I have just completed the (Donna Pass CZ Truckee to Reno scenario) on time, only to find that wherever i stop on the platform the scenario will not end, then i am out of time. This is frustrating after an hours driving with all ticks. I find that to keep saving the game ruins the experience. Maybe an auto save every 10 mins would at least give me another chance, instead of having to do the whole journey again, probably with the same frustrating outcome.
I know of your pain...Donners' had scenario issues from the start, with no fixes in sight.....Can anyone confirm exactly which default Donner scenarios are 'completable' in Career Scenarios(give you XP and stars)?
The TGV scenario #7 (Avignon to Marseille express, with a double consist) is nearly impossible to score a perfect 1000 points. I have been studying French for a year and I love all things Francophone, including Lignes Grand Vitesse. It's all I've played for the past two months. The scenario requires you to reach Marseille St. Charles C by 13:10:00 game time. Problem: There's already a train on your platform that is late in leaving. You must wait for it. Or delay your train so that you can pass Portique P3 just as the other train is leaving. That doesn't bother me--things happen, perhaps the police had to remove a passenger from the train, or there was a medical emergency. But, by the time I reach Portique P3, it is already 13:10:00 and my train is late, and it is virtually impossible not to be penalized. Run after run, I am consistently 50 to 60 seconds late. I've gotten the highest score of 998--but I can't reproduce it! If my "career" rating was affected, if I worked for La SNCF en la vrai vie, I would rightfully claim that I should not be held responsible for events outside my control. If someone scheduled a departure the for the departing train that was too optimistic, that's a cat-fight for the dispatching department and not me. I'd normally love scenarios with a lot of moving parts. This one has been a fascinating education. But it's too hard.
On a long scenario or one with lots of stops for passengers, I do a quick "F2" save as soon as the passengers have loaded. I believe {at the moment} that's the only way. I agree there is nothing more depressing than having spent ages doing a scenario, than to have it fail at the end. I also do not believe that an automated save every "so many minutes" would work, because if the save happened when your train is moving and you try to restart from there then, all sorts of weird things happen, like the loco breaks away from its train or the whole train derails. The same sort of problem happened in "TRAINZ". Not sure about MSTS? Even doing a save prior to coupling up to a consist, can be fraught with problems if you are to close to the consist. When restarting it is not uncommon for the loco to be replaced closer to the consist causing a collision. Believe me I know. All the best, the game has a number of unexplained reactions at times.
Funny, I've just finished this scenario a couple of days ago with 1000. Tricky at the end as you say. The problem train is NEXT to your platform(he's @St Charles D). My last save is when I'm stopped, just before the other train moves. I think you need to pass a red (use TAB key) to get here in time. I've just had another look from my save point and THIS time the path toSt Charles C is set, the other train starts to leave but stops at a red at his platform end, so I make it to platform about 13:10:02--no penalty. Clearly there's some variation on the TS's part here My original completion, tabbed past red, crept to just before the point of the other trains path, waited for him to pass and then roared in(at 30 ha!), arrived @13:10:27 and got 1,000 pts. Good luck.
I feel your frustration (but only somewhat, since I typically avoid passenger runs), but think of what may happen to a real-life driver/engineer with he same problem: you won't be fired or fined for arriving late in TS or TSW.
I'm afraid the majority of the career scenarios (the standard are ok) were all broken from release of the route way back in 2012. Six years on, after hundreds of repeated complaints by players during this time, and DTG still refuse to fix them. The timings of the scenarios are wrong, unfortunately meaning it's impossible to complete most of them. Way back in 2014 a community member Spe.bonne created corrected working versions of the scenarios, and kindly added these to the Steam Workshop. You can learn more about the problems, and links to the fixed WS scenarios in the follwing Steam forum. All the best. http://steamcommunity.com/app/24010/discussions/3/624076851037014196/
