Would you pay for an Activity Editor for OR/MSTS and support TSRE development?

[GokuMK]

New version: http://koniec.org/tsre5/data/TSRE5_v0.6953.exe

0.6953

- now you can add the same service to traffic multiple times with different start times using only one click. Use "Clone Selected" button.
- new "refresh list" button for Paths. Now when you are making new paths using OR Track Viewer, you don't need to restart TSRE.
- new functions in Consist Editor.

[jdonald1]

In Vince's post #161 he mentions a TSRE manual. Is there an actual manual or is it the "how to" points on the TSRE web site?
Thanks
Don

[GokuMK]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hvtCQGrQqlXaSx8KftaxtrhxvNbWeiuBStZkmc2wNIU/edit

[jdonald1]

Thanks GokuMK

[Shawmut]

Is there a trick to editing the start time of an activity in the timetable screen? The start time (note: NOT the arrival and departure times of planned station stops) is grayed out on my screen. No need for programmed calculation here; I just want to manually edit the time.

Thanks,

Dave

[GokuMK]

It is a start time of selected service, not activity. You can edit it in the traffic editor for traffic services and player start time in activity settings.

[Shawmut]

Thanks, Goku; it was the activity settings that I was looking for and had overlooked.

Cheers,

Dave

[brama]

Just tried the activity editor (v0.6957) for real (took me long enough to come to that...) and I ran into a problem. The activity concerned is 'Fan trip to Harrisburg' from the PRR Eastern route (full updated version). In Open Rails (1.2.3766) I ran into a collision with AI service fantrip00. Probably due to to fantrip0 arriving too late in relation to the starting time of fantrip00.

So I tried to change the start times of the services concerned. Which went perfectly fine. And showed up correctly in the fantrip.trf file. Just took me a while to realise that the time is shown in seconds... So fantrip00 should start at 13:30 or 48600 (was: 13:20)

But when running the activity in Open Rails, service fantrip00 still starts at 13:20. Changes to the start time of service fantrip0 don't work either. fantrip.trf looks like this now:
SIMISA@@@@@@@@@@JINX0f0t______

Traffic_Definition ( fantrip
Serial ( 10 )
Service_Definition ( fantrip 46701
)
Service_Definition ( fantrip0 46740
)
Service_Definition ( fantrip00 48600
)
Service_Definition ( fantrip0000 51600
)
Service_Definition ( "Fan trip to Harrisburg0" 51600
)
Service_Definition ( "Fan trip to Harrisburg1" 54000
)
)

I'm thinking it has more to do with OR than the activity editor, but I'm out of ideas here. Help is appreciated.

Thanks, Wim

[Vince]

Be careful. The PRR East has undocumented flaws. I'm close to begin beta testing the upcomong release of the PRR_EASTERN_REGION-2.

Full details will be posted soon. The physical part, tracks/roads/scenery is complete with only minor touch up work to be done.
I've cooked up some new activities (~20) to test all the paths in and out of the completely rebuilt Philadelphia Terminal Zone.(6 tiles worth)

Last call for ANYONE please let me know if there are any 'phantom' signals or badly mis-aligned track you've found. Please give exact details and coordinates and I will see if I can fix them. Not much time left until I have to freeze the upgrade and generate the upgrade package.

The Upgrade Package:
A one step run to upgrade the present stable Fix06 version of the PRR East REG to PRR_EASTERN_REGION-2
The new patch will upgrade ANY version of the PRR East route from first beta release up to and including PRRFix06 Level.
It will also destroy any activities presently on the PRR-East Reg route because ALL paths passing through Philadelphia have been changed. (all new tracks is why!)

The PRRFix07 is flawed and broke the Track Database at Newark, New Jersey. The Fix07 was a complete rebuild of the Altoona Area and is a very nice job . . . but unusable in it's present form.

We are working to incorporate Fix07 AFTER the new upgrade is released and stable.

regards,

[GokuMK]

But when running the activity in Open Rails, service fantrip00 still starts at 13:20. Changes to the start time of service fantrip0 don't work either. fantrip.trf looks like this now:
[...]
I'm thinking it has more to do with OR than the activity editor, but I'm out of ideas here. Help is appreciated.

MSTS and OR game doesn't use times stored in .trf file. The times are stored in .act file.

After editing traffic services in TSRE AE always remember to reselect the traffic from the traffic list on activity properties to update the data into activity file.

Proper steps are:
1. edit traffic services
2. select traffic on the list
3. edit activity timetable (optional for custom station times)

If you do 1 step later then you need to repeat steps 2 and 3. If you do 2 step later, then you need to repeat step 3.

[gusthegator]

Be careful. The PRR East has undocumented flaws. I'm close to begin beta testing the upcomong release of the PRR_EASTERN_REGION-2.

