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If you knew anything about content creation you'd know that with N3V shifting the goalposts with every 'update' it can be a thankless task trying to keep assets updated after an 'update' or a new DLC release has banjaxed an asset's dependencies or even the scripts it depends on. Most folk who make content for Trainz do it entirely for free as a service to the community and it's really encouraging when folk like you criticise us and tell us what we should be doing. An asset that's fine today might become faulty tomorrow and that will certainly happen if you have a Trainz Plus+ subscription, - and guess what. - when that happens it's not our fault.Why can't the people who make the items check to see if there are faulty dependencies and correct them? Just a thought.
This is not with content I have installed in the program, but new downloads from the download station that were just posted there that day. Exp August 5 2024 with the build 4.5..If you knew anything about content creation you'd know that with N3V shifting the goalposts with every 'update' it can be a thankless task trying to keep assets updated after an 'update' or a new DLC release has banjaxed an asset's dependencies or even the scripts it depends on. Most folk who make content for Trainz do it entirely for free as a service to the community and it's really encouraging when folk like you criticise us and tell us what we should be doing. An asset that's fine today might become faulty tomorrow and that will certainly happen if you have a Trainz Plus+ subscription, - and guess what. - when that happens it's not our fault.
Updated or uploaded by the creator to function in TANE. For some content creators I know TANE is as far as they are willing to go at present with Plus+ and TRS22 changing with every 'update'.Exp August 5 2024 with the build 4.5..
If you look at some of the version numbers on my content you'll see they can be up to around ten, this is purely content that was correct when uploaded and the goal posts have changed. I have around 2,000 assets on the DLS and keeping them updated is a major problem. Some need TLC so they work in both TANE and TS22. The requirements are different. Another problem is reskins, there are many reskins of my work that need to be corrected but unfortunately I'm unable to correct them only the reskinner can do that or the the repair group.We are now into TRAINZ+ and when we download some rolling stock and locomotives there are faulty dependencies. I can see items with older builds but now wit builds 3.5 and above that should not be the case.. Why can't the people who make the items check to see if there are faulty dependencies and correct them? Just a thought.
This is very helpful, thank you for posting this. I'm fairly new to all of this, so my question is now that I have found missing\faulty dependencies (there are a lot), how do I go about fixing them? I know this is a noob question, so thank you for your patience. I'm finding it a bit difficult to wrap my head around some of this.Unlike other "games" Trainz is a dynamic world both as a program and with content creation. The content is also user-created and rarely company-created. This means that some content is going to be made better than others, and it means carefully picking and choosing downloads.
From experience, routes are going to have the biggest risk of missing dependencies. This is an unfortunate thing due to many factors such as assets coming from long gone third-party websites to custom assets given to the route creator.
As someone who has a large library of content, I only have one missing dependency and I was told by the route-creator to ignore it because it's something that is no longer available anywhere and it wasn't anything important. Faulty content is also a rare creature in my installed content.
How do I do this?
I keep all my installed content up-to-date by checking frequently for updates for both DLC and payware plus anything else I have installed from the DLS.
DLC may not appear out of date, but there are sub-components that can be. To find these you need to set up filters in Content Manager and add columns.
First you need to view every column and not just the few that are shown by default. This will allow you to sort by install date, author, etc. easily. To do this, right-click on an existing column and select one of the unchecked ones. Repeat this until you've selected all of them. You can then arrange them how you wish.
Second, you need to set up filters in Content Manager.
These are the filters I use daily:
Installed - Out of Date - not DLC
Installed = True
Out of date = True
Packaged = False.
This will list any updated installed content from the DLS.
Its companion is Installed - Out of Date - DLC
Installed = True
Out of date = True
Packaged = True.
You can't download DLC locomotives this way but other assets such as an updated vehicle or building, track, etc.
Installed = Obsolete and NOT Built-in or DLC
Installed = True
Obsolete = True
Packaged = False
Authorised = True
Payware = False.
Anything that appears in this view is obsolete from the DLS or installed via a CDP and can be deleted. Keeping obsolete assets installed can sometimes cause odd issues.
Missing Dependencies Only
This is a related filter to Faulty Only but only shows missing dependencies. This is particularly useful when searching for assets or when installing dependencies from CDPs.
Faulty Only
Just as it says. I set this up without missing dependencies and faulty dependencies. Faulty Only allows for a quick search of truly faulty content and makes repairs a lot easier too.
