Route editing with latest update - Warning

[choccy]

It's certainly a very serious problem which may be difficult to fix. I'm finding that having continued to do some route editing in RW it's now crashing far more frequently suggesting that the problem gets worse as you continue to edit and save. I've had numerous tiles play up with the relevant scenery tile then reading 0kb and if placing a signal or modifying track etc the tracks.bin files crashes to 0kb- a real nightmare for anyone with no backup. This happened to me once when I was editing a scenario and switched to the world editor but made no changes. RW asked me if I wanted to save changes to the route (though there were none). I clicke don 'yes' and my tracks.bin went to 0kb.

I hope they can fix it satisfactorily soon as it will seriously damage the sim if it's a long standing problem.

Mark

Just a finalmessage for Ryan. You shouldn't have to reinstall all your route from a backup. The most frequent error is a scenery tile showing 0kb when RW crashes on attempting to save. You can just restore that tile in the scenery folder. If your tracks.bin file show 0kb then restore the tracks.bin from a backup. Anyone with no backup here will be in deep trouble.

[longbow]

I admire your persistence but I think the sensible thing is to cease route editing in RW until the problem gets fixed, which by the sounds of it will be soon.

[AndyUK]

Edited - see below

[AndyUK]

The last thing I heard was that it was in beta testing, now if it didn't pass testing ( and I don't know if it did or didn't ) do you really want them to rush it out before they are really sure it and the other v97.8a bugs are fixed ? What would users say then ?

John

John,

I doubt anyone wants it rushed out which is why I find it surprising that RS.com didn't revert to the previous version. That would have given them some breathing space to perfect the fix and fully test it whilst also enabling users to continue working on their routes without fear of damaging them. Leaving such a flawed patch on Steam is irresponsible in my opinion.

Andy L

[CaptScarlet]

The last thing I heard was that it was in beta testing, now if it didn't pass testing ( and I don't know if it did or didn't ) do you really want them to rush it out before they are really sure it and the other v97.8a bugs are fixed ? What would users say then ?

John

John,

I doubt anyone wants it rushed out which is why I find it surprising that RS.com didn't revert to the previous version. That would have given them some breathing space to perfect the fix and fully test it whilst also enabling users to continue working on their routes without fear of damaging them. Leaving such a flawed patch on Steam is irresponsible in my opinion.

Andy L

Perhaps, but it may be a Steam thing as I read that for other games on steam where a patch has caused big problems rolling back has not been the option taken. A new patch is always produced by the developer instead.

John

[AndyUK]

If it is true that Steam prevents rolling back then Steam itself would seem to be flawed. Surely dressing up the previous patch as a "new" one by changing whatever file attributes Steam uses to determine "newness" would be a way around that. In any case there is still no warning on the main RS.com site (http://www.railsimulator.com) that 97.8a could be harmful to your routes!

Andy L

[Basherz]

Well I accidently found out that if you copy out the Assets & Contents, which I have been doing for years, that by re-instating the backup, I can roll back to the previous Update, and then prevent steam from updating again.

[AndiS]

One thing I don't understand is why people keep on building in RW when it has this problem. If it is just scenery placement, tracklaying, terrain painting, terrain shaping, you should be very safe to do it in KRS. Ok, you would have to port the foliage pack over to KRS, and maybe one or the other new item. But if one person makes a diff on the assets of both KRS and RW, that would give a good migration guide.

This is not about boycotting RW, but if they put red signs everywhere, it sounds quite suicidal to go on working on a route in those weeks while they are working on the issue.

[Acorncomputer]

Well I accidently found out that if you copy out the Assets & Contents, which I have been doing for years, that by re-instating the backup, I can roll back to the previous Update, and then prevent steam from updating again.

I am adopting the same procedure with RW as I do with RS. I am copying the whole RW folder before going online so that if there are any problems (as has happened) I just delete the faulty RailWorks folder and replace it with a copy of the saved folder. This seems to work as Steam does not require you to go online again in order to allow the previous version to run. By swapping files a few times I have been able to compare the performance in 87.6a and 87.8a which is how I ascertained that the 'rubber banding effect' was only in version 87.8a.

At the moment it is academic as I continue to route build in Rail Simulator but before I commit to building in RW, one thing I want to be sure of is that I can control how Steam works and not just be a slave to it.

[RSderek]

The fix to this bug will come very soon.

regards

derek

[Acorncomputer]

Thanks Derek

I suspect that this is not a particularly easy problem to fix whilst still retaining the additional features of 87.8a

Perhaps updates would be better received if made every two months or so after thorough testing by a wide range of users on default and non-default routes?

[Acorncomputer]

I note that I have been referring to versions 87.6a and 87.8a in my posts. These should be prefixed by 97 of course.

I blame the 8 and 9 keys, they look just the same and are easily confused, like me.

[overmarze]

Something totaly mad ive just found out

Ive made a route in RS 60 miles thats the route thats crashing well i couple of monthes i got bored so i started a new route in RW.

So i backed up the content folder thought oh well i have nothing to lose and started copying and pasteing stuff and houses funny enough ive not had 1 crash.

[Retro]

To my surprise I have carried on with my route with no problems at all. I have used every aspect of the Route Editor and have not had a problem. The program appears to be more stable than before the said update and all the Rail Proc thingy errors have gone. I can't really believe this as it is usually me that has all the problems. Running on a fully updated Vista 64 bit SP2. OS. RailWorks Version 97.8a
Amazed !!
Kind Regards James.

[AndiS]

James, it's a secret technology called problem inversion. You learn it in expensive seminaries for software engineers, but I tell you most of it for free. Mainly, you rub your computer carefully with moonshine, saying "oohm" all the time and bowing to the four winds whenever you take another sip, err, when you put another one into your palms for more rubbing.

Now the main reason why it rarely works is cheap living style. You need real moonshine, made yourself in the shine of the moon, not just some illegal alcohol bought somewhere in the street.

What it does is this: Whatever worked before, gets buggy. And all the bugs from before are gone. Normally, that is perceived as a quantum leap by customers.

If customers do not perceive it as a quantum leap, you still won, if you have a backup. First, you sell the inverted version as, say, 97a; then observe. If they are happy, you keep the rest of the moonshine for your own enjoyment. If they are not happy, you pass off the backup as patch 98a and tell your managers that you are able to demonstrate that the majority of the functionality is fine; and you share the rest of the moonshine with them.