[James Ross]

 copperpen, on 28 October 2014 - 01:08 PM, said:

I think we have done something that MSTS does not do which is to fix an FA specifically on a tender restricting it to the Y axis only. I don't know why this was done, but the answer is in these forums or the bug tracker. In my experimenting I edited the positional info of the FA in all three axes, and found that in two of them the height was affected, and in the third nothing was affected, the model appeared at the base level with no elevation.

Thanks, that's interesting. I think Chris may have done the tender animation/fuel level work so maybe he can shed some light on to what's going on. I don't currently see any reason we can't get the same behaviour as MSTS, we just need to get all the bits in the right place (so to speak).

[atsf37l]

In reading through this post this morning I decided that perhaps a tutorial was in order. Here 'tis:
FA Tutorial

[copperpen]

Yes indeed what you state in that tutorial is absolutely correct. However, since the modification to the code that affects FAs attached to the tender, the reference point is to the FA 0.0.0., not the tender 0.0.0. So, if the reference point of the FA is 15 feet in front on the tender that is where it appears with the vertical element added.

[atsf37l]

OK, James, I'm a bit confused. You allude to "...the modification to the code that affects FAs attached to the tender..." I don't find any difference in the handling of tender mounted FA's over the original MSTS version. Case in point, here I am with Tom Werb, perfectly placed in the cab of ATSF 4052, a loco optimized for ORTS in OR Build 2604:


Here is the same tender mounted crew in precisely the same OR-optimized locomotive running in KUJU land (MSTS):


This is the same FA crew I have used on this engine since it's building, anchored to the tender on account of the two piece "boiler/details" arrangement of the engine. FA is "FreightAnim ( ATSF-SG-CrewB.s 0 0 )" with the crew shape file set at 2.3m in elevation and 6m forward from the tender's base 0-0-0 point. Looks like this:


So I'm lost as to where the problem lies?? :Neeeedsleeep:

[copperpen]

I am looking at multiple engines that use the same setup as you show Herb, in MSTS all is fine, but in OR the shape is not displayed relative to the tender point of origin, it is displayed relative to the FA shape point of origin.

[atsf37l]

Can you attach one of them? I'd sure like to take a look.

The more I think about it, the more I wonder how that can be. Are not the FA statements a part of the tender .wag file? Or are these like a "crewcar" concept with the crew riding it's own wagon file between engine and tender? We definitely had some problems with that arrangement in OR over here in narrow gauge land. I.e. Bill Pratt's locos with FAs in use for engine detail and also for coal load. Only way to make 'em work was to do a "crewcar", a zero-length wagon between the two. Didn't work with OR! Had to make them .001 length and reverse them and then they jumped all over like they were sitting on anthills. If that's what you're dealing with the only solution is to have the original builder put the engine parts together as an "OR Only" model so you can FA in a crew in the normal manner.

[copperpen]

Herb, take a look at http://www.elvastowe...ck/page__st__20 post #24. This shows the crew position in both OR and MSTS with the crew as an FA attached to the tender.

[atsf37l]

I understand what the problem looks like. What I need to see are the files. What is that engine? Where can I get it?

[copperpen]

I have tracked down the revision that first caused this, and have a set of screenshots of different versions of OR, and besides the crew position there is another change that is visible, caused by some other code change somewhere.

The first two shots show the crew position change between versions where the tender anim code was changed. The third shot shows that a further change took place somewhere to place the crew on the boiler. Note also that the AI train to the left has disappeared in the third shot, and that is with MSTS activity compatability turned on. Separate issue that I have just noticed.

The crew are called from a common.crew folder, not the engine folder.

Attached thumbnail(s)

• 
• 
• 

[copperpen]

 atsf37l, on 30 October 2014 - 12:36 AM, said:

I understand what the problem looks like. What I need to see are the files. What is that engine? Where can I get it?

Try the WP282s.zip from here. They show the same thing with the crew riding beside the smokebox.