What's new for automated sessions, which rules should I move to using over older ones

[Davie_UCF]

I only just got on the TANE train, after 5 years away...
The layout I'm most keen on fiddling with in TANE is my US layout, which I was experimenting with automated drivers, like a large model railway.
I managed to have multiple trains running and even doing complex shunting moves in yards involving other trains. This is what I love Trainz for, I had my time using a 'train sim' but as I drive for real now i've been drawn back to the layout and automation side of being a Rail enthusiast.

I believe interlocking towers/signal boxes are now a thing, will they help in this? On my current layout I have extensive use of the old 'path rule' which really does work well, but doesn't like it if you have a human driver (maybe this is something that can be changed now?)

I use rules like the old schedule rule to create chunks of orders which can be combined to make long operations... in modules if you like. Like 'Coal train leaving West to X location' 'X Location to yard' or 'X location to North bound route' (you see what I mean?
Does this still work in TANE or is there a new improved way of doing this?

I also use a command which i've forgotten the name of, where a driver will say his jobs complete and another driver is waiting for 'X driver completed' which meant you could have a train waiting for another train to arrive, where it would then shunt the other trains consist around. Much more robust than triggers as any train would activate a trigger and not just the one you intended.

Are there any routes/layouts that utilise TANE's new features that I could have a gander at?

I spent months upon months fiddling and testing this intricate session so I do hope a lot of it 'just' works in TANE but looking for heads up on problems I may encounter, or improvements to be taken advantage of.

Cheers guys

 

[JCitron]

The old stuff still works such as Navigate via, Drive via/Navigate to, Drive to commands.

The path rule is still extant and works well, and take a look at Pierre's (pguy) EIT or Enhanced Interlocking Towers and all their bits. He has a demo route showing how to use them, though I have never had a need for them myself.

One of the useful carryovers is Schedule Rule and the companion Copy Commands from Driver command with which you can build a bunch of schedules and then have the driver reference these using the Copy Commands from command. This saves a lot of time when setting up multiple drivers that use the same schedule.

There's a gazillion more older session rules and driver commands which still work well as far as we can tell with many being rebuilt from scratch such as Unportal and Central Portal Control.

I can't think of any routes offhand, maybe take a look at the built-in sessions which may have the commands you want. I'm sure others will think of some.

 

[pware]

Interlocking Towers, which do like human drivers, have the ability to make a huge difference to the sort of session activities you have mentioned. That, plus navigation points and far easier/simpler HTML messaging have hooked me on creating sessions in TANE.

 

[Kennilworth]

Hi Davie_UCF

Like yourself I spend all of my Trainz time automating sessions in TANE. In TS12 I used the SCS2013 rule for session creation but unfortunately this is broken in TANE so I now use ordinary driver commands and rules.

In particular I would suggest looking for the assets created by author "pguy" such as Enhanced Interlocking Towers and their associated driver commands, Mission Code rules and driver commands and his latest offering MC Stops and Time Table Manager which allows you to send a passenger train from one end of a route to the other stopping at all stations and just requiring one driver command.

See these links for help with Piere's assets

http://online.ts2009.com/mediaWiki/index.php/Enhanced_Interlocking_Tower
http://online.ts2009.com/mediaWiki/index.php/Enhanced_Interlocking_Tower_Tip_001
http://online.ts2009.com/mediaWiki/index.php/Enhanced_Interlocking_Tower_Manager_Rule
http://online.ts2009.com/mediaWiki/index.php/MissionCodes_Manager
http://online.ts2009.com/mediaWiki/index.php/Mission_Code_Stops_and_TimeTables_Manager
http://online.ts2009.com/mediaWiki/index.php/Quick_Portal_Manager

In addition look for author "trev999" who has a number of extremely useful rules and driver commands which are a big help in automating sessions. I make extensive use of variables and Trevor has a number of conditional driver commands that allow trains to make decisions depending on the value held in a variable. He also wrote the Shedmaster rule and driver commands which allow industries to call trains of loaded or empty wagons when they require them by monitoring the industry queues - see this thread for more details https://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?145711-Shedmaster-web-site-now-open

For information on variables see the description of individual driver commands as these are quite comprehensive.

I also use many of the quite old driver commands by "atilabarut" most of which still work as intended in TANE, despite their age.

If you have any questions on all of this then post back or drop me a PM.

Regards

Brian

 

[Davie_UCF]

Hi Davie_UCF

Like yourself I spend all of my Trainz time automating sessions in TANE. In TS12 I used the SCS2013 rule for session creation but unfortunately this is broken in TANE so I now use ordinary driver commands and rules.

In particular I would suggest looking for the assets created by author "pguy" such as Enhanced Interlocking Towers and their associated driver commands, Mission Code rules and driver commands and his latest offering MC Stops and Time Table Manager which allows you to send a passenger train from one end of a route to the other stopping at all stations and just requiring one driver command.

See these links for help with Piere's assets

http://online.ts2009.com/mediaWiki/index.php/Enhanced_Interlocking_Tower
http://online.ts2009.com/mediaWiki/index.php/Enhanced_Interlocking_Tower_Tip_001
http://online.ts2009.com/mediaWiki/index.php/Enhanced_Interlocking_Tower_Manager_Rule
http://online.ts2009.com/mediaWiki/index.php/MissionCodes_Manager
http://online.ts2009.com/mediaWiki/index.php/Mission_Code_Stops_and_TimeTables_Manager
http://online.ts2009.com/mediaWiki/index.php/Quick_Portal_Manager

In addition look for author "trev999" who has a number of extremely useful rules and driver commands which are a big help in automating sessions. I make extensive use of variables and Trevor has a number of conditional driver commands that allow trains to make decisions depending on the value held in a variable. He also wrote the Shedmaster rule and driver commands which allow industries to call trains of loaded or empty wagons when they require them by monitoring the industry queues - see this thread for more details https://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?145711-Shedmaster-web-site-now-open

For information on variables see the description of individual driver commands as these are quite comprehensive.

