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Mega-chain opportunity

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Mega-chain opportunity 05/12/2014 at 16:52 #66182
DaveHarries
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Sounds like a mega-chain opportunity during the holidays. Wimbledon + Feltham + Victoria SE + Victoria Central if you can find 24 players. Or, if you can find a few more, you could make it 28 by adding West Hampstead to that chain....!

Dave

Last edited: 05/12/2014 at 16:56 by DaveHarries
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Mega-chain opportunity 05/12/2014 at 17:01 #66183
--miki--
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" said:
Sounds like a mega-chain opportunity during the holidays. Wimbledon + Feltham + Victoria SE + Victoria Central if you can find 24 players. Or, if you can find a few more, you could make it 28 by adding West Hampstead to that chain....!

Dave
Don't forget Wembley ML and Watford Jn!

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Mega-chain opportunity 05/12/2014 at 17:02 #66184
Danny252
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Then we pray for the NLL re-release to occur soon, and we would be able to send trains in circles for days...
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Mega-chain opportunity 05/12/2014 at 18:29 #66189
Muzer
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And of course, Rugby, and refreshes of Saltley and Gloucester, to add the West Midlands and Western megachains to the existing megachain ;)


Exeter, Westbury, Bristol, Swindon A&B, Gloucester, Saltley, Birmingham New Street, Aston, Wolverhampton, Stafford, Rugby, Watford Jn, Wembley Mainline, Wembley Suburban, North London Line, Victoria Central, Victoria South Eastern, Wimbledon, Feltham, West Hampstead, King's Cross, Cambridge, Peterborough

phew!

Last edited: 05/12/2014 at 18:32 by Muzer
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Mega-chain opportunity 05/12/2014 at 20:24 #66196
kaiwhara
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" said:
And of course, Rugby, and refreshes of Saltley and Gloucester, to add the West Midlands and Western megachains to the existing megachain ;)


Exeter, Westbury, Bristol, Swindon A&B, Gloucester, Saltley, Birmingham New Street, Aston, Wolverhampton, Stafford, Rugby, Watford Jn, Wembley Mainline, Wembley Suburban, North London Line, Victoria Central, Victoria South Eastern, Wimbledon, Feltham, West Hampstead, King's Cross, Cambridge, Peterborough

phew! :p
Oh 'ell!!! :yikes :woohoo:

What if Croydon and Gatwick get Added? Then you'd also add Brighton and Lancing!

Sorry guys, I am in the business of making people wait!
Last edited: 05/12/2014 at 20:25 by kaiwhara
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Mega-chain opportunity 05/12/2014 at 20:34 #66197
DaveHarries
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Brighton and Lancing can already be chained.

Dave

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Mega-chain opportunity 05/12/2014 at 20:56 #66199
kaiwhara
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" said:
Brighton and Lancing can already be chained.

Dave
Yes I know they can. What I am saying is, if/when Croydon and Gatwick come out, then Brighton and Lancing can be added to the aforementioned mega chain...

Sorry guys, I am in the business of making people wait!
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Mega-chain opportunity 05/12/2014 at 20:59 #66201
Muzer
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" said:
" said:
Brighton and Lancing can already be chained.

Dave
Yes I know they can. What I am saying is, if/when Croydon and Gatwick come out, then Brighton and Lancing can be added to the aforementioned mega chain...
Then if I'm not mistaken, Derby and/or Doncaster springing into existence would add the East Midlands/North East chain that exists, namely Trent, Sheffield, Worksop and South Humberside ;)

(Unless I've missed another sim that would have to come between them)

Last edited: 05/12/2014 at 21:00 by Muzer
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Mega-chain opportunity 05/12/2014 at 21:05 #66202
kaiwhara
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Why don't we just chain the whole UK and call ourselves Network Rail?? :side:
Sorry guys, I am in the business of making people wait!
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Mega-chain opportunity 05/12/2014 at 21:25 #66204
Lardybiker
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Before we all get carried away....(anything is possible after all so they say....)

There are several chains currently possible. The West Mids chain around New St. The Western chain with the likes of Exeter and a couple of London-based chains. The chaining between the Vics and Wimbledon/Feltham is as Geoff stated, not available yet but is being tested.

To join all these "pockets" of simulations up, there needs to be some work done. Previously released sims such as Gloucester and Saltley would need a refresh while some entirely new sims would need creating. This brings up an interesting question....IF you had the choice and could direct the dev team one way or another, would you...

a) Prefer them to concentrate on reworking previously released sims like Gloucester, Saltely, NLL, Trent, and Sheffield to name but a few...

OR

b) Would you like them to work on sims of areas not currently simulated yet???

Answers on a postcard....

Last edited: 05/12/2014 at 21:25 by Lardybiker
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Mega-chain opportunity 05/12/2014 at 21:40 #66207
Muzer
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Tough question. Since simulations on their own have a wider general appeal than chains, I must answer b, but that's not to say I want refreshing old sims to dry up completely - I'm still hoping for a new NLL personally, and a few sims have some bugs, missing features or idiosyncrasies due to their age that I'd really like to be fixed because they (for me) ruin otherwise fine sims. But despite my having fun sometimes in threads like this contemplating the possibilities, truth be told chaining is not really a priority for me. Especially since I very rarely have free time synchronised with other people's to actually play multiplayer, at the moment at least.

