My Trains are too fast!!

delticcity · Post by **delticcity** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 9:37 pm

I am in the middle of writing my own activities for Mideast UK and have just reached the timetable editing bit. I can complete the journey far quicker than the timetable allows, maybe by 10 minutes but it will only allow a 30 second discrepancy. Would altering the unicode from 30 to 600 seconds allowable discrepancy work? And, if so, where might I find that particular piece of code? I'm sure somebody must've done this before. I tried altering the 'performance' figures shown in the timetable but it didn't make a lot of difference, it was the 30 seconds limit that spoilt the fun. Any help would be great, cheers, Dave.

250787 · Post by **250787** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 9:43 pm

You can edit the arrival times in the timetable window

delticcity · Post by **delticcity** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 9:50 pm

I've done that. I typed in the times I wanted in there based on the actual times it took me to cover each section and the editor said the times were not achievable. It also told me how many seconds discrepancy we were talking about, around 600, and that it would only allow 30!! Thats why I think I might have to alter the coding. Any ideas? Dave.

250787 · Post by **250787** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 9:51 pm

I never had it say that before. If you put in your own times dont click calculate

delticcity · Post by **delticcity** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 10:01 pm

Ha ha. You think the same way as I do. I tried that aswell but it still said time was not achievable, and without altering the departure times I would have long waits in stations and still not get to Retford when I want to. But it wouldn't let me anyway. Dave.

250787 · Post by **250787** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 10:02 pm

Try editing the player performance putting it to 99

delticcity · Post by **delticcity** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 10:08 pm

It was originally set at 75 I think. I put it up to 100 and saw maybe some change in the timetable when it recalculated, but it still said time was not achievable. You'll be able to guess what I did next. Up it to 150. Then 200! Still not getting anywhere near to knocking 10 minutes off what the editor thinks is an achievable time.

250787 · Post by **250787** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 10:10 pm

Try moving the start point of the path slightly. That might be why RE is having trouble calcualting times

delticcity · Post by **delticcity** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 10:25 pm

I've never tried anything like that so you'll have to bear with me Matt. The Path starts in Kings Cross and is a default path off the Mideast disc, called funnily enough Kings Cross-Retford. I used it because it went in the right direction and I assumed I would be able to modify the timetable to suit a new activity. With 3 stops including the one at Retford the recalculated t/tble shows an arrival time 105 minutes after departure from KX. I can drive it within speed limits in 71 minutes. So we are actually looking at 34 minutes rather than ten! I wonder if this path was written for a stopping train as all the little stations are listed in the path editor. I assumed that by not ticking them the editor would ignore them from a timing point of view but maybe not.

delticcity · Post by **delticcity** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 11:04 pm

I've just tried moving the start point in the path editor and the message is still the same. "Desired time could not be reached. " It then shows Desired time 1206.0000000.1 Achieved time: 1930.0000000.1, Max. time error: 30.0000000.1, Num iterations: 20

I might try creating a brand new service, path, etc. Faster times must be achievable somehow. This is all still a bit new to me. I am still wondering about finding the right bit of unicode to alter.
Thanks for your time Matt. Dave.

thenudehamster · Post by **thenudehamster** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 11:19 pm

Use Activity Changer (you'll have to search for it, I can't remember where it comes from) which will let you change almost anything about timetables (and the weather)

Lad491 · Post by **Lad491** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 8:12 am

A couple of points :

Firstly, if you are using an existing path and then modifying it by adding or deleting stops, make sure you use the "use as a template" function and give it a slightly different name. If you dont if anyone else tries to use the activity it will break their existing ones.

Secondly, you can reset the station arrival and departure times to 0:01:0 by going into the act file for your activity (c:\program files\Microsoft games\train simulator\routes\uk1\activities) open the file in notepad or wordpad (if you are using W98) and change all arrival and departure times to a value of 600. Save the file and exit. Then reopen the activity in the activity editor, click on edit timetable, for each stop enter the departure time and then enter the arrival time.

Finally close the edit timetable window down. DO NOT USE Calculate or it will upset all your times again, and save the activity. Do not use the calculate and save function, just save or save as.

You should now have the times you want for the trip.

Im sure there are more elegant ways of doing this, but its the way i do it.

spartacus · Post by **spartacus** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 9:25 am

I'd try making a new path on the running lines you want, although that'll all depend on the train you are runnning. I've always found that for modern services, sticking to the correct timetable, that it's easy to keep to time with expresses, and a right pain with WAGN services!

delticcity · Post by **delticcity** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 10:45 am

Thanks chaps, that'll keep me busy for a while. I'll keep you posted. Incidentally, I did use an existing path as a template with an altered na
me but its early days to be uploading anything yet so no worries there.
Watch this space. Dave.

delticcity · Post by **delticcity** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 12:12 pm

I've cracked it! The easiest way to alter a timetable so that it fits the performance of your train is to use 'Edit timetable' in the AE. Type your required arrival time into the table then, daft as it may seem, type in your chosen departure time into the same place i.e the arrival time, then type in your required arrival time again. What you should see then is your perfect timetable showing all the times you want in there. It really works!! I'm driving the activity as we speak and so far its all good news.