Notes on trainst organization

The following is part of a reply I wrote to a specific problem in the activity design forum. It seemd more generally useful, so I am reposting this portion here.I started using Con Builder to test all the wagons and rolling stock, and son of a gun, about 20% of the items I have downloaded had errors of one sort or another. Some were typos/syntax errors in the .wag or .sd files, some were .sd files pointing to an .s file other then the one that came with the unit, others had to do with cabviews and sound files for locos. Although in many instances these units ran in MSTS with the problems, I have noted MSTS seems to run alot more solidly since they have been fixed. Con Builder is excellent for this, and I will be doing those tests on every new unit I install before it goes into a consist.It is worth noting that the consist editor and Con Builder both use the Name field in the .wag/.eng file for display and default to the (respectively) the Wagon field or the .wag filemane if the Name filed isn't present. On most of the rolling stock I have d/l'ed, the name field is _not_ present. To find out if it is, open the file in question (.eng, .wag, and .sd files can all be text edited) and use the edit/find function to search for the word "name". Since the consist files track units by the wagon field of the .wag/.eng file and the folder name where it resides, the "Name" field can be changed/added without disturbing existing consists. If it is added, it has the following form:Name ("name-string")In a .wag file it can be added on the next line after the Wagon field or comment filed and should be indented. Some .wag files have the name statement down at the end near the sound statement, and this woks also, although they can be moved to the top. All .eng files I have seen have a name statment and I just edit it where it lies. In several d/l's there have been notes about organizing one's stock by using the folder names, and naming the folders in a consistant manner before using the stock in consists. I would add that the name statements be checked/modified/added in each new d/l as this will allow the same level of organization to be seen in the consist editor and Con Builder would be seen by drilling down to the trainset folder and looking at the unit folders. One more Con Builder note. If there is a .jpg or .gif file in the folder with the same name as the .wag/.eng file (but .jpg or .gif instead of .eng or .wag) then it will show up when you select an item and then right click for details.
Brad Meyer

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RE: Notes on trainst organization, robertreedy, Nov-01-02, 09:10 PM, (1) RE: Notes on trainst organization, Brad 110, Nov-02-02, 04:13 AM, (3) RE: Notes on trainst organization, dvdhoven, Nov-02-02, 01:23 AM, (2) RE: Notes on trainst organization, Brad 110, Nov-02-02, 04:17 AM, (4) RE: Notes on trainst organization, Brad 110, Nov-02-02, 04:06 PM, (5) RE: Notes on trainst organization, dvdhoven, Nov-03-02, 02:42 AM, (6) RE: Notes on trainst organization, Brad 110, Nov-03-02, 04:56 AM, (7) RE: Notes on trainst organization, dvdhoven, Nov-03-02, 12:04 PM, (8) RE: Notes on trainst organization, Brad 110, Nov-03-02, 03:31 PM, (9)

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Brad you have given some good information, but one thing for everyone to be aware of .. if renaming folders and you happen to download any activities with extra rolling stock required, very often they will be looking for that specific item in a specific location. It's just something for everyone to be careful of.

RobertR .. ADF-M&RM at http://www.adfrr.com

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>Brad you have given some good information, but one thing for
>everyone to be aware of .. if renaming folders and you
>happen to download any activities with extra rolling stock
>required, very often they will be looking for that specific
>item in a specific location. This is quite true and should be noted. OTOH, much of the stock I have d/l'ed did not create a folder when I unzipped it and specifically left it up to me to create it and give it a name. I my one activity u/l so far, I noted not only what non-stock equipment I needed, but also what folder it resided in on my particular machine. With that info one could hack a consist (.con) file and make the changes before even booting up MSTS. >It's just something for
>everyone to be careful of. I think the folder/.wag file names are going to become a real issue as time goes on. In the end, I think the best solution will be for people to set up activities with an "all stock" version of upload and exchange. It can then include information on what equipment (by folder/.wag file name, original zip file, d/l location, etc.) is needed in what consists for the "XL" version.Brad Meyer

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LAST EDITED ON Nov-02-02 AT 01:24 AM (EST)

