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Well, this is probably old news now, but I have encountered a very strange problem with the Route Editor. It might just be a problem unique to my computer or something wrong with my MSTS files. I'm not sure. Also, I should mention that my computer isn't exactly lightning-quick or top of the line anymore. It works well, but it's a few years old now and sometimes shows its age. I've got a 450mhz Pentium III processor and 140mb of RAM. Anyway, I just thought I would share the experience I had in case anyone has had a similar problem before. Actually, I think I do remember someone saying in an earlier post something about the RE "leaking memory" and becoming unstable after a period of time. The warning I have is this...if you ever notice that after placing a scenery object there is a strange looking, distorted colored border around the base (especially buildings), or if you notice a distorted colored 'X' above a tree you have just placed, immediately delete that object, save the route and exit the Route Editor! Also, if you notice that while opening and closing windows in the RE, the screen seems to darken or flicker, you also need to immediately save and exit! Shut down MSTS and then restart it. That will take care of the problem. Like I said, I'm not sure exactly what causes this and it might just be due to my computer having insufficient memory, but I thought I should mention it in case anyone else has seen this problem. If the RE crashes while you are placing objects (especially after you have seen these strange distorted textures and colors) there is a good chance that it could destroy your route in the process! I'd say a good precaution is that anytime you notice the RE behaving strangely, save your work and shut it down!Chris
Hi,Yes, though I am not a route builder, I know that the RE is leaking memory. And as I read that you have 140Mb, you have great chances to get a crash. Long time ago there was a heavy fight between two guys on the Route forum about the amount of memory that is sufficient. Some guys say you should have 768 but others say that it is not necessary to have that much. Another law for the route builder is backup, backup, backup and backup. Most of the time the RE don't succeed to write the World files and you have a corrupted World file or tdb.Dick van den Hoven
I don't know about that fight. BUT, I agree with you, you need to back up!!! I once almost totaly stuffed a route, but because I had a backup, I could save it.
Hi,As I said it was some time ago. It was between Lawrence Kellie and IMHO Nalle. One of the reasons that Nalle has gone in to the background. In that time Lawrence was flaming several other guys, among them Rich Garber and John CS. After a heavy clash with Rich, Lawrence left the board for months.Dick van den Hoven
Chris, I have 256mg of RAM and a p3-800, but still have to be very careful. All the symptoms you brought out are good indications to save. fwiw, I have used a little batch file that I click on about every 3 or 4 minutes while I am working in the RE. Then after making a test run or two to validate what I did I zip it up, rename it and start fresh. This has saved my route many times. If your into DOS or interested you might try something like this (of course using your own destinations etc), depending on what flavor of Windows you have. Mine is 98SE.Echo off cls echo Backing up files to D: d: cd D:\FS\trainsim\routes\ADFRR xcopy32 *.* /s /m D:\games\tsstuff\backup~1\ADFRR\ echo All Files CopiedWhat this does is backs up only what has been changed during that session, so it doesn't bloat into a monster.Just some feed back confirming what you were saying RobertR
In my experience, the more RAM you've got the better. But it's still true that you need to save, save, save, and backup, backup, backup. I started my journey through the valley of death (the RE) about a year ago, with no more than 64MBram. Boy, was I in a world of hurt! I soon learned to go out and buy as much ram as I could afford, which is now 448MB. I've noticed more stability and more time between the black screens. It's even lulled me to a false security, me forgetting to save as much as I should, and luckily, (knock wood) I've been fortunate to not have any serious foul-ups. Another thing to point out. Don't add any track objects to your route, such as signals, markers, mileposts, some say roads( I still add 'em - with no problem -fingers crossed-)etc. Wait until all your track is down and tuned to the point where it won't need anymore adjustment. Otherwise, the first time you even highlight a track section (turns red), you stand a good chance of screwing up your track database. It's fixable, but a royal pain in the bum! In some cases it's best to start over. As far as the strange coloration you mentioned and the distortion, I've never encountered that, in the several routes I've tinkered with. Hope you get your problems sorted, and go get more RAM ASAP!Cheers!Tim
