Generator & Master Purchased At Last Options

[IsambardKingdom]

After a long drawn out sequence of events trying to get Paypal to understand why i could not log in to my account, i have now succesfully purchased both Generator and Master.  

So where do we go from here ? 

regards,
Mike.

[nebeveridge]

The sky's the limit!

Pick a route, create an activity with the available template for AG.  Set up rolling stock groups in AM, change out the stock in your activity.  Now go have a blast operating your own activity with your own rolling stock!

No template for your route?  Develop one!

[IsambardKingdom]

Template creation is my prefered choice, but on reading the manual it sounds quite complicated.  

Have to give it a go though. 

Cheers,
Mike.

[nebeveridge]

Mike,

I will say this about template creation -- the difficulty of absorbing the instructions in the help manual exceeds the difficulty of actually creating a template.  Not that the help manual is badly written, but it is not easy to describe the complex process of creating a template to someone who has never done it.

Now, that said, I will say that template creation is very involved, and attention must be paid to details and testing.  But creating a template is like eating an elephant. How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time.  As you learn how to create a template, you will find that tasks which seemed daunting at first really are not.  But certain things must happen correctly, and certain things must happen in a certain order.  And of course all of it must be tested thoroughly.

Finally, let me add that I find template creation to be very rewarding, and that is why I do as much of it as I do.  The joy that other MSTS users gain from the templates far more than offsets the labor of creating them.

[nebeveridge]

OOPS!  I forgot to mention the video tutorials.  Check them out on this web site.

[IsambardKingdom]

Hi Norman,

i appreciate all the help and advice mate, many thanks.

I can use the AE no problem, having had MSTS and used it from may 2001. 

As you say though, reading a whole load of instructions, is a daunting task and digesting it all in one go is a big ask.

There are some really good UK routes around, that would benefit greatly from this useful software. Really can't understand why more MSTS users from the UK have not purchased and utilised this nice little proggie. 

Thank you again Norman, i am definately going to give it a go, mate.

regards,
Mike.

[nebeveridge]

Please let us know of your progress, and share your work here.  Also, if you need help, just ask!

[sgdavis]

If manuals aren't your cup of tea, I might suggest our Video Tutorials on the Video Tutorials page.  It's probably a lot easier to learn by viewing a demonstration and there are a few hints that are in the videos that aren't addressed in the manuals.

Thanks and good luck with template creation!  We'd love to post your creations and Norm and I are happy to help.

Best,

Steve

[sgdavis]

After a long drawn out sequence of events trying to get Paypal to understand why i could not log in to my account, i have now succesfully purchased both Generator and Master.  

So where do we go from here ? 

regards,
Mike.

THANKS for giving our programs a chance!  I'm assuming you have installed the programs.  If not or if you're having problems with doing that, we have a Video Tutorial on our Video Tutorials page that takes you through the process of installing our programs.

Next, I'd suggest finding a route you enjoy, for which a recent template for AG has been created.  Download and install the template and try your hand at activity creation.  Although I read that you'd like to create your own templates, it's a great experience to use other folks' templates to create activities just so you can get a feel for how the program works, how activities are generated, etc.  Plus that lets you get started with something fun, right away!

I like to use ActivityMaster either for activities I've downloaded, or more often, for templates before or after I generate an activity.  In order to make our templates usable by the maximum number of people, we often try and limit the number of downloads and use a lot of default rolling stock.  So often the templates if used "raw" won't make the best use of all the great rolling stock you've collected over the years.  So I'd use ActivityMaster and the "Specific List" function, as shown in the manual or our Video Tutorials, to change out rolling stock so you're using all the stock you have collected which is appropriate to the route.

Most of all, have fun!

Thanks,

Steve

[IsambardKingdom]

Hiya Steve,

two replies for the price of one. Either means i am a valued customer or a pain in the rear. 

Haven't delved into Generator yet, as i have been busy. Master though is excellent, wish i had known about it sooner as it is a really useful tool. 

Thank you for taking the time to reply mate.

regards,
Mike.