Hi,Good work, Brad.
Little addition to the right click feature of ConBuilder. In the window that is showing up, Conbuilder displays the content of the comment lines of the .wag file.
I have used this for the Steam pack of the Ohio Rails Route. Sometimes a name was too short to show everything and then I used the comment line to show a more complete description.
Oh, and about the name parameter, don't make it too long otherwise it doesn't show up completely in ConBuilder and the Consist Editor of the AE.Dick van den Hoven

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>Hi,
>
>Good work, Brad. Thanks. If you only knew the number of unchristain words I muttered while getting through all this . . . >Oh, and about the name parameter, don't make it too long
>otherwise it doesn't show up completely in ConBuilder and
>the Consist Editor of the AE.I've gotten "hop DupontAthlon#2032 4baycov" to fly, and that's about as long as I'm going to need.Brad Meyer

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Something new on this subject. If a caboose has interior views, the .sd file is referenced twice in the .wag file. The first time is in the line: WagonShape ( cab_atsf#735.s ). This line is the thrid or fourth entry in the .wag file. It is also called in the line: PassengerCabinFile ( cab_atsf#735.s ). This line is further down the file under the heading Inside:Inside (
PassengerCabinFile ( cab_atsf#735.s )
PassengerCabinHeadPos ( 1.30 3.76 -0.87 )
RotationLimit ( 30 360 0 )
StartDirection ( 0 0 0 )
Sound ( "GenFreightWag1.sms" )Not all cabooses have the Inside section, and I suppose that there could be different .s files for the two entries, although I have yet to encounter such.AS I have been tearing into these files, the big picture is starting to emerge. The .wag file provides physics and lighting data, type and name info, and references a shape definition file and a sound file. The shape definition file references the shape file and provides bounding box info. The shape file (I am assuming here) references the .ace file(s) required to "paint" the shape. Put them all together, and you have a wagon!
Brad Meyer

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Hi,Again, good work, Sherlock! Eh, Brian. Some little typo, the wag file and the eng file references a shape (.s) file, not a .sd file.
And yes for the interior the .s file can be referenced twice. When the designer provided an interior in the .s file, it can be done this way. Other way is to provide a seperate .s file for the interior.And yes a part of the .s file references the .ace files to be used.I recommand to download RouteRiter. With this program, you can decompress a .s file. After decompressing, load it in Wordpad and search for "image" or "ace". You will find the list of ace files.And about the length of the name parameter, compare these lines:
Name ( "OHR Boxcar 40ft Vd H&C full" )
comment(OHR Boxcar 40ft Vd Hoven & Cowen full)
You see that I had to abbreviate the name parameter to fit in the description boxes of the Consist Editor, both AE and ConBuilder.Dick van den Hoven

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>Hi,
>
>Again, good work, Sherlock! Eh, Brian. Brad actually, but thanks anyway.>And about the length of the name parameter, compare these
>lines:
> Name ( "OHR Boxcar 40ft Vd H&C full" )
> comment(OHR Boxcar 40ft Vd Hoven & Cowen full)
>You see that I had to abbreviate the name parameter to fit
>in the description boxes of the Consist Editor, both AE and
>ConBuilder. I also found out just today that consist names are even more restricted in length (as far as viewing them goes) then unit names. I know someone out there wrote a routine to make the pulldown boxes bigger on the screen where you pick your engine and consist in the explore route mode. I wish he'd made them widr as well.Thanks also for confriming my guess about .s and .ace files. Is there any tool to "un-ace" an .ace file and get to the underlaying graphics file? Changing road numbers would be nice. I'm starting to feel cheezy making up a motive unit of, say, three RS2's, all with the same number.Brad Meyer

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Hi,For the ace file tool, go to this site:
http://www.mnwright.btinternet.co.uk/index.htmand download TGATool2And on this site, you can find tutorials how to reskin wagons and loco's:
http://www.railpage.org.au/steam4me/trainsim/tutorials/index.htmlDick van den Hoven

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Thank you sir!!Brad Meyer

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