AG Version 4 NOW POSTED Options

[sgdavis]

Activity Generator version 4 has been completed, and has been posted to our Patches & Updates page.  It is free to all registered users, password is the same as for the original program.  Below is a list of the new features that were added.

New for Version 4

§         New SWLTDB file format:

o       Stores both siding marker (track) numbers for each spur (solves problem with track numbers in SWLACT and SWLTDB files sometimes not matching)

o       Field for CarTypeWanted (as always) PLUS new field CarTypeShipped (so these can be changed simply by changing the SWLACT file without a need to edit the activity .act file).  It no longer matters what type of car is sitting in each spur in the .act file, so templates can be created by simply placing the same type of car, perhaps a box car, in every spur if desired.

o       Fields allow for multiple car types (wanted or shipped), hyphen (-) delimited (so a spur could accept, say, covered hoppers and/or tank cars, or any combination of cars, and ship out the same or different cars.) 

§         Improved error checking/handling.

§         Improved “World Fill”.  For pre-AG4 templates, checks the path name selected and if the name of a region appears in that path name, that region will be filled with railcars in accordance with user’s Fill World settings.  For AG4 or later templates, the program now examines the regions checked for work, and fills the starting region, plus all regions reached between the starting region and the last region marked for work.  This functionality is enabled by the user by checking the “Add cars to regions not worked” check box, which is now checked by default in V4.

§         New track selection window in Activity Generation Screen: Destination track(s). 

o       These tracks provide a destination where cars picked up at "Industry" tracks (online shippers/customers) will be scheduled to be set out.  Also this new track type facilitates creation of Through Train activities with no switching enroute.  If the player elects to start with cars already in the train, then selects ONLY destination tracks, the activity generated will have no pickups, and will end when the player sets out the cars in the original train on the track or tracks selected as “Destination Tracks.”

o       Automatically calculates capacity of selected destination tracks as they are selected by the user, and displays the total at the bottom of the “Generate” screen to aid in determining how long a train may actually be generated.

o       Depending on capacity of those tracks, all industry pickups will go to that track or tracks

o       If there aren't enough industry pickups to satisfy the "total pickups" then yard track pickups will be added to go to the destination track

§         New track type (i.e. not Y or I or U) for template designers, just for world fill: X.  Pickups/setouts will never be scheduled for these tracks, and they won’t appear in the track selection list boxes.  They are ONLY used for world fill.  This would be useful to place cars on the "other side of the tracks" for double track routes or for spurs that can only be used for facing point setouts which are passed by a train but may not be schedulable for work by the template designer.

§         Users can now save all the input and selections made on the “Generate Activity” screen in a new “.ags” (Activity Generation Settings) file.  This  enables users to reload previously saved settings for a given template.  So if all the source tracks, industry tracks, number of pickups, etc., can be reloaded and another activity can be generated using all the same settings.  This could be useful if you generated an activity but don't like the work order you got, the length of the train, the amount of fill, etc., and would like to generate the same activity again.  It will also be helpful for template designers testing their templates.  Once the settings were loaded users can make changes before pressing the "Generate" button, or, generate with exactly the same settings.

§         A new “Path-Region Order” (.pro) file has been created to be associated with each template file.  Template designers have a new screen that creates this file which controls, for each path, the order in which each region is reached.  Regions can be entered twice into the list, if they are reached twice, as with a “turn”.  By using this new list, the program can check to be sure that cars picked up on a given source or industry track will only be scheduled for setout at an industry or destination track reached later in the run.  Also, workorders will print (and appear on the F11 screen) in the order that in which the regions will be reached along the selected path – more user-friendly for those running activities generated from templates, especially if a map isn’t handy.  It can also be useful for users who like to block their trains at the start based on the order in which the work will be done.

§         Template designers can set a “max cars in initial player train” for each path.  This will help the program to ensure that users don’t start with trains that can’t fit at each path’s start point.   This is stored in the “Path Region Order” file for each path.  For templates that have a Path Region Order file the warning about starting with cars in a player train (in AG) will go away, but the maximum number will be limited to the maximum set here by the template author.  Since trains build from the rear in most cases the max can likely be 99, but in some cases there won't be this much room.  This will enable users to SAFELY start with a train already built, up to a length determined by the template author.

§         A new file type, “*.ctp” (“CarTyPe), also with the same name as the template itself, and a new input screen, enables template designers to narrow down which types of cars will be placed on any spurs that call for cars of type “A” or “Any”.  So if there are some special cars in the template, perhaps a Burro Crane, passenger cars in a coach yard, etc, these types of cars can be precluded from showing up in yards and other places except where they were specifically placed or called for.

§         Template authors can now set the typical car length in meters for siding length calculations (but still provide 28 M default too).

§         The program now stores the last 20 template files that the user has opened in the “slg.ini” file.  Once at least one file has been successfully opened, a new drop-down box appears at the top of the main screen.  If the drop-down arrow is clicked, the previously loaded template files will be displayed, and clicking on one will load it without further searching for the file.   The “Generate Activity” button will then be enabled ready to generate.

§         Incremental upgrade path for template authors.  Each of the new file types (“Cartype for ‘Any” or .ctp, Path-Region Order file .pro, and the new format SWLTDB file with added columns) can be added alone to any template.  AG4 searches for these files individually, it doesn’t require that all of them be present.  So, a template author could upgrade a template to enable multiple car types to be set out or picked up on certain industry spurs, or the author could add a “Path Region Order” file to get the regions to appear in order, etc., and distribute an updated template with just those files.  AG4 is NOT an “All or Nothing” proposition!

sgdavis2007-7-22 22:9:6