Basics for creating a session

C

ccowan2126

Member
I have read the Wiki on how to create a session, but am more confused that when I started. Is there any way to view a session that already exists in order to see just how all of the rules and stuff are put together to make things work? I tried to create a session test by putting a trigger on a track and tried to have the trigger make a popup message appear that read "success". Didn't work.

The sample session in the Wiki is hard to follow (for me) and does not cover anything that I want a session to do. Can anyone take a moment and walk me through something simple.

Thanks.

Ok...I found that I had indented something that should have not been indented and that kept the whole thing from starting. I was able to get an initial message to appear with the instruction to drive to a location. Along the was there was a trigger that tripped a message reading "task complete". I wanted to play an audible tone at that point, but did not know where to find a .wav file. Where would I find these? I think I can build upon this to develop a simple session of some sort. Stay tuned for more questions.
 
Last edited:
Find an existing session from your route menu and click on 'Edit Session'. Then in Surveyor, choose 'Edit Session Rules' (there's an icon for this at the top left).

You'll then be able to see all the rules that the session creator used. You'll probably need to expand the rule tree (click on the small down arrow to the left of each rule, where applicable) to see all the child rules. Selecting one of the rules and clicking on 'edit rule' will let you see how any particular rule has been configured for that session.

TANE was my first venture into Trainz. By adopting the above strategy, I was able to deduce enough to start creating simple sessions of my own. After that it's a case of trial and error, playing around with some of the other available rules to see what they do.

Good luck!
John
 
ccowan2126 said:
I have read the Wiki on how to create a session, but am more confused that when I started. Is there any way to view a session that already exists in order to see just how all of the rules and stuff are put together to make things work? I tried to create a session test by putting a trigger on a track and tried to have the trigger make a popup message appear that read "success". Didn't work.

The sample session in the Wiki is hard to follow (for me) and does not cover anything that I want a session to do. Can anyone take a moment and walk me through something simple.

Thanks.

Ok...I found that I had indented something that should have not been indented and that kept the whole thing from starting. I was able to get an initial message to appear with the instruction to drive to a location. Along the was there was a trigger that tripped a message reading "task complete". I wanted to play an audible tone at that point, but did not know where to find a .wav file. Where would I find these? I think I can build upon this to develop a simple session of some sort. Stay tuned for more questions.
Click to expand...

You may find this beneficial,.... The Trainz team has started a new development channel on Twitch TV: https://www.twitch.tv/trainz_simulator

There are a number of tutorials that could answer some of your questions.
Cheers,
Roy3b3
 
I am still at a loss as to how to get a sound to play at the completion of a task...you know...the tone you hear in Kickstarter County sessions when you reach a destination or complete a task. I cannot figure out where that is or where it comes from. Anyone know?
 
Perhaps a trigger that is set to play the sound when the train reaches its destination (e.g. a trackmark) or when a variable reaches a certain value?
 
Playing sounds is very simple. You must:

1. Put the .wav file you want to play in the session folder (for your first try, you can copy one from a built-in session; afterwards, there are lots of sites with free sound effects)
2. Lay a trigger in the session
3. Add a "Play Sound" rule under the "Trigger check" or "Check trackside" rule you use to have the popup message appear. Align its indentation with the "Pop-up display" rule. The sound name file must be entered without the .wav extension (unless something has changed in T:ANE). When your train comes within the trigger range, you will see the pop-up message and hear the sound.

Usually, the "Play Sound" rule is used as a child rule of a "check-type" rule; i.e.:
- with a "check trackside" parent rule you can have sounds playing when a train enters/leave/stops at a trackmark/trigger/switch;
- with a "check consist" rule you can have sounds playing when a pre-defined consist comes into existence (e.g. once you have picked up some cars at a siding);
- with a "time check" rule you can have sounds playing at a pre-set time (this might be useful for passenger train announcements at stations)

There are many possibilities, and sounds add a whole new dimension to sessions: you can add dispatcher instructions, radio chatter, environmental sounds...
 
ccowan2126 said:
I am still at a loss as to how to get a sound to play at the completion of a task...you know...the tone you hear in Kickstarter County sessions when you reach a destination or complete a task. I cannot figure out where that is or where it comes from. Anyone know?
Click to expand...

