Official v645 Thread

[longiron]

Sorry about the delay, my Internet connection was down for a few days !

The O/S is WIN-XP SP3.

The MSTS folders hirarchy is exatly the same in my MAIN and MINI MSTS routes, only the contents of their TRAINS and ROUTES folders vary.

The problem all have is that some of these trainsets I have mentioned earlier can be used to run routes in EXPLORE mode but not when they are used as a Service in an activity.

O t t o

Thanks. What's the Directory path to the Train Simulator Folder?

[longiron]

Sorry, Longiron, for the long break. My broadband modem died, and just a few minutes ago I succeeded in installing a new one.
You mean the SD402.s? That's 6.13 MB, which is way beyond your upload limit. Even the zipped version is 460 KB.

Dralex

Is it freeware? Is so, where can the OR team download it? If it's payware, then what payware vendor?

[csantucci]

I tried command Ctrl-E (Locomotive switch) with two different multiple unit consists, and got same ORTS freeze and same error as described in post #271, so I have the impression that such command does not work.

Carlo

Edit: there are cases where it works. I try to understand what works and what doesn't.

Carlo

Edit#2: the freeze pressing Ctrl-E happens when in the consist there is also an engine that has no cabview. So if you have a three-unit engine consist A-B-C where A and C have a cabview and B does not, when you are in the A cab and press CTRL-E you get the freeze. Same happens if you have a two-unit engine consist A-B where A has a cabview and B does not, but this is not so bad. I think this should be enough for the ORTS team to remove the malfunction.

[soapbaux]

Pixel Shader 2.0 was a general feature in most stand alone video cards by early 2004. Your implication that most existing PCs don't support Open Rails & PS 2.0 is not true.

I have operated MSTS with dynamic shadows for years. I HAVE pixel shader 2.0, XNA, DX9 et all, and ORTS v360 simply worked. The new version doesn't. I did not imply that most computers lacked PS 2.0; I am saying that, even with it, something else is making this version exclusive.

Where we have seen support challenges are almost exclusively with integrated video chips, not separate video cards. Upgrading to a middle-of-the-road video card that will run Open Rails costs about $40.

Now you describe trouble with 'onboard' graphics - upgrade for $40 bucks.

Last year I bought a PCI card ($179) because it was certified by Dell to fit my computer. It fit (barely), but did not work. The card manufacturer told me it required a minimum 400W PSU. Dell sales balked, but took it back when the manufacturer intervened. Now, no card upgrade is recommended without a PSU overhaul.

However, Dell Inspirion 250W & 350W PSU's are proprietary and manufacturers no longer produce an aftermarket unit that will replace my OE.

Power supplies from PC Power & Cooling will no longer be produced due to newer models being developed.

For the time, expense and expertise involved in a graphics upgrade in an old machine, a refresh would be a better solution, that is, a new computer. However, the average computer selling today with adequate graphics technology (400W+ PSU and a separate video card) is not one of the $300 variety.

[Dralex]

I got the engine when I downloaded Jim Ward's Port Ogden & Northern V11 (or was it one of the earlier versions?). You can find it at trainsim.com in their files library. I don't know exactly whether Jim (sniper297) or Otto (ottodad) did the additional rolling stock. I did compare the SD40 with that SD402. The .s file of the SD40 is about one tenth the size as that of the 402, and the 402 is player driveable. Besides, the sessions (pardon, activities) that come with the route specify that loco. That's why I use it at all.

Dralex

[hminky]

I got the engine when I downloaded Jim Ward's Port Ogden & Northern V11 (or was it one of the earlier versions?). You can find it at trainsim.com in their files library. I don't know exactly whether Jim (sniper297) or Otto (ottodad) did the additional rolling stock. I did compare the SD40 with that SD402. The .s file of the SD40 is about one tenth the size as that of the 402, and the 402 is player driveable. Besides, the sessions (pardon, activities) that come with the route specify that loco. That's why I use it at all.

Dralex

The SD402 shows up in PO&nv11 activities EXPLORE***** but it is invisible, there is smoke but no loco and the consist moves. SD402 gives an error 5 in Shape Viewer. None of the other activities in PO&N are functioning in OR.

Harold

EDIT: Download Basic_Fixes_MSTS1_Setup.exe at steam4me, solves the problem
After a long delay the other activities finally load

[Dionis]

Hi OTTODAD

There is a problem in your consist file! You have "SF_PWexpress" in the con file and "SF-PWexpress" in the Trainset. The loading method in Open Rails is very different from the one in MSTS. That's why Open Rails loads way faster!

Remus "Dionis"
Open Rails Dev Team.

[GoGoran]

However, Dell Inspirion 250W & 350W PSU's are proprietary and manufacturers no longer produce an aftermarket unit that will replace my OE.

