[EricF]

Nearly all horns in my locomotive fleet will play short blasts in OR, with the exception of just a few. Some of them will play OK outside the cab, but not in the cab. They seemed to ignore cue points in the WAV file no matter what. Looking into the .SMS files finally shed some light on it. The problem ones contained this in the horn playback section (Note bold/colored part):

Discrete_Trigger ( 8 StartLoopRelease ( 1 File ( "horn.wav" -1 ) SelectionMethod ( SequentialSelection ) ) )
Discrete_Trigger ( 9 ReleaseLoopRelease () )

I examined other, working horns' .SMS files and noticed that they were all formatted this way for horn playback:

Discrete_Trigger ( 8 StartLoopRelease ( 1 File ( "horn.wav" -1 ) SelectionMethod ( SequentialSelection ) ) )
Discrete_Trigger ( 9 ReleaseLoopReleaseWithJump () )

A quick edit of an offending .SMS file proved out that changing the release statement works -- Short horn blasts will work correctly in OR now on the problem horns. It looks like horn trigger lines in .SMS files work correctly when using "ReleaseLoopReleaseWithJump".

I believe OR needs the explicit "...WithJump" to tell it to jump to the final cue point, whereas MSTS assumes the jump is needed when the spacebar is released. 99% of my locomotives already use the "...WithJump" version anyway -- so the ones without are the exception. Using the edited .SMS files back in MSTS caused no issues. So, editing the .SMS files may be one more way to fix problem horns in OR.

[markus_GE]

:sign_thanks: for bringing this up. I´m no SMS expert and so was stuck wondering why some locos' horns work correctly and some not, instead of being able to do something about it :)

Cheers, Markus

[EricF]

Thanks, Markus!
I'd been confounded with some horns, because the usual recommendation to edit the cue points in the .WAV file seemed to have no effect on my problem horns. Then I found one that played short blasts fine from outside the cab, but not in-cab. That's what put me on to examining the .SMS file's triggers.

Along the way to finding the solution, I noted Ralf Hagen's SMS tutorial on Steam4Me, where he comments "At the moment, it seems that ReleaseLoopRelease() and ReleaseLoopReleaseWithJump() have the same function. Nevertheless one should use the appropriate commands for later (enhanced?) MSTS versions." He was definitely on the right path!

It's yet another case where MSTS' loose interpretation of things can hide some issues, and OR's strict (and more correct, in my thinking) handling reveals them.

So, it appears that ORTS may interpret the two release triggers this way:
ReleaseLoopRelease() will let the .WAV play all the way through to its marked end and stop after the trigger key is released. The sound will always play full-length.
ReleaseLoopReleaseWithJump() will jump to the end of the .WAV as soon as the trigger key is released, allowing a shortened sound.

[R H Steele]

 EricF, on 26 May 2014 - 04:52 AM, said:

Nearly all horns in my locomotive fleet will play short blasts in OR, with the exception of just a few. Some of them will play OK outside the cab, but not in the cab. They seemed to ignore cue points in the WAV file no matter what. Looking into the .SMS files finally shed some light on it. The problem ones contained this in the horn playback section (Note bold/colored part):

Discrete_Trigger ( 8 StartLoopRelease ( 1 File ( "horn.wav" -1 ) SelectionMethod ( SequentialSelection ) ) )
Discrete_Trigger ( 9 ReleaseLoopRelease () )

I examined other, working horns' .SMS files and noticed that they were all formatted this way for horn playback:

Discrete_Trigger ( 8 StartLoopRelease ( 1 File ( "horn.wav" -1 ) SelectionMethod ( SequentialSelection ) ) )
Discrete_Trigger ( 9 ReleaseLoopReleaseWithJump () )

A quick edit of an offending .SMS file proved out that changing the release statement works -- Short horn blasts will work correctly in OR now on the problem horns. It looks like horn trigger lines in .SMS files work correctly when using "ReleaseLoopReleaseWithJump".

I believe OR needs the explicit "...WithJump" to tell it to jump to the final cue point, whereas MSTS assumes the jump is needed when the spacebar is released. 99% of my locomotives already use the "...WithJump" version anyway -- so the ones without are the exception. Using the edited .SMS files back in MSTS caused no issues. So, editing the .SMS files may be one more way to fix problem horns in OR.

BEEE U TEEFUL! Just added "WithJump" to the end of the trigger in a cab sms that had a loooonnnng horn inside, but outside short. Now both are the same. Going to check out my other files and see if they need correction. Good work Eric. :drool3: :good2: