The information in this Wiki Page applies to TANE, TRS19 and Trainz Plus.

What is a Region?

	A Region defines some of the characteristics of a geographic location (e.g. a country or a province) that is represented in a route
	A Region Asset is a config.txt file that contains the region data

Region Data:

When a Region has been assigned to a route, it will set:-

the default switch lever to be used in the route
the colour of the water (lakes, streams, ponds, ocean)
the side of the road, left or right, used by all moving road vehicles
the latitude of a point in the route
the longitude of a point in the route
the altitude of a point in the route
the number and types of moving road vehicles

How to Create a Region Asset

Steps

Create the Asset:

From the Trainz Launcher

select Manage Content
in Content Manager open the Developer menu
select New Content

This will create a new asset and open it for editing.

A message window will appear that will (hopefully) report on the successful creation of a new asset.

Close the message window

Find the New Asset:

Set the CM Search Filter to Open for Editing

This will display only those assets that have been opened for editing (hopefully only your new and as yet unnamed asset will be shown)

Open the Asset in Windows File Explorer:

Right mouse click on the entry New Asset
Select Open
Select Show in Explorer

Open Config.txt File in Notepad:

There will only be a single item in the asset, its config.txt file

Double click on the file to open it in Notepad

Edit the Config.txt File:

You will need to edit the contents of this file.

The next section, The Config.txt File, identifies the changes you will need to make.
The new name you give to the asset will not take effect until after it has been committed.
After editing, save the changes and exit Notepad.

Warning:
	Unless you know exactly what you are doing, DO NOT ALTER THE KUID NUMBER that has been added to the file but even if you do, think twice before you change it !

Add a Thumbnail:

You will need to add a thumbnail image as described in the section The Thumbnail Image. The thumbnail and the config.txt files are the only two items required in this asset.

The thumbnail does not have to be added immediately but must it be present before the new asset can be used. You can reopen the asset for editing later to add the thumbnail before it is committed.

Finish Up:

Close the Asset window
Commit the asset in Content manager
- Right mouse click on the asset
- Select Submit Edits

Hopefully there will be no errors.

Because you still have the Filter Open for Editing in operation, the now closed and committed asset will vanish from the Content Manager display. To check that your asset has been correctly created and renamed, set the Search Filter to Today.

Some of the most common errors that can occur when creating and committing a new asset are:-

no thumbnail image in the asset
typing errors in the config.txt file
poorly formatted tags in the config.txt file
incorrect file types added to the asset folder
files missing from the asset folder
incorrect kuid value (despite the warning you changed it in Step 5)

The Config.txt File

This file should follow the same (or a similar) format as the example below.

entries in red must not be changed
the indenting of the lines and the spacing ("tabbing") between the "tags" on the left and their contents on the right are purely to make it easier for humans to read
the use of the { } braces is to group tags into common "containers". These containers must not be broken up and the number of { characters must match the number of } characters
the order of the "tags" is not important

kuid                              <kuid:this is an auto-generated number>
kind                              "region"
username                          "Region data for Tasmania 1950 to 1969"
category-class                    "YX"
category-era                      "1950s;1960s"
category-region                   "AU"
ontheright                        0
water-color                       75,128,255
defaultjunction                   <kuid:61119:24120>
default-texture                   <kuid:-25:1180>
trainz-build                      4.8
longitude                         147.0,26.0,1.0
latitude                          41.0,50.0,-1.0
altitude                          212
car0                              <kuid:329364:1568>
thumbnails
{
  Default
  {
    width                         240
    height                        180
    image                         "Tasmania-Region.jpg"
  }
}
description                       "Vehicle, road, water and geographic data for Tasmania (Australia) in the 1950s and 1960s"
kuid-table
{
  0                               <kuid:61119:24120>
  1                               <kuid:329364:1568>
  2                               <kuid:-25:1180>
}

Settings:

For the above example:

