Simple question, please bear with me ?

Ok l've been reading like mad on scenery building, last time l went in RE l made a real mess, about time l tried again.My question is thus, once l have collected all my tiles and got the flat route tiles in RE before elevation is added can l go back and add more tiles later.Is it possible to build say 30 miles of route with terrain and tracks then go back and add an extension on to the original work.Or... do l have to grab all the tiles l "think" l might need in the future. If l dont then use them can l delete them later.Sorry, just little steps at the moment.l've searched the boards but nothing really jumps out as a answer.Best regardsMichael

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RE: Simple question, please bear with me ?, OkrasaGhia, Jun-16-03, 01:49 PM, (1) RE: Simple question, please bear with me ?, Matt_G, Jun-16-03, 01:52 PM, (2) RE: Simple question, please bear with me ?, mickoo, Jun-16-03, 02:20 PM, (3) RE: Simple question, please bear with me ?, BN_9402, Jun-16-03, 02:32 PM, (4) RE: Simple question, please bear with me ?, Matt_G, Jun-16-03, 02:33 PM, (5) RE: Simple question, please bear with me ?, BN_9402, Jun-16-03, 02:35 PM, (6) RE: Simple question, please bear with me ?, mickoo, Jun-16-03, 02:39 PM, (7) RE: Simple question, please bear with me ?, BN_9402, Jun-16-03, 02:44 PM, (8) RE: Simple question, please bear with me ?, mickoo, Jun-16-03, 03:05 PM, (9) RE: Simple question, please bear with me ?, calr, Jun-16-03, 03:08 PM, (10) RE: Simple question, please bear with me ?, mickoo, Jun-16-03, 03:30 PM, (11) RE: Simple question, please bear with me ?, OkrasaGhia, Jun-16-03, 04:06 PM, (12) RE: Simple question, please bear with me ?, Hawk, Jun-16-03, 04:08 PM, (13) RE: Simple question, please bear with me ?, mickoo, Jun-16-03, 04:24 PM, (14) RE: Simple question, please bear with me ?, Coonskin, Jun-16-03, 05:15 PM, (15) RE: Simple question, please bear with me ?, mickoo, Jun-16-03, 07:01 PM, (16)

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>My question is thus, once l have collected all my tiles and
>got the flat route tiles in RE before elevation is added can
>l go back and add more tiles later. Yes.>Is it possible to build say 30 miles of route with terrain
>and tracks then go back and add an extension on to the
>original work. Yes.>Or... do l have to grab all the tiles l "think" l might need
>in the future. If l dont then use them can l delete them
>later. No you don't need to grab all tiles you might need and yes you can delete tiles you did not need (and put them back again later a.s.o.).An advice, keep of signals, platforms and such until you got most of your track layed. If you need to make a TDB rebuild these items will be lost and you will have to place them again. And lastly the advice that can not be repeated too often, make frequent backups of the route just in case something goes wrong.


//Okrasa
Chief Engineer
okrasaghia @ yahoo.com
http://www.geocities.com/okrasaghia
http://www.geocities.com/okrasaghia/XTracks

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Yes you can add tiles later. Suggest you download and read this tutorial. About half way through, Lawerence goes into adding tiles to an existing route.If you don't have DEMEX you ought to give it a whirl. It's the greatest thing since sliced bread for route builders.......well that and X-Tracks.

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Guys,Quick responses, thank you , ok thats the bit that was worrying me the most, take your points about other items being added and lost with new tile additions, l'll try to remember that.Back up often, surely not, RE must be more stable than that ?, actually l seriously doubt it but l will follow that rule even more fanatically than when l back up for other projects.Matt, yes l have that tutorial but completely missed that bit, cant see the wood for the trees LOL, DEMEX to be blunt looks really good, l have a trial copy here but havent opened it, l want to read more about everything else first. I used DEMs a lot in plane sim scenery, its good to see it has come across here into the train sim community and at better resolution l think, mind you thats 3 years of advancing technology. DEMEX has a license facility doesnt it, l'll have to look into what can and cannot be done.Its only a short route l'm thinking of, sort of my release valve, play model trains virtually type of thing, nothing special, just my thing .One other thing, anybody got JV's scenery book from Abacus, looks good and l've seen it recommended a lot, l'm presuming its all about building scenery with the "stock" MS tools but will it cover other applications, doubt it will cover DEMEX as thats pretty new l belive ?.Anyway thanks for the prompt answers l'll try not to pester too much.Kind regardsMichael

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The Abacus book covers everything about route design starting from nothing to a complete route. Follow the tutorial that shows you how to build a simple route then go from there. I don't have it (I like to learn things the hard way ), but I know its pretty good from what a lot of people have said. I would get it if I were you.Austin S.

http://milwmsts.netfirms.com/

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>One other thing, anybody got JV's scenery book from Abacus,
>looks good and l've seen it recommended a lot, l'm presuming
>its all about building scenery with the "stock" MS tools but
>will it cover other applications, doubt it will cover DEMEX
>as thats pretty new l belive ?. Could you post a link to that book? I would like to take a look at it.
Thanks

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http://trainsimulatorworld.com/catalog/b506.htmAustin S.

http://milwmsts.netfirms.com/

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LAST EDITED ON Jun-16-03 AT 02:41 PM (EDT)

Here ya go :-http://www.trainsimulatorworld.com/catalog/b506.htmThey do a activites one as well, for only $20 this route one looks a good deal to me, l like to do things the hard way but theres nothing like the comfort of a good book if only to know that your not going completely insane with a little niggle.Best regardsMichaelApologies l miss quoted the authors name, its MV.. Michael Vone not JV as l first wrote.

