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Route, Train and Add-on Downloads
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Before You Begin...
Thank you for downloading the Birmingham Cross-City South v1.3 route for BVE v4.2
and v2.6.
For information or help with any aspect of the route, or the Class 323 EMU used
by the Cross-City, please read these pages, the
Driver's Guide for BVE, the
Class 323 / Cross-City South Tutorial, or e-mail me using the
Contact page. Also don't forget to check the
BVE Help Guide.
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Please note, that the Cross-City route is a highly demanding route which includes
complex scenery and objects, and features abundant detail. With the release of BVE
v4, higher resolutions up to 1024x768 are also now possible, and while BVE itself
requires only modest system requirements, a detailed route such as the Cross-City
South can require as much computing power as any modern PC game. While the route
has been made available in different "Detail Levels" in an effort to make the route
accessible to more users with older hardware, to truly enjoy the route at it's best
with BVE v4, at least a 1 GHz processor (preferably 2GHz), and a 32MB graphics card
(preferably a DirectX 8 compliant card with 64MB VRAM) are recommended. If you use
Windows XP, then 512MB of RAM is preferred.
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If you still use BVE v2.6 or earlier, then Windows XP or 2000 is recommended for
running the BVE v2.x 'High Detail XP' routes, which offer the best visual experience
for BVE v2.x users. Windows 95/98/Me users with fast PC's and BVE v2.x should use
the 'High Detail 9x' routes instead. BVE v4 users need not worry about the operating
system they use. |
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Further Information
On the Notes tab above, you can find a full set of
Release Notes for the Birmingham Cross-City South, with sections explaining
the detail levels used by the route,
file naming conventions, advice on how best to
drive the class 323, how to use different trains
with the route, as well as a full feature list,
version history and known issues list. View the Release Notes
here. |
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Terms of Use, Copyright and your usage of
Cross-City files
This route package contains a mixture of copyright-free/open source
material, and copyright material. You are free to modify the copyright-free/open
source files, and re-release them if you so wish, without seeking my permission--please
feel free to let me know if you're re-releasing any material, but you don't have
to. :)
Copyright material cannot be re-released without my permission (or the permission
of the copyright material's owner), usually because I required permission to use
those files myself, or I had to obtain a licence to use them. For re-use of copyright
material, you can contact me by
e-mail.
After the installation of this route to your hard disk, copyright material can be
found in the following, seperate folders:
"<Installation Path>\Railway\Object\Bham_X-City_South\CopyrightMaterial\"
"<Installation Path>\Railway\Sound\Bham_X-City_South\CopyrightMaterial\"
Any files within a "Bham_X-City_South\" folder, but *not* within a "CopyrightMaterial\"
folder, can be considered copyright-free, or open source. If in doubt, please open
any files you wish to re-use in a text editor, and read the header at the start
of the file, which states whether the file can be freely redistributed or not.
I would still like to be acknowledged and credited as the original author if you
re-use the copyright-free files, preferably by mentioning my name, and providing
a link back to my website [http://www.railsimroutes.co.uk]. This should
be done in your "Readme", and perhaps on your download page, or next to any screenshots
featuring significant portions of my work.
Copyright material cannot be distributed
on disk, CD, or any other medium without my prior written permission,
in accordance with any restrictions or requirements I need to specify. Copyright
material may not be sold at any price or for profit under
any circumstances.
Finally, not all files contained within this route are my own work--some files have
been used with permission from other authors. If these files are copyight material,
then before re-using them, permission must be obtained from the original author(s)
if their contact details are present. For details of these specific files, please
see the route documentation after installation.
** Important: The Birmingham New Street station announcements in this route
are used with the kind permission of the copyright owners,
Ditra Systems Ltd, with special thanks also to
Phil Sayer. These files should not be re-used without the permission of
Ditra Systems Ltd.
If you want to re-use any of my work, or the work of other BVE developers in your
own add-ons, please read the BVE Developer Guidelines before you start on your own
projects. These explain such topics as copyright, open source, freeware, and so-on,
and will help you to avoid upsetting other BVE developers who retain rights over
their work.
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Credits and Acknowledgements
Thanks in particular goes to the following people, without whom the Cross-City wouldn't
have been nearly as detailed, accurate, complete or enjoyable to build:
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Steve Green |
[www.trainsimcentral.co.uk].
For supplying invaluable route data, offering useful feedback on the accuracy of
the route, for kindly offering to build the class 150, 170 and 323 CSV objects and
textures for the Cross-City South, for working with me to bring into existence the
new Class 323 EMU, and of course for extensive route testing. |
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Simon Gathercole |
For working tirelessly on the class 323's plugin DLL and all the functionality it
brings to both the EMU and the Cross-City South route. Also for supplying the amazing
new Winter and Autumn tree textures used in Cross-City South v1.2 onwards, for improving
the existing Summer tree textures, and for updating the passenger objects used in
the "High Detail XP" routes. |
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Robert Glass |
[http://www.scotrailsim.co.uk].
