I lost my Cooking button but have now got it back again. However when I make a new pak file (a) It doesn't work (but that could be me) and (b) the 'new' pak file stops an 'old' one for a different route from working. (Remove the new pak file and the old one works again). When I open the new pak file it seems to have the correct contents however I'm wondering if, somehow, this file has picked up a different version of the game? Is that even possible?
As cooking and pak'ing is not officially supported, you'll have to wait for trainsimcz to fix it I guess.
No I haven't (yet). I don't think that that is necessary in this case. I'm happy that I have created a pak file that, at first glance, seems OK. So I'm going to double check all the formatting etc that creates this file to double check that it is OK. What is strange, though, is that this new pak file will stop another, completely different one, from working???
I'm still missing the cooking button. I tried to do the patch earlier but it keeps saying unknown version .dll.
Note that there is a difference between "Editor not working" as the thread title suggests and the Cooking button disappears or is not working, as it belongs to a mod by another community member. And to be honest, I'm kind of frustrated by the ongoing discussion about people constantly say we have a cooking option, while it still isn't working correctly for many (if not most). It's DTG's responsbility to include it natively into the Editor and get it working, and not let alone to the mood of the gods whether a cooking mod is working or not.
They apparently do not want you to do this unless you join their partner programme, which gives you access to the full tools. Can it be more obvious?
Yes, but many people still say "hey, there's the cooking fix - it works!" while for most people it simply doesn't. And that's the problem also why not more people knock on DTG's doors and say "We want a working cooking feature now" or do so anymore. The unofficial fix isn't really a fix nor help anymore if it doesn't work as rather an issue making more problems. A kind of vicious circle, with us being the ongoing losers.
That's correct. They didn't include trainsim.cz's fix nor did they ever acknowledge his work - because for DTG he has not "fixed" anything but crossed their plans. Count one and one together. Silence is their answer, and is more telling than everything else. Then maybe a short "we're working on this" to keep the community quiet for a while. (Remember the editor was already promised back in 2018.) So even if you're cooking your route, the AddonManager will prevent you from playing it - that's the only reason it exists on PC. No evidence that would prove otherwise has surfaced yet, projects are dying slowly, only a few faithful followers watching the threads, as many will have realised they won't ever get to play what's being presented. Other sims that are more content creator friendly will eventually drag artists to them. DTG has literally done everything wrong here. Look how many user made maps and routes are out there for games like Train Simulator, Euro Truck Simulator, CounterStrike, Doom, ArmA - and the companies are benefitting from that! TSW in year seven: nothing. Thanks to trainsimcz we have route enhancement layers and timetables from the community, finding ways to fool the AddonManager themselves. And DTG shoot themselves in the foot - whilst TSC often delivered bad quality too, the community fixed them. For TSW, DTG are in the spotlight permanently and the weight of the ever growing bug reports is solely on their shoulders. Some issues are fixed by mods - but then there's the console community being left out because DTG don't include these fixes. That leaves them putting their heads into the sand, as can be seen on many threads.
I agree, however what I meant was a bit different. The cooking fix is nice, but not good enough for me as a creator if I can't count on it. Of course, DTG's way to deny any way of bringing cooking into the Editor speaks for itself and you're more than right with your assumptions I also share. However, we also have - and that was my point - a problem in the PC Editor community itself to push forces against DTG's stubborn and sneaky minds to omit the cooking button intentionally. Many people here seem to worship on the cooking fix, although there still are problems with it and let's say it's not in reliable state to be used. If the cooking fix wouldn't be there or at least more people would raise the concern still "Why can't we cook?" to DTG's in posts, it at least potentically could have an impact on their decision, whether they would implement it or not. But there are not so many people complaining about things like that Discussions Forum, to show DTG what we think and what we want. I'm one of the only ones who constantly raises critique there - even if it maybe doesn't do anything - but at least I got a few heads ringing. People don't state that anymore because they rely on the cooking fix and that it solves all problems, but it isn't the case. Yes, and to be honest it makes me sad to realize this more and more that probably my project can't be released, either as freeware nor as payware and that I spent so much time for nothing in the end. As I said in another thread, it makes sense that they omit the cooking button to get people in the third party programme, the problem on the hand is that Dovetail also is not responding to my contact approaches to join in the programm, which makes this stategy of them completely illogical. I mean what would you do in my situation? Would you still continue the project? Saying "Yes" to this answer unfortunately seems completely foolish at this moment in time.
I can only judge the current situation, based on that, I would not waste any effort on TSW route building unless I wanted to do it commercially - that's my opinion only, you decide for yourself. It made me appreciate the inline editor Kuju have provided that has spawned thousands of routes... DTG are reading this, I'm sure, but they just have nothing to say on the topic until the higher ups allow them to. No promises, and also nothing that would provoke unwanted reactions. Note: my observation and opinion only. I don't know more than you do. TSW in year seven has lost a lot of appeal for me, the neverending trouble with obvious bugs - burn out, and TSC beats it with its unlimited content and ease of creating stuff, even providing stock of higher quality and functionality than TSW. (Armstrong Powerhouse, VictoryWorks and Smokebox for example.) I'd also say the TSW Editor community is too small to make a change. Ask community legend OldVern - creator of MSTS, Trainz and TSC routes what he thinks of the TSW Editor
Reminds me of the last line from Fritz Lang's silent film Metropolis: "The mediator between the head and the hands must be the heart." Let's hope DTG is gearing up to show us all a bit of heart sometime soon. I'd hate to think we're intended to be left with Play In Editor as our only option.
It’s now seven months since the editor was released and for a while I was so pleased to be able to begin learning how to build a simple route. Since last October my dismay at the lack of official tutorials has gradually increased and now the wall of silence over the inability to cook is frustrating to say the least. The editor gave a huge boost to my interest in TSW but it is rapidly waning.
Apologies guys for my thread title being a bit of a misnomer. I always regard the Editor and Cooking as being one and the same but, of course, it isn't. On the one hand you have DTG (not) doing their own thing and, on the other, you have trainsim.cz's mod trying to 'correct' the things that DTG have omitted. I must remember that when posting in future. TBH I'm still not 100% certain of what to do re the Editor when DTG 'upgrade' the game and things fall out of alignment. Even worse when DTG roll-back the game after I have added a patch. However we usually get there in the end. I understand Robert's (and other's) concern re their routes and think that DTG should hang their heads in shame that no-one has been able to create, and publish, even a tiny route yet in TSW4. They should have encouraged this and then, once the first route had been created, shouted from the roof-tops about it. This one thing would have incentivised the whole community to work that bit harder as they could have seen what success looked like and then strived for it. Instead what has actually been achieved? 1) The Editor is, at best, a beta. (TBH, as released, it might not even make that criteria). 2) We have no official documentation for it at all (despite it being trailed as a major selling point for the upgrade to TSW4). 3) We cannot actually get any content into the game by official means. (Quite incredible really). 4) DTG continue to make additional routes and rolling stock which must, in the end, make releasing things like an Alpha Editor harder to achieve. 5) DTG seem to have no shame in drawing the few that have had some success with the Editor into their payware web meaning that any lessons learned by "those cleverer than us" creators is lost to the community as there is then a communications shut-down. 6) It is highly possible that DTG may attempt to rush out TSW5 and a Subscription model before fixing any of points 1-5. When you look at the above, which may be a slight exaggeration, then it makes you wonder what would have happened if the above had been summarised in to a nice Live Stream and present during mid-2023. Quite rightly there would have been an outcry. Perhaps, at the very least, DTG should hire one or two of the main community members to produce a full guide as to how the Editor (Officially) works, from a practical experience point of view. Then they could also allow them to add in the necessary information to explain in more detail how certain mods work around it. Finally these same people could then be fully involved in bringing the official tools fully up-to-date. At least then the 'average' user would feel that they are finally getting some additional value for money from the game.
