(SOLVED but I will leave my post up for discussion if anyone is interested) So I typically only run in free roam now as I like the freedom to do what I like and run trains the way I want to. Today I noticed that the distance counter to your next stop location is broken and inaccurate. Doing a free roam scenario from Lancaster-Los Angeles on the Antelope Valley Line, I usually always do my paths in segments like Lancaster-Via Princessa then Princessa-Burbank and Burbank-Los Angeles. Mainly because I want to make sure I go through all the correct tracks and sidings. Since I finally figured out how to use the “go via location” to add extra waypoints when creating your path, I figured I would set my path all the way to Los Angeles and add all the extra waypoints for specific sidings (mainly using a different track at a station like Newhall when there’s two platforms) and when I did this, I noticed the distance from Lancaster to Los Angeles showed as only 45 miles and since the route is actually about 76 miles, I knew something wasn’t right. I thought maybe the path wasn’t actually going to take me all the way there. Well, luckily it did but this is where I noticed the odd behavior in the distance counter. As an example, I traveled from milepost 46 to Via Princessa station, a distance of about 9 miles. At milepost 46, it showed my distance remaining to Los Angeles was 27 miles. Obviously I knew this wasn’t correct given I was at milepost 46 so I should have had about 46 miles remaining on the distance counter. As I proceeded those 9 miles, the distance counter never changed from 27 miles. It stayed at 27 miles for all of those 9 miles travelled. In fact, as I got closer to Via Princessa and actually departed from there, the distance counter increased! It was now showing 28, 29, 30 miles to Los Angeles before counting down again around Newhall station. I’m very familiar with the route, “qualified on the territory” was we say here in the US, so the distance counter doesn’t really mean anything to me. I know where to stop, where to slow down, etc. As long as the path goes all the way to Los Angeles with all the correct signals and such, I’m fine. I’m bringing this to attention because it is in fact a bug with the distance counter and might affect other players who rely on it to know how far they are to their next location. So this doesn’t get lost, I’ll tag Matt in this post to hopefully bring attention to it. I’d be curious to know if anyone else has experienced this or noticed it and if it happens on other routes. Keep in mind I have my distance set to miles and not kilometers. DTG Matt DTG JD
The distance counter shows the distance "as the crow flies", not the actual distance along the tracks. This is an issue with all modes and has been present ever since the days of CSX Heavy Haul.
Watch the distance counter when driving a route similar to the one shown above. It will count down then increase and decrease and increase.
Oh interesting okay. You learn something new everyday. I wasn’t aware that it was like this. So is it not actually a bug then? It would seem to make more sense to have it be the distance you have to travel on the tracks and not “as the crow flies.”
I think it's because the game engine and this distance counter is used for two modes, driving (fixed path) and walking (free). It can only work one way, so the walking mode which can only work with direct distance measuring was chosen.