I also use many of the quite old driver commands by "atilabarut" most of which still work as intended in TANE, despite their age.

If you have any questions on all of this then post back or drop me a PM.

Regards

Brian

Thanks for taking the time to share all of that information! I'm still getting my copy of TANE up and running and I'm at work nearly all of the time so I'm not able to try out stuff as quick as I had hoped. So reading material, videos and posts like yours are useful!

From what I'm understanding, the interlocking towers work like a path rule but the difference being the human player can pick a path in driver?
I didn't think it would ever be possible to have intricate AI operations and let a human driver do what they like... Which is what I had dreamed of!
So is this pretty much what's achievable now?

With the human driver picking paths, does this mean he has to do it often or can pick a series of paths (as he knows his destination) and they will be activated and acquired as he gets near each section?
Rather than having a massive path locked around some distance of a route..

Cheers

 

[Kennilworth]

Hi again

I have no interest in driving so I only create automated AI sessions and I'm unsure about the possibilities for a driver controlled train. However I think they can be used to set paths for them. The interlocking towers are very similar to the path rules but I find them easier to set up and use. They can also be used with the Track Circuit Blocks which they can use to detect trains present at a station platform for example and the IT can then redirect an incoming train to a vacant platform automatically. There are many parameters in the Enhanced Interlocking Towers by Pierre Guy and after 3 years I'm still exploring what they all do.

Pierre has a demo route and sessions on the DLS which will give you an idea of how everything interacts together and is far easier than trying to explain it all verbally.

To get the best out of the interlocking tower system requires quite a bit of preparation work but it can be done. For example I have a modified 140 mile long US Clovis Sub route totally controlled by ITs with track circuiting in yards and single line sections which uses mission codes throughout so that train movements are totally automated. There is just one session which uses variables to completely randomize it every time it runs, with trains deciding their own destination when issued from the portals and which route they will take to it. It is unlikely that exactly the same session will repeat twice. This however has its drawbacks in that it makes it extremely difficult to completely debug it.

I'm fortunate in that I'm retired and so I have had the time to get to grips with most of this so if you get stuck then post back on this thread as I may have solved the problem at some point myself.

One of the great things about all this is that, with a bit of care, ITs, Shedmaster and variables can all be combined successfully in the same session to create realistic railway operations with industries ordering loaded or empty wagons when they need them and the wagons being delivered to the industry just in time to allow production to continue.

Regards

Brian

 

[Davie_UCF]

An hour or so before bed after work... Running my session in TANE to see what happens, already a snag. The Wait for msg commands don't appear to work and activate immediately. For example, I have a shunter sitting who is set to Wait for "Msg: Geoff Completed task0" But this activates straight away.. doesn't wait for Geoff to complete a task.

Have you used this command at all? Is there an alternative to achieve what I'm after?

 

[pware]

I believe that TANE has changed the way that the messaging system works. This was the subject of various technical threads some time ago. Since I never used the Wait for Message commands it has never bothered me.

An alternative would be the "Wait for Trigger" command.

 

[Davie_UCF]

I believe that TANE has changed the way that the messaging system works. This was the subject of various technical threads some time ago. Since I never used the Wait for Message commands it has never bothered me.

An alternative would be the "Wait for Trigger" command.

Wait for trigger wasn't fit for purpose in TS12 as I use it to indicate a train has completed a certain task, the task isn't always going to be driving over a trigger. For example the train pulls into the siding and stops at the trackmark, it then tells another train by sending the message. Unless there's a wait to send a trigger command without actually going over one?

Strangely it appears to be working now...

 

[ted49s]

The only driver command I am having problems with in Tane sp2 and sp3 is the (wait for time in seconds) command. It works ok when I first set it up, but when I revisit the Sassoon after a shutdown the locomotive just waits at the track mark.
anyone got a solution for this problem or an I doing something wrong.
It's a simple series of commands ie. Travel to track mark 1 . via track mark 2 . and wait for 30 seconds at track mark 1.
ted49s.

 

[pware]

Ted, some questions.

What happens after the 20 second wait? Do you have another instruction that follows the "Wait for 20 seconds". Is that instruction indented under the "Wait" rule?
Are these rules ("Drive/Navigate to ...", Drive/Navigate Via ...", "Wait") child rules of a simultaneous or ordered list?

 

[PC_Ace]

ted49s - Can confirm this weird behaviour where AI drivers ignore short wait commands - which become indefinite - in recent T:ANE beta builds.
I have reported this before and right now I'm in the process of troubleshooting it further so that the Devs & QA can repro.
Problem can unfortunately be intermittent - but most of the time, I can reliably reproduce short waits (say 10 seconds/ 20 seconds etc., up to 2 minutes) becoming indefinite following resumption of a Saved game.

 

[p-dehnert]

I have done a crude workaround for some problems of the waitfor command (in TS12). Couldn't test it in the beta versions of TANE.
It available at http://www.file-upload.net/download-11119356/test_waitfor.zip.html
The blue button in the middle is for downloading the file.
The command is called (TEST)WaitFor.

Peter

 

[Davie_UCF]

My workaround for this was to use input table and commstable to send a message which another driver waits for. Works better and a lot more customisation than just triggers or wait for message.

On a similar topic does anyone know of a rule that uncouples the locos ? regardless of how many locos there are?