help a newbie please

Hi to all,
My system is quite adequate for running this sim so no worries there. I have downloaded the openrails program, i think, tho the first 3 attempts all lead to "corrupted files" warning, however using the alternative download i now have a lrge rectangular window open which at top left says "openrails x26022 " there are numerous boxes on screen , too many to list but the main ones are add edit remove tools.

and that is as far as i have got so far. i have downloaded the pdf manual but good as it is , it doesnt really show how to get started. i wish to install a route and scenarios and have a train running on screen, now i have found lots and lots of lists of routes/trains etc on this forum and have NOT downloaded any as yet.

Knowing the rail communitys i am betting that my questions will result in an avalanche of good help.

can someone suggest a route/scenario pack preferrably from this forum/community site, a simple one , perhaps just a station to staion short diesel or maybe a shunting yard with tasks to do etc.

once i have the first train/route setup and running the rest should be easier as i would have the experience of at least installing and opening my first one.

questions such as once a proram is downloaded does this need unzipping 2 i presume it does" if so do i need to make seperate folders here in order to put items into, such as routes in one consists/trains in another, i really have no idea on this, and once these items are installed into their correct places how do i get the openrails to start and show the train and scenario etc.

a lot to ask i know , but, i am sure someone will offer help and i look forward to this, as i say i have not dloade anything but really want to stick to openrails for now and not get involved in msts downloads, i have no problem with msts but until i get used to how to setup and run, i think its best to leave these alone for a while.

heres hoping for help

and thanks for taking the time to listen to my above ramblings, feel free to ask me anything about the above.

thanks again
maka

Hi Maka.

Welcome to the forum.

The first thing is that if you don't have MSTS installed already, you will need it to be installed to run OR

To see the content in MSTS you must add the MSTS folder via the add button at the top left, (if MSTS was already installed it should appear automatically)

To add a MSTS installation to your profiles in OR:-

click "Add" at the top left of the OR page, then select the MSTS (Microsoft games) folder, select the train simulator folder within MSTS folder and click OK, (rename from train simulator in the box provided if you already have a profile of that name, or it will overwrite) then click OK again, it will now be added to your list of profiles, you can do this with as many MSTS installations or mini-routes as you like, then on opening OR you select the MSTS installation or mini-route of your choice from the profile drop down menu, remember to unstore either the chosen act or unstore everything in MSTS if you are using TrainStore or a mini-route before opening OR.

Once you have done that, there are lots of routes that you can install, the choice of those are up to you, but here is a good selection of  UK routes with descriptions and needed files to get you started.

https://tsforum.forumotion.net/f16-united-kingdom-routes.

UKTS and Trainsim.com have a huge selection of other routes too.

Here is a list of useful links to other MSTS files and sites, including UKTS and Trainsim.

https://tsforum.forumotion.net/f28-msts-links

sadly i must have read this openrails wrong when i saw it, i. was under the impression that it was a standalone program and didnt need msts, i have msts and routes for it somewhere on one of my hard drives but am loathe to try it.
but most kind of you to offer the help. am i right now after reading this nice reply that indeed openrails does not work on its own and is just a subdivision of msts and wont work without msts.

if so such a shame .

again kind thanks for the advice, will take all advice i can get until i can get something working, i had msts up and running once but took me over a year of trying due to time constraints at that moment. now retired and have all the time as they say.
maka

There may be a way to get around not having MSTS and using OR as a standalone program (I'm sure I have read somewhere that this can be done, but that is probably something for more advanced users) if MSTS is installed somewhere on your HD, OR should have found it (as long as it is still in its default location as installed),



Click on the installation profile top left, and any default MSTS installation you have installed should be in there, then below that select the route you want to run, then activity, loco etc. then click start (bottom right) to run.

Hello Mark / Makapa,I believe I saw some Routes from New Zealand that will run on OR without MSTS ?

Markh5682 wrote:There may be a way to get around not having MSTS and using OR as a standalone program (I'm sure I have read somewhere that this can be done, but that is probably something for more advanced users).

At Open Rails, we recognise that it's a real problem for newcomers to find a promising program available for download but no content readily available.

We are working on some Demonstration Models which showcase Open Rails and will be a free download. We are doing this in collaboration with a commercial vendor, who gets free publicity.

Demo Model 1 is close to release and should come out alongside Open Rails v1.0. We hope it will be the first of many.

Chris Jakeman
Open Rails Management Team

makapa wrote:sadly i must have read this openrails wrong when i saw it, i. was under the impression that it was a standalone program and didnt need msts, .................................

Yes, your impression that OR is a standalone program is correct.

Whilst OR can utilise existing MSTS content, you do not need to have MSTS installed, however, you must setup the folder structure of OR to a similar pattern to MSTS and copy over the required stock, etc.

So far, there are 3 Australian routes specifically setup for OR - the Tweed Railway, Craven Timber Railway and the Manning River Breakwall Railway. Adequate instructions are supplied to be able to setup the structure of OR to be able to run these 3 routes without having MSTS installed - all instructions and associated stock, etc are found on the 'Coals to Newcastle' site :

http://www.coalstonewcastle.com.au/

There are also some FAQ's for OR :

http://www.coalstonewcastle.com.au/faq/or/

To setup OR as a standalone program see the description for installing the Tweed Railway :

http://www.tweed.coalstonewcastle.com.au/route/route-install/

Here are the links for the Craven Timber Railway and the Manning River Breakwall Railway :

http://www.craven.coalstonewcastle.com.au/

http://www.manning-river.coalstonewcastle.com.au/

Peter Newell is one of the pioneers in the adaptation of existing MSTS routes and stock to OR format.

More OR routes will become available in the future, including one based on the 1905 era Lithgow Zig Zag Railway

Regards, Brian Bere-Streeter
Rolling stock builder and co-author of the CTN routes.

Brian, shouldn't the Burrinjuck Railway also be included in the list of CTN routes also designed to run in Open Rails without MSTS being installed?

Lots of excellent info there re the Australian routes, and I'll look forward to seeing the OR Demo Model 1.

dforrest wrote:Brian, shouldn't the Burrinjuck Railway also be included in the list of CTN routes also designed to run in Open Rails without MSTS being installed?

Hello David,

Yes, you're right - I'd forgotten about it as I don't have any narrow gauge routes installed, not even Burrinjuck, however I do have the narrow gauge cane railways around the Tweed as they are an integral part of that route.

Brian