Atomic Systems

Can anyone confrm what input format I should use for gradients when applying the above rule - 1 in x, % or angle? Have tried inputting as a percentage but that ended up with the track going down a vertical slope. The particular xml file seems to be hidden so it's not possible to open in Asset Editor (or Mike Simpson's Tool) to check the criteria. Also, I assume for a downhill gradient one prefixes the value with a minus sign.

Definitely more documentation needed on this aspect and some simplification of the setting up procedure is needed. I quite like the editor but this faffing about with blueprints and rules is doing my head in! This should all be specified through a nice easy GUI user interface when setting the route up. User friendly this aspect is not!

Hi Vern,

This can be tricky,i alway's use Loft rules percent,for a gentle incline try value 0.5000,but make sure you uncheck snap to terrain,once youv'e
layed the incline reset back to 0.0000 for straight and level,downhill is the same but use the value -0.5000.Make sure you back your work up when using this method.One click on the wrong tool your track will sink to ground level and all the track connected to it-the undo tool will not put your track back,a few other members have also had this problem-good luck.

Ive Just installed the All track rule,as far as im aware or can work out,this is properties for speed and sounds for passenger freight ect...
I tried putting the value in above and it either goes up to the sky or vertical drop,i cant achieve a smooth incline or decline,i can only do this with
Loft rules percent.Hope this helps.

Daz

Its not easy, and its very "trial & error". All Iv done is laid some track then oinked the end up and click out to hove over it to see what gradient it shows at the bottom of the editor screen, but as I say its slow and cumbersome as you need to do every bit. I also learnt that regular backups are handy so you can go back and fetch old work for when you test and it has gone pear shaped

Thanks guys, very much trial and error then.

Unfortunately we seem to have information scattered in all different places for the Editor. The original Editor document which came with the game, a little in the printed manual, the developer tool docs and now the video clips. Even then, not all the information seems to be present. I'm determined to try and make this a positive and learning experience and avoid undue negativity but if one lesson should have been learned by Kuju from MSTS it's that we need one comprehensive route builders manual with all the relevant information under one cover. An indexed built in help file accessible in the editor would be even better!

If it's any help Vern,try with roads first to get a little insight,then once your ok with that start with the track itself.
I'll post a tutorial this afternoon.

Daz

Hi,
Not sure if this is the correct way but I wanted a slowish gradient going down from each side of a piece of 0.0 gradient track on a bridge. I entered -202.00 and got a 1 in 202/203 gradient going down. I then raised the terrain to the track using the magnet symbol on in the Scenery Section (the one with the brush) As tads says do tick the snap to terrain button in the track section. This caused chaos and I had to relay a whole section of track again. All I could get when I first started inputting numbers in the gradient section was track rising up at about 45 degrees. I have still no idea if I am using the correct method but it seems to work. I am using my own Track Rule so I am not sure how that affects these things.
Regards James.

Tutorial in pictures is ready,just sorting a few things out,it'l be in the beginners section 10 minutes.

Tutorial is now up.

Daz

Confusion is due to all the zeros after the decimal point, which apparently were added as a joke. For the 1 in X gradient ignore anything but whole numbers, type the grade you want to the left of the decimal. 100 is 1 foot of rise in 100 linear feet, or one percent, 50 is 1 in 50 or 2 in 100 in other words 2 percent, 75 would be 1 1/2 percent, 33 would be 3 percent, and so on.

Thanks, Sniper - it seems to be working now with % gradients. One thing I have noticed though - if you highlight the track afterwards the gradient actually implemented seems to be rounded up or dow. I laid a section at -0.37% but on highlighting the track it told me the gradient was only 0.3% (the highlight tool also doesn't differentiate between - or + values).

I have brought this bug to Adam’s attention at the RS forums. Adam advised the track will be laid at the % gradient you set but as you can see you can only view the gradient rounded to the first decimal place.

Hopefully this will be resolved in the first patch. I will not start laying track until it is. Coming back to a route building session and not being able to accurately read back what you have laid is an issue for me.

As I'm modelling a former prototype, where the railway ran around the northern edge of Dartmoor (what's left of it after Beeching still does) and the terrain is preformed (DEM'd) I've just set the track gradient in the lower left fly out, in the example shown to 77.000, which gives a 1 in 77 rising gradient from Okehampton station in the background all the way to Meldon viaduct, a couple of miles away. The two sidings, forming part of the Military Sidings (not complete) are level and I have used Grass Bank Loft, until I work out how to install walling, to infill.

John