Lights issue in ex-MT stock packs

Having just spent time editing some of my own activities for various routes to replace older stock with the equivalent items from the various ex-MT packs, I've discovered a bit of an issue with some of them.

When I come to test the edited activity, MSTS fails to run it, reporting issues with several .eng files - all of them from the ex-MT packs. With each error, it gives the line number in the file where the error is. So, using Notepad++ (which is my favoured editor for working with MSTS files due to its bulk replace ability), I've checked each of the files and spotted a common series of errors in them.

The problem is with the lights, specifically the Headlight ( x ) and Unit ( x ) values. According to the lighting tutorials on the Steam4me site (https://msts.steam4me.net/tutorials/light-settings.html), the permitted values for both are in the range of 0 to 3. However, the problem files all contain Headlight values of 4, 5 and even 6, and/or Unit values of 4. Edit the .eng file to set the values back into the 0 to 3 range and the activity loads fine, which shows that it's those out-of-range values which are causing the activity to fail.

Up to now, I've found the same errors in the Class 150, Class 153, Class 156, HST and Desiro packs. I think the Class 158 pack is OK, as MSTS doesn't seem to report any problems and I've used Notepad++ to search it for the errors and it didn't report any.

Although I've edited the .eng files of the stock I use in my own activities, I'm not really sure that I've got the values right regarding the brightness, etc of each light. And, of course, while it may solve the problem for me, it doesn't help anyone else who has downloaded the packs and is now wondering why their activities won't load.

Hi lather30, both the MT Class 150 and the Class 153 need the MSTS Bin Patch to work so this could be the
reason for the errors you are getting.
No doubt someone with more knowledge about this matter can confirm my post.

Cheers
Bob

Hi Bob & lather30,
Yes, I can confirm that
More often than not, if the error thrown by MSTS only shows a line number, that line will contain a lights parameter that the default MSTS doesn't 'understand'.  The parameters concerned will be Unit and/or Headlight, where the maximum value MSTS will accept is 3 in both cases. Higher values need the MSTS Bin patch to be installed. This requirement is (or should be!) included in the readme. The problem doesn't occur in Open Rails as it's coded to accept the MSTS and Bin patch parameter values.

WARNING : If you modify these values, the lights will show incorrectly, or not at all, when you change cabs or use the units in AI consists.

Cheers,
Ged

I do have the Bin patch installed so, if that's the requirement, then in theory it shouldn't be throwing out those errors. And all other locos that require it seem to work OK, which suggests that it's definitely installed and working OK.

Hi lather30,
Have you proved the Bin Patch is correctly installed?

Start MSTS in Activity or Explore mode >  Press F5 three times > If there's white printing in the upper left and right of the screen, then the Bin patch is correctly installed, if not, it isn't.

Cheers,
Ged

I am surprised that you favour notepad,I have used "Context" (available from the Steam4Me site) for years.The advantages are that it checks the files for correct brackets etc and highlights some items.It also has a line number indicator to help find errors.You can still use the "copy and paste" feature.

Hi All,

After having a mini panic moment  I can verify that all the packs listed do stipulate the following:

System Requirements
Either MSTS with the Bin patch or Open Rails.

(This is one of the advantages of using Dropbox for file hosting, I can easily check the live files for any issues)

I agree with what has already been suggested by Ged in that the MSTS Bin patch hasn't been correctly installed if you are getting the lighting issues.
You may also get issues with models not loading due to too high poly counts with MSTS in its original V1 - V1.4 versions. Try my Pullmans on an original V1 release of MSTS and see how many errors it can throw out!

I have had these issues myself many moons ago, and it took me ages to get MSTS to be agreeable.
Not that there is any problems with the softwares involved. My old computer was just being spiteful!

The best way I found to bypass the problems was to start from scratch:

1. New clean original MSTS install (away from your main MSTS install. Or do what I do and add a letter to the main Train Simulator folder name i.e: Train Simulator A). Check all is well by running MSTS.
   
   
2. Install all of the original MSTS patches from Microsoft in their correct order (note: MSTS should say V1.4 at this stage). By this I mean the official patch plus the SD40 and Class 50 add-ons from Microsoft as well. Check all is well after every patch by running MSTS.
   
   
3. Install the latest (version 1.8.052113) Bin patch. Check all is well by running MSTS and doing the 3 F5 presses as Ged suggested.
   
   
4. Add only 1 new add-on to this set-up and test again.
   

IF all this has worked THEN you can copy over the train.exe file to your main MSTS install and it should all be fine.
(results may vary depending on how temperamental MSTS decides to be   )

I hope that this is helpful and not demeaning.

Regards,
Justin

MS302 wrote:I am surprised that you favour notepad,I have used "Context" (available from the Steam4Me site) for years.The advantages are that it checks the files for correct brackets etc and highlights some items.It also has a line number indicator to help find errors.You can still use the "copy and paste" feature.

It's not Notepad (i.e. the default Windows program) that I use, it's Notepad++ (https://notepad-plus-plus.org/). Like Context it has line numbers, checks for correct brackets, etc. It can also search entire directories for user-specified file types (such as .eng, .wag, .con or .act) and replace one string of text with another in all of those files (useful for doing bulk changes from automatic couplings to chain, replacing one item of stock with another in activities or consists, etc). It's a really powerful program, which works on everything from Windows XP to Windows 10.

Hi lather30,
In your previous post, you said "I've used Notepad++ to search it for the errors and it didn't report any.".

