Basin and Range SAM

[snoopy55]

I had a member of the 'other forum' notify me of Lowells B&R map post.

Only one member there reported any problems with it and the solution turned out to be one that only effects a very few people. It has to do with the PassengersAndMailOnly lines. Up until about a year ago most map makers put this line in only the engines that were only Passengers and Mail, ignoring the rest. A few people with something different, be it Windows version, system build, whatever, had this problem. I recently went thru all the SAM/SAM2's and edited the Trains XMLs, and went into all the Engine BBs and CKs and edited those that did not contain it.

As to the Decor Cars, never seen a problem with those mentioned.

Lowell, I figured that since you state that a lot of people may not be able to run your map because of the size, I'd post the SAM version here.

To load it, put all three in a folder and click on the .001 file. Tell it where you want it to go and click on OK. Since this is a SAM, store it with the rest of your SAMs and put a copy of it in UserMaps and ENJOY!!

Map recalled by order of STEP Inc due to unsafe conditions

[Warll]

Thank you Snoopy for starting this thread, I think it was helpful.

With that said it appears like a conflict has manifested itself. I am not going to play judge, but I will play fireman. I declare this thread a fire hazard and it will be locked.

[Warll]

The conflict has been resolved peacfully. I have deleted the posts which are off topic.

[snoopy55]

Bobby brought it to my attention, tho in a round about manor, that there is a problem with the Decorations. The reloading of Saves does not put the Decorations back in. I guess it was just another thing that was not alloted the time needed to get working when they published the game. It never bothered me since I very seldom played Saves, and the few times I did I never really paid any attention to decorations, I was more interested in knocking the other guys off the map.

It would be interesting to see if the problem could be worked out.

Bobby's latest report to me:
B&R map running good now but did notice wooden tunnels dissappear and after a long time playing some tracks started to dissappear as well
Tested with a single player, 1 A1, 2A1's, 3 A1's and TT mode.

I do believe many others have had the problems of things dissappearing in the larger maps after long playing times, lots of track being laid or large number of trains being run. This also tended to slow maps down to varying degrees depending on system size and speed and VM settings. Heck, this game was the reason I went from 2G to 4G of memory and added a 4G SD card just for use as VM. VM upgrading helped a lot of people to get this game running better.

I'll keep you updated on the progress of the map.

[snoopy55]

Bobby has gotten all of the problems that he came across while running this map. He has spent the last three weeks on it, working out what does not go right. I have not even downloaded a copy yet as I am waiting for replies from those that have downloaded and played it. When they give the 'No Errors' sign, I will upload it here.

I do not test maps I work up, I have many people asking me to let them test them. I do test each addition at the time I build it and at the time I add it to the map. I feel that other members, testing a map, are a much better way to find problems with new maps. I know a map runs when I post it as I have to run it to test out each new item I add.

My thoughts on it.

Hey, each to his own.........

One last item that Bobby brought up - a problem with a map may not be the map itself, but the system it is being played on and the settings being used. One VERY good example of this is the Firaxis horror of horrors, Mesa Madness! That map was no problem for some people and a complete pile of manure for others. With 2 Gb of memory, it would barely allow me to start the first engine. With 4 Gb, I was able to play it for a time, but it still went to pieces. (heck, I don't remember if I EVER got it to run) There were people that had NO problem with running it. The latest problem that has shown it's head is the Engines not running freight cars. This problem showed up on maps that have run for years. At this time I believe I have solved it by adding the <PassengersAndMailOnly> line to every Engine. The only Engines affected were the Mods, the originals worked fine. So, every SAM has been edited for this and all of the Engine BBs have had it added. Problem solved! For the time being........

[Lowell]

That sounds awesome.

Tell Bobby congrats…I have spent the same amount of time as well on it. I have learned a few things by ripping it apart and solving what troubles I could.

The only thing is, on the regular map…when the track rips the landscape etc. I found that if I painted the areas where the track would be laid, then opened up and ran the map it would stop ripping where I had repainted the landscape. I looked at the dem data tga and noticed the “size” of the pixels where I had painted on the map were far smaller than what the Dem data had painted.

Did Bobby try and remove the wooden tunnel and just let the stone or (masonry) tunnels run all? It did fix that trouble for me. Something about the wooden tunnel not switching over to the double and triple models. I am still working on the Brick tunnel triple and double files, that model is in the game has and never used to my knowledge. The Brick one will switch over to the double and triples because I am using the plane data from the masonry tunnel…it works, just replace the wooden single for the Brick and use the plane field from the single masonry. If that makes any sense…

:::Sigh::: It may have just been a fluke or something but it did work as far as the repainting bit goes. Please let me know how your tests go and please post your files when complete for others.

Thanks for all the hard work.