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Project Status (21st April 2019)
Welcome to the Railsimroutes.net Blog, where I'll be posting progress updates, work-in-progress screenshots, information about the progress I'm making with active projects, as well as anything else I feel is worth mentioning. Hopefully more frequent updates here will make the wait for upcoming releases more bearable! News from 2008, all the way back to 2001, can be found in the News Archive.

Railsimroutes.net YouTube Channel My openBVE videos and other comments from users and myself can also be found via my YouTube channel.



Blog and Progress Updates


Watford Junction to Rugby – current progress on 1980s object removal

Posted by Anthony Bowden on 18th April 2019 at 5:23 pm

Watford Junction to Rugby – current progress

Railsimroutes LogoFirstly, I’d just like to say thank you to everyone whose offered me a warm welcome back to the openBVE scene, it is much appreciated and it’s great to be back! Having looked at some of the newly updated openBVE documentation, I’m looking forward to having a play with some of the new features. Let’s see where we can take openBVE in 2019 🙂

Just a quick update on what I’m working on at the moment… As the Watford Junction to Rugby project has developed, I’ve modelled the route with features which occur in two different eras – the 1980s and the 2000s. Such features include signals, gantries, lineside location cases, insulated block joints (IBJs), axle counters, Mk1 and UK1 overhead line equipment, and so-on. The project consists of a “main” routefile at the moment, which includes all of these different-era objects. My current task towards getting the route closer to a release is to hide the 1980s-only objects from the route, leaving just the 2000s objects visible. Here’s a before and after screenshot showing an example of the changes:

The location is between Linslade and Soulbury (south of Bletchley), so I’m making good progress. I have finished inserting the commands and beacons for the UkTrainSys simulation of the Automatic Warning System (AWS) and Train Protection and Warning System (TPWS), as well as added beacons for the neutral section Automatic Power Control (APC) magnets. .Section commands have also been added to the corresponding axle counter locations too.

More updates to follow! Take care all 🙂

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Posted in openBVE, Site News, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »



Railsimroutes returns – work resuming on projects, new website design, content updates including updated openBVE help guide and computing section, new UKTrainSys bugfix release

Posted by Anthony Bowden on 10th April 2019 at 11:58 pm

Railsimroutes returns – new site design, work resuming on projects

Railsimroutes LogoWell it’s been an incredibly long time since the last update here at Railsimroutes… In the intervening years I’ve been very busy, and many things have changed with real life taking precedence. I studied for a Foundatation Degree in Railway Engineering and embarked on a career with the real railway, which as you can imagine didn’t leave much spare time to devote to the simulated world of openBVE.

However I now feel able to return to the hobby and I would really like to get my projects released. I intend to finish off some of the tasks I started working on back in 2014, make the add-ons usable, and aim to get at least something released. These releases won’t be as polished as previous versions, but given that all material will be released as open source and placed into the public domain, it can always be improved upon further down the line (pun intended!).

Given how openBVE has developed lately, I also want to release the UK Railway Infrastructure Object Library soon to give the project a boost and provide a nice graphical upgrade for developers or users who wish to use its objects and textures.

 

UkTrainSys plugin update – bugfix release v0.3.2.0

Railsimroutes LogoThanks to Chris Lees, I was notified (a long time ago!) of a bug in the Train Protection and Warning System (TPWS) simulation where an incorrect variable in the ArmTss() method was reset upon passing an opposite-direction TSS f5 frequency. This was caused by a typo which Chris spotted in my code! Please head over to the UkTrainSys Plugin page for the updated version. I have also updated the Class 323 3D Cab Add-on with the updated UKTrainSys.

 

New website design and content updates

Railsimroutes LogoI wanted to learn HTML5 and revamp the design of Railsimroutes with a more modern format, using the latest web standards with a focus on current standards compliant browsers. So today sees the launch of the fifth incarnation of Railsimroutes, with a theme known as “Glass”. I hope you like the new design. It is aimed primarily at desktop PC and tablet users, but does employ responsive design for use on smartphones, which may be further enhanced in future.

  • The new site design has been hand coded from the ground up to be fully HTML5 and CSS Level 3 compliant, and now fills a greater width of the browser window. Both a Light and a Dark theme variation are provided to suit your taste, with the Dark theme being the default.
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  • I have updated the openBVE Help and Installation Guides to reflect Chris Lees’ ongoing developments with openBVE. The new guide gives step-by-step instructions for installing openBVE 1.4.5.x in Windows 10 “Creator’s Update”, and now also includes a guide for macOS Mojave users (I am now a Mac user as well as die-hard PC enthusiast!).
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  • The About the Site and History section has been updated, and the previous “Clarity” theme can be seen in the Railsimoutes.net Archive.
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  • The Links page has been updated although this is still a work in progress. There are also many more non-railsim related links included near the bottom of the page.
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  • The PC Specs section of the site has now been significantly expanded, and renamed Development PC(s) and Network with a new URL. This section covers my long standing interest in computing, from my earliest PCs to my present day machines, including my office/development studio and networking setup, software choices, and so-on.
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  • Railsimroutes now has an SSL certificate installed, so the site can also be accessed via https://railsimroutes.net.
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  • I have also set up a mirror of the Railsimroutes website, which is also SSL enabled, at https://railsimroutes.com. This is hosted on my own server; feel free to use whichever you find more responsive.

Lastly…

Railsimroutes LogoMore updates shall follow soon! I am working on the AWS/TPWS implementation in Watford Junction to Rugby next, and also the UK Railway Infrastructure Object Library. I’m working on these projects as and when I get the odd hour spare between my day job and other real-life stuff which has to come first, but I shall try and do more regular updates even if they’re not all that exciting!

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Posted in openBVE, Site News | 30 Comments »