by Brian Eckard
Work continues on my Utah & Rocky Mountain Railroad. As of this writing the tracks extend from Spokane WA to Riggins ID. Work has begun on the next module that will extend the tracks further south to Boise, ID. This virtual railroad is being built in Trainz Railroad Simulator 2004. However, for my birthday I am getting the latest version of this simulator, Trainz 2010. I am currently waiting for that version to arrive. It�uro;™s being shipped from the east coast by the US Postal system.
The first stretch of the latest tracks run from Riggins, ID to McCall ID. I'm currently texturing the scenery and adding various scenery objects. I've noticed that as the layout gets larger, and more AI trains are run, the frame rates get slower and more choppy. I also noticed that there seem to be times when the traffic gets snarled into impossible situations that require the rail session to be ended. I'm now using the CPC Portal control rule to limit the number of AI trains on the layout to 15. This rule also will allow me to control the portals using triggers, which may be the final way that I generate AI traffic on the route. The fewer the number of AI trains, the faster the frame rates, and the smoother the animation.
This weekend, if I get some time, I'll post some screen shots of the current layout, plus some of the current module that being constructed. So, stay tuned!
