Just Curious ... Explore Mode signaling

[mikeebb]

Why is it that in Explore Mode (where there should be no other trains around) I can't get more than 1 or 2 green signals in a row? After that, I always get a 50 mph advance approach, usually followed by a 30 mph approach, but no red (the next one after than is green - track speed). Sometimes, I can fiddle the G (change switch ahead) key and get the signal to go green, but the next one after that will be advance approach (flashing yellow) and 30 mph! Yes, I know, I can ignore them, and the Tab key shows a message of 'no signal in path' but it's still annoying. And I am sticking to the speed limit, not grossly speeding here, trying to look over a new route and determine an appropriate speed for activities to be done later.

[EricF]

I'm not 100% sure, but at certain point the signal logic in Expllore mode was revised to prevent problems with OR freezing up due to potential path loops caused by distant turnouts and crossovers. Several of us reported the mysterious freezes (no errors, nothing immediately notable in the log) on several routes with complex trackwork in the area of the freeze-up. It took a while to determine that while MSTS' explore mode considers only a small sphere of influence around the player train to clear the path ahead, OR takes in a much larger area -- and runs into potentially conflicting possible paths. So signal behavior in Explore mode now appears to positively "clear" the player current path -- and that also seems to mean first verifying clear and then closing any and all opposing/crossing paths whether there are trains on them or not -- which brings on a lot of signal activity.

I don't have a handle on the exact method being used, but the sudden freeze-ups on complex track are gone. The signal activity ahead of the train gets very "busy" in some places as everything is lined-up for the train. It does seem to cause some speed reductions in a few spots, but it keeps the route passable where it wasn't before. Real-world CTC systems have count-down periods that apply after train paths are switched in order to maintain safe spacing, so it's not unrealistic. It just doesn't perfectly emulate the MSTS constant "clear track ahead" behavior.

[Vince]

Plus add the fact that some routes signal scripts contain errors that MSTS ignores but OR does not.
OR code, as I understand follows the rules set in the MSTS Tech Docs.

regards,