Borrowing from the perpetual railroad side of things, I decided to incorporate an smart path tool that makes activity creation easier. Its much more powerful than yo may think.
First, it works by markers and then the path is updated for you. So, you place a "waypoint" which is the starting point like normal. You then can place a marker that defines pickups and set out etc. If you have a set out on one track and then place a marker for set out on the next track over it will take into account the exact length of the consist and then do all path adjustments automatically plus handle the second action which we'll say is another set out. No calculations done by the user and done accurately in a matter of minutes, not even that long. You can of course at any time move reverse points, wait points etc and it will update the path accordingly.
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For example the smart path detects when setting out first cut of cars if the train will simply couple back into itself when setting out those cars before choosing the path for the next set out, so most switching will not need human intervention (but you may if you wish).
Selection of cars that are to be worked will be selected visually and this means no more hoping and guessing and endless testing to make sure an activity works correctly. This goes for any car in a consist. You can have a caboose removed and set out while working an industry and added back again later with a few clicks of a mouse. The path is worked out by the program. Any undesired moves can be manipulated by the user at any time. This means you can have complex switching moves with little to no manual involvement.
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It also keeps track of what cars are in use, switch moves needed to move cars around, siding capacity fitting cars for you. All changeable and totally user configurable with a drag of a mouse.
You can still however use the program like the traditional MSTS style editor at any point, or not use Smart Path at all. This is still a work in progress and some small UI things needs to be implemented, but the pathing and activity creation side of things is fully functional. I want to have something out by Christmas, so give me some time to polish this up and add other features. I'm still working on the Perpetual Railroad side of things as well as that is a monster of a project, but coming along nicely.
First, it works by markers and then the path is updated for you. So, you place a "waypoint" which is the starting point like normal. You then can place a marker that defines pickups and set out etc. If you have a set out on one track and then place a marker for set out on the next track over it will take into account the exact length of the consist and then do all path adjustments automatically plus handle the second action which we'll say is another set out. No calculations done by the user and done accurately in a matter of minutes, not even that long. You can of course at any time move reverse points, wait points etc and it will update the path accordingly.
1.png
For example the smart path detects when setting out first cut of cars if the train will simply couple back into itself when setting out those cars before choosing the path for the next set out, so most switching will not need human intervention (but you may if you wish).
Selection of cars that are to be worked will be selected visually and this means no more hoping and guessing and endless testing to make sure an activity works correctly. This goes for any car in a consist. You can have a caboose removed and set out while working an industry and added back again later with a few clicks of a mouse. The path is worked out by the program. Any undesired moves can be manipulated by the user at any time. This means you can have complex switching moves with little to no manual involvement.
2.png
It also keeps track of what cars are in use, switch moves needed to move cars around, siding capacity fitting cars for you. All changeable and totally user configurable with a drag of a mouse.
You can still however use the program like the traditional MSTS style editor at any point, or not use Smart Path at all. This is still a work in progress and some small UI things needs to be implemented, but the pathing and activity creation side of things is fully functional. I want to have something out by Christmas, so give me some time to polish this up and add other features. I'm still working on the Perpetual Railroad side of things as well as that is a monster of a project, but coming along nicely.
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