Railroad action is observed in other PC games/possible trucking action for Trainz

I have put Trainz away for a while and ventured into a new sim game: American Truck Simulator by SCS Software. One drives 18-wheelers instead of railroad vehicles. The trucks still have to negotiate RR crossings and stop for any trains in that game. Trainz content authors did have some driveable truck tractors and trailers disguised as RR engines/railcars but they are driven according to RR rules. It would be nice to have both trucks and trains in the same game both of which one could drive. Whenever I get bored with the SCS truck sim, I will have to experiment with the road truck content in Trainz that is labeled "train vehicle" content. I would at least like to have what appears to be travelling big rigs on a Trainz layout. AI mode could likewise be used to control trains that appear as trucks. To what extent "train vehicle" trucks can emulate backing up to docks at warehouses under AI control seems challenging to me. The trucks would in theory be guided by invisible track and invisible switches, game rules and signals.

Who here has successfully set up trucking action on any Trainz route?


No, I can't drive the RR trains in American Truck Simulator.

The truck simulator has no "surveyor" mode to edit/mod and build the game-play world but additional state maps can be bought from Steam as DLC and certain "mods" can be installed to altar game behaviors and content.

You can in Trainz, make any asset driveable, but the pivot point at the tractor/trailer hitch plate would not articulate, bend, or hitch up (automatically couple up together), realistically, like in American Truck Simulator, without complex scripting.

I once found: Coal Mine simulator, EMT simulator, Fire Truck simulator, Trash Truck simulator, Ship simulator, all of which sounds so very captivatingly entertaining. Piloting a passenger cruise liner ship cross ocean all the way to the the Hawaiian Islands, sounds like a couple days of non-stop fun filled simulator adventure.

MP242, you have me curious about the EMT simulator. Curious how gory some of the accidents can be, and how realistic. Sort of a morbid fascination, you might say.

I have used semi trucks in Trainz, to cart various commodities to and from railheads.There are a number of good tractor units available.
There are stock trailers, goods and container trailers, various machinery carriers, bulk product carriers, fuel carriers.
Look for creator 'willem2; on the DLS.
Cheers,
Mike

MP242
Port Simulator is a good one, You take over a ship coming into port, take it to the dock then organise unloading and transport away from the dock. You do all the handling of containers at the dock as well. Then the ship has to be loaded and sent out by a set time. Rail is involved in moving fuel and containers, in and out of the port.
Cheers,
Mike

I have avoid using the drivable vehicles for quite sometime since I have had no need for them. They are just that locomotives disguised as road vehicles running on tracks that are disguised as roads, or on invisible track placed on regular roads so that there's other traffic running if you wish, or none and you're the only ones along with AI driving.

As far as stopping at crossings, you can use Boat's ATLS system. He has a diamond crossing controller to stop traffic and delay them at signals until the crossing train passes over the diamond. It works quite well and like all ATLS components, it requires some configuration to get it to work, however, that's pretty easy to do.

For those times when there are no trains coming, you can use some invisible junctions that require flipping a junction to force the AI to stop, flip the junction lever and continue. In this case, you put some invisible junction levers connected to the road with a short spur track, also invisible, going off a short distance. Set the junction default direction to the short spur. When the AI-driven truck approaches the crossing, the AI will have to stop, flip the junction, then continue on its route. When you place the invisible junction, place this on the opposite side of the crossing in the so the AI driver - train stops short of the crossing. You'll need some invisible signals placed before the crossing as well to prevent the AI truck drivers from stopping on the tracks.

MP242 said:

You can in Trainz, make any asset driveable, but the pivot point at the tractor/trailer hitch plate would not articulate, bend, or hitch up (automatically couple up together), realistically, like in American Truck Simulator, without complex scripting.

I once found: Coal Mine simulator, EMT simulator, Fire Truck simulator, Trash Truck simulator, Ship simulator, all of which sounds so very captivatingly entertaining. Piloting a passenger cruise liner ship cross ocean all the way to the the Hawaiian Islands, sounds like a couple days of non-stop fun filled simulator adventure.

Click to expand...

I found some semi truck "train vehicle" assets that would be a cool addition to a Trainz layout.

The tractor: Truck Kenworth 2 Primemover lefthand driver,<kuid2:97008:60263:1> by willem2

One semi-trailer: Hay2-trailer,<kuid2:41426:15421:1> by boweavel


The Kenworth tractor has steering front steer wheels but the dual drive axles don't steer as they shouldn't do anyway. The wheels are animated.
The tractor does correctly hitch to the trailer. I'm sure the couple command would work since Trainz sees these as railroad vehicles.
The tractor-trailer does articulate correctly on turns at the fifth-wheel as a real-world semi truck does. The trailer wheels are animated and the truck headlights are operating.
The horn sounds like real big-rig horn. Enginesounds sound like a big CAT or Cummins diesel motor and gear shifting seems to be heard as well.

