Class 76 sparking while parking

[OldProf]

Hi!

I'm currently working on a new scenario at Wath yards that begins with a diesel shunting engine coupling to two Class 76 engines and moving them to another, nearby track.

As the scenario begins, all the "spark" lights of both 76s are on, despite the fact that all pantographs are down, and my FPS rate is very low (6 ~ 8); as soon as the player engine couples to the first 76, that engine's sparks disappear and the FPS rate bumps up to 14 ~ 16; coupling to the second 76 turns off its spark lights and FPS bumps up to 20 ~ 25 or more, which is normal for me on this route. Is there a way to douse those spark lights? Neither 76 has a driver disc attached to it (when I tried adding a driver, the engines blocked the player train's path).

I'm hoping that some forum member can advise me. Here are a couple of screenshots that I also sent with my message to RSC:





{N.B.: I sent this information to support@railsim.com, who simply thanked me for my input as follows: "You comments have been kindly welcomed by our development team and will be considered in the discussions for future release of exciting Railworks 3: Train Simulator 2012 products. Unfortunately we are unable to respond directly to all the feedback or suggestions we receive from our valued customers." Valued in what sense, I wonder?}

[Machinist]

Hi Tom,

By default when scenario starts spark light flashes once, that's normal because the pantograph is disconnecting. I don't know yet how the animation is set, if is random or related to something on the eletric rail, or if it works only when pantogragh is up etc. WH is a very heavy route so it takes a time (10-15sec, at least in my medium spec machine) to fps normalize.

When running (driving Class 76) you don't need to worry with the spark light once it consumes few fps (is just a 40m very fast flash). But, according to your post (and shots) they are continuosly on, which is odd indeed, and for sure consuming fps (but shouldn't be that much!). However, what is making my fps drop down almost 50% is the default cablight casting shadows!Despite of its short range (2.5m) cablight casts a lot of shadows inside the cab...

Cheers,
Lisboa.

Edited later: did you try to mark (check) the loco as "broken" in the engine flyout? Maybe it will make spark light go away...

[OldProf]

Thanks for the idea, Lisboa ... it sounded good to me, too ... unfortunately, the semi-permanent sparks are still there. And you're probably right in thinking that the numerous cast shadows are causing the FPS drop. When those sparks go off while driving, they flash very quickly and probably don't affect FPS much, but when both are on for each engine, they do.

I wonder if there's a solution available in RW_Tools? Perhaps those spark lights, which I imagine are child what-cha-ma-callits, could be removed from a copy of the 76, which could then be packaged with my scenario. "Hello ... Mike? Are you lurking around?"

Meanwhile, I caused myself a temporarily frustrating but ultimately humorous problem with this new scenario last night. For a different atmospheric effect, I decided to change its starting time to 18:00. When I subsequently tested the scenario to see how things looked at that hour, I discovered that none of the AI trains started. Can anyone guess why?

Regards,

[Machinist]

Hi Tom,

I'll send to you a Class 76 Mod without spark lights, with a plus bonus: enhanced cabviews and cablight, OK? This will be further, at (my) night!

About the start time, changing it with RWTools3 is not working yet (at least till version X.X.034) so you have to change the scenario start time and the start time of each train (Player and AIs) on the timetable. Before change all timetable times, you can test different start times running Player Train alone (AI won't move, and hopefully won't block your path as well).

Cheers,
Lisboa.

[Machinist]

Bad news so far, Tom.

The problem is bigger than I realised... As I was suspecting, beyond the spark light child object there is another severe animation bug with that loco. The spark light is a bit blue so it was looking weird the projected light be white. I can delete the whole spark light child object from the engine bin file, but still remain in the air two white squared-diamond objects untill/unless the engine becomes drivable (adding a driver icon to it, or coupling to it).

RailWorksProc2 2012-02-16 20-00-51-41.jpg

So far (according to my quick research) Class 76 is currently concieved to have a driver aboard, don't matter if player or AI trains, therefore it cannot be placed as loose consist/vehicle. That's a severe bug that have to be fixed by RSC, IMHO of course.

Cheers,
Lisboa.