These specific sounds are linked to the Navigation Points (e.g. Couple Here, Stop Loco Here, Branch Right Here, etc.). If you search the DLS for routes / sessions containing 'nav point' there are some demos produced by N3V which show how to configure and use them.

John
 
Pendolino said:
Playing sounds is very simple. You must:

1. Put the .wav file you want to play in the session folder (for your first try, you can copy one from a built-in session; afterwards, there are lots of sites with free sound effects)
2. Lay a trigger in the session
3. Add a "Play Sound" rule under the "Trigger check" or "Check trackside" rule you use to have the popup message appear. Align its indentation with the "Pop-up display" rule. The sound name file must be entered without the .wav extension (unless something has changed in T:ANE). When your train comes within the trigger range, you will see the pop-up message and hear the sound.
Click to expand...

Something is not quite right. Should I just drag and drop the sound file in the session folder when I have it "Opened for Edit in Explorer" ? Or does it need to go somewhere else? When in Edit Session, Play Sound, where I try to add the .wav file name it wants to default to "index.wav" when I close the window. Not quite sure what to do now.
 
I'm sorry, but I have made a huge mistake :(.

You must drag and drop the .wav file into the folder of an HTML-asset. In fact, the first setting line for the "Play Sound rule" is:

Play <soundfile.waw> of html asset <html asset name>
 
Pendolino said:
I'm sorry, but I have made a huge mistake :(.

You must drag and drop the .wav file into the folder of an HTML-asset. In fact, the first setting line for the "Play Sound rule" is:

Play <soundfile.waw> of html asset <html asset name>
Click to expand...

Dumb question #145: what is an "html asset" ??
 
I'll post a more detailed reply tomorrow (it's 4 AM here :D): basically, it is an asset containing HTML, WAV and image files that are used in the session.

HTML and image files are used to display windows describing the tasks the player must accomplish, or other written information, by means of the various rules dealing with HTML files

WAV files are used by the "Play Sound" rule (and this is what we are interested in now)

If you like a sound you found in an existing session, you can use it: find which HTML-asset is used that session uses by viewing its dependencies, then find the wav file inside and then reference to the wav file and to the HTML-asset in the "Play sound" settings.
 
Finally!!! I gleaned enough from all of your responses to finally figure out how to accomplish what I set out to do. I used the General Purpose Session HTML, which contained several .wav files, and just dropped in the new sound files that I wanted to have access to. Then while in Edit Session opened the Message Popup window and added the .wav file I wanted to Auto Play and it worked.

Thanks to all.
 
That's great news! :)

A nice thing you can do with "Play Sound" is adding dispatcher radio traffic, using some text-to-speech converter and recording the output as a wav file (I use Audacity, but there are countless pieces of free audio recording software): it has no meaningful purpose, but adds a nice feeling to the session.

It is advisable to record any recurring sentences (e.g. "Somewhereburg dispatcher to train XYZ" or "Somewhereburg dispatcher, over") as separate .wav files and then pasting them with one-time sentences (e.g. "You are cleared to enter main line") to make up the complete messages.

Up to Trainz 2010, it was possible to play several sound in sequence (e.g. Play Sound "Somewhereburg dispatcher to train XYZ" + Play Sound "You are cleared to enter main line" + Play Sound "Somewhereburg dispatcher, over"). Unfortunately, from TS12, Trains adds a 5-10 pause between the various "Play Sound Rules", forcing session authors to make large sound files even if most of the message text is identical :(.
 
Also, the tutorials are all posted on YouTube, a short time after broadcast. Search for the N3V games channel and view the latest uploads.

Regards,
John
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

K
Increasingly long Spline Load Times as your session runs?
Replies
10
Views
540
rwk
R
H
Is there a way to change camera focus automatically
Replies
3
Views
531
hutten
H
I
Protecting double track crossing
Replies
7
Views
268
Lewiscc65
L
M
save new route and session
Replies
4
Views
289
Jayco-man
J
H
Can't get past a red signal
Replies
6
Views
307
Hobo_Al
H
Back
Top