A.I. Derailment Question

[jonbrown101]

Hello, this is my first post here. Last night I played "Evening Clocker" on the Northeast Corridor in career mode. I failed the scenario approaching the final destination at 30th Street Station. The message said there was an A.I. derailment, game over. I re-played that section observing from the 2D map, and indeed, I witnesses a collision between 2 northbound trains - one crashing into the rear of another just as I was approaching them from the opposite direction. I had garnered 1000 points towards completion of this scenario, but might have ended up a minute or two late at the end - I'm still learning the ropes figuring out how the signals work. Could my lateness have screwed things up with the A.I traffic? Or is this a known issue, and if so, is there a patch available for this route? I should note that according to the games description there should have been a stop at Princeton Station after Newark, but this stop is missing in the game. Thanks for reading.

[jwtheiv]

I seem to recall there's a bugged NEC scenario or two. Not your fault - I'd skip it and grab some from the workshop or the like.

[jonbrown101]

Gee, I was so close to the station
Anyway, I did download this Northeast Corridor scenario: "27 Furious Minutes: Acela Express 2103" where the player has that much time to reach 30th Street. I made it in time but broke the speed limit severely. Is it possible to do so legally? Can I trust the signaling on these user made scenarios? Thanks.

[Chacal]

Any scenario with AI is iffy.
The TS2014 dispatcher is not very good.
Also, testing scenarios is a long and boring process, so it is unlikely that any scenario writer will test a lot of cases.

As for your AI crash in the NEC scenario, you could just modify it in the scenario editor and remove one of the offending AI consists.

[arizonachris]

Chacal, I thought RSC/ Dovetail frowned on editing Career Scenarios?

[peterhayes]

Chris
If you can clone a Cs then you can usually edit it or use RW_Tools.
pH

[Chacal]

Yes, clone it then change it to a standard scenario.

[arizonachris]

Got it, thanks, y'all!

[OldProf]

Any scenario with AI is iffy.
The TS2014 dispatcher is not very good.
Also, testing scenarios is a long and boring process, so it is unlikely that any scenario writer will test a lot of cases.

As for your AI crash in the NEC scenario, you could just modify it in the scenario editor and remove one of the offending AI consists.

What side of the track bed did you get up on today?

Statement 1: gross exaggeration.
Statement 2: depends (often on a scenario writer's patience and understanding: working with the mythical dispatcher is not unlike a good game of chess).
Statement 3: pure and unadulterated nonsense! While testing a scenario can become tedious, it is also a continuous learning process and absolutely necessary to a worthwhile result for the player. Any scenario writer worth his salt does indeed "test a lot of cases" -- including cases of beer, scotch, etc.

[BlueLight]

I'll second that professor.

[Toripony]

[Chacal]

You are entitled to your opinion.

Edit: it isn't confirmed by my observations.

[jonbrown101]

I'm not interested in editing a scenario on a route that I paid $39 for even if I knew how to do that. My question in post #3 was not about the legality of editing a scenario - legality was the wrong term, my bad. What I was asking was if the creator was giving me enough time to complete the route in 27 minutes without breaking the speed limit.
Indeed, I was able to so after a couple tries. It would have been nice had the scenario I had paid for worked as well.

[buzz456]

In a perfect world everything would work perfectly. However in my case I find it rare rather than the normal.

[OldProf]

I'm not interested in editing a scenario on a route that I paid $39 for even if I knew how to do that. My question in post #3 was not about the legality of editing a scenario - legality was the wrong term, my bad. What I was asking was if the creator was giving me enough time to complete the route in 27 minutes without breaking the speed limit.
Indeed, I was able to so after a couple tries. It would have been nice had the scenario I had paid for worked as well.

Ah! This forum has been the site of numerous (and sometimes heated) discussions about career scenarios, especially in regard to whether many of them can be completed without violating safe prototypical driving practices and regulations. Examining many of these scenarios in the editor reveals that the time limits for completing certain actions and, in many cases, the scenario as a whole, appear in red and are thus impossible to achieve. I agree completely that scenarios included with DLC packages should be playable as is, without player editing. Unfortunately, the Dovetails don't agree. Personally, I'm trying to ignore all of the nags and scolds while playing career scenarios, a few of which are actually interesting (i.e., not just about meeting an impossible passenger stop schedule or reaching the speed limit in mere seconds without ever exceeding that same limit). Unfortunately, this is practically impossible.

In the mean time, I nag RSCDT as often as possible about such scenarios and encourage you to do likewise.