Long drawn out frustrating downloads

[codrivermike]

This evening I decided to have a crack at the "flying scotsman" activity for Mid East v2 steam era. Having looked at the read me I was pleased to see that the stock all had UKTS file numbers, so away I went.
What a frustrating evening. There are so many variations in the way stock in the library is presented. Some with installers, though I find that with those they often install to the right place but unless you know exactly what the folder name is going to be they can be a . to find.
Then there are those that are in a microsoft games folder, with a folder inside, then another and another and another. It's like opening a Russian doll to get to the stock.
And then there are those that you have to create a folder. One I even had to guess the folder name. Thank God for Route Riter. Oh, and one didn't have any read me at all but by then it didn't matter as I was finally getting into a rhythm.
3 hours later job done? I wish. 4 locos still needed. The file numbers don't exist and the loco numbers don't come up in search mode. possibly withdrawn stock. But why wasn't this checked before the activity was released.?
So. Looks like it's a job for Conbuilder next.

Oh sod it. I'm going to bed. I'll probably not be as grumpy tomorrow.

Bet it's a good activity though.

A tired and peed off Michael

[BobLatimer]

Michael,

Hope you're feeling better today.

Although it won't solve all of your problems, try doing what I do.

Set up a folder called something like Temp2.
Always point the installer/unzipper at Temp2 (very few will not allow you to do that).
In Temp2 you'll end up with some stock folders, sometimes some stock files (which you then need to create a folder for and put them in before you go onto the next one). some Program Files\etc. etc.
Sort out Temp2 until all you have is stock folders.
Have a look in the folders to make sure you have all of the necessary sounds etc.
Move them into your Trainset folder.

That way they don't get lost on your HD somewhere.

That won't help with the withdrawn stock but it will get you most of the way there without tearing your hair out.

Regards,

Bob.

[Lad491]

I use a system similar to Bob's. I create a desktop folder with the name of the route im getting stuff for and then i download and save everything there. Then i can go through each piece one at a time, install or unzip it and then check it before moving on.

I hope you have better luck with the steam version than i did. Whilst im sure that the signal placements are spot on, I found it impossible to drive an express at anything like a realistic speed as you couldn't stop in time for red signals as the sections were so short. In some places the distance between an outer distant, inner distant and inner home was less than 0.6 of a mile- travelling at 100mph you dont have a prayer of stopping

Maybe thats what it was like in the real world and maybe fast expresses had cleared roads, but i couldn't get my steam circular to work and eventually gave it up. Now hoping it will surface in V1.5 under development now

[RobertM]

4 locos still needed. The file numbers don't exist and the loco numbers don't come up in search mode. possibly withdrawn stock. But why wasn't this checked before the activity was released?

I did post about activities and missing stock shortly after Terry took his stuff of UKTS, but I was ignored

http://forums.uktrainsim.com/viewtopic. ... activities

Cheers...

Robert

[Lad491]

I dont think you wre ignored Robert. I, for one, am conscious that quite a few of my activities may no longer work. However I use stock from CD's, I rarely download stock, so i dont know what is affected and what isnt. Also, If i have to change activities i'll then have to provide two versions, one for people with the stock on old versions of the CD and one for others. This is a problem in itself.


So basically im waiting for people to shout that there is a problem and if its one of my activities i'll fix it with a new version. But until then i'll just assume people have the CD with stock and everything is hunk dory. So far no one has shouted about any of my activities.

[ianmacmillan]

LAD.

YOUR ACTIVITIES ARE VERY GOOD.


There.

Someone has shouted about your activities.

[rwaceyw]

I AGREE

[codrivermike]

When I see an activity that has been created by LAD I imediately know that the stock will be cd or at least easy to find. The activity will be well written and involving. And most of all. I know I'm going to be spending the next 3 to 4 hours driving the damn thing.

Keep up the good work.

Oh and lets have the next part of your Steyning activities

Best regards

Michael. (Now not grumpy)

[Lad491]

Thankyou for your kind words everyone. I'll make everyone laugh Ian by telling them what you told me at a ukts roadshow. You said that my activities were great. But that you never actually ran one but spent happy hours changing all the stock to correct period versions Still if it kept you amused lol

Steyning act's are on hold temporarily because i got very frustrated trying to make paths work as I wanted. So I put it aside in favour of Dorset Coast. Although i haven't actually done any for V3 I have been helping young Callum Presley with his so ive been really busy.
My next task is the new version of MidEast - coming soon.

To be honest though, I hit an activity slump and needed a rest for a while. But i'll start again soon.

[Brydion]

I had similar problems with the Mid East Steam route too but with a bit of perseverance I managed to locate some of the necessary locos on the http://www.bluearrowts.com web-site (am I allowed to say that here? ).

The ones that couldn't be found - the Class 31 and the BR 9F, I think - I just edited existing models until they worked. I could have used Conbuilder to get around it but I thought it best to keep the activity as it was supposed to be

Hope this helps those who are trying to find the stock!

[codrivermike]

Well I finally got the stock I needed, some of it from the Burton-Derby cd. Then as you will have seen from another post I needed a Deltic cabview.
Anyways, everything downloaded. everything installed and away we went. Well as far as Peterborough anyways. I've been stood at a red signal for 15 minutes. It's 16.35, the northbound class 31 passed ages ago, there's nothing in sight ahead of me but I'm still here.

Oh well.

[perfnet]

cddrivermike, I'm sorry you were having problems with one of my activities. I do provide both an email address and a UKTS forums id so that people can get in touch with me and work through their problems.

As I have said elsewhere, it is frustrating enough to write activities given the way stock appears and disappears. I do try to ensure that all the stock is available on UKTS - or direct people to other websites - before uploading but occasionally something will slip through. Writing activities is not my day job, and something I do for fun.

If you want to get in touch with me and discuss your Peterboro red light problem then feel free to though, to be honest, you are the first person I know of not to be able to complete the activity. Simply complaining about it in a public forum is not necessarily going to get any assistance - especially one that gets found on a search as obscure as one looking for the upcoming Steyning CD! The contact information in the read me file is there for a reason.

Kind regards,

Richard

[codrivermike]

Hi Richard. The main thrust of my post was at the number of different and often confusing ways stock is presented when you open the .zip files, not at your activity in particular.
When I did my Highland activities I spent a while checking that the stock I was using was both prototypical of the route/ear and also that it was easy to obtain. Unfortunately this was just before a lot of stock was withdrawn during the recent bout of teddy throwing. The result was that the activities had to be redone. Yours it seems fell close to this period of uncertainty.
As you will have read, once the stock was obtained I ran into the Deltic cab problem. Again this is not your fault, it was only my frustration of not wanting to drive a classic locomotive on a classic route whilst looking at a Gp38 cab. Even the red light was probably because I got there too soon, therefore screwing up one of the paths. What milage I did I enjoyed.
This activity has been consigned to the come back to it when I've time shelf rather than the that activity was . bin. I'm currently trundling around Lehigh Valley at the moment but when I,ve finished that I'm going to have another crack at Peterborough.

Best regards

Michael

[codrivermike]

I'm bumping this thread back up to the top to say that I have revisited this activity as I said I would.
The cabview used was the Kuju cab that I found at thetrain.de and the problem I had with the red signal was resolved by arriving just a few minutes later. I don't know what conflicting service caused the standoff but a few minutes made all the difference.
A nice route and a good activity. A shame that the MidEast steam version is a little neglected when it comes to activities.

Best regards

Michael