Cars not generating / water not rippling

[NJCurmudgeon]

I have been creating layouts in Trainz2009. In one, I laid a highway and the cars auto-generated just fine in both Surveyor and Driver modes. I laid the exact same road spline in a new layout and nothing, no vehicles at all - and, yes, the toggle button was "on" for generating cars when I laid the road in. I don't see any differences between the layout where it worked and the one where it didn't, though obviously I must be missing something.

On a different matter, when I add water, it never ripples or show up as anything but a semitransparent blue area. I see from pictures of other folks' layouts that the water looks more realistic and I see there are settings in Surveyor for calm. choppy, etc.

I am running Trainz on a Dell Vostro 1500 laptop and I know that's not the optimal system for the graphics. Is the lack of animation in the water a function of a lesser graphics card? Or is there a setting I'm just missing?

Many thanks!

 

[shaneturner12]

The car issue is likely to be that you are using the default region on your route - this region does not include cars.

As for the water, I haven't tried that on mine yet, so I do not know.

Shane

 

[NJCurmudgeon]

Thanks Shane. That would make sense, I guess. Is there a way to change region AFTER the layout has been started? Or can I import the existing layout into a new one with the different region? I've done a bunch of work on it and it would be major headache to have to start over!

 

[Scottish]

Have you tried altering the water setting for 'rough', 'choppy', 'flat' etc in the surveyor environment settings?

If you have installed service pack 4 in 2009, with your layout open in surveyor go to Main Menu (top left) and open 'Edit Environment'. The 3rd tab down (looks like the sun partially behind a cloud) has a horizontal scroll bar called 'water' where you can change the amount of ripples on the water.

If you have not installed SP4, the World tab on the right has the same scroll bar to adjust ripples.

You can also alter the colour of the water using the red, green, blue knobs in the terrain tab.

Scottish

 

[Scottish]

You can change the region using Main Menu, Edit Route and scroll through the available regions to alter. Then save map with the new setting.

Scottish

 

[NJCurmudgeon]

I had "Real Scale" set. Should the vehicles generate in "Real Scale"?

I don't see any sliders for the water in either the Main Menu (no "Edit Environment" so maybe I don't have SP4?) or on the World tab. I can select "choppy" for example, (as well as adjust the RGB values) but there are no sliders.

How can I tell what Service Pack I have? Maybe the software isn't up to date?

Thanks!

 

[NJCurmudgeon]

Oh wait...that's not "region." Sorry!

Still same issue with the water, though.

 

[NJCurmudgeon]

Okay...I opened the layout in Surveyor, went to Edit Route, and did not have the option to change region, only scale.

I am also missing sliders for water in both the Main Menu and the World tab.

Would updating Service Packs help? I'm new to Trainz, so I have to ask - how do I know what SP I have and how do I upgrade if needed?

Thanks!!

 

[Scottish]

The water scroll bar is not a slider. You choose from the pre-set options available by clicking the left or right arrows to scroll through the options.

The build number of your 2009 is shown at the bottom of the first screen that appears when you start up Trainz (Options screen). From this build number it can be established how many of the service packs have been installed.

Scottish

 

[NJCurmudgeon]

Thanks. I have changed those options but to no effect, so I guess that's not it. I am inclined to think it's an issue with my graphics card.

Any suggestions about why I can't change regions?

Thanks for the help!

 

[clam1952]

If OpenGL try DirectX or the other way round if using DirectX.
Other than that it could be drivers need updating or if I remember correctly there was a water problem that was fixed in one of the patches, have you patched up to SP3?

 

[Scottish]

Further to Malc's advice, if your build number is 44653 you have patched up to SP4. If your build is 41844 you have patched up to SP3. If your build is 40040 you have only patched up to SP2. If the build is a smaller number you have an early version which needs patching.

I cannot remember if the region can be changed in Surveyor on builds earlier than 44653, but if not, I have successfully changed the region kuid and coordinates in the config.txt file but you would need extra help if you are thinking of tackling this method.

Scottish

 

[NJCurmudgeon]

Water is rippling!

I switched to DirectX and it fixed both the water problem and another where the menu bar area flickered a band of "interference" along the top of the screen, so many thanks for the suggestion!

I'm running 38411 - so looks like I gotta a lotta patching to do! Again, I'm new to the world of Trainz, so please forgive me if these are dumb questions, but how do I download/install the patches? Download Station?

Thank you for the help!

 

[shaneturner12]

These are the patches you will need:

http://download.ts2009.com/patch/38411_to_40040.exe (takes you up to SP2)
http://download.ts2009.com/Beta/40040_to_41844.exe (takes you up to SP3)
NOTE: You must have DirectX 9.0c (August 2009 or later) to install the above patch.

If you choose to the SP3 to SP4 patch is http://download.ts2009.com/patch/41844_to_44653.exe.

Note though - there are several important changes in SP4, including the fact you will have to wait a few minutes after closing Trainz. Also, there are quite a few known bugs in SP4.

Shane

 

[NJCurmudgeon]

Awesome! Thank you for the links. I am installing the first patch now and will see where that takes me. I need to see which DriectX version I have.

In your opinion (and anyone else's who wan't to chime in!), is SP4 worth it? Or do the bugs make it more problematic than positive?

Thanks again!

 

[shaneturner12]

The current list of known bugs is at http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?t=66084.

There may be others though.

It is ultimately up to whether you are happy with the bugs (some of the bugs have workarounds)

Shane

 

[NJCurmudgeon]

Follow Up

Just to follow up, I upgraded to SP3 but still could not change "Region." What I ended up doing, however, was creating a new baseboard with a US region and merged the layout I'm working on. It all came in find and now the cars are generating.

Thanks to everyone who posted suggestions and advice. it was a big help!