Has anyone deciphered how the turntables actually are coded or function?

[NW 2156]

From what I gather so far from RW is the turntables are track nodes. The trick would be to get a track node that is not bound in the same way a conventional switch is. The node would need to be able to rotate left or right 180 degrees if you catch my drift. I had thought about having a invisible box similar to a red bounding box in shape viewer that once the locomotive is on the table then it is unlocked from the surrounding environment and free to rotate 180 degrees about the turntable.

Chris, I know nothing of code either. I am just starting to learn and take the plunge to figure out how to get something to work that I have wanted for a more than a decade in MSTS v1 or 2003 MSTS v2.

There lies another good question? Several years ago a member here and Matt from UKTS had almost succeeded in buying the source code from MS? How much money realistically would something like MSTS V1 or 2003 MSTS V2 cost to buy out right???

I am thinking as a whole we could raise the funding pretty quickly. Faster than real railway preservation is capable of doing no doubt.

It is crazy how much interest there still is in MSTS and train simulators in general!

Robert

[OTTODAD]

Several years ago a member here and Matt from UKTS had almost succeeded in buying the source code from MS? How much money realistically would something like MSTS V1 or 2003 MSTS V2 cost to buy out right???

Yes, it was me who started this when working with MSTSBin George, Peter Ragtimer first contacting the Aces Studio to let him have the MSTS source code for George to use and then Matt Peddlesden tried to buy it to make his task easier, but it all fizzled out, M$ closing it in 2009 !

[NW 2156]

Otto, Do you think George could be talked into continuing with MSTSBin updates?

Robert

[OTTODAD]

Otto, Do you think George could be talked into continuing with MSTSBin updates?

Hi Bob !

I don't think he would, his wife having divorced him because he spent most of his time working on MSTSBin and after all these years since 2008, him and his brain getting older too, he would have to start all over again.

There is nothing he could do to improve the graphics of MSTS, processed by computers CPUs instead of graphics cards and DTG's Railworks being based on the Kuju's Rail Simulator, also not up to present day graphics technology, they are hoping to do better with their new UE4 version they are working on.

All that will cause legacy stuff to not being compatible with it !

There were some who have created some incredible animated objects, evident in my DB-Tracks version of Bill Burnett's Seaview-5 on my web site, but being stand-alone they can not interface with the default objects of MSTS.

[NW 2156]

Can the mods please move this discussion to the ORTS forum. This not really having anything to do with RW at this point.

Thank you in advance.

Robert

[conductorchris]

Maybe we could buy the MSTS source code, but why? Open Rails has already eclipsed it. Better we spend that money to put into stipends for some coders.

I'm actually serious about that.

And some coders from India could actually be quite cheap . . . and they have a MSTS community there already.

Christopher

[NW 2156]

Well Chris, ORTS is suppose to improve on MSTS. This would be easier if we knew more about what makes MSTS tick internally. We also might have the ability to shore up MSTS and the RE for those die hard fans.

My interest is actually in buying the unreleased MSTS 2 from 2003. I am very interested in what might have been? Specifically how the turntables, dynamic weather, and scripted events would have worked internally.

I have sent a lengthy email to Cascade Game Foundry about the ORTS project and my interest in how some of the MSTS functions would have worked in V2 from 2003. I don't seriously expect to even get a reply really. But, I did address the email specifically to Rick Shelby who was the leader on MSTS from the beginning. Rick is also a life long railfan and model railroader.

I will let you all know what? If anything I hear back from the former MSTS design team.

Maybe Cascade would be willing to work with us on ORTS or maybe not?

One would have to ask exactly just what is the MSTS V1 and 2003 V2 source material and content worth in $$$. The counter on ORTS already has the total theoretical cost of that project well north of 2 million dollars.

The idea to get folks from India working on the coding for ORTS is something that would require very tight control over to ensure some kind of quality control measures.

I think if we had a donation system maybe we could pay Americans, Canadians, British, Australians, instead to work on the ORTS code? India would probably be cheaper. But. How to control the quality??? It is not easy having dealings were a languish barrier exist as well as concerns on the quality of the work being produced for ORTS.

ORTS would first need to become a non for profit foundation with 503C status for tax exemptions just like a railway preservation society.

Robert

[NW 2156]

Yes, it was me who started this when working with MSTSBin George, Peter Ragtimer first contacting the Aces Studio to let him have the MSTS source code for George to use and then Matt Peddlesden tried to buy it to make his task easier, but it all fizzled out, M$ closing it in 2009 !

Otto, Can you give any more specific information about this experience? Specifically any price point or rough estimate of the cost for the source code and content??? I don't remember anything being mentioned to the effect when these discussions were going on?

Robert

[edwardk]

The critical part in having a turntable work under OR is getting the track section on the turntable recognized so that when the turntable is rotating, a connection can be made with any of the track sections off the turntable.

Edward K.

[OTTODAD]

Otto, Can you give any more specific information about this experience? Specifically any price point or rough estimate of the cost for the source code and content??? I don't remember anything being mentioned to the effect when these discussions were going on?

Matt Peddlesden is the one you should talk to, no price for the MSTS code having been mentioned and don't think that M$ has quoted one !

[geepster775]

I would think functioning turntables in O/R would be about the same low position on the list of priorities as realistic derailments for operational variety. Lets face it, they are really only of interest to simmers of the pre-1980 era and steam fans, as railroads have pretty much gone without them since then. They are only installed nowadays in places where the need to turn locos in a cramped space prohibits use of a wye, and then there is only 1 track leading to it.

[dcarleton]

Maybe we could buy the MSTS source code, but why? Open Rails has already eclipsed it.

It would be worthwhile to get ahold of the MSTS source code if for no other reason than to see how exactly that it places trees in the forest regions.

[GokuMK]

How does the model actually get rotated around? Does the sim do some fancy flipping of the locomotive parts or does the locomotive actually rotate relative to it's last position?

I don't see where the problem is. For me both solutions are simple.

2. Rotate train.
Trivial solution. Take locomotive from track, rotate it about Y axis and find new track to place it.

1. Do not rotate train.
Unplug track section from TDB.
Rotate it. Locomotive will follow track.
Connect with TDB in new place.
Editing TDB during simulation will destroy msts paths and activities ofc

[baldwin]

The solution requires a special track section custom made for each location. The track section should be capable of holding the locomotive and rotating to a new set of predefined track nodes. That will require a new set of rules for the TDB as well.

[GokuMK]

The track section should be capable of holding the locomotive and rotating to a new set of predefined track nodes.

Any track can hold the locomotive. Just check for track position updates in every frame (ofc during turntable rotation only).