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Heh, since I've been using the Route Editor since the game came out (I opened the RE before I even played the game) I learn to deal with the many bugs of the RE. If you do sufficent backups, have patience, along with a lot of RAM, the RE can become easy and fun to use. At least it is to me Austin S.

http://milwmsts.netfirms.com/

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Well RAM l've got ( 768M ) patience ?, well we will soon see LOL. Dedication, certainly but patience well it'll soon be time to find out.l'm going to try this differently, l'm going to get the map area and the DEM data and build that side first, l'm not keen on this marker malarky so might just place some say every 5-7 miles, then l'm going to try and build a railroad like the good ole prospectors did, ie follow the lie of the land as best l can.l'd thought of prototype routes and had a few but being in the UK its hard to justify 4500 mile flights for a photo shoot, so l figured the next best thing is a fantasy route but built in a prototype scenery using minimal tools etc and following current prototype operating practice.Luckily in RE you have what l call the helecopter cam view so can skim across vast vistas better than our forefathers ever did, there fore you only need to have important markers for general direction and height, if it doesnt line up l'll play god and move a few hills hither and thither to suit the track a bit better ( cuttings and embankments ).Hence my question above as l may run out of land before l get back down the other side of the hill .Above all it has to be fun and unpressurized and to a certain extent whimsical.Does that make sense ?, sort of basement model railroad but virtual, taking the best bits of all your interests and adding them into a complete route.Best regardsMichaelPS l do like the look of that book , even bought some really new nice expensive heavy weight paper and new ink cartridges to print it out, just in case !.

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>Back up often, surely not, RE must be more stable than that
>?, actually l seriously doubt it but l will follow that rule
>even more fanatically than when l back up for other
>projects.
>
YES, BACKUP OFTEN. The RE is very unstable and full of bugs. The minute you let your guard down, it will bite you in the ass.If you go back and read all the posts in this forum you will find repeated over and over again the three rules of route building:
1. Backup
2. Backup
3. Backup again!This sounds like a joke but it most certainly is not! I do a save after about every two track or road section or two scenery objects and I backup after about every two hours of work.Cal Rasmussen
Beaverton, OR
cal.rasmussen@verizon.netColumbia Gorge Route (Phase 1 80% Completed)

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Cal,Ok to clarify here, backup and save, surely the two are the same, any other program l've used save is plenty good enough, by back up your infering to place files where RE cannot get them ?, by deduction that means the whole route file structure sitting beside the 6 default ones needs a duplicate spare sitting on another partition or folder structure.By further deduction its then not a good idea to dabble with the current routes as RE may crash and upset those ?.Best regardsMichael

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> Ok to clarify here, backup and save, surely the two are the sameNO THEY ARE NOT!!!!If you rely on the save you will be very sorry. RE can make a real mess of your saved files behind your back. Make a habit of making a file system copy of your route now and then especially after you have done major work. Write the copy to a different hard drive or burn it to CDs. Keep old copies, don't just replace the last copy you made with a new one. The RE is really mean and when you do detect a problem it could be a long way back forcing you to dig through several backups to get to a healty copy.This sounds exaggerated but it is not. Many have lost lots of work in the RE because they did not make proper backups.


//Okrasa
Chief Engineer
okrasaghia @ yahoo.com
http://www.geocities.com/okrasaghia
http://www.geocities.com/okrasaghia/XTracks

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LAST EDITED ON Jun-16-03 AT 04:10 PM (EDT)

Backup and save are two different things. In RE, go to file and save very often. Unfortunatly, in this program, save is not enough. Even if you just made a save, if RE dicides to go bonkers, you could very well lose everything.
As Cal said, every couple of hours of route building, shut down RE, and backup your route to another folder or partition. Rebooting doesn't hurt a bit, either.
You won't regret it.
HawkEdit 1: Okrasa-Looks like we posted at the same time."Some caught a plane, some rode the train.
Head for sunshine, leave the rain."

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Ok guys thanks for that, l'll follow those steps .Seems to me RE has a whole bunch of memory leaks etc also does the OS effect anything, l know when l was using Win98 the memory in the OS was pretty flaky and it wouldnt accept more than 512M RAM, WinXP is more stable in the memory dept so that might have a contributing factor in the line somewhere.Sorry, l suppose most of these issues have been covered ad infinitem before.Ok save often and back up to a differnt file structure frequently.Sounds good to me.Best regardsMichael

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Michael:Late last year, I started "tinkering" with routes using two add-on routes as a learning tool. After trying it "my way" and toasting both of them, I learned there was much wisdom in the sayings of the Wise Route Seers that frequent this forum. Here's a list of things to avoid off the top of my head:* Don't do a save with an item selected and in wireframe. Make a habit of clicking on the sky or blank terrain before you do a save.* When (not "if") you click on a track/road and you get a "Adjacent Track Piece Cannot Be Selected". DON'T SAVE!!! Exit the Route Editor WITHOUT SAVING. Go back into your route, and all should be okay. Select the previous piece for editing. I think this indicates that RE has stumbled at some point during your work session. All can be okay if you DON'T SAVE THE ERROR.* Always place a 10m or longer piece of track on all segments of a switch before saving.* Do not place switches "point end to point end" without a short piece of track separating them. * And yes, SAVE often, and BACK UP often... and as you've already learned, they are different operations.Route building is very enjoyable yet at times frustrating. It's also addictive. Have fun!Andre Ming

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LAST EDITED ON Jun-16-03 AT 07:02 PM (EDT)

Andre,Many thanks l've now saved and printed this thread, its going to be needed l fear .Addictive, oh you bet it is, I just typed in the general area for the scenery l'm interested in and whoa loads of maps, not bad for 4500 miles away, even found a nice picnic spot to go check out .Just model railroads but minus the bashed track pin thumb and sawdust clogging your ears and eyes.Best regardsMichael

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