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is it possible to add a program to RR to search non default routes for files missing in route check that are not in the default routes but are in other routes in your route file. if it was made to be able to go to backups at another location, that would be nice too. the same should be available for the check activities and stock bottons.CPTrainman63R Rick
Mike Simpson, the author of RouteRiter does read these forums from time to time, I believe. Just in case he does not see this posting, maybe you could go to his home page at http://www.railpage.org.au/steam4me/trainsim/Route_Riter/index.html and send him an email with your suggestions to the address on that page. They sound very useful to me, and Mike is always open to new ideas.
I looked at this a long time ago, but it is not as easy as it seems. The default routes all have known names so are easy to find. To search all the other routes for missing files (which are very unlikely to be there in the first place) would take an extremely long time. Many users have over 10 gigabytes of routes, imagine how long it takes to search all of those for say 15 missing files?In reality if you download a route, it should not have any missing files in it. RR has been available for over two years now, so most authors use it to check their routes before they upload them.Mike
Hello Rick,welcome to the fora, and thanks for your suggestion - it sounds useful to me too, but as Mike has stated, every user has a different array of add-on routes, and some users (me, for instance) even rename some folders to match their own terminology system and keep their MSTS install tidy.Finding non-default files in non-default routes needs a little detour - RouteRiter will present you with a list of files missing from a route which you can print and/or save. With this list in hand, do a search for the missing shapes (.s) with your windows explorer and note their location. Then use the "copy shape to another route" function of RouteRiter to copy the missing shapes and all their related files (.sd, .ace) to the route you need it in. Lukas a.k.a Swissie
I have been separating all my routes to Individual Train Sim files named after different states or regions of USA and Canada. In the process I have kept all versions available of the routes I have installed. I am sorry to say that when checking the routes with RR, none of the routes except for a couple of exceptions, have not had to have files replaced that have been missing from the download. RR does a fantastic job of finding replacement files from the default routes, but does come up with a few it can not find. I find them usually in other non-default routes, all of them, their there. The only thing is it takes a lot of time to use search over and over again. Too bad all Texture files could be put into a texture library, sound files , and so on. Then you would only have to search that library for the missing files. How come when some files are used in a lot of routes, they couldn,t be aced to a library of duplicately used files? I have a small program which I use to collect all eng., wag., trk., and so on files to be backed up on another drive.CPTrainman63R Rick
Hi Rick,one reason that springs to mind is that route authors often adapt files slightly for their route, e.g.- they alter the name sign on a depot building, - rescale some shapes to better fit their needs, - weather / tone-down colors etc.So xyz.s and its associated xyz.ace might be different from route 1 to route 2...Just for the record: There actually is a "shared" folder for shapes and textures: train simulator/global/shapes and ../textures. In theory, you could dump any scenery item of your routes into these folders (After accessing the routes/shapes and /textures folders, MSTS also looks for missing files in the global directories as a last resort before giving you error messages about missing shapes / textures), but you'd quickly inflate these folders to an excessive size, so that accessing them and finding the proper .s or .ace file might become an issue sooner or later. The way MSTS is set up - I agree it is not the ultimate way - some shape and texture files must go into the global directories, as MSTS defaults to look for them there (track and road sections, hazards), while any route specific scenery item is best placed in the route's folders. One dirty work-around you could do is to turn one of the six default routes' folders - ideally one you never use anymore (thus perhaps anyone of the six?) - into your "general" folder into which you copy the contents of all the shapes and textures folders of your add on routes until you have ALL your custom shapes and textures in there. Next time you run Route Riter, it'll find any missing shape / texture there...Lukas a.k.a Swissie
Hi Swissie,Copying all your shapes/textures/terrtex/sound files into one of the default routes would work with RR in that manner.However as you said, this is not the only aspect of this problem. Even in the default routes, two shapes with the same filename are not necessarily the same, at least one of the warehouses is about twice the size on one route as it is on another.Also many of the trees have different textures on the European routes to those used on the U.S. routes, even though they have the same names.So using some of these files will give a different result to what you might expect.Mike
Well, as Swissie and Mike pointed out very rightly, don't rely on a Shape, SD, Terrtex or Texture NAME. They might well cover pretty different things, improvements (or mess ups).The responsability is with Route Authors, Betatesters and Packers. THEY should make their stuff foolproof, summer and winter, day and night (few do...). A hard job, believe me... But worth the few extra testing hours/days... Love and Peace
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