Consist Builder

Does a consist builder come with train sim? If one does how do I access it?

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RE: Consist Builder, SVTS, Mar-21-04, 04:26 PM, (1) RE: Consist Builder, crstagg, Mar-21-04, 04:48 PM, (2) RE: Consist Builder, SVTS, Mar-21-04, 06:41 PM, (3) RE: Consist Builder, racartron, Mar-22-04, 06:48 AM, (4) RE: Consist Builder, SVTS, Mar-22-04, 10:02 AM, (5) RE: Consist Builder, crstagg, Mar-22-04, 12:44 PM, (6) RE: Consist Builder, SVTS, Mar-22-04, 01:44 PM, (7) RE: Consist Builder, SVTS, Mar-22-04, 03:39 PM, (8) RE: Consist Builder, CMO, Mar-22-04, 04:05 PM, (9) RE: Consist Builder, SVTS, Mar-22-04, 04:57 PM, (10) RE: Consist Builder, jtsdadinaz, Mar-22-04, 05:19 PM, (11) RE: Consist Builder, yellowdog, Mar-22-04, 05:39 PM, (12) RE: Consist Builder, sooner, Mar-22-04, 05:50 PM, (13) RE: Consist Builder, jtsdadinaz, Mar-22-04, 06:16 PM, (14) RE: Consist Builder, racartron, Mar-22-04, 08:28 PM, (15) RE: Consist Builder, crstagg, Mar-22-04, 10:26 PM, (16) RE: Consist Builder, stryder47, Mar-23-04, 01:59 AM, (17) RE: Consist Builder, yellowdog, Mar-23-04, 09:03 PM, (18) RE: Consist Builder, crstagg, Mar-24-04, 08:29 AM, (19)

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From your desktop, click on Start, Programs, Microsoft Games, Train Simulator, Editor & Tools. Once it opens, click on Activity Editor, and then click on the help link at the top and follow the steps in building a consist. Very easy to do.Chris Bogley
Syracuse New York
www.msnusers.com/AshleyPhotography
www.msnusers.com/tehachapirails3rd shift Production Lead, Krispy Kreme, East Syracuse NY. www.krispykreme.com

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LAST EDITED ON Mar-21-04 AT 04:50 PM (EST)

Don't waste your time. Just download ConBuilder version 1.7.4 from Train-Sim library. Much easier to use.

Charles

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I dunno 'bout that. I have seen too many threads about stupid little quirks within the program. Not knocking the program itself, but the fella was asking is there was a program to do so within MSTS, which there is, and it works just fine.Chris Bogley
Syracuse New York
www.msnusers.com/AshleyPhotography
www.msnusers.com/tehachapirails3rd shift Production Lead, Krispy Kreme, East Syracuse NY. www.krispykreme.com

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LAST EDITED ON Mar-22-04 AT 06:48 AM (EST)

I'm new to MSTS but a long time heavy user of FS200X. MSTS is a real monster to get used to regarding any user's "creative impluses." And that includes the MSTS supplied consist builder.I was about to dump the entire mess until I was put onto ConBuilder by the good folks here. It is one of the most straight forward apps I've ever used. It has made MSTS a joy to use.BTW, I've never had the least bit of a problem with it.

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racartron
it means something, but I just can't remember what

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Well yes, I guess anyone who doesn't take the time to read the included help topics in the AE regarding the consist builder, than I suppose it could be a "monster". Once again, I am not knocking Conbuilder, I am sure it is a wonderful program as many use it, but I prefer the still easy to use one that is supplied with the sim. Chris Bogley
Syracuse New York
www.msnusers.com/AshleyPhotography
www.msnusers.com/tehachapirails3rd shift Production Lead, Krispy Kreme, East Syracuse NY. www.krispykreme.com

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>Well yes, I guess anyone who doesn't take the time to read
>the included help topics in the AE regarding the consist
>builder, than I suppose it could be a "monster".
>
>Once again, I am not knocking Conbuilder, I am sure it is a
>wonderful program as many use it, but I prefer the still
>easy to use one that is supplied with the sim. So Chris you really like the way the AE sorts and alphabetizes? An you love to scroll through the lists searching for that exact engine to use?

Charles

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Oddly, yes. I know exactly where every car and engine is. Chris Bogley
Syracuse New York
www.msnusers.com/AshleyPhotography
www.msnusers.com/tehachapirails3rd shift Production Lead, Krispy Kreme, East Syracuse NY. www.krispykreme.com

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Now Charles, not to start a war or nothing. But I just downloaded Conbuilder and attempted to make a consist. Yes, it is easier to get started as appose to having to click on 5 or 6 different things, but thats about it as far as I can see.I like the fact that it tells you how many engines and wagons you have, as well as the legth and wieght (I really like that), but it still puts both list in order, and worse yet, with no picture. So in the case of (example) the Southern Well Cars, all it does it give you the car number, but you have no idea which well car is which unless you happen to know the number that goes with each car (yeah right).So, am I missing something here, becasue I still end up with a list of engines or wagons, but no pictures, which 98% of the stuff I have, I know what it is, but I can't see where it is so much better than the MSTS builder unless I am missing something.Chris Bogley
Syracuse New York
www.msnusers.com/AshleyPhotography
www.msnusers.com/tehachapirails3rd shift Production Lead, Krispy Kreme, East Syracuse NY. www.krispykreme.com

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One of the problems w/ Conbuilder, as I understand it, is the lack of photos. I think someone made up all the necessary jpg files and put them in the Library.
As to the Consist Editor in MSTS, it does have photos. So, read the instructions in the FAQ section at the bottom of this page, and it will lead you to the Consist Editor.

