ORMT Sessions

[cjakeman]

(Notes from the regular sessions of the Open Rails Management Team are usually posted on the private forum of the Project Team. If the team have no objections, then I will be re-posting them here.)

Notes from the last ORMT session

Progress on ORMT's current tasks:

• Version 1.6.1

• The website statistics are updated every 4 weeks. 2-Feb-2026 shows that more than half of our users on v1.5 releases have updated to v1.6 releases. v1.6 and v1.6.1 accounted for 19/28 thousand active users and the trend away from v1.5 is continuing.

• James has fixed some minor bugs in the automatic systems that label commits and testing versions.

Topics Raised by Project Team Members:

• Translations for Telemetry

• James has changed the code to now include these 3 paragraphs which were too long for the standard treatment.

• glTF

• This substantial improvement has been held back by a large performance drop in some circumstances. We are grateful to Roger (rwf-rr) for carrying out tests and especially to Peter (gpz) for finding and implementing a fix. James has labelled this PR so that it will persist in the Unstable version and not be pushed out by other PRs which conflict.

• Currently, animations are disabled and await review, but glTF is otherwise stable and we invite content creators to explore what it can do in Open Rails.

• We will be promoting this in the forums and on the website.

• Manual

• Henk (henrik) has suggested improvements to the manual which we are discussing together. In particular, splitting it into one manual for game players and another for game developers.

• Bug in Menu Retry

• Siebren has discovered that a missing connection to the Internet is not shown to the user unless they switch to the notifications. I will provide a simple fix for this. He also noted that the Menu does not show any updates to the Unstable version after the first run of the day but it would be useful to have a Refresh button. I am looking into providing that too.

• Suggestions for Open Rails Officers

• Brandon (atsf3751) launched lengthy threads on TrainSim and Elvas Tower about the direction of Open Rails. Peter (steamer_ctn) has extracted these conversations into specific proposals for Communications Officer, Resource Officer, Continuity Officer and Content Management Officer.

• A Resource Officer could be very helpful to coordinate efforts better.

• It is clear from the forum threads that only a few people are aware of the published roadmaps. We will therefore be posting shortly about the Roadmap overview on the website and promoting the voting process for features on the Trello Roadmap.

The next session will be Saturday 21st March

[Whatever2006]

• glTF

• This substantial improvement has been held back by a large performance drop in some circumstances. We are grateful to Roger (rwf-rr) for carrying out tests and especially to Peter (gpz) for finding and implementing a fix. James has labelled this PR so that it will persist in the Unstable version and not be pushed out by other PRs which conflict.

• Currently, animations are disabled and await review, but glTF is otherwise stable and we invite content creators to explore what it can do in Open Rails.

• We will be promoting this in the forums and on the website.

One thing about the glTF feature is the multiple light spheres for both the player and non-player trains which I think myself and some folks will like. The only caveat is it is not possible to have two light spheres active at the same time on one train, I would believe it's a coding limitation and the difficulty of implementing it.

Open_Rails_2026-02-24_12-58-48-1.png
The idea of having multiple light spheres for trains is there.

Edit: Apparently I'm wrong on what I said about multiple light spheres on one train if there's multiple locomotives besides a single locomotive... though it wouldn't that I set up my lighting in a way to account for one-way light spheres pre-glTF.
Screenshot 2026-03-11 220122.png

[cjakeman]

Notes from the last ORMT session
(Although planned for 21st March, it was postponed by a week.)

Progress on ORMT's current tasks:

• Version 1.6.1

• The website statistics are updated every 4 weeks. 2-Mar-2026 shows that the trend from v1.5x to v1.6x continues.

• Thanks to all the testers and their feedback that made for a smooth transition.

• Telemetry

• James continues to work on the reporting side so that the data gathered can be easily analysed and charted.

• We discussed several scenarios where it would be helpful to know the proportion of users involved, such as access to DirectX v10 or better, and the graphics settings which are in use (e.g. show all shadows).

• glTF

• I have prepared a draft page for our website explaining what glTF is and why it is important.

• The aim is to encourage content creators to make use of this enhancement from Peter Gulyas (gpz) which are now locked into the Unstable Version.

• I would like to supplement it with a list of glTF models suitable for Open Rails and will be posting about this shortly.

