[markus_GE]

James Ross, on 02 November 2013 - 05:09 AM, said:

[...] they have to be constrained to whatever game windows we have.

Or make them avalable as non-in.game Windows if the user specifies this. Just a simple Switch and all These Problems would be solved (or maybe make each window switchable on ist own, if multiple Monitors are avalable).

Cheers, Markus

[James Ross]

markus_GE, on 02 November 2013 - 05:55 AM, said:

Or make them avalable as non-in.game Windows if the user specifies this. Just a simple Switch and all These Problems would be solved (or maybe make each window switchable on ist own, if multiple Monitors are avalable).

Haha, I wish it was that easy. Doing this would mean duplicating the majority of the code used to display the windows, so it's not happening, sorry.

I am looking at ways we can use multiple windows/displays, though.

[Matej Pacha]

James Ross, on 02 November 2013 - 06:49 AM, said:

Haha, I wish it was that easy. Doing this would mean duplicating the majority of the code used to display the windows, so it's not happening, sorry.

I am looking at ways we can use multiple windows/displays, though.

And what about having a simple server making all the data available? Just a note from one old thread here.

[James Ross]

Matej Pacha, on 02 November 2013 - 07:30 AM, said:

And what about having a simple server making all the data available? Just a note from one old thread here.

Ah, yes; I think that will be separate to the UI redesign, but it should include the same data. Maybe someone could even do HTML versions of the aids... (still a fair bit of work).

[thegrindre]

I've done a little re-skinning but I can't seem to find the background texture for the aid windows. I'd like to make those more transparent. Where is that texture hidden?

:)

:)

[James Ross]

thegrindre, on 02 November 2013 - 08:08 AM, said:

I've done a little re-skinning but I can't seem to find the background texture for the aid windows. I'd like to make those more transparent. Where is that texture hidden?

Ah, that's set a bit more absolutely, by the code (line 1593 of Source\RunActivity\Viewer3D\Materials.cs: shader.GlassColor = Color.Black). But, since the shaders are also now editable, you could change PSPopupWindowGlass in Content\PopupWindow.fx.

// Instead of this on line 115:
	return float4(lerp(ScreenColor, Color.rgb, Color.a), 1);
// Put this:
	return float4(lerp(ScreenColor, Color.rgb, Color.a), 0.5);

Change that number on the end from 0 (completely transparent) to 1 (almost opaque) as desired. Note this change only works with "window glass" enabled - the non-glass code is in PSPopupWindow and needs slightly different tweaks.

[Genma Saotome]

My suggestion has been to tie player commands to specific roles and each of those roles to sets of cameras. Adding "Driver Aid" information makes perfect sense.

OR provides a standard set of roles, a standard set of commands for those roles, a standard set of named Aids, a standard configuration between them, and ties all of the above to a standard set of cameras.

IOW, OR sets up a suite of features for the UI as the default but allows end users to replace certain individual features and combinations as they see fit.

data wise it looks like this:

SingleCameraDefn >---< CameraSet (many to many)
Command >---< CommandSet (many to many)
GUIAid >---< GUIAidSet
Role >---< CameraSet (this may make more sense as Role >--- CameraSet)
Role >---< CommandSet
Role >---< GUIAidSet

All Players get a GUIAid to change Roles; One role can be JustLikeItWasInMSTS, other roles can be Engineer/Driver, Fireman, etc., etc.

All Roles get a GUIAid to change CameraSet; The role of JustLikeItWasInMSTS can start out with CameraSet(SameAsMSTS) and change it to Cameraset(Brakeman) as desired, etc. etc. A role like Fireman defaults to a CameraSet(Fireman), etc. etc.

All Roles get a GUIAid to change GUIAidSet; The role of JustLikeItWasInMSTS can start out with GUIAidSet(SameAsMSTS) and change to GUIAidSet(Fireman).

What this provides is a means whereby OR can provide a set of GUI features that are tailored to replicate MSTS, even to do MSTS at different levels of skill... AND provide a set of GUI Features that are tailored to match the actual roles people perform while operating a train (and that can be extended to dispatcher, towerman, railfan, etc), AND establish the means whereby a multiplayer environment can have multiple persons per train, each person tied to specific roles.

It is my opinion that simply trying to come up with a slight extension of the original MSTS GUI will be a colossal missed opportunity. Taking the above approach allows for a MSTS-like GUI... AND so much more. I strongly believe it could be a feature set that would greatly differentiate OR from any other Train Sim and do so not by abandoning a well established look and feel but by accommodating that look and feel in a structured design that adds the means for a very, very realistic view-perspective of railroading.

Further, I am strongly opposed to any approach that is not data driven and user configurable. Locking up the choices inside the code is almost always the wrong way to go. We ought to be reading a list of stuff to display, reading a list of what the function keys are supposed to do in this situation, etc. etc. Whatever the current list is can be logged for error reporting.

End users should NEVER be stuck with changing line 115 in PopupWindow.fx ALL of that stuff should be a config file. Mozilla does it w/ Firefox so it's not any mysterious technique.

[thegrindre]

James Ross, on 02 November 2013 - 08:28 AM, said:

Ah, that's set a bit more absolutely, by the code (line 1593 of Source\RunActivity\Viewer3D\Materials.cs: shader.GlassColor = Color.Black). But, since the shaders are also now editable, you could change PSPopupWindowGlass in Content\PopupWindow.fx.

// Instead of this on line 115:
	return float4(lerp(ScreenColor, Color.rgb, Color.a), 1);
// Put this:
	return float4(lerp(ScreenColor, Color.rgb, Color.a), 0.5);

Change that number on the end from 0 (completely transparent) to 1 (almost opaque) as desired. Note this change only works with "window glass" enabled - the non-glass code is in PSPopupWindow and needs slightly different tweaks.

Oh, yes!!! That's much better. :oldstry:
:) James.

:victory:

[Lindsayts]

A couple of points to keep in mind......

On the difficulty, MSTS/OR is a sim its not a game (in my opinion) the sim __should__ not be made artifically hard just to make it a more "playable" game. An interesting point here is in a lot of activties just keeping a to a timetable is regarded a "easy". One has no difficult in making such an activity __very__ diffcult if one does almost any modern pass activty on a busy route, where the timetable is very tight. Easy and Diffcult being subjective terms.

Second point. One of the reasons drivers aids exist is that its impossible to see clearly far enough ahead. Modern Led colour light signals can be seen at 5 kilometers even on a sunny day, This sort of detail level cannot be provided on any of the home systems and monitors availible today. An another item that relates to this is that (certainly in Australia) __ALL__ drivers have to be route quailfied (ie they have to know the line and what to expect next) before being allowed to drive solo on the route. This will almost certainly not be the case with a trainsim. So items like coming grades, the next signals comming, any speed restrictions coming up. The distance to the next station have to be some how displayed as this information __WILL__ be known to a driver in real life.

On the Adelaide hills and SE route on the trip from Mt Gambier to Adelaide it took me something like 20 trips (205 miles and 5 hours driving each time) before I could readily recognise where I was and correctly control the train. Even then one still needs the signals to be displayed in the hud.

Lindsay

[atsf37l]

When you load the ORTS software you start out with a version from April of 2014. In that version and in the documentation that came with it, as well as the documentation that came with last Friday's 2422 build:

"F6 Siding and Platform Names
Hit the F6 key to bring up the siding and platform names within a region. These can be crowded so hitting F6 again will cycle through platforms only, sidings only, showing neither and showing both."

But this functionality is not present in the latest versions. It is just On/Off and showing everything or nothing. Can we get that back? ;)