Glasgow - Carlisle v3

[NiallGray]

Route is on hold

http://forums.uktrainsim.com/viewtopic. ... 0&t=106691

Problem in the attached thread is causing me grief and until I can sort it, I'm going to have to put the route on hold. I've spent all day trying things and checking backups but nothing has worked.

Sorry folks.

Niall

[NiallGray]

Well, after much testing, still no definitive answer to the problem.

Folks are not getting the same errors as me in the affected area in RE and I think that perhaps it's due to my computer getting on a bit now.

I think that my PC memory can't cope with the affected area for more than a few mins at a time (I can place on other tiles for a lot longer). If this is indeed the case, the good news is I can carry on route building, but the bad news is that progress slows down immensely whenever I hit a heavily populated group of tiles.

It also means I'm going to have some areas where scenery will be a lot lighter. However, it will still be an improvement.

There's no chance of me finishing the route in time by the end of the summer. However, I'm going to carry on and do as much I can before then and release it unfinished. (I have a work project coming up in the Autumn before anyone asks me to carry on until finished)

If it turns out not to be memory and route corrupts, I have a working backup version from last month that I know will play ok and could be uploaded.

Niall

The pictures below are of the affected area. You can see by lack of scenery above the walls that I've so much to do here and with so few mins in RE at a time I've had to make the station very basic (though anyone who has been there can tell I've given it a similar look, although there's no footbridge due none suitable being available in MSTS).

Downside is where normally six hours or so would give me the below look, it's taken me a week or so to get same effect.

[steamnut44]

Hi Nial,
Don't worry too much about how much scenery you can show. I know myself that heavily populated tiles can often cause problems when in RE as well as affecting frame rates when running. I have had to drastically reduce some tiles on the SCP Route we are building, in order to lower the frame rates especiall when AI traffic is heavy.

Too many sound locations on a tile can also cause crashes when running the sim, so these also have had to be reduced in places. Regarding whether you finish the route or not, I'm sure all of us will be glad of an upload of the route as it is when you decide to finish working on it, rather than nothing at all. You are doing a good job Nial and will be well worth all the effort you have put into it at the end of the day.

I stated that I was hoping to get the SCP finished by the end of the year, but I think it is going to go on quite a bit longer than anticipated, as there is still a lot to add scenery to yet. However long it takes though, the SCP will eventually get finished and be available for all to enjoy.

Geoff

[gswindale]

That is good news Niall.

As Geoff has said, it will be appreciated by all when it is uploaded. I for one am certainly looking forward to having a drive along it

[40058]

All looks good to me, remember a lot of routes are generic or not 100% anyway even commercial stuff so I would'nt beat yourself up over it, will be great to be able to run the 303's 334's etc where they should be run!

40058.

[NiallGray]

I've removed a load of bridge sounds on the affected tile and some from adjacent tiles. So far I've had no errors working in RE on the affected tile and I went much longer than I did before.

Not getting my hopes up too much, but I'm hoping this could be the solution to my problem.

[mpeffers]

Can only speak for myself but I find ambient sounds on routes as something of a pleasant surprise, but a surprise nonetheless. I'm not sure many people would notice their absence should they be completely removed for the sake of a more stable route. Best of luck persevering with it. I've tried to build in a similar amount of scenic detail into a little route inspired by the upload of the Northampton and Lamport Railway and just a mile and a bit of trackwork has taken well over a month...

[NiallGray]

The sounds I removed are those when you pass under a bridge, which I find redundant. The only bridge sounds you really need to hear in a train are when you drive over a bridge. There were a lot of these in this section as you can see in the pics, it's a part of the line where you'd have a number of bridges crossing the line.

Since removing them, RE has been a lot more stable and I've been able to put more scenery in the affected location. As long as it remains stable I'll be able to scenerise this area and only after it's done will I consider putting some ambient noises back in.

[NiallGray]

Glasgow Central Low Level platform [1791464 bytes] - GCLL_Platform.zip File ID: 24338 Date: 09 Aug 2010 - 199 Downloads

Thanks to Glasgowworks making the above model for me, that's another station crossed off the list. I make that 53 stations done, 17 to go (counting Glasgow Central as 2 separate stations, low level and high level).

Many thanks, Alistair!

Of course, releasing it to the library means those of you with the knowledge of scenery placement can add it to your versions of the v2 route if you want to.

[NiallGray]

A little map of the northern end of the route for anyone who might be interested. Plus it makes talking about the various stations much easier! (Click on picture for larger sizes)

Now I'm back into the routebuilding, I'm focusing on filling in the gaps in 2 areas on the route. (prefer to work on 2 areas at one time as sometimes it gets frustrating trying to get the scenery/stations right and it's better to go elsewhere for a bit and then come back).

The main focus is between Kirkhill and Kings Park (red line) and today I've stripped out all the old scenery between the two locations and begun replacing the various bridges and altering terrain. The scenery shouldn't be too much of a problem, but the stations will need a lot of work as the terrain is not flat at each station and placing platform shapes is proving tricky.

The other area I'm working on is around Wishaw (Light Green line) and I want to fill in the areas to each Junction, (north, west and south) of Wishaw station. I've almost finished the section heading round from Holytown, and I'm just starting on the section from Shieldmuir. Once these are done, the next stage is working south to the point where the main line meets that from Wishaw (Law Junction).

[emufarmer3]

Hi Niall

but the stations will need a lot of work as the terrain is not flat at each station and placing platform shapes is proving tricky.

Adjust the Terrain by Width 25 +, Embankment 5, Cutting 5.then Highlight your Track Piece into wireframe next to your Platform and hit your Y key, this will flatten your Terrain, Adjust your Platforms to the position you want them to be, DO NOT SAVE YET.
Now hold down your Ctrl and hit your ~ (Tilde) key once and only once and your Flattened Terrain will return to its original Shape, once your Terrain has been seen to have returned to it original Shape you can now SAVE your work with your Platforms staying correctely placed to your Track level and were you placed it.

This will work only once every save as if you hit the Ctrl +Tilde Key again the Terrain will return to its flattened Shape, so its best to SAVE every time you use this.

Test this yourself on a spare bit of Terrain as its handy for many situations were the Terrain is uneven or is below the object to be placed.

Regards

Frank

[NiallGray]

Thanks, I'll give that a go and see how I get on.

UPDATE TIME:

Progress has been slow (too damn hot to be sitting at the pc) but I've managed to fill in the scenery from Kirkhill up to Burnside station. Have to be careful here as Rutherglen is just to the north and I want to keep the frame rates respectable on busy tiles. A representation of Burnside station is in and the next job is to carry on working west.

I'm now about to work from Burnside to Kings Park, which will include needing to put a station in at Croftfoot. I don't have a suitable station building but I'll try and put something similar in.

As for the other job, Wishaw is proving tricky to scenerise and it looks like a couple of default bridges may have to remain as I don't have suitable alternatives. However, I'm happy with the lineside scenery I've put in from the Carfin turnoff down to where the line from Shieldmuir joins.

Pics will have to wait for another time.

[glasgowworks]

About time for the updates, thanks very much, Niall. Hot weather and other commitments do slow down progress at times.

[barrybryce01475]

It looks great - whatever you manage to do will be wonderful and I'm sure gratefully appreciated!

[NiallGray]

It looks great - whatever you manage to do will be wonderful and I'm sure gratefully appreciated!

I wish it was at a more advanced stage, but good weather and real life getting in the way.