For conducting extensive testing on the route on several occasions, providing extra
inspiration and feedback where various aspects of the route are concerned; for helping
with the maths involved in calculating the "smooth curves" used in the trackwork;
for giving me the idea for using CSV Cylinder commands to re-create more realistic
headlight effects, for allowing me to use and adapt his "Falling Snow" objects from
his excellent Sandymill to Invermay Seasonal Special, and for allowing the use of
his class 37, 47 and Merry-Go Round coal hopper wagon objects. |
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Dave Barton |
For supplying some excellent photographs which are used in the 'control panels'
of the class 323 passenger views, and also for Beta testing the route and offering
advice on enhancing accuracy. |
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Matt Wilson |
For offering his expert feedback on the accuracy of the route, and for supplying
a class 323 cab photo from which the current 323 passenger view gauges have been
made.
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Richard Cartmell |
For his extremely helpful and consctructive feedback and advice, for advising on
the accuracy of aspects of the route, and for thoroughly testing the route on more
than one occasion. |
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Simon Townsend |
For helping with various textures used in the route, not least certain station sign
bitmaps, the RES liveried textures for the Mk1 and GUV coaching stock, and for working
with Robert Glass to create the EWS textures used with the Class 37 CSV object.
Also for testing the route and providing feedback on more than one occasion. |
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Evgeny Shatohin |
[http://jvs.ru/easytool/].
One texture used by the new passenger objects is created by Evgeny Shatohin, released
as part of his excellent 'Easy People' tool. |
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Alan Lee |
[www.jubileeline.org.uk].
For being very kind and writing a superb review of the "Pre-Beta" preview of the
Cross-City South, and for testing the route and offering helpful and encouraging
feedback. |
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Bryan Dudley |
[http://railtech.topcities.com].
For supplying some superb backdrop images of terrain and Birmingham City Centre
(which are now used in combination with my own photo-realistic skies), and for testing
the route on more than one occasion, including Beta testing, and offering helpful
feedback. |
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Alex Totney |
For testing the route on numerous occasions, offering helpful feedback, suggestions
and support throught the development of the Cross-City project. |
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Rich Haywood |
For being extremely helpful during the Beta testing, for taking the time to send
thorough feedback, and for his encouragement and support for the Cross-City project. |
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Stephen Cross |
[http://ozrail.cjb.net] . For
originally suggesting I add shadows under the passing trains, which led me to develop
my "Alpha Enabled" angled shadow effects. |
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Jason Morgan |
For supplying a superb sound sample for the tamper featured in the "Midnight ECS"
run. |
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John Owen |
[http://www.rwysnd.btinternet.co.uk].
For supplying an excellent sound sample for the class 66 passing train sounds, and
for the digital AWS samples. |
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Andy Slater |
[www.brdw.co.uk]. For kindly
allowing one of his sound samples (class 20 passing train sound) to be used in the
Cross-City South route. |
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Don Clarke |
[http://www.gotopcs.net].
For assisting with the route's signalling, and helping to remove signal warning
messages from displaying within BVE. |
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Phil Sayer/Ditra Systems |
Birmingham New Street station announcements used with the kind permission of the
copyright owners, Ditra Systems Ltd, with special thanks also to Phil Sayer. |
And thanks also goes to my dedicated (and extensive!) team of Alpha and Beta testers,
who have ensured that nothing less than the highest standards have been maintained.
Special thanks goes to my Development/Alpha Testers who have been kind enough to
periodically test the route as it developed, and locate problems before they became
too difficult to fix!
Original Cross-City v1.0 Alpha/Development Testers:
Matthew Callaghan, Richard Cartmell, Bryan Dudley, Robert Glass, Steve Green, Alan
Lee, Andy Martin, Alastair Ribbands, Alex Totney, Simon Townsend, Matt Wilson.
Original Cross-City v1.0 Beta Testers:
Dave Barton, Joe Boyd, Matthew Callaghan, Richard Cartmell, Don Clarke, Chris Cooper,
Bryan Dudley, Robert Glass, Steve Green, Keith Hazleton, Rich Haywood, Paul Jobber,
David Johnson, Matt Lacey, Alan Lee, Chris Luff, Ben Martill, Andy Martin, Jason
Morgan, Robert Nicholson, Alan Perryman, Barney, Matt Taylor, Simon Townsend, Alex
Totney, Dominik Tuchowicz, Matt Wilson, Adam Witkowski.
Cross-City South v1.2 Testers (Early and Final Betas):
Craig Allan, Peter Allen, Simon Gathercole, Gyzma, Steve Green, Alan Lee, Ryan Miller,
Mark Milmine, Tom O'Flaherty, John Owen, Dominic Smith, Matt Taylor, Alex Totney,
Simon Townsend, Jon Woad. |
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Route and Train Downloads
Installation
Instructions (BVE v4.2 and openBVE v0.6*):
Installation should be easy; simply download and run all the self-extracting archives
marked [Essential]. By default, the installers
will choose to install to the '<System Drive>:\Program
Files\mackoy\BVE4\' folder, where <System
Drive> is the drive or partition where Windows is installed. If you've
installed BVE 4 elsewhere, you will need to change the Destination Folder when you
run each installer. You must ensure that all the installers
are told to install to the same installation directory, otherwise the route
may not work! Click the 'Install' button on each seperate installer, and all the
files will be extracted to their correct locations within the folder you specified.
