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Sims good for learning ARS?

You are here: Home > Forum > General > General questions, comments, and issues > Sims good for learning ARS?

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Sims good for learning ARS? 28/01/2015 at 21:37 #68525
slatteryc
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248 posts
I am having much more fun at the moment running all sims with ARS off. So far it has been a very rewarding experience, but Edinburgh is a *LOT* of work.
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Sims good for learning ARS? 28/01/2015 at 22:43 #68527
Dick
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386 posts
Have to agree, much more interesting running sims without ARS. Haven't found one yet that I couldn't manage without ARS, but I haven't tried Wimbledon yet, that looks as though it could be challenging!!
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Sims good for learning ARS? 28/01/2015 at 22:58 #68528
TimTamToe
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655 posts
" said:
I am having much more fun at the moment running all sims with ARS off. So far it has been a very rewarding
Agreed especially with failures on etc, but handy having it for testing of some tts ;-)

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Sims good for learning ARS? 28/01/2015 at 23:52 #68529
Muzer
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718 posts
" said:
Have to agree, much more interesting running sims without ARS. Haven't found one yet that I couldn't manage without ARS, but I haven't tried Wimbledon yet, that looks as though it could be challenging!! :unsure:
I've been playing Wimbledon with the real-life ARS mode (which enables it only on the branch lines except the Chessington branch, on the exit from the up Winsdor line, on the entrance to Clapham Junction plat 7/8, and for the West London Line services, and on the main lines at and beyond Raynes Park — let me know if I've missed anything

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Sims good for learning ARS? 29/01/2015 at 02:43 #68530
maxand
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1637 posts
Thanks for the extra feedback. Now that I understand ARS better, I think Swindon A&B is a good sim for novices to move to, sooner rather than later:

1) Unlike Peterborough, it is a scrolly which is fairly bug-free, including the TTs set for it. It is fun to play, ARS on or off.

2) They should run it first with ARS completely disabled for at least a couple of hours to get the feel of what to expect, maybe at reduced speed as it can be a handful;

3) They should re-run it with ARS enabled for classes 1-2 (maybe 1-5) as TimTamToe suggested in post #38 to appreciate how much it lightens the workload but ALSO to learn how to set routes in SimSig;

4) When needing a challenge they can run it completely ARS-disabled or enable other train classes.

In all cases they should read and keep handy the Wiki pages on ARS and the Swindon section of ARS, as well as the signal number plan.

PS Thanks Muzer in post #47. You're right.

Last edited: 29/01/2015 at 02:47 by maxand
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Sims good for learning ARS? 29/01/2015 at 07:31 #68532
ozrail
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197 posts
Don't forget you can set the route at anytime and the ARS will just sit back and watch.
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Sims good for learning ARS? 29/01/2015 at 08:10 #68534
Firefly
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521 posts
Quote:

Don't forget you can set the route at anytime and the ARS will just sit back and watch.

But if you cancel a route yourself it will disable ARS in that area as Max found out.

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Sims good for learning ARS? 29/01/2015 at 08:30 #68535
ozrail
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197 posts
The trick is to think ahead of the ARS and not wait for it to set the route. There's nothing wrong with the ARS flashing, it's a good reminder of the situation and allows you time to decide if you want to turn it back on again.
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Sims good for learning ARS? 29/01/2015 at 08:34 #68536
ozrail
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197 posts
In real life signalling flashing lights and audible noises can be your best friend. I have far to many sounds running on my Simulations.
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Sims good for learning ARS? 29/01/2015 at 16:46 #68552
clive
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2738 posts
" said:
I think I'm correct in saying that the only time the ARS sub area will flash is if you manually pull a route (can't think of any other reason).
I've just worked through the core code. There are five possible actions that affect the state of a sub-area:
* Left click enables it, turning it magenta.
* Right click disables it, turning it grey.
* Cancelling a route associated with the sub-area disables it, making it flash. This can be caused by sim-specific logic as well as user action.
* Sim-specific logic can enable it, turning it magenta.
* Sim-specific logic can disable it, making it flash.

I don't know if any sim actually makes use of the last two features, but they're present in the code.

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The following user said thank you: maxand
Sims good for learning ARS? 30/01/2015 at 00:57 #68566
flabberdacks
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579 posts
There are numerous ways to manipulate the ARS to your advantage, without having to turn it off entirely:

- ARS will not set a route towards or from a signal which has a reminder applied

- It cannot override a keyed/locked set of points, but will look for an alternative route if one is available (Swindon platforms towards Didcot)

- ARS is sometimes a pain when the first signal out of a siding is a main running signal and not a shunt signal. If you have accepted a late train out of a siding such as Didcot TC, whack a reminder on the first signal out of the siding, so that ARS does not set the route as soon as it sees the train. Use this time to decide the train's path (presence of any class 1 and 2 trains nearby or congestion at East Junction). If, for example, you want one faster train to pass before the one out of the siding, simply set the route for the priority train and then remove the reminder. ARS will wait until the first train has cleared and then set up a route behind with no further input from you.

- If you have routed a train in such a way that ARS states that it is 'off planned path' (such as replatforming), in many situations you can right-click the headcode and "Make Train ARS" again, and ARS will do its best to route the train towards its next timing point via its originally tabled path. This is a godsend at Swindon station if you have a failed train or two. If ARS doesn't know what to do, the headcode will remain purple and you will see a message that the train cannot be made ARS.

Additionally, another way of learning the 'borders' of each ARS subarea is to switch off a subarea, and set up a route for an ARS-enabled train slowly, one signal at a time, ahead of the train until the next subarea picks it up and sets further.

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Sims good for learning ARS? 30/01/2015 at 03:38 #68569
ozrail
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197 posts
Stupid me. Yesterday, working morning shift on Victoria Central when the ARS kept waiting for 2R40 which had gone and was the other side of Sutton. Then found 2R40 number stuck in "A" platform berth on platform 10, which was off my screen. Good old ARS, still it was fun looking for what was wrong.
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