Development discontinued - discussing the direction to go

Open still has a long way to go before I am happy with it. I for one would like to see some more sound features because graphically I think it's fine; apart from Michelles seperate object viewer coding that she claims is the same.

This is an old topic but I agree with the idea of more sound features. Since OpenBve is supposed to simulate being in the cab and as a passenger, wouldn't it be fitting to have two, maybe even three seperate config files. One for the driver's cab, one for the interior and one more for the exterior part of the train. 

Regards

Northern Line wrote:This is an old topic but I agree with the idea of more sound features. Since OpenBve is supposed to simulate being in the cab and as a passenger, wouldn't it be fitting to have two, maybe even three seperate config files. One for the driver's cab, one for the interior and one more for the exterior part of the train. 

Regards

I agree because I've noticed on some trains when outside the cab, you can't really hear anything.

Open Bve in a way is a contradiction of itself. You are fooled in to thinking that because it has a passenger view and the ability to create a 3d exterior model, you can now create the perfect train.... Not quite. You quickly find out that it is lacking a lot of dynamic code. Furthermore the more you play with it, the more your realize it is still attached to the strings of the old bve code which is IMO what holds it back. It's like a new futuristic car that still runs on a petrol engine, and you don't find this out until you lift the bonnet up.

It's an edited version of bve that is clearly trying to mimic MSTS, in that it now includes the ability to have a passenger point of view, or 3d cab should you choose to build one. But the sound set up and even graphical configuration fails to compensate for this new ability. 3D cabs are a disaster unless you know what you are doing, and a passenger view looks nice but without any dynamic sound opportunities it is a bit of a wasted opportunity.

MSTS has a brilliant system known as SMS. It allows the user to edit practically any sound on a train for it. Having created what I think is the perfect 1992 stock motor, I admit I am quite frustrated at the lack of being able to add a few more sound features.


Thankfully Open does offer a few new sound additions. At present you can put a .announce command in to a route file and if you add a value of speed, you can put sounds in and flange sounds will play more effectively, and get either faster or slower if you accelerate or brake.

This being the case Surely it wouldn't take much in the case of the London underground to implement a customizable volume reduction, where announcements reduce in the volume if you slow down. This could just be added next to the speed control code. This same dynamic code could also be used to keep the sound of announcements heard from the saloon, quieter in the cab view like a lot of tube trains are, and as I said above it would seem Michelle has already got the ball rolling with this volume control for each camera view.  This code could also be used to edit dopplers. For example if your driving a train in an exterior camera view and you put the sound of children playing in a school playground, unless you lower the volume when placing it, the sound of the schoolchildren can actually still be clearly heard above the engine of the train! This isn't realistic at all, and having a dynamic volume setting could then automatically reduce the volume when the train passes the doppler point.

It also needs the ability to play two or more run sounds. This code could also be used to have two different motor sound sets, both in and out of the tunnels. If a run sound can be assigned to a rail, then surely a separate motor sound set running off of the same dat file could easily be assigned to the likes of a wall or freeobj type. 1 for an underground motor sound set, or 0 for the surface or no sound set.


Michelle did change the sound engine to an extent not long before she disappeared but it's still very lacking. She fixed the original problem of the train sound in the exterior camera cutting off suddenly, and she did even add two volumes for the exterior and cab it would seem. Even so the sound engine still needs addressing. I have found that when in an exterior camera the sound can actually sometimes mess up for a brief period.


What also annoys me are the compressors under the train configuration.  In reality a 1992 stock train is supposed to have 4 but each car is motored and there isn't a trailer car on them, so consequently what I have ended up with is a fully motored train with one random compressor that keeps going on and off. It doesn't detract from the enjoyment of driving it but it is for me the developer quite frustrating.

Furthermore it would be nice to have a configuration section added for special features like traction blowers turning on and off for trains that behave like a 95, Eurostar, or 09 stock, axles turning on trains like the 1972, 1992 and any other subway train that does; although this could be partially addressed by allowing two or more run sounds to play at once.

The thing is a custom plugin could address some of these missing sounds and indeed, be able to implement certain features. But this is another problem and this brings me to my final point.


At present you cannot create a plugin for a train set, only the cab.  What is the point in having a train set but not being able to create a plugin for it? I assume this is once again down to the old bve source code.

All of the above could most definitely be accomplished as most of the code is already there, save for maybe the plugin interface.

It would also be useful to change the engine of the object viewer to the same as the route viewer which Michelle claimed was the same.  No it isn't because each program shows objects with or without graphical errors.

I think if more dynamic features and customization for the developer were added, Open would be revitalized and might even compete with MSTS which in itself is ancient! It seems the jury is out with the nonsense that is managed content, so I say let's push forward with redeveloping it in to a rival of msts and bve 5. :bounce:Open still has some definite potential.

I agree 100% with you Ad1992. We just need people that are skilled enough to be able to work with the program. I myself would love to help further develop the program, but I do not possess the knowledge to do as such. I hope to grab the source code and go through it and try to teach myself. Once I have learned it, I will surely dedicate a lot of time to work on the program.