Next ORTS Beta ETA

[kox]

So control values will be fixed like in MSTS?

[longiron]

So control values will be fixed like in MSTS?

We are trying to be compatible with MSTS, so the FIRST step is to support the values that MSTS supports. Over time, new features/capabilities will be added.

[BNSFfan]

Wipers would be variable speed so from off to 100% as fast as they can go (depending on wiper unit) on an air operated system, or on/off on electric. most US trains are pneumatic controlled by a needle valve.

[lindsayts]

A couple of quotes from elvastowers forum.........

I should have thought about this, I guess the development is being "squeezed" into SM 2. There are most likely a lot of SM 2 capable only video cards out there that OR is trying to cater to. The truth is, SM 3 has been out for years now and SM 4 is not a new arrival either. As a developer that works on a DX10 system this is going to be a severe handicap.

I wonder how many possible users are being erased from the OR roster if development used SM3 as a minimum requirement? Wouldn't this eliminate a lot of progress headaches?

Eldorado

We've made a decision now: new features will be SM3-only; the SM2 support will continue to exist but it will not get new features. That means microtex will almost certainly be SM3-only.

James Ross

End of quotes.

Now I am somewhat confused here, I assume we are talking about the shader model here. Shader model 3 comes with Directx 9.0c which is availible for Windows XP with I assume most latish model video cards (Note 1). In OR's original "mission statement" they said there wished to develop a simulator capable a accurate railway simulation and the assumption was anyone wishing for such a simulator would find a way of obtaining suitable hardware. Now I am on a very limited income but do not regard windows XP and a sort decent video card such as an Nvidia GTX 560 or an AMD radeon 5870 in any way out of reach. So why is Shader model 3 seen as such as serious hurdle.

A second point is a railway simulator can be and is very different things to different people. I for instance would like to see the sim with as accurate railway (including traffic behavour) and rolling stock simulation as possible and I am not particularly bothered by lack of shadows, specular reflections, working windscreen wipers etc and such what I regard as eye candy. Now I am ____NOT____ saying these things are in anyway bad or undesirable just that it does not bother me if they are not there as long as the actual core railway simulation is good. So a question would be is the operating system and or driver versions be any kind of restriction to the core railway simulation.

Note 1: I am not in anyway in expert on windows only using this operating system for MSTS and now OR. All my other activities including rail sim development work is done in LInux, having been using linux since 1993.

Lindsay

[OTTODAD]

Still waiting for an answer to my OP !

O t t o

[Train-a-Mania]

Still waiting for an answer to my OP !

I think this is a fair answer:

Like a cake, it's ready when all the ingredients are fully baked. The community will see a new release before the end of the year, just when is open to development and testing cycles.

[OTTODAD]

Sigh !

O t t o

[lindsayts]

Sigh !

O t t o

It may be worth remembering the that OR is being done by volunteers and it is VERY likely one of the major reasons for an indivduals participation in the project is to get a decent train simulator. As they are not pressured by budgetary limits or time constraints they will release something when they consider it GOOD enough to release.

Patience WILL be rewarded.

Lindsay

[OTTODAD]

I only asked because Chris posted this on the 8th of Oct:

It's difficult to tell as this point in the development process. We are at least 30 days away.

Patience is not one of my virtues. At my age I might be dead before whatever happens !

I would like to stick a knitting needle into the ORTS cake to see whether it comes out clean when testing some of the many MSTS routes I have installed !

O t t o

[lindsayts]

I know it is tough to be patient considering the progress the OR team has already made (and none of us are getting any younger) but as I said remember these people are doing it because they wish for a good train sim. My expierence with open source is with LInux and these people are only governed by how good they think the result produced by the code is. In open source world the harshest critic of the code is the people writing it. They will release it when they think they have something worth releasing and not before and it will be worth waiting for.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm No pressure here................. ;-).

Lindsay

[kox]

Will be any preview release before the end of this year?

[Tailwheel]

I know it is tough to be patient considering the progress the OR team has already made (and none of us are getting any younger) but as I said remember these people are doing it because they wish for a good train sim. My expierence with open source is with LInux and these people are only governed by how good they think the result produced by the code is. In open source world the harshest critic of the code is the people writing it. They will release it when they think they have something worth releasing and not before and it will be worth waiting for.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm No pressure here................. ;-).

Lindsay

kox,
As the quote said it will be released when it is ready. Patience Grass Hopper!

[muskokaandtahoe]

About 60 minutes ago.

Have fun folks!