Difference of Scenario v.s. Session ?

E

edion2

New member
I'm on TRS2009.

Until this January I've mostly been building my series of routes. When I operated a train, I just created a "Session" to test the route and various industry as I was building.

Since January I've been setting up the operation end of the routes. Setting up AI traffic on the main lines with complicated signaling is pretty new to me, but I'm coming along quite well.

While going through the "Category" area, I suddenly realized that there is a separate category for "scenario" !! Until now I ASSUMED (wrong thing to do) that SESSION and SCENARIO meant the SAME thing . . . just different words to describe it.

Now that I realize that "scenario" is another animal all together, I have some questions.

Can someone explain the main difference between a "session" and a "scenario" ?

If it turns out that I would want to create a "scenario", how would I do that?

Thanks
 
edion2 ,

I believe it was TRS2006 that Auran dropped what was the "true scenario" , they felt in their wisdom that the "session" was as good or better .
The "true scenario" prior to TRS2006 was a scripted program by the creator that had instructions as to what the train engineer had to do , to complete the task .
Thackalane , at TPR , wrote SCS2006 to allow creators to continue with the ability to create these types of scenarios (available on the DLS) . He is now working hard on an upgrade for TS2009 .
The scenario to me is one of the most enjoyable aspects of Trainz , start the program , operate according to the given directions , and finish the job ( and with TRS2006 there is the ability to create random jobs using the same scenario )!
However , on the DLS , scenarios and sessions have been co-mingled by the authors by calling sessions , scenarios and vice-versa .

My thoughts , if I posted something erroneous , please advise --- ,DLR
 
deeelare,

Thanks for the insight.

I remember when I first started in 2006, there were tutorials that had instructions for the user. I agree, they do make things easier to understand as what the task at hand is. Hmmmm . . . I think its nearly a "must" feature if one was to create a route for a Trainz novice.

I usually operate only on my route and rarely operate other routes. Someday if I want to upload or share my route somehow, I can see the need for some kind of an "operation manual" for each session on a route.

I would probably lean towards "sharing" my creation rather than "upload".

So, a "scenario" would make the whole Driver experience more user friendly with appropriate "on screen prompts" for the "user-engineer" . . . thus moving a step closer to the "game" feeling.

Since I don't see anything that leads me to "scenario creation" in 2009 . . . I'm assuming I need to learn some "scripting" or some kind of codes to embed these "user instructions" into a "session".

Just looking at "config.txt" makes me dizzy . . . new codes/script might not be something this old dog can learn :hehe:.

Thanks
 
Hi edion2,
When I define the difference between "scenario" and "session" I usually take the approach that a "session" is something that you create in surveyor for a route by using the instructions available for driver commands and are ready to use immediately from the list. A "scenario" for me is something that is created by getting involved with a semi-programming script and is usually more difficult until you have had a lot of experience. While I have done many a session I have only looked at scenario creation with the thought I might give it a try! Maybe one day? I use both 04 and 06 but mainly 04.

Cheers
Russell.
 
Download the Sessons and Rules guide for TRS2006. http://files.auran.com/TRS2006/manuals/TRS2006_Sessions_&_Rules_Guide(31-Oct-2005).zip

Trainz activities were traditionally created with scenario scripts but this required programming knowledge and locked many people out of making their own playable Trainz activities. Even though programming skills are required to create a rule asset, TS2009 comes with 100 rules and there's an additional 150+ more on the DLS to download. From these it is quite possible to construct complex interactive sessions. The guide has examples.

Bob
 
R701Rusty,

I hear you, I'm in the same "maybe some day . . ." place. My route is split into 3 pieces. My sessions run across from one route to another using I-Portals. I'm starting to get the hang of how to set up sessions using I-Portals.


rweber95,

Sounds like there are more that enough "tools" available to. I guess I'll have to experiment soon using a 6 or so baseboard layout. Its just hard to spend the time doing that when there is so much to do on my main routes.

Thanks for the link to the Guide. I downloaded it.

It looks helpful, hopefully I can understand it without having to read it through too many times :hehe:.
 
As someone who is brand-new in TS2006 and can't yet create a "scenario," I can easily create a "session." All I have to do is log on to my layout and run some trains: I am then in a session. When I exit, I'm asked if I want to save my session. So the way I see it, users create sessions, while programmers create scenarios. I think the line is blurred here because Trainz has made programming, in many cases, so easy--like using triggers--that many users can do it themselves.

I believe this is like model railroading (which I do in N scale): an "operating session" is when the railroader stops just building his or her layout for awhile and instead runs some trains for enjoyment, whether just to look at or to actually move products around (virtually, of course). A session is the action part of a layout, no matter how much or how little you do in it. All I have done in Surveyor before starting a session is "set up" the session--the same way I would on a real model railroad layout--by deciding what engines and rolling stock to use, what industries, and how much the industries will consume and produce.

