How to make career scenarios work?

[simonmd]

Is there something i'm missing here? Ive created a few scenarios now and non of them give me a score at the end. I just get the 'you scored zero' message.

[pjohnandlyns]

I've not done any career scenarios but it sounds like you haven't set the points allocation in the editor for each task completed.

When you first open your scenario in the editor, open the right fly out and pin. At the top right corner you will see a blue loco icon. Click that and a second box opens. Near the bottom you will see 3 icons, rails with arrows in them. You want the last one " Arrival Points".
You need to put a number in that box. ie; if you have ten tasks then divide 1000 by 10 = 100.

If you have an odd number of tasks ie; 9 then 1000 div; by 9 = 111.111 use 112. Score will only go to 1000 max away.

Hope this helps.

[simonmd]

Tried that, I am getting scores in game, the last one I played was 969 for example but when the scenario finishes and we get to the de-brief screen, it says "you scored 0".

[pjohnandlyns]

Ah, I see. I'm not certain, but I think that is to do with it being a player created scenario and not an "official" one. Your points add up as you play but are not added to your total XP at the end.

[simonmd]

I see, well i'm sure i've played other workshop scenarios that worked with points but I may be wrong. So basically, its a total waste of time making career scenarios then? Why would we even have the option to change the points for speeding, stations, etc, if theyre all going to show as zero?

[Mavadelo]

Originally posted by simonmd:

I see, well i'm sure i've played other workshop scenarios that worked with points but I may be wrong. So basically, its a total waste of time making career scenarios then? Why would we even have the option to change the points for speeding, stations, etc, if theyre all going to show as zero?

If anything that it would be personal pride Simonmd. Pride for the maker to create a difficult but rewarding scenario, pride for the player to get those 1000. If I have a career scenario I want that 1000 regardless if that counts towards my xp or not :)

[simonmd]

Sure, I can see that and I dont know if its pride (as its not recorded) but I certainly prefer career scenarios as they keep you on your toes much more. Non career ones are fine but quite often I find myself distracted and run past a speed change and think 'meh'. In a career one, i'm either paying better attention or scrabbling for the brake to get under the limit asap!

I've heard some people say they dont like career mode and want scenarios in 'standard', I dont get that at all.

[pjohnandlyns]

Originally posted by simonmd:

I've heard some people say they dont like career mode and want scenarios in 'standard', I dont get that at all.

I didn't like career scenarios as much as standard ones but only because, with most if not all, you had to drive in a totally unrealistic way to keep to the timetables. 100% throttle from standing start, slamming on the brakes at the last minute etc, etc. It seemed as though some scenario creators were leaving it up to the prog; dispatcher to come up with the timings and leaving at that, without even testing them to see if they were achievable or not when driving in a sensible manner.

Having said that, I've just got the Class 45 and Liv; - Man DLCs and the scenarios I've run so far have sensible timings. You have to keep on your toes to get max; score but you don't have to drive like an idiot. Maybe they're getting better at it ?

[simonmd]

I think thats more down to the way the scenario is written, whether its a career or standard has no bearing on the actual timings and if theyre still too tight, it really shows that the author hasn't tested them very well. Having said that, I understand what youre saying though, a tight timetable is alot less troublesome in a standard scenario because there are no real consequences.

However, I think you'll find that especially in busy suburban areas, like South London, alot of the runs are exactly as you describe, almost full power and then braking at the last moment. On commuter lines, time is money and the more efficient a train can run, the better. Space is always limited so being able to timetable a service to be a couple of mins shorter is what the companies want, giving them valuable extra time for maintenance or even for an extra service or two throughout the day.

[inversnecky]

Originally posted by pjohnandlyns:

I didn't like career scenarios as much as standard ones but only because, with most if not all, you had to drive in a totally unrealistic way to keep to the timetables. 100% throttle from standing start, slamming on the brakes at the last minute etc, etc. It seemed as though some scenario creators were leaving it up to the prog; dispatcher to come up with the timings and leaving at that, without even testing them to see if they were achievable or not when driving in a sensible manner.

I sometimes wonder where they come up with the times. Too often it’s a case of take off like a bat out of hell and slam on the brakes as late as possible to make the times.

Much better to switch off scoring and drive realistically.

[Spikee1975]

Career scenarios will only give you score for official scenarios for which there is a database on Steam. There is no real sense in scoring - it won't get you anything - but I think the score is turned off because people could level up quickly by creating super simple career scenarios with one waypoint.

The whole career system was an idea that was abandoned... There was also the possibility to unlock scenarios by completing another one, the ScenarioProperties.xml have an entry for that but it was never used.

[Felix.AVMP]

Originally posted by Spikee1975:

Career scenarios will only give you score for official scenarios for which there is a database on Steam. There is no real sense in scoring - it won't get you anything - but I think the score is turned off because people could level up quickly by creating super simple career scenarios with one waypoint.

The whole career system was an idea that was abandoned... There was also the possibility to unlock scenarios by completing another one, the ScenarioProperties.xml have an entry for that but it was never used.

This exactly.

But regarding the second paragraph... unlocking scenarios is still a thing (to a point), I believe in Isle of Wight and Horseshoe Curve there are locked scenarios which require playing previous one (and perhaps also somewhere else), but it true, that it has been really long time since I saw it in newer add ons.

Also, career mode was actually introduced twice.
First time with Railworks 2, but Railworks 3 and 4 gradually abandoned this feature, but Railworks 5 (aka TS2014) forcibly returned it, made it "cruder" (the original RW2 system had far better granularity, though some issues, such as unrealistic timings were the same) and it remained this way ever since (this being said, career mode is really unsuitable for steamers, for reasons both obvious and not so obvious).