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Post by Jimi on Nov 15, 2021 14:09:43 GMT
What the title says. Focus is on "How do I...?" or "Here's how I did...". Please put issues and bug reports in the other thread. Thanks!
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Post by Jimi on Nov 15, 2021 14:12:50 GMT
New and updated documentation for Phase III.
Operator's Manual V3.0 Change Log • Added R49 section and references • Added R49 key commands to Pg. 6 table • Added R49 car numbering and destinations details • General edits and improvements throughout
Phase III Route and Route Guide V3.0 Change Log There are a great many detailed fixes, changes and improvements to route operation and scenery in this Phase III (V3.0) version of the VDL. In the interests of completeness, and tracking changes across releases, we have summarized them below. TRACK/ SCENERY • Tracks extended along the Lower Circle from Gloucester Rd to Whitechapel. • Aldgate added along with required portals to enable inclusion of Circle and Met Line traffic. • All new Vulcan Productions concrete sleeper LU track and juice rails. New ballast. • Scenery added from Gloucester Rd to Whitechapel. SIGNALS • All tunnel signals route-wide upgraded to latest JT LUL Tunnel signals, with correct name plates and accurate locations (nearside wall, nearside ground, or center cess (“6 foot”). • All signals now display their aspect and signal number on the route map (9 key). • Theater displays added to shunt signals to indicate the route number that is set.
ROUTE/PORTALS • Portals added at Aldgate and Whitechapel to allow AI scenario traffic to be added from the Upper Circle Outer Rail, and westbound from tunnels to the east of Whitechapel.
TRAIN STOCKS • New Red and Silver R49 train stocks added, with prototypical 6- and 7-car red or silver consists. • The VDL Stock Operator Manual V3.0 has also been updated and details of the R49 stock added.
SCENARIOS • All prior scenario “hotfixes” from v2.0 onwards are included as part of the Phase III kit • Scenarios added to feature the new Phase III parts of the route (Circle Line and DR), and to feature the R49 Stock trains.
DOCUMENTATION • Stock Operator’s Guide and VDL Route Guide updated to v3.0, included in the Phase III kit • Stations added to this Route Guide: o Terminus – Aldgate o Multi-move – Whitechapel o Reversing moves – W Kensington, S Kensington, Embankment, Mansion House, Tower Hill, Aldgate East • Starter signal locations added to all station maps in this Guide to highlight wrong-road starters and legal moves • Detailed portals list updated to add Phase III portals at ALD and WHI.
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Post by Jimi on Nov 15, 2021 14:14:08 GMT
VDL Phase III – v3.0 pre-requisites (updated to match the list on the VDL download site)
NOTE addition of Vulcan Productions Asset packs (freeware) requirement for VDL Phase III.
The VDL leverages signal assets from the Just Trains Metropolitan Line, and requires that route be installed. VDL Phase III requires the Met route be updated to v1.03 (or latest JT update). Update downloads are available on the Just Trains site. If you do NOT yet have the Met Route, then JT has an offer (bullet below) that will save you money: The Vulcan Productions Track Pack, Track Expansion Pack and the 3rd rail Texture Patch (all freeware). Download all three from their Assets downloads page: The TS London Transport Heritage Stock DLC can be downloaded from Steam: In addition we strongly recommend (and require for the v2.1 T/Op Man and other Scenarios) the following free downloads from Alan Thomson Sim that enhances the JT S7 + 1 stocks operation and appearance: • S7 District Destinations - alanthomsonsim.com/downloads/district-line-s7-destinations/• S7 Circle Line Destinations - alanthomsonsim.com/downloads/circle-line-s7-destinations/• S7 Ham & City Destinations - alanthomsonsim.com/downloads/hammersmith-city-line-s7-destinations/We have also used the Armstrong Powerhouse Sky & Weather Enhancement pack in our scenarios, which adds a whole range of realistic sky and weather patterns dependent on season and desired weather. You can find more information at the AP Product Page. If you already have this product, please check on the product page to see if you need to download an update. For any other prerequisites please see the details listed on the VDL Download Site.
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Post by Jimi on Nov 15, 2021 14:15:39 GMT
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Post by Jimi on Nov 15, 2021 14:17:09 GMT
Some thoughts on signals. I originally wrote this 2+ years ago, but I felt it worth re-doing so our newer members got to see it.
