repairing a TransDEM based map

[martinvk]

In my enthusiasm to reduce the number of baseboards in my map, I went a bit overboard and dumped some I now need.
Now I still have an earlier version that still contains that baseboards I need - along with many hundreds I don't. Since I don't think there is a way to crop out just the ones I need in Trainz, even with S2.0 I'd have to slowly delete all the others to be left with just what I need.

Or

I could recreate a reduce version of the map in TransDEM. Using the same original files will the newly created map match up exactly to the existing map? Will the baseboards line up?

 

[RetroRails12]

In my enthusiasm to reduce the number of baseboards in my map, I went a bit overboard and dumped some I now need.
Now I still have an earlier version that still contains that baseboards I need - along with many hundreds I don't. Since I don't think there is a way to crop out just the ones I need in Trainz, even with S2.0 I'd have to slowly delete all the others to be left with just what I need.

Or

I could recreate a reduce version of the map in TransDEM. Using the same original files will the newly created map match up exactly to the existing map? Will the baseboards line up?

from what i heard the newly created area will not match up to the rest of the map due to coordinates that were original to the route not matching the newly created area or in this case baseboards..

 

[JCitron]

In my enthusiasm to reduce the number of baseboards in my map, I went a bit overboard and dumped some I now need.
Now I still have an earlier version that still contains that baseboards I need - along with many hundreds I don't. Since I don't think there is a way to crop out just the ones I need in Trainz, even with S2.0 I'd have to slowly delete all the others to be left with just what I need.

Or

I could recreate a reduce version of the map in TransDEM. Using the same original files will the newly created map match up exactly to the existing map? Will the baseboards line up?

You can repair the map by cropping out what you don't need on the original route and patch that into the route you cut too many baseboards. I've done that in the past and it works quite well. Surveyor is perfect for this because you can select large swaths of baseboards you won't need for your route instead of removing each one individually, although if you need to be careful, then do that because there will be some places that will require that finer detail.

I went about this by merging the intact route into the broken one and placing it on top of the broken one. Whatever baseboards that needed trimming turned red. I then took some screenshots and used that as my guide to figure out what needed removing and what didn't while editing the original. The only issue I had was I kept getting interrupted as I needed 1000% focus on what I was cutting and ended up going about it few times due to interruptions at the critical point in the job.

 

[martinvk]

from what i heard the newly created area will not match up to the rest of the map due to coordinates that were original to the route not matching the newly created area or in this case baseboards..

was afraid of that. Oh well, plan B

 

[martinvk]

You can repair the map by cropping out what you don't need on the original route and patch that into the route you cut too many baseboards. I've done that in the past and it works quite well. Surveyor is perfect for this because you can select large swaths of baseboards you won't need for your route instead of removing each one individually, although if you need to be careful, then do that because there will be some places that will require that finer detail.

I went about this by merging the intact route into the broken one and placing it on top of the broken one. Whatever baseboards that needed trimming turned red. I then took some screenshots and used that as my guide to figure out what needed removing and what didn't while editing the original. The only issue I had was I kept getting interrupted as I needed 1000% focus on what I was cutting and ended up going about it few times due to interruptions at the critical point in the job.

Well here goes plan B.
The matching up should be pretty obvious since the cuttings are all along baseboard boundaries. Its just that there soooo many baseboards.

 

[JCitron]

Well here goes plan B.
The matching up should be pretty obvious since the cuttings are all along baseboard boundaries. Its just that there soooo many baseboards.

Yup... I can relate. This is where Surveyor 2.0 helps with selecting chunks as needed.

 

[martinvk]

Ouch, well that was painful. Even with the ability to select and delete large chunks, the process would seize one out of two times, on average. Saving after every delete worked as well as the auto-recovery feature which lets me continue where it froze after a restart.
Now just have to do the final trimming to have the two maps fit like a good jigsaw puzzle and my route can continue.

Still leave the question why the freezing of the system. The app is non-responsive to any input. In Task Master, not all of the available memory is used and the CPU, while sometimes close to 80% at other times closer to 50%. I've already set the virtual memory to 4x the physical. Now my Trainz computer only has 16 GB which was generous when it was new but now is rather skimpy.

 

[blueodessey]

Ouch, well that was painful. Even with the ability to select and delete large chunks, the process would seize one out of two times, on average. Saving after every delete worked as well as the auto-recovery feature which lets me continue where it froze after a restart.
Now just have to do the final trimming to have the two maps fit like a good jigsaw puzzle and my route can continue.

