Clearing cache may not be required. I do it just to make sure because as of now I still do not know exactly which data is cached in the blueprints.pak. If you edit cab cameras it works without clearing the cache too, I do it while having TS running, update the file and just restart scenario to have the changes take effect.
Congrats sphexi! On first run I failed to stop in time at the red signal at Granite... always checking for 401818
Cajon Pass has the same issue. I remember losing half of my consist there and did not notice because the ES44AC has no braking script and so there is no PCS/Emergency brake. All reported consist breaks can be traced down to the zero slack. Will upload the fix.
Since I'm being called out here, I have used a fix that multiplied two different values by 100. And the scenario works. But when I then went to play another scenario, the train suddenly sped up to 20 MPH and derailed in an unexpected fashion while my brakes were in fact applied. My suspicion is the Buckeyes have use with other cars in that scenario. And there was some unknown problem. So I had to remove the fix. And I thus posted a new version of the scenario to the Workshop. That changes the stock. And I had no problems running it. So does DTG want a fix? Here's one. Put the Independence Loco into the bundle and put my version of the scenario in place of the one whose cars constantly break off. That would solve the problem with at least that scenario. After that, fix the timing errors in scenarios - research I have already supplied. But they won't. Because they claim two weeks of testing are required for changes and they are not willing to submit that time. I don't understand why they don't have a beta testing team of PLAYERS, people willing to look at these things. SCS does this with new versions of their Truck Simulator games. v1.43, v1.42, and I'm sure earlier have been rolled out as a beta branch for players to use freely provided they already owned the game. v1.44 will likely do the same. They can update willingly knowing they cannot roll saved game files back to the older version. DTG can do the same thing. Supply small fixes, and allow owners of Sherman Hill to try them out. If there are problems, the fixes don't go out, or further changes are made. It takes less than a few minutes to make small changes. If you really want to have a two week testing period, take it out of house. Easy. Lots of updates can be made this way. But instead, DTG hides behind broken products acting like they care when they have shown, time and time again, that they don't. Money isn't everything. Customer service is king. DTG needs to adopt such a philosophy.
You're right there. This is handled the way you describe in Zusi3, where the developer Carsten Hoelscher actively takes part in the forum discussions and reads EVERY post. But on the other hand, content for TS is huge. Like MSTS once (and still), it lives from both the developers AND the community improving things. Appreciate that - it's the only way not to get frustrated. And by the way they heard us and fixed the UnionWorkshop issue just today. The fix you use seems like brute force. For example setting Strength simply to 10000 will cause more issues and will not give a titan coupler (which we don't want in a simulator anyway). There's lots of physics calculation going on in this sim. And concerning my fix. It has been tested. For years this version is around on most DLCs, and I've been spending the last two days browsing through all my assets, comparing and testing. Again try my fix. All issues (Donner, Sherman, Cajon) have been adressed and fixed. https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/fix-available-for-consist-breaking-issues.50579/ Cheers
Luckily when I saw the yellow I slowed just enough to stop for the red. The wait for the other train sure is long.
Cyclone, I understand your frustration. But look, we did what we could by reporting it, collecting issues and tracking them down to the root, providing solutions. But basically you want to play and enjoy the game, don't you? So, as long as somebody fixes it, be it DTG or any user, and it works, I'm happy. Marias Pass ES44 has a broken wiper? What the heck, fixed it myself by copying the three CabView wiper*.ban files from Hi-Line (whose ES44 is in fact an updated version of Marias Passes' with added Input mapper and fixed wiper - engine name is still MP_ES44...!). Tehachapi brakes broken? Dude from RWA provided a working fix. Cheers to him! If DTG don't do why should I care. If I find something working I share it and enjoy my improved gaming experience, that's it. And honestly, an "official" fix from DTG might not per se better than anyone else's, concerning the bug-ridden stuff they release. They may have good programmers, no doubt, but it seems they hire people who know their C#, Lua, etc stuff but not so much about trains. There's no other explanation for the horrible braking issues on some DLC, with a Knorr system that has not changed and they should already be experts on.
I hope you don't feel that you are being called out. You guys are approaching the scenario issues from different perspectives. I would rather have 2 possible solutions than none. The fact that people are excited to dig into the open issues with TS and it's scenarios is awesome and one of the things that keeps a gaming community interesting and thriving. I appreciate torfmeister's digging into the .xml, I appreciate your detailed digging into scenario timing, and I have appreciated people on RWA making BNSF group logo fixes in the past. The end result is that we have a better game
Just wanted to point out that there is a misconception. DonnerPassAssets.ap is technically NOT a folder. It is just a container and is completely transparent, means internally the data path is the same as above, RailWorks\Assets\RSC\DonnerPass\RailVehicles\Couplings\Buckeye\Type-E\. You could even rename it to xyz.ap, which would make no difference for TS. So internally TS finds two of the same named files in the same named path and uses the latest of both. That's the very good thing about .ap files. You can place your modified files next to it, recreating the folder structure. If you had unpacked the .ap you'd need to go through the confusing renaming process (.bak, .orig). With ap files modifying stuff is way easier and reverting to default means just deleting your file. (This will happen after a verification, the folder structure survives but Steam will delete the modified files. I keep a mirrored Railworks folder containing just the paths and files of my modifications. So after a verification I need two mouseclicks to bring it all back. And it is a lot..)
