2019..What in the world happened!!!

rick1958

Active member
Ok...Right now I'm ready to simple delete Trainz and fo back to physical modeling. Weird things have happened since I installed '19 but this one beats them all

1. I'm working on a route and wanted to borrow some textures from a similar route.
2. I merged a single baseboard containing the textures and content.
3. copied the textures from the board to my route.
4. Deleted the single merged baseboard.
5. After hours of texturing, I did a quick drive to check things out Looked great
6. Saved a second backup copied and closed for lunch
7. I came back to find ALL my track and buildings...GONE!...completely
8. Checked the dependencies in CM and the track isn't even listed! Not even listed as missing! What the....!

In the past I've come back the next day to find entire routes GONE. Hours and hours of work...GONE
Man, I'm ready to just go back to '04. Thoroughly discussed and can't even bring myself to open the game again!
 
I've been having similar problems. I'm going to guess this isn't new to you, but for someone else, I'll explain...

I get mixed up between the Session layer and the Route layer. I had opened selected my Route to edit. Put down roads and such.

When I saved, it asked to save the route and session. I selected not to save the session because I was editing the route, right?

After some experimenting, I learned there are some intersection objects which would pop me over to the session layer. God forbid a computer program tell me when making that kind of change. "Oh, by the way, you're working on the session layer now!"

So, as I normally save once in a while, I'll go to my layers tab and merge everything to the route. Then I'll save without the session. I'm not losing anymore work.
 
Previously when this has happened to me I've to frequently been at fault and I've lost very little. On a number of occasions I've opened a route instead of a session to find a very sparse screen. I've also tried to get into Trainz to quickly and either Windows and/or Trainz haven't loaded cleanly but switching off, not rebooting, and starting again in less of a hurry has always cleared it. Since TRS19 I have started running Trainz with the Internet disconnected. Probably my machine but TRS19 does not seem to be very happy when Windows 10 is constantly updating itself. I let Trainz re-authenticate itself when I download from the DLS and leave Windows alone to sort itself every couple of weeks. Peter
 
So, as I normally save once in a while, I'll go to my layers tab and merge everything to the route. Then I'll save without the session. I'm not losing anymore work.

That's fine, but then all your trains are also moved to the route layer. There is also an option to merge the route layer into the session layer. What would be the use of doing that?

If only it were changed so that only trains are moved from the route layer to the session layer then I could see some point in using that option.

What do other Trainz members think about that possibility?

Trevor
 
If only it were changed so that only trains are moved from the route layer to the session layer then I could see some point in using that option.

What do other Trainz members think about that possibility?

The only time I merge layers is when I have created a layer specifically for a particular set of objects during the development process and that layer is no longer need as a separate layer.

I place all my consists into a session layer named, imaginatively, "Consists". On the odd occasion I have used a consist (usually a single wagon) as a scenery item on sunken tracks to hide the bogies. In this case I place it in a route layer.

Consists can be easily moved from one layer to another by opening the properties window of any wagon (including the loco) and selecting a new layer - granted this can be time consuming if you have 100s of consists (I pray that my sessions never get that complex) but if you had placed them all in a session layer to start with, then this would not be necessary - hindsight is a wonderful gift.

Layers can be confusing when you first start using them and are often the cause of many a "disaster" when you forget the rule Edit the Session, not the Route. They offer creators a great deal of flexibility and functionality when you become familiar with them.

Some of my Routes and Sessions have 30+ layers.
 
That's fine, but then all your trains are also moved to the route layer. There is also an option to merge the route layer into the session layer. What would be the use of doing that?
You would only merge if you are editing the route. If you are editing the session then there is no need to merge it with the route. You just need to be quite precise about what you are actually doing: you can usually avoid any confusion by not trying to update the route while you create sessions.

Any automatic assignment of assets to anything other than the current route or session would create worse confusion. Placing locos in the session is a convenience, and not a requirement - there are often good reasons for placing locos in a route.
 
Any automatic assignment of assets to anything other than the current route or session would create worse confusion.

Totally agree. The angst on display in these forums when creators have manually placed assets in the wrong layer (Route or Session) would be nothing compared to the howls of protest that will result when those assets vanish into "God-only-knows-which" layer under an automated process.

Placing locos in the session is a convenience, and not a requirement - there are often good reasons for placing locos in a route.

Horses for courses. I place all my working consists in a Session layer because I almost always create multiple different sessions for each Route. Each Session has different consists in different locations. In that situation placing them in a Session layer is a necessity, not a convenience. But many creators only ever create a single Session for each Route. In that case placing them in Route or Session layers really does not make a difference.
 
But many creators only ever create a single Session for each Route. In that case placing them in Route or Session layers really does not make a difference.
There are other reasons. For instance, a boat or bus that is actually a loco will often be placed in the route, because it is expected to appear in every session.
 
Funny thing is (or not so funny is) After doing the quick drive, I exited quick drive and saved after being returned to edit mode then did a "save as" to be sure I had a backup..case in case.
Then I repen to find both void of track and content...EXCEPT....trees and spines were still there! Buildings and track...GONE!
Track was obviously there during quick drive
Track was still there after leaving quick drive, re-entering edit mode and saving.
Then missing after reopening
I'm guessing it has something to do with layers or merging that baseboard , but I don't even mess with layers. I just build in the old school, single, route layer. I only played with layer in '17, separating the base maps and room content.
 
Ok...I did some experimenting and found out I'm doing something wrong with the merge / save operation.
I was smart enough to save a clean version with a uniquw before experimenting but each time I duplicate the same issue. After saving, the track is gone.
Time to google some instructions. Thanks for all the input
 
But many creators only ever create a single Session for each Route. In that case placing them in Route or Session layers really does not make a difference.

I'm one of those One Route/One Session guys. This is just the way I learned.

My Route has a name eg Tampa Port
The Session has a name eg Tampa Port S

I select Route; Select Session; Edit Session. As soon as the Surveyor window opens I go into the Layers tab and select Route. If I forget, happens a lot, as soon as I remember I merge the Session Layer into the Route layer. The only other layer I always have is under Route and is called Locked. I use that for things that I need to be "untouchable/immovable" like a Mult Ind when trying to put a second one nearby.

Jusst another thought, if you see a lot of stuff missing it could be as route/Session problem as others have mentioned. However, it could also be a closed eye on a layer.
 
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