The odd thing about the triple tandem axles on the trailer is they articulate (turn) like the bogie of a locomotive. The rear of the trailer won't follow the tractor like a real-world semi:
that is with the tandem tires tracking on the inside of the path of the tractor's tires. The trailer steers more or less like a rail-car: following the curve of the track.

Inside the tractor cab there is no visible steering wheel or dash: just a nose view as if one was sitting on the front bumper looking forward while traveling.

This train disguised as a road-going trucking unit can be placed on invisible track embedded in YARN roads. I will have to see if backing to a freight dock can be simulated using invisible switches.

I actually remember when the concept was discussed by boweavel in the old forums. One of the coolest things that came out of this is the ability to fill a highway with various traffic types running at different speeds with creepy farts in the far right lane, or as they usually do put them in the left lane. All you need is multiple invisible tracks with invisible speed limits set for the different lanes.

You'll have fun with this.

MP242 said:

Piloting a passenger cruise liner ship cross ocean all the way to the the Hawaiian Islands, sounds like a couple days of non-stop fun filled simulator adventure.

Click to expand...

It could not possibly be worse than being a passenger on one of those horrible monstrosities!

JCitron said:

I actually remember when the concept was discussed by boweavel in the old forums. One of the coolest things that came out of this is the ability to fill a highway with various traffic types running at different speeds with creepy farts in the far right lane, or as they usually do put them in the left lane. All you need is multiple invisible tracks with invisible speed limits set for the different lanes.

You'll have fun with this.

Click to expand...

John:

I can set the trucks up like my horse-drawn wagons at crossings. The Trigger Multiple Signals Rule works in a pinch. Holds the "train" trucks at the grade crossings for the RR trains. Invisible horn triggers will blow the truck horns too.

In TS12 there was was an industry track named 'PTS Trans-Shipment' where you placed 2 of these tracks beside each other. One had rail and the other you could set up road.The train would come in on one track and stop, you then brought a truck in on the other track and goods would physically move from one to another. Before American Intermodal from JR became available I use to use it for transferring containers to depots. It would also work if you had a logging industry you could use either trucks or narrow guage trains and transfer product from one to the other.
Cheers,
Mike

JCitron said:

As far as stopping at crossings, you can use Boat's ATLS system. He has a diamond crossing controller to stop traffic and delay them at signals until the crossing train passes over the diamond. It works quite well and like all ATLS components, it requires some configuration to get it to work, however, that's pretty easy to do.
For those times when there are no trains coming, you can use some invisible junctions that require flipping a junction to force the AI to stop, flip the junction lever and continue. In this case, you put some invisible junction levers connected to the road with a short spur track, also invisible, going off a short distance. Set the junction default direction to the short spur. When the AI-driven truck approaches the crossing, the AI will have to stop, flip the junction, then continue on its route. When you place the invisible junction, place this on the opposite side of the crossing in the so the AI driver - train stops short of the crossing. You'll need some invisible signals placed before the crossing as well to prevent the AI truck drivers from stopping on the tracks.
View attachment 1918

Click to expand...

Complicated way to do it. I just use the ATLS tram stoppers for driveable road traffic, they remain green when no trains and red when crossing closed.

You can play GTA and see airplanes, helicopters, tanks, and trains, and you can realistically drive trucks in American Truck Simulator, but you sort of have to pick one game, or the other game, and stick with it.

I guess you could use GMax or Blender and create your own trucks, or apply Cyberstorm's Superadaptor to trucks in the Trainz simulator, much like you can make an airplane or helicopter fly in Trainz.

JonMyrlennBailey said:

John:

I can set the trucks up like my horse-drawn wagons at crossings. The Trigger Multiple Signals Rule works in a pinch. Holds the "train" trucks at the grade crossings for the RR trains. Invisible horn triggers will blow the truck horns too.

Click to expand...

That'll work to and so will the ATLS Tram stoppers. I never used those so don't know how they work, but they're most likely setup like other ATLS crossings and stuff, but either way the setup will perform the same function.

Try whatever works for you and above all have fun too. If it ain't fun it ain't worth doing.

MP242 said:

Y...
Oh come on,...

Click to expand...

yes but other than that, it really is fun :hehe:

some time ago i did a test with trucks ... i hated the suddenly appearing and disappearing of the vehicles in predefined roads and the angulated twisting at taking a corner ...
in the test i didn't pay attention to safety features, so forgive me the spooky crossings ... it will be in a next text after studying this thread .. so thankz for the tips and advices here ...

it can be handled as a train, so, manoeuvring is also possible (with junctions, de-/coupling and so on ...)

