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Skyline User's Forum _ Templates _ Blackfoot 3: The Template!

Posted by: klsc85 Oct 2 2017, 05:28 AM

Even through I've been away from the forum for awhile I'm still cranking out templates for my own entertainment. Lately I've had the itch to work on something for Rory Rice's Blackfoot 3 and share it. Well, ground has been broken. Two things to know: first, the templates will be geared toward Open Rails because of OR's ability to arrange meets on dark territory routes (MSTS users could still tick the "No AI traffic" box and happily switch away). Second, they will not be comprehensive templates, rather one eastbound and one westbound road switcher template concentrating on major grain and energy shippers located on the main track (someone with a better knowledge of Lloydminster and the nearby Husky facilities can tackle that spaghetti bowl!).

First testing of the eastbound template is promising (I worked long cuts in and out of the Lloydminster ADM facility while an AI train squeezed by on the pass track thanks to an OR-enabled meet). I'll keep the community posted on further progress.

Eric Anderson (a.k.a. Uncle E)

Posted by: dgionet Oct 2 2017, 07:18 AM

Hi Eric,

Glad to see you back in the saddle of template making. Activities on v3 will be interesting to tackle with changes from v2 to v3. Rory did a great job on his latest release.

We'll gladly monitor your progress on this one.


Posted by: klsc85 Oct 10 2017, 08:38 AM

The eastbound road switcher template is complete; now comes the testing. The screenshots below are of Vermilion, Aberfeldy (Rory Rice calls it a "go-to" yard for local switchers working around Lloydminster) and the Pioneer grain terminal. The bottom shot is a meet at Blackfoot siding. I've settled on one AI train per template, and so far Open Rails is handling the dark territory meets well (they probably won't work at all in MSTS). But until I'm convinced that the AI meets will work flawlessly every time, I'm not committed to keeping them.

Once the Vermilion-North Battleford template is in the can I'll work on the westbound version (thanks to Rory, I now know that the Blackfoot Sub road jobs are 411 westbound and 412 eastbound). Will there be a Lloydminster template? Stay Tuned.

Uncle E

https://flic.kr/p/Z5u1whhttps://flic.kr/p/Z5u1wh by https://www.flickr.com/photos/155653357@N08/, on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/YebjLfhttps://flic.kr/p/YebjLf by https://www.flickr.com/photos/155653357@N08/, on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/YhHfK8https://flic.kr/p/YhHfK8 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/155653357@N08/, on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/Zg8umwhttps://flic.kr/p/Zg8umw by https://www.flickr.com/photos/155653357@N08/, on Flickr

Posted by: bennycdn Oct 11 2017, 01:23 PM

E,
Would you like me to test your template? Benny

Posted by: klsc85 Oct 11 2017, 06:14 PM

Sure, Benny. Let me get a rolling stock list together (Bala 2.0 and a handful of freeware downloads) and I'll ship it to you.

Uncle E

Posted by: klsc85 Oct 18 2017, 09:14 AM

Well, that didn't take long. I finished and checked both eastbound and westbound long-haul templates and they seem to work just fine in Open Rails. The ability for OR to dispatch AI trains on unsignaled routes adds a lot of realism (as long as it's not overdone -- I added just one AI train per template, which may be the normal traffic density for a several hour period on the Blackfoot Sub).

After curling up with Google Earth and doing some research on Lloydminster shippers, I took the plunge and worked up a Lloydminster template, screengrabs of which are below (Aberfeldy, Husky and CP interchange). I'm toying with the idea of adding a pair of AI trains to provide a little bit of complication to the local crew's day. Again, this would be an Open Rails-only feature; MSTS users could choose the no-AI option.

Unless further testing finds a glitch, I should be able to upload the three templates within the next week or so.

Uncle E

https://flic.kr/p/CrUYJYhttps://flic.kr/p/CrUYJY by https://www.flickr.com/photos/155653357@N08/, on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/CrUYG3https://flic.kr/p/CrUYG3 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/155653357@N08/, on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/CrUYEQhttps://flic.kr/p/CrUYEQ by https://www.flickr.com/photos/155653357@N08/, on Flickr

Posted by: klsc85 Oct 22 2017, 04:39 AM

Soooo...I wanted to add a time event feature to the Lloydminster template that would produce an alert from the virtual RTC of an approaching AI train, giving the user enough advance notice to clear the main track. Easily enough done...in theory. In practice, uh uh. What I didn't take into consideration is that a time event feature set up in the template activity file won't carry over to the SLG activity file. I discovered this during a test when the expected pop-up message didn't appear when I expected it to. When I opened the Open Rails dispatcher window there was the AI train, right on time and barreling toward a cut of cars I'd left on the main. End of test ohmy.gif ! But I have a plan B -- a bold notice in the template description telling users when to clear the main track for superior trains, sort of like the old timetable and train order dispatching system.

Uncle E

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