On a real layout (as I'm sure most of you already know), the layout owner might become the equivalent of a software programmer for a session by developing a "scenario" and having his guests use it: a derailment, a storm, a washout, a hotbox, and so forth. Driving a long container train down Marias Pass is a session. When a rainstorm hits or the brakes begin to fail it becomes a scenario.

Is this right?
 
You could do those things but the usual scenario is oriented to proto-typical railroad operations where industries receive goods or produce goods or both and the railroad transports the items between the industries as required. Here is a flow chart from an earlier version that shows some of the normal activities you might want to implement in a scenario.

Bob

trainzind.jpg
 
As a convert from MSTS several years back, I like the work order approach, which can fit in very well with the session concept. I've run scenarios and also the rules-driven sessions that produce the notices on the screen at certain points of progress. I'm not impressed - 1) I don't think there are many railroaders getting HUD info in the cab like a fighter pilot. 2) Part of the challenge is knowing what has to be done, then figuring out how to do it, rather than being told step-by-step.

So, to me, setting up a session in 2006 or 2009 means first planning what needs to be done by the train crew, then setting up rolling stock and industry parameters on the map, then writing and printing a set of orders, then running the session on the basis of those orders - figuring out how to assemble consists for efficiently carrying out the orders, making deliveries, pickups, etc. And, if you can arrange for some interaction with AI trains, so much the better.

Somebody that I think does this very well is philskene. If you are interested in this approach, take a look at his Port Ogden & Northern route and its sessions, including their separate documentation.
 
Mononlaf said: ....then writing and printing a set of orders....

Is this correct, or i miss something. As i know you must put driver commands in driver setup.


celje
 
To run a manual session, you write and print it out. Then set the required consists in Surveyor and run the session manually in Driver. If you you want some of the consists to run in AI then you would put the necessary commands in one or more schedules.

Philskene's PO&N sessions are an example of this. They include detail maps of the layout plus a text file with a list of tasks to do.

Bob
 
deeelare said:
edion2 ,

I believe it was TRS2006 that Auran dropped what was the "true scenario" , they felt in their wisdom that the "session" was as good or better .
The "true scenario" prior to TRS2006 was a scripted program by the creator that had instructions as to what the train engineer had to do , to complete the task .
Thackalane , at TPR , wrote SCS2006 to allow creators to continue with the ability to create these types of scenarios (available on the DLS) . He is now working hard on an upgrade for TS2009 .
The scenario to me is one of the most enjoyable aspects of Trainz , start the program , operate according to the given directions , and finish the job ( and with TRS2006 there is the ability to create random jobs using the same scenario )!
However , on the DLS , scenarios and sessions have been co-mingled by the authors by calling sessions , scenarios and vice-versa .

My thoughts , if I posted something erroneous , please advise --- ,DLR
Click to expand...

From the way I understand it, a session is the amount of time spent in using Trainz in driver. And so, you can save a session. If you decide to play with Trainz one hour at the most, you make sessions of an hour.

A scenario is the ability to create or use programmable rules and commands as deeelare said above, for either watch or run trains.
So far, the best way to create a scenario in Trainz is to use the commands in SCS2006 (for TRS2006 + SP1)and soon in SCS2009 (forTS2009).

A scenario can last a long time and so you can run a scenario in one, two or three sessions.
 
Both sessions and scenarios can have any duration from a few seconds to forever (i.e. endless until the user gets bored and closes it). There are important differences between the sessions and scenarios but duration isn't one of them.

Here's how I see it:

Driver Sessions - Graphical IDE in Surveyor. Easy to create trivial activities but very difficult to create anything complicated. Built-in option in TRS2004, TRS2006, TC and TS2009.

TPR's SCS - The simplest way to make non-trivial scripted activities. Freeware. Separate versions available for TRS2004 and TRS2006.

GameScript Scenarios - The most powerful way to make non-trivial scripted activities. Built-in option in TRS2004.

At the Razorback Railway we create our activities using TRS2004 GameScript. Our compiler integrates the source code written by the developer with our own library functions and then creates two installation exe files, one of which contains a TRS2004 scenario, and the other a TRS2006 Driver session which when run operates in almost the same way as a TRS2004 scenario.

John
 
john259 said:
... GameScript Scenarios - The most powerful way to make non-trivial scripted activities. Built-in option in TRS2004.

At the Razorback Railway we create our activities using TRS2004 GameScript. Our compiler integrates the source code written by the developer with our own library functions and then creates two installation exe files, one of which contains a TRS2004 scenario, and the other a TRS2006 Driver session which when run operates in almost the same way as a TRS2004 scenario.

John
Click to expand...

It looks like that SCS2006 isn't the only best way to create scenarios:p...
 
SCS is superb and an amazingly clever achievement, but IMHO GameScript gives you even more flexibility, at the expense of probably being more difficult for many people.

John
 
I thought if saved as 'Sessions"one can reload them and add on things,whereas any thing saved as a "Scenario" is locked in..like when a route is finally finished (If ever)...Also what is the difference between the three Portals..ie.Portal,Portal Basic,and HP Portal,and when would one use them.L
 
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