Expanded F5 HUD

[Bill Hobbs]

I just downloaded the new version of BIN today and it reminded me of the importance that the expanded F5 HUD provided when trying to determine how to set up locomotive and brake variables. The overhead is too high to use it all the time, but during testing it is invaluable.
While I have been making progress with RS locos, primarily becuase of the similarity to MSTS, having an expanded HUD available would certainly make it easier to guess what is going on in the black box and make adjustments accordingly.
So I am asking the RS team to seriously consider making such an aid available to us, even if only as a special add-on. Adding such display fields is not technically a challenging task. If any one else is interested, please post your comments here so that we can perhaps get Adam or Derek's attention.

Bill Hobbs

[Bill Hobbs]

I posted this on the UKTrainSim site as well and recieved only one expression of interest by others in this feature. One way to interpret this is that at present little serious physics modeling is being done.
I'm sure Adam or Derek has noticed this by now, and there is little point in requesting such a feature if others are not interested as well.

Bill

[M1ckran]

I'm willing to bet that most people would prefer greater realism, more on-screen information, and more efficient programming.

It's just that many are novices at RailSim and would probably prefer to leave the technical stuff to more experienced people, on the basis that what's good for the advanced players must be of benefit to all. I don't think that lack of postings equates to lack of interest; just a lack of anything constructive to say due to inexperience. Far better, I think, than the inane jabbering often seen on some sites...

Michael

I posted this on the UKTrainSim site as well and recieved only one expression of interest by others in this feature. One way to interpret this is that at present little serious physics modeling is being done.
I'm sure Adam or Derek has noticed this by now, and there is little point in requesting such a feature if others are not interested as well.

Bill

[Capt_Scarlet]

I'm willing to bet that most people would prefer greater realism, more on-screen information, and more efficient programming.

It's just that many are novices at RailSim and would probably prefer to leave the technical stuff to more experienced people, on the basis that what's good for the advanced players must be of benefit to all. I don't think that lack of postings equates to lack of interest; just a lack of anything constructive to say due to inexperience. Far better, I think, than the inane jabbering often seen on some sites...

Michael

I think that is a spot on observation, seeing that to me physics is a black art and as such there is not much I could say other than if Bill thinks it would be be helpful then it probably would be.
On the other hand adding something like this has to compete with the other things that need "fixing" or improving and so might get drowned out by the demands for this or that unfortunately but if one doesn't suggest these type of improvements then nothing will change.

John

ps. Feel free to ignore this but one thing I would suggest ( in case you haven't already ) is perhaps sending RSadam or RSderek a pm on ukts and ask them if what you suggest would be possible and if not is there is another way to get the info you need. It also might be helpful to know how they got the info when testing the physics etc.

[Lebisop26]

Hi Bill! I second what Michael says and would like to take the opportunity of thanking you and all the other Knowledgeable inputers.

John

[GreatNortherner]

Amen to ALL of the posts above!
(I saw it only now. Bill, give us some more time... :o )

Coming to think of it, it is true I like probably many others cannot use the BIN-Hud in MSTS to learn much about the realism of the train's physics (I just don't know enough about that, after all riding them from time to time is the closest I ever get to real trains).

However, even for a "train-illiterate" like me it comes in very handy when running MSTS trains, like for example:

- check the brake's air reservoir! I just released the brakes, so how long do I need to wait until it is fully charged again? When running commuter trains without dynamics (steam engine!), how much air is left for the next station? Bin now tells me for every car of my consist.

- you can see how quickly the cars recharge and how strong their brake force actually is - also helpful in detecting out of range physics.

- see the first / last car de-/acceleration - while this feature might not be available in real life, in MSTS it certainly helps me to learn to avoid breaking couplers due to too heavy throttle changes when the slack gets pulled out or runs in.

I got so used to BIN, I really don't remember any more how I ever ran MSTS without it, how it was like. So yeah, these features have grown very important to me, and it would be extremely nice to have something similar in KRS. Makes running trains a whole lot more interesting, especially as you can now attempt something like brake tests, etc. based on some actual data and not just sheer guessing.

Cheers
Michael

[RavenX]

I concur,

An detailed F5 Hud that is perhaps only used when the RailsimEditor.EXE is used would be of great benefit to testing a Loco / Rollingstock prior to release...

It will be good to see what settings are working and what settings are going out of range.

Regards

RavenX

[RSDLadam]

Hi Guys,

Its not entirely what you are after but its a start, what about this: -ShowControlStateDialog

Be sure to run RailSimEditor.exe and in window mode for this. :)

Feedback welcome.

[M1ckran]

RSDLadam, every now and then I spot RailSimEditor startup switches being quoted as an aid to development. Is there a comprehensive list, somewhere, that I might have missed? If not, would it be possible to publish such a list for experienced developers' convenience?

Regards,
Michael


Hi Guys,

Its not entirely what you are after but its a start, what about this: -ShowControlStateDialog

Be sure to run RailSimEditor.exe and in window mode for this. :)

Feedback welcome.

[Bill Hobbs]

Thanks. Like Michael, a list of the available switches would be welcome. I'll have to give this option a test tonight.
Bill Hobbs

[Bill Hobbs]

Adam,
I tried this and found it to be useful in combination with the F5 HUD. Of course, I would still like more detail.... I used it as an excuse to make another attempt to figure out why my air-brake conversion isn't working. Was interesting to see the differences between the steam and diesel display, and the steam loco with and without distributor. I think this will be of good use in the future.
Part of my interest in the expanded HUD goes back to a question I asked long ago about exactly what the Steam Chest PSI shows. It clearly isn't what I would have expected it to be: an indicator of the steam pressure at the cylinder entrance port, but I am also not convinxed that it is either the MEP of the cylinder or a proxy for the cylinder power.

In any case, I have started thinking again about a retirement project I would like to pursue: building a 1 1/2 in scale live steamer and a test facility to meausre its performance. The US is not like the UK and it isn't easy to find a nearby restoration steam facility to volunteer on so this is the best I can hope for short of moving west.
Bill

[RSDLadam]

Hiya,

Sure thing. As I said, I know its not exactly what you're after but I thought it would go some way down the road you want to take for now.

We'll see what we can do about such a feature.