• Menu Retry and Refresh

• I have reworked the Retry, so that lack of an Internet connection is flagged and its restoration is also shown immediately.

• A Refresh button has been added for the Unstable Mode, so a change of version can be discovered immediately.

• Consist Format

• Barry LeBouef (amtrak115) asked about this.

• I will be doing some work on a bare-bones version of this before our next session. If no-one starts a thread for File Formats in JSON before then, I will do so.

Topics Raised by Project Team Members:

• Suggestions for Open Rails Officers

• A Resource Officer could be very helpful to coordinate efforts better. We hope that one of you will volunteer.

• James has posted, as promised, about the published roadmaps.

• Wider Publication

• None of you objected to the wider publication of notes from the last session, so these went out here on Elvas Tower and Trainsim.com.

• ORMT will continue to do this each time, though only after asking here any concerns.

Do any of you, the Project Team members, have objections to my posting this report to the public forum later this week, and also to Trainsim.com?

The next session will be Saturday 18th April.

[eric]

Chris, thank you for sharing that here. The more people who see this the better informed the community is.

[pwillard]

I particularly like the idea of improving the manual by "splitting it into one manual for game players and another for game developers."

[cjakeman]

Notes from the last ORMT session

Progress on ORMT's current tasks:

• Shadow All Shapes

• James hasresponded to this enquiry.

• Stand-Alone Routes

• I have posted a request for suggestions to add to this catalogue.

• I'm eagerly awaiting some responses.

• Promoting glTF and PBR

• I have added a page for our website explaining what glTF is and why it is important.

• I would like to supplement it with a list of glTF models suitable for Open Rails so please respond by posting to the thread or sending me a PM.

• Menu Retry and Refresh

• This has been merged into the Testing Version but an issue has been reported which I hope this week.

• Pending PRs

• We also discussed:

• PR 1206 Missing Texture Colour
• PR 1214 Update Steam Cylinder Performance
• PR 1215 ORFileHelper

Topics Raised by Project Team Members:

• Difficult PRs

• James created this thread in response to a general query "It would be good to know what the management team thinks of PRs that 'test patience' and how best to handle them."

• We should encourage newcomers to the project, but we don't want to waste the time of the Project Team.

• We reviewed the guidance for contributions and it seems clear and appropriate - provided, of course, that it is read and followed.

• If we knew what was being proposed before the PR arrives, then many difficulties could be avoided. I will therefore add a message to the page on our website prompting first-time developers to get in touch and providing an easy way to do that.

• Other suggestions are welcome.

• Dynamic Lighting System

• We would like to see dynamic lighting for pre-glTF shapes but have asked Adhi to park his work on this until the glTF PR is merged into the Testing Version (reviewing is once more a priority for James)

The next session will be Sunday 10th May.

[cjakeman]

Notes from the last ORMT session

Progress on ORMT's current tasks:

• Stand-Alone Routes
  • Suggestions to add to this catalogue were requested and one offered (LIRR) with permission granted. Also several more unfinished routes were suggested.
  • The right to distribute embedded track shapes for XTracks, Scalerail and NewRoads is being discussed and some solutions proposed.

• glTF PR 570
  • James is working through all the different ways in which animations are implemented in Open Rails. No show-stoppers found yet.

• Promoting glTF and PBR
  • There has been no response yet to a call for glTF models suitable for Open Rails.

• Menu Retry and Refresh
  • Retry has been fixed and we are considering a way to provide Refresh which is compatible with Open Rails 1.6.x.

• Investigating Animation Issue
  • We discussed how to investigate a problem with wheel animations drifting out of sync with running gear animations in some circumstances.

• Code Structure
  • We discussed ways to add valve gear to the steam engine so that it is easy to add a new type of valve gear and keeps valve gear code separate from other code.

Topics Raised by Project Team Members:

• Newcomers Developing Code
  • The document "Contributing to Open Rails" gives clear guidance to newcomers but a prominent button has been added to the website as further encouragement.

2026-05-21 08_46_44-Developing Code - Contribute - Open Rails — Mozilla Firefox.jpg





The next session will be Saturday 6th June. Please add your thoughts and ideas by replying to this post.

