I was wondering if Open Rails will have a Route and Activity/Scenario Creator like the one you'd see in RailWorks or Trainz, or does the team plan to stay with the MSTS model?
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Sean Summer
CEO of Blue Ridge Mountains Machine works. -
Activity construction/editor will be the major objective for phases 1.01 - 1.99. A number of ideas have been suggested within the team already. If you have some ideas of your own, write them up. Because most/all of the team comes from a MSTS background you may need to be a bit more verbose in describing the feature (just writing "does x like in TRANZ" may not be enough to understand the point).
Do understand that the final decision will be made within the team and that may well result in all, some, or none of the suggestions being implemented as described.Dave Nelson
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Seldom visiting, posting less often that that. -
Dave,
As long as it's full-screen and not 800x600, that'll be fine by me!
IBM XT i386; 512Kb RAM; 5.25" FDD; 1.4Mb FDD; 5Mb HDD; VGA 256-colour graphics card; AdLib soundcard; DR DOS 6.0; Windows 3.0Comment
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The only thing I ask is that we retain the ability to stick with a 2d map.
Having dabbled with the Railworks scenario creator; the simplicity of MSTS editors was a welcome relief.
If I'm placing a train; I do not need to know that the M3 runs right alongside the track where I am. As long as I can see the track, have markers for stations/signals/cross-overs etc I'm happy.Truth is rarely pure, and never simple.Comment
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Creating and placing new specific for ORTS 3D objects using a specific for ORTS Route Editor should be no problem for capable programmers like the ORTS team have. Neither will be creating 3D scenery, it's beauty being visible for as far as the eye can see, some already having been made possible and not like in TS-2013 !
Placing tracks and switches will be a problem to design an appropriate function for in the ORTS Route Editor !
Have the Route Editor auto-create them and their switches like Railworks and Trainz do or carry on using fixed shapes of tracks and switches, the latter then looking more like the real ones like Norbert Rieger has achieved with his DB-Tracks, but neither Train Simulator can easily create double-slips and have them look and work like real ones !
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I have suggested a long time ago to combine both methods.
Use fixed realistic looking switches objects and attach flexi-tracks to them like Railworks does.
To me tracks are the most important component of any train simulator without which trains could not run !
Superelevation is a waste of time and effort as far as I am concerned. Trains tilting on superelevated curves being noticeable only when viewing trains running on them from the outside and at certain angles !Comment
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But....but.....I'm confused, Otto; you do most of your train simming in the outside views, as you have continually reminded us over the years.
So wouldn't the added realism of super-elevation (canting) be a feature that you would embrace?
Besides, the effect of super-elevation (canting) is not really "wasted" when in the cab; if OR can do what BVE and Zusi have been doing for years then bring it on.
BKIBM XT i386; 512Kb RAM; 5.25" FDD; 1.4Mb FDD; 5Mb HDD; VGA 256-colour graphics card; AdLib soundcard; DR DOS 6.0; Windows 3.0Comment
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does the team mean a route editor or only an activity editor at this time?Comment
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I think the activity editor comes first followed by the route editor which is a bit more complicated.Beer is not a matter of life or death, it is much more serious than that.Comment
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As someone who spends a majority of his time in the Route Editor, I have a feature that I'd like to see in an OR Editor.
I have developed a set of track berms, one to match each section of X-Tracks. Therefore, when I lay a piece of A1t100mStrt, I also lay my equivalent berm A1b100mStrt.
To get these pieces aligned, I'm using the Object Alignment Utility by Derek Wilde and Vince Cockeram. But this only does half the job. To get the two pieces at the exact same location, I either need to edit the World file, or manually copy/paste the position values in the RE. And since the RE properties box does not let you copy the values (the fields are disabled for track objects), I must manually key them in.
Therefore, I would like to be able to copy/paste the position as well as the rotation information from one object to another.
I'm attaching an image of a proposed properties dialog box, based on the current one in the RE. Whether you want to call the rotation values I, J and K or roll, pitch and yaw really doesn't matter. The forth value of the QDirection should not be displayed, nor editable. It should be calculated based on Hamilton's Quaternion Algebra.
Let me know if there's a specific place the OR team is tracking suggestions.
Ken Clark
Manassas, VA
Prop_Dialog.jpgComment
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Are you referring to editing the WORLD file and copy/pasting them there?Comment
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yepComment
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That is an unworkable solution.
In a single tile with a hundred track pieces and a hundred berms, trying to locate the very one you're looking for is nearly impossible, which is why I'm now editing the positions via RE.
Clearly I'm not alone here or there would never have been a perceived need to build the Object Alignment Utility in the first place. I'm just pointing out the obvious that this functionality should be extended to the position data as well.Comment
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I have been doing it that way for quite a few years now. It works fine and actually its a fast way of laying track and berm. Use whatever method you want but using the alignment utility is a major pain. I agree it would be nice to be able to copy and paste right in the editor. And yes it works easily for tiles with a lot of track sections and berms.Comment
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