Train Not Slowing Down For Speed Reduction

[AdvancedApproach]

This train had plenty of room and time to slow down yet failed in doing so. The AI system needs a vast overhaul.

https://imgur.com/iyE166M

 

[pware]

A few observations I made.

• The line speed drops from 79 (mph???) straight down to 15 in a single step.
• The consist is already slowing down well before the first junction but I notice that an "Excessive acceleration" (or in this case it should be "deceleration") warning appears on the bottom right of the screen. This indicates to me that the required speed change is in excess of what the engine specs will allow. That plus I have no idea what load is being pulled by the loco.

Some possible suggestions:-

• add additional speed reductions before the first junction
• set the second signal to show STOP until the first signal has been passed (use the Set Signal Extended Rule and Track Triggers)

The AI is not a human driver with years of road knowledge. It only looks ahead a set distance to check for speed changes and signal states, and that set distance is often criticised in these forums as being, alternatively, too short or too long.

 

[AdvancedApproach]

A few observations I made.

• The line speed drops from 79 (mph???) straight down to 15 in a single step.
• The consist is already slowing down well before the first junction but I notice that an "Excessive acceleration" (or in this case it should be "deceleration") warning appears on the bottom right of the screen. This indicates to me that the required speed change is in excess of what the engine specs will allow. That plus I have no idea what load is being pulled by the loco.

Some possible suggestions:-

• add additional speed reductions before the first junction
• set the second signal to show STOP until the first signal has been passed (use the Set Signal Extended Rule and Track Triggers)

The AI is not a human driver with years of road knowledge. It only looks ahead a set distance to check for speed changes and signal states, and that set distance is often criticised in these forums as being, alternatively, too short or too long.

Why would I decrease the speed on a mainline? It's entering a yard. Now granted, it's a fully loaded coal train but operating in DCC mode due to being controlled by AI, there's no excuse for not slowing down in a timely manner. It doesn't take years of experience or knowledge on the route. This isn't real life. Also, the excessive acceleration point you made is incorrect. Quite frankly, it's a joke. It doesn't take much for an excessive acceleration alert to be triggered. Just moving the throttle up or down a notch in CAB mode will cause an excessive acceleration alert to be triggered. I can get 96 cars of loaded coal down to 15 mph in no time. AI has no problem reacting timely to a less favorable signal indication.

 

[pware]

Also, the excessive acceleration point you made is incorrect. Quite frankly, it's a joke. It doesn't take much for an excessive acceleration alert to be triggered

Then blame the creator(s) who wrote the engine specs for the locos. I see the same "Rough handling" or "Excessive ..." on some locos but not on others on the same route when running at identical speeds. The difference come down to differences between the engine specs.

 

[AdvancedApproach]

Then blame the creator(s) who wrote the engine specs for the locos. I see the same "Rough handling" or "Excessive ..." on some locos but not on others on the same route when running at identical speeds. The difference come down to differences between the engine specs.

I see rough handling or excessive acceleration ALL the time when driving manually. It's not the creator's fault that N3V the set distance is too short for AI trains to detect a reduction in speed and slow down accordingly. As you seen in the video that train was actually gaining speed for a short while before attempting to slow down. It wasn't until around 15 seconds before attempting to slow down. That's not going to cut it.

 

[AdvancedApproach]

Then the idiot AI driver blows past a red absolute signal while switching tracks and hits another train and somewhat miraculously doesn't derail. It's things like that which anger me about this game.

 

[pware]

Its a game, not an exact copy of reality. Otherwise there would be only a single type of loco, a single type of wagon, a single type of industry, a single type of track, a single type of signal, a single type of switch, etc etc. And no road traffic!

Trying to realistically simulate the correct operation of every asset, weather condition, sunrise & sunset (according to your latitude and time of the year), phase of the moon, operating rules for different railroads, etc, etc would throw the whole thing into the "too hard basket".

I accept that Trainz is a game with obvious limitations (the AI being one of them) and I work within those limits. Over the years I have adopted the new features that have been appeared, as incremental as they sometimes are - but I am not into Multiplayer. I look forward to further improvements, again incremental, that may/will come.

I do not get angry at issues that are not up to "my expectations". I do post about problems that I have found and I fill out a Bug Report if I can reproduce the issue. I do not add the demand "N3V has to fix this" to every post about a problem.

It's things like that which anger me about this game

A hobby should be relaxing, not stressful. Perhaps it is time for you to take a break from Trainz.

 

[AdvancedApproach]

Its a game, not an exact copy of reality. Otherwise there would be only a single type of loco, a single type of wagon, a single type of industry, a single type of track, a single type of signal, a single type of switch, etc etc. And no road traffic!

Trying to realistically simulate the correct operation of every asset, weather condition, sunrise & sunset (according to your latitude and time of the year), phase of the moon, operating rules for different railroads, etc, etc would throw the whole thing into the "too hard basket".

I accept that Trainz is a game with obvious limitations (the AI being one of them) and I work within those limits. Over the years I have adopted the new features that have been appeared, as incremental as they sometimes are - but I am not into Multiplayer. I look forward to further improvements, again incremental, that may/will come.

I do not get angry at issues that are not up to "my expectations". I do post about problems that I have found and I fill out a Bug Report if I can reproduce the issue. I do not add the demand "N3V has to fix this" to every post about a problem.


A hobby should be relaxing, not stressful. Perhaps it is time for you to take a break from Trainz.

We've been waiting on those incremental changes to the tunnel dig hole system for over 20 years and that may never happen according to N3V. I get angry because Trainz can be better and improve but N3V seems to be lagging behind by not capitulating to customers every demand as they're supposed to. Without customers they don't have a business. Then when they provide half ass fixes that are rushed through like Nascar drivers on pit row which causes more problems than were solved or create new ones, N3V shifts the blame to us rather than taking accountability. That's where my anger comes in as does many other people who have complained on this forum. Maybe you don't make demands but I do. Just hoping and praying to the video game gods that N3V will actually listen to their customers won't work. By the way, I took a four month long break from Trainz.

 

[JCitron]

Try using advance signals prior to your absolute or interlockings. These will forewarn your AI drivers that the upcoming signal is red.

Trains reduce speed when entering yards. I've seen them do that in real life. This is the reason why I have a through line that operates at speed offset from the yard. This allows the through trains to pass by at full speed while the freight trains move along slowly off the mainline.

The AI drivers are dumb. They only do what we tell them to do via driver commands and nothing else. They cannot read our minds. This is where the challenge comes in. At the very least, we are programming the AI to do what we want by using a high-level programming language. It may not look that way but we are actually stringing together subroutines by placing the different driver commands in the driver command queue.

The various messages that appear about excessive acceleration and curve speed started in TRS19. Routes that never showed any problems now have them. I've seen the excessive acceleration caused by AI drivers as they slow down while entering a station or when starting up. I just ignore them; they're less annoying.

In the end, Trainz is not a real simulator. If it was, it wouldn't be $12.99 a month for Plus.