The kuid is unique to every asset so it is not a good idea to choose your own . This will be automatically generated by the Content Manager program when a new asset is created
The kind identifies the type of asset and the types of files that Trainz will expect to find in the asset. It also tells Trainz how to render and error check the asset. For region assets, the kind is "region". A list of asset kinds can be found at KIND Hierarchy
The username is your name for the asset and the name that other users will see. It is a good idea to make it short and meaningful.
The category-class identifies the intent of the asset and is important in classifying it for filtering and searching. For region assets, the category class is "YX". A list of category classes can be found at Category-class
The category-era identifies the decade or decades in which the region is based (e.g. "1950s"). See the section Category Era Tag below for more details.
The category-region identifies the country or countries in which layout is based. See the section Category Region Tag below for more details.
The ontheright identifies which side of the road is used by road traffic. See the section On the Right Tag below for more details.
The water-color identifies the the colour used by water surfaces in this region. See the section Water Color Tag below for more details.
The defaultjunction identifies the junction lever or switch that Trainz will use as its default lever asset whenever a lever is added to a track junction in this region. See the section Default Junction Tag below for more details.
The default-texture identifies the texture that will be applied to every new baseboard that is added to a Route. See the section Default Texture Tag below for more details.
The trainz-build identifies the minimum Trainz version needed for this asset. A list of asset trainz-build numbers and their corresponding Trainz versions can be found at Trainz build numbers
The longitude identifies the geographic longitude of a point in the region. See the section Longitude Tag below for more details.
The latitude identifies the geographic latitude of a point in the region. See the section Latitude Tag below for more details.
The altitude identifies the altitude or base height of the starting baseboard in the route. See the section Altitude Tag below for more details.
The car0 identifies the first moving car that will appear on roads in the region. Upto 15 different cars can be specified. See the section Car Tags below for more details.
The thumbnails container holds the preview images of the asset shown by the Content Manager program, the Web version of the DLS and, for some assets, the Surveyor main menu image(s). See the section Thumbnails below for more details. Complete information on thumbnails can be found at Thumbnails
- The label Default is the container ID or placeholder for the thumbnail used by CM and the Web based DLS. While its exact label (or number - eg. "Default", "00", "01", etc) is not important, it must be different from any other labels that might be present in the thumbnail. Default and 0 are commonly used placeholder labels for the 240 x 180 thumbnail image
  - The image is the name of the thumbnail image. It does not have to be called thumbnail.jpg but it must be a JPG format image
  - The width of the image in pixels must be 240
  - The height of the image in pixels must be 180
The description provides more details for users than the username
The kuid-table contains the kuid values of the defaultjunction asset and all the carN assets. See the section Kuid Table Tag below for more details.

	Language Options:
	All Trainz assets have a language facility built into their config.txt files that allows other language translations to be added for certain tags, such as the username and description tags. A full description of the process can be found on the Trainz Wiki at Localize an Asset and a list of all the supported languages with their two character codes at Localization (country) Codes. At the very basic level any creator can easily provide other language translations for the username and description tags in the assets they create. Examples are shown below for this sample asset.
username "Region data for Tasmania 1950 to 1969" username-c2 "塔斯马尼亚州1950年至1969年的区域数据" username-es "Datos de la región para Tasmania 1950 a 1969" username-fr "Données régionales pour la Tasmanie de 1950 à 1969" username-gr "Regionsdaten für Tasmanien 1950 bis 1969" username-nl "Regiogegevens voor Tasmanië 1950 tot 1969" username-ru "Данные по регионам за Тасманию с 1950 по 1969 год"
	Translations to Chinese (simplified), Spanish, French, German, Dutch and Russian, perfect or not, were provided by Google Translate.

Region Tags

Category Era Tag

This tag is NOT compulsory in a Region asset

This identifies the decade or decades in which the region is based. The tag data contains text surrounded by quote (") characters. Each decade name ends with an "s" (e.g. "1950s") and multiple consecutive decades can be specified by using a semi-colon (;) as a separator (e.g. "1950s;1960s"). A list of category-eras can be found at Category-era tag.

Category Region Tag

This tag is NOT compulsory in a Region asset

This identifies the country or countries in which the region is based. The tag data contains text surrounded by quote (") characters. Each country has a two letter code (e.g. "AU" for Australia) and multiple countries can be specified by using a semi-colon (;) as a separator (e.g. "AU;UK;US"). If no country is to be specified then the two character code "00" (double zero) is used. A list of countries (category regions) can be found at Category-region tag.

On the Right Tag

This tag is compulsory in a Region asset

This identifies which side of the road is used by road traffic in this region. The tag data contains a binary value (0 or 1). 0 = left side, 1 = right side.