[eric]

cjakeman reiterating that the default content installer and ATRACKS are fair game for inclusion with the ORTS installer.

[cjakeman]

Notes from the last ORMT session

Progress on ORMT's current tasks:

• Stand-Alone Routes
  • Suggestions to add to this catalogue were requested and one offered (LIRR) with permission granted. Also several more unfinished routes were suggested.
  • The right to distribute embedded track shapes has been resolved for NewRoads, ScaleRail, ScaleRoads, UK FIne Scale and a replacement for XTracks offered.
  • I will add information on this to the website and package LIRR for the auto-install feature.
• glTF PR 570
  • James is working through all the different ways in which animations are implemented in Open Rails. 14 variations found so far and no show-stoppers.
• Promoting glTF and PBR
  • RjZ has offered some models.
• Menu Retry and Refresh
  • No progress yet.

Topics Raised by Project Team Members:

• Unstable Version published in Release Mode instead of Debug Mode
  • The aim is to reveal changes in performance more readily, which ORMT supports.
  • Debug mode is checked to show missing textures in magenta instead of grey. We don't want to lose this feature so this might need a new option.
  • James will look back to see why the Unstable Version was initially set to Debug Mode.
• Pros and Cons for Advancing Framework
  • These were discussed and a post has been made on the forum. Telemetry will be used to find out how many active users are on Windows 7.
• Users by Country
  • A post noted that "the majority of ORTS users are in Europe".
  • That is not our finding at all and a follow-up message has been posted.

The next session will be Saturday 27th June.

[kraus]

Some of the links do not work.

image.png

[cjakeman]

Notes from the last ORMT session 8th August 26

Progress on ORMT's current tasks:

• Move to .NET 6

1. As discussed here and here, we are moving to .NET 6 and dropping support for Windows 7 and 8.1.

1. James has submitted a Pull Request to implement this change.

1. Notifications will be extended to block Windows 7 and 8.1 system from upgrading and advise to update Windows first.

• Stand-Alone Routes

1. The Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) has been packaged for the auto-install feature and is currently being checked.

• glTF PR 570

1. A number of small issues have been found and quickly fixed. After development of several years, this is very close now to merging into the Testing version.

• Notifications for 1.6 and 1.6.1

1. Notifications were added in 1.6. A couple of bugs have been found and fixed. Before these features can be use, 1.6 and 1.6.1 will be re-directed at the server to draw from a version of menu.json which doesn't use the repaired features.

Topics Raised by Project Team Members:

• ORMT was asked whether the Notifications could be used to tell users about new versions of other items such as routes (Chiltern has a recent update) or tools, e.g. TSRE5.
• The answer is an emphatic "Yes, please".

The next session will be Saturday 5th September.

[cjakeman]

Notes from the last ORMT session 5th September 26

Progress on ORMT's current tasks:

• Move to .NET 6
  • As discussed here and here, the Testing version has now moved to .NET 6 and dropped support for Windows 7 and 8.1.
  • Notifications have been extended to block Windows 7 and 8.1 system from upgrading and advise to update Windows first.

• Stand-Alone Routes
  • The Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) has been packaged for the auto-install feature, checked and will be automatically added to the website catalogue and the Menu Auto-Install shortly.

• glTF PR 570
  • Testers continue to find a number of small issues which are being quickly fixed. The code review is more than half done with no show-stoppers found so far.

• Notifications for 1.6 and 1.6.1
  • Notifications were added in 1.6. A couple of bugs have been found and fixed. 1.6 and 1.6.1 are now re-directed at the server to draw from a version of menu.json which doesn't use the repaired features. Version 1.6.2 will be released which will be v1.6.1 plus some bug-fixes (so suitable for Windows 7).

• Telemetry
  • The notifications currently offer telemetry options to all users of Unstable and Testing. These have now been extended to offer telemetry options to a random 1% of users of the Stable version. This should give the team an idea of the distribution of systems: Windows versions, RAM sizes, CPUs, GPUs and Direct3D.

Topics Raised by Project Team Members:

• Higher Resolution Terrain
  • ORMT was asked if it would be possible for Open Rails to support terrain maps with higher vertical resolution than 8 metres.
  • James has provided this in the Unstable version and will start a thread on the forum about it.

The next session will be Saturday 3rd October.