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Activity startup error

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Charter Member · 3 posts

OK, I'm stumped... Changed an activity. When I went to run it MSTS issued an error: "Failed to initialize car <nnnnnn>" and quit.It's not a big deal, 'cause I've got a backup, but how can I determine which car is causing the trouble? The <nnnnnn> number seems to be an arbitrary assignment as it's not one of the ID numbers in the activity and a search of the files didn't turn up that number, either.

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Charter Member · 945 posts

RE: Activity startup error

Hi,Have you tried to open up the Activity in the Activity Editor?
In the Activity Editor, you can see those numbers by selecting View Service Info from the Menu.Most of the time this problem is caused by a car that is placed on an other car. Or a path running trough a car.Dick van den HovenActivity startup error – image 1

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Charter Member · 3 posts

RE: Activity startup error

TNX for the reply.
The ID number issued in the error message had nothing to do with the Activity Object ID number shown on the screen and listed in the .act file, which is what was driving me nuts!For the benefit of other readers:
When all else fails, to find out which object is in error, make a copy of the activity file (found in the route's Activities folder).Use a text editor to open the activity and delete all the Service_Definitions and ActivityObjects (be careful to maintain the parenthisis pairing for what is left!)Save your activity, open MSTS and see if your activity will load. Your activity should now consist of the player service and events.If it loads OK, exit MSTS and use your editor to add one service back in. Save and see if your activity runs.Repeat until all services have been reintroduced. Continue with putting the activity objects back one at a time 'til you find the one with the error.It's a tad tedious, but it works.Of course, my error was caused by the last car in the last activity object in the activity. Guess this proves my addendum to Murphy's law..."Murphy was an optimist!"Also of great benefit is a good text editor. The one I use allows multiple windows, so cut/copy & paste between files is a snap. It also does a great job with file comparisons, so I can easily see the differences between two files. For more info, see the folks at UltraEdit.com for info on UltraEdit 32 Professional.Bob

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