Water Color Tag

Warning:
	The water-color tag in a Region asset has been superseded by the Water Color Lighting Setting which is set in the Environment Tools

This tag is compulsory in a Region asset with an asset build number of 3.4 and higher

This identifies the colour used by water surfaces added by the Surveyor Terrain Tool in this region. The tag contains three integers separated by commas (e.g. 75,128,255). The integers specify the RGB (Red, Green, Blue) colour values to be used and each value is from 0 to 255.

Default Junction Tag

This tag is compulsory in a Region asset with an asset build number of 3.4 and higher

This identifies the junction lever or switch that Trainz will use as its default lever asset whenever a lever is added to a track junction in this region. The tag data contains a single valid kuid (e.g. <kuid:61119:24120>).

The kuid value of the switch lever must also be added to the kuid-table container of the config.txt file.

Default Texture Tag

This tag is only valid in a Region asset with a build number of 4.8 and above

This identifies the default texture that will be applied to every new baseboard that is added. If it is not present then a system default texture will be used on new baseboards in Trainz TRS19 and later. If present then the Trainz Build Tag must also be present and set to a minimum value of 4.8.

The kuid value shown in the sample config.txt above, <kuid:-25:1180>, is for the standard TRS19 grid pattern.

The kuid value of the texture must also be added to the kuid-table container of the config.txt file.

Trainz Build Tag

This tag is NOT compulsory in a Region asset unless the Default Texture Tag is present

The identifies the minimum version of Trainz that wlll be needed to use this region asset. A list of asset trainz-build numbers and their corresponding Trainz versions can be found at Trainz build numbers

Longitude Tag

This tag is compulsory in a Region asset with an asset build number of 3.4 and higher

Warning:
	The Longitude tag in a Region asset has been superseded by the Longitude Setting in the Environment Tools

Notes:

There is no known feature, function or operation in a Trainz route or session that actually requires a Longitude value other than the fact that a valid Longitude Tag is compulsory in a Region asset with a build number of 3.4 and higher.

This identifies the geographic longitude of a point in the region. The tag contains three floating point or decimal values separated by commas (e.g. 147.0,26.0,1.0). The first value is the longitude degrees, the second value is the longitude minutes and the third is the East/West value (1.0 = East, -1.0 = West). For example: 147.0,26.0,1.0 would represent longitude 147 degrees 26 minutes East.

Latitude Tag

This tag is compulsory in a Region asset with an asset build number of 3.4 and higher

Warning:
	The Latitude tag in a Region asset has been superseded by the Latitude Setting in the Environment Tools

Notes:

The purpose of the Latitude entry is to:-

determine the season of the year along with the Date setting. Many SpeedTrees assets, for example, use the season to determine which foliage layer should be used. Both the Latitude and Date can be set in the Environment Tools.
set the sun angle and its maximum height above the horizon line at noon. The times of sunrise and sunset are fixed at 06:00 and 18:00 and these cannot be changed.

This identifies the geographic latitude of a point in the region. The tag contains three floating point or decimal values separated by commas (e.g. 41,0,50.0,-1.0). The first value is the latitude degrees, the second value is the latitude minutes and the third is the North/South value (1.0 = North, -1.0 = South). For example: 41.0,50.0,-1.0 would represent latitude 41 degrees 50 minutes South.

Altitude Tag

This tag is compulsory in a Region asset with an asset build number of 3.4 and higher

Warning:
	The Altitude tag in a Region asset has been superseded by the World Origin Altitude Setting in the Environment Tools

The altitude can be set by selecting a Region:-

when a new route is created - the route base height will be set to the altitude shown in the selected region so the first baseboard will have its height set to that altitude instead of the usual starting height of 0 metres
when an existing route is edited by assigning it a new region - the route will have its base height set to the altitude shown in the new region and all existing heights (terrain, splines, objects) will be set relative to that value

This sets the initial altitude (height above sea level) of the route. It is also used in the display of snow but only with those scenery assets that have a snow effect layer.

The tag data contains a single integer that represents the altitude in metres. All terrain and object heights will be set relative to that altitude. For example: if the first baseboard of a route is manually raised to a height of 20 metres using the Terrain Height Tool and the route is then assigned to a region with the altitude set to 100 metres, then the first baseboard will have a height above sea level of 20 + 100 = 120 metres.