Full details will be posted soon. The physical part, tracks/roads/scenery is complete with only minor touch up work to be done.
I've cooked up some new activities (~20) to test all the paths in and out of the completely rebuilt Philadelphia Terminal Zone.(6 tiles worth)

Last call for ANYONE please let me know if there are any 'phantom' signals or badly mis-aligned track you've found. Please give exact details and coordinates and I will see if I can fix them. Not much time left until I have to freeze the upgrade and generate the upgrade package.

The Upgrade Package:
A one step run to upgrade the present stable Fix06 version of the PRR East REG to PRR_EASTERN_REGION-2
The new patch will upgrade ANY version of the PRR East route from first beta release up to and including PRRFix06 Level.
It will also destroy any activities presently on the PRR-East Reg route because ALL paths passing through Philadelphia have been changed. (all new tracks is why!)

The PRRFix07 is flawed and broke the Track Database at Newark, New Jersey. The Fix07 was a complete rebuild of the Altoona Area and is a very nice job . . . but unusable in it's present form.

We are working to incorporate Fix07 AFTER the new upgrade is released and stable.

regards,

Aside from the one at Trenton, I found 2 exiting and entering perryville on 2 and 3 track .
Coordinates are:
lon -76.04013
lat 39.56772

Another sneaky phantom is located at baltimore heading towards DC. you should see one signal behind the other.
lon -76.65186
lat 39.29764

Since you re-did philly this one should be gone but just incase.
Lon -75.21220
Lat 39.93882

I found a misplaced restricting signal at metuchen (on curve part after metuchen on 1 track) reason why trains run at restricted speed until menlo park-
lon -74.35185
lat 40.54399

Second restricting one is after you depart 1 track at Newark Penn heading towards NYC.
lon -74.15298
lat 40.74073

Signal issue with signals right after Highland ave and right after Claymont for 2 track. Signals aspects are approach limited to limited clear on 2 track when they should be clear since it is a straight shot.

Long term suggestions:
1. add station platforms for all tracks so trains can stop on passing tracks to imitate form d line 4/5.
2. Changing % grade from 1.3% to 0.2% after crossing the bridge heading towards north philly. (infact the entire track work philly to NYC should be redone.) Running trains at regional speeds gets you to Trenton in 17 minutes as opposed to the normal 29 min average.

That is all for now, my computer cannot run AE and RE without burning up. I need a freezer.

[Vince]

Thanks for the heads up on the signals.

+ The Trenton, Baltimore & Perryville phantoms have been exorcised.
+ Claymont - Holly Interlocking links has been configured.
+ Metuchen & Newark signals - Work order issued.
+ Grade from Zoo to North Philadelphia track from bridge to curve has been re-done. The grade worked out to a straight 0.6%.
+ Platforms. Yes I had noticed a few. I'll take a look at the track maps. and correct what I can as moving platform takes 20-30 minutes to spruce up the scenery mainly. The new editor is fantastic!

regards,

[jdonald1]

MSTS and OR game doesn't use times stored in .trf file. The times are stored in .act file.

After editing traffic services in TSRE AE always remember to reselect the traffic from the traffic list on activity properties to update the data into activity file.

Proper steps are:
1. edit traffic services
2. select traffic on the list
3. edit activity timetable (optional for custom station times)

If you do 1 step later then you need to repeat steps 2 and 3. If you do 2 step later, then you need to repeat step 3.

I set a short new activity using the CP Mactier route to see how it would go not using the MSTS/AE at all. Used the TSRE5/AE to set up the activity which was pretty straight forward. Used OR trackviewer to set up the player path and used an existing consist. Tested it on OR and everything went ok. Placed a loose consist ok but found after selecting a siding and jump to it, it took a lot of moving around to actually get the consist placed. Now to add traffic, once again used OR to set up the path and used an existing consist. I assume the next step is to create a new service using the service editor which I did. Then created a new traffic file using the traffic editor and eventually got the new service to show up in the traffic editor. I should mention that I saved after each step. However the "service definition" does not appear in the .act file in the Activity folder. I have read your instructions in post #175 about updating to the activity file but I don't understand them.
Could you give me a step-by-step instruction on how to add traffic to an activity?
I sometimes feel that you assume that users of TSRE5 (such as myself) know more about how it works than we really know. IMHO a step by step instruction would be better in the manual than just showing the different screens and what they do.
Thanks
Don

[GokuMK]

It is explained in AE guide, "selecting traffic" section.

[demando]

Goku,
I have made a donation to your cause, far later than I desired, but I fully intend to support your project. I have been following the progress of TSRE since I first heard about it almost three years ago. I remain a supporter of TSRE. Good luck, and I hope that the OR team gets behind you as well.