Unable To Activate River Lock

[jrfolco]

I've installed Maddy25's River Lock, (kuid:2:124017:30019:1), but I'm unable to activate the gates. I've tried it in TRS2004 & TRS2006.

After pulling up to the gates with a tugboat & barge, or into the lock from the other direction, I click on "Turntable" and nothing happens. I've clicked in the vicinity of "Turntable" numerous times, but to no avail.

Does anyone know if there is a way to make the lock work?

Thanks, Joe

 

[rweber95]

I just downloaded it into TRS2006 and commited ok. Placed it and a boat in a test map using Surveyor. Then went to Driver to try it. Started with the water low in the lock and the lock gate by the control house is open. Hovered the mouse pointer near the center of the lock and the 2 turntable arrows appeared very dimly, both red. Clicked one but nothing happens. Click the other and it turned green, the open lock closed, water raised then the far lock door opens. Whole thing takes about 20 seconds. Clicking the other turntable arrow reverses the operation to the original state.

Bob

 

[jrfolco]

I just downloaded it into TRS2006 and commited ok. Placed it and a boat in a test map using Surveyor. Then went to Driver to try it. Started with the water low in the lock and the lock gate by the control house is open. Hovered the mouse pointer near the center of the lock and the 2 turntable arrows appeared very dimly, both red. Clicked one but nothing happens. Click the other and it turned green, the open lock closed, water raised then the far lock door opens. Whole thing takes about 20 seconds. Clicking the other turntable arrow reverses the operation to the original state.

Bob

Hi Rob,
Thanks for the comeback. I found the the two directional arrows, and as you said, they are very dim, but I was able to successfully activate the gates both ways. You've solved my problem.

Thanks, Joe

 

[Maddy25]

Hi Rob, [...] You've solved my problem.

Thanks, Joe

Whew, I just saw this thread. Thanks, Bob, for answering it!

- Madeline

 

[stagecoach]

Madeline
Just a small question. On the locks are the arrows for raising and lowering fixed at a particular height or can they be placed higher, Im not a builder as such so dont understand how they are set up. Only asking because i have had problems getting locks of vulcans to work by not being able to click on the right spot always. They tend to get hidden by the banks or the water.

 

[jrfolco]

The dimly lit directional arrows are hard to locate, especially with vessels in the locks, so I solved the problem by installing a light pole on each side of the lock wall at the exact position of the arrows.

Just click the water at the base of either pole to activate the gates. Works like a charm, especially at night.

Joe

 

[Maddy25]

Madeline
Just a small question. On the locks are the arrows for raising and lowering fixed at a particular height or can they be placed higher, Im not a builder as such so dont understand how they are set up. Only asking because i have had problems getting locks of vulcans to work by not being able to click on the right spot always. They tend to get hidden by the banks or the water.

Unfortunately, as far as I can tell, there is no way to tell trainz where to put those arrows. It just seems to put them in the center of the model? This is the first "turntable" I've made so I'm by no means an expert. Making locks for Trainz is kind of a hack since trainz thinks it's a turntable, but the animation is completely unlike a turntable. It seems plausible that this use was unforeseen and, therefore, not well supported by Trainz.

- Madeline

PS: Actually I kinda wonder if the arrows get placed on the attachment point for the animated part of the turntable. If that's the case, I actually could do something about the positioning of the arrows. Hmmmm, that might be something to play with one of these weekends ...

PPS: Great idea about the lightpoles, Joe!

 

[vulcan]

The location of the arrows are fixed, relative to the origin, and as you see, some models can hide them. Large ships on a turntable for instance, can also hide the arrows in some positions, and you cannot click on the arrow once it is inside the ship.

If you make your model lower in gmax, with respect to the origin, (sunk into the ground) and include the height-range tag in the config file, you can pull the model above the ground in Surveyor. The arrows will be further up in the air, above the model, because the model origin is now higher.

When you click on the arrow for a turntable or transfer table, there should be part of the main model mesh directly behind the arrow, or the arrow vanishes.

For small turntables, this sometimes requires the model to have a large invisible plane, so there will be a part of the mesh (the plane) behind the arrows. The plane is usually made to be under the ground, and textured with the material opacity set to zero in gmax. The normals must face upwards.

Ian

 

[rweber95]

Ian,
Could the locks be controlled with a keyboard key? Perhaps with a script such as MoveTurntable, kuid2:131986:180156:1?

Bob

 

[Maddy25]

Ian,
Could the locks be controlled with a keyboard key? Perhaps with a script such as MoveTurntable, kuid2:131986:180156:1?

Bob

I have not tried it myself, but since Trainz thinks the lock is a turntable, I bet that script would work just fine.

- Madeline

 

[vulcan]

Yes the Move Turntable commands will work for transfer tables, but only in TRS2006 of course.

I used it for the helicopter lift tables, and have some info on how to set it up on my webpages.

I have just had a number of ferries and barges placed on the DLS, they are for transporting rollingstock across water, as transfer tables. The Move Turntable is useful for them under AI. I will post about them in another thread:

http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?t=28092

Ian

 

[rweber95]

Ian,
Besides AI, couldn't I use a trigger such that when I enter the trigger radius the locks cycle?

Bob

 

[vulcan]

Bob,

I don't know much about trigger operation of the actual turntable, if it is possible or not - might ask Bloodnok next time I see him. It is a pity the Move Turntable script is not supported by TRS2004

If you want to use full AI, you would have to use drive to destination triggers as steps in the operation of a lock - drive to the centre of the lock, use the Move Turntable, drive to another destination etc.

Ian