AI stuck at signal

Evening all,

I very rarely toy with the AI however I have become stuck.

I have a rather complex junction at the mouth of a station with a signal just before the start. The AI will navigate to the red signal and then get stuck when trying to navigate to some of the furthest platforms. I had wondered if the trackwork was too complicated for the AI, however if I drive past the signal manually (crossing no points) the AI will then take over and go to the correct platform with no issues. It seems to be when it is stuck at the red signal that it can't find the correct route.

*edit: Also, if the AI accidentally sets an incorrect route that provides a clear signal, the train will pass the signal and then change the points at the last second to the correct route. The issue seems to be related to it not route setting much beyond the red signal*

What can I do to stop this from happening?

You might want to try putting track marks just past the junctions and have the AI navigate to these. This will force them to set the junctions correct and perhaps then the signals will then be set properly for their travel. It would be helpful if you can post a picture of the area in question. We can then take a peek at it and give you some suggestions.

John

It is possible that the track does not have a signal at the end of that platform. The signal stays red because it is the last signal. Hover over the signal and it should tell you why it is red. A buffer normally acts as a signal but some are just dummy ones. You could place an invisible signal at the end of the track/platform.

Thanks for the replies chaps. The platform does have a "signal" at the end of it, and the approach signal will show orange if I set the points manually. I will look at positioning the trackmarks, however I had been using the 'Drive to trackmark list' rule to allow trains in to any platform which would stop me from doing so.

I'll get a screenshot up tonight. Basically what appears to be happening is it doesn't plot the route until it passes through the signal, which it can't do until it sets the route. It's just stuck!

You could try path rules. Set it up so you have a path made from a trigger just before the signal. As the train hits the trigger approaching the signal, make it so it sets the path onto the correct platform, all the junctions will change for the train (unless another train has them locked) and the AI train should get a yellow signal onto the platform

Jack

I believe the Drive to track mark list is by pguy and works well. I find that it works better if you have some distance between the time you issued that command and the first junction. If you are up close it can run into pathing problems. Like Jack said presetting the PATH is much better for the AI but not always practical in every case.

I have found that if there are a number of switches close together the AI seems to get stuck. It seems to happen when the train gets stopped by a signal.
The only way I found round it was to change the switches manually as you did. The other option might be to set the latent direction to allow access to the platform you want.
Cheers,
Mike

If a set of complex switches are causing AI to stop, several detailed trackmarkers inside the switch's fore and aft might lead them through.

On my route my start point in Mount Union is trackmarker: A ... and at the end point of my route, in Johnstown, it is trackmaker Z
Each section of the track are named in succession down through the alphabet are subsection trackmarkes, ie: A1 000 ... A1 002 ...etc... A1 101 ... Z1 000 ... Z1 089
By the time I get to Altoona the trackmarker might be in the "H" territory ... This way if I wanted to go from Mount Union to Johnstown on track 1, I would click every letter down through the alphabet, on drive via, trackmarker "A1 000 ... B1 000 ... etc ... all the way through Y1 000 ... Z1 000"

My trackmarkers are in the list all alphabetically

cascaderailroad said:

If a set of complex switches are causing AI to stop, several detailed trackmarkers inside the switch's fore and aft might lead them through.

On my route my start point in Mount Union is trackmarker: A ... and at the end point of my route, in Johnstown, it is trackmaker Z
Each section of the track are named in succession down through the alphabet are subsection trackmarkes, ie: A1 000 ... A1 002 ...etc... A1 101 ... Z1 000 ... Z1 089
By the time I get to Altoona the trackmarker might be in the "H" territory ... This way if I wanted to go from Mount Union to Johnstown on track 1, I would click every letter down through the alphabet, on drive via, trackmarker "A1 000 ... B1 000 ... etc ... all the way through Y1 000 ... Z1 000"

My trackmarkers are in the list all alphabetically

Click to expand...

This generally works well except for when the AI glitch, skip a track mark then decide to go back and get it.