6 ms·

SteamCAD – 2D CAD designed to draw steam locomotives

180 points by app4soft 7y ago

aussiegreenie 7y ago
Is this the most British software ever?
- vs2 7y ago
  No. A British Flag installer would be
  - app4soft 7y ago
    Think, SteamCAD's dev would add it into SteamCAD2[0] [0] https://github.com/oskardolch/SteamCAD2 https://github.com/oskardolch/SteamCAD2
  - ppf 7y ago
    That's not very British.
- TylerE 7y ago
  May I submit signaling simulators? There are a number of options out there... SimSig (https://www.simsig.co.uk/ https://www.simsig.co.uk/) covers modern, fully electronic systems, and Blockpost (https://blockpostsoftware.co.uk/ https://blockpostsoftware.co.uk/) covers old-school mechanical lever-frame and bell operations.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- cpcallen 7y ago
  Polish.
- radomir_cernoch 7y ago
  Judging by the author's name, the software is Czech.
wiso 7y ago
The manual is a great read.
Rexxar 7y ago
Looks interesting but the sample svg image make my Firefox suffers to render it.
- app4soft 7y ago
  > sample svg image make my Firefox suffers to render it Links2[0] browser render it without any issues.[1] [0] http://links.twibright.com/ http://links.twibright.com/ [1] https://i.imgur.com/3UXj3bh.png https://i.imgur.com/3UXj3bh.png
  - snazz 7y ago
    Is that pseudo-graphical Links output just raw X or something? Is it a wrapper around a terminal emulator? I also find the "unprecedented visual experience" part on the homepage to be humorous.
- Shorel 7y ago
  I did not even notice the time it spent rendering the image. And my laptop is far from powerful, it is an old Ryzen 5 2500u from two years ago.
  - Rexxar 7y ago
    It's quite strange, the problem is more visible when I click directly on the image (https://github.com/oskardolch/SteamCAD/blob/master/Images/264_0.svg https://github.com/oskardolch/SteamCAD/blob/master/Images/26...). Then my browser freeze 2/3 seconds after the image is rendered. So it's probably not the image itself that cause the problem but the GitHub file visualizer.
chrisseaton 7y ago
Are there any screenshots? I couldn't find them myself. The sample output is extraordinarily well-crafted. Sometimes I think I'd love to write a traditional desktop app like this as a side project. I haven't done it for years.
- app4soft 7y ago
  > Are there any screenshots? I couldn't find them myself. Here is one screenshot from 2018.[0] [0] https://twitter.com/app4soft/status/1064140024822853633 https://twitter.com/app4soft/status/1064140024822853633
mmastrac 7y ago
I love how specific yet comprehensive this package is. The manual appears to be lovingly crafted and from what I can tell, well written [1]. I don't know how many people are specifically looking to draw CAD diagrams of steam locomotives, but I absolutely love that this was someone's itch to scratch and they put so much time into this. [1] https://github.com/oskardolch/SteamCAD/blob/master/SteamCAD.pdf https://github.com/oskardolch/SteamCAD/blob/master/SteamCAD....
- swalsh 7y ago
  I had a coworker with an autistic son who would obsess over trains. He probably would love this.
  - pkaye 7y ago
    It looks like a general purpose 2D CAD though. I don't see anything specific to trains. Looks Interesting nonetheless.
    - avhon1 7y ago
      In some sense, I agree with you -- there is nothing about this package that is necessarily specific to trains. However, this seems more like an art program than a CAD program. All it does is draw and manipulate straight and curved lines. It doesn't keep track of any relationships or properties of the lines, and it doesn't know anything about areas defined by the lines. SteamCAD seems like a poor program for developing and exploring designs, but a good program for presenting designs in a particular style. I found this in the manual (page 23): "SteamCAD is focused on the presentation output, not for creating an asset for manufacturing. So each SteamCAD work should be more artistic work than engineering drawing."
      - chromaton 7y ago
        > All it does is draw and manipulate straight and curved lines. It doesn't keep track of any relationships or properties of the lines, and it doesn't know anything about areas defined by the lines. All 2D CAD software worked like this for a long time. It's "Computer Aided Drafting": a computerized way to do what used to be done with pencil and paper.
polishdude20 7y ago
So this is just a CAD program that doesn't really have anything special to do with trains? It's just a barebones CAD program or am I missing something?
zadkey 7y ago
Is it too sardonic to think that it's only a matter of time before Autodesk tries to buy this too? For reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autodesk#Corporate_acquisitions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autodesk#Corporate_acquisition... Additional Reference: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sardonic https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sardonic
- snazz 7y ago
  Given that it's more a program for producing art in that style (as opposed to engineering new trains), they almost certainly won't? Especially since it's open source.
sdrftr 7y ago
sl
- m463 7y ago
  ponythink funny

