Weird things RT3 does.

[RulerofRails]

Hmm, the saved game loads ok with the booze cars. But it crashes quite reliably.

If I have a zoomed out, bird's eye view of Sydney-Penrith run it will run for some months before crashing. I did see some minor flashing when clicking stations, and a couple times more severe, with the worst being that the ground texture basically went white immediately before crashing.

To me the track connections aren't super crazy. If we look at some scenarios with pre-built track that let the AI spam trains, like Denver Western III (when played in "default" 1.06, so no price islands, where AI train numbers/congestion goes crazy), the game seems to be able to handle some complication/congestion there. It's a bit less than this, but not that much.

If we built the same system again, will it also have this issue? I'm inclined to guess it's a glitch. But what role, if any, could a Windows update play? Are you running the game in compatibility mode?

[Gumboots]

Not running it in any mode at all. Just running it, same as I've always done.

I could try building the same system again, and see what happens. Another thought: I could try reducing the number of trains, and see if that reduction in load on the game engine solves the problem. That would be the easiest first test.

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Edit: Had another idea for a quick and easy test. Simply remove some of the cross connections, to bring it back to a simpler track layout, then see if it still crashes. If it does, the glitch is something else. If it doesn't, then the number of cross connections would be the obvious cause.

Only catch with this test is that, if the game engine is already at its limits, the recalculations necessary when the track is simplified might cause CTD anyway. Have to try it and see what happens.

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I think (guess) a large part of the issue is that with the level crossings being cross-connected in every possible way, within the space of very few map squares, the calculations for possible routing of 140 trains are frying the game engine, and it just breaks down sometimes. It's not a congestion problem as such (traffic flows rather well) and it's not the actual number of trains being excessive. It's checking the number of possible ways a particular train can reach a given destination, and figuring out the best option, and doing that for all 140 trains. And it has to be done very fast, because the cross-connections are so close together.

I'm guessing this is the issue because this is the only game where I tried this amount of connections close together, and it is the only game where the "exploding stations syndrome" has appeared. It's a bummer because the traffic flow in the Sydney area is actually very good with this setup. The routing is very efficient (and it looks great too).

[Gumboots]

OK, interesting result. I simplified the connections around Sydney, and the game played normally after that. So, that's pretty conclusive evidence that it was the routing calculations that were frying the game engine. Worth noting for future reference as it may affect other maps too.

However, there's still a glitch, but a different one. It crashes just before Gold is triggered by the last train load of Goods into Yass. I've seen this before, when it did the same thing, but with the last loads of Goods into Wellington (same bug, different play). Not sure what is going on there. It's a pretty normal medal trigger, and I've seen it work properly before. It just wants to throw a tantrum now.

[Gumboots]

2/ For some reason, my NSW map has taken to crashing just before I get to a Gold. Which is annoying. Not sure if it has started happening with other maps too (should test that).

Re this: When messing with the last "no trains" play of Spanish Mainline yesterday, I did run a couple of Pennsy H3's on the line after I had built it. This was just for fun, because the Gold requirements had already been met without trains and I felt like playing train rides while waiting for the Gold to trigger.

It was running fine for those 5 or 10 minutes, but as soon as the Gold triggered the game crashed. I'm getting the feeling my installation has somehow decided that a Gold means it should CTD. Might test this with a couple more maps, just to check.

If it has decided that's how it wants to behave, I can think of two options.

1/ Try re-installing RT3. Might fix everything. Might create a bigger disaster.

2/ Just cheat and set the Gold to 10 years or so later than it should be, then have an event that tracks Gold requirements and gives me a notice when I have them. That way the scenario will play normally, but the game won't know about the requirements, so shouldn't CTD.

[Grandma Ruth]

How weird is this? The train has stopped at the station but won't unload. Also there's a strange green light running along the rail ....

[Gumboots]

That's a new one. The "strange green light" is obviously the track gradient indicator (sans numbers) but that should only display when you are actually laying track.

[RulerofRails]

Hmm, did you ever try to lay track to continue from there? It could be a combination of bridge and blocked by building caused the game to lose it's marbles. In my experience, building bridges from the high bank to the low bank is temperamental at the best of times. Is that piece locked from editing? Can you extend the line, delete a tiny piece from the end, or double-track it, etc.?

[Gumboots]

Or use the obvious option: load from a save, taken before it went bonkers.
RT3 has a great range of ways to go bonkers, and seems to be extremely good at it.