That prompted me to ask if NotePad++ has an MSTS plug-in.  If not, I don't see how it can check MSTS files! What errors can it search for?

By the way, was the MSTS Bin Patch properly installed?

Cheers,
Ged

slipperman12 wrote:Hi lather30,
In your previous post, you said "I've used Notepad++ to search it for the errors and it didn't report any.".

That prompted me to ask if NotePad++ has an MSTS plug-in.  If not, I don't see how it can check MSTS files! What errors can it search for?

By the way, was the MSTS Bin Patch properly installed?

Cheers,
Ged

No plug-in - What I meant is that I got it to search all of the .eng files in the 158 pack (which I have in a dedicated Class 158 folder in my "master stock archive", which is basically a library where I keep copies of all stock for adding to routes) for Headlight and Unit values above 3, and it didn't find any. However, I've a feeling I may have got ahead of myself and got Notepad++ to replace the higher values with the lower default ones BEFORE I did the search...

As for the question of if the Bin patch was installed, it's now got me a little puzzled...

First of all, I've got to say I'm not using my normal PC at the moment, as that's having boot-up issues that I've not yet fixed (It's basically stuck in an endless loop, flashing up a BSOD for a fraction of a second after the Windows splash screen and then automatically rebooting on and on and on...). So I'm using an older machine that, while lower spec, is still perfectly able to run MSTS - especially if I turn the graphics settings down a bit.

I tried the three F5 presses, and didn't get anything. So I tried re-installing the Bin patch and it did re-install (if already there, the installer tells you and stops the process). I then tried running the activities again and they did load OK without any lights-related stock errors. However, even though the activity was loading correctly, the three F5 presses didn't bring up the printing on either side of the screen. (This may be something to do with the fact that I'm actually using a 22" HD TV with VGA and HDMI inputs as a monitor, and it does trim the sides of the screen a little on the VGA input that this PC has to use...)

And this is where the puzzle comes in...

When I install MSTS on a new machine, I always follow the same process, which always works fine:

1) I start by installing a "master copy" of MSTS from disk (mine is the updated one so I don't need the SD40 and Class 50 patch). I always install this in the root directory of the C: drive as 1MSTS.

2) I then add the front coupler update patch, followed by the Bin patch, New Roads, XTracks, UKFS, etc. This "master copy" then acts as the basis of all my other installs, which are each dedicated to different regions/routes and periods.

3) To create each of these installs, I simply copy the "master copy" to a new directory, suitably named so I know which it is, and then add in the various routes and stock required.

4) Each of these installs is then added to Train Store Front End and MSTS Swap so I can access them as required.

So, in theory, as each install is cloned from the "master copy", they should all contain the same files. Using the Bin patch installer, I checked each of the different installs. As each one was cloned from the same "master copy", the result should have been the same for all of them, but it wasn't! Out of 14 installs tested, only 9 produced the message from the installer that the Bin patch was already installed. For the other five, the installer ran as if it was installing the patch.

So here's the puzzle. How, if all installs were cloned from the same source at about the same time, could some of them have the Bin patch there, while others seemed not to? Very strange!

Adrian.

Hi Adrian,
The answer to your last question is "They can't"!!  It's not strange - you must be doing something different. I use a very similar system to yours except that my 'base' (fully updated) MSTS installation is on another drive.

If the white printing doesn't appear after 3 x F5 presses, you DO NOT have the Bin Patch correctly installed.  It doesn't matter that you lose the extreme edges of the display, you should still see some printing (the first two presses show red printing on the upper right side of the screen - if you see that, then you'll also be able to see the white printing on that side).

If you install the Bin Patch, you don't need the front coupler patch - I've never installed it!

I suggest that you restore ALL the ex-MT stock that you've modified using NotePad++ to their original state, probably by unpacking the original archives again and replacing your existing stock. If you decide not to do this, then I'm sorry but we will not answer any future lights problems you may have.  A lot of time has been spent getting the lights to appear and operate correctly for these packs, but, of course, we cannot control what modifications you may make. It's your own responsibility to sort out any ensuing problems.

Cheers,
Ged

All of the stock had already been restored back to original state via my back-up copy of the master stock archive (well, one of the back-ups, as I keep several on different drives) as part of the testing process for the installs - no point testing them with versions that didn't have the increased values, as that would automatically return a negative result.

And I've figured out the F5 issue too - the clue I needed was the bit about the red text. When I was pressing F5, I was getting the red text in the right corner, but the white text was in the left corner and middle of the screen, not the right. Why? Because my version of the Bin patch was 1.7.051922 (listed as the stable version), which displays the info on the left and in the middle of the screen, and you were referring to how version 1.8.052113 does things. Also, with you saying that it would appear "down both sides of the screen", that had me thinking it was some sort of narrow vertical column down the entire height of the screen, not the text blocks in the upper corners that you were trying to describe.

So I uninstalled the older version and installed 1.8.052113 and it is showing left and right corners as you said it should. And I guess that means that the older version was also installed correctly too - just behaving as it should in a slightly different way to the newer version.

Adrian.

Good Morning Adrian,
It shouldn't make any difference which version of the Bin Patch you had installed - the updated lights parameters have been included since at least v1.6.

I've searched this thread but can't find where I said "down both sides of the screen", but if I did, I apologise! I've found an old installation which uses v1.7.0519 of the Bin Patch and, yes, it does show white printing in the centre and left of the screen, so I also apologise for that.

Cheers,
Ged

No apology needed - I think it's probably fair to say that there were assumptions and misunderstandings on both sides.

Adrian.