Buy a Ati HD4350 or 5450 low-profile card, it's guaranteed to fit and it will be happy even with a 250W PSU ! Some 30 - 40,-- dollars each, new.

My own gaming machine has been upgraded with such an Ati HD4350 card and a 270W PSU, by the way. Previously I had GeForce 6150LE onboard graphics.

[OTTODAD]

There is a problem in your consist file! You have "SF_PWexpress" in the con file and "SF-PWexpress" in the Trainset.

If there were a naming mismatch in the files then my Santa-Fe Express would not run no matter what it is being used for, the ROUTE RITER would point out.

Below is a test with this consist in EXPLORE mode and in an activity, using only a reduced version of the TRAINS folders.

O t t o

[Dionis]

Well I'm sure it's reference mess up somewhere. I can't seem to find where the problem really is. I never used Route Riter, nor Train Store. Perhaps if I provided the loading algorithm in general terms we might solve this out.

1) OpenRails reads all consist files
2) For each consist file if it contains an engine, then the engine is recovered as the "engine name" and "the folder name" (like in the CON file)
3) OpenRails checks if the related ENG file exists in TRAINSET\"the folder name".
4) If it exists, OpenRails reads the ENG file and recovers some data such as: the engine's long name, the description, the type of the engine (electric, diesel, steam), and whether it is drivable or not.
5) If the engine is drivable and it is compatible with the route (can theoretically run on the route given its type), then it is added to the list of engines, and the consist is added to engine's list of consists.

When you choose Explore Route, and select the engine, the consist selection box is populated with all the consists for the given engine.
When you select an activity, OpenRails, runs through the activity files (player service: Train_Config gives the name of the CON file to search, so if the names do not match = ERROR). Then in the Consist file, it identifies the engine by splitting the value between the brackets EngineData ( engfile "Folder Name" ) by the "space" character so we get: engfile and "Folder Name". If engfile was something like "eng file", the method would fail. This will be upgraded in the next release.
So once the engine is identified, then it is compared with the list in the engine selection box (which is hidden at this time). If a match is found then the engine name is displayed. If no match is found, then it displays "UNKNOWN", and the consist is "n/a".

[Dralex]

@hminky: I am interested in the method you used for fixing our problem. However, there seems to have been a major problem with the steam4me site. While it is perfectly accessible right now, I cannot find this file there: Basic_Fixes_MSTS1_Setup.exe. The search function seems to have disappeared. Can you help me?

Dralex

[Rick-MONON]

1-I noticed on the latest OR that the engine headlight illumination seems diferrent, should I change my light color to something else, it really makes a cone shape in the simulator, but works well.

2- I thought I read car spawners are operational now, is there a switch to turn them on or did I read it wrong?

[Dralex]

I have found the file in question just by Googling the file name at this location:
http://msts.steam4me.net/tutorials/i...g_msts_w7.html
Now I am going to try it out.

Dralex

P.S.: The SD402 is visible now after I had installed the fixes. That is, the bracket that Longiron has detected seems to have caused the whole problem.

[OTTODAD]

When you select an activity, OpenRails, runs through the activity files (player service: Train_Config gives the name of the CON file to search, so if the names do not match = ERROR). Then in the Consist file, it identifies the engine by splitting the value between the brackets EngineData ( engfile "Folder Name" ) by the "space" character so we get: engfile and "Folder Name". If engfile was something like "eng file", the method would fail. This will be upgraded in the next release.
So once the engine is identified, then it is compared with the list in the engine selection box (which is hidden at this time). If a match is found then the engine name is displayed. If no match is found, then it displays "UNKNOWN", and the consist is "n/a".

MSTS has no problems using this consist and other Santa-Fe Express ones in the activities of various routes, including it's 2000 MpH HST version I use for checking tracks in HUGE routes like the WUPPER-EXPRESS-11 and the PRR - East Region.

Below is the Route Riter check for this Gold-Spike-X activity and the consist used by it. It's 6 Stock FIX function have been run many times before to eliminate UPPER / lower case conflicts in file names.

There is something ORTS does which is not compatible with what MSTS does using certain locos. It also has problems with using some of the German locos / trainsets the Graphics-15 Stadtbahn U79 route's activities use.

O t t o

[kox]

Buy a Ati HD4350 or 5450 low-profile card, it's guaranteed to fit and it will be happy even with a 250W PSU ! Some 30 - 40,-- dollars each, new.

My own gaming machine has been upgraded with such an Ati HD4350 card and a 270W PSU, by the way. Previously I had GeForce 6150LE onboard graphics.

270W is more than enough. My machine is a 4400+ athlon x2, with 6gb ddr2, and a radeon hd3870 (which consumes 2x more watts than a low profile card) +2 x HDDs, and still the whole pc's power consumption is max 170 watts (90w in idle).