Crash Issues And Other Difficulties

I was really looking forward to the release of the editor and my first impressions are not good. It's an absolute pain to use and everything is so much more difficult than it needs to be. It took me way too long to get around to laying the track, and when I finally did it kept crashing over and over again. Then I tried to make a timetable for an existing route, and I can't find out how to make the train spawn from a portal, or even move it's starting position. This editor has lots of potential, but it needs a lot of work. I'm looking forward to the masterclasses and I hope the crash issues get rectified as I do have plans to make content for this game, but for now I need a break.

 

The editor can't be made easier. It just can't. Unreal engine is extremely complex and a steep learning curve, emphasis on the word steep. It's not dtgs fault that it is difficult.

 

It can crash because you might add stuff where you shouldn't/can't. Where exactly did you lay a track? A new map tile or editing a existing map/tile?

 

Brand new map tile with basically nothing on it. All I did was add in the TOD4 lighting like we're supposed to. Can't even lay more than a mile of track.

 

Take your time. The editor hasn't even been out 5 hours at this point. Learning a professional tool takes a lot more than 5 hours.

 

I decided to try again and I can't even lay track without running into this issue. After I press okay it just crashes. This is only after I lay like two pieces of track. And something to keep in mind is that I'm running this on a super computer.

 

Well as I just said in another thread, we need proper instructions. You can’t just dump a complex tool like this in the laps of people whose experience level is Trainz Surveyor or a bit of dabbling in the TSC editor and expect us to make sense of it. No one contemplating building a route etc. is under any illusion that there is challenge and a learning curve ahead and is possessed of a certain degree of intelligence (some might say madness) to undertake this in the first place. However that doesn’t mean to say we wouldn’t appreciate some training wheels.

 

For the timetable, what about start watching their streams on youtube ? They already showed couple of times how to work with it and its very easy.

 

To be fair, Matt has been very clear that it is not a simple tool and not for everybody.

But as the topic describes, it crashes, A LOT. I get that I probably do something it doesn't like, but give me an error message, not the desktop

Definition of easy is different from user to user.
Managed to import some terrain(hgt) and place some buildings and a few meters of rails. It will be a big learning curve as I have never touched UE editor before. But stability/durability needs to improve for me to spend some time learning the tools.

But I'll try to be patient and see where it goes

 

Well in a few minutes I’m going to download and see if my I5 GT950 laptop just laughs at it.

Just curious on a couple of things from those who have taken a look.
1. How do you define the latitude and longitude start points?
2. How do you add your kml marker file from Google Earth?
3. Do you import the SRTM by following your markers as in TSC or is it done differently?

 

I'll take a quick pop at the Q, but cant show as I'm not at my home pc.
1. defined in the first box where you add new route. Find you spot in google maps and use the coordinate from there.
2. There is an import function, same place as you fiddle with DEM data. For me it has crashed every try. Probably to large KML or wrong definitions. (I'd expect the error to be on my side )
3. I generated the first tile and followed my route based on local knowledge (basically a valley). Don't remember the setting, but it is possible to generate tiles next to the one you are in and use the right click "go there" to move along quickly. There may be better ways to do it, but thats how I did my first very dry run.
If you follow the stream from a few weeks ago, they touch on point 1 and 3. I just copied their steps, but with my location and dem hgt files.

 

You sir are the proverbial steel eyed missile man - thank you.

Got the editor initialising now, so moment of truth approaching.

 

Well that drew a bit of a blank.

Think I figured out how to get the kml markers in but not showing in the 3D window.

Tried to import the SRTM hgt data but must be missing a step as shows invalid after dragging the file into the landscape widget and assigning a grass texture.

Got to admit I am completely lost at the moment and don't think this is going to end up going anywhere.

Off for a walk now, take another look later but if this is going to go anywhere DTG Matt we absolutely need some clear written step by step instructions.

 

Understood Matt. Appreciate what you and the team have achieved. Will play around as best possible and we will hopefully get something going in the meantime.

Take a timeout and have a beer or three.

 

Fair enough, I didn't consider that. I'll try again with making a time table soon.

Understood, but I hope those tutorials come soon. Just feels like a slap in the face having to wait a whole five weeks for this only to find out that it's broken. At the very least is there a fix for my crash issue here? The one I showed in a screenshot earlier in this thread.

 

I understand it's a beta so I'm not expecting everything to be polished right out of the box, and I wouldn't be surprised if it crashes now and again. My frustrations mainly come from the fact that I can't even lay track without it crashing after only a few minutes.

Going back to what I said earlier, is there someway to fix my crash issue here? Is it a bug with the program, or am I doing something wrong?

 

After rewatching the original stream and more by accident than design, I actually managed to get the SRTM data imported around my origin co-ordinates. yippee!

But of course it is all just bare tile at present, tried to see on the clip how you set up TOD and basic terrain texture etc. but was too quick to really see what is going on.

