Satisfying operating sessions on UMR 2016 TANE

[CaseyTheJones]

I've been playing around with the UMR 2016 TANE route for a couple weeks now. Both the size of the route and the many interactive industries throughout have the potential for some very long and interesting operating sessions.

In the past and on other routes, what I enjoy is having a mixture of AI drivers executing various tasks while I take control of whatever train I pick. I have even had entire sessions run by AI drivers and I can kick back and watch and/or interject if needed or desired. Attempting to do this on a route of this size can be somewhat overwhelming.

There are a few things that I have found to be helpful in setting up and running sessions. One is to have a map, even if the map is not detailed down to every junction or marker, as long as it shows where the towns are is usually good enough. Another thing is to have a list of all the products. The Murchison route, for example, included a printable list showing each product and locations where they could be loaded and unloaded.

So far for the UMR 2016 TANE route I have drawn out the massive map on graph paper that shows locations of towns and some industries. It aids in having an greater perspective on the route. I found this to actually be easier than taking screen shots and printing them and the use of graph paper with 1/8" squares allowed me to keep the map to a semi reasonable size that I could tape to the wall above my computer monitor.

Secondly, I have gone over the entire route and wrote down every interactive industry name along with it's product and whether it is loaded or unloaded. From this I will be able to compose a list of all the products. Each product will then have two sub-list showing where it can be loaded and where it can be unloaded. All of this has taken a long time and I still have to get all my notes into an organized and printable format

I understand that with small routes these things are not as important but in this case it can be nearly impossible to create organized and realistic operating sessions without these aids.

What things do others here do to assist in creating enjoyable operating sessions with AI drivers on large routes?

Also, what is the most AI drivers others have used in sessions? Is there a limit? While the graphics taxes the GPU, I imagine the more AI activity and drivers one has going on, the more it taxes the CPU and RAM.

 

[oknotsen]

What things do others here do to assist in creating enjoyable operating sessions with AI drivers on large routes?

My routes are nowhere near as large as the UMR or even 10% of it, but what I did was create an introduction session that popped a list of HTML pages in game describing what is where.
After a recent request, I turned those pages into a handbook on my website.

Btw,
Did you know someone already did a large part of what you described for the UMR? It can be found here:
http://madmikesradio.net/Trainz/UMR_Ind_v16.html
Granted; that is for an older version of the route, but it could have gotten you started. Found it by Googeling "UMR industries trainz".

 

[MountE]

Don't know if this is still true? Open the route for edit and inside is a list of industries and a map of the route. It was for older version I know,

Rob

 

[stouthm]

I also have been operating on the UMR Summer route but I'm doing it a different way. First, I place track marks where needed and name them to keep the AI on the correct track. Then, in Driver Commands I check "Copy Commands From" and choose "Schedule Library". I think you have to add that to the commands list. I then put the route that I want the train to take in the 'Library". It's a little time consuming but once it's been entered than with a couple of clicks your train runs that route whenever you wish. With eight different drivers I can have all of them running in a matter of seconds. You can add or subtract track marks wherever needed. It's really easy, just time consuming. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[CaseyTheJones]

My routes are nowhere near as large as the UMR or even 10% of it, but what I did was create an introduction session that popped a list of HTML pages in game describing what is where.
After a recent request, I turned those pages into a handbook on my website.

Btw,
Did you know someone already did a large part of what you described for the UMR? It can be found here:
http://madmikesradio.net/Trainz/UMR_Ind_v16.html
Granted; that is for an older version of the route, but it could have gotten you started. Found it by Googeling "UMR industries trainz".

Thanks for the link to the partial product list for the route. I used it to cross reference mine and double check for errors. I made mine slightly different because the vast majority of the industries either produce or consume a product, but not many do both, so I was able to consolidate the list. I'm sure as I now begin to create a session, I will find that I may have a few errors.

 

[CaseyTheJones]

I also have been operating on the UMR Summer route but I'm doing it a different way. First, I place track marks where needed and name them to keep the AI on the correct track. Then, in Driver Commands I check "Copy Commands From" and choose "Schedule Library". I think you have to add that to the commands list. I then put the route that I want the train to take in the 'Library". It's a little time consuming but once it's been entered than with a couple of clicks your train runs that route whenever you wish. With eight different drivers I can have all of them running in a matter of seconds. You can add or subtract track marks wherever needed. It's really easy, just time consuming. Let me know if you have any questions.

I have not used the "Copy Commands From" or "Schedule Library" commands or rules yet but I will look into them. Thanks for the help.

 

[CaseyTheJones]

A beginning

Where to even begin on a route this size had me troubled at first so I thought about it for awhile. I had to imagine what the route would have been built for in real life, its beginnings. Passenger service between towns was a start so getting a few passenger trains running and connecting all the towns was first.

Wheat seems to be the largest product along the entire route with nearly 60 locations that load the product and only one location to unload so this has been the next step. Setting up switchers in the towns to load wheat cars and then set them in the yards to be picked up by the grain train. It's looking like some consist will be exclusive to one product while others are going to be mixed freight. This has been a lot of fun so far and things are going well for the most part.

Problem I have noticed is that "invisible consist" are appearing all over the route during session operation. These show up on map view and in the list when telling AI drivers to couple to something. These invisible consist don't even seem to be located on the track but adjacent or near the track. Not sure what is causing this.

As the session gets longer in duration I save the session to continue it later when I have time to play again. Sometimes the saved sessions fail to load and TANE gets "stuck" on the loading screen. The only way out is CTRL/ALT/DEL to use the task manager to close Trainz.

 

[stouthm]

I think the "invisible consist" may be a part of the ATLS System for the road crossings. Ignore them but don't disable them.