Problem extending route

by Tstageman Wed Jan 18, 2012 5:00 pm

I am currently working on extending a route for OpenBVE for my own personal use, however I cannot seem to work out why the stations that are on my extension are not being recognised as stations when driving the route. They are not appearing on the timetable when driving and when the train stops at those stations it doesn't play any sounds or recognise it as being a station. I wrote the usual .sta command in the route file and that didn't work, so I went further back into the original route file and copied and pasted one of the previous stations .sta command that does show on the timetable and that doesn't appear for my new stations either. Any help or ideas much appreciated.

Many Thanks

Tom

by kieranharvey Wed Jan 18, 2012 7:02 pm

Did you put in the .Stop command to state where the train must stop. Every .sta command should have a .stop

?

by Tstageman Wed Jan 18, 2012 7:16 pm

Ah no I didn't maybe that'll be why then, I'll give it a go.

Thanks

Tom

by **Dexter** Wed Jan 18, 2012 7:40 pm

You might also want to check whether only the station that is designed to be the terminus contains the "T" parameter. But the .stop seems more likely to be the problem.

by Tstageman Wed Jan 18, 2012 7:47 pm

Yeah the errors that were showing in Route Viewer have now disappeared for the stations that didn't have .stop command in the route file. I have yet to try it in the actual game to see if it appears on the route timetable. I am now trying to tackle adding other tracks and points which is proving a bit challenging. Adding two right hand bay platforms to a station with two tracks, including a cross over and 3rd AND 4th rails....

Tom

by 92220 Wed Jan 18, 2012 11:16 pm

This is extremely useful:

http://www.freewebs.com/dennislance/

by mrknowitall Wed Jan 18, 2012 11:37 pm

92220 wrote:This is extremely useful:

http://www.freewebs.com/dennislance/

What happened to Dennis Lance?

by 92220 Thu Jan 19, 2012 12:56 am

He opened a massive Beer and Wine Warehouse at Berkely Point, quite near the station. albino

by Tstageman Thu Jan 19, 2012 8:51 pm

Yes I have managed to work my way through most of his tutorials and they are absolutely fantastic. I quite often refer back to them as they are so good. I am however struggling to create a small but slightly more complex junction at the moment using track commands as I dont have the object for the points. I am trying to create a junction whereby the player train bears off to the left at approximately -250 degrees however the other line that the original track splits into, bears away at approx +250 degrees to the right. Any ideas?

Thanks

Tom

by graymac Fri Jan 20, 2012 11:07 am

All track is positioned relative to the running line, index 0. This is where it get difficult as you have to give a distance from the running rail to the other rails (.rail 1 .rail2 etc.) When the rail is parallel it's easy, curves are the challenge. You need to be able to calculate the curve offsets and if you aren't great with geometry a table of curve offsets will be useful to work out the distances for various radii.
You can find one here: http://www.virtualrailroader.com/diverge-calc.html
I printed out the two tables and laminated them, they are never far away when I'm building new trackwork.
This information, plus the "Switch" track maker program was the only tools I used to make all the Ballyfeckin trackwork.
And the best of luck!!!!

by Tstageman Sat Jan 21, 2012 1:51 pm

Thanks for that link Graymac, much appreciated, worked a treat in helping me construct that first junction. Just to get my head round fitment of the 3rd and 4th rails for the particular route I'm building. However one problem has arisen and that is the gaps between the rails where the junction is built on a corner, is there a simple way to rectify this?

Also, is there a tutorial for buildingv gradients? I have looked through Dennis Lances tutorials but can't seem to find one that explains what I'd like to know.

Many Thanks

Tom

by graymac Sat Jan 21, 2012 2:36 pm

A utility such as "Switch" adjusts the lengths of the rails for curved track to eliminate gaps. However, this only holds 100% true for the running rail. You may need to manually edit some rails to compensate for gaps which appear in trackwork other than the running rail. Too many variables exist to be specific on this one, I had to "suck it and see" with some of my stuff. I made a short piece of track to insert as a freeob, used for some severe instances of gaps in my sidings.

From the "Bible":

Track.Pitch Rate
Rate: A floating-point number measured in per thousands representing the pitch of the track. The default value is 0.
This command defines the pitch of all rails from this point on. Negative values indicate a downward gradient, positive ones an upward gradient. The value of 0 represents a level track. Rate can be calculated from a length difference X and a height difference Y in the following way:
Rate expressed through X and Y:
ƒ Rate = 1000 * Y / X
⚠ This command can only be used at the beginning of a block.

