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| Trying to get my head round the game. 15/08/2013 at 14:50 #48431 | |
Northernboy67
21 posts |
I first started playing SimSig a couple of years ago, and Finding the Worksop one an easy sim. I chose Worksop as I am familiar with the area. I would like to try others, but is there a way to start games, and you just control a section and the rest is Automatic? I have tried North Wales Sim, and South Humberside. And as a novice finding it hard to keep up. David R. Log in to reply |
| Trying to get my head round the game. 15/08/2013 at 14:55 #48432 | |
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John
884 posts |
Try SwinDid (Swindon/Didcot). The sim has ARS (Automatic Route Setting), so you just control the area you want to and leave the rest to ARS. Don't forget to read the manual for SwinDid which has a section dealing with ARS. Alternatively, Waterloo also comes equipped with ARS. There are several others, but they are all payware. Last edited: 15/08/2013 at 15:04 by John Log in to reply |
| Trying to get my head round the game. 15/08/2013 at 15:18 #48436 | |
headshot119
4869 posts |
" said:I first started playing SimSig a couple of years ago, and Finding the Worksop one an easy sim. I chose Worksop as I am familiar with the area. I would like to try others, but is there a way to start games, and you just control a section and the rest is Automatic? I have tried North Wales Sim, and South Humberside. And as a novice finding it hard to keep up.If you are relatively new, and wish to play North Wales Coast, you may find it easier if you turn of the absolute block (AB) by ticking the box, and playing the 2009 timetable. "Passengers for New Lane, should be seated in the rear coach of the train " - Opinions are my own and not those of my employer Log in to reply |
| Trying to get my head round the game. 15/08/2013 at 16:21 #48444 | |
Steamer
3985 posts |
" said:I first started playing SimSig a couple of years ago, and Finding the Worksop one an easy sim. I chose Worksop as I am familiar with the area. I would like to try others, but is there a way to start games, and you just control a section and the rest is Automatic? I have tried North Wales Sim, and South Humberside. And as a novice finding it hard to keep up.Oxted, Southampton, Gloucester, Westbury and Brighton are fairly small. Exeter is good as well, although you have to keep an eye on quite a few level crossings. To add to John's list of ARS simulations, Liverpool Street also has ARS and is free. Fenchurch, Marylebone and Edinburgh also have ARS but are payware (although Fenchurch is very reasonable at a fiver, and you might not need any ARS- it's a fairly small area). "Don't stress/ relax/ let life roll off your backs./ Except for death and paying taxes/ everything in life.../ is only for now." (Avenue Q) Log in to reply |
| Trying to get my head round the game. 15/08/2013 at 17:40 #48449 | |
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fsxfaulder
77 posts |
May it also be worth suggesting having a look on a multiplayer session? Hosts are usually more than likely happy to offer as much help as possible and you'll only usually be controlling one panel 
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| Trying to get my head round the game. 15/08/2013 at 20:31 #48463 | |
Temple Meads
307 posts |
" said:May it also be worth suggesting having a look on a multiplayer session? Hosts are usually more than likely happy to offer as much help as possible and you'll only usually be controlling one panel :)Agreed. Northernboy67 - you're welcome on any host of mine. Username TIM in multiplayer Log in to reply The following user said thank you: fsxfaulder |
| Trying to get my head round the game. 16/08/2013 at 12:10 #48483 | |
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Northernboy67
21 posts |
Thank you for the responses. I shall certainly try these. Hopefully more Automatic Route Settings may appear in time. I moght come on a hosted game, should I find the time to do so. David R. Log in to reply |
| Trying to get my head round the game. 16/08/2013 at 13:00 #48485 | |
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maxand
1637 posts |
One of the endearing things about SimSig is that each sim has its little idiosyncrasies, which I guess reflects real life. Some have frustrating little manual level crossings at opposite ends of the sim that you must remember to keep checking even though you'd rather be within the station area. Others have ridiculously long TC overlap segments which, you discover, also turn out to be interlocked with every set of points around them. Some routes cannot be set automatic even though there seems a crying need for it. Other manoeuvres seem to have one and only one way of doing them. And so on. The bottom line is that I've found it takes a lot longer than I anticipated for me to learn any but the easiest sims, simply because of these singularities. And then there is the matter of errors in supplied timetables. So one should approach each new sim with this in mind and get it to run properly "on the straight and narrow" before getting adventurous and finding oneself embroiled in a mess, with trains banking up everywhere. Set automatic snapshots to 10 mins at first and reload from them. It took me a long time to get up to speed on even easy sims, just to work out what the sim seemed to be telling me to do. For beginners I'd suggest Wembley Sub after Royston. No level crossings, no ARS, all visible in one screen and a great place to learn the ins and outs of TC overlaps. Great for experience