Ed and I were chatting one evening as we were testing scenarios - some of which are quite complex with a lot of trains and conflicting moves. And we were debating a situation where the player has to wait a few minutes at a red (WB5 on the way from ECT to OLY for the curious) because it doesn't clear until any train on the single track from OLY has cleared onto the dual track. So sometimes there's a wait - and you can't see the other train and may wonder why you're waiting... And Ed opined he'd bet some users who were used to "other" signals (or routes) would wait 2 minutes and them try to TAB through thinking it was broken. And I had to agree. So I thought I'd briefly update you on the Phase III signals and how they are different from what you may have seen before in other routes, so as to set your expectations. We've used a combination of JT's Met LUL (surface and tunnel) signals and UK Pro for the NL sections of the route. Both are very well constructed, look the part and best of all act the part. Personally I'm very impressed with JT's LUL signals, as LUL signal practices are not likely familiar to those who mostly inhabit the Real Railway TM. (To that end, I deliberately wrote a multi-page section in the Route Guide describing LUL signals and their operation - so you will have NO excuse for not knowing what a Green over Yellow signal means). So they work very good, and we have been very careful to place and "wire them" correctly so they exactly mimic their real life counterparts - location, type, purpose, plate number. This means they behave as they should. And you can expect to discover a few red signals in the new Phase III scenarios.
And the message that you should take away is simply - believe what they are trying to tell you.
There is a practice when determining the likelihood of something called applying Occam's razor. Simply stated it says that when faced with multiple possibilities, choose the one that has the least number of assumptions, or the simplest. If you hear hoofbeats behind you, tend to think horses not zebras. So to apply this to the signals, if you see a red one the most likely cause is not that it's broken, but that there's a train in the track section ahead (e.g. WB5 approaching OLY). Or that the route is set against you at a converging junction because another train is scheduled ahead of you or has priority (e.g. OB31 approaching Minories Jct waiting for an Outer Circle out of Aldgate). It may be unusual for you at first after your other experiences, but trust the signals and look ahead so you build a mental picture of the likely traffic around you and what it might do - and what you might have to do. The District is the busiest of the LUL lines, and the traffic density can be high. And there's a lot of signals. OK, exactly the right number. It just looks a lot :-)
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Post by Jimi on Nov 15, 2021 14:20:37 GMT
A PRECAUTIONARY HEADS UPWe've seen a few rare odd incidents after updating the route without clearing cache. Scenario AI trains not doing exactly what they should and causing AI collisions. After installing a new kit build this morning, I got a glitch at the end of the training scenario that has run perfectly before. There is a solution.
When you have installed the new kit (not long now) or an update that adds or replaces Assets, be sure to clear cache (TS - Tools menu - Clear Cache). TS will restart in 32-bit meaning you have to exit that and go 64-bit after. Clearing cache forces a rebuild of all the Blueprints.pak files (Assets caches), which means TS now has latest info about all your content - including the new route/assets you just installed/updated. Another cure for flakiness (technical term :-) if you've added new scenario content is be to delete the scenarios cache file (<TS location>/Content/SDBCache.bin). This will be rebuilt next time you start TS, and the startup will take a little longer as it does so. After clearing cache (TS - Tools menu - Clear Cache) I re-ran the training scenario again, and no issues.
UPDATE: We have now added a command to the Phase III Installer that will clear the scenario cache, saving you having to do it.
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Post by Jimi on Nov 15, 2021 16:05:35 GMT
A reminder that previous scenarios, including the T/Op Man series (V2.2) and the Emma Clarke series still run perfectly on Phase III.
You can purchase the Emma Clarke Scenarios at ATS:
All proceeds go towards the LUL Museum Q Stock Restoration Fund, so your purchase will have a direct impact on bringing a piece of LUL history back to life.
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Post by catsrcool on Nov 16, 2021 8:12:20 GMT
I hope this is in the right place on the forum. I am making a scenario going from Whitechapel to Ealing Broadway. There is a Circle Line AI service in front of the player train going to Edgware Road. So when the the Circle service gets to High St Kensington it is no longer needed for the scenario and there is no Portal nearby for it to go to. Unless I am being stupid (not unknown LOL) I have to send it to the ERD outer circle portal to get rid of it. So can we have some portals at High St Ken please?
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Post by Jimi on Nov 16, 2021 13:30:02 GMT
Exactly the right place and you are exactly correct. We did consider adding other "exit" portals at various places and we will add your request to the list for a future update.
Meanwhile, there is another move you can use. I assume your Circle has arrived in HSK P2, and the Player DR will go left towards ECT. There is a wrong-road starter on HSK P2 that enables a reversing move from there back into GRD P3. From there it's a short hop to the GRD EB portal where you can remove it. The player won't see the Circle once it enters triangle tunnel, so the reverse and removal will be out of sight. I just checked and I mistakenly did not include that move in the Route Guide (p35) so I will add that and update the doc.
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ale123
Station Staff
Posts: 24
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Post by ale123 on Nov 18, 2021 4:32:42 GMT
Thanks for everybody's combined effort working on Phase III, you all did an amazing job! I'm enjoying the fantastic and detailed work of both the new section and new stock. I'm especially fascinated with the amount of choosable destinations on the R49. I was wondering if you are planning to add more destinations to the other stock aswell.