180 points by app4soft 7y ago

aussiegreenie 7y ago

Is this the most British software ever?

vs2 7y ago
No. A British Flag installer would be
- app4soft 7y ago
  Think, SteamCAD's dev would add it into SteamCAD2[0] [0] https://github.com/oskardolch/SteamCAD2 https://github.com/oskardolch/SteamCAD2
- ppf 7y ago
  That's not very British.
TylerE 7y ago
May I submit signaling simulators? There are a number of options out there... SimSig (https://www.simsig.co.uk/ https://www.simsig.co.uk/) covers modern, fully electronic systems, and Blockpost (https://blockpostsoftware.co.uk/ https://blockpostsoftware.co.uk/) covers old-school mechanical lever-frame and bell operations.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
cpcallen 7y ago
Polish.
radomir_cernoch 7y ago
Judging by the author's name, the software is Czech.

wiso 7y ago

The manual is a great read.

Rexxar 7y ago

Looks interesting but the sample svg image make my Firefox suffers to render it.

app4soft 7y ago
> sample svg image make my Firefox suffers to render it Links2[0] browser render it without any issues.[1] [0] http://links.twibright.com/ http://links.twibright.com/ [1] https://i.imgur.com/3UXj3bh.png https://i.imgur.com/3UXj3bh.png
- snazz 7y ago
  Is that pseudo-graphical Links output just raw X or something? Is it a wrapper around a terminal emulator? I also find the "unprecedented visual experience" part on the homepage to be humorous.
Shorel 7y ago
I did not even notice the time it spent rendering the image. And my laptop is far from powerful, it is an old Ryzen 5 2500u from two years ago.
- Rexxar 7y ago
  It's quite strange, the problem is more visible when I click directly on the image (https://github.com/oskardolch/SteamCAD/blob/master/Images/264_0.svg https://github.com/oskardolch/SteamCAD/blob/master/Images/26...). Then my browser freeze 2/3 seconds after the image is rendered. So it's probably not the image itself that cause the problem but the GitHub file visualizer.

chrisseaton 7y ago

Are there any screenshots? I couldn't find them myself. The sample output is extraordinarily well-crafted. Sometimes I think I'd love to write a traditional desktop app like this as a side project. I haven't done it for years.

app4soft 7y ago
> Are there any screenshots? I couldn't find them myself. Here is one screenshot from 2018.[0] [0] https://twitter.com/app4soft/status/1064140024822853633 https://twitter.com/app4soft/status/1064140024822853633

mmastrac 7y ago

I love how specific yet comprehensive this package is. The manual appears to be lovingly crafted and from what I can tell, well written [1]. I don't know how many people are specifically looking to draw CAD diagrams of steam locomotives, but I absolutely love that this was someone's itch to scratch and they put so much time into this. [1] https://github.com/oskardolch/SteamCAD/blob/master/SteamCAD.pdf https://github.com/oskardolch/SteamCAD/blob/master/SteamCAD....

swalsh 7y ago
I had a coworker with an autistic son who would obsess over trains. He probably would love this.
- pkaye 7y ago
  It looks like a general purpose 2D CAD though. I don't see anything specific to trains. Looks Interesting nonetheless.
  - avhon1 7y ago
    In some sense, I agree with you -- there is nothing about this package that is necessarily specific to trains. However, this seems more like an art program than a CAD program. All it does is draw and manipulate straight and curved lines. It doesn't keep track of any relationships or properties of the lines, and it doesn't know anything about areas defined by the lines. SteamCAD seems like a poor program for developing and exploring designs, but a good program for presenting designs in a particular style. I found this in the manual (page 23): "SteamCAD is focused on the presentation output, not for creating an asset for manufacturing. So each SteamCAD work should be more artistic work than engineering drawing."
    - chromaton 7y ago
      > All it does is draw and manipulate straight and curved lines. It doesn't keep track of any relationships or properties of the lines, and it doesn't know anything about areas defined by the lines. All 2D CAD software worked like this for a long time. It's "Computer Aided Drafting": a computerized way to do what used to be done with pencil and paper.

polishdude20 7y ago

So this is just a CAD program that doesn't really have anything special to do with trains? It's just a barebones CAD program or am I missing something?

zadkey 7y ago

Is it too sardonic to think that it's only a matter of time before Autodesk tries to buy this too? For reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autodesk#Corporate_acquisitions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autodesk#Corporate_acquisition... Additional Reference: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sardonic https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sardonic

snazz 7y ago
Given that it's more a program for producing art in that style (as opposed to engineering new trains), they almost certainly won't? Especially since it's open source.

sdrftr 7y ago

m463 7y ago
ponythink funny