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RE: is it possible ??, kevarc, May-16-03, 02:17 PM, (1) RE: is it possible ??, sniper297, May-21-03, 11:30 PM, (2) RE: is it possible ??, kevarc, May-21-03, 11:41 PM, (3) RE: is it possible ??, sniper297, May-22-03, 00:45 AM, (4) RE: is it possible ??, kevarc, May-22-03, 09:28 AM, (5) RE: is it possible ??, sniper297, May-22-03, 12:12 PM, (6) RE: is it possible ??, kevarc, May-22-03, 12:21 PM, (7)
Hate to argue with a wolf, but:http://www.train-sim.com/cgi/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?az=show_thread&om=11521&forum=DCForumID3#2 Starting under the sixth picture in the second post.There are a few concrete "yep"s and "nope"s in MSTS, this is not one of them.Yes, it is possible to couple onto an AI train, either when it's stopped or when overtaking from behind (or even running ahead of it letting it catch up slowly, obviously that depends on the signals!). Problem is, once the player couples onto any part of an AI train, it's no longer an AI train, it's become a loose consist. It will no longer move under it's own power, altho the engine will work as a helper engine, and the cars and engine(s) can be shunted around like any other loose consist.Trick with coupling onto a moving AI train is the closure rate has to be at or below the safe coupling speed for that engine (which depends on the derailbufferforce setting in the .eng file) so it don't derail.Requires a little practice sometimes.
It is not something I would recommend. It takes a huge amount of time and effort to get this to set something like this to happen and the odds of getting a successfull outcomeare slim to none. It has been done on an assist a train type thing, but to get it to work where you would be removing cars from a train would require timing that would be extremely hard to accomplish.Kevin Arceneaux DEFAULT IS FOR DUMMIES Lone Wolf Activities Forum on www.3DTrains.com
"but to get it to work where you would be removing cars from a train would require timing that would be extremely hard to accomplish."Not to split hairs (much), but that kinda depends on what you mean.The original question,"is it possible to shunt a AI train"Yes, in fact rather easy if you have it stopped at a station or signal, or tricky things like double reverse points for it, you can easily couple onto a stopped AI train and remove cars from it. Once you couple on tho, that's the end of movement, it's no longer an AI train it's a loose consist. So if the question is, can you remove cars from it and then have it drive on, the answer is not "would require timing that would be extremely hard to accomplish.", the answer is it would be totally impossible, because it's no longer an AI train. Loose consists don't move off by themselves, and coupling onto an AI train instantly changes it into a loose consist. "or will the game end because of a derailment?"Only if you hit it too hard.Hopefully MSTS2 will have a lot better AI train logic, but actual interaction with AI trains in MSTS 1 is woefully limited, even with a ridiculous amount of screwing around with the signals and activity editor.Hey Kev, check this one out:http://www.train-sim.com/dcforum/DCForumID3/18129.html
If you don't mind I answer here. You can do that with a consists, I would recommend making it a read only file. Cause no sooner than you get it all set up, somebody will want to redo the consists and the numbers will reset to new calculated values. The Ai's march to their own drummer. I have watched an AI train climb the mountain, but when I use that exact same consist for an activity, it stalls out 1/3 of the way up the hill.It would be nice to be acle to set up an activity, where you are waiting at the junction of a branch line and an AI train comes by and drops off cars for you to deliver and p/u ones you brought to the junction. But considering that they failed to code half the right click entries in the Path editor, I do not hold out high hopes. It is better to aim lower and be pleased then have high hopes and get a half-assed editor again.God, I would kill for remove reverse point option!Kevin Arceneaux DEFAULT IS FOR DUMMIES Lone Wolf Activities Forum on www.3DTrains.com
Yeah, problem with making it read-only is that I generally use nothing but default trainsets, and would like to make an easy way for even a computer novice to yank all the Halloween orange BNSF engines and replace them with his favorite road colors. easy to do with conbuilder, but then you gotta fix the maxvelocity lines manually. I think, at least, I haven't tried hacking with conbuilder since I manually hacked the maxvelocity line, maybe it will stick."God, I would kill for remove reverse point option!"Yeah, that's why I didn't get too excited about the double reverse point idea, royal PITA having to delete the whole path and start over from scratch when you only want to move it a few feet away.I can't think of recent examples, but I know there are games with similar features, Microprose' Gunship2000 (actually released in the late 80's sometime) was the first I saw with this interface, so it sticks in my mind. Starting a Gunship2000 game, the player played in almost the same fashion as the original 1984 Gunship, the lone hero battling against the odds. Once you succesfully completed a few "Rambo" missions like that and got a couple promotions, you were given command of a squadron of Apaches. Starting out you layed out waypoints, speeds, altitudes and targets for you and the four AI helos under your command, but at any time during the game you could hit a hotkey (F10?) that brought up a theatre map, and in that interface you could select one of the AI helos and give it simple commands, speed up-slow down, fly lower, pop up and scan, attack this target, change waypoints on the fly, whatever. And it was fast enough that the game didn't even need to pause as I remember, I could be wrong on that.THAT is what's needed for MSTS 2, a Dispatcher mode hotkey that brings up a map and allows you to change orders for AI trains on the fly. Even better would be voice command interface so you and the AI trains could talk to an actual dispatcher, and a brakeman with a radio at the back of the train so you don't have to use external views to do shunting with long strings of cars.That ain't gonna happen tho, so even a basic Dispatcher map with the ability to set signals and switches and restricted speed zones on the fly would work, indirect control of the AI trains.
Yep, I am not going to get excited over MSTS2 till I see it and it works better than MSTS1. I have talked to a couple of ppl who went to E3 and what they had there was not even an alpha version of 2. So what you saw may (probably) not be what you get.BTW, you do not need to redo the entire path. just go to a switch before the reverse points and use the take other path option to change the switch, make sure this got rid of the reverse point(s) then just change it back. The reverse point should be gone. Better than having to completely redo the path, esp when you are working on the end of it.Kevin Arceneaux DEFAULT IS FOR DUMMIES Lone Wolf Activities Forum on www.3DTrains.com