TSC Amateur & TSW Veteran here. Apologies if this is something obvious here but how does the quickdrive mode actually work ? From what I understand is that I choose the train that I want to drive, & the game will populate some AI traffic along the way ( please correct me if I'm missing something ) How does the game decide what can go & what can't as an AI in quickdrive ? Let's say I'm playing Sherman Hill & I have a UP switcher from a different route, can I do something such that this loco. might appear on some sidings at Cheyenne or somewhere ? Also, why is quickdrive feature absent on some routes ?
Quick drives are special scenarios that have to be created (by the route builder or a third party). They specify the stopping points and the AI and static traffic along the way. The main difference between these and other scenario types is the way that the AI/static traffic is generated by probablility (as well as availability for the stock you personally have got) so that (in theory) the scenario is a bit different every time you play it. You can choose to use any loco/consist within the stock that you have bought/acquired to run on the route (whether it fits the era/region or not). So some routes haven't had any Qd senarios made for them, others have limited ones, and a few have a load of different ones, allowing you to explore all sections of the route in a variety of different ways.
Quick Drive blast from the past . . . . The community used to be against it when the announcement was made about this new festure, they where all up in arms about it. I think it is great, used it last night for a twenty minute run.
Yup - I couldn't see the point when it first arrived either. Must have taken five or more years before I started using it - and now I use it more than my standard scenarios.
OK so I wrote probably the first guide on quickdrives when they came out and have been a confirmed fan ever since. Basically a quickdrive sets out not only the places where you ( the player ) can start from and go to but also the places where AI trains can run from or to, and places where static consists will sit for you to pass ( a bit like scenery items ). The way the consists are chosen is at once simple and brilliant. You place a consist spawner ( Player, AI or Static ) on the route in your Quickdrive scenario. You tell the spawner what type of stock type you want (coal, regional pasaanger, container etc etc ) and how big the train is. You also tell it what % chance of spawning you want to use. You can have multiple types of consists spawning so long as the total does not exceed 1 (100%). What the spawning is looking for are not trains as such but files that describe the train as a consist. Thsese are the key to the success of quick drives. You can make your own. Each consists specifies what loco and stock are to be used, on what routes the consist can be spawned, and in what selected time period ( ie range of years ). They also specify a number of other parameters that control how the consists appear in your menu. Now comes the clever bit. Firstly your scenario ALWAYS has a date. This means that only those consists that cover your route, at your scenarios date, and of the type your spawner asks for will be selected. But all the consists in all the routes you have are loaded at the start. So this means that you don't need to have consists to run on the Weardale route only in the Weardale route. You can build a consist in the Victory Works Peppercorn's consist folder and if it says its for the Weardale route, and is of the time period you select then it becomes available to be spawned as either AI or static. Which it is depends on a further option in the consist. So this means I can have two quick drive scenarios on weardale one set in 1952 and one in 1958. In the former all my stock will be BR unicycling lion and blood and custard coaches with no stupid diesels. In the other there will be the diesels that appeared between 1952 and 1952, th estock will be in BR maroon and the locos will have ferret and dartboard logos. When deployed properly its a stunningly effective way to make the most use of the various stock that you have.
Kim Olesen has done some fantastic Real Drives. They work the same as a Quick Drive except you will get signal checked en route due to other traffic on the line Also run is different each time you do it with signal checks at different places. Keeps you alert https://rail-sim.de/forum/filebase/...ed-rodachtalbahn-plus-3-complete-6-scenarios/
