Tunnel Trouble (3-760x520 images)

[mezzoprezzo]

I've been trying to find a dark 2-track stone tunnel spline where the tracks are widely spaced. This is how the real thing looks:

Next pic shows my Surveyor efforts so far.

To get around he track spacing problem I've used a four track tunnel spline by VinnyBarb kuid2:184151:391:2, and connected the two outside tracks only. Its not quite to scale, but far better than normal 2-track. To make the entrance look stone built I've covered the concrete tunnel entrance with a bridge (Brueke) 164988:1042145 by iceman2117. I can probably live with it, but if anyone out there has a better solution I'd be grateful for any ideas:
Could the tunnel lights be turned off?
Is there a way of changing the tunnel track to match the one I've used for the station?


The next pic shows how bad the rail "join" looks close up.

The last problem concerns objects over the dig hole. They collapse into the tunnel entrance when switching to Driver. To get over this I've set the trees and Enel tower off the ground in Surveyor> By trial & error I've managed to get the heights right (all different) so they appear connected to the ground in Driver. Is this a common Trainz problem, or just a TRS2004 issue, or something that only happens with some tunnel splines?

 

[cascaderailroad]

Alot use short segmants of a Stone Arch bridge splines as a tunnel portal, set right in front of a tunnel that has a less than attractive portal look, conceiling the Tunnel Spline portal.

 

[mezzoprezzo]

Thanks for the suggestion. I've tried a few of those, but all the suitable stone versions seem to stretch into a second arch before I can span the two tracks.
Maybe I'm stuck with what I've got, until I get the hang of Gmax. Could be a long time - been trying for 6 months!

 

[honeymonster1971]

Create an alias

mezzoprezzo

I can't help you with the lights in the tunnel but I can create an alias for you to sort the track out for you, Let me know what your kuid is and what the kuid is of the track and I'll prepare it for you and email you it. (it's only a txt file)

Then put that txt doc in your "world>custom>track" folder (I believe this is correct but I haven't used 04 since 06 came out so could be wrong) in your Trainz directory

Once you've done that you can go into surveyor and replace the original tunnel with the aliased one

Any Probs ask me them here and if I can help with them I will.

Andy

 

[mezzoprezzo]

Hey, thanks Andy.
I've looked at my TRS2004 files to see where the modified stuff will need to go, and seem to have a problem. I cannot find the custom folder. It's got to be there somewhere but isn't visible on my system. I'm using Vista and know from reading the forums that there are issues with Vista and Trainz. I've tried looking via my Administrator account and can get no further than on my normal login account. All I see is the following

There are files in each of those folders, but nothing that seems relevant.

Any ideas?

The track, by VinnyBarb, is: Concrete 4Tracks kuid2:184151:391:2. My kuid is 427421

Presumably I need to send you my email details vis PM. I fairly new to all this, so please bear with me! Thanks again for all the help.

 

[cathouse]

Hi
Vista likes to hide things. go into 'control panel', select 'folder options', select 'view' and scroll down to hidden files and folders, select show hidden files and click ok.
then, if you didn't install as administrator ( guess how I know this:hehe: )
you will find trainz installed somewhere else as well.

follow this path in explorer: "you name"/appdata/local/virtual store/program files/auran/trs 2004.

I hate Vista.

hope this helps some.
cheers
Roy

 

[mezzoprezzo]

Thanks cathouse for the advice. I'll try now.

 

[honeymonster1971]

Folders, Folders sooooo many Folders

mezzoprezzo,
In this folder create a new folder called "Track" and thats all there is to it (as I said, I haven't had 04 installed for a long time and I couldn't remember what the default folders were.)

I need the kuid of the track you are using (the brown one) not the kuid of the tunnel it self, That way I can tell the tunnel what track to use, This means you'll end up with no visible track joint at all.

As for letting me know your email certainly send it to me in a PM.

And you'll have your new tunnel by the end of the day

Andy

 

[bendorsey]

You might be able to eliminate the two inner tracks by changing the trackoffsets line in the config file. For 4 tracks it should have 4 values. Try eliminating the inner two (one negative and one positive). That should leave only the outer two and you can move them by changing the two remaining values. Keep in mind the values are in meters.

Ben

 

[mezzoprezzo]

Thanks for all the good advice folks. What a great forum this is!
Just be kind to an old beginner. I'm gently finding my way into the new and mysterious world of config files etc.
Cathouse's help with my battle with Vista (I hate it too!) has moved me a bit further forward. I've followed his advice and -Bingo- I've found more of the appropriate folders in my PC:

What I don't see is a Track folder....

Ah - just seen your 01:39pm post! Advice is coming in faster than I can experiment and respond (not complaining though!)
The brown track is kuid 98193:10650 (OriginalDGray Concrete Clear). I'll PM the email.

Thanks Ben for the track edit advice. I have TrainzObjectz. Can the editing be done through that?

 

[honeymonster1971]

You have mail

 

[cathouse]

Hi
Just a further note the intricacies of Trainz and Vista.

