Hi, developers...
In attempting to design some more "animated scenery" in the vein of my rocking
boats at KMTN, I attempted to make some moving Metrorail trains at the approach
end of runway 15 at KCGS, and in doing so, exposed what I shall call a
"limitation" rather than a "bug", since I suppose the code is just not meant to
do what I am attempting to do with it. And while I understand that a new AI
ground vehicle system will be able to do what I want, I figure I will mention
this anyway, in case it becomes relevant later for some currently unseen reason.
Anyway, what I was attempting to do was to create a Metro train in a given
position, which I shall refer to as "its origin", on a model of a raised track
just off of the approach to KCGS 15. I then used a time-based formula with a
sine wave to calculate an "offset", which ranged from + to - something like
three thousand meters, to have the train essentially oscillate back and forth
over a 3-mile section. Doing so in realistic time intervals (five minutes or
so) would create a reasonable illusion of multiple trains passing back and
forth past the airport on a more-or-less normal schedule.
The limitation I discovered was this: if the user's view is not pointed at the
train's "origin" point, the trains disappear from view, regardless of their
"current" (i.e. offset) position.
While I understand that I was bending the code to attempt to do something it
wasn't originally intended for, my question is this: does it make sense to
suggest that the code be patched (and, mind you, I do not know how to do this)
so that the model's OFFSET position is taken into account, instead of its
"listed" ("origin") position? I understand that the AI vehicle system will
soon (or even now?) do what I wanted this hack to do, but perhaps there are
some other (more legitimate) reasons that this issue should be examined and
corrected -- or perhaps it should be fixed in case of future, unforeseen
applications of large offset values.
Thoughts?
Cheers,
-R. (MD-Terp)
Robert M. Shearman, Jr.
Transit Operations Supervisor,
University of Maryland Department of Transportation
also known as rm...@umd.edu
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