Others may disagree of course - I'm not particularly active in online games here to say the least, so I might not represent the opinion of the majority.

In general, I think the current balance is probably about right - a refresh or two from time to time, but mostly new sims.

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Mega-chain opportunity 05/12/2014 at 22:07 #66209
jc92
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" said:

a) Prefer them to concentrate on reworking previously released sims like Gloucester, Saltely, NLL, Trent, and Sheffield to name but a few...

I'd prefer to see the existing sims all brought into line as loader standard, so all the recent core code additions and alterations can be applied (F8 menu for instance), and generally speaking to bring everything in line as a standard.

"We don't stop camborne wednesdays"
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Mega-chain opportunity 05/12/2014 at 22:45 #66210
Steamer
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3986 posts
" said:


Then if I'm not mistaken, Derby and/or Doncaster springing into existence would add the East Midlands/North East chain that exists, namely Trent, Sheffield, Worksop and South Humberside ;)

(Unless I've missed another sim that would have to come between them)
South Humberside and Worksop currently chain, and Trent and Sheffield currently chain. You can't, however, chain between those two sets at the moment.

Derby springing into existence is entirely possible, as it's definitely under development. If that happened (and Saltley, Gloucester and Bristol were updated), you'd be able to continuously signal an XC train from Moorthorpe to Ivybridge- 301 miles :yikes

"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)
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Mega-chain opportunity 05/12/2014 at 23:12 #66214
Danny252
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I have to say I'm on the side of refreshes. Having recently introduced someone to Simsig, I actually found it was quite hard to recommend a good, free "intermediate" sim that was up to loader standard that people could really get into Simsig with - Exeter, Swindid, Westbury, and Stafford are probably about it. Some issues with other sims are:


  • Smaller sims such as Lancing and Aston are pretty boring in terms of variety (although good introductions to the basics)

  • Many other sims that are mid-level in terms of train count and layout size have complex or unique features (signalling in a nutshell, admittedly) - e.g. NWC or NE Wales both have awkwardness with Tail Lamp Cameras (even with block instruments off), the strange arrangements for Blaenau, or some of the GFs on NE Wales.

  • Payware is little good for getting people's interest piqued - that's what you need to do before people have to pay!



Older sims such as Gloucester, Peterborough, Southampton, and Cambridge would add quite significantly to the number of sims aimed at the intermediate level, having enough trains and layout to keep someone on their toes, whilst not requiring dedicated manual study.

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Mega-chain opportunity 05/12/2014 at 23:28 #66215
Muzer
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718 posts
" said:
" said:


Then if I'm not mistaken, Derby and/or Doncaster springing into existence would add the East Midlands/North East chain that exists, namely Trent, Sheffield, Worksop and South Humberside ;)

(Unless I've missed another sim that would have to come between them)
South Humberside and Worksop currently chain, and Trent and Sheffield currently chain. You can't, however, chain between those two sets at the moment.
Ah, OK. I didn't realise that.


Danny252: You make a good point. I do think you're right, on reflection - it would be nice to have more of that sort of sim. I started out on Southampton (it being my home area), and for me personally it was a good level of initial difficulty (having a friend to point out the basics, I could skip the initial step of a sim like Royston or Aston). But it has a few bugs (some of them quite odd, like failures never occurring), and lots of missing features

Last edited: 05/12/2014 at 23:30 by Muzer
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Mega-chain opportunity 05/12/2014 at 23:35 #66216
Cedric
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I am one of the silent ones that spends hours playing (sorry, using) Simsig but who seldom joins in discussions and has no interest in chaining.

Personally I'd like to see some of the older Sims brought up to standard. Sheffield and NLL come to mind particularly, but others too like Gloucester. Then I'd like to see some of the gaps closed: Three Bridges was started years ago but has never been finished for example, and Southampton could be extended to include the whole of Eastleigh PSB area.

After that? Well, we have quite a lot of the WCML already (Wembley, Wembley Sub, Stafford, Coventry, BNS, Wolverhampton) so how about closing the gaps there (Watford to Rugby etc). And so on. I quite like the idea of completing whole lines of route as one then starts to see how traffic patterns change away from London, and where the pressure points are. And how about the remaining London termini (but see below about Simsig's own licence problems)

And I wonder if, in time, Simsig is going to have to address its own licence issues as more and more of the country goes over to ROCs often with new layouts Simsig as it is currently is in danger of becoming a simulation of yesterday's railway rather than todays - one of its great attractions has been that on Simsig you are playing (sorry, operating) pretty well the real thing.

I am offering this in the context that someone earlier in this thread asked for opinions on where the priorities should be? I am in no position to do any developmental work myself (having neither the skills, the time or my wife's permission) but am hugely grateful to the team for all they have developed over the years and the hours of real-life fun (sorry, practice operation) that Simsig gives.

Hope that's helpful.

