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Time Preferentials

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Time Preferentials 27/06/2016 at 22:07 #83260
2W34
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58 posts
Hi everyone
What is the best way to be able to jump into a sim at the time of the real world? For example if i'm playing Leeds, and it's 3pm, I obviously can't just jump in at 1500 as there will be no trains, my only options being 0000 or 0445 start. The way i'm doing it at the moment is to play a full timetable without delays or incidents and to save every hour. Obviously this is very time consuming, I just wondered if anyone had stumbled on a better way?

Thanks

Last edited: 27/06/2016 at 22:07 by 2W34
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Time Preferentials 27/06/2016 at 23:27 #83263
BarryM
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2158 posts
" said:
Hi everyone
What is the best way to be able to jump into a sim at the time of the real world? For example if i'm playing Leeds, and it's 3pm, I obviously can't just jump in at 1500 as there will be no trains, my only options being 0000 or 0445 start. The way i'm doing it at the moment is to play a full timetable without delays or incidents and to save every hour. Obviously this is very time consuming, I just wondered if anyone had stumbled on a better way?

Thanks
There is one better way. I have attached a 14:57 save for a 15:00 start.

Enjoy!
Barry

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Barry, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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Time Preferentials 28/06/2016 at 14:43 #83265
Lardybiker
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771 posts
A TT is set up to start at a given time whereupon it can "seed" trains to given points in the sim. However, these "seeds" are pre-prgrammed in the TT as the TT writer works out the location of each train expected to be in the sim at the moment the TT starts and then manually programs that location as the "seed" point for that train to start at.

In order to choose any start time, the simulation would have to automatically calculate which trains were supposed to be in the sim. Then, for each of those trains, it would then need to work out exactly where in the sim the train currently was. While working out which trains should be currently in the sim is easy (assuming no delays), calculating the current location of a train in the sim is not.

Unless someone has a save on that sim at the given time, like BarryM for example, or you do what you have done and create saves every hour, the only other option I can think of would be to take the full timetable and modify it deliberately for a particular start time. Remove all trains that would have already run. Calculate which trains would be in sim and for those trains, determine exactly where they would be at the given start time and then alter their TT to remove all previous locations up to next/current location and then set up the train to seed at the spot you designate. Not sure it's quicker than the method you are currently adopting though (though you would start with a clean slate in terms of points lost/gained unlike your save game scenario where your previously lost points would be carried forward).

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Time Preferentials 28/06/2016 at 16:03 #83268
GeoffM
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6292 posts
I did some experimentation with my former company with "dynamic seeding" - ie letting the user choose a start time, and then the sim try to work out the positions of the trains. Unfortunately it was only ever 60-70% correct because timetables are often lacking enough information to separate closely following trains, or be on the correct line.

Saves are the best thing.

SimSig Boss
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Time Preferentials 28/06/2016 at 17:01 #83274
Stephen Fulcher
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2029 posts
If you wanted to start at one specific busier time of the day than either midnight of 0445hrs, you could make a timetable by running one of the already existing ones in perfect mode and making sure you do not delay anything, then take a note of exactly which signal each train is approaching at the time you wanted to start, and then modify the timetable as Chris (Lardybiker) suggests above.

The danger of just entering a start time into a timetable that is not written to start at that time is that all trains will have to enter what is in effect a an empty simulation (interesting concept for 0900hrs at New Street for instance), then it would take an hour or so to get the service to the level it probably should be, in some cases longer. You would also have a problem that any train that is "captive" to the sim - that is the same unit running around all day without ever exiting would be missing, therefore you would have a much reduced service. For instance on Exeter, the local trains to Exmouth, Paignton and Barnstable are the same units all day, so if they do not come off Exeter TMD at the right time in the morning to form their first job, they will never appear so those lines would have no service all day.

On balance, as Geoff suggests you are probably better just saving a game. There are a few in the downloads section of the site, but I have no idea if they are what you are looking for.

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Time Preferentials 28/06/2016 at 22:57 #83279
2W34
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58 posts
Thank you everyone, some interesting posts. I'll crack on with what i've been doing. Thanks to Barry for creating that 1500 start for me!
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Time Preferentials 29/06/2016 at 08:08 #83282
kbarber
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1712 posts
I wonder if a halfway house would be an option to make a save into a new timetable, with no points carried forward and everything up to the point of the save deleted? Still makes getting there a bit of a pain, but does allow that kind of preference to be accommodated with less effort than either creating a whole new TT or adding a complete new set of core code features.
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Time Preferentials 29/06/2016 at 09:47 #83284
JamesN
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1580 posts
A "score reset" feature would be quite nice...
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