[copperpen]

What version of Open Rails are you using?

[roeter]

AI trains cannot 'whistle' at any point. The crossing or whistle signs used in a route are 'decorative' scenic objects only and can therefore not be processed by the train control logic.

Loco change (or cab change if a loco or unit has multiple cabviews) is possible using CTRL-E if you use one of the experimental releases.

Regards,
Rob Roeterdink

[markus_GE]

 roeter, on 08 May 2014 - 11:11 AM, said:

AI trains cannot 'whistle' at any point. The crossing or whistle signs used in a route are 'decorative' scenic objects only and can therefore not be processed by the train control logic.
[...]

Just a question to see if the idea somewhere in the back of my head might be worth the effort to get it to my forehead :bravo:

Though AI trains can´t read whistle signs, crossing nodes must be read and processed somewhere in the whole programming logic. Thus, if it could be linked to AI train horn sounds, AI trains might be able to blow the horn near a crossing somehow, might they?

Cheers, Markus

[That Genset Foamer]

 markus_GE, on 08 May 2014 - 11:20 AM, said:

Just a question to see if the idea somewhere in the back of my head might be worth the effort to get it to my forehead :bravo:

Though AI trains can´t read whistle signs, crossing nodes must be read and processed somewhere in the whole programming logic. Thus, if it could be linked to AI train horn sounds, AI trains might be able to blow the horn near a crossing somehow, might they?

Cheers, Markus

This is brilliant. I think if that's the case the horn sequence should be pre-programmed to start 1/4 of a mile [402.44 metres] from the crossing or 20 seconds before it, whichever will occur first. The AI horn sound played could also pre-sequenced, with the loop on the last blast.

EDIT: Maybe the distance can be set in the engine file, by a variable like ORTS.AIhorndistance( ) where the value is in metres.

[roeter]

I hate to be a spoil-sport, but it is all a lot more complicated than it might look.

Problem is that it would have to be at least a route parameter (whistle blowing at crossings is NOT a general world-wide rule).
There are routes where even within the same route whistle blowing is obligatory at some crossings and not allowed or perhaps not allowed at certain hours for others, especially in build-up areas.
Another problem is that the processing of level crossings is completely separate from train control and it would require extensive changes to the track section logic to accomodate level crossings.
Further problems arise with level crossings around stations, where the trains should whistle as they depart but if it is linked to the distance to the level crossing they would whistle as they approach - even if with the new logic the level crossing would not actually close if the station has an exit signal.

So it looks like that at least for the time being any whistling will have to be done by the players themselves :bravo:

Regards,
Rob Roeterdink

[Csantucci]

What sangeetkhona says about AI trains not blowing horn when meeting player train (or more in general passing in front of camera) is true (I think he meant crossing=meeting player train)
This of course applies to AI engines that have in the scalabiltylevel 0 within their ...eng.sms file a stream that blows the horn when distance to camera decreases below a threshold (this is the standard way to do it in MSTS). In OR these engines won't blow when inserted in AI consists, because OR does not use scalabiltylevel 0 for the AI trains; instead, it uses the same scalabilty level used for player trains, because so more triggers in general are implemented and available (OR has - or will have - more triggers than MSTS active in AI trains).
Player train scalabilty levels obviously don't have provision for random honking, and so also AI trains, using same scalabilty level, won't honk. A solution would be to have something that allows for distinction between player train and AI train within a scalabilty level; I suggested to implement a specific discrete trigger for that, but my proposal was rejected, and unfortunately and apparently no other simple way to do that has been found.

What Markus says is another issue, and I find his idea interesting. MSTS has the crash probability parameter for level crossings. If this probability is greater than 0, the player train must honk to avoid and activity end; if this parameter is greater than 0 the AI train could whistle. The fact that you don't have to whistle at night hours in some places or countries is secondary in my opinion (and could be solved avoiding to let the AI train whistle if the above parameter is below a certain threshold).

[markus_GE]

If not implemented with MSTS routes for the time being (I see, why it might be impossible), it might be a point to note for some release after 1.0, though.

Cheers, Markus

PS: Don´t ask about my bad mood today - Today was maths finals day!