MSTS activity editor with Open Rails?

[agpatterson9]

Hi, been a long time since I've been on any train sim. Sorry if I'm beating a dead horse here but is it possible to create my own activities using the AE? I tried a quick trial and it will only show up for MSTS. Any help please?

[seagoon]

The MSTS Activity Editor can only be used with MSTS - which explains why many of us retain MSTS on our systems....just to be able to use the AE.

[neyland]

Any activity you create for MSTS using AE and is visible in MSTS.

Should also appear and run in OpenRails.

[apco25]

Until replaced by a OR specific AE, the MSTS AE will work just fine creating activites for OpenRails. Sounds like your OR installation isn't pointing to where your editing the activities.

[kraus]

While activities created with Train Simulator Activity Editor can be run by Open Rails, since different engines are used to run the activities the timing will not always match. So what you see when you preview the activity will not match what happens when the activity is run.

The dispatcher view in Open Rails can be used to compensate for these differences.

[agpatterson9]

Until replaced by a OR specific AE, the MSTS AE will work just fine creating activites for OpenRails. Sounds like your OR installation isn't pointing to where your editing the activities.

OK so I have OR installed in C://program files (86)/Open Rails. Should I have it installed where my MSTS directory is?

[baldwin]

Open Rails is only a program like any other and as such can stay where you have it. If Open Rails has not detected your MSTS folders, just use the Add button at the top and navigate to where you have MSTS.

Anything you do in the MSTS folders is normally usable by Open Rails as well.

[R. Steele]

You can install OR where you want.
It uses no MSTS exe files, you should NOT have it installed in the msts directory.
If this is your first install of OR you should have downloaded from the left hand side of this page http://openrails.org/download/program/
The simple download, that way OR will make sure you have everything you need, and install OR properly.
Then after OR is up and running download the latest version from same page - right hand side The Supporter Download

The MSTS AE will work once you have MSTS installed.
OR will recognize and use activities, paths, services, traffic, and consists made with the AE.
You have to use the ADD tab on the OR Menu panel to locate your MSTS install, OR should find it automatically, but if it does not youwill need to use the ADD button on the OR menu.
If you have troubles, please post specific details and screenshots to help people solve your problem.

[muskokaandtahoe]

This may be more sophisticated than you might want to go but it is an example of how one can set up a pure MSTS environment side by side with several for OR

>My Setup.jpg

In the top left are the programs I use and the arrows point to which directory trees their used.

Then center represents 5 different directory trees that are used at game run time, one for MSTS, four for Open Rails.

On the right is another directory when I place all of my routes. I use junctions to make logical copies of the routes into one or more run time environments. This is done at the route level so I can have era specific files inside of the \trains directories.

Bottom left is a highly customized library of rolling stock. Files are manually copied to one or more run time environments. All edits to rolling stock files are done here and then copied to where they'll be used.

The only requirements are file names must be identical in all locations. What is inside rolling stock files can be different and so I add OR features there.

[conductorchris]

Not mentioned so far is that Open Rails has taken two baby steps towards a full activity editor, being a paths editor and an entirely new timetable activity creator, which lets you lay out a whole timetable and operate any one of the trains while the others run as AI. It's a bit complex, it seems (I haven't used it yet, but am looking forward to it).
Christopher

[agpatterson9]

Ok so i uninstalled OR and reinstalled it with both version...still no luck

[baldwin]

No luck with what?. A bit more information on what it is you are trying to do will help.

[OTTODAD]

This may be more sophisticated than you might want to go but it is an example of how one can set up a pure MSTS environment side by side with several for OR.

Hi Dave !

Can that use the MSTS Activity editor if MSTS has not been installed from its CDs ?

[agpatterson9]

Well in short, I tried uninstalling and reinstalling Open Rails with both versions, and the activities I create using the AE are only playable for MSTS.

I also noticed that when I manually go browse through my Routes directory (C:\\Program Files (86)\\Microsoft Games\\Train Simulator\\ROUTES\\BNSF SCENIC SUB), I cannot visually see the .act file that was saved into that folder. Which in the past I could always see it.

[kraus]

Your activity may have been saved to a Windows virtual store.

C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Train Simulator\ROUTES\route\ACTIVITIES

The intent of the virtual store is for programs that write to their folder in Program Files (x86) to continue working with folder protection. See https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Fo...indowssecurity for more technical details.