Rail Works career mode

[gnash]

why would it have to be all multiplayer and no single player?????? that is definitley not an option as like vern said, I would demand my money back from all the things ive bought! lol.

a multiplayer campaign mode is certainly possible, XBox live has already achieved this, and before people say the graphics in RW would be too much to handle online, please go and check the xbox live or even PC live call of duty modern warefare 2 games, the specs are incredible and they play online no problems.

maybe multiplayer with several different modes would be good, for example....

scenario 1 - 2 players, a double headed express from bath - Templecoombe, 2 players control the same train and need constant communication and experience, just like the real thing, to drive efficently.

could even have several scenarios going on in the same room, or route, maybe 16 players in one room, all playing on the same route, but each group has a different scenario, so everyone interacts with the signals, and each other, so if group one are pulling a slow freight train, then it holds up the guys behind them, who are another group pulling a fast express? sounds pretty much as real as it can get???

in the words of jeremy clarkson, how hard can it be?........flips a robin reliant on its side...

It could be quite hard , which routes from the current core would use ?? remembering that Railworks is marketed worldwide through steam .

[AndiS]

As for the signalling and despatcher, well they have quirks and rules but both work if set up correctly (along with the track)

So can someone please bring along this complete, exhaustive, detailed list of all quirks and all rules that we wait for? I would be the first to turn it into nice tutorials or whatever, if only it is a working basis. Working AI is key, but every time I touch it, I find this brown substance on my fingers. Of course, it is not true that AI does not work at all. But without a complete list of quirks and rules, you really just waste your sparetime and good mood with it.

[MidnightTrain]

As for the signalling and despatcher, well they have quirks and rules but both work if set up correctly (along with the track)

So can someone please bring along this complete, exhaustive, detailed list of all quirks and all rules that we wait for? I would be the first to turn it into nice tutorials or whatever, if only it is a working basis. Working AI is key, but every time I touch it, I find this brown substance on my fingers. Of course, it is not true that AI does not work at all. But without a complete list of quirks and rules, you really just waste your sparetime and good mood with it.

This. Currently I am only writing scenario for the Ft. Kent route, I haven't even touched a more complex route, but I shudder to think what that's like.

[FoggyMorning]

One simple rule I find solves 99% of AI related "quirks"

Don't path trains where another train is also going to go!

[MidnightTrain]

One simple rule I find solves 99% of AI related "quirks"

Don't path trains where another train is also going to go!

So what about the 1%? Because I do use the bread crumb method with my player and AI trains, and yet I still get one train delayed over another one. However this problem is fixed if I place the AI train at a different part of the route, which I don't understand. I'd like to know why changing the location of the start position of the AI train fixes everything.

[metrobus]

I would love to see multiplayer and I think it would work. It would be fun if one person could be a fireman, and one as a driver, with all the relevant controls to their positions, so players work as a team to complete their work set by the dispatcher ( maybe the server admin or something ), guided by the signallers in there boxes through the maze of the other services, crews which operate their services on time, safely and fuel efficient would get more points than those who are late, burn tons of coal and stall on hills. We could then compare our stats with other players in a leader board, and maybe the top player of the week would get a free addon or something.

I am looking forward to career mode One feature I would love to see added to the Career mode, is the "damage" sort of system on the addon for msts "line 51, the golden age of Berlin" where general use of the engine or misuse of the engine would cause wear and damage to the locos parts for example the brake blocks weakening the brakes for future use. Also after a while with these parts deteriorating to much the loco would eventually have to be repaired in real time, while it is repaired you could borrow a loco, or wait. This would be a great feature and would add much depth to the simulation. It would be even more great if we could have our own locomotive say for example you could own your Black five, and use it in the scenarios and accumulate points, time, miles travelled and wear on it:D The possibilities are endless
Regards Edward

[almark]

One simple rule I find solves 99% of AI related "quirks"

Don't path trains where another train is also going to go!

What. So just have a scenario with one train going?


Big 1% that!

[ckmemphis]

Managing the AI system is not that complicated. If you have an understanding of what needs to be done, how they work and the type of problems that can occur due to user error, programming them to work is ok, to say the least. You must remember, give them a bit a space to move around each other, and if they need to cross paths with the player train, make sure your service classes are correct, and allow the lead train to arrive about 30sceonds before the other.

Yes, I will admit that most of it is trial and error, but what I did in the beginning is check the settings of a few of the default scenarios that ships with RW itself. In there you will find out how the timings work, routing instructions and you might even see a pattern emerging with regards to the dispatcher. Think of it this way, when RS came out a few years back, 99% of us had no cooking clue of how to drive the black 5, but now, after many hours of practicing and help from the forum, I'm sure you could drive the kettle with your eyes closed. It's a simply process, once you learn the basics, and understand the games thinking, it becomes second nature, and all new scenarios become that much easier......

[transadelaide]

Managing the AI system is not that complicated. If you have an understanding of what needs to be done, how they work and the type of problems that can occur due to user error, programming them to work is ok, to say the least. You must remember, give them a bit a space to move around each other, and if they need to cross paths with the player train, make sure your service classes are correct, and allow the lead train to arrive about 30sceonds before the other.

Yes, I will admit that most of it is trial and error, but what I did in the beginning is check the settings of a few of the default scenarios that ships with RW itself. In there you will find out how the timings work, routing instructions and you might even see a pattern emerging with regards to the dispatcher. Think of it this way, when RS came out a few years back, 99% of us had no cooking clue of how to drive the black 5, but now, after many hours of practicing and help from the forum, I'm sure you could drive the kettle with your eyes closed. It's a simply process, once you learn the basics, and understand the games thinking, it becomes second nature, and all new scenarios become that much easier......

Agree completely about reverse engineering scenarios. Attempting to fix a completely botched up scenario downloaded from another site (it depended on markers added in the route editor by that user) has been the most educational experience for me so far. Trial and error is still involved a little as a few of my attempts involved the crawling AI services, but I'm gradually eliminating that.

[AndiS]

Maybe, while waiting for official wisdom from RSC, it could be helpful if everyone who observed and defeated crawling AI would try his best to find a pattern in it and (somewhat independent of it) post all details of the difference between the non-working and the working version of the scenario in such a way that this knowledge can be transferred to other settings.

Of course, it is not true that troubles immediately starts as soon as two trains cross each other's path. But it is also not true that you can take any schedule (which works in theory) and implement it without turning grey.

In order to arrive at a scenario which is theoretically possible, it is definitely helpful to sketch it on paper or in Excel or a similar tool. However, I count it with the dispatcher faults that sometimes, he blocks too much of a route and sometimes, he brings himself in a difficult situation which leads to AI crawling (as I understand it). But anyway, the current user interface is much better that the old one, and petitioning for a graphical timetable is something we can still do later.