The BVE v4 compatible routes are located in the following folders (for details about
the differences between the detail levels, read System
Requirements, Detail Levels and Recommendations):
<Installation Path>\Railway\Route\Birmingham_X-City_South_BVE4\HighDetail\
<Installation Path>\Railway\Route\Birmingham_X-City_South_BVE4\MediumDetail\
<Installation Path>\Railway\Route\Birmingham_X-City_South_BVE4\LowDetail\
Routes for use with openBVE v0.6*:
<Installation Path>\Railway\Route\Birmingham_X-City_South_BVE4\HighDetail\Day\
* openBVE is in the early Beta stage, intended for developers and advanced users
only; please see this news item for more information,
and to download a temporary class 323 patch which adds train objects for openBVE's
external views.
Installation
Instructions (BVE 2.6 only):
If you are still using BVE 2.6, installation proceeds as per BVE 4 installation,
except you will need to change the Destination Folder to <System Drive>:\Program
Files\BVE\, where <System Drive> is the drive or partition where Windows is
installed. If you've installed BVE 2.6 elsewhere, you will need to change the Destination
Folder when you run each installer. You also need to download and install the BVE
2 Routes installer.
The BVE v2.x compatible routes are located in the following folders (for an explanation
of the different versions, read System Requirements,
Detail Levels and Recommendations):
<Installation Path>\Railway\Route\Bham_X-City_South\HighDetail9x\
<Installation Path>\Railway\Route\Bham_X-City_South\HighDetailXP\
<Installation Path>\Railway\Route\Bham_X-City_South\StandardDetail\
** Existing Cross-City South Users
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Please delete the following Cross-City South
folder before installing this updated version:
"<System Drive>:\Program Files\mackoy\BVE4\Railway\Object\Bham_X-City_South"
"<System Drive>:\Program Files\mackoy\BVE4\Railway\Sound\Bham_X-City_Sounds"
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Main Downloads (Birmingham Cross-City South Route)
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[ Cross-City South Setup ]
[Essential] |
14.1 MiB
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Complete Cross-City South route, including 3D objects, textures, route files/activities,
and optional BVE 2.6 compatibility options. Includes Readme and documentation.
[Updated 11th July 2008--v1.30 to v1.31]
v1.31.01 update for latest openBVE version (requires updated X-City South v1.31
main download to be installed first):
xcs_patch_1.31.01.zip |
Downloads (Drivable Trains)
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Class 323 EMU Cab View ]
(BVE 4)
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8.68 MiB
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Class 323 25kV AC EMU (cab view), by Steve Green, Simon Gathercole and Anthony Bowden.
[Updated 19th May 2008]
Important: This link takes you to Trainsimcentral.co.uk
where this train is hosted.
BVE Foldername(s):
<BVE4 Path>\Train\Cl323 Unrefurb
Simulated Consist: 3 cars [DMSO(A)+TSOL+DMSO(B)]
Optional Wheelflat Sounds:
Download (447 KiB) |
[
Class 323 Passenger Views ]
(BVE 4)
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7.69 MiB
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Class 323 25kV AC EMU Passenger Views (includes 4 seperate trains: 1x Seated Left,
2x Seated Right and 1x Standing), by Anthony Bowden and Steve Green.
[Updated 12/12/2007 - New installer]
BVE Foldername(s):
<BVE4 Path>\Train\cl323_bve4_passview_seated_L
<BVE4 Path>\Train\cl323_bve4_passview_seated_R
<BVE4 Path>\Train\cl323_bve4_passview_seated_R2
<BVE4 Path>\Train\cl323_bve4_passview_standing
Simulated Consist: 3 cars [DMSO(A)+TSOL+DMSO(B)]
Optional Wheelflat Sounds:
Download (383 KiB)
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[ Class 323 Cab View (BVE 2.6) ]
[Essential for BVE 2] |
2.81 MiB
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Class 323 25kV AC EMU (cab view), by Steve Green and Anthony Bowden.
[Updated 21/06/2003]
Important: This link takes you to a temporary
server where this train is hosted - you need cl323_bve2.exe.
BVE Foldername(s):
<BVE2 Path>\Train\cl323
Simulated Consist: 3 cars [DMSO(A)+TSOL+DMSO(B)] |
Downloads (Add-ons for Birmingham Cross-City South)
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[ Class 158 and 37 Route
Pack ]
[Optional] |
243 KiB
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Add-on routes for the BVE 4 class 158 and 37.
[Updated 11th July 2008--v1.30 to v1.31]
Note: The 158 and 37 are not fully compatible with openBVE v0.7.0.0
at the present time, and the Low Detail routes contained in this
Cross-City South expansion are not yet openBVE compatible. |
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For responsible BVE Development
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