You’ve already discovered trainz installed in two different places.
To add to the confusion there is a "download " folder at both locations.

We’ll call the one at C/Program files/auran/trs2004 folder 'A’ and the hidden one folder ‘B’.

Now when you run trainz it looks in the download folder ‘B’ for content and if you download from the DLS using ‘download helper’ it installs in folder ‘B’.

That’s all fine and dandy but suppose you download something from a third party site, you get either a zip file or a CDP file .

To install a CDP file you double-click on it , click extract and it installs..................in folder ‘A’.

Guess what, Trainz can't see folder ‘A’ so you have to move it across to folder ‘B’ before you can use it. this drove me nuts when I first installed it. I moved all my content from my old computer and none of it showed up in game.

The other thing is, when "download helper" installs something it automatically deletes a file in the hidden Trainz folder in the subfolder called "cache" . This file is called the "dispatcher chump file".

there is a "cache" folder in folder 'A' as well but there isn't a "dispatcher chump" file in it.

When you next start Trainz it rebuilds this file and finds any new downloads.
Installing manually does NOT delete this file and you have to delete it manually or Trainz will not "see" any new content.

This has been a long ramble but I hope this helps you or anyone else suffering from Vistamania.

Cheers
Roy

 

[mezzoprezzo]

Thanks everyone, particularly Andy for creating & emailing the file.
Now to work!
What I don't want to do is wreck the route.
I'm not sure about is what to do first, so a few stupid novice questions. (I guess this will all look easy, eventually!)

Do I change the tracks as per Ben's advice (I've found the edit file in TrainzObjectz)

or is this change already incorporated in Andy's "alias" file?

If I have to do both, which one should I do first?

When Andy's "alias" tunnel appears in Surveyor, what name will it have?

When (or if) I need to make changes to the trackoffsets as per Ben's advice do I simple delete the middle two values and commas, with or without gaps eg:

a) -5.5, , ,5.5 or
b)-5.5,5.5
or ??​

Thanks for the long ramble Roy. Every word was informative. That aswers why I didn't always see my downloads in Surveyor. I've got around the problem by finding out that if I delete an item in Content Manager (a winter Willow tree always gets it!) then the files rebuild, and all the new stuff is available in Surveyor. Still a faff, but possibly a quicker faff than the conventional method you described. And the Willow tree never disappears!

Cheers everyone.

 

[honeymonster1971]

Mezzo,

Do I change the tracks as per Ben's advice (I've found the edit file in TrainzObjectz) or is this change already incorporated in Andy's "alias" file?

When Andy's "alias" tunnel appears in Surveyor, what name will it have?

The Alias is already set up with everything you need, The only thing I didn't think of is to change the name so it should appear either just above or below the original in surveyor.

What the Alias does:
Track in tunnel changed to "OriginalDGray Concrete".
Number of tracks changed to the outside two only.

Thats it, You shouldn't need to do anything else (presuming the joys of vista haven't messed up everything in 04) as the items in your custom folder didn't used to be effected by the various .chump files. (the custom folder is made with the creator/tester in mind).

About the only thing you might want to change is the name maybe?

Andy

 

[bendorsey]

like b

trackoffsets (tab) -5.5,5.5

Ben

 

[honeymonster1971]

Ben,
My alias does that for him, Nothing else should need changing, It certainly worked perfectly in 06 & 09 (the two I currently have installed) That way he'll still have the original untouched and it won't make the map do strange things on anyone elses machine.

Andy

 

[mezzoprezzo]

Thanks again guys.
Now I need food! Been on this PC too long today, but learnt loads particularly how very helpful people can be.
Hopefully:
1. All questions now answered.
2. Next post will be a screenie of the result rather than more questions
Cheers.
Casper

 

[bendorsey]

Oops - sorry Andy - didn't know that.

Ben

 

[honeymonster1971]

NP Ben :hehe:

 

[mezzoprezzo]

Problems

Loaded up Andy's file as advised.
Restarted TRS2004. No change.
Found dispatcher chump file. Deleted it. Restarted TRS2004.
Got message, "Trainz exchange. Some custom content used in this map is not installed on your computer. This may cause unexpected behaviour. Load map anyway. Download missing assets now"
Loaded map to find existing station platform, all the brown track and some splines had disappeared with lots of objects:'( . The 4 tunnel tracks are still poking out of the collapsed dighole position.
Tried loading game again using the "download missing assets now" option. Activity at first on the hard drive, but then it stopped, as it normal would at the end of download. Modem light working showing no activity either so presumed any download was complete.
Reloaded game. No change - still incomplete route.
Removed Andy's file - reloaded game -still incomplete.
There are more chump files in both folders 'A' and 'B' (as defined by Roy). Do these need to be deleted as well?
I've taken screenshots of all of this, but ImageShack is not displaying the pix I uploaded 20 mins ago, so I hope the description is sufficient for a diagnosis and hopefully a cure!
Help please!