And finally, I use the built-in Open for edit filter often and more so when I have installed content from CDPs. This will ensure that anything that's already installed isn't left open for editing, and with the status column fully visible, it's easy to see if any DLC has been left open and all this open for edit content can be selected and reverted to original unless there's a specific reason to submit, meaning overwriting the existing content. The opened for edit assets can cause all kinds of faults in built-in and third-party assets, and so can overwriting the existing content.
Whenever I update to the latest Trainz version, I also check for updated DLC. I have found that there's a corelease of DLC at the same time as the release of a new Trainz version. This can cause faulty content and thus faulty dependencies for many downloaded assets. Sometimes, running a database repair and viewing errors and warnings will clean up these faults, but not always.
I know this is probably TL;DR but this is what I do when I install content and how I set up Content Manager. It makes my install easier to manage no matter how much content I have.
I'm glad you found this useful.This is very helpful, thank you for posting this. I'm fairly new to all of this, so my question is now that I have found missing\faulty dependencies (there are a lot), how do I go about fixing them? I know this is a noob question, so thank you for your patience. I'm finding it a bit difficult to wrap my head around some of this.
Thanks a lot for your reply. I have been able to fix a lot of the obsolete and missing ones, now I am working on the unknown and faulty ones that I couldn't fix before. I will take a crack at it, and any of the ones I can't figure out, I will post. Again, thank you for the advice, it has helped a lot.I'm glad you found this useful.
Missing content may mean going on a kuid hunt as we call it. Using a forum post called Missing Assets? Post them here, you can post the list of missing assets by highlighting them in Content Manager, then copying and pasting the list in the forum where someone will assist you with finding the assets.
Missing Kuids? Post them here.
Mods, please make this post sticky. I've been inspired by threads over on the SI3D forums for missing kuids post, and thought that the Trainz Forums should have a similar post. If you have missing kuids, post them here, and respective users should know what or where to get the kuid. You will...forums.auran.com
The alternative is to do search in Bing or Google. Put in the kuid in the search box prefixed by Trainz kuid. This will bring up possible links for it as well as mentions of it.
In the event that all else fails, you may as well as forget them and edit the route, and then delete the missing assets. This is something of a last resort, but it has to be done even if you find replacements in order to clean up the old ones from the route. In many instances, the missing assets are something you can live without such as a tree, or building, or some other insignificant asset. Other times, you need to replace them manually for such things as switch levers, bridges, tracks and other more important things.
Faulty assets can be a time-consuming challenge. It takes experience and knowing your way around as well as understanding the error messages. At this point in the game, I can repair most things except for script errors. but it took me a very long time getting here.
The easy errors to repair are spelling errors in the config.txt files, missing textures, and incorrectly sized textures. Over the years, I've gathered what I call a toolbox for repairing assets. This is like having a scrap box of extra bits and parts when building a model or model railroad. In that folder are miscellaneous textures along with their texture.txt files, such as the famous black.tga and black.texture.txt, variations on the always missing screenshot.jpg files for those quick missing thumbnail errors, and many other config.txt parts for such things as missing or faulty mesh-tables, etc.
Your tools should include a text editor such as Notepad++, but Notepad from Windows will do the job. Helpful tools include Search and Replace Master, and a payware application File Boss. Search and Replace Master allows you to repair multiple assets with the same typographical errors in the config.txt files. This has to be done in multiple passes, but it beats opening up hundreds of similar assets to fix the same problem. File Boss can copy the same file to multiple folders at once. This is extremely useful for those times when the same texture is missing from multiple assets.
Other tools such as Images2TGA, and PM2IM are part of this toolbox as well. These allow you to decompress .texture files to the two parts - texture and texture.txt, and convert or update meshes from the old PM to the newer IM meshes respectively.
As I said, this takes experience but above all it also takes patience. Error repairs don't always go as expected and an attempt to update or repair an asset can lead to further problems. Sometimes, it's necessary to download the asset again and attempt the repair from scratch.
Your best bet initially when asking about repairing an asset is to start a thread and ask for help on it. We can walk you through the steps for repairing the assets. Eventually, you'll gain enough experience with these errors to be able to take them on yourself.
A starting point could be the Trainz Wiki page at Understand Content Manager Status LabelsI have been able to fix a lot of the obsolete and missing ones, now I am working on the unknown and faulty ones that I couldn't fix before.