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Post by Jimi on Nov 18, 2021 13:30:34 GMT
Thank you for the kind comments! The destination blind on the R49 was implemented in a different way to the prior stocks, and I'm not sure (i.e. not qualified to answer from the 3D modeling viewpoint) if we could retrofit the idea to the older stocks. The team will give it all some thought. Thanks!
The main problem being with the older stocks like C and D stock 73 TS they were built by Richard Scott a long time ago and the number of destinations or nodes was limited so we chose the most logical that we had in the route ( bar Tower Hill ).
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Post by trabantdave on Nov 19, 2021 7:11:22 GMT
Really enjoying Phase III, one question I have relates to the font used on signage; and on the Train Number texture as well; is there a reason why you didn't use something more Johnston? I know you may have been concerned about copyright, but there are free ware alternatives which I have and can forward to you.
Once again you have made the wait worthwhile, an amazing piece of work.... Onto Phase IV now I guess!
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Post by Xavier on Nov 19, 2021 8:42:06 GMT
Really enjoying Phase III, one question I have relates to the font used on signage; and on the Train Number texture as well; is there a reason why you didn't use something more Johnston? I know you may have been concerned about copyright, but there are free ware alternatives which I have and can forward to you. Once again you have made the wait worthwhile, an amazing piece of work.... Onto Phase IV now I guess! All signs on the new stations were done in Johnston. I made sure of that. Which train numbers are you referring to?
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Post by trabantdave on Nov 19, 2021 15:23:39 GMT
It's the number 49 in R49Headcode.TgPcDx Xavier; I've edited mine with Johnston, and the ltnameboards2 and ltnameboards2night textures in scenery too :-)
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ale123
Station Staff
Posts: 24
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Post by ale123 on Nov 20, 2021 9:43:34 GMT
On the 21st April 2017 the beloved D-Stock ran its last passenger service after it had been in service for 37 years. Throughout the day it was making trips between Upminster and Richmond and calling at Ealing Broadway on its last trip. A few weeks later on the 7th May the same train made its final rounds on the District as a special service calling at several stations. On of those was High Street Kensington Bay Plattform where enthusiasts had plenty of time to take last pictures. Later that day the tour was working its way towards Upminster. Being a special train between normal sheduled services hold-ups were common. One was at Mansion House, where it pulled in slowly and carried on towards its next stop shortly after. What I want to ask with this post is for permission to upload these repaints. I have added the lenseflare effects onlyfor personal purposes and will therefore not be included with the download. The R49 Heritage Tour scenario was inspiration for this work, it was really fun doing a special service with a special train.
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Post by Jimi on Nov 20, 2021 13:23:56 GMT
Absolutely please do! Those are a work of art, and I'd keep the lens flare. A great story beautifully told, and I note the set and car numbers. Made me smile, albeit with a lump in my throat. Thank you!
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Post by Xavier on Nov 20, 2021 15:26:21 GMT
With that ringing endorsement, I'd also be interested in how the lens flare was done, to see if the same technique is transferrable to other models.
I've only achieved that effect so far using Reshade.
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ale123
Station Staff
Posts: 24
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Post by ale123 on Nov 20, 2021 16:20:37 GMT
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Post by Xavier on Nov 20, 2021 17:17:32 GMT
It does look very nice.
Does it turn on and off with the normal lights?
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ale123
Station Staff
Posts: 24
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Post by ale123 on Nov 20, 2021 17:32:26 GMT
Yes, it does!
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Post by Eddie on Nov 21, 2021 0:30:43 GMT
Gorgeous work there. We did recreate that final run in the Vol 1 Emma Clarke pack which is where this repaint really belongs...........
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ale123
Station Staff
Posts: 24
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Post by ale123 on Nov 22, 2021 2:56:28 GMT
Thank you! I have now created two more repaints for the C-Stock this time. The C-Stock Explorer Railtour passing Chalfont & Latimer. The C-Stock Farewell Railtour passing Putney Bridge. Something to note here: Two of those boards disappear if the reverser is in Forward or Reverse so the driver's view isn't blocked! (That's my first script code for TS by the way:D) This means I have a small package which I will upload soon if you're okay with the new addition!
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Post by Eddie on Nov 22, 2021 15:19:33 GMT
Wow, that is amazing work and how it can elevate the immersion factor. I am definitely OK with this. Many thanks for your dedication.
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ale123
Station Staff
Posts: 24
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Post by ale123 on Nov 24, 2021 0:16:36 GMT
Thank you! I have finished the work on those reskins and had uploaded them to two sites where they were awaiting approval. When I told one of my friends about how much time it took he gave me an idea. Would you be interested in hosting them yourself on your site?
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Post by Xavier on Nov 24, 2021 9:16:31 GMT
Thank you! I have finished the work on those reskins and had uploaded them to two sites where they were awaiting approval. When I told one of my friends about how much time it took he gave me an idea. Would you be interested in hosting them yourself on your site? PM me and we'll work it out.
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