Number of activities in TrainSimulations routes

[Royalhudson]

Hello all,

As I said a couple months ago I'm back at MSTS using OR, and I bought all of the TrainSimulations routes. I wonder if it is me who did something wrong when installing the route in a folder different than the OR root folder, but I have only about 4-5 activities per routes..... I looked up the forum to try to find an answer but didn't find an answer... I didn't spend an hour searching with key words, so sorry if this question has been asked 100 times, but is it normal that I have only 4-5 activities? I didn't reinstall my Maple Leaf Tracks routes yet due to family issues, so I can't tell if they are all there for this publisher...

Any feedback on that? Thanks!

[CSRX]

Activities for each route varies from from Route to Route. Usually you can find additional activities here in the library for those routes.

[derekmorton]

Unless you want a specific answer, nobody can answer your question.

My Shasta has 8
My Mullan has 21

[geepster775]

I'm sure the Shasta activity count will grow when the add-on pack is released.

[Royalhudson]

Thanks for your answers..... I'm used to have more default activities with MLT routes if my memory is right than TrainSimulations routes.... Or default MSTS routes....

[Unoriginal]

Usually you can find additional activities here in the library for those routes.

There isn't much in the library for the modern TS routes. Shasta and Ruel both have none. Tho ORTS BNSF Seligman has it's own pack, and mullan only has one (which is actually yours). There are timetables for Ruel, Mullan, and BNSF Seligman too, if anyone's into those.

Hope more activities eventually come out for those routes.

[eric]

Arguably, the availability of a decent activity editor has played a factor...

[jdgremsjr]

Arguably, the availability of a decent activity editor has played a factor...

That is probably a great guess, I know that even using TRSE's activity editor is a pain in the butt. You can't even create paths with it, I used to create activities all the time. Now it is a hassle. A good consist builder and activity editor is sorely needed.

[geepster775]

The activities today are more complex and take advantage of newer OR features. Just like the routes themselves are different in terms of detail and accuracy. You can amass banality, or you can have a lesser amount of quality opportunities. This is not an exercise in score-keeping.

[R. Steele]

An alternative is to use an existing OR activity and "rewrite" it into something different, using an editor ( ConText for example ) & TrackViewer for the paths. Takes effort & time, but it works. An efficient/accommodating Activity Editor would be preferable.

[CSRX]

Arguably, the availability of a decent activity editor has played a factor...

Bingo, that's why I haven't done many activities. I had three others in the works for the Mullan Pass. A full activity of a loaded oil train over the route, with helpers split in, and removed, a empty boardmans coal train, and a local run from Helena to Garrison as an extra that hauled extra cars required that couldn't make it on the typical LM job. I was also looking at doing a Helena Switcher, that also rolled over into a job to the cement facility in Montana City.

The Black Butte Sub I had an idea or two for some UP based activities. One being a loaded grain train, and another being an intermodal job or something.

The Ruel Sub I honestly don't know much about when it comes to traffic, otherwise I would have probably done a few more for that line too.
Of course, bare in mind, a lot of the advice and pointers have come from Sean. I really don't know a heck of a lot when it comes to traffic on these lines as I do the New England region..

[Royalhudson]

So from the replies above to my question I see that MSTS has gone pretty different under OR, but I guess we have to deal with those limitations and weighing the benefits of OR, and the fact that without OR, MSTS would be hard to run on modern PC's.... The software is 23 years old....Pretty amazing it is still running under OR and aged not so bad.... But the graphic engine is really starting to lag behind compared to modern sims, like American Truck Simulator or other train sims... But I still prefer OR to other train sims, although their graphics are lightyears ahead of MSTS.

[Der_Hans]

Arguably, the availability of a decent activity editor has played a factor...

That's the only part of ORTS that I don't really like.

As it stands right now, I play all activities in ORTS. I dont even start MSTS anymore although I do have it installed and for a period of maybe a year used to bounce between them due to occasional activity problems in ORTS. As soon as I realized just how much more reliable ORTS was I made the jump to it.

However to make an activity, even though I use the TSRE consist builder, I find myself still using the old MSTS activity editor to actually MAKE the activity. It's the only real option I see for making sure the paths are laid out correctly etc.

I wish we could get the MSTS activity editor map in TSRE.

[eric]

I wish we could get the MSTS activity editor map in TSRE.

Ain't gonna happen, at least not on my work plan... but someone else is more than welcome to try it.

The best bet.... find someone within the ORTS Dev Team who knows the TrackViewer, and have them start with that. Really, all it needs is an interface to create the ACT, SRV, and TRF files...

[R. Steele]

and the fact that without OR, MSTS would be hard to run on modern PC's.... The software is 23 years old....Pretty amazing it is still running under OR and aged not so bad

You have a misconception about MSTS & Open Rails....They are two separate executable programs....The MSTS software is 23-25 years old BUT it does not run under OR.

Open Rails is an entirely separate program that does run legacy MSTS routes, engine & wagon files, and recognizes all the MSTS file extensions. There are routes, and content that are made expressly for OR and will not run in MSTS.