SCARM layout software

Hi Alan,

Thats a shame it didnt save for you there as you say for future references, glad you've got your layout planned though hope to see progress soon

Good morning to you all,

I have been using SCARM now for a few hours and my overall impression is very positive. This program has arrived at a good time for me as i am in the early stages of a new layout design and I was preparing to transfer all my "chook scratchings" from my notepad to some form of design software. I used SCARM as a test for this leap and the feeling was good.

The program and its functions were easy to navigate through and easily identified on the Menu Bar and the Toolbar. The libraries are very comprehensive however I must admit I only used the Peco library to any great extent.

What sold it for me was the fantastic 3D feature which enable me to view my layout plan in a 3D representation. Using the mouse movement, the left-mouse button and scroll wheel, I was able to "fly" around my layout, viewing it from all angles. This visual feature brought my layout to life! (see attached image 2).

Mixy, I have some constructive point to mention:

1. I felt the scroll wheel on the mouse in the 3D function was reversed (at least for me). When I rolled the scroll wheel "forward", I expected the view to zoom in but instead the view zoomed out. Did anyone else experience this?

2. I could not locate any turntables however I understand that they are being considered in future updates.

3. In 3D screen, you need a "2D" button on the toolbar to take you back to 2D mode.

4. In 3D mode I would like to see a "point of view" (POV) or "loco view" feature where you can lock the camera to the track and move the camera "along the track, providing a cab view. I very clumsily simulated this with my mouse to simulate the shunting operation of my design to a colleague. Whilst I do not want to turn SCARM into a train simulator, I feel this simple feature would be very helpful (see attached image 3).

5. When using the Screenshot function in 3D mode, can you provide other image formats in addition to BMP's? i.e. JPG and PNG?

6. I think was your program evolves you may want change the name. When I first read the opening post, and indeed when the software was extracting, the first this I my brain registered was the word "SCAM". This may be a distraction to some users downloading and reading it for the first time.

Overall, an excellent package, far superior to the Atlas and RTS equivalent, and it will be my program of choice from here on in. Like many others here on MRF, I welcome your endeavour in providing a free application to the model railway community. I am more than happy continue testing and providing feedback for you.

Well done.

Regards,
Stephen

QUOTE (spurno @ 5 Mar 2011, 14:51) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>hi nick,tried again and still the same result.i've given up now.don't really need now as i've done my layout.just thought it would be nice to try it for possible later changes.

cheers

alan

Hi Alan I had a bit of trouble when I first down loaded it made my laptop crash.I think it clashed with my internet security mine is set high I once got hack into ,never again I also have windows 7 and find a lot do not like it. I have got it working but it is not right I think some part did not load but what I have looks good need to spend more time on it to get it working right.

Hello again

@spurno: I saw that you have some problems, running the SCARM self-extracting archive. Here is the original ZIP file: http://www.scarm.info/temp/SCARM.zip. Try to download and extract it. Some times, due to internet connection drops or by some other reasons, the download cannot be fully completed. When you try to download it again, the browser just looks at the cache and saves same broken downloaded file again. And when you run that broken file, it gives an error or just nothing happens.

@Stephen: Thank you for the good words About your points:

QUOTE (Stephen-67772 @ 5 Mar 2011, 22:21) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>1. I felt the scroll wheel on the mouse in the 3D function was reversed (at least for me). When I rolled the scroll wheel "forward", I expected the view to zoom in but instead the view zoomed out. Did anyone else experience this?

2. I could not locate any turntables however I understand that they are being considered in future updates.

3. In 3D screen, you need a "2D" button on the toolbar to take you back to 2D mode.

4. In 3D mode I would like to see a "point of view" (POV) or "loco view" feature where you can lock the camera to the track and move the camera "along the track, providing a cab view. I very clumsily simulated this with my mouse to simulate the shunting operation of my design to a colleague. Whilst I do not want to turn SCARM into a train simulator, I feel this simple feature would be very helpful (see attached image 3).

5. When using the Screenshot function in 3D mode, can you provide other image formats in addition to BMP's? i.e. JPG and PNG?

6. I think was your program evolves you may want change the name. When I first read the opening post, and indeed when the software was extracting, the first this I my brain registered was the word "SCAM". This may be a distraction to some users downloading and reading it for the first time.

1. That is true, I will fix it in the next version.
2. There are no turntables at the moment, but I am working over them and they will appear in some of the next versions.
3. You can just close the window by [X] button. However, I will add Close button in the toolbar, because many users are accustomed to it.
4. OK, I will think over this
5. I will add a JPEG output for 3D screenshots very soon.
6. Yes, I noticed this, too late unfortunately. I will think about it - any new name suggestions are welcome

Regards,

Mixy

Zmil, I came to the same conclusion today. You've nailed it I think Alan should be right now.

Stephen

Alan, the 900kb file - does it have a "folder" icon, or a "vice-type" icon? I suspect the "vice-type" icon. If so you need to search for the folder called SCARM. Windows had extracted it and put it somewhere. When you find it, open it, and it will have the 1,600kb file inside.

(Sorry if this is going over old ground or telling you how to suck eggs, Alan )

Stephen

Hi all, SCARM is OK, but no way near as good as AnyRail, yes it's free but most (as this thread seems to suggest) can't even get to grips with running the program.

This may help, when you have located the folder that you have downloaded to, right click, create short cut, on the SCARM icon, onto desktop.

HTH,

Just an observation, keep up the good work

Cheers, Chris

Good to see you're all sorted, Alan

Stephen

Hello again,

Thank you all, for your posts

I decided to make installer for SCARM, starting from 0.8.x versions, as it will be easier to deal with it for most users. SCARM must be simple, not only for tracks laying and editing, but for installing and running too

@ Patrick Draper: Yes, may be I will change the working with baseboards in some of the next versions, because editing with recreating is not convenient. About easier track connections - if it is about flex-tracks when connected to another tracks, it will be changed in the near future, because the tolerances are set to very small values now. If it is something else, please tell me, to check it

Regards,

Mixy

Hi Mixy,

I've been using SCARM extensively this evening and I am finding it a wonderfully simple, yet effective application to use. My layout plans have progressed and although it is a very simple layout, SCARM's 3D feature is a great assistance in helping me visualise the final product.

Mixy, I have two suggestions for possible future versions, if I may....

1. When you right-click on a track item and view the "Length of Selected Section", could this value be displayed at the bottom of the screen automatically when a track items is selected? And well as the feature appearing on the right-click menu.

2. When drawing the baseboard, in addition to dragging lines to create the outline of the baseboard, could the x/y values be also entered by the user? For example, when the user enters the "Recreate Baseboard" function, an input form appears (or is always present in the top corner of the display) where the user can enter 0,0 (Enter) 2000,0 (Enter) 2000,2000 (Enter) 0,2000 (Enter) etc.

Regards,
Stephen

Thank you, Stephen,

Your suggestions are good. I will try to implement displaying of length of the tracks selection in the status bar soon. About entering the baseboard with some input dialog box - I will think over it and how can be realized. Now I am working over turntables and they will appear in some track libraries in the next version of SCARM

Regards,

Mixy