After fighting with AE for hours because it crashed every time I used the zoom function, I finally fixed that by changing diasplay to 16 bit color depth.

Then I fought for an hour with 'invisible' consists. Finaly fixed that.

So, being over all that frustration, I worked for a few hours creating an activity. I then selected 'compute and save' and boom - Crash.

Happens every time I try, with the scenario I created, with other scenarios I load, on different routes, with default stock, etc, etc.

MSTS dumps a DXDiag file as if it is some type of video problem, but the contents are not helpful to me.

- Direct X is 9.0C (years more recent than MSTS). Running DXdiag shows no problems with video functions.

Re-installed MSTS and the updates - same

Installed MSTS on laptop - completely diff processor, video card, drivers, etc. - same

Searched the web for answers and found nothing that works.

Ran MSTS Trouble Shooter - (it's useless)

Anyone have any ideas (or a spare hatchet?) :-)

Thanks

Sure You don't have a bad unti in the mix?

not sure what you mean

unti ?

loco or wagon that is bad.

Oh - I gotcha.

No - I cut the activity down to just the original MSTS dash 9 and 1 MSTS original car. Was still the same, and both of those work just fine.

Thanks for your reply tho.

"Then I fought for an hour with 'invisible' consists. Finaly fixed that."

I am very frustrated with AE as I have been trying to sort the visual aspect of consist in AE for about 14 hrs over the last 2 days and yes I am no better off than 2 days ago, and the Miss laughs at me and tells me "I told you rather do something else"
No matter which route or act or creating a new template or just an act when I R/click on the black-line and select "place consit" then nothing happens. I sometimes say to myself if I could use the time spent reading forums to "RUN" my trains and the time "riding my trains" in reading the forums then that would be the bargain of the century.
Any advice would be appreciated

Thank you

Go into the registry, I know, dangerous thing to do, search for hwrender
when You find it open it to see all of the MSTS entries and delete all that say AE in front of them, restart the AE and it should be fixed. People who purchase conbuilder get a free utility that does it.

Thanks Joe. By the way I HIGHLY RECOMMEND Conbuilder to anyone who also uses our tools Skyline's tools, Activity Generator and Activity Master, allow you to create activities and change rolling stock, but they don't FIX an problems with rolling stock or MSTS. Conbuilder does fix problems. It is a great companion to our software.

Joe, what is the official web site or address now for ordering ConBuilder?

Thanks,

Steve

Same as it has been for a long time now Steve, we can even be found by Googleing.

http://www.conbuilder.3dtrains.com

Be aware all, we just changed to CD only, previous supporters can get the updates when made from the ConBuilder Private Forum as before.

I am also in need of help on this "Crash" topic. I am making activities with MSTS Activity Editor for some time mow. Initially I did have the problem of AE crashing. I then deleted the AE stuff from the registry. Everything was okay then. All of a sudden now again, as soon as I want to drag the picture ( or layout) in AE around in the window, it just stops. MSTS is on 16 bits. The deleting of the AE stuff in the registry also did not help. Then I search for the file AEFIX.ZIP, but cannot fond it, not even at TrainSim.com.
Now I am stranded. I can zoom nicely, but as soon as I want to move inside the window, BOOM.

Thanks

Martin

Is it a large route? If so, try turning off everything except the sidings and siding names. I find that many times too much information in the AE window causes this exact problem. Sometimes simply switching off the signals will do it.

Once you move to the spot that you want to work, zoom in and then turn back on the other items that you need, such as mileposts, platform names, or signals. BUT . . . and this is important . . . remember to switch them back off before you zoom back out. The lock up has to do with the amount of information displayed in the window itself. As you zoom out, this amount increases rapidly.

Also, are you using the bin patch? If so, first back up your link to the editor and then you can change your link to the following: "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Train Simulator\train.exe" -toolset -mem:2048. This assumes that you have 2GB RAM. If only 1GB, use 1024 in place of 2048. I have found that this greatly increases the utility of both the AE and RE tools.

Thanks for the reply.
No, it is not a large route. Thing is, it happened on the same route that were okay before and to other routes also that were okay before. I cannot even move the window to the desired spot before zooming. As soon as I move, CRASH, BOOM, BANG.
I will try the link. Not sure where to look, but will find out and ask if I cannot manage.

Regards

I did run the patch 1.7 051 922. Did uninstalled it and downloaded the work version 1.8 and after installation, it seems the problem is resolved.
I did not do the link-thing as I do not know where to find it.
Thanks for the advice

The link is the short cut that you use to get to the editors. If you right click on the short cut, you can change the link.

Thanks Norman. Found it. The AE is working fine now. It is just the testing of an activity that is very time consuming. Any short cuts you know of?

Two things will help with testing. (1) To get traffic right, let the AE simulator run the activity and watch for traffic bottlenecks and timing. This is the quickest way to find signal issues in a route. Sometimes a simple AI route adjustment will fix it. Sometimes nothing will. Run the AE simulator over and over again, adjusting as needed, until it works out the way you want it to. (2) Get someone else to run the activity. You will be surprised what another person, who does not have your preconceived notions, will find.

Thanks Norman. Appreciated.