Nec Locomotive Services Bugs And Glitches

Having finally completed 27/28 locomotive services on the NEC route, I was meaning to post a list of issues I encountered, what services they happened on and possible workarounds. But fortunately the developers were faster and released the 1.22 update, that fixed most of the issues I wanted to list. Yet there are still some hiccups left.

As they say, a picture says more than a 1000 words and a movie tells more than a picture, so here you go:

The first thing of note. On service F09-3 you're supposed to re-route a train that is physically too long to fit in the available space. As the video shows around 2:10 mark, in the current version you're simply cut off once you pass the stopping point. In version 1.21 I could actually drive off the map and go through buildings and walls for about a kilometer before the same message appeared.
I worked around the issue in last version by simply uncoupling the cars and driving only the locomotive through all the waypoints.

Next issue. Starting at 2:40 mark, service F10-1. As you can see some time into the video (like at 3:40), the switch points are unclickable along the route you're supposed to drive.(I set the reverser in the wrong direction and drove away from the objective the first time in the video ).
Around 7:30 mark I try to drive along the required route and keep trying to turn the switch, but it refuses to work. (I probably should've climbed out and changed it manually, but didn't think of it at the time).
Also of note is a locomotive heading from another depot on a collision course with your train. I tried re-routing it earlier to a different route or letting it pass, but it still heads straight for you and forcefully couples to the locomotive. This somehow really eats into your acceleration, forcing you to drive in high gear if you want to make some speed. Funny thing is that after this new locomotive couples to you, most of the previously disabled switches turn back on in the map view as seen around mark 11:10.

After coupling with the new locomotive and the required wagons, you wait for it to finish coupling. And wait...While we wait, I'd like to point out another issue I ran into service F10-3 (probably? The part C of unloading the manifest train near the end of the workday).
During that service you're required twice to drive along a specific line, but a) the switches are so close to each other that the top one almost always draws the pointer to itself and b) if you do manage to hold your pointer on the lower switch, it'll actually switch the top track instead, as seen at 13:27 mark!
The workaround during the said service was to drive along a different track and re-route. It takes longer to complete, but is still possible.

Meanwhile we're still waiting for the wagons to couple, so after fiddling around for some 3 minutes, I call it quits.

I hope this was somewhat insightful as to how to reproduce some issues in the current version and how some can be bypassed. Haven't tried the passenger services on NEC yet, so there might be more glitchy or buggy services than the ones I just listed.

 

So there's good news, and there's bad news.... the bad news you already know - this module (F10-1) is bugged. I don't think that the other loco was part of the module designer's plan.... and from the script's point of view, it certainly isn't... The good news is that there's a workaround (I did this first time...)... and the workaround is....:

- every time the module tells you to "wait a moment", the script is checking your consist, and there should be two locos, not three. If you don't have the right consist, it will make you wait forever. So you have to uncouple the intruder... And then it is in your way again, so you have to couple to it again, go about your business, and then uncouple from it again when you are next told to wait... Fabulous, eh?

Anyway - here's a nice picture to make you feel a bit happier: Yay! ;-)



And here's a picture that explains why there is no moving traffic on NEC (on this module, anyway) - and it made me feel very sad.... very very sad ;-(

 

Right, so I was finally able to work around my issue in service F10-1. And it was actually pretty simple.
First, rush over to the stop marker. Then drive up 2 switches to the one that isn't clickable and needs to switch tracks. Get out, switch it manually, then couple to the cars as always.
If you did it promptly enough, just wait for the incoming locomotive to pass, since it needs to use the parallel track you originally were on. Once it passes, all the switches become useable from the map mode once again and you can finish the service normally.
Seems the reason why the switches are inoperable is that the incoming loco has priority over the player. But if you switch manually and fast enough, by the time it passes the tracks get reset to their earlier positions.

 

The thing with these ones is that it tells YOU to stop at the marker, not the consist, in other words park your player on the stop point rather than trying to drive the train over it. Haven't tried it on this one specifically, but works the same on the class 66 scenarios where it gives a single stop point and you have to shuffle a few feet forward so the driver is in the correct place rather than the front of the train

 

Oooh, well done! you must have been shifting... cos by the time I made any move, that loco was bearing down on me...! I had wondered if there was another solution - to wait at the start.. and divert the other loco somehow (if possible), before moving at all.... but it sounds like you have the best solution of all!

So - maybe not a bug*.... Personally, I think modules like this, which pose a puzzle that can be solved, are perfectly reasonable - but I think some players might want a note like "Get moving, there's other traffic that will want you out of the way...."

*I still think that having another loco, destined to hit you head-on, if you do nothing, is possibly slightly harsh.... ;-)

 

Nah, I know that part about stopping the locomotive on the stop marker. If you stop on it, you'll then be asked to go via a parallel track to where you came from. Except that the track splits about halfway through the line of the train wagons. But because the line of wagons is too long, you'll need to either go forward (but not enough space + level resets) or drive back and re-route via another track to reach the objective or just disconnect the wagons and be done with all the issues here.