Consensus on 6.122319

[bennycdn]

I want to install the newest update,just wanting to make sure it's working well for everyone,before installing.The previous version is working so good on my MSTS.

Benny








http://www.lucare.com/immortal/media/beethovendrawing.gif

[OTTODAD]

No problem here, Benny, having updated from 1.6.1022 to 1.6.122319, using the Uninst_MSTS Patch 1.6.1022.exe before installing the latest patch and copying it's installed Translated DLLs\EN\*.dll files into the Train Simulator folder !

O t t o

[Richard]

Hello Benny,
Same as Otto reports above. I uninstalled 1.6.1022, installed 1.6.122319 and copied the appropriate dynamic link libraries and have not encountered any problems.

Take care,
Rich S.

[Huecuvoe]

As long as you weren't bothered by the bugs in v1.6.102213, you probably won't have any problems with v1.6.122319.

[Turbo Bill]

Upgraded with no problems at all. The improved FPS and resource management make it worth getting and upgrading to alone.

[Curious142]

>I want to install the newest update,just wanting to make sure
>it's working well for everyone,before installing.The previous
>version is working so good on my MSTS.
>
> Benny

Benny, jump in, the water's fine. Why let other people have all the fun of discovering new things.

Cheers,

CB

[OTTODAD]

As long as you weren't bothered by the bugs in v1.6.102213, you probably won't have any problems with v1.6.122319.

Hi, Rich E.!

What "Bugs" ? I did not have any which interfered with what I did with all my routes and rolling stock and am not concerned with minor lighting issues !

O t t o

[bennycdn]

Is there an issue using raildriver? Sorry to sound like a winer,also where can I find the previous version just in case.....
http://www.lucare.com/immortal/media/beethovendrawing.gif

[Huecuvoe]

>What "Bugs" ? I did not have any which interfered with what I
>did with all my routes and rolling stock and am not concerned
>with minor lighting issues !

Otto,

I'm glad you asked.

Minor lighting issues. I am one of admittedly small group that want the lights to work. The two problems that bug me the most are the "Penalty" light and the "TimeOfDay" both of which work correctly in v1.6.092223.

Having been involved in software development, I have nothing but admiration for George's work. I did not think anyone would be able to address the GWV issue without a complete rewrite. George is good.

I do think it would be a good idea to delay the addition of new features at some point and clean up some of the little problems that have crept in. Otherwise, the number of "minor" issues will continue to grow (I speak from painful experience).

I was staring at the "Guestbook" page of the MSTSBin website this afternoon wondering if I wanted to make this comment. I don't want to seem ungrateful or unappreciative. MSTSBin is George's project and he gets to drive. I assume he knows that he probably will want to do a "bug fix only" version at some point. I have a suggestion, it might be useful if the MSTSBin website had a "known bugs" list so that curmudgeons like me would know that the bugs had been acknowledged and would eventually be addressed. Perhaps you could suggest this as you have a working relationship with George.

What is a minor issue to you may not be minor to me. However, we can agree that MSTSBin is a fantastic achievement and that George should be encouraged and helped in his work.

[ericson38]

I'm getting FPS increases of about 5-12 FPS for # 1 and #2 views, no change in other views. Memory allocated 313 mbytes. It works as advertized here, amazing. Take for instance the newly minted activity SP 9389 West for Cascades Crossing. I like to run with everything possible checked and sliders to the right, so no backing off here and there. In that activity there is an opposing frieght right off the bat. With the Oct Bin 1.6 I had out the #1 view about 14 FPS until the train passed, then up to 18 right after, and low 20s to 18 FPS for most of the run. Now the FPS starts at 20, then heads to 27-30 in the outback on that route. I have an AMD 300XP with 1 gig ram, Radeon 9550 256 meg AGP card, basic soundblaster sound card.

[Turbo Bill]

There may be one but it's only if you install non stock driver's aids. You may need to change the font for the F5 back to original color and size. If your present F5 is working fine with the Raildriver then you should go to the GUI folder double-click on the DRIVERAIDS folder and locate the hud_dsl2.dat file and make a back up of it somewhere so you can put it back in after you install any new driveraids. The patch may also change the color and font of this file as well. Other than that all is fine. The only real annoying thing is that you have to press the shiftkey while holding donw the bell and sand to make them to items stay active after you press them. I wish I knew how to add a "shift key" option to one of the "all commands" option list in the cabmaker section of the raildriver program.

[Richard]

Hello Otto,
It seems I've run across the penalty light bug as well. I'm not sure what is causing the problem, but the lead unit casts a flashing red light on all scenery in front of it. If you look at the front of the unit with the headlight turned on, the light is white. For me I just went into the .eng file and removed the penalty light section as a temporary fix.

Take care,
Rich S.

[bennycdn]

OK,I'm ready to install it,there are two versions,patch 1.6.122319 and
1.6.122319XP is that meant to be for xp users?

[OTTODAD]

Hi Stephane !

The new XP 1.6.1223 patch is indeed for MSTS under WIN-XP users, I just posted about !

The color of the F5 HUD parts 1/2 the RAILDRIVER reads must be RED.

Not sure whether a higher than 1024x768 screen resolution has any adverse effect, I would not use under any circumstances, rendering on-screen text almost unreadable !

O t t o

[ericson38]

I decided to go back to the 1022 version. The shadows under the train are left behind on the track in the #1 and #2 views on the 1223 XP version. All other views, ground shadows work ok, and resets the trail of shadows left behind in 1223. In reverse, you leave a long shadow in front of you. If, still going in reverse, you put the throttle in forward (a no-no in real life), the shadows stop being left in your wake. FPS is defintely better with 1223, I'll wait till George hopefully can fix it. The FPS increase with 1223 with the #1 and #2 views is almost like the FPS increase from turning off dynamic shadows in 1022.

[OTTODAD]

Hi Charles !

Have reported your findings to George so that he can check them out !

Changing a programs source code is a nightmare, I am well aware of, having done it many times to my commercial accounting software ! :-(

O t t o

[OTTODAD]

Here is what George said:

It is jolly if your own shadows are left on stations, isn't it? ;-)

Yes, dynamic car shadows computing uses much processor time and rapidly decrease FPS in game. I had to stop computing this shadow for Cab and HeadOut views to increase FPS, but shadows should not show in this case.

O t t o

[ericson38]

Thanks Otto,

Sounds like he meant to disable dynamic shadows for #1 and #2 views, getting the increased FPS as a result, which makes sense, since they can't be seen unless the sun is low and you are looking directly out the side in #2. Having them still enabled in the other views and on passing trains seems like a better combination of effects than the sim is programmed with before 1223.

The first act I ran on it after going to 1223 version had me backing down part of a train to join another, and, staying in #1 view to hear the orders from the conductor, I noted that the shadows being cast by the engines and cars behind me were permanently attached to the ground and weren't rolling up as the train moved backwards.

Charlie (CNW #0052, NE #226)

[OTTODAD]

Yes Charlie, that's what it looks like, but until the changed code is used on various computers there is no knowing what the end-effect is going to be ! ;-)

I am trying not to bother him with minor glitches until the major changes to MSTS have been taken care of and have bedded in and then when he is getting bored, looking for something else to do, will start suggesting some "Fine Tuning" ! ;-)

O t t o

[ericson38]

Otto,

You are totally right. The increase in performance due to having so much additional memory pre-lit with tiles is an excellent upgrade all by itself. There is a route by Robert Reddy (ADFRR V4 with Distant Mountains upgrade), and after climbing out of Valley Mine, crossing the mountains, and heading to the Valley below, it seems you can see much farther than before (although this fog limiting effect was only part of the RE, no ?), and when you pan around from far distances, the scenes move effortlessly compared to disk accesses required before.

With this much memory available, I'm thinking of tinkering with the MSTS startup command "load all waves" again.

Thanks

Charlie

[Hack]

>The shadows under the train are left behind on the track in the #1 and #2 views on the 1223 XP version.

Oops - I guess I should have read all messages before posting my own findings. :P

Cheers!
Marc - 3DTrains
http://www.3dtrains.com

[link:www.3dtrains.com/products/index.shtml|http://www.3dtrains.com/images/pro_funit_atsfmain.jpg]

Pro Series v4.0 SuperPacks

[Claude350]

I never really cared for the shadows anyway. I turned them off.

[bnsf1959]

I notice one thing that doesn't work with the latest patch for XP users, the right click of the mouse doesn't work if you use the #7 view to move around. I found this in the any route in the game and in RE. Unless something has been explained before and I might have missed it.

Ken Plaza ;-)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v46/BNSF733/MOPHOU1A.jpg
www.themophouse.com
www.muschkaactivityworks.com

[OTTODAD]

Noted Ken and shall pass it on to George together with other minor things which have and will crop up, like the Backspace emergency brake function not working any more !

Don't want to frequently bother George with bits and pieces ! ;-)

O t t o

[cbblackard]

>Hello Otto,
> It seems I've run across the penalty light bug as well. I'm
>not sure what is causing the problem, but the lead unit casts
>a flashing red light on all scenery in front of it. If you
>look at the front of the unit with the headlight turned on,
>the light is white. For me I just went into the .eng file and
>removed the penalty light section as a temporary fix.
>
>Take care,
>Rich S.
>

Rich:

Could you kindly elaborate on what should be removed in the penalty light section in the .eng file. I see the following in one of my F-Unit .eng files:

Light (
comment( Sphere of Light Penalty)
Type ( 1 )
Conditions (
Unit ( 2 )
Penalty ( 2 )
)
Cycle ( 0 )
FadeIn ( 0.5 )
FadeOut ( 0.5 )
States ( 2
State (
Duration ( 1.0 )
LightColour ( efff0000 )
Position ( 0.0 3.3 7.22 )
Transition ( 1.0 )
Radius ( 600.0 )
Angle ( 15.0 )
)
State (
Duration ( 2.0 )
LightColour ( aaf5e25c )
Position ( 0.0 3.3 7.22 )
Transition ( 1.0 )
Radius ( 400.0 )
Angle ( 15.0 )
)
)
)

Which part of this needs removing? And what impact does it have?

Thanks.

[OTTODAD]

Sorry Rich, not being able to be much help on that subject. Didn't even know that penalty lights existed on some locos ! ;-)

O t t o

[tpilot]

Otto, I see it on some of my 3DTrains F-units.

I believe the penalty light was a red light that came on along with the MARS light when Penalty (Emergency) braking was applied.

Rich - I THINK you would remove ALL of the code you highlighted, not sure about the number of closing parens, though. You also need to go to the beginning of the lights section and reduce the total number of lights by one.

As far as effects, without BIN, the effect would be that you no longer get the red light coming on when you apply penalty brakes. With BIN, the effect will be that you no longer get the red tinge on scenery with normal headlights.

[tpilot]

Thought I would post my experiences with MSTS Bin 1223xx in case anyone wanted to read them.

First off, b/c of the way I install things, I had a hard time installing MSTS Bin 1223, but I got it to work. I first copied my Global and GUI folders to a “Pre-Bin Backup” location. Then I uninstalled MSTS Bin 10?? Using the uninstaller in the main MSTS folder. Then I copied the 2001 train.exe 1.4 to a temporary folder and installed MSTS Bin 1223 to this folder. This told me that the liteglow.ace file would be modified (which I later changed back as I preferred the one I was using from liteglow.ace in the F/L), and also that my monitor.dat would be modified. I then tried to install MSTS Bin 1223, to my main MSTS folder, but it said that I already had the latest version of MSTS Bin installed. I then uninstalled 1223 from my temporary MSTS folder and it still would not install. I then deleted the MSTS Bin Backup folder from my main MSTS folder and it installed with no problems.

System specs: WinXP SP2, AMD Barton 2800, 1.5G of Ram, 64M Radeon 9200 AGP vid card.

I also find the “MSTS allocated XXX amount of RAM” window annoying. I am sure MSTS Bin George did it so users would be able to provide feedback, and I assume it will be removed with the next version of BIN. (And I would rather have MSTS use the memory and have to click on the checkbox than have it not free up the memory and have it start right up though, so I’m not complaining.). A better option, IMHO would have been to have separate installers - one to include the checkbox and one not to, or have an MSTS.ini file with options to turn it on or off, or just separate .exe files, but given the amount of confusion the separate XP and 98 installers created, I can understand MSTS Bin George not wanting to do this.

Regarding memory, I consistently get between 520 and 575M of memory allocated to MSTS!!!. However, one thing that I noticed is that I tend to get less memory allocated if the system has been running a long time and more memory allocated after a clean re-boot, regardless of how many other programs are open. This corresponds with our earlier theories on T-S of MSTS performance degrading with time of system operation.

I think I probably picked up 1-2 FPS on most routes, which is what Rich predicted earlier for a modern system. I would like to point out however, that IIRC, the official website claimed a speed increase IN SOME CASES of 10-20 FPS. I think what MSTS Bin George meant was on a 500Mhz system with 256M of RAM, you might see that kind of increase, but given the earlier comments, he probably regrets posting any kind of real numbers. Keep in mind when MSTS Bin was first released about 5 months ago, sure the front coupler fixes were welcome, and the night cabs and switching between engines was neat, but many of us were excited about a little better frame rates and much improved stability. I agree with Turbo Bill, that the frame rate increase between MSTS 1.4 and Bin 1.5 and between Bin 1.5 and 1.6.1223 is about equal, but now we are all complaining that we didn’t see the promised 10-20 FPS increase.

One thing I have noticed is what I will call increased “twitchiness” with MSTS BIN 1223. What I mean by that is that if I increase the throttle by a notch, the loco will speed up for a split second (say 0.1-0.2 seconds, and then will drop back to the previous speed and increase proportionally). (And I am talking about the speed that external objects are approaching, in both the 1 and 2 views, not any change in the gauges or F4 display.). This might be explained by physics, except that I also see the world objects speed up for a split second and then SLOW proportionally when I decrease the throttle or increase the braking.

However, I cannot say for sure if my pre-Bin 1223 installation did this also and I never noticed it, or if the new coupler values I am running (still R-R Bin Defaults) may be interacting with the lead engine and this is actually correct behaviour.

[dgauci]

>What is a minor issue to you may not be minor to me. However,
>we can agree that MSTSBin is a fantastic achievement and that
>George should be encouraged and helped in his work.

I wholeheartedly agree with everything you just said, and also applaud George for his accomplishment. That being said I also fully agree that the lighting issues are not necessarily “minor”, this sim is many things to many different people and what may seem minor to some is major to others. I for instance couldn’t care less about switching cabs, but do care about the lights working properly. Not a criticism, just a different perspective.

[OTTODAD]

Hi Rich !

What to me is a "Minor" issue at this stage of MSTSBin still having major alterations made to it by George, is considering it on a scale of overriding importance to what he does at the moment.

Also having been a programmer since 1979 I am aware of the fact that until all major source code changes of a program have been taken care of there is no knowing what the effect of them all are until the dust has settled and all of it's many functions have been tested by users of it.

There are some of us who are in direct contact with George and are monitoring every release of MSTSBin as best as we can, but there again not all of us are using it the same way but gradually build up feedback for George to look into when it is time to fine-tune the final releases and tidy up a few things !

O t t o

[Huecuvoe]

Otto,

Just got my first look at v1.6.123022 - looks good!

http://forums.flightsim.com/ts/dcboard.php?az=set_linear_mode&forum=32&page=&topic_id=804&prev_page=show_topic