C&O Alleghany beta 4

[Toripony]

It's beginning to look like the C&O railroad.....

LooksLikeC&O.jpg

[DonR]

...sung to the tune of "It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas". :-)

I think I'm going to HAVE to install your route, Tori. It looks great!

BTW, I was going to ask... it's in "Beta"... what are your plans for version 1.0 (schedule-wise)?

Thanks
Don

[arizonachris]

I think I'm going to HAVE to install your route, Tori. It looks great!
Thanks
Don

You mean you haven't yet? Shame! No cookies for you either!

Beta means it's not finished, and it's probably going to be quite a while before it is, if ever, finished. There are several of us lucky members that get to test out her latest addition, then it goes "public beta" for everyone else. If you hev the Challenger and the Big Boy, there are a couple of really cool scenarios included. And of course, you need Dick Cowen's Shays for the logging parts.

[JimM]

Uh-Oh!! Sounds like 50 lashes to me! Cookies nothing....bread and water (maybe!!!)

[DonR]

Oh no! No COOKIES!? ... nevermind the lashes... NO COOKIES!?!?

Ok. I'll install it tomorrow! :-D

Don.

[JimM]

KIDS!!! Whatcha gonna do?

[Toripony]

Is anyone noticing a significant performance (FPS and/or stuttering) difference between beta 3 and beta 4? I'm expecting that if the playability of beta3 was borderline on your pc, you may be finding beta 4 near impossible to run?

Take Ronceverte, for example.... nothing visibly changed there that would affect performance; no new scenery. Yet, I am getting very annoying stuttering that I didn't have in beta 3. What IS new is the track markers.

Personally, I noticed a significant performance difference and I have a suspicion of the causes. I may be hitting a wall on this route and I need performance feedback comparisons to know if I'm right.

Tori

[JimM]

Nothing here Tori....same frame hog it was in 3....can only get about 15-20 FPS out of it

[buzz456]

I just ran a little scenario with the new GP9s (3 different units) and about a 25 car C&O dirty hoppers with caboose and didn't notice any particular stuttering. Perhaps in mode two but smooth as can be in cab mode or mode 4.

Buzz

XP SP2
Xeon{TM} CPU3.06GHz
3.06 Ghz, 3.25 GB of RAM

[nickelplate]

Tori,

Your route is amazing,

Where can I find those C&O hoppers?

I don't have any stuttering in beta3 or 4 at Ronceverte but I have a pretty fast system.

[ugadawgs2716]

Tori, this route is amazing. I have been following your progress on it for quite a while, and finally had the downtime to installl it and take a test run. I know that the route is a work in progress, and yes the Kanawha may not be completely true to form (steam dome, sand dome, etc), but after running up the grade with it and eight coaches (C&O repaints), it sure felt real enough to me. I especially like that most of your signals are accompanied by markers with the F6 function, that way I can call the signal out (usually to the two Labradors in the computer room with me, have yet to get a reciprocal call from either one). I did notice something that I don't believe was mentioned in the thread, on some of the bridges I seem to be missing track. It's not causing any derailments, just a little unnerving when I'm running the Big Mike at 50+ with lots of patrons in tow. Since no one else mentioned it, I think it's probably something on my end, but not real sure how to correct it. Any ideas? Congrats on the release of Beta 4, it is truly a work of art, and lots of fun to run!

[Toripony]

Tori, this route is amazing. I have been following your progress on it for quite a while, and finally had the downtime to installl it and take a test run. I know that the route is a work in progress, and yes the Kanawha may not be completely true to form (steam dome, sand dome, etc), but after running up the grade with it and eight coaches (C&O repaints), it sure felt real enough to me. I especially like that most of your signals are accompanied by markers with the F6 function, that way I can call the signal out (usually to the two Labradors in the computer room with me, have yet to get a reciprocal call from either one). I did notice something that I don't believe was mentioned in the thread, on some of the bridges I seem to be missing track. It's not causing any derailments, just a little unnerving when I'm running the Big Mike at 50+ with lots of patrons in tow. Since no one else mentioned it, I think it's probably something on my end, but not real sure how to correct it. Any ideas? Congrats on the release of Beta 4, it is truly a work of art, and lots of fun to run!

Most reports I've received of missing track was the result of not installing the SP version of ScaleRail tracks. When you link to 3DTrains site for those, the default free track link is very obvious; the SP and ATSF addons are a separate download and install. The SP track is used in bridges and tunnels and I think there's some at the beginning of the Greenbrier sub.

Try this link: http://www.3dtrains.com/products/rs1/at ... rail.shtml

I'm glad you like the markers... that was many, many, many, hours of work... and rework... and discussion with others... and renaming... until eventually layout and naming conventions were arrived at. They still look messy but I was trying my best to be descriptive. I can't drive a route with labels like "Signal 1", "Track 2" and such. I never seem to find my bearings. The descriptive ("locative"??) names become familiar much easier for me and soon I can drive without a map.

Tori

[ugadawgs2716]

That must be it then, I just installed those add-ons today, even though I purchased them over two months ago, lots of catching up to do. I will reinstall the route and let you know the results. Thanks again for such a great route.

[arizonachris]

There's no reason you shouldn't have all of the 3D Trains Scale Rail and Scale roads, both the payware and freeware. It is all used extensively in Railworks.

Tory, Beta 4 is fantastic. I have had zero issues. Frame rates tend to drop in some areas, but other wise it runs great. As usual, you done yourself proud!

[Toripony]

Good news... we're making progress on an update! I just sent the first test package of route changes and 11 new scenarios to testers for initial review.

Just a preview... there's a new SD70 repaint coming to town; the new scenarios have AI traffic and some challenges - even though these are only Free Roams (Standards are in the works), they offer a taste of genuine movements on the Alleghany subdivision; the BLC is growing larger and going DARK (we got rid of the signals)(and yes you CAN still write AI scenarios for it); some new custom assets for the logging railroad are included along with other fixes and improvements.

Give us a couple of weeks to iron out any wrinkles and there will finally be some genuine action for you to try out.


Tori