Thanks for your words. And after work is done now, I'm gonna play Cyclone's fixed version of the workshop Christmas Day scenario! EDIT: Waaah forgot the needed DLC is still banned here Nighty Night...
I know, I just casually copied the title from Total Commander But also helps understanding how two files with the same perceived path can exist. Btw, 2nd run successfully completed, took that 2xGE+1xEMD train for a spin, made it to Sparks. Just have to get used to that bit of consist rippling, when you start uphill and after slowing a bit initially, you suddenly gain 1-2mph as the DPU pushes the rest forward. Which, I guess, is completely realistic.
It should be, and you feel the cars running into you when applying dynamics downhill. And when accelerating from a standstill, slowly notch up and wait til the train is stretched and the last car begins moving, there's that short speed drop indicating that. That's how it's done in real life which helps starting a heavy train. Engineers sometimes do the "taking up the slack" thing, means first pushing the slack by moving backwards, and then turning on the sander and slowly move forward. The slack helps because first you only pull the weight of one car, then two, and as the train slowly stretches out you start pulling the full weight of the train when you're already moving thus reducing wheelslip probability. And TS is simulating that pretty well - if you feed it with the right parameters. The game engine is actually good and most problems are there simply because of bad blueprint data. All that stuff makes US railroading very interesting for me because there is a lot of physics involved which might not be obvious. When going over a hump, three parts of the train experience totally different force vectors. The back still climbing, being pulled by gravity and the engine in opposite directions. The DPU at the back ist then running one or two notches higher than the leading engine, in Run8 V2 you can control the DPU independently and do just that. So that's where the issues were. With zero slack, those forces cannot be compensated as the train is just one rigid long string. The forces add up internally up to some point when TS breaks the consist, and it might just be one little thing triggering this later. Apart from that, like I said, you have this behaviour of my fix on most of TS' routes already, including Marias Pass. Also I uploaded Cajon Pass fix on my thread https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/fix-available-for-consist-breaking-issues.50579/
-v- Rambling but pointers. What I suspect is slack gives it a little bit of leeway that covers up some mistake. "different sections of the train move different distances" The train isn't entirely rigid to begin with (Donner consists do have a bit of slack by default. Or telescoping.) Telescoping could be enough in theory, but part of the consist jumping will create sudden force changes and either the default telescoping range is too small for that or it suddenly overstretches - that's what Cyclone may have found. The reason I'm suspicious is because I've had consists break just rolling on straight flat sections, or very mild downgrades without any input. I experience lots of consist resets or somesuch. Whenever a tile loads, my loco under input changes speed momentarily, most visible with the SD70M descent on Sherman, Midnight Magnet). It's so precise my suspicion is that some couplers get uncompressed as if I just applied brakes. ... Heck, I managed to run into simplifications, alternating camera 1 and 3 for long consists can cause rather significant moves (made my loco jump at 5 mph). I did fail a "stop at" objective because of that on Canadian Mountain Passes, scenario 2 (stationary on a 2.4%). There are other consist dynamics implying that sometimes groups of cars might be processed together. Something else I noticed is that as time goes on, in-cab headbob becomes a thing. The driver leans to the side. Another thing I noticed is that coupler settings change over time. Most visible on Settle-Carlisle with the Class 37 double header, but it happens on Donner, too - basically, the first loco (only) coupler does a yoyo, it has more and more slack as time goes on, and behaves like hitting a wall in physics: pulls away from consist, suddenly loses speed (0.1-0.5 mph, increasing with time), falls back to consist, gradually regains speed, hits wall again. That's when you see speed like this: 50.5, 50.6, 50.7, 50.8, 50.4, 50.5, 50.6, 50.7, 50.8, 50.4, ... The 158 is the same. One of my standard solutions for consist breaks was to save. It removes most if not all of these progressive things (driver head leaning, coupler loosening). Cheap solution: limit scenario duration to 60 minutes. ;-)
What I call slack is actually the telescoping. The min, max and target values merge the coupler distance AND the dampers. Don't know about british coupling systems. Never looked into that as I'm mostly driving US routes. Though I really really like the Weardale and Teesdale Rail Network. Derek Siddle put a lot of heartblood in this masterpiece. He has a blog where he documented building the route. Watched many documentaries about the Beeching Axe and really sad so many great routes are lost. And good to see them preserved in TS. Besides, the thing in US railroading is: Take it slow! Slowly notch up, down because there are heavy forces working. That's why timings in freight scenarios are utter bull****.
The SD40-2 isn't a mandatory requirement to run the scenarios. You just won't have as much AI stock and will be missing a service here and there. For instance, the one that passes you at the start of scenario 2 has the green BN SD40-2 on it; with that service not spawning, you'll get an instant green light, but may still want to not rush since another meet occurs at the Summit. I also need to reupload part 3. I've had an ETS2 kick lately so been slow at it.