Pitch affects the running rail and all attached to it. You can differentiate any of the adjacent rails by altering their height relative to the running rail, using the height value Y in the .rail command, again from the bible:

Track.Rail RailIndex; X; Y; RailType
RailIndex: A positive integer (>=1) indicating which rail index to use.
X: A floating-point number representing the horizontal distance from the player's rail, by default measured in meters. Negative values indicate left, positive ones right.
Y: A floating-point number representing the vertical distance from the player's rail, by default measured in meters. Negative values indicate below, positive ones above.
RailType: A non-negative integer referencing the rail type to use as defined by a Structure.Rail command.
This command starts a new rail or updates an existing rail. The rail is represented by the index RailIndex. If a rail of the same RailIndex was already used in the route, the default values of X, Y and RailType are the values last used by that rail, otherwise 0. If the rail is to be ended, use the Track.RailEnd command. You can end a rail of a given RailIndex and start a new rail of the same RailIndex at the same track position provided that the old rail is first ended and the new rail started afterward. In each block, the X and Y values are repeated if a Track.Rail command is not used for that block. As a consequence, updating the X or Y values affects the layout of the rail from the preceding block only. Changing the RailType will affect the rail from the point on where this command is used. If this command is used multiple times on the same track position for the same rail, then the first instance of the command takes effect, while subsequent ones are ignored.
⚠ This command can only be used at the beginning of a block.

by Tstageman Sat Jan 21, 2012 5:13 pm

Thanks very much again Gray, that post was most helpful and have now mastered the .pitch command! Again, another problem that came out of that learning curve was the ground being split up under the track when climbing up a hill, and part of the ground texture showing through the track when descending a hill, is there a way around this aswell?

Thanks

Tom

by graymac Sat Jan 21, 2012 6:39 pm

It's easier to see if you examine ground objects in other routes, which may have been made with this problem in mind. Look at this example in obj viewer , from Balltfeckin

BWR\common\grnd40.b3d

The ends of the ground are made to slope sharply away so as to hide any gaps viewed from either direction, Look at the coding and you will see how it's done. There's a ground used after Dunross on the Ferry branch which is on an incline, too.
Remember too, you can vary the space between running line and ground by using .height in the track namespace.
Once you have mastered these functions you will be able to build some serious geography. Very Happy

by velaro Sat Jan 21, 2012 10:05 pm

Ground objects always have zero pitch, so you can get a 'stairs effect' on inclines. But wall and dyke objects take their pitch from the rail to which they are attached, which can often be useful (though you cannot define a recurring sequence of them like with grounds). And let's not forget free objects. One possible approach is to have the ground objects some distance under the tracks and supplement with dykes closer to the rails.

by Tstageman Tue Jan 24, 2012 10:20 am

Ah yes thats a good point I hadn't thought of it that way to be honest Velaro, many thanks for that suggestion. I have since just pitched the track a little less to get rid of it on this particular occasion as it isn't too vital at the moment, but I will definitely bear that in mind for future reference.

Gray, thanks for your reply too. I will definitely have a need for that .height command when it comes to the section between my last two stations where there is a depot and a fly over...

I have yet another question (yes I know, I must have used my whole quota by now!!) When building points, how do you build in the points sound from the train file? Is it done through .railstart when starting a new rail from the original running rail (.rail 0;) or is it done by a .announce command or is it done by adding a .freeobj or something?

Many Thanks

Tom

by graymac Tue Jan 24, 2012 12:29 pm

Which is the main method used widely in Ballyfeckin.

by Tstageman Tue Jan 24, 2012 9:47 pm

Another quick question, I'm struggling to build a set of points crossing (on double track) from the left hand to the right hand tracks, as if crossing in to a bay platform for example. I have looked back in the route file of the route I have extended and have copied and studied the commands to create that set but when replicated they don't seem to work.

Any ideas greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Tom

by graymac Tue Jan 24, 2012 11:18 pm

See if theres a similar crossover in Ballyfeckin and try and "borrow" the code. It's impossible to give a quick or simple explanation as it is complicated. Most of us build up knowledge in stages and it take a bit of time and experiment to get it right and properly understood. You need to fully understand the following:
Spacing of non-running rails
Use of null rails
Proper use of rail objects versus rails as freeobjs
Curve offsets

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