What view does a session start at in Driver

[flatlander]

When you launch a session of a given route in Driver, the view you first see starts somewhere for a reason. I've been trying to figure out how to set the view so the person opening the session will start where I want them to.

I've been searching the forums and Google for the past week trying to find an answer, and I can't seem to locate documentation which tells me the answer. I've set driver commands in one of my scenarios hoping that when it's launched the view starts there, but no luck. Is there a simple answer for this?

Jim

 

[Yorkshire]

Hi

If you go to 'Edit session' in the menu it takes you to your route and session. If you open the edit session and 'driver Setup', I think that whichever loco is at the top of the list, i.e. first, that is the place where the session starts with a 'lineside view'. This is my experience anyway.

If you want the session to open at a particular place, I suppose you need to make sure that that loco/driver is at the top of the list in 'Driver setup'. That is how I have understood it to work, it will be interesting to see what others have to say!

Regards

Yorkshire

 

[BillDinAZ]

Jim,
There is a rule available in surveyor called "Set Camera" that allows you to set the camera to any Loco or rolling stock (presumably, although I haven't actually tried it with anything other than a loco) or to any junction on the route. You have some other options, like which camera view you want, as well. Not long after I started using other people's Sessions, I started routinely opening any new Session I hadn't run before in Surveyor and using "Save As" to give it a slightly new name, like adding my initials to the end of the original filename. I then change the Startup Options rule so that it automatically starts in 'Cab Mode' and I delete the Quickdrive rule. If there is no loco on the route for the session, I place one where I want it before I save MY new session.

Good luck,
BillD

 

[flatlander]

Yorkshire, that's a good answer. I had thought of it and tried to move a driver and loco to the top, but evidently there's no simple way (that I've found) to move drivers around. I've had to put the loco I want on the top by changing the driver and the engine name. Honestly I haven't tried this although it may work.

Bill's rule idea makes sense. I could have sworn that I looked at the title of every rule available, but must have overlooked it. Since all rules by default launch when the session is opened, it would make sense that this way would work. I'll give it a try when I get home tonight and post my results.

 

[Yorkshire]

Hi Jim

Bill's idea is a good one. I used that rule myself with TS2006 but must admit I had completely forgotten all about it and not used it for about 2 years!! It did work and is much more elegant solution than my work around outlined above!

Regards

Yorkshire

PS I thought some better ideas would emerge!!!

 

[flatlander]

Well I think you are both right, but one method trumped the other in my tests.

After almost 30 minutes of testing in TS2010, here's what I found. Each method was tested with various locations in the route at least 3 times.

Method 1 - Determine which loco you want the session to be looking at when you open the session, and make it the top driver in the driver rule. This will open as I said, but in my tests it opens a good 100-200 yards away and up in the air. I'm not sure I like the look.

Method 2 - Putting the Set Camera in the rules list without my first example above gives the viewer a nice fairly close-up look at the loco of choice. I'll have to figure out how to tweak that if it can be tweaked. I've set this to various locos in different parts of the route, and it responded nicely.

Mix of the two - If you run the two methods together, Method 2 will trump the first method. In 6 separate tests, I found that when you launch the session in driver, it will blink for a second or two at the locomotive which is operated by the top driver in the Driver Rule, then switch over to the Set Camera rule location. But I did not move the Set Camera rule above Driver, so this may change the outcome.

This is a good start, and thanks to both of you! I'm going to play around with it and see which will work best for the session I'm trying to create, and tweak the rules accordingly.

 

[Deano5]

There is a third option, using a short section of invisible track and an invisible loco that can be raised, sunk, pushed, pulled and turned to whatever height, angle or position you require, with the first driver in it before being given the command "Get Off Train" or similar.
That way you get a great opening shot. :wave: