Some things we'd like to see in the sim.

[Turbo Bill]

I thought I would start a thread on requests or suggestions. These may seem like trivial things but they will provide a checklist for the MS team to look at and perhaps implement these details we suggest. I'm an ex RW engineer of 10 years and am making these notes based on things that MSTS 1 had missing.

1.) AI engines rev up based on lead engine throttle position.
2.) Trailing engine brakes set up based on lead engines independant brake pipe pressure not train air as presently in MSTS1.
3.) Proper slack action based on the various types of couplers found on North American engines and rollingstock and also have this slack effect train dynamics.
4.) Proper realistic application and release rates on cars and engines in regards to brakes.
5.) If possible similated Harmonic roll and bounce if running on jointed rail.
6.) Modelling of both jointed and continuous welded rail.
7.) Ability to place sound events in activities so recorded audable messages can be played instead of the popups.
8.) Functioning rear telemetry and head end Telemetry devices with functioning footage counter, moving/not moving notification, rear light active, etc.
9.) Couplers that break from realistic excessive stretch forces. MSTS1 only breakds from excessive buff forces. Also do not use the "Spring" method that MSTS1 uses.
10.) Switchstands that actually move and change target direction when switches are thrown or changing movements.
11.) Option to use powered, hand thrown, variable, spring and standard switches with train derailing if going back over a switch that had been run thru.
12.) Switch point clacking sounds when running over them as in the RW.
13.) Built in delays when trains clear signals and switches in CTC territory before switches line for trains in siding etc.
14.) Accurate power levels for each throttle position mimicking or the ability to program to mimic RW operations.
15.) Automatic wheelsqueal in curves.
16.) superelevation in curves too.
17.) Ability to interact with AI trains with the player train and be able to restart from a save. Only possible now with special manual editing of act files in the MSTS1.
18.) AI locomotives and trains can couple to loose consists if desired by activity developer and programed to uncouple as well.
19.) Good RailDriver support if possible.
20.) Really good quality sound with the ability to preset sounds levels for various items in the sim with proper heirarchy. The horn should be the loudest, couplings, rail clacks, flatsopts should all be at proper levels mimicking RW traits.

That's 20 from me. Again this is coming from RW experiance. Thanks for listening to the crowd that will be playing your game.

[robertreedy]

One additional thing I'd like to see would be the ability to use the AI to trigger the various events. This could overcome a lot of standoff's and other activity problems.

RobertR
ADF-M&RM
Cascade & North Western at http://www.vcnwrr.com/

[USRailFan]

-Switch ends in dual-cab locos or MUs
-Switch loco in multiple-loco lashups
-Mix electrified and non-electrified track on the same route
-Working turntables
-Proper simulation of tilt trains
-Proper simulation of different types of couplers

[plainsman]

Me two to all the above, And these 9 items as well.
1 Better modeling of anti-slip/traction control systems, including creep and the resultant noise and shudder. Creep should allow about 7-12% greater wheel rotation speed vs. forward speed, with increase in tractive effort in the process. Above that (>12%), wheelslip will cause very rapid huge deterioration in tractive effort.

2 Accurate modeling of AC traction motors and locomotives that use them. This should include proper telemetry in cabs, and very slow continuous tractive effort along with ability to model adhesion up to 50% of unit weight, which can be over 425 metric tons.

3 Traction motors that fail realistically if operated for too long a duration above rated output (too slowly at full throttle).

4 Ability to model slow loading units without the adverse performance in reverse as seen in MSTS.

5 Dynamic environment that changes physics (for example snow in mountains with altitude loss in output with elevation)

6 As mentioned, throttle response is NOT linear as in MSTS, cabs should allow accurate throttle (% of power) with progressing notches.

7 Blended braking.

8 Accurate curve resistance.

9 Transition and shunting (ability to change electrical connections as in real world).

Thanks for the new simulator!
Bob Boudoin

[SpaceBiscuit]

I have to go with #19 (Rail Driver Support) at the top of my list

[USRailFan]

And some more:

-easy way of mixing concrete and wooden ties on the same route (many routes, even tho they mostly have concrete ties, still use wooden ties in tunnels, on bridges, for switches, yards etc)
-passengers boarding and leaving trains. Passengers visible in inside views (altho this'd probably kill framerates).
-something similar to the Introductoy Train Rides in the current MSTS (I know, some people hate them, some don't see the point in them, but I think they're a great way of getting to know a route, and I usually create them for all routes I download if they don't have one from before).
-smarter AI trains - possibility to set up AI trains doing switching etc

[ATSF]

The ability to easily model Spiral Curves with a Dynamic Type Track Piece.

Ideally the input would be the:
curve radius - expressed in degs mins secs and/or decimally

curves I angle or delta value - expressed either in degs mins secs and/or decimally

length of spiral expressed in feet or if zero is entered it would build a circular curve.

superelevation expressed in inches with the ability to correlate to spiral sections and/or a single smoothed value for entire curve.
If zero entered - no superelevation.

Also a dynamic type track piece that would build both right and left hand curves.

[Poltergeist]

I'd like add Multiplayer capabilities.

[stresstool]

1) Ability to unlock camera. I.e. camera can move anywhere at anytime.
2) Ability to see why a signal is set to what it is. I.e. if red, why?
3) Moving map display. I.e. dispatcher's view of the route.
4) Able to take control of any engine anywhere. It's perfectly acceptable if this means the engine currently under control must be stopped with brakes set before control can be transferred to another.
5) Ability to change a switch ahead or behind whether trailing point or not. It would be sweet to be able to line a series of switches without them having to be directly ahead of or behind the train.
6) Player train needs an auto-pilot so we can railfan with the camera and not suffer collisions, exceeding speed limits, running reds, etc. while doing so.

As well as all the stuff mentioned elsewhere in this thread. If you haven't already, I suggest you look at Trainz for examples of both things to do and things not to do.

[TrainMan_112]

1. More user friendly. Let's say sort of a built-in Conbuilder.

2. Track Warrant support for unsignalled routes. (It's possible, if MSFS can direct planes over the Atlantic and line them up for a runway, a computer can keep control of a few trains on the same track.)

3. A bit more simplified route building system. If it's using the FSX engine, wouldn't that mean the entire world is modeled? If so, you could select a specific area, and have the tiles re-generated into high resolution. Routes could be built in mere weeks this way.

[dgodfrey]

Lot's of great stuff here! I'd like to add a "whistle event" for AI traffic so they will blow thier AI horn at the specified spot.

[Turbo Bill]

Or better yet the AI's whistle automatically for crossings. Also can we have smoke coming out of AI trains for added realism? This is real downer for me on MSTS 1. You got a BigBoy coming at you and no smoke. It's like a grilled cheese sandwich without the cheese.

[fbarbieri]

Something for Traction fans

A Third rail feature that works with the third rail visible when running the sim (same as the overhead wire feature), plus the ability to use track with and without overhead wire and third rail on the same route.

Moving passengers waiting on a station platform that board and exit a train plus the ability to place people at different locations on the route away from the track (advanced deer on track feature) to eliminate the ghost town look.

Fred Barbieri

[USRailFan]

Uuh? AI steamers smoke, it is AI diesels who don't.

[GT Dan]

Personally, I would like the ability to have a shape file for a specific locomotive (let's say a GP38AC) and be able to have multiple road numbers and weathering. Kind of like FS2002 and after used multiple entries in the aircraft folder with the main model.

I would also like the option to have the railbed follow the ground surface instead of the immediate change of elevation at the joint.

[TrainFanAmtrak]

I would like to see these in the new MSTS-X

1) Real World Weather
2) Ability to switch locomotives
3) Ability to pass red signals without having the activity to end
4) Fog as one of the weather
5) Working Turntables
6) Realistic sounds
7) Moving water
8) Engineers to interact with each other

And that is what I want in Microsoft Train Simulator X

[Turbo Bill]

That's right, I forgot that......OK change the BigBoy to Alco. Thanks for the reminder, but again can the steam engines have black smoke like the player engines do??

[Miketherailfan]

How about the timing of the horn? i.e.; such as doing a crossing warning and not having to wait 2 seconds for the horn to kick in again. Ya know what I mean?

[OTTODAD]

That's the idea, guys ! :7

Lots for the MSTS-X team to browse through and pick what they think are reasonable requests to start with and put others on the back-burners for the next release ! ;-)

Hopefully also including some of my suggestions here:
http://forums.flightsim.com/ts/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=33&topic_id=77&mesg_id=77&page=

Take care, O t t o.

[roeter]

Hi there,

here's a few more :

regarding passenger trains :

- proper GUI to set timetables (anything is better than the present window)
- AI trains adhere to timetable - at present, they just run and do not wait at stations until booked time (obviously, delays can occur)
- signals in stations do not clear until booked departure time, thus allowing other movements while trains are stationary

regarding freight and passenger trains :

- when a 'waiting' point is defined in an activity, signals neyond this point do not clear until set time
- it should be possible to link signals to events triggered by other trains, or by time.

regarding player trains :

- it should be possible to define 'reporting' points in an activity; i.e. when shunting is required, the player must report when ready; signals beyond this point will only clear after the ready report is received. This would allow for more realistic AI traffic - e.g. passenger trains overhauling freight trains in yards etc.

But - most important of all (I should write this in capitals) :

There must be proper reporting of errors and warnings.
No more enigmatic messages like 'Cannot initialize train world'.
But a proper report of what file is missing or which parameter is wrong.
If such (extensive) reporting would be too costly, then an optional log-facility should be included. Such a facility would log all actions during start-up, route and even activity initialization.
In case of a problem, the log-file can be compared to the file of a correct run, and so the problem can be located.

That's my euro-cent worth of ideas.
Well, one can't but hope (or dream).

Good luck,

Rob Roeterdink

[trainrcool]

what about loops or train set. like would it be cool if you could make your own train set that you see in model railroad magazines. i try that on train simulator and it didn't go well cuz loop errors and crashes. i kinda hope you can do that in the new train simulator.
there this other turntable call Traversers i think, i wonder if that going to be in there or maybe they can add code that let ya build one i donno.

[OTTODAD]

Yes, Chris, I forgot about loops and making track circles, which are used by some real railways like the LONDON Underground.

I have solved the problem with inserting signalled reverse loops into circles which let you drive in them for as long as you like, albeit not a real circle but functioning like one ! ;-)

O t t o
http://forums.flightsim.com/vbts/up1/116778.jpg

[Richard]

Hello Jordan,
I like the Track Warrant idea, even on routes like my L&HR which had signals, they still used Form 19's to govern movements. The signals just indicated track condition, the Form 19's governed movement. It would be nice if somewhere in the activity editor you could say these two trains are going to meet at this location. Then whoever showed up first (AI or Player) would wait for the other train to pass, before continuing on to it's destination.

Take care,
Rich S.

[Richard]

Something to go along with the multiple choice of ties would be the ability to have more than one ballast type / ballast depth per route. Often the ties on sidings, yards and interchange tracks are buried in the ballast, while the mains have that manicured look.

Take care,
Rich S.

[muskokaandtahoe]

The developers toolset is just another cad tool. DO NOT FORGET, repeat DO NOT FORGET, to give us the means for manually entering the x/y/z object origin values. Ditto for any pitch.

Mouse clicking all over the place is fine for most things but when it comes to necessary precision, we have to have access to the numeric values. Unless of course you really do it right and give us a large set of snap-to and precision-move functions....

If you have any doubts whatsoever about the need for this, contact me directly and/or download the object rotator spreadsheet, fire up the MSTS route editor, and run a timed test of how long it takes you rotate a bridge 90 degrees and position it properly under track w/ and w/o using the object rotator software.

[b]Dave Nelson
SLW Route Design: The Cal-P, 1950.[b]
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y51/muskokaandtahoe/Avatars/Dancing_Genma.gif
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y51/muskokaandtahoe/Avatars/4ad3d633.jpg

[muskokaandtahoe]

> One additional thing I'd like to see would be the ability to use the AI to trigger the various events. This could overcome a lot
> of standoff's and other activity problems.

A train is a train is a train... just another object of its class. They all should behave the same, varying only from who does the controls -- player or AI. If done properly then all "supervisory" events (e.g., via signalling, warrants, or old fashioned train orders) message the indication that initiates or releases restriction on a train can be issued equally to player and AI trains alike.

In the case of the player, he understands the indication and controls his train thru the UI; for the AI trains an actor is needed to take the indication and initiate the proper controls as if a player had done it.

[b]Dave Nelson
SLW Route Design: The Cal-P, 1950.[b]
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y51/muskokaandtahoe/Avatars/Dancing_Genma.gif
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y51/muskokaandtahoe/Avatars/4ad3d633.jpg

[gerr]

I would like it if you can make two tones with the horn. :-)

[TexasWestern70Mac]

here's my laundry list of things i can think of that can be realistically added to MSTS X provided current gaming technologies, yet make something that gets more than 10fps because its TOO detailed, most is physics based more than anything, in game things as well.

1. functioning turntables that allow the locomotive to change directions as well as tracks in the yard.

2. more physics options for steam locomotives
a. different fuels used, coal, oil, wood.
b. accuarte burning rates for different fuels i.e. difference in burning for fuel oil, anthracite coal, bituminous coal, etc
c. ability to have an articualted locomotive as ONE unit and physics to match accordingly.
d. auto stokers as well as hand fired coal burners
e. when a run starts, having to wait for the fire to build up boiler pressure before train movement if the locomotive is starting cold.
f.ability to (if applicable) to use tender trackscoops to pick up water into tenders
g. when fueling or using fuel a simple animation file to indicate depletion or adding of coal (full, 50% full, 25% full and empty.
h. ability to have ash pile up in the ashpan, and neccesity to dump the ashpan in a coal burner after a long run.
i. to have to refuel (both water and coal/oil) when fuel is depleted.
j. ability to have overfire jets if applicable.
k. have to have brake air pressure build as with diesels.
l. boiler explosions if crown sheet exposed.
m. various mechanical failures in game

3. realistic effects for cyclinder cocks. there are two jets of steam per side, and they dont release at the same time, but quartered and not continous unless during initial blowoff.

4. variable pitch for multichime whistles based on duration of the blow. a 2 stage wav file is used during long blows with an inital pitch using a few chimes (lower tone) and full kilter with all chimes. all chimes used if a short blast.

4a. realistic sounds for:
1. dynamo
2. air compressors
3. steam chuffs to wheel rotation and diameter
4. chuffing cutout when drifting
5. articulated engines

5. visual effects as far as steam engines go:
a. more realistic smoke effects ie black, white and translucent with some smoke but make the effects semi transparent so it looks less cartoonish. also if wind is present have the smoke plume blow in certain directions and not follow the train.
b. jet of steam from blowoff valves on the boiler.
c. small steam trail from the dynamo
d. various steam leaks from pistons, air pumps, and steam connections to the train behind
e. firebox flicker on oil burners.
f. have the steam puffs from the smoke stack realisitically match the strokes and speed of the pistons espcially at lower speeds and articulated engines.
g. coal dust effect when fueling at a coaling tower.
h. more animations on the locomotive such as:
1a. reversing gear
2a. power reverse
3a. whistle and bell chords.
4a. bell animations where appropriate
5a. opening and closing cab vents.
6a. opening and closing cab windows (and doors on all weather cabs)
7a. swing, lift, and hang coupler animations.

6. more guages to be funtional in steam locomotive cabs and be able to be both a fireman or engineer. and if applicable having to fire the engine by hand.

7. when doubleheading steam engines have the smoke colors of the trailing engine match the lead engine.

8. basic 3d people in the cabs (steam and diesel) from the extior views of leading units and manned helpers.

9. a more user friendly route editor that doesnt require in depth knowledge of systems to create a route.
a. elimination of the so called white void problem.
b. a terrain creator tool for fictional routes
c. ability to use RAW DEM data from the USGS site for terrain creation.
d. elimination of the "Tiling" method for routes in lue of something less limiting.
e. large library of objects for route creation available in the game route editor from day 1. ie trees/grass/shrubs, tracks, buildings, signals, lineside objects, stations,bridges, tunnel portals, city buildings, industry and agricultural buildings, intermodal facilties,roads, static "miscellanous" objects like cars, small aircraft, fences, animals, abandoned buildings, etc.
f. farther visibility in routes than 2000 meters.
g. more variety of tracks, concrete ties, wood ties, jointed rail, welded rail, secondary main tracks (less maintained with "divets" at joints in rails), dual gauge, narrow gauge, ballast colors more varied, and more switch options ie double slip switches, 3 way switches, ctc switches, abs controlled switches, sprung as well as hand thrown switches with animated stands
h. ability to test a route prior to game loading with a train, and ability to test a route for errors before final loading in game.
i. better scenic options, more realistic water, waterfalls, lakes & rivers. ability to heavilty forest an area without looking like a "cookie cutter" forest.

10. more signalling options in the game.
a. ctc
b. abs
c. track warrant controlled

11. actually have the ability to talk to a disptacher to get warrants that affect train movements such as meets, maintenence delays, derailments, and running out of hours or a "dead" train.

12. accurate defect detectors for your specific train's axle count/ railroad operating on and triggers hotboxes as well as hotboxes for steam engines passing on modern routes. dragging equipment detectors.

13. ability to talk to other trains.

14. to be able to do hump duty, make up trains in the yard and do local jobs and not just long distance trains.

15. ability to do all this with the computer as well as real people in a multiplayer enviornment online.

16. being a dispacther for online play and controlling the trains rather than running them

17. diesel physics more realisitic.
a. have the ability to load test the engines prior to assignment to a train.
b. realstic air-line testing, air build up, and air dumping for normal as well as emergency operations.
c. running out of fuel.
d. random electrical and mechanical problems with units on a train such as:
1a. eletrical problems.
2a. bad traction motors
3a. poor unit loading or unit wont load at all.
4a. major mechanical failures such as blown turbos, pistons, and oil fires.
5a. dragging brakes
e. in multiple unit consists, have all units load like lead unit, and have the sounds of the trailing units match the lead unit when under various power settings.
f.ability to have dpu controlled mid train and end train locomotives.
g. MANNED helper option for mid train and trailing pusher units. ie have to communcate with mid train/ pusher engineers reguarding train movements. and slight physics lag of manned helpers.
h. stalling of diesels that arent tunnel motors in long unventilated tunnels.

18. more realistic coupler values:
a. slack action slowing and starting.
b. visual cue of slack action such as couplers pushing into or sliding out of draft gear.
c. breaking knuckles on trains that have poor power distribution or overloaded.
d. simple animation for coupling/uncoupling knuckles
e. random uncouplings in the train to trigger and emergency situation

19. more realistic rollingstock physics, such as dragging brakes or improper air loading as well as having to manually set brakes when setting out cars on sidings.

20. ability to add / drop off passengers to pax trains and see passengers at stations board and load (simple as a "paper cut out" crowd appear and dissappear over a certain duration)

21. be able to walk thru the cars of a passenger train and not view from just a fixed position, as well as being able to "walk" into vistadomes upper levels

22. much more realisitc camera controls.
a. be able to view the ENTIRE train for as long as you want before the train comes and leaves.
b. be able to "jump ahead"( or behind) of the train and watch it roll by.
c. more realistic pan, tilt and zoom capabilities.
d. being able to "crouch" for those "ants eye" shots.
e. ability to capture VIDEO as well as screenshots.
f. ability to see a whole train derail and not just a few cars.

23. ability when running scenarios to, even with violations aside from derailments, be able to continue running your train unless an abs shoe is on the locomotive.

24. 2 different explore modes, with your train alone, and one where you meet trains, with only simple rules, stop and take the siding or roll on thru.

25. a "railfan" mode so you just have to control speed and direction of a train without operational consequence/ rule braking or collisions.

26. different modes of operation realism.
a. "simple" mode where physics are not applicable except slack action
b. " moderate" where most physics are appicable and required to talk to the dispatcher and other trains, but not all things are needed done to operate the train, such as waiting to air test, etc. also rules violations do not count against you.
c "realistic" all accurate physics and must obey all rules, as well as all directions given by the dispatcher and other trains.

27. more weather options:
a.accumulating snow heavy enough to plow
b.floods
c.heavy rain
d.WIND
e.icing
f.blowing dust
g.fog
e.dynamic weather that CAN change while travelling if option is so checked.

28. more realistic non train sound effects:
a. rain
b. snow
c. wind
d. trees
e. cars
f. railroad crossings with either electric or manual bells or both.
h. animals such as birds.
i. sounds of streams & creeks.

29. gui that is more user friendly and not so "pop up" laden

30. ability to import msts1 locomotives and rollingstock.

31. general visual effects for trains
a. dust kickup
b. snow kickup
c. super-elevation on curves where needed

32. general train sound effects:
a. more realistic doppler effect.
b. echoing horns/ whistles/ chuffs/ diesel sounds in canyons
c. realistic flatspot and squealing sounds randomly placed on certain cars/locomotives.
d. more controllable horn/ whistle with cue points so how long you hold the whistle key is EXACTLY how long the horn/whistle lasts.
e. coupling/ uncoupling sounds
f. ACCURATE sounds when crossing over diamonds or switches.
g. better generic sounds for rollingstock on jointed as well as welded rail. a mouse squeak just doesnt cut it.
h. squealing of all brakes when in hard emergency braking.

33. effects of snow from plows and rotaries.

34. virtual 3d cabs but option of 2d cabs for lower end machines.

35. making more road numbers availble to run and more models but NOT customizable road numbers, that makes too many complex alpha channels to edit.

36. seeing impefections in metal customiazble in intensity of shine with alpha channels.

37. more north american routes from the southwest, midwest or southeast.

38. 32 bit (16 million) colors in the game including aplha channels! 256 colors doesnt cut it!

39. ability to be a helper pushing a train.

40. jump from operating one train to another, and from the lead unit to mid train and pusher units.

thats it for now, tried to be as comprehensive as possible, maybe my list covered some or alot of what others handnt thought of yet.

Bill Hemb; train sim repainter

[OTTODAD]

Hi Bill !

Well done and one of the most comprehensive and sensible lists of suggestions I have read to date ! ;-)

Would like to add making the P key start Diesel engines from cold and provide realistic sounds of wheels going over track joints and switches, we now can get very good ones from RAILWAVES and my points sound sources !

Pantographs which auto-adjust to whatever overhead wire height is being used in a route and multiple types of tracks, electric and not.

The cherry on top of the cake for me would be a moving map of the route, like TRAINZ has, letting you do the same it does and one a separate monitor if possible !

Instant switching from Route and Activities Editors into MSTS and back !

I am sure that there are lots more good ideas and hope that most of them will surface in MSTS-X ! :7

Take care, O t t o.

[landnrailroader]

I would agree with most of your laundry list, but I do have some exceptions. The system knowledge of the current RE is necessary, merely because the silly thing is so unstable. A stable editor, that will truly rebuild the databases etc. should not require any system knowledge. Given the vast amount of freeware objects currently in many libraries around the world, I would hope that a translator would be available, at least for 3DC and TSM models at the source code level so that the original creators could quickly populate sites for new items, or that Microsoft could incorporate.
If the images of American railroad rolling stock is accurate in another thread, most of what is currently in the rolling stock areas of MSTS sites will be woefully obsolete in appearance. However to use objects that are that detailed, will require a real horse of a "pooter".
Ability to import DEM data would be nice, but let us be more specific. Ability to import DEM data as either Digital Elevation Modules or as seamless data. The latter is available for most of the US and produces considerably better results than the use of individual DEM files.

Jerry Sullivan

[OTTODAD]

Hi Jerry !

Don't forget us poor European MSTS Cinderellas who are not being served as well with much of what it required to create DEM terrain as you are in the USA. If there is such data then it comes at a price ! :-(

Take care, O t t o.

[USRailFan]

That is an unfortunate fact, but one still can't deny that DEM'ed terrain looks a magnitude of times better than hand-crafted terrain.

[jay611]

I'd like to be able to, like in flight sim, set malfunctions to take place whether it be a hotbox, broken couple, blown cylender, blown turbo, ect, along with accurate EOT physics that could also allow for false readings, or not fully pumped train lines, which would require one to inspect the train line, and do a "blow out" thought the train line.

Blow out being send a large amount of air through the train line that would remove anything that could have been obstructing the EOT from giving an accurate reading.

Cheers,

Jason Underwood
Newport News, Virginia
CSX Peninsula Sub MP.16
Jay611@cox.net
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y220/jay611/ESHR_Sig.jpg

[muskokaandtahoe]

Assuming MS is going to provide tools that perform deformation functions on the terrain, please us some player-sizable shapes to do that deformation. Consider how much easier it will be on the player if he has user-sizable shapes like a triangle, circle, sphere, or sharp wedge as compared to the MSTS-I tool of drawing out a rectangle with the mouse and hoping for the best. Also being able to set a pitch, roll, and yaw to change the orientation of the deformation tool would be ideal.

Any kind of terrain deformation should allow for the user to specify a deformation in either relative or absolute distance.

Any doubts of the need.... fire up MSTS and try and do a meandering river shoreline.

[b]Dave Nelson
SLW Route Design: The Cal-P, 1950.[b]
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y51/muskokaandtahoe/Avatars/Dancing_Genma.gif
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y51/muskokaandtahoe/Avatars/4ad3d633.jpg

[muskokaandtahoe]

Program switches. MSTS provides for a few special ones that are actually quite useful in troubleshooting -- /perflog in particular. Anyway, here's the request: Give us at least these 3 program switches that focus on common problems:

(1) Performace. The /perflog switch in MSTS-1 comes close to be sufficient -- time, fps, location, objects, and polys. IOW what a route designer and/or end user needs to see to understand what's going on when there is a performance problem.

(2) Train Physics. ~1 second snapshots of speed, grade, brake setting, coupler forces for everything in the train, plus throttle, power, etc. for the locomotive set. IOW what's going on w/ train physics when trying to understand run aways, breaks-in-two, etc.

(3) Locomotive power performance. ~1 second snapshots of the fixed and variable values that make up locomotive performance, plus speed, grade, throttle, brake settings. IOW what a locomotive designer needs to see to verify the model is performing as expected. Trying doing that in MSTS-I for a steam locomotive!

[b]Dave Nelson
SLW Route Design: The Cal-P, 1950.[b]
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y51/muskokaandtahoe/Avatars/Dancing_Genma.gif
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y51/muskokaandtahoe/Avatars/4ad3d633.jpg

[imbubby]

Great stuff! I don't see a bad idea in the lot.

I think everyone has the right idea... Get the simulator working right
and user-friendly first, then worry about adding a lot of content
(routes and trains)later. I would much rather have features built in
to the sim to make realistic modeling and activities easy than a lot
of shovel-ware routes and rolling stock. I want them to make the
sim great and modeler-friendly and provide at least a small number of
top-quality routes and rolling stock. I would then be happy to buy
top-quality expansions with more routes and rolling-stock and scenery
objects later, as well as make my own.


Some of the main features I want in addition to what i have seen above:

The ability to use top quality free modeling software like Blender
to make content.

MUCH more well-featured scenic animations, including MUCH improved and
more full-featured vehicles and roads and the path options for them.
All motor vehicles, self-propelled machinery, animals, and people
could use the same path and script systems. On which paths and where
on those paths each individual object operated whould be set ib that
objects control script. Everything from ships to farm tractors to
automobiles and trucks to animals and people could be controlled, with
their special animations set in the script. Picture earth movers
leveling a piece of ground, and going to dump in oanther spot.
Picture a tracture plowing a field. Picture horses running across a
pasture when the train approaches, then stopping to graze. Picture
a motor-boat on a lake or river. Picture an automobile pulling into
a filling-station and stopping by the pumps for fuel, then later
pulling back out onto the road and proceeding on it's journey.
Object paths should be placeable anywhere, using any road texture
the user wishes to choose and changeable at any time. There should
be the option of making road-paths without putting down a texture,
for simulation of objects moving off-road. Paths should include
branch points and special-animation trigger points. There should be
stop points where the vehicle slows to a stop and waits a
script-specified time, then accelerates at a realistic rate back to
normal scripted speed. Each "vehicle" should have its own script,
setting it's course,it's speed(s), and it's special animation
behaviours. At intersections, objects should automatically wait for
cross-traffic to clear before proceeding to cross or turn. Object
paths should have an infinately allowable length. There should be at
least four special animation "slots" per object, and any animation
the model is capable of should be able to be scripted into any "slot".
The script for that object would then control at which points the
object activated which animation.
Track crossings should work the same whether signaled or on signaled
in that all "vehicle" objects whether machine, human, or animal should
perform their scripted animation when they reach a crossing towards
which a train is closely approaching. For humans and vehicles,
this would normally be set for them to stop and wait till the train
has passed. For animals, this would normally be to turn around and
proceed posthast (run) back away from the track. Any of the types
could also be scripted to randomely either perform their normal
crossing animation, to ignore the train and go right on across the
tracks without stopping, to stop and then proceed across the tracks,
or to proceed to the middle of the tracks and then stop. In the last
case, after a random time, they would proceed on their way unless the
train had already hit them, in which case they could either perform
a destruction animation and whirl off to the side, or simply dissappear.
There should also be at least 3 additional "automatic" animations
for each vehicle which can be turned on or off in the script, and
which without further scripting would activate small textures with
a a script-settable, timing, to represent direction signals and
brake-lights These animations, when turned on in the script, should
automatically be activated when the script calls for a slow-down, a
stop, or a turn at a path-branch. This would be turned off in the
script for objects which have no signals.
The final automatic animation required is for wheels or tracks or
legs, and should always automatically activete when the object moves
and be synced with the speed.


Fully synchronised sounds of all types, including steam exhaust and
whistle/horn sounds. No molasses on the whistle chord, please.
I want the whistle to stop and be able to be started again as soon as
I release the key, not half an hour later. What this means is that
they need to support a proper ASDR loop with multiple key-points for
the sounds, so that they are infinately sustainable but still have
proper attack and decay sounds which will play seamlessly.
Even better would be playable whistles, which would use several keys
to trigger different characteristics to the attack-sustain-decay and
release envelope.
Example- The player holds down alt and space. The whistle acts as
if the chord is being pulled slowely, with the chimes coming in one at
a time.
Whenever the alt key is released but the spacebar continues to be
held down, the whistle imediatly goes to full voice as if the cord had
been pulled the rest of the way quickly. At any point in the
full-voice loop, the alt key could be pressed again to cause effect
of the cord being slackened off, bringing the pitch down more and more
until the alt key is released, when the whistle goes to full-song
again.
The alt key could be held down when the w key is released, causing
the effect that the whistle cord is let up slowely. The whistle sound
options in the script should be able to be set where the user wants
them to control the effect of the alt key.
The shift, Ctrl, c, and v keys could also be pressed when the
space-bar was already down to "play" the whistle in varying ways.
These are keys which are easy to find while using the space-bar, and
conveniant to "play", even for those who aren't good typists.


Please! Realistic water. No jerky, half-assed animations. Either
animate it smoothly, or don't animate it. But make it look natural,
abd blend in a realistic manner at the shore-lines and between
sections. Smoothly animated waterfalls are a must, even if the flat
water isn't animated. Best would be to have several types of water
animation, selectable or turned off for each section by script.
I might suggest having no animation for large bodys of water, but
having creek and small river scenery available with different
selectable animations. These should be user-alterable and user
creatable and user controllable via script. They should include
realistic animations for rapids and waterfalls. Bridge pier wakes
and boat wakes could merely be animations attached to those objects
instead of being part of the water system.

OK, enough for now, but I have many other ideas, wants, and needs.
Maybe I'll suggest some of them later.

[muskokaandtahoe]

Event based communication to the player.

Having the player receive communication from other "actors", such as station agents or the dispatcher, should be tied to events within the game. These events could be time based or tied to the status of other objects within the control o fthe game engine -- AI trains for instance passing a specific location (i.e., an O.S).

The communication should be, at a minimum, presented as ordinary text; ideally a choice of text or developer provided sound files.

This would enable the designer to provide scenarios where not all of the information is presented to the player at the start of the game. This could be track warrants, train orders, or instructions to pick up some cars at xyz location.

[b]Dave Nelson
SLW Route Design: The Cal-P, 1950.[b]
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y51/muskokaandtahoe/Avatars/Dancing_Genma.gif
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y51/muskokaandtahoe/Avatars/4ad3d633.jpg

[RailRide]

"More weather options-27b: floods"

I'm curious: what could one do if they encountered floodwaters in a sim, other than stopping... sit and wait for the waters to recede?

Or are you suggesting that this is what would happen, and to model the failures that would occur if the locomotives enter water deep enough over the railheads to affect the traction motors?

---PCJ

[ericson38]

My job in the real world is modeling real track networks and geometry relating to optmizing fuel for single trains and train capacity for multiple trains at a time. I think the track and signal related items have been covered well already.

For total train drag, modeling wind resistance may be easiy adapted from FS. Pulling a long string of empty boxcars can be felt when in a wind 45 degrees off the nose. Since FS models it, should have applicable code segments and functions written, drag coefs, vector math to do it. I'm hoping weather will be a direct carryover from FS. How about a caboose that rocked to the side a little when passed by a highballer, because it has an actual suspension as the planes in FS has. Couplers in the vertical direction. just think of the threads that one will have later on !

Maybe allow engineer to switch between main line dispatch and yard channels as required to complete an activity.

How about having a moving map display of all the trains in the area, and being able to set signals for AI trains to relfect your wishes. Activities could be wrriten so that a set of AI trains are running from A to B, with you in the mix, and you have the ability to 'plan' certain traffic flows to enable getting from one point on the route to the other as quickly as possible. Double main lines like Marias, not intresting, but Newark and New Jersey, intresting.

Can signal indications be made to relfect off the tops of rails at certain aspects and lighting ?

It would be nice if the math that MSTS uses to reflect post collision 3-D car motion and car to car collsions could be harnessed in real-time to reflect motion from uneven track sections and train suspension (at least the lead unit) intraction with cross-level and with switch points.

For spirals, even a linear radius transition and linear super-elevation ramp up to the constant radius curve would be realistic, and an improvement.

Someone mentioned various rail sounds, would be nice to tie jointed track sounds to the correct track texture, versus welded rail with concrete ties. Trains do squeel loudly around gradual turns, could end up being a frequency bandwidth problem to replciate multiple squeal sources through a common sound blaster sound card though. High frequencies chew up channel capacity!

There are a ton of things on a steam engine along, both mathematically and visually that could be enhanced, like having side rod slap sounds as a function of load, and just the right amount of wisps of steam past the cyinder drive rods.

A steamer's bell that swang back and forth with the ring (there a speed sensitve ones for MSTS now).

It becomes apparent when you think about it that modeling a single train well is much much more demanding of a set of programmers and the target CPU than any single or group of planes in flight (FS). Doing too much results in increasing the integration time step in order to have a second of play time = a second of game time.

The programming team was a deep well of 'user' requirements to draw from for sure, they just have to priortize them and allocate CPU time to just how well any of these ideas can be implemented in real-time.

Charlie

[johnds]

All of the above are worthy to have in the new Simulator.

You can add to that an IMPROVEMENT IN THE ERROR MESSAGES given out.

If a file is missing, say so. Saying "problem reading file?????" is useless. Is it missing or is there an error in the file?

[OTTODAD]

Hi John !

Yes, that would help the programmers to debug their code easier and help users if it is caused by something wrong at their end !

Most computing languages compilers have Run-Time error trapping routines which can identify the cause of many, specifying where in the code of a running program it occurred and what caused it !

Just a case of programming the program source code accordingly ! ;-)

But too many could affect the performance of the program running, increasing the size of it !

Below are some examples.

O t t o

<%
On Error Resume Next

If err.Number <> 0 Then
Response.Write "Number = " & err.Number & "

"
Response.Write "Description = " & err.Description & "

"
Response.Write "Source = " & err.Source
err.Clear
End If
%>

-------------------------------------------------------------

try {
myDataGrid.Databind()
} catch (Exception e) {
Response.Write ("The following error occurred :" + e.Message);
} finally {
myDataGrid.CurrentPageIndex = 0
}

[dispatcher618]

Bill,

Wouldn't it be easier to go get a real world railroad job? I wonder if it'd be quicker to make the seniority list that it would be to wait for a train simulator with all of those features, amazing sound, eye-boggling graphics and details, AND a high FPS. (And you could save your railroad paychecks to buy the computer to run it all...)

[Turbo Bill]

Unfortunetly my RW railroading days are over. I'm permanantly disabled and if I were still at my old Hogging job, I would be number 3 in the seniority district I live in for the jobs I would bid in. Pretty much would have my pick of the railroad as the two ahead of me work jobs I don't care for.

Trust me it sucks not being able to run real trains anymore so the sims are my next best hope. I've applied a lot of my railroading knowledge to the Cascade and North Western vr's (vcnwrr.com) operations as well as sounds, and physics upgrades and of course my coupler packs. I'm presently working on pulling a few strings I still have left to get all new RailSounds recordings for a new rollingstock sound pack and I'm starting preliminary work on a Southern Pacific SBW package for the SP routes that are out there based on actual SP Timetables for dispatcher call numbers, detectors, etc.

[ericson38]

Bill,

SP's detectors like along the Coast Line through Guadalupe, California were the 'best', UP changed them out gradually, after 1996. There is still a wig-wag for a private crossing about 8 miles south of Guadalupe. "SP Detector, MP 2679.7 - Detector Working". We had dispacther "50".

Charlie

[Traindude]

TexasWestern70Mac, More on steam engines:

-Shakeable grates
-ashpan flusher (mostly used on NYC steamers)
-Trailing truck or tender booster engines
-Feedwater heaters
-Smoke consumer
-Compound expansion parameters
-ability to make articulateds "count as one" so we no longer have to build our artics in sections.

[CProx]

RR XING flashers that activate when your train passes a certain point, but deactivate after you clear the crossing.

[rocky]

Dont forget my pet peeve - more polys on the ground - say meter apart selectable by 'tile',so we can actually make pro typical cuttings or banks rather than 4 lane highways for everything.

[GMOF3A]

Again...Banked curves and trains that bank with them. Options in a new RE for 1,3 and 5 inch track curve elevation...and what everyone else said. :-)

[Metra322]

Routes
1. Chicago metra routes like the rock island district, north central, southwest service, bnsf racetrack, milw fox lake/elgin lines, all three up lines(i'm working on the kenosha line), electric line
2. kenosha streetcar system
3. light rail systems
4. a midwest interurban route like the north shore, ca&e, south shore
5. more subway systems like the boston mbta, philly septa, san francisco bart
6. japanese shinkansen routes
7. more midwest based routes

[muskokaandtahoe]

Excellent point. It makes good sense that ground farther way can be more coarse but right up close to the rails, where terrain sculpting is often needed, a tight mesh is pretty important.

[b]Dave Nelson
SLW Route Design: The Cal-P, 1950.[b]
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y51/muskokaandtahoe/Avatars/Dancing_Genma.gif
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y51/muskokaandtahoe/Avatars/4ad3d633.jpg

[NW_611]

A couple of thoughts:

-I don't want to have to start the bloody locomotives at any point in time. I think it would add needless complexity and increase the load on the average computer to have the game thinking about whether you go through the start-up sequence or not. It is quite annoying to download an aircraft for FS and find out that oops, unless you're going to play ground crew as well and manage a giant checklist of abstract switch flipping, NO FLIGHT FOR YOU.

-That being said, more instruments and data please. I'd like to be able to know when all the brakes have released, etc.

-A competent AI fireman, since firing the locomotive is someone else's job.

-As mentioned here and elsewhere, an intelligent dispatcher that you can talk to or some other AI train management system that allows a player to interact with and which controls other trains.

-The ability to set the date exactly, such as "10:35 A.M., April 3, 1976".

-Regional weather; if it's raining in Philadelphia, it doesn't need to be raining in Washington. This is easily done using the Jeppesen (or whoever) system in place as of [i}FS2004[/i].

-Alphabetical display in the motive power selection screen, governed by the name field, regardless of whatever else the game might want to do.

-The ability to change player trains when selecting activity.

-A player-spawnable FRED or other EOT device that can be taken in and out of the game world at will, in order to reflect the fact that FREDs can be carried with ease from one car to another. Animated flags might be nice as well. How about torpedoes?

-The ability to designate AI steam helpers as 'expert', 'novice', 'competent' or something and act accordingly, to reflect the fact that they weren't simply slaved to the lead locomotive's throttle and reverser. Perhaps give orders to them by train whistle?

-Fix the limited light count problem. Also develop the lighting code in such a way as to allow for the closely-set dual bulb headlights of the 1950s and the like.

-Allow route builders, if they so choose, to designate multiple car spawner sets that reflect the era chosen in the date (e.g. a 1950s set, one for the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s) and have an activity load the corresponding ones. It is kind of strange to be driving along a route in a 1950s train and see a vehicle that you know didn't exist until recently.

[USRailFan]

>-Allow route builders, if they so choose, to designate
>multiple car spawner sets that reflect the era chosen in the
>date (e.g. a 1950s set, one for the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s,
>1990s, and 2000s) and have an activity load the corresponding
>ones. It is kind of strange to be driving along a route in a
>1950s train and see a vehicle that you know didn't exist until
>recently.

And in the continuation of this:

Ability to have more variety in the carspawners. Ie in a city, you could set it to spawn mostly busses, vans and cars, with for example a higher density of buses in mornings and afternoons. And in industrial areas have a larger percentage of trucks. And have varying amounts of traffic in different areas and different times of day.

[RedDeath]

What I would personnally really enjoy seeing is smoke blasts out the smoke stack on steam locomotives, which is in sync with the chuff sound which is in sync with wheel rotation.. that would b amazing for me

[muskokaandtahoe]

I (still) want Lindsay Lohan to deliver my cd's.

[b]Dave Nelson
SLW Route Design: The Cal-P, 1950.[b]
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y51/muskokaandtahoe/Avatars/Dancing_Genma.gif
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y51/muskokaandtahoe/Avatars/4ad3d633.jpg

[lyric]

There has been some really great ideas listed above. I apologize if I repeat any suggestions as I tried to read all of these, but might have missed some since there are just so many.
1) Have rain and snow accumulate on the windshield or better still, have rain and snow accumulate everywhere.
2) Do not have objects that appear paper thin.
3) Lights (auto, building exterior and interior) that come on and go off depending on time of day.
4) More realistic natural lighting, to include better sunrise and sunsets.
5) The ability to have rock slides, mechanical failures, etc., programmed into the activities.
6) Smoke and cinders that drift back down onto the train and linger in the air.
7) Autos and trucks that don't appear and disappear at every intersection but appear and behave more realistically.
8) Since everyone knows that a huge part of Simming is creating and using Add-ons, include an Add-on packaging tool/installer that all creator/developers use to package their products and it allows the end user to simply click a button and everything is installed into the correct place; no fuss, no stress, no hours upon countless hours trouble shooting a botched installation. If adding onto the sim gets too complicated and stressful, new comers are turned off to it and eventually become bored with running the same thing over and over. It would be great to see this wonderful hobby truly grow and flourish.

Thanks for listening.

Lyric

[chugger_2]

Hi Dave. You commented on the "Camera Unlock". I don't know but have you ever used the following combinations:
Cntrl+Shift+9+right mouse-key. Looks like you're playing an awkward chord on a piano, but remember to move the mouse when you press the mouse-key. I guess it's commonly used, and I, for one, have found it very helpful.

Chugger 2

[landnrailroader]

I, for one, hope that the new Sim does not have a packaged installer etc. Although I have run into some problems loading freeware etc., and although the only payware item I bought (MLT Product) has an excellent installer, it is a hassle for the developer to provide a packaged installer item, which is probably acceptible, even desirable, for a payware developer, but for the guy creating freeware, it is too much.
RouteRiter is one of the best and most helpful tools we have and Mike Simpson deserves a lot of credit for creating it. Having said that though, the only complaints I get on my routes concerns the proper way to install from a "spanned zip archive".
Answer is simple: "READ THE INSTRUCTIONS". I never put out a route without first deleting it from my system and then reinstalling from the archive I intend to put in the library, and I suspect others do the same.
The worst part of TRAINZ is their installer and library. So Cumbersome to use that my 2006 TRAINZ is permanently off my PC.

Jerry Sullivan

[murjax]

I would like to see:

1: All railroads across the world.(at least a full Northeast Corridor.)

2: All train models ever made.

3: Multiplayer

[CRQ5508]

well I'm not going to read through all 54 replies so I'll post what I want to see.

1) train hopping. being able to switch to another locomotive.
2)actually being able to use the front coupler
3)being able to interact with other train engineers or the dispatcher.
4)varying weather. like at one end of your route, it's bright and sunny, at the other it's raining, and dark. or that it's warm and sunny at the base of a mountain, but as you climb it stats to get cold and snowy
5)trees that move in the wind
6)acumulating snow on the tracks and snow, that gets moved off as you drive along
7)a long sight signal (like MLTs sigview)
8)bein able to walk around your train. like you can get out of your seat, and walk down the side of the locomotive, and stand on either one of the 'porches' and if you are drivin a passenger train, tyou can walk around, and go from car to car.
9)functioning turntables, that YOU control.
10)functioning draw bridges, that operate based on track signals, and rail traffic.
11)more locomotive animations. like journal bearings that dip into kinks in the track, couplers that have realistic slack action, operating cab doors/windows, moving bell clapper.
12)when operating multiple diesels, engines that rev up and down, with the lead locomotive (as far as sounds go)
13)better camera controls. so you can watch your train. and you can place EXACTLY where YOU want to be, and watch.

I read Bill Hemb's response, and I dito just about all of his stuff.
what I typed above is the primary stuff I'm looking for.

[derrickdutson99]

amen!

[steamlover]

I will add one thing of my own:

1. Have the wipers work in the cabview
2. If possible have the ability to use 64-bits technology as some games already do
3. Realistic lightning and line failures due to lightning strikes
4. Having the people get in and out of trains, with doors opening and closing, with a checklight in the cab as possibility
5. Have realistic pantograph sparks, so only when riding and lighting up the close area by night


I also have one comment for the "grait list", you mentioned having to wait for the steam engine to warm up, so it produces boiler pressure and fire heat.
Personally I don't think that's a good idea because it seems you have no idea how long that takes ;)
It takes at least two hours and still that's not good for the conditions of the engine, maybe a day is appropriate.
Usually when a steam locomotive was in its yard, it was "parked", this means it was simply set still but kept warm for the next duty.

[TrainMan_112]

>There has been some really great ideas listed above. I
>apologize if I repeat any suggestions as I tried to read all
>of these, but might have missed some since there are just so
>many.
>1) Have rain and snow accumulate on the windshield or better
>still, have rain and snow accumulate everywhere.
>2) Do not have objects that appear paper thin.
>3) Lights (auto, building exterior and interior) that come on
>and go off depending on time of day.
>4) More realistic natural lighting, to include better sunrise
>and sunsets.
>5) The ability to have rock slides, mechanical failures, etc.,
>programmed into the activities.
>6) Smoke and cinders that drift back down onto the train and
>linger in the air.
>7) Autos and trucks that don't appear and disappear at every
>intersection but appear and behave more realistically.
>8) Since everyone knows that a huge part of Simming is
>creating and using Add-ons, include an Add-on packaging
>tool/installer that all creator/developers use to package
>their products and it allows the end user to simply click a
>button and everything is installed into the correct place; no
>fuss, no stress, no hours upon countless hours trouble
>shooting a botched installation. If adding onto the sim gets
>too complicated and stressful, new comers are turned off to it
>and eventually become bored with running the same thing over
>and over. It would be great to see this wonderful hobby truly
>grow and flourish.
>
>Thanks for listening.
>
>Lyric


#8 Is a 100% possibility. Trainz has this feature, and probably 99% of all downloadable content uses this feature to install.

[trainrcool]

i would love to see drag & drop thing in route editor.
also head out the window on both left and right side of the engine cab.
what about that camera view in FSX where it view the bottem left side of the plane, but for train simulator X it view the side trucks of the engine or cars.

[trainrcool]

also i like to see track sets like tunnels & bridges. tunnels in msts was easy to do but bridges that was hard. so i hope there tracks with bridge build on them.

[mrmgp]

1. I'd like to see a built-in DEM reader like DEMEX, including distant mountains.
2. The ability to send Google Earth or Windows Live Local map images directly to the route editor.
3. If track is going to be laid piece by piece like the current MSTS, then please make it even more 3D than the current ScaleRail.
4. To appease those who have sunk money into payware, and maybe to get them more on board the new MSTS, come up with a way to convert current MSTS models to be compatible with the new MSTS.
5. Allow the sim to load areas earlier than MSTS currently does.

[Chessiefan93]

I don't know if these have been mentioned but hear it goes...


I would like the abillity to be a person in the sim...(a rail fan)....able to walk around in the environment and watch trains as they go by. Even drive a car around the route and sit at crossings, climb into the cab of a locomotive or caboose or stand on a railcar.

They should have camera views that are realistic....not just a fish eye lense. Make the camera editable like the old sim too so the user can change to his/her liking.

I know this has been mentioned but let me repeat....tracks that tilt when going around curves and such.

[rwooton]

All of these are great suggestions, but what I'm hoping for is a bit more simple.

The new generations of flight sim have an "earth" and scenery developers place their sceneries at locations that you can go to or fly over. and as you travel, these sceneries "seamlessly" appear before you and under you.

What I'd like to see in the train sim is that same idea. A basic terrain for the world that addons can be created to. The idea being that someone that builds one route could connect it to a route that someone else built, or that came with the sim. Then addons like Flight Sim's Ultimate Terrain could be used to add more detail and scenery to the "world".

Hopefully someday we can fire up a train in L.A. and drive it to Chicago, then on to New York or whereever.

Rick Wooton

[geode]

Well, I suppose the liklihood of getting all my D&RGW narrow gauge wishes fulfilled are about as good as are most of the wishes in the above posts. I think that the history of sales of MSTS should be analysed for what it is. A considerable following has ensued after MS abandoned the product, and in fact grown considerably, due to after market add-ons that have created a remarkable market for a better, easier to modify, up to date Simulator. I'm sure that the big-two Sim developers are vyeing-up for this market.
I have no clue whether my wishes are in tune with the balance of the target market or not, but here goes...
If you don't make your product at least as easy to develop aftermarket add-ons for as it is with present MSTS, you're not going to get our dollars. I know for sure you won't ever get mine. I have no desire to run Union Pacific trains for the rest of time. I may run them out of curiosity, but certainly not long enough to get my moneys' worth. So MSTS-KUJU guys you'd better pay attention to your target market here or you're going to blow it for all of us, who are your market. We will spend our money with you for better graphics, but certainly not for anything that people who make free add-ons have to buy a license for. You will be stuck with the Christmas rush of folks who consider it a novelty. Listen please.

[ericson38]

Sun shadows for cases where the sun is blocked by a hill from illuminating the track bed (and train). I know it would take a lot of computing power to transition one car at a time from full sun to shade as a cut is entered around sundown in the desert, but even an overall darkening of the scenery objects when something large gets between the sun and the track and train would be nice.

Charlie

[Conrail Tweety]

Some things I’d like to see in the next release:


Multi-Player.
Engineer and Fireman could jointly operate a steam locomotive. Extra players could operate pushers and mid-units.

If a player has a derailment and the adjacent track is clear and undamaged, the sim continues for the other players, and they can drive past the mess.


Derailments.
Minor derailments don’t end the game, such as overrunning a siding. Have the ability to uncouple from a derailed car and continue.

A pileup continues until all motion stops. A free-roaming camera can survey the damage. The sim will exactly explain the event that triggered the derailment.

Derailments due to split switches are possible.


Consist Editor.
Have the ability to randomly shuffle the wagons located between the locomotive and the FRED. Great for changing the appearance and behavior of manifest trains, but still remember the original configuration for compatibility.

Have the ability to tag wagons by type. Suppose I want to randomly build a manifest train from all available stock, but I selectively want to exclude MoW, Coal, Loggers, and Drop-center Flatcars? Also have the ability to save these exclusion settings for future use.

Ability to handle articulated units as one piece.

Ability to add constraints to random consist editor. For example, define the direction the consist will be travelling, and the direction the various types of loads travel (such as East, West, or Both), and the consist editor could exclude mismatches (such as a loaded car heading toward a loading destination or empty car heading toward an unloading destination.)


Consist Analysis Routine.
After building a consist, the sim could optionally run a drag-analysis routine that could fine-tune the drag that is already built into the physics. This could compensate for things like enormous wind drag on a double-stack that trails a string of empty flats.

This would probably be very processor-intensive, but would only need to be run once per consist, and the results could be saved and reused later.

Many other input variables, such as effects from weather and elevation, could be calculated at this time and called up later if needed.

This analysis could also generate a report about uphill gradeability, and maximum safe downhill grade based on things like number of dynamic brakes, trailing tonnage behind empty flatcar, and trailing tons per operative brake.


AI Highway Traffic.
Some highway vehicles could be given a detailed AI path and the other automatic traffic would react to it, such as a bus making scheduled stops, or a heavy truck slowly climbing a hill.

The rear wheels of vehicles should track a shorter radius on turns constrained by a line thru the rear axle to the center of the turn.

Tractor-trailer trucks should articulate. Double and triple trailers should be allowed.

Traffic signals affect the traffic flow.


Activities.
Some random variables could be defined within activities that would allow them to be slightly different each time they are run. An activity or explore could have a list of possible equipment failures that could occur at random. In explore mode, the player could choose to override or ignore these failures.

Activities should be able to define payloads. An empty coal car could be positioned under a chute and filled. Its mass and appearance would change accordingly. A ballast train could lose mass as it operates.

The player could answer Yes/No questions from the dispatcher that could change the course of an activity. Suppose a train is marginal as to whether or not it will need a push on a long hill up ahead? After the player has operated his train for a while and has a feel for its weight and power, the dispatcher could ask the player whether or not he thinks he will need a push. Declining the push would bypass a pusher subroutine and save virtual dollars, but be embarrassing for the player if he later falls behind schedule, stalls, or damages a traction motor. This could be part of the summary report at the end of an activity.


Functional Movable Track.
Allow functioning Drawbridges, Swing Bridges, Turntables, Transfer Tables, Ferries, Elevators, and Rotary Tipples.


Hi-Rail Units.
Create a new model category for Hi-Railers where physics are defined more like a heavy highway truck than a train. Include lots of variables such as transmission type (manual, automatic, 3-pedal autoshift, 2-pedal autoshift), transmission gear ratios, number of gears, number of transmissions, customizable gear names (“Lower Side of 6th High”), axle ratios, two-speed axle, highway tire diameter, engine idle speed, engine torque curve, engine operational RPM range, max speed on rail, multi-stage engine brake, traction as a function of weather, etc.

Have the ability to look around inside the cab similar to what is planned for locomotives.

Have functional mirrors.

Have the ability whether or not to short the rails by default or by the user control if applicable. This would affect trackside devices that are normally triggered by shorting the rails.


Radio Channels.
Have a variable for the radio channel. If an engineer fails to set the channel at the start, or fails to switch to the proper channel when entering another district, he will begin to miss orders coming from dispatch. This could trigger an activity event. This would only be used in the most advanced mode of operation.

This could also apply to radios in Hi-Railers.



Crossing Gates and Lights.
Give the player the ability to cancel the grade crossing protection device if the train needs to stop near, but clear of a grade crossing.


Track Charts.
Have the ability to display a track chart either thru a pop-up or on a second monitor. The chart could be made to scroll with the motion of the train. A routine could be made that would automatically analyze the track and generate a track chart after a route builder creates a highly detailed route. Knowledgeable users could expand these charts to add realistic info that can't be automatically gathered from the route itself. These expanded charts could be shared with other users. The charts could be overlaid with colored marks at points where the player needs to do something defined within an activity.


AI Pusher Units.
Paths for AI pusher units could be defined, and they could automatically move into position to assist the player train, and be granted rights to pass stop signals per the rules.

Some pushers operate at throttle Notch 8 while the head end engineer controls the train speed with his throttle. The throttling method used by the pusher could be configurable. The player could command the pusher to bunch the slack before moving the head end on heavy coal and grain trains.

The disconnect method could be defined as manual or automatic. Whether or not a stop is required for connect and disconnect could also be defined.


Interactive Scales.
An interactive scale could be installed at a bulk loading zone and the player would get feedback during loading, Tare, Gross, and Net weights.


Statistics.
Player should be able to display his trailing tonnage at any time, with a few exceptions.

Activities could be designed to report estimated weight, which may or may not match actual trailing tonnage.

This information could be revised later if the player weighs his unit train at an interactive scale.


Variable Locomotive Physics.
Mass should decrease as fuel and sand are consumed. Tractive effort should decrease as mass is lost, and sand supply runs out.

Mass of water, coal, wood, and oil tenders should decrease as their product is consumed.


Window Glass.
Windshields get dirty where the wipers miss. Snow packs there too. Rain blurs the view proportional to speed. Drops of water can hit the windshield in tunnels even on a dry day. Wipers work. Bugs can accumulate on the windshield at high speed during hot weather.


Miscellaneous Things I'd Like to See.
A Ribbon-Railer with a load that bends with the curves.

Some provisions for rock-slide detectors.

Ability to remove rail and ties. (Eye candy for MoW crews).

Loco physics affected by tunnels.

An animated conductor pulling the pin on a pusher loco.

A way to keep score like hours worked, wages earned, losses from damaged equipment and freight, losses from delays, gains from extreme operational efficiency.

Springs compress and ride height changes as a function of payload mass.

A slider control to easily change the payload of each car (such as a boxcar, tanker, or closed hopper) from Empty to Full or anywhere in between as an alternative to needing separate versions of the same closed wagon. This would allow full loads by volume of low-density materials to be at a lower mass. A boxcar full of expanded Styrofoam products shouldn't gross 286,000#.

Tanker physics to model slosh of the payload. Variables would include liquid viscosity, density, and level. A 3/4 load of acid would be ugly. It's thin, heavy, and has room to move. Imagine kicking this car during switching, and watching its speed oscillate up and down as the load sloshes from end to end.

On a steam locomotive, the water level gauge should be affected by acceleration and deceleration in addition to grade.

Assuming modern day operations, if the player exceeds his operational authority, such as runs a stop signal, fails to slow down enough where required, or any other major safety violation, the sim could optionally intervene, cut the power, apply penalty brake, and issue a nastygram to the player.

[Driverman2008]

Wow, Mr. Conrail Tweety, you've got a very nice and organized wishlist. I would like to have drivable high railer pick up trucks in MSTS 2. That would be cool to run both on rails and off rails.

Now on the derailments, I want them to be as realistic as possible. But without people dying (that might get Microsoft in some trouble). And without the scenario/mission/activity to end instantly. Let's watch the pile-ups go on and on (for us derailing lovers).

[Conrail Tweety]

Now on the derailments, I want them to be as realistic as possible. But without people dying (that might get Microsoft in some trouble).
I would consider the worst of derailments to be mild compared to the gore in shooting games where the object of the game is to kill.

[Conrail Tweety]

One player can be in the cab while the second player operates the switches. To make it realistic, the player in the cab could be restricted to only cab views, and the player on the ground would be restricted to views from his location, be it on the ground, car ladder, or loco steps. Communication would be by VoIP.

[Amtrak 464]

Some of these are already up, but here's my list:
Switchable cabs (ie, drive into a terminal station with commuter train, switch to cabcar for outbound trip)
Trailing units throttle up
Like you said, Hyrail that can drive on a dirt road next to the tracks, or on the tracks
AI brakemen in the cab you can converse with, issue commands to (ie, go to the front of the locomotive, uncouple the front, etc)
Multiplayer
Headlights:
There would be two switches, one to control front lights and one to control rear lights, plus red lights as applicable.
Brake hoses automaticly hook up (ie, they touch, and look like they're connected, also HEP cables)
Double horns (ie, Metrolink cabcar could have P2 and K5LA)
Ability to have units offline
Ability to talk to helper engineer, issue commands (ie, 10 pound reduction, 50% dynamics, etc)
Ability to walk in train, or on ground
Ability to open/close engine hood doors

[Vince]

And a Cray Mp-5 to run it! :eek:

[Driverman2008]

It would be cool if you and a friend of yours could do multiplayer rail-racing. An example would be you driving a fast and short Amtrak train and your friend could be driving a short Norfolk Southern freight train from Altoona to Pittsburgh against your Amtrak train.

[261Steam]

I would have to Agree with ALL of the above But did you ever think that if MSTS doesnt come up with some of these we could make them ourselves? I mean the New MSTS might be easyer to work with and easyer to do that kind of stuff that we wanted it to do in the first place! I mean Look at how far we have come with the First MSTS!! We could go A LOT farther with the new one if we had the capability to!! Hey About the racing How about the Race up Cajon with 4449 and 844

[Driverman2008]

Hey About the racing How about the Race up Cajon with 4449 and 844
I'll race ya!;):cool:

[muskokaandtahoe]

You guys do know that the design phase is over, right? They're way into construction right now and no new ideas are going to get included if they take any amount of time to do.