Still leave the question why the freezing of the system. The app is non-responsive to any input. In Task Master, not all of the available memory is used and the CPU, while sometimes close to 80% at other times closer to 50%. I've already set the virtual memory to 4x the physical. Now my Trainz computer only has 16 GB which was generous when it was new but now is rather skimpy.

I run with 64 Gig RAM and 4 Terabyte Dual Drive Setup I too started with 16 Gig Ram , 1 Terabyte Platter Drive..

 

[martinvk]

I think I may have found something. If during a Delete Baseboard process I shift the map, the delete process freezes.
Even if I only select about a dozen baseboards, as soon as the map moves, everything is frozen.

Can anyone replicate this behaviour?

 

[blueodessey]

I think I may have found something. If during a Delete Baseboard process I shift the map, the delete process freezes.
Even if I only select about a dozen baseboards, as soon as the map moves, everything is frozen.

Can anyone replicate this behaviour?

I had that happen too, I think what is happening, when you shift the map view, there too much GPU Calculations going on, and your system can't recalculate the new position due to Tiles be deleted at same time.

 

[martinvk]

Would you consider this a bug or just the way things work? If it happens to you too with 4x my RAM (what GPU?) then it may be a limit in hardware capability.

 

[martinvk]

As I continue to trim, I noticed that the map will sometimes shift on it own accord and for no obvious reason, nothing was off-screen, thus seize up. I was watching the GPU usage during this time and it was a steady 23%

For what it's worth, I submitted a bug report, emphasizing the shifting before each freeze.

 

[JCitron]

I responded to your other thread where you mentioned the freeze. Press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC to bring up Task Manager and click on the performance button on the left. Check your hard drive. Is it running at 100%? I noticed big freeze while doing things in Surveyor. When I checked, my hard disk access was at 100%. When that stopped, everything was back to normal.

 

[blueodessey]

As I continue to trim, I noticed that the map will sometimes shift on it own accord and for no obvious reason, nothing was off-screen, thus seize up. I was watching the GPU usage during this time and it was a steady 23%

For what it's worth, I submitted a bug report, emphasizing the shifting before each freeze.

That Map shouldn't be moving at all, unless user causes it to move. Strange

 

[martinvk]

Honest, my fingers were nowhere near the mouse or keyboard, the base map just shifted as if it was trying to stay centered as baseboards were being deleted.

 

[martinvk]

Meanwhile, this ordeal is finally over. The extension map has been trimmed to mate with the main map. The two have been merged and the seam is not visible. It's as if it had never been cut-off. Must remember to not delete baseboards again unless I'm really, really sure I'll not be needing them again.

Thanks to everyone who pitched in with helpful advice, I can now continue working on the route. It will be somewhat slower than before since the extended area has no built-in guides from JOSM. So it will be 100% interpolation and interpretation from Google maps, my imagination and logic and other external sources as to where the ROW was placed and other physical objects. Get to engage my inner engineer to help decide what the best solutions would be. (one of the big reasons why I so enjoy using Trainz. This Civil Engineer gets to play without pesky things like budgets and other constraints.)

 

[rwk]

I hate when a large route hangs when saving because I have to force quit in task manager and that will trigger a DBR which takes so long when loading Trainz again. Is that caused by low disk space in C? I have 64 GB RAM.

 

[JCitron]

I hate when a large route hangs when saving because I have to force quit in task manager and that will trigger a DBR which takes so long when loading Trainz again. Is that caused by low disk space in C? I have 64 GB RAM.

Yes, this can be caused by low disk space because Windows is swapping data around and shuffling data between temporary files and RAM. If you can free up disk space, I highly recommend increasing your page file to at least twice your installed RAM. Windows sets the page and this hasn't always been enough because it's set at 9.8 GB.

 

[PGibbons]

I agree. If you can manage it I find that its better to put all Trainz content, database, etc on a separate hard drive, preferably a SSD. Leave your 'C" drive for the Operating System only.
PG

 

[rwk]

My old computer has an SSD on it but I think it's disconnected as I used a 2 TB platter drive and installed Win 8.1 on it. My newer used computer for this amusement park building sequel that has higher requirements I think has Win 10 on an SSD. Besides disk space, does more RAM help and a beefier graphics card? How do you increase your page file? I might try that to improve Trainz performance on my old 6 year old computer.