Does TS 2022 have a much improved AI system over TANE?

JonMyrlennBailey

Well-known member
Does 2022 Artificial Intelligence operate much more like a real-world train under real-world laws of physics with human hands at the controls? Up until and including TANE, that's hardly been the case.

I will not graduate beyond TANE unless I'm convinced that it's AI system mimics train behaviors much more like the real world. That's the deal-maker or breaker for me.


Very unrealistic behaviors of AI all along, at least up to TANE, have included:

1. braking and acceleration that's too abrupt for heavy trains
2. reacting to yellow signal conditions ahead well beyond the range of human eyesight in the cab
3. unrealistic throttle and dynamic braking operation: diesel engines constantly revving high at steady speed on level track or downgrades; not able to mimic the Realistic Control mode
4. dropping the throttle abruptly whenever completing a Drive Via track mark command on the Schedule line
 
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Overall, the AI drives far better than in previous versions and doesn't stutter when a track mark or another driver command disappears from their queues.

I can't say I've experienced the issue with signals because I place them diligently based on two or three built-in long coal consists coupled together. This appears to work well based on the speeds I have on my routes and I also ensure that the switches are set for my route because an AI driver will slow down for a red even if we can't see it.

There were some recent issues with AI drivers but that's been resolved in the last update.
 
One nasty thing is the constant high revving of diesel engines under AI. It makes the locomotive sound more like a race car or a toy electric train set rather than a diesel engine. Normally, under manual human control, the train gets up to speed and the engine is throttled back and the train coasts. Engine noise dies down. As the train begins to slow down, throttle is gradually increased. If the train goes over the speed limit, the loco is throttled back again. So you will get intermittent revving woven in with almost no engine sounds. As the train goes up hill, you have to romp on the throttle more. Downgrade, you have to kick in the dynamic and the engine screams when you amp it up high.

They have not yet improved AI to give drivers limited visibility of signals ahead, maybe. How far can the naked eyes of a chief engineer inside a cab see a red or yellow light ahead on a clear day, let alone a foggy one? How does a real train crew know there is a red a mile ahead? Perhaps, the dispatcher tells him so over the radio ahead of time. Modern loco cabs might also have readout equipment on the dash that indicates the status of signals a number of blocks ahead. No nasty surprises.
 
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I no longer see the whipping throttle or hear the constant revving. That's been gone since at least TRS19. Signals, I think have a limit up to 7 km away, or it might be more. The AI may have a dispatcher telling them what's ahead but we don't hear it. As I said, I don't run into that because I place adequate signals. Because the AI can see so far, having in between signals keeps them operating smoothly and more realistically even on un-signaled track where we use invisible signals. Also, as I said, setting the junctions for the route will prevent the AI from slowing down for a reversed switch. To ensure that sidings are only sidings and don't affect the route, set the default switch direction for the through route instead of randomly leaving them in different directions.

On my Gloucester Terminal Electric with about a dozen AI drivers doing their trolley driving plus a couple visiting periodically from portals, they run as they should on their mainline at track speed unless they have slowdown for other traffic. I ensured that the mainline track had all the switches set for the through route and not for branches or industrial sidings. To ensure these are set and remain that way, set them in the session. Once the session gets going, after the AI drivers pull out of the carbarn, they'll run their routes nearly indefinitely until I quit and want to do something else. Setting up this compact session was no easy feat and took me quite some time to get the timing right but now it works like clockwork.
 
Ok, John what else do you like better about TS 2022 over TANE? Is day and night lighting more realistic? is frame shudder lessened? What reasons do you feel are justified for purchasing it and using it over TANE? Will my TANE routes and assets easily carry over to it? I wish there was a way to try it before I buy it.
 
Less stuttering and better performance. Few if any CTDs. T:ANE was by far the worst of the "modern" versions and it took 4 service packs plus hot fixes to get it to a stable point where it is still flaky. TRS19 is better but that had performance issues. TRS22 cleans that up more.

The day and night cycle has improved a bit. The weather still hasn't. There is an additional slider for lighting adjustment that adjusts the ambient lighting that helps a lot. Before I adjust anything, I hit the default button to reset the sliders. This is the equivalent of TS12 or T:ANE lighting and is great for doing things in Surveyor.

Your routes and sessions should port over fine. I was able to bring in older routes and sessions too. TS12 was a bit problematic due to Speed Trees, but other than that, they came in too after I did some pruning and replanting first.

There's also really nice content for TRS22 and TRS19 available now and less for T:ANE. There are some really nice routes out there and some even nicer ones on the horizon such as Scratchy's new Coal Country he's working on.

If you look at the Platinum Edition, you get Surveyor 2.0 which allows you to delete or place multiple baseboards at once, place selected objects consistently at a specified height and angle, and so many other features including the most beloved Scrapbook. With the Scrapbook, you can save areas for use later on and place them down again either as a stamp, at any angle and not just on the cardinal points, or you can paint them down with the brush like a texture. This is most useful for trees. A scrap clipping of a piece of forest makes placing trees in another area soooo much easier.

If you go to Plus, subscription only, you get access to the upcoming Trainz Living Railroad. This is an automatic dispatcher system that sends trains automatically to industries without needing to configure all the commands. This is still in beta, thus in Plus only right now, and will eventually support passenger trains as well. Right now, it's only freight.

Plus gives you fully editable HD Terrain, which is limited to 16 textures per baseboard due to hardware limitations while Platinum gives you the ability to load HD Terrain routes. Editing an HD Terrain route will convert it to the 5m grid.

Both versions will give you Universal Driver Surveyor, or UDS. UDS allows you to make changes to your route on the fly while in Driver, or vice versa for testing.

If you do decide on TRS22, definitely go with Platinum edition. TRS22 base is really basic.
 
Thanks, John. I might go Platinum. I do like the looks of that West of Denver route. I am an American West boy, after all. Does that route go from Denver to Salt Lake City? Does it cover the cities and towns of Helper and Provo, Utah as well as Grand Junction and Granby, Colorado? it might be neat to set up sessions where helper engines are actually hooking up to trains in some parts. On Amtrak through those parts, big yellow UP engines hook up to the front to give the train a boost in hilly terrain. My 1986 train was lead by two silver F40's. I went through Moffat Tunnel Continental Divide on Amtrak California Zephyr in 1986 and it was about 12 miles long or so. The Rockies are pretty to ride a train through.

It is 370 miles from SLC to Denver by rail so that must be one enormous Trainz route. Might be labor-intensive to super-elevate all the spline points if the original author hasn't done that already.

Is the West of Denver route clone-able? This way one could make their own sessions up and make custom touches to the route as they see fit as populating it with people, animals and vehicles. I did that with Milwaukee Road Avery-Drexel by TUME in TANE already and it has been quite successful. I like forests, rivers, canyons and mountains.
 
Most (if not all) DLC routes and sessions can be cloned as long as you do not uninstall or disable the originals.

I just successfully cloned the West of Denver DLC route without any problems.
Good, TS 2022 Premuim with West of Denver is on my Wish List now. I will have to collect that long-overdue insurance knee-injury settlement first. I new hi-power gaming PC is also on the wish list.
 
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