you are already working on something.

What I'm going for right now (and have achieved) is completely bare ground, with no decor assets (signs, lamps etc), either as a 4th cargo "era" type that's available in all years (or a complete replacement for era A, if necessary). Next up I need to adjust the platform height so the cargo (and any assets I might keep) sit on the ground. Then the usual UI icon work...

Anyhow let me know what you think. I'm basically trying to bring the functionality of the other bare-ground cargo modules out there to a more flexible layout. I was starting to learn to make my own station and then I discovered that Freestyle lets me place track and platforms anywhere, they don't have to be adjacent! (Don't know how I missed this all this time!!) So I realized the hard work is already done, as far as I know this is the only station mod to achieve this, so I just need to make invisible platform add-ons to go with it.

... Also I really wanted to make platforms that share multiple track terminals, but I guess the game is coded for only 1 to 1 links between vehicle edges and platform edges. So now I'm wondering if it's possible to make a shared storage platform that actually shows the animated cargo piles, but I'm beginning to suspect that's hard coded too.

You could try to add a module for a new platform deco for cargo, as I do for passengers. It might work, except for some ground properties that must be coded in. I might add it myself down the line.
Shared storage is not possible as far as I know, and it would present usability challenges when you want to assign N platforms to M tracks, but you can use thicker or thinner platforms, cargo shelves, platform extensions etc.

For the shared storage modules, someday I hope to see animated cargo piles on them just like there is for platform modules, for any station not just this one. But I haven't yet found the "cargo animator" engine in the game to see if it can be enabled for pooled storage modules. I suspect that it's only accessible for platform modules. And platform modules apparently can't be shared to more than vehicle terminal.

I "solved" the platform height, I simply added another height option in the Constants file. I saw your comments about height below 25cm being an issue, but since this is only for cargo platforms, with no stairs etc, it seems to be okay so far in testing. Maybe could code in a guardrail that it's only available for cargo stations and lock it out for pax stations.

There is an odd effect in front of the medium cargo building module where it creates a deep hole in the bare ground platform that the other buildings do not, so I need to investigate that.

While testing that I also saw your regular cargo platforms at 0cm height too and I really like the look for modern industrial areas. So now I'm thinking to add 0cm height both with and without the bare ground option.

I did see the pax platform style options and wondered if could do similar with cargo. I haven't tried it yet, my test version for proof-of-concept simply modifies the existing era A cargo set, which obviously isn't final intent. Using the style list seems like a great option. Part of the challenge is figuring out how to treat it so that it's consistent with the prefix system for file naming. I have have to finish playing with experiments first and make a list of variants I want to enable, then I can sort out whether they are treated as styles, or as "eras", or as height options, or...

I'm also assessing sign options... I think they look silly on a freight station every ~40m the way UG implemented them. (I mean I'm pretty sure the freight workers know where they're at since it's their job everyday! Signs are more for clueless passengers lol.) So I'm thinking signs as place-able asset modules (like seats, roofs, etc), otherwise I can use one of the asset sign mods out there. I think I'll find/make a vanilla solution first, and then see how best to apply it to Freestyle Stations.

Actually that's a good question: is there a technical barrier than prevents made-for-vanilla modules from being used in Freestyle Stations? I mean ignoring visual conflicts, just the actual snapping them into the station. Like if I coded an "adapter", it might be possible to drop vanilla asset modules onto Freestyle Stations (anything not involved in the transport network that is, just cosmetic assets).

Waiting areas (pax and cargo) are special types of paths, but they have a width and are coloured in red when you do AltGr + L. I don't know what happens if you assign the same waiting path to multiple terminals, I probably crashes but I am not sure. It'd be interesting to try with cargo, it would look stupid with pax.

"I did see the pax platform style options and wondered if could do similar with cargo"
Yes, you only need to add the right constants and read them in the right places.

Sign options are for the player, it's easy to make fewer of them in cargoTerminal.module: just double the step in the loop(s).

Vanilla and freestyle are completely different, so you can only reuse models and materials. Don't go bananas with that!

Anyway, I am working on two ne styles for cargo platforms: gravel and earth.

Interesting! Looking forward to seeing that! Lmk if you would like some help testing them.

Forgot to share some screenshots of my different experiments... (if you can access imgur)
https://imgur.com/a/z4QxMnR
The first example is for a logging camp, with bare ground (and zero-height), with signs/lamp decor disabled. Only manually placed modules have been added (exit ramps/signs and a cargo rack).

The second one is a zero-height platform, with signs/lamp decor enabled, for a more modern look for a small industrial location. I like how the terrain texture slightly overlaps the edges for a natural look (I think it did that because the platform is on a slope).

The tricky part was deciding how to best connect these zero-height platforms to the industries etc using the current modules. Ramps obviously look wrong on zero-height platforms, but the small flat exit module works well. It adds both a masonry pad and a sign tho, but could easily create one that is invisible and/or sign-free.

I've gotten detoured onto other mod things... The last thing I was working on related to this was how to create station signs as modules, before I got interrupted by yet another topic. I want to make signs optional, ideally without making 2 version of every platform. There are several map asset mods for signs, but so far I think there are no station modules for signs.
...So I was studying how roof modules work for passenger platforms. I haven't determined yet if it's possible to add decor assets to cargo platforms, meaning I don't know if the module type tag restricts the availability of blue decor slots to passenger platforms only. So far I have never seen any cargo platform with blue expansion slots on the platform, with the exception of your cargo racks (which technically aren't decor of course, they are linked to the transpo network). So either I'm working on a "first"..., or it's an impossible dead end.

...If imgur doesn't work, here's a bunch of test screenshots on my google drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ZALgwZcqawvmYEi4uut-OyW42c1bCnov?usp=sharing

Note the large railyard screenshots still show some decor items and paving textures on the ground because I did not make invisible versions of every platform width yet.

Interesting! I am going to play around with zero height and cargo. I might make it a new style where certain elements are simply not drawn. You can test the new cargo styles here, they are not finished tho and there is no zero height yet: https://github.com/lolluslollus/lollo_freestyle_train_station_1/tree/cargo-platforms-deco

If it helps, here are the changes from my earlier tests (not very many):

config/track/ cargo platform lua:
- ballastMaterial > totally_transparent.mtl
- bumperModel > empty.mdl
- filGroundTex > none.lua
- sleeperModel > empty.mdl
- trackStraightModel > all to emty.mdl

construction/.../cargoTerminal.module
- sign and lamp > empty.mdl

construction/.../platformHeights
- added platformHeight0.module

scripts/constants.lua
- platformHeights > inserted _0cm height (0.0 above both Rail and Ground)

scripts/mdlHelpers.lua
- helpers.getPlatform...Materials > totally_transparent.mtl

I think that was it. Probably not ideal approach (completely skipped styles, etc). It was just initial experiments to verify that invisible settings could work okay. Trying the 0cm height on a regular cargo platform later was just an accidental discovery.

I added 0m platforms (= no platforms) for cargo and I have styled many more elements. You can take a look now if you wish.