Midland Line: Aikens - Springfield Route released

[johnbarron]

I've installed the patch. I get a notice about a zero byte file during the installation and then an error message about something like "unhandled exception". When I fire up the route I can't see any added logos on the stock and there are no added scenarios.

[749006]

Another video of the route

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HMHLlwzYFE

[johnbarron]

To clarify, if I try to install using Utilities I get the zero byte warning. If I continue, the progress bar gets about two thirds of the way across and I get the "unhandled exception error" and the progress bar goes no further.

I've used 7-zip to extract the files and I can't find a zero byte file. I've copied the extracted files into my TS installation but can't see any logos or extra scenarios.

[johnbarron]

Oops. I found the extra scenarios - under "Standard".

But still no logos that I can see.

[JohnM1945]

I tried the training scenarios - I'll need to return to them - and, once my brain stops hurting, I'll enjoy both diesel and electric offerings. For relaxation, I tried the Free Roam from Springfield, using the SAR Class 24 2-8-4 from the Outeniqua Chou-Tjou pack. A bit of a tight fit in the tunnels but FUN to drive with the eight (?) carriages that you'll find at the Springfield platform.

I'd agree about the high contrast on the vegetation, with the acid yellow (Gorse? Mimosa?) somewhat hard on the eyeballs. I don't recall noticing that so much on the development pix on the Facebook NZTSWorkshops stream. I didn't get any vibration, although there was an occasional lurch in the frame rate when using a distant viewpoint.

I'm not regretting the purchase.

John M

[johnbarron]

Is anyone else getting significant (.5 to 1 second) pauses now and then?

I am. I've tried turning my settings down but that doesn't seem to make any difference. I know this is supposed to be a rather taxing route but I thought I had a pretty grunty machine that would be able to handle it.

ASUS TUF GAMING Z490-PLUS
Intel 10th Gen Core i9-10900KF 10 Cores LGA 12003.70Ghz CPU Processor
G.SKILL Ripjaws V 32GB (2x 16GB) DDR4 3200MHzC16 Memory
Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB NVMe 1.3 M.2 (2280) V-NAND SSD TS is on this drive (in its own partition) along with the system.
3 x Team GX2 1TB 2.5" SATA III SSD
ASUS GeForce RTX 3070 KO Gaming OC 8GB

[RolandBP]

To clarify, if I try to install using Utilities I get the zero byte warning. If I continue, the progress bar gets about two thirds of the way across and I get the "unhandled exception error" and the progress bar goes no further.

I've used 7-zip to extract the files and I can't find a zero byte file. I've copied the extracted files into my TS installation but can't see any logos or extra scenarios.

Hi John, I found the same thing happened with installing the patch via Utilities.
I decided to leave it running while watching a short TV program and 45 minutes later the bar had not moved beyond about 75%.
So I closed Utilities and was going to do what you did {extract the rwp file and install it that way.
Then I got a phone call from an old friend and an hour and a quarter later, I decided to just go Play the game and try a standard scenario from the Workshop.
Well did I get a surprise, instead of one scenario there were about 5 or 6 scenarios for the Dj and one for the Eo loco.
But although the Dj was in Red instead of Nippon Pink, there were no New Zealand Railways logos on the sides of the Loco.
I think that was the name being used during that era?
Roland.

[RolandBP]

Roland

That's highly unusual. What are the vibrations like? Strong/weak? Fast/slow? Are you hearing noises at the same time? Do they sound like a device fan?

Hi,
The vibrations I did get were a mixture of medium strength like when running over the centre line of a highway with trucking Simulator using the Xbox Controller, the noise was slight, not like a noisey Computer Fan can be.
I have turned down my Graphics from Very High to high and have just played the Standard training scenarios from the patch available from the TSNZ website and no vibrations occurred, but I guess I will need to re-run the scenario where I did in the first instance of vibrations to see if it occurs again when under any real load.

Cheers Roland.

[RolandBP]

I have been unable to get the tail lamps at the rear of the train to "Light".
I have tried all the normal things like "H" or just the lamp icon and read the manual.

Roland.

I decided to send a message to Stefan at the TSNZ Facebook site and received the following explanation with regards to the tail lamps on the Guards Van/s.

HI Roland,
The tail lamps will light automatically between the hours of 5pm and 8am - in real life they only lit them in darkness.

This now makes sense to me as I was a Guard on the Goods Trains in NZ, for almost 3 years.
The guardvans supplied in the route do have Tail Lamps fitted {and the distinctive Side Lamps} which was indeed all that was required in the Rule Book.
Lighting those old oil lamps was only required during the hours of darkness as mentioned by Stefan.
I guess I have been spoilt by playing TS for so many years, particularly with UK trains Brake vans and electric lamps

[RolandBP]

Oops. I found the extra scenarios - under "Standard".

But still no logos that I can see.

Hi John, with regards to the "Logos", I also thought the same thing, but after doing some research yesterday, I discovered that the Loco's supplied, in the year of the route, never had any logos at all, apart from the brass plate under the cab windows each side of the loco, which had the Class of the loco and its assigned number.
I was looking for "New Zealand Railways" to be stenciled along its body or at least the loco number in very large numerals.
Nope nothing at all and it was quite a bit later that they painted it in BLUE still with no numbers or company Logo.
Many other classes of NZ locos did have all types of Paint Jobs and names like "Toll Rail", "Transrail", etc, etc.
See here:
https://www.google.com/search?q=Dj+clas ... RfWlD9WsVM

[RolandBP]

One strange thing I have noticed during the driving is vibration occurring, at times, on my desktop. It feels like one gets when using the Xbox Controller in some games.
I actually thought it was coming from my neighbour doing some renovations with a power tool, our flats are connected via a fire wall.
It was not from my neighbour, nor is my Xbox controller connected.

Roland.

Hmmm

nor is my Xbox controller connected.

Sometime prior to my purchasing the route I have accidentally grabbed the wrong USB and attached my Xbox controller.

[smarty2]

Not sure about the long term playability of this one? Nice scenery no doubt, but scenario opportunities with such limited stock? Modern day may have been a better option imo?

[RolandBP]

Not sure about the long term playability of this one? Nice scenery no doubt, but scenario opportunities with such limited stock? Modern day may have been a better option imo?

It suits me fine with the era and they do have two Steam Locos on the burner.
A J or Ja and the mighty Kb. great news for we kettle lovers.

[peterfhayes]

Roland
Do you know why they called it the Midland Line and not the Trans-Alpine?
Copywrite possibly?

[sbowness]

Peter, officially the name of the line is the Midland Line, and that goes back to its origins in the 19th century. The TranzAlpine is the name of the train, introduced in 1987.