I'm also still completely lost as to where or how I load the kml marker file. Again by trial and error I found the pull down box to enter the Google apikey and underneath that a tab referencing placemarks but I need to understand how you get that to talk to the kml file.

On the plus side the contouring on the SRTM doesn't look too bad and will do for now while I try and fathom the rest of it.

 

I have found that most of the time the crashes when laying track are because I haven't saved or something like that. I haven't done much as haven't got much time. I am experienced with unreal engine and it is a challenge. It's like anything with game development, we are given the tools but it's down to us to try to use them. I'm sure the team at DTG will give us documentation when they can.

For now, just take it slowly, start simple and the community will get there. If you haven't used unreal engine before my advise would be to download the engine itself (not the TSW Editor) and have a play around in there then come back once you know the basics.

 

On this point I've a crash anytime I try to laing a track, is this something that your team still watching? It's was reported from other this issue?
And can this depends from the beta status of the editor?
Just to know....

 

Oh and another issue I've just ran into is that I can't find a way to cook custom content and export it. The option just isn't even there.

 

I'm running into the same issues, IIRC they had the same problem during the stream.

 

I now got the track laying tool to function without crashing, but I can only get so far before it crashes again.

 

I have very little experience, but I keep plugging away here. Make sure there is a tile to lay the track on. Using a generic plane as a floor will crash the track tool I believe.

 

CactusJuice (Brandon) posted the timetable simulate command in the TSC Discord:

He also posted the cook command from when he worked on BPE, but it was broken/out-of-date so we're waiting on someone from DTG to provide an updated cook command.

 

I have the same issue both on the terrain with DEM and on the default plain (the same that Matt scale on the video).
Wich track you use? Just to be sure to do the same thing

 

Well I had a go at making a timetable and this time I was a lot more successful! Just need someone to find out how to export it and make it playable in the game itself.

 

I'm using the Antelope Valley track and track rule.

 

Same problem with it...
Maybe it depends on where I've installed the editor?
Or it can be something different from you that I don't know can cause this....

 

I just started using Matts old show to try to create a very simple scenario. It is going slow and I have no idea if I get it working on my own, but i am learning a lot on they way. Finding all buttons and options, even if it crashes and does not work in the end, it helps me to find my way in this tool. I also use the unofficial editor video. No idea if this is a brilliant idea, but you never know. It will be hard at points where there is no obvious logic in the steps to follow, but you just need to know. Altogether I managed to find out what a plugin means, where my project is stored, how to set up folders and a few things more for a scenario pak and I got a route in the big screen of the editor. So a bit happy and only two or three crashes till now. But now some objects are not visible, tough they are on disk. Maybe I first get github running. That should be helpful as well.

My feeling is that creating scenarios will be doable within a relatively short time. So i am quite happy and I am full of brilliant scenario ideas.

 

Just to avoid creating any new topics - is it possible to press 'build' button now? Whenever I press it, the editor crashes. I have just a terrain and a piece of track. Are there any other conditions for the build process to work?

 

Rudolf I'm also trying out that old tutorial of Matt's and having the same problems with some of the files disappearing after the editor is restarted. Got as far as adding the three files for Scenario Timetable, Blueprint and Definition.
In my case only the Definition file is visible after a restart (or a crash) which is making any further progress difficult.

 

I ran into the same issue. If you try recreating the files then rename it then it says there's a duplicate and do you want to overwrite then on cancelling the original file comes back. I have a nasty feeling the same problem will reoccur when I restart the editor though.

 

I'm afraid it still happens to me on every restart.
I'm going around in circles until there's a fix for this.

 

I'm trying to create my own lanscape but if i try to use a different brush instead of the default circle my editor crashes

 

I learned a little thing. The Scenario definition file is still visible. You can click and edit it. If you have the TimetableRoute definition specified in the Scenario definition, you can access it by clicking from the scenario definition editor it even will show up in the editor. So This is not that bad, but it is a bug.

I also learned you can open multiple content browser. Open a second one and get there the routemap. If you click at the routemap it will be loaded in the view.

 

i posted this in another thread, but I can't even figure out how to lay track. the only thing i seem to have figured out is how to get a decent grass texture to show up for the floor. But literally everything else I can't figure out. Can't figure out how to lay track or place buildings or trees, and i haven't even tried to work out how to get any scenarios or services going. I am so lost at this point, i'm actually seriously considering going back to TSC and just living with the fact that i will never be able to get a full 24 hour service timetable in a fictional route that i want to make one in.

 

I'm confident it will happen someday. Just have to wait until Dovetail comes out with all the documentation. Although the fact that they didn't have any documentation when the editor first released is annoying.

 

I’ve got around the missing files bug by having all the files in the scenario kept open in tabs. Then after a restart of the editor it tells you some additional tabs were open in the previous session and gives the option of reopening these files, which load into another window.
I then drag them back into their original tab positions and can very quickly start working with all the files again.