Greetings everyone!
Eighteen months, or so, ago, AndiS released some, as it's turned out for me, really EXCELLENT scripts for signalling in TS20xx. These scripts are primarily aimed at semaphore signalling, but there are versions which work, to a reasonable extent, with colour light signals, too. Sadly, maybe due to quite a steep initial learning curve with their use, these scripts seem to have been just lying around gathering dust; a REAL SHAME, because with a bit of study and effort, I have found them to be LOADED with a range of really nice new features, adding considerably to the realism of signalling in TS, and DEALING ONCE AND FOR ALL with the nasty behaviour of the old "default" signals, whereby signals passed in a reverse direction tended to clear automatically behind the train. That's something that to me feels...well...just plain WRONG Add to that the fact that, with a bit of manipulation of signal blueprints in RW_Tools, and the writing of a few lines of (very simple!) LUA script, just about any signal model can be fitted up to be powered by Andi's scripts, AND there is the flexibility to create "composite" models for all sorts of complex signals (using signal parts already common in the TS Community) for all sorts of complex junctions. I have been playing around in TS for some five years now, and I struggle to understand why signalling seems to have been a subject no-one has been particularly willing to tackle, except for the likes of AndiS and Mark Brinton - a shame, when good signalling adds SO MUCH to the immersive realism of any route. (Apologies if I'm starting to rant...I promise to be a good boy from here onward!)
AndiS has also created tools for scenario writers - he calls them "Movement Predictors" - these are used to control the behaviour of signals during scenarios, for example, in reversing movements and to control calling-on arms.
There are a couple of us - particularly, so far, myself (Widewanderer) and Auscgu (recently arrived here in TrainSimDev), along with Andi himself - who have been working on implementing AndiS scripts, and I am wondering if there are any more devs out there who might be interested in giving these rather fine scripts a whirl in their projects...? Through the threads here in TrainSimDev, we could form something of a "users' group", mutually supporting each other through the learning curve associated with getting started with these scripts, and then reaping what I strongly believe will be considerable benefits in the upgrading of the signals we use in our projects.
Whaddya think, folks?
I have been working with RobertM on a version of the signalling in his "South Devon Railway" route, and included in that, I have a couple of .pdf documents, intended to try and ease the learning curve associated with using AndiS's scripts; these are on my web server, and I can provide links for downloading to anyone interested in having a read. Aside from that, I've had plenty of success with John Yelland's GWR and BR(WR) signals, Anthony Brailsford's LNW and Lattice signals, also colour lights in the UKPro and Just Trains Modern Signals sets. Most of my personal projects have revolved around resignalling payware routes (just for my own entertainment), but now, with encouragement from AndiS, I am turning my attention towards projects on other freeware routes out there. Again, if any of you are interested in a resignalling project for your route, please let me know.
OK, folks - here's hoping to be hearing from some of you soon.
Best wishes,