Cedric

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Mega-chain opportunity 05/12/2014 at 23:51 #66217
Muzer
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OK, I must admit that I'm coming round to the attraction of bringing older sims up to standard. I do agree with what seems to be the sentiment that there are a few that would almost be like entirely new sims, given the advance that has occurred in SimSig over the years especially since NLL was released. And I agree with the Danny252 above that there aren't particularly many free sims up a level from Aston and Royston to try. So yeah, maybe it WOULD be worth devoting a little more to bringing old sims up to standard.

And yeah, filling in the gaps sounds good too - Eastleigh could make a nice chain with Portsmouth now that that's there (it would need a refresh though - the current Portsmouth doesn't appear to have any chaining capability, at least anything exposed through the menus).

(Incidentally, since Cedric mentioned the subject, I'd be happy to become a SimSig developer, but the impression I got from the wiki was that you needed not only programming skills, which I have, but also some rail industry "insider knowledge" or connections, which I mostly lack aside from a reasonable knowledge of signalling systems mostly picked up from SimSig itself and a keen interest in the industry in general but from an enthusiast's perspective).

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Mega-chain opportunity 06/12/2014 at 15:42 #66254
Red For Danger
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Don't forget the few sims that have come and gone. I particularly mourn the passing of Oxted - Following on from the posts above it was an ideal lower to intermediate level and I particularly benefited from it as a stepping stone to be able to operate some of the middle to heavy weight sims that need a certain level of experience.

Come on guys - if you want to 'mind the gap', how about bringing back Oxted.....?

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Mega-chain opportunity 06/12/2014 at 16:20 #66260
Prof Jolly
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can i be greedy and ask for both

on a serious not tho i would like the old sims to be refreshed with the new code

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Mega-chain opportunity 06/12/2014 at 16:27 #66261
Prof Jolly
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i would also like to see a version of clive's ConvData that works with the new timetable format

one can only live and dream tho

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Mega-chain opportunity 08/12/2014 at 13:43 #66340
clive
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" said:

Older sims such as Gloucester, Peterborough, Southampton, and Cambridge would add quite significantly to the number of sims aimed at the intermediate level, having enough trains and layout to keep someone on their toes, whilst not requiring dedicated manual study.
Peterborough and Cambridge refreshes are in my job queue, but behind other stuff.

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Mega-chain opportunity 08/12/2014 at 13:46 #66341
clive
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" said:

(Incidentally, since Cedric mentioned the subject, I'd be happy to become a SimSig developer, but the impression I got from the wiki was that you needed not only programming skills, which I have, but also some rail industry "insider knowledge" or connections, which I mostly lack aside from a reasonable knowledge of signalling systems mostly picked up from SimSig itself and a keen interest in the industry in general but from an enthusiast's perspective).
No, you don't need "insider knowledge" or connections, but you do need a fairly deep knowledge of UK signalling.

But I don't know if Geoff is recruiting developers at the moment.

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Mega-chain opportunity 08/12/2014 at 13:47 #66342
clive
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" said:
i would also like to see a version of clive's ConvData that works with the new timetable format
It's not forgotten.

But there is only one of me and only 24 hours in a day.

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Mega-chain opportunity 08/12/2014 at 16:37 #66349
GeoffM
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" said:
And I wonder if, in time, Simsig is going to have to address its own licence issues as more and more of the country goes over to ROCs often with new layouts Simsig as it is currently is in danger of becoming a simulation of yesterday's railway rather than todays - one of its great attractions has been that on Simsig you are playing (sorry, operating) pretty well the real thing.
Is that a danger or pieces of history being preserved? Granted, many people prefer current era sims; but others like older sims too. Sometimes it's information that can be hard to come by: I'd rather an older sim that's accurate than a new sim with a lot of guesswork. The two Victoria sims will both have 1980s eras to present day eras - in the case of Blackfriars after 2012, not right away, but will be coming soon.


" said:
(Incidentally, since Cedric mentioned the subject, I'd be happy to become a SimSig developer, but the impression I got from the wiki was that you needed not only programming skills, which I have, but also some rail industry "insider knowledge" or connections, which I mostly lack aside from a reasonable knowledge of signalling systems mostly picked up from SimSig itself and a keen interest in the industry in general but from an enthusiast's perspective).
Ni programming knowledge or connections required, but signalling knowledge is a must. The very few developers I do take on go through the ranks - making themselves known on the forum through good posts, becoming a tester, then maybe a developer. Developers also have to commit to actually producing simulations: I've been burnt a couple of times by developers who just wanted to play with the tools and thus let me down in the process.

SimSig Boss
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Mega-chain opportunity 08/12/2014 at 17:07 #66355
Muzer
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718 posts
" said:
Ni programming knowledge or connections required, but signalling knowledge is a must. The very few developers I do take on go through the ranks - making themselves known on the forum through good posts, becoming a tester, then maybe a developer. Developers also have to commit to actually producing simulations: I've been burnt a couple of times by developers who just wanted to play with the tools and thus let me down in the process.
OK, that makes sense, I can understand being wary about spending time on someone who then doesn't do anything.

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