openrails easy controls

[bladerunner]

my 5 year old son love's msts with simple controls,will openrails ever have that option in future updates.

[amtrak1993]

bladerunner, if you create an activity in the MSTS Activity Editor and then run it in Open Rails, you can activate the Autopilot feature by pressing ALT-A. The train will then run by itself and obey speed limits and signals. The feature is not currently available in explore mode. Also, Open Rails Autopilot allows the user to retain usage of the bell and horn, something MSTS Simple Controls didn't allow. Hope this helps you out. Enjoy!

[R. Steele]

A few months after I found my old (never used) MSTS CDs and subsequently discovered Open Rails I asked this same question at another forum:
"Something like the simple controls vs advanced controls in MSTS only offering more choices of specific controls. I don't have enough experience to suggest what those would be, but it would provide more flexibility to Open Rails and provide for a wider degree of player participation. Personally I prefer the simulator mode, the closer to prototypical the better, within practical limits. Cheers rhs (aka gerry)"

Two reply posts to my question:
"The original set of objectives, as recorded by Wayne Campbell from a discussion w/ the original team members clearly came down on the side of simulator, not game. FWIW that group also decided to not debase the simulator on account of the needs of old, poorly performing PC's.
None of those people are still active on the OR project so there is no telling how things will turn out.
Having contributed to the original decisions, I do hope the current team sticks with them."

AND..

"You'll find the Mission statement here - "Our goal is to enhance the railroad simulation hobby through a community designed and supported platform built to serve as a lasting foundation for an accurate and immersive simulation experience." and "We benefit from community expertise to deliver accuracy not just in appearance, but also operationally. It's this area that we find existing products lacking."

After two years of learning and running OR for most of that time, I have come to understand these two answers and agree with them.
Introduce your son to MSTS, using the simple controls, let him learn the basic operation and then move him to OR and allow him to expand his skills to more prototypical operation. Both of you enjoy, have fun.

http://openrails.org/discover/our-mission/