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LAST EDITED ON Mar-22-04 AT 04:58 PM (EST)

That is certainly my problem with Conbuilder. No pictures, which as I said before, I know what 98% of my stuff is just by the name, but there are a few items, mostly the intermodel well cars that leave me stumped. I was going to delete the utility, until I discovered you could load a existing consist, and it will tell you the length, wieght and number of loads, which is pretty sweet. So one good thing came out of it today. Plus, as I said before, I know where all my engines and cars are in the MSTS builder, and while they might be as neat ond orderly as Conbuilders list, I know where they are. Time to go run my 7000 ton, 6,785 foot long train with 87 loads over KHP2.Chris Bogley
Syracuse New York
www.msnusers.com/AshleyPhotography
www.msnusers.com/tehachapirails3rd shift Production Lead, Krispy Kreme, East Syracuse NY. www.krispykreme.com

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I guess it is my turn, the pictures in the AE come from the associated .ace file that conbuilder can not read, therefore the a jpg screenshot is necessary.
And like any other utility to be had from the library here, "if you don't like it, don't use it.."

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Conbuilder does a lot more than just let you build consists. It lets you check wag, eng, and act files to make sure things are in order, then gives a read out of what's wrong so you can go fix it. *.engs and *.wags can be easily re-ordered by adding a name line inside the unicode text file. Most eng files already have one, but wag files usually don't. You can name it whatever you want and Conbuilder will sort it by the name, not by the Wagon line. Also, as Jose just said, Conbuilder can display images, but you have to take a screenshot and turn it into a jpg with the same name as the wag/eng file. This used to be a pain, but with Shape File Viewer (also extremely handy), this is relatively easy. I've got over 1300 pieces of rolling stock and have them all set up with a picture and a name so that Conbuilder is a breeze to use. I've never experienced any "quirks" with it, either. A great utility!

Clayton

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Couple of points on this, if I may.As for the AE, I noticed a while ago that I couldn't get a hit on any post explaining how it works. In fact, I've noticed that a large number of posts I used to refer to are now gone, but in any event, I also found the AE a "monster," and only learned how to work it from a Rich Garber tutorial on the MLT site. If anybody wants a copy, I'll email my version.Clayton is right, you can take a screenshot and convert it to .jpg format to work in Conbuilder - right click on the name of the loco or car, if I remember. But for some reason that function won't work on my install. Anybody have a suggestion?As to defects, I've noticed that about once a month I build a consist in Conbuilder that the game won't read, so I have to delete and rebuild. Anyone have this happen?

bud

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As to the reading of built consists, are you using the latest version of conbuilder and does it still do that? I put the serial line back in when building a consist as it looked like one of the things that would keep the sim from reading the consist.Another point about the AE versus conbuilder, try to start it with an excess of 1000 of anything, might as well go to dinner, because it probably is NOT going to load at all without phoning home.

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Looks like we will just agree to disagree on the pros and cons of the two apps. So I guess we'll continue to use the one that best suits our needs.Regarding MSTS as being a monster -- compared to MSFS it is horrendous. But most of that goes back to the actual design teams that developed them. Not worthy of any further discussion.BTW, we have our share of intense discussions on various utility tools in MSFS as well. Different strokes for different folks Happy training, fellas

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racartron
it means something, but I just can't remember what

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Chris,
Did you read the Help file to learn that if you select an ENG or WAG and then right click on it you can read the Description field and see a picture of the ENG or WAG? That is, provided that there is a GIF or JPG file in the folder with the ENG or WAG that has the same file name as the ENG or WAG. Many add-on creators provide a GIF or JPG with their install. Some remember to name it the same as their ENG (WAG). But even if they don't get the name the same, it is easy to open Windows Explorer and change the filename of the pic to match. If they did not include a GIF or JPG, ShapeViewer has made it easier to create a pic w/o opening MSTS to get a Screen Print.Did you learn that if you select an ENG or WAG and then click on the little Loco or Box Car icons at the bottom left a dialog box appears to let you easily edit the NAME field of the ENG or WAG? I have renamed all my 3000+ rolling stock to the following format RR-Name, Type, ####, Description/Color, Author. AS in "ATSF F7 37L Red Super Chief 3dTrains". Since ConBuilder has some Logic to its sorting, I can quickly find the exact loco I want to use.Have you used the test function to test the files associated

Charles

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Afraid I am going to have to agree with Clayton and Charles on this one. Conbuilder is a fine tool if used properly. It does much more than the consist builder in AE and is much easier to comprehend for a new person. I use it all the time with no problems and I know, just like say you do Chris, exactly what each of my engines and rolling stock are so don't even need a picture.Just my humble opinion. TimWestern Maryland Railroad
Gone, but not forgotten!

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>Did you learn that if you select an ENG or WAG and then
>click on the little Loco or Box Car icons at the bottom left
>a dialog box appears to let you easily edit the NAME field
>of the ENG or WAG? Charles, I've been using Conbuilder since the beginning (with about a 9 month "break") and even I didn't know about that handy little feature! Thanks--you just saved me a TON of work! Still learning new stuff everyday. . .

Clayton

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LAST EDITED ON Mar-24-04 AT 08:30 AM (EST)

Well Clayton, if you didn't know that one do you know this? Select an ENG (Doesn't work now with WAGs) then touch your Delete key. Answer "NO" to first question as you do not want to delete the Engine. Then answer "YES" to second question and you will be shown a list of all Consists that use that Engine. Double Clicking on a listed Consist will load that consist into ConBuilder's consist editor.

Charles

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