Western Lines - A Thank You

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Western Lines - A Thank You

Postby BigVern » Wed Mar 02, 2016 9:10 am

Unfortunately I can't add my comments to the thread at UKTS as the forum admin continues to ignore my requests to re-activate my membership (which I terminated voluntarily).

However I would just like to pass on my thanks to the gang who created Western Lines. It is one heck of an undertaking and probably one of the most ambitious route projects commercially released for TS2016. Even if most of it consists of parts that were previously available as separate entities it's nice to have a long continuous drive. Being my "local" line, both residential and occupational as it were, makes it all the more significant.

Obviously I have to agree there are a few wrinkles which need ironing out, mainly the hi-res trees everywhere which are doing a "TANE" on the frame rate. Some of the scenarios need looking at, notably the westbound HST from Paddington which comes to a stand at Ladbroke Grove against a red signal which can't be tabbed past. Also probably not much that can be done about this, but some of the transitions into curved SE track from the straight are very rough, possibly because no easements were used?

Overall though a great undertaking and one which has revitalized my somewhat flagging interest in TS2016. I just need to find time to sit down and work out an itinerary for a Class 50 Railtour to take in most of the route.
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Re: Western Lines - A Thank You

Postby BigVern » Thu Mar 03, 2016 9:07 am

Anecdotally, note over at UKTS note there is reference to the Kuju HST not having very realistic performance values, my experience last night would lead me to disagree.

Back in the days of old Simudrive, there was invariably discussions at work about various aspects of the programme, one of which was that if you accelerated a Up HST out of Swindon, you would hit 125 MPH around about Uffington which was on a par with the real thing.

So... yesterday evening accelerated out of Swindon, once clear of the 30 MPH speed limit into Notch 5 and hold it there. Behold... passing Uffington the speed just passing 121 MPH so close enough for me. Of course the downside is that like all the original Kuju traction it only takes Notch 1 or occasionally Notch 2 to hold speed (as opposed to Notch 4) but the actual acceleration curve is spot on, IMHO.
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Re: Western Lines - A Thank You

Postby cjbarnes5294 » Thu Mar 03, 2016 11:54 am

Regarding the HST:
If I remember correctly, TS diesel electrics use a min-max approach to calculating the tractive effort from the various curves, instead of multiplying the curves altogether. Therefore, if the speed vs tractive effort curve value for tractive effort at a given speed is less than the throttle vs tractive effort curve value for tractive effort at notches greater than or equal to 2, then notch 2, 3, 4, 5 etc will all be just as effective, hence being able to cruise along at full speed in notch 2. For the Kyle Line class 37s, which were my first ever attempt at diesel electric simulation, I tried to overcome this issue by making all of the core sim curves flat and equal to 1, and then using the SetPowerProportion script function to set the tractive effort after using scripting to calculate what the tractive effort at a given RPM and speed should be - I think it worked quite well for a first attempt, but I remember the SetPowerProportion function giving me headaches as it didn't seem to be a straightforward multiplier of the core tractive effort, and so I leave diesels to those who know what the simulation is doing exactly. :lol:

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Re: Western Lines - A Thank You

Postby gonzo2431 » Sat Mar 05, 2016 11:47 pm

Thank you for the kind words Vern, 3.5 years to release on which all bar the custom assets was all my own work has taken its toll on my sanity certainly, I can understand why no one else has attempted it. The trees are being culled at present however. I am taking time out in a few weeks for rest but on my return i'm going to look into the super elevation and see what i can do before deciding which way to go next :mrgreen:
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