Shunter Remote in non-VR

[TheLostPenguin]

Is this at all functional in non-VR right now?
I've been through every key except F11/F12 (which are in use by steam) and can see most of the controls on the remote activate except for the power and pair loco buttons, and the uncoupler selection dial. The ; and # keys make a clunk sound that seems as if it could be for the uncoupling selection dial, but the dial itself does not animate whereas all other controls on the remote do.
Biggest problem of course is being unable to turn the thing on at all

[Purple_Finch]

The remote does function in non VR, however for functions that don't have a keybind, at the moment you need to set the remote on a surface and then physically click the button. So for example to pair it with a loco, go to the loco you want, set it on the desktop inside the loco, power up your loco, the click the power button on the remote and then click pair loco. You can now pick the remote back up, get back on the ground and use it with the normal key functions. Hope this helps.

[Leigh]

It does work but the functionality is not very good right now.

Think of all the levers more like switches which return to middle when no pressure on them. There should be a little light gauge which, um, gauges the power level of... whatever it is you're gauging.

Regards turning it on, place it on a surface and aim just right to hit the power button, top left-ish of the device.

Honestly, though, the unit is not very good. I had envisaged some form of radio transmitter that you plug into your "main" loco, and that would translate your control inputs to any other tied locos. Currently it just seems to act as, well, a remote control, so you're having to dance from that to the regular controls of your loco to control both engines.

On seeing the device in-game today, after my initial disappointment, I did believe it would just hook up to both locos and I could use it to control both at once. (And yes, its limit is 2 locos, so no triple heading etc). But, I can't seem to get it to do that, so I'm switching between the box and the levers.

First implementation and all that, and built more for VR over realism, but I feel AltFuture has missed a trick with this one. First disappointment with the project so far, so that is at the very least a good track record!

I'd stick with the mod for now, far more realistic and functional. I have the feeling the real intention of this device is so you can shunt wagons from trackside, or maybe ride on the roof and control your train from there. More silly uses, over actual well, useful uses.

[TheLostPenguin]

Originally posted by roxbirdwatcher:

The remote does function in non VR, however for functions that don't have a keybind, at the moment you need to set the remote on a surface and then physically click the button. So for example to pair it with a loco, go to the loco you want, set it on the desktop inside the loco, power up your loco, the click the power button on the remote and then click pair loco. You can now pick the remote back up, get back on the ground and use it with the normal key functions. Hope this helps.

That sounds derpy as all hell but first release of the functionality I guess, I'll have another go tomorrow with that in mind, thanks.

Originally posted by lei07:

...I have the feeling the real intention of this device is so you can shunt wagons from trackside, or maybe ride on the roof and control your train from there. More silly uses, over actual well, useful uses.

That is indeed it's intended use, remote operation of shunters is a real thing in some huge yards (albeit not with devices like the one ingame AFAIK), which I would guess is where Altfuture got the general idea from. Assuming that once I follow the guidance provided here I get it working that's what I'll be aiming to use it for, rather than riding out of a yard, guessing when I'm clear of the points, telebouncing back to flip them, then back to the loco etc. The bit about using it for multiple unit driving is only described as a possible workaround until such time as they implement proper multiple unit control:

Originally posted by Patchnotes:

The remote can be used to drive two locomotives from the cab of one, until proper Multiple-Unit support is added in the future (which requires us to implement player-owned locomotives and upgrade system first). Needless to say, implementing the remote involved a lot of technical advancements that will be useful with future features.

[Altfuture]

Yeah, power and pair buttons are to be pressed with the mouse. We could've added keyboard buttons for them but they'd only have that one purpose and would reserve already lacking keys for an action that is rarely used.

We agree that that's not very well communicated in nonVR (in VR it says so on the back of the device), so one possible solution is that the remote will come with a small manual that describes how to use it and its features.

Originally posted by lei07:

Honestly, though, the unit is not very good. I had envisaged some form of radio transmitter that you plug into your "main" loco, and that would translate your control inputs to any other tied locos. Currently it just seems to act as, well, a remote control, so you're having to dance from that to the regular controls of your loco to control both engines.

Ah, what you're looking for is a Multi-Unit controller, a different type of device. As TheLostPenguin quoted, that will be coming too, once player-owned locomotives and upgrades are added to the game. We want the MU unit to be an upgrade that you can install to your locomotives, which is not possible just yet.

The remote controller that was just released is literally just a remote controller, and while it can be used to MU two locomotives (by driving one directly, and another using the remote), it's not specifically designed for that. In theory you can use multiple remote controllers to operate multiple locomotives (2+) if you'd want to.

[Leigh]

I thought that they would be one and the same thing, its 100% my bad for not reading the planned updates properly!

[Altfuture]

No worries! :)

[TheLostPenguin]

Got it working right away once I knew how, thanks once again roxbirdwatcher, and of course Altfuture for jumping in as well :)

Originally posted by Altfuture:

Yeah, power and pair buttons are to be pressed with the mouse. We could've added keyboard buttons for them but they'd only have that one purpose and would reserve already lacking keys for an action that is rarely used.

We agree that that's not very well communicated in nonVR (in VR it says so on the back of the device), so one possible solution is that the remote will come with a small manual that describes how to use it and its features.

Most of it is pretty self explanatory (assuming of course the player is familiar with the kb controls), but the power and sync buttons not having keys could really do with being pointed out at the point of acquisition. Also the range restriction and signal strength indicator could do with explaining, since players are going to run into both most likely without having seen patch notes or anything on here to warn them beforehand, and in non-VR it's damn near impossible to get the thing to land upside down (yes I know it's by design, you did too good a job!) even when trying too, in order to read the 'beware of signal loss' warning.

[Altfuture]

The day after remote was released we added the shunter remote manual in update #68. The manual now comes with the remote, when you buy one, and describes shortly how to use the remote and other details. You can see it here at 1:07:

https://youtu.be/PnmlZFs8GXs?t=67