Maritime Federation of Model Railroaders annual show

[SamuelMClark]

Hey Matt, I'll have to find MSTS, I might have packed it up with some other games, I'll let you know when I find it.

[SamuelMClark]

It should only take a day or two to get you running, might take another day to download all the rolling stock. Are you on high speed or dial-up? You can download the DARv2 and start downloading the rolling stock even before you have MSTS and OR installed.

Hey Paul, how big is all the files required to run your MSTS DAR layout? Depending on the size you might be able to zip them into one single file for download or even just use one single zip file with all of the required files and I can setup something on my home network for you to access and upload the files to me.

Matt I found MSTS and I got it installed and working on a laptop I've got, so if you want I can finish setting everything up on the laptop I have and I'll loan it too you for the show. Also I'll be going to the show since I've got that Saturday off.

Cheers

Samuel

[Paul Charland]

Hi Samuel and Matt,

If you just want to run something and leave it for people to watch you could really just run one of Steve's RDCs from Annapolis Royal to Windsor Junction. If you want to run a short freight, then you could do that with only a few downloads. My rolling stock if from the mid seventies and are grouped, about eight or ten cars to a group, common forty foot boxcars come in a set of sixteen I think. I might be able to group them all together but they are free and can be downloaded at trainsim.com... no registration needed. It's probably easiest to find the stuff by going to the library at Trainsim and searching for Paul Charland and everything I made for the DARv2 will come up.

Just a rough count... the route is about 195 MB and all the rolling stock adds up to about 177 MB... and that's the zip files.

If You just want a short freight it would need to be made up into it's own activity but that's easy enough to do.

If you need help, just ask.

Paul

[SamuelMClark]

I actually had to sign up on TrainSim.com to download your files in order to use them.

I got your DARv2 installed plus the other addons which you mentioned plus I had installed two of the freight files though a list would be great so I can make sure I have everything as when I tried to run your map MSTS kept crashing.

[Paul Charland]

Hi Samuel,

OK, first question... can you run any of the default routes?

Second one... when it crashes is there and error message and what is it?

Paul

[stem]

Hey you guys - is there some reason why you don't want to go with Open Rails and forget about MSTS? It's 15 years old and does not like Windows 7. Even if you manage to get it where it won't crash anymore (good luck) the performance is dismal and the graphics are hardly spectacular and restricted to 4:3 size screens.

You can have both installed. They won't interfere with each other. I recommend you at least try it and make your own comparison.

[Paul Charland]

Hi Steve,

I have no problem with going with Open Rails myself. I have run the route and found on a couple of places where there is a tree in the middle of the tracks or on a road, but other then that, I haven't had a problem.

My only concern is that I know what to expect from the old version of Open Rails I have on my system and I'm only using it as a test while building a route... it's about a year old. If Samuel and Matt download the current experimental version of OR and they run into difficulties that don't exist in my old version, then I can't help them. I'm still using the old version as it's stable.

Paul

[downeastrailfan]

Yes, there is plenty of time to get the game working. I'm going to go with Steve's suggestion of using open rails. Should I use the simple download or supporters' download?

My main purpose in attending the show is to promote both wikis. I will need to have a computer to show people the site and how to navigate it. Perhaps the game should be running on a second computer. Samuel said he can provide a laptop to run the game, so that takes care of that issue. I still want to get it running on my computer though.

Also, I was thinking we could have business cards with dardpi.ca and the logo on one side, and HSW on the other. Or whatever someone else comes up is ok with me. Does anyone want to take on this project?

[SamuelMClark]

Matt I got open rail installed on that laptop and it's much more of a resource hog than MSTS so the laptop I have won't work for Open Rail though it would be good for the WIKIs

Paul your maps work in Open Rail though because open rail requires more resources it's very slow to drive a train. I'm going to try it out on my desktop at home now that I know a bit more of how to set it up.

Samuel

[stem]

You well could be right about that Paul. I'll see what the issue is about being a resource hog and if so, the older version being standalone and not installed might be the best bet. I've got all the versions stored away here too. I'll have to check as well to make sure it's using hardware acceleration and not trying to emulate video. That might be an issue as well.

[Paul Charland]

Hi Samuel,

OK, that's a little strange as it tends to be the opposite here, runs a lot smoother the MSTS and you rarely get any jerkiness when tiles load.

First... do you have BIN installed... also New Roads and xTracks?

It might be some of the settings in the Options at the bottom of the opening page.

We can go through the options to see if some are at their limit, but it might be quicker to e-mail me directly at:

p.charlie@sympatico.ca

OR is capable of viewing much longer distances the MSTS but for the most part cutting the max in half is all you need and is much easier on you computer.

What version of OR are you running?

Paul

[SamuelMClark]

I think it's the hardware of the laptop Paul, the laptop has 1GB of RAM not two, and looking at the requirements for Open Rail the laptop barely meets the minimum requirements, I did get it to actually work in MSTS last night I was just being stupid when I tried to run a map as I wasn't selecting an engine to use. I drove from Mantua to just past Middleton, really nice drive, I knew where I was for most places. I'm still playing around with getting everything added. MSTS graphics aren't as nice as Open Rail but MSTS also requires less minimum hardware specs.

[Paul Charland]

Hi Samuel,

If you can get it to run in MSTS that's file too, we can work with that. When you get all loaded let us know and we can give you any help you need.

Paul

[downeastrailfan]

I have two updates.

1. Steve has installed Open Rails and is working on getting Paul's add-on up and running. There is an error he is looking into.

2. I secured us a table at the Federation show for free! I'm really looking forward to the show, since it will be in "the land of Evangeline" which is the perfect place to promote the site.

[Paul Charland]

Hi Steve and Matt and Samuel.... and,

What's the error, maybe I can help.

How about the Jumbotron for the display? If you're too young to know what a Jumbotron is, let's just say... really big TV screen!

Now, I just had another idea... Back a few years ago when they took my Fonda, Johnston and Gloversville route to the train show in Albany NY, I reproduced the 1956 Public Timetable and Gino printed them out and gave out about a hundred. Any interest in that sort of thing? I can do the graphics here and send the file to someone there, but of course, someone else would be stuck with the cost of paper and ink.

Paul