for the test i used:
<kuid2:439337:104491:3> 1980s Plus USA = region - msgsapper (dls)
<kuid2:439337:102412:1> SAP YARNish Asphalt T-Intersection L2 -3Si +3Sh = fixed track - msgsapper (dls)
<kuid2:439337:102403:1> SAP YARNish Asphalt Road L2 DL1 -Si +Sh 55MPH = road - msgsapper (dls)
<kuid2:506208:100093:2> YARNish Invisible Road, no traffic, 09sp4 = road - streadway (built-in)
<kuid:39134:100314> Invisible Wire Red = track - bnsf50 (built-in)
<kuid2:61119:37000:1> Dirt Road 1 Lane = road - natvanbder (built-in)
<kuid2:97008:60041:1> Truck KW906 Primemover = train - willem2 (dls)
<kuid2:97008:60101:1> Trailer Bulkhaul A Empty = train - willem2 (dls)
<kuid2:97008:60102:1> Trailer Bulkhaul B Empty = train - willem2 (dls)

automatic defined sessionrule (for Automatic Interlocking facilities ) :
<kuid:401543:3203> Interlocking Tower Path Selection UI = rule - auran (base)

JonMyrlennBailey said:

The truck simulator has no "surveyor" mode to edit/mod and build the game-play world but additional state maps can be bought from Steam as DLC and certain "mods" can be installed to altar game behaviors and content.

Click to expand...

No, it doesn't have "surveyor" but you can certainly make your own maps:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=map+making+with+american+truck+simulator+

zsuda said:

some time ago i did a test with trucks ... i hated the suddenly appearing and disappearing of the vehicles in predefined roads and the angulated twisting at taking a corner ...
in the test i didn't pay attention to safety features, so forgive me the spooky crossings ... it will be in a next text after studying this thread .. so thankz for the tips and advices here ...

it can be handled as a train, so, manoeuvring is also possible (with junctions, de-/coupling and so on ...)

for the test i used:
<kuid2:439337:104491:3> 1980s Plus USA = region - msgsapper (dls)
<kuid2:439337:102412:1> SAP YARNish Asphalt T-Intersection L2 -3Si +3Sh = fixed track - msgsapper (dls)
<kuid2:439337:102403:1> SAP YARNish Asphalt Road L2 DL1 -Si +Sh 55MPH = road - msgsapper (dls)
<kuid2:506208:100093:2> YARNish Invisible Road, no traffic, 09sp4 = road - streadway (built-in)
<kuid:39134:100314> Invisible Wire Red = track - bnsf50 (built-in)
<kuid2:61119:37000:1> Dirt Road 1 Lane = road - natvanbder (built-in)
<kuid2:97008:60041:1> Truck KW906 Primemover = train - willem2 (dls)
<kuid2:97008:60101:1> Trailer Bulkhaul A Empty = train - willem2 (dls)
<kuid2:97008:60102:1> Trailer Bulkhaul B Empty = train - willem2 (dls)

automatic defined sessionrule (for Automatic Interlocking facilities ) :
<kuid:401543:3203> Interlocking Tower Path Selection UI = rule - auran (base)

Click to expand...

Building routes for driveable train content disguised as road vehicles is labor intensive: hard work. I've spent countless hours doing this for horse-drawn wagons already.

The trick is getting the invisible track the right height relative to the ground or the YARN road it's embedded in. Much of the road motor vehicle content by various authors rides 0.30 m above the invisible track it's set upon. Much of the YARN road is 0.20 m above the ground so the track has to be lowered such that it's -0.10 m below the ground if the ground is 0.0 m elevation. This is so the vehicle tires contact the surface at the right level: not levitating (floating) above or buried below the surface. Horse-drawn driveable content rides right at the level of invisible track so no subtraction is needed. Getting invisible track set at the right height across arched bridges is really a lot of fun, fun, fun. Like hanging icicles on a Christmas tree on piece at a time! Then getting the curvature right for the invisible track is another ball of wax. Laying it on sloping, graded, ground is a brain basher. Patience!

At road intersections I want driveable semi truck content to naturally swing wide so track has to be laid accordingly. Trackmarks are placed at stop signs at intersections for stopping points of driveable road vehicles. Schedules for these road vehicles can be made for an AI sequence. I have dairy farm on my layout so I am going to set up a route for food-grade tank trucks to stop there for milk pick up.

Invisible speed limits can be set up along motor vehicle routes for realistic motor roadway action: slowing down for sharp turns and such.

My solution is to install rare roads, and have absolutely NO animated road traffic what so ever. Then you have NO annoying honking cars and trucks, blasting right on through downed crossing gates, running right on through trains, ghosting right on through, like they weren't even there. My era is pre-1940's, and I am not really a big fan of recreating the Interstate Highway System in Trainz, with a billion trucks and cars clogging my Trainz roads.

Back in the day, there was a proposal to split this train sim world into two branches, a straight railway sim and something called Tranzportation that would have also include planes, ships, and trucks, all manageable and driveable. No doubt, had it seen the light of day, the nitpickers would have found fault too.

Since that didn't happen, we have a train sim that can be configured to include other modes of transport. Not perfectly as the driving behavior leaves much to be desired but fine enough to fill in the background which is where they belong.

Which is one of the reasons I like Trainz. The ability to modify it to what I like to do and not be tied down to what someone else thinks I should be doing.