Thames - Mersey & Dorset Coast CDs

[phat2003uk]

I don't want to put down Dave Corfield's excellent work but is it necessary to rename all the stock to have the UK_Diesel prefix ? This will surely lead to a lot of duplicate engines in the TRAINSET file. Also, this makes playing Dorset Coast activities using stock from the CD practically impossible. For example, Lad491's new activity is impossibe to play without having the CD

Once again I'm not putting down the work of Dave and the whole team.

[thomascairns]

It actually makes it much easier when it comes to writing ACTs and modifying things. It's also there to distinguish whether its installed from a CD, you could always use Activity Analzyer to change the stock location.

[jporter]

For the Dc there are a few modified eng files and so these would overwrite other fiels and therefore it would upset other activities that use the item in other activities

[phat2003uk]

It actually makes it much easier when it comes to writing ACTs and modifying things. It's also there to distinguish whether its installed from a CD, you could always use Activity Analzyer to change the stock location.

Does it really matter where it's installed from ?

[phat2003uk]

For the Dc there are a few modified eng files and so these would overwrite other fiels and therefore it would upset other activities that use the item in other activities

I understand this problem Maybe for the ones which are modified have a _M suffix ?

[sbradey]

I must admit in the past I had always thought about doing something similar to my own files to make them easier to find.....

However, in the end decided it was simpler to stick with the authors original names as most activity writers (myself included now) use the original names.

I don't have any issues with authors that don't use the original name, it is their choice, just think how much editing of downloaded activities they need to do to get them to work with their naming convention. They are easy to handle as well, I just edit the files as directed by Route Riter or Trainstore. It is amazing what global find and replace can do in Word .....

Simon

[jbilton]

Hi
Doesn't make much difference to me either.
As I tend to install these self contained routes as mini routes these days.
The only thing I do is substitute any of the stock, that I have a better more detailed model for.
Generally speaking though I think Dave Corfield / activity team has done an excellent job on the DCv2....I've not substituted very much at all.
Cheers
Jon

[ccsdc]

I don't want to put down Dave Corfield's excellent work but is it necessary to rename all the stock to have the UK_Diesel prefix ? This will surely lead to a lot of duplicate engines in the TRAINSET file. Also, this makes playing Dorset Coast activities using stock from the CD practically impossible. For example, Lad491's new activity is impossibe to play without having the CD

Once again I'm not putting down the work of Dave and the whole team.

Richard,

I started off like everyone I suppose, simply downloading stock and installing it in whatever default directory the author had chosen, but after about a year or so my trainset folder was a real mess as there was not, and is not to this day, any agreed folder naming convention for MSTS stock.

I made the huge decision at the time to reorganise my trainset folder along the lines that I have now included on both the TM and Dorset CD's. It meant that every consist and every activity that I had already got installed had to to be edited, but the benefits of having an organised trainset folder, into which I can now slot any piece of stock, from any country, from any era for any train operator into a logically structured sequence, outweigh this temporary inconvenience IMHO.

I personally cannot work in any other way, and I apologise for imposing my trainset structure on others via the CD's, but it is really not an option for me to maintain two lists of stock - one in my folder structure and one in the default folders.

I will however be uploading a Dorset Coast activity pack as soon as we have the replacement Black 5 to use on the couple of steam activities, in which I will convert everything back to default folder references. With the CD being held up due to the withdrawal of scenic models, I will take the opportunity to include any new Dorset activities on both the CD and in the activity pack, of course with the authors' permission first.

Dave

[phat2003uk]

Sorry if I sounded harsh at all. You're perfectly entitled to do what you want! It's great to hear that there will be an activity pack. Oh, and feel free to include my 'Nuclear Flask Run' activity in the activity pack or are you only including exculsive ones that were on the CD ? I'd like to say thanks for crating two outstanding routes and and being so helpful.

[TFormoso]

It's a pity to have to edit things in this way, just to categorise things.

If you use Train Store, you don't have to do this. You can categorise using the Lot Number facility. (The Lot Number is not just restricted to numeric characters, so you can categorise in any way you need.)

Once you have done this you can select items using your chosen categories, all without having to change any of the original files, and without having to adjust activities to make them work.

If you want to change your categorisation, you just change the Lot Numbers, no need to change the items at all.

It's like a simple database key facility for your MSTS items.


Tony

[Lad491]

my 'Nuclear Flask Run' activity

That one is on the CD so, I assume would have gone into the activity pack

[ccsdc]

Sorry if I sounded harsh at all. You're perfectly entitled to do what you want! It's great to hear that there will be an activity pack. Oh, and feel free to include my 'Nuclear Flask Run' activity in the activity pack or are you only including exculsive ones that were on the CD ? I'd like to say thanks for crating two outstanding routes and and being so helpful.

Richard,

No problem. Yes, I am going to include all the activities that have been done to date in one combined activity pack.

Dave

[ccsdc]

It's a pity to have to edit things in this way, just to categorise things.

If you use Train Store, you don't have to do this. You can categorise using the Lot Number facility. (The Lot Number is not just restricted to numeric characters, so you can categorise in any way you need.)

Once you have done this you can select items using your chosen categories, all without having to change any of the original files, and without having to adjust activities to make them work.

If you want to change your categorisation, you just change the Lot Numbers, no need to change the items at all.

It's like a simple database key facility for your MSTS items.


Tony

I was not aware of this utility Tony, although I am not sure Trainstore was available when I decided on my folder naming convention, which must have been some 3 to 3 1/2 years ago.

I suppose that the point is largely irrelevant now as the two CD's in question are out there now, and I am unlikely to be producing any more for MSTS, unless of course TM 4 does get onto CD at some time if we can replace all the stock!

Dave