Exterior sound problem

[scamel]

Hi,

I've made the jump to OpenRails and I must say, I am impressed! It is amazing how it renders Paul Charland's routes! However, I have a problem...

In Paul's DAR route, there is one particular locomotive pack (cpsw10pk) where I cannot hear locomotive sounds from the outside (from any camera angle), but can hear inside the cab view. This seems to be the only locomotive pack I have installed that does that. His S2 and the DAR Budd cars all have sounds I can hear outside.

I have been searching around this forum for someone with a similar problem, and unless I'm using the wrong terminology, I seem to be the only one. I did read somewhere else that sometimes if there is a misplaced bracket somewhere that it can cause things to stop working correctly. Almost like OR is more picky with syntax in the .eng or sms files then MSTS is. Might this be the case? I've included my log file here in the hopes that someone might notice something awry.

I've poked through the .eng files and through the .sms files and I can't seem to find anything missing. I've even swapped the default sounds for Ron Furto's SW1200 sounds and still no joy.

OpenRailsLog.txt

Thanks!
Andrew Underwood

[csantucci]

Maybe you could also annex the .eng file. Maybe ORTS skips the .eng file line referencing the ...eng.sms file, because there is something in the syntax of the .eng file it does not like.

[charland]

Hi Andrew,

Just a guess after looking at the engine files for the S-3 and SW1200RSs...

The line for the exterior sound in the S-3 that works is just before the Lighting section of the file, in the files for the SWs it well after a lengthy lighting section. Not sure if OR handles BIN lighting the same as MSTS but maybe that's a clue.

Paul :-)

[scamel]

Maybe you could also annex the .eng file. Maybe ORTS skips the .eng file line referencing the ...eng.sms file, because there is something in the syntax of the .eng file it does not like.

What do you mean by "annex"?

Paul - that's a good suggestion. I have OR set up to handle MSTS Bin, but perhaps you're right. I'll experiment: I'll set up the SW1200 like the S-3 and see what that does.

Will report back!

[scamel]

As promised, I'm reporting back.

Moving the Sound ( " sw1200.sms " ) ahead of the lights worked. I now have sound. However now the lighting is a little odd.

I'll do my best to describe:

I have found with MSTS Bin, with my headlight set to "Dim" I have a full headlight on the leader, with no light on the trailing locomotive. Pressing H again will give me a light on the trailing locomotive. That is the norm. In this particular instance, when I press "H" to select "Dim", it lights the trailing unit. Pressing H again has no effect, and there are no lights on the leader.

I'm highly unfamiliar with lights "pre-Bin", "post-bin" I'm totally lost, especially given that the lighting section on these locomotives is huge. I get lost easily. Might this be a syntax problem? A bracket where there should be one? I get the feeling the brackets and syntax are very important.

[charland]

Hi Andrew,

I have no way of testing power in OR, they location of the sound line came from comparing the two engine files. I'm thinking the new light problem is an OR problem. If you run the S-3 in OR and check the lights and they work as expected, try it with two S-3s back to back and see if the lights still work or act strange.

Paul :-)

[scamel]

I can't fix this. I only made it worse.

Locomotives re-installed from original pack. Back to square one.

I don't have the expertise to fix this. I'll just live with it.

Thanks all.

[csantucci]

What do you mean by "annex"?

Attach it to one post. I see from previous messages that the problem effectively seems to be in the .eng file.

Carlo

[scamel]

I'm sorry Carlo. I thought when you said "annex" you were referring to a procedure like aliasing. I have Paul's permission to post the .eng file here. It is too big to attach though.

I'm not an expert in these matters, but I'd say you're correct. As I tinkered last night, some of the errors the OR log was giving to me had to do with specific lines in the .eng file. My previous theory was that it was the .sms files themselves, which isn't the case. If I move the .sms file line ahead of the lights, I get sound, but then the lights stop working as they should. It's very confusing!

[csantucci]

If you compress the .eng file with Winzip or a similar program, it will become small enough to be attached to a post.

Carlo

[scamel]

CPR_8131.zip

If you compress the .eng file with Winzip or a similar program, it will become small enough to be attached to a post.

Wow I'm slow on the uptake today.

Alright, it is attached. I'm having the same problem with the FJ&G S-2s as well.

Thank you!

[csantucci]

Well, try replacing the .eng file with the attached one.

CPR_8131_mod.zip

I didn't want to believe it, but all I had to do is moving the comment line
#(++++++++++++++++++++++++ End of light section +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++)
(that is line 889)
below the parenthesis of line 891.
So there seems to be a strange bug in ORTS, that is a comment line just before the closing parenthesis of the Lights section causes malfunctions. I hope ORTS developers will read this post and correct the bug (if I'm right of course).
Pls. report the results of your test with this version of the file.

Carlo

[scamel]

WOW. I never would have found that in a thousand years. It works!

Here I was, planning to re-write the entire lights section (with some serious study, of course).

It also worked for the FJ&G units.

I was musing to myself last night while at work that I thought perhaps it was an OR thing where they hadn't gotten that far yet. Though I am still looking forward to the next release, I can continue to enjoy the awesome frame rates and Paul's incredibly detailed work!

Gotta go, there's a DAR gypsum train that needs to be moved.

Thanks a million Carlo!!

[csantucci]

Nice, I'm glad that I could help!

Carlo