[markus_GE]

Hi Folks,

during creating another Long activity for OR I got more and more bored of always having to drive all the way thru 3 hours of activity just to get the perfect starting time for the last AI Train encoutered before the end of the act (very important info on a single track route).

Now my question: How will or handle AIs (and other things that might be of importance, such as work orders, message po ups, path changes etc.) when you do a save at anyone Point in the act, Close OR, Change something of the abovementioned things in the ACT using MSTS AE (or doing some typing in the file) and reloading the activity?

Tried once, but could not really tell if the effects brought on were just because I could not exactly reproduce the 5 min switching part in between the starting / resuming Point and reference Point in the activity...

Cheers, Markus

[roeter]

Traffic details (which contain AI start times) are only processed when an activity is started. The information is stored in a "AI start list", which is stored on save and restored on resume.

You'll have to drive those three hours, I'm afraid.

But - OR is not like MSTS when it comes to single line traffic.
Trains will stick to a timetable (for passenger trains with station stops), and the "alternative path" sequence does neatly work for OR.
So - either you are running to a timetable, in which case you should just set the appropriate times in the traffic details, or you have 'random' traffic - in which case you should set "alternative path" (preferably for both trains) for all possible passing loops.
Very often there is no need to 'fine-tune' activities to the exact second as was required in MSTS.
Only in some very specific situations (e.g. no signals and short loops) can this lead to trouble.

Regards,

Rob Roeterdink

[markus_GE]

Hm, a pity but what else would I wanna do... else than maybe adding this to the wish list :)

I do know both the timetable and alternative path "Workarounds" and am using a mixture of them normally (you can also let a freighter stop at stations - doesn´t matter to me as Long as I won´t see it happen in an activity :) ) but for this one I want it all tuned so one Encounters (moving - I coulsd as well set them up as static consists) Trains waiting at sidings, but does not have to wait for them. So, fine Tuning needed: If the AI is started half a Minute too "late", it won´t make it to be inside the deadlocked area first, thus letting the Player enter this area which in turn lets the AI wait for the Player - preferrably is the siding. Vice versa, if the AI is started too early, the Player won´t make it and will have to wait. Include to this the one as a Player can´t do it everytime like the one before and you get "accuracy fluctuations" that also Need to be included. Some darn *** amount of testing is required for all that! ;)

One more question: Does this AI list processing also included static consists, IE will also static cons added during running not be added / updated on resume?

Thanks for the clarifications so far!

Cheers, Markus

[roeter]

Yes, it also includes static consist - it has to, as the location of static consists can influence the start position of AI trains (if they are placed on the same track).

Regards,

Rob Roeterdink

[markus_GE]

Just before I add anything to the wishlist track: Theoretically, would it be possible to do a "rebuild" / update of the AI list everytime an activity is (re-) loaded? From my understanding this should resolve the Problem, right?

Cheers, markus

[roeter]

It would be fairly complicated. A thorough check would have to be made for trains allready started - their start-time can no longer be changed for obvious reasons.
Also, if there happen to be trains which were not started but are now changed such that the start-time has already passed, what should be done with those? Even starting immediately would still not be according to the activity, and more or less make the whole thing useless.
Yes, I know - you promise to be carefull etc. - but I'm sure that if such facility was created both situations would occur sooner or later.
So, you can add it to your wishlist if you want, but I would not wait with testing your activity until this facility is included - could be a long wait.

Regards,

Rob Roeterdink

[markus_GE]

I´m Aware of all the things you mentioned, and I also wouldn´t wait. But I´m more or less sure this is not my last single track, exactl-starting-time-demanding activity, so for future ones it could still be of use.

As for not having beginners or non-creators running into the Problems you mentioned (for whatever reason), it could be made a Content-creator´s Option to be turned on or off (maybe using just a registry entry as to not clutter the Options menu more) so only People who know what it´s for will use it.

Personally I´d see this Feature as a Content developer´s help, as already mentioned. I think, as such, the People using it will likely be Aware of the side effects it can have. So, for Trains started before the actual time, but not started from the old save, they could either be just dropped (should be mentioned in the Manual, however, that this will occur) or "silently" during Startup be run as to retrieve where they would be located - I´d prefer the first one: Using this Option you can actually split the activity into parts during testing, as you do with the AI set up (At least I myself never let them run the whole route, just the maybe third of it where the player´s located - to reduce both complexity of the act and the efforts placed on the Computer). That way you could just do a save say 15 minutes before the next AI is to be started and that way will have way less driving until you Encounter it and can judge if the Timing is OK. BTW, an act dev will (hopefully) know when his AI Trains "go off" ;) .

Yours, Markus