in automating routes without resorting to ARS. I believe it's really important to optimize your default display settings before tackling a SimSig sim. Other sims have a nice slick look, tracks look like tracks, but applying this to SimSig is a recipe for confusion. Although the initial reaction might be "ugly", I now always show track circuit breaks as well as automatic signal aspects, automatic signal posts, all shunt signals, point positions and NEVER check the "Panel signals" box. I like the procession of greens, double yellows, yellows and reds to tell me where my bottlenecks are, at a glance. By doing this you know exactly where your train happens to be, and in fact if it is moving or stationary (overlap TC greys out). I actually get a better "feel" for its speed at any moment than if TC breaks were not enabled. You know, it took me a long time to figure out what "Panel Display" means - not the current IECC display but the old fashioned NX panel - red or green only. This is where professionals who play SimSig have it all over us. It's because I hadn't seen enough introductory videos, links to which are in our Wiki. My other little suppository of wisdom (to quote our Leader of the Opposition) is that what matters most in knowing whether you have actually set a route is to look NOT at the track segment, as I think most newbies might do, but at the colour of the stems of the signals at each end. If they're white, you've set the route (between two adjacent signals), no matter what colour the TCs along it are. Again, this took dumb me a long time to realize. It took me ages to get my head around the difference between approach control and approach locking, until I started playing Westbury, which has many examples of the former. Hope these whimsical ramblings help someone out there. Last edited: 16/08/2013 at 13:21 by maxand Log in to reply The following users said thank you: 5K1rm15h, flabberdacks, Signalhunter, postal |
| Trying to get my head round the game. 17/08/2013 at 08:05 #48525 | |
flabberdacks
636 posts |
This is an excellent post. I'd just like to offer a different angle on 'Panel signals' - I run with 'Panel signals' checked for two main reasons. Firstly there's an increased element of realism to it, as no signal box I've ever been in displays the actual aspect to the signaller. Secondly, and most importantly when I was starting off, running with 'Panel signals' checked significantly removed a whole lot of clutter for me. It will blank out automatic signals which you usually don't need to worry about anyway (by design) and just draws attention to your controlled signals, which are either showing proceed, or are not showing proceed. From there, I can work at "Okay, it's not showing proceed, why is it not? Have I not set the route, is it being held at stop due to occupancy ahead, is there a failure somewhere (check your points), or is it just approach controlled?" and working through that process gave me a great deal of insight into how each panel worked, without my screen being full of unnecessary colour. With that said, I did sometimes uncheck it just to see whether I was in 3 or 4 aspect territory, but then checked it again once I was comfortable in that knowledge. There's only so many times you can throw the signal back in front of a driver before you pay a lot of attention to restrictive aspects of signals leading up to the one you're looking at! Just an alternative school of thought
Last edited: 17/08/2013 at 08:07 by flabberdacks Log in to reply The following user said thank you: maxand |
| Trying to get my head round the game. 17/08/2013 at 13:24 #48544 | |
pedroathome
915 posts |
" said:This is an excellent post. I'd just like to offer a different angle on 'Panel signals' -I do the same, it really does make things easier to look at. I always work under the assumption on automatic signals that they are 4 aspect, That way, I am always thinking ahead, and where signals are 3 aspect, well, its a little more of a route set for it. Also, typically, with panel signal selected, I tend to find that there is only a couple areas which need controlling and monitoring. James Log in to reply The following user said thank you: maxand |
| Trying to get my head round the game. 17/08/2013 at 14:47 #48547 | |
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Late Turn
699 posts |
Just a quick note - IECC (etc.) installations do (usually? always?) show the actual signal aspect, so Simsig's true to life with panel signals 'off' in that respect.
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| Trying to get my head round the game. 17/08/2013 at 15:34 #48548 | |
GeoffM
6376 posts |
" said:Just a quick note - IECC (etc.) installations do (usually? always?) show the actual signal aspect, so Simsig's true to life with panel signals 'off' in that respect.Most do. It depends on the underlying interlocking - if it's relays then the aspect isn't available (but can be calculated). York North/South is the most obvious one, being at the NRM, not to show aspects in much of the area. All SSI/Westlock/Smartlock like Upminster, LivSt, Paddington (sorry, TVSC), etc do show aspects throughout their control areas. SimSig Boss Log in to reply The following users said thank you: flabberdacks, Late Turn |
| Trying to get my head round the game. 17/08/2013 at 18:45 #48557 | |
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Late Turn
699 posts |
Thanks Geoff, that makes sense. It's all rather grand compared to the 'look out of the window' method of indication still in use in many boxes  .
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