The altitude tag works with the Snow Altitude Setting which is set in the Environment Tools.

The Default Region has an altitude of 0 metres. If you change the assigned region for an exiting route to the Default Region, then the base height of that route will be set to 0 metres and all other heights will be adjusted relative to that height. In many cases this will revert the route to its original terrain height when it was created in Surveyor and before it was assigned to a region.

Car Tags

This tag is NOT compulsory in a Region asset. If not present then no moving vehicles will appear

Notes:

There is some confusion over the maximum number of different types of moving vehicles allowed in a session. Some region assets available on the DLS claim to produce as many as 100 different types of moving vehicles but whether more than 15 different types can be seen in a Driver session at any one time is, as yet, unclear.
The carrate tag, which is used to control the rate at which moving vehicles are created (i.e. how many per minute), has been declared obsolete in Route assets. This tag is not used in a Region asset but has been used in some Route config.txt files. It only applies to road spline assets that support road traffic.

The Car Tag identifies the moving vehicles (cars, trucks, etc) that will appear on roads in the region. Each car tag contains just a single kuid value (e.g. <kuid:329364:1568>) that identifies a single vehicle. There are restrictions and requirements:-

Up to 15 different vehicles, each as a separate tag from car0 to car14 with their kuid values, can be specified in a region. The car tag numbers must be consecutive with no missing or duplicated entries (see Notes above)
The vehicles must be specially configured to allow them to be used as moving vehicles - static car assets cannot be used. See Build a Car for Traffic for information on how to configure a static vehicle asset for road traffic
Not all roads are configured to carry moving vehicles
The Environment Tools has a control that will enable and disable ALL road traffic. If this is set to disable then the car tags will be ignored and no moving vehicles will appear.
The kuids of the vehicles must be added to the kuid-table container of the config.txt file

For example, the following entries will specify just 4 different moving vehicles for the region.

car0                                    <kuid:329364:1568>
car1                                    <kuid:309161:100599>
car2                                    <kuid2:329364:1689:1>
car3                                    <kuid2:329364:1707:1>

Warning:
	If any of the listed cars are faulty then the Region asset will NOT appear for selection in the route Region List (see Using the Asset below)

Kuid Table Tag

This tag is compulsory in a Region asset if the defaultjunction, default-texture or car tags are used

This must contain the kuids of the Default Junction Tag, the Default Texture Tag and all the cars specified in the car tags - if any of them are present. The kuid order is not important and the tag numbers ("0", "1", etc) do not have to match those used in the car tags. Using the examples shown above, the kuid-table could be as shown below.

kuid-table
{
  0                                     <kuid:61119:24120>
  1                                     <kuid:-25:1180>
  2                                     <kuid:329364:1568>
  3                                     <kuid:309161:100599>
  4                                     <kuid2:329364:1689:1>
  5                                     <kuid2:329364:1707:1>
}

In this example, the first kuid value is for the defaultjunction, the second is for the default-texture and the remaining kuid values are for the four road vehicles, but the order of the entries is not important.

The Thumbnail Image

A thumbnail image MUST be present in the asset

Notes:

The thumbnail image:-

must be in JPG format.
must be 240 pixels wide by 180 pixels tall.
does not have to be named thumbnail.jpg as long as the name used is in the Thumbnails container in the config.txt file.

Using the Asset

Once the new asset has been committed it will be available for use as a Region.

Warning:
	If the region asset is faulty (for example, if it has an incorrect kuid code in one of its car tags) then the region will not appear in the Region selection list.

The region is specified when a new route is created and it can be altered by selecting Edit Route from the main menu in TANE or the edit menu in TRS19.

Load a Region

Trainz Wiki

More Tutorials and Guides to Using Trainz

This page was created by Trainz user pware in April 2020 and was last updated as shown below.

How to Create a Region Asset

Contents

What is a Region?

How to Create a Region Asset

The Config.txt File

Region Tags

Category Era Tag

Category Region Tag

On the Right Tag

Water Color Tag

Default Junction Tag

Default Texture Tag

Trainz Build Tag

Longitude Tag

Latitude Tag

Altitude Tag

Car Tags

Kuid Table Tag

The Thumbnail Image

Using the Asset

Trainz Wiki

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