Heart of Texas

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I have a new map underway. After some testing it became obvious that I needed to change the initial engine. Now the first engine will be the ATSF 2-8-0 number 2517.

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I have finished the 2nd engine for this map - the Texas, Oklahoma & Eastern 2-8-2 number 375.

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I have the next engine ready - the Southern Pacific 4-8-4 number 4460.

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I have another engine ready - the ATSF F3A-B number 31C.

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I have the next engine. I spent some hours getting this together. This is the Fort Worth and Western GP7 number 4299.

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Another engine completed - the Texas and Oklahoma Railroad SD9 number 6183.

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Hi Folks,
I got another engine out of the paint shop - this is the Blacklands Railroad GP20 number 2036.

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I pulled this out of mothballs as it fit what I needed for this map - the Kansas City Southern GP40 number 788.

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I have completed the last engine for use on this map - the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad GP38 number 306.

At this point everything has been built for this map - industries, goods train cars, etc. All have passed their first test. I have map work to do as well as a bunch of odds and ends. Then I will start moving things to the actual map and begin re-testing. A little progress each day and eventually, I will get there :>)

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I have finally reached the point of starting playability testing. All the industries, train cars, etc have been moved from my test map to the actual map and re-tested. I have a preliminary set of goals. Now I have to figure out if they are any good. This phase is the toughest. Time to get started.

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I'm afraid that this map is going to be late in coming out. Apparently I have a memory leak. I can get about 3/4 through the map when it crashes to the desktop. I tried running it on my old laptop with the same result. The actions being taken in the game at the time of the crash varies. I really have no idea where the problem lies. All the components test fine in the short tests that I typically run, but when you run something a lot longer, new issues can arise. I just have no idea if the issue is with an engine, annex, industry, etc. To a great degree I am starting over so this map's release is going to be later than I anticipated. Time to get to work.

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I'm stumped. I have made major changes to this map twice now and I can't get it to run all the way through the scenario. I have gone so far as to replace all of the industries, annexes, traincars and engines with SMR standard stuff and at this point, it won't even start. I am going back to the drawing board and starting over with a new map and build it again from there. Whether I get a different result from the first time - we shall see. This one has gotten me good and I am at a loss as to what to try next.

[veeblefetzer]

Dang! That must be frustrating. I'll put my hand up if you'd like an alternative set of eyes to give it a try.

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It looks like things are back on track. I have run the map through 6 times, adding things as I go. So far so good. There have been a number of adjustments along the way. Now I'm ready to make a few goal adjustments and start testing for playability. I don't think that's actually a word, but it seems to fit what I am doing - playability Onward and upward.

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The gremlins are finally gone. I have run this map through twice more with no issues. I have finished the testing and now I have to create the images for the Events.xml and for the Scenario goals. That will take a little while, but I feel like I am gaining on things again. Starting to think about the next map. That always gets me moving to get the current one finished up. :>)