Route and Session Basics

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The information in this Wiki Page applies to TRS19, Trainz Plus and TRS22. This page is intended to provide you with an overview of the properties and features of Routes and Sessions when creating layouts for Trainz. More detailed descriptions of these various features plus instructions on getting you started with creating Routes and Sessions can be found in the Trainz Wiki How To Guides - links are provided at the end of this document.

Contents

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Trainz Worlds

The virtual worlds that Trainz creates can be classified as:-

 Route-Sessions-Games
DotPoint.JPG Routes

Routes are created in Surveyor and contain most (if not all) of what you will see in your virtual Trainz world. You can have many different routes, limited only by your storage space. Routes can be built to represent different geographical regions (real or imagined) and different periods of time (past, present, future). Routes also control the environment settings in your virtual world, such as your geographic location and altitude, the season of the year, lighting conditions and the weather. Routes can have:-

DotPoint.JPG Sessions

Sessions are also created in Surveyor but are designed to be run in Driver. Sessions contain the instructions that will control your trains when they are operating in automatic or "AI" mode in your route. They also control the goods your trains will carry, load and unload at industries along the way, regardless of whether you are driving them manually or using the AI. You can create different sessions for different aspects of your railway - freight, passenger, shunting or a mixture - or for different seasons of the year or times of the day. Sessions are where you can program the behaviour of objects in your virtual Trainz world. A session can also contain scenery items that are specific to a particular railway operation, season of the year or time of day that will only appear in that specific session. Sessions also control the environment settings in your virtual world, such as lighting conditions and the weather. Sessions can have:-

DotPoint.JPG Driver Games (or Driver Sessions or Saved Games)
Driver Games (also known as Driver Sessions and Saved Games) are created in Driver and save the "state of play" in a running session so you can restart it at the same point at a later time. They are optionally stamped with the date and time they were saved and the play duration.


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What is a Route?

A route (also known as a "Layout") consists of most of what you will see on the screen when using Surveyor and Driver. Things such as the landform or terrain, most (if not all) of the scenery items, the ground textures, the effect layers (TurfFX and Clutter), plus some "environmental" features.

A route consists of two parts:-

  1. Route Data and
  2. Route Layers.


DotPoint.JPG When you save a Route, all the items in the Route Data and Route Layers will be saved


 Route Data: 

DotPoint.JPG The Route Data stores all those features that are painted into a layout using a brush tool
DotPoint.JPG The Route Data stores all the Environmental Data including the World Origin (latitude, longitude, altitude)

This covers all those visual elements that are "painted" in Surveyor with a brush tool and all the Environmental features.

Route Data

Route Data consists of:-

  • Landforms (Terrain) - baseboards and ground height
  • Water height and spread
  • Ground Textures including the grid pattern which is a texture
  • TurfFX and Clutter - found in the Effects Layers
  • Environmental Settings - World Origin (latitude, longitude, altitude), Water Surface (rough/calm/etc), Snow Altitude, Lighting (sun, ambient and water colours), Sky (clouds), Road Traffic (on/off), Date (day, month), Wind strength, Fog level, Weather (rain/fine/snow), Brightness level. You must edit and save the route for these settings to become part of the Route Data - see the Trainz Wiki page WikiLink.PNG How to Use the Environment Tools for more details.

 Route Layers: 

DotPoint.JPG Route Layers are used to hold the scenery assets that you want to appear in all sessions created for the route


All scenery assets are held in layers. Route Layers give you a way of organising or grouping the assets displayed in your route.

Route Layers

Route Layers have those scenery items that you want to always appear.

Route Layers can contain:-

  • Track and Track Objects (such as signals, switches, bridges, tunnels, speed signs, etc)
  • Most (or all) scenery items (e.g. buildings, trees, rocks, active industries/stations) and scenery splines (e.g. roads, fences, etc)
  • Rolling Stock (including locos) -  Note:  It is strongly recommended that all rolling stock be placed into a Session Layer
  • Lineside and Fixed Cameras
  • Trackmarks, Triggers, Direction and Priority Marks


NotePad.PNG Scenery objects can also be stored in a session. This can cause confusion if you load a route without loading a session and find that some scenery items are "missing". See PageLink.PNG Loading an Existing Route below for how to deal with this issue.


LinkWiki.PNG

A detailed description of Layers can be found on the Trainz Wiki Page How to Use Layers


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Loading (and Creating) a Route

The Main Menu screen is shown below. The first option (shown highlighted in the image) opens Driver/Surveyor with all its options including loading and creating a route.

TRS19 Main Screen options

In Driver/Surveyor a strip of thumbnails for all the installed Routes will be shown at the base of the screen. The strip will scroll horizontally if there are too many to display. Just move the mouse pointer onto any thumbnail to reveal the scroll bar device.

TRS19 Main Screen Route Selection

The  MAIN MENU  button will take you back to the starting or main screen.
The  Sort By A-Z  (top right of the image above) will give you a drop down menu of sorting options for the thumbnail list.
The MainScreenDownArrow.png button will expand the thumbnail list to fill the screen - click it again to return the thumbnails to the strip at the bottom of the screen.

The thumbnail images are colour coded.

  Payware on DLC Must be purchased and downloaded, but some may be free. There will be a  DOWNLOAD  button on the bottom right of the screen. If a price is included in the button then that is the purchase price (in $US)
  Payware installed Already installed from the DLC. DLC items cannot be deleted. To remove them use the Uninstall option in the Content Store from the Launcher. You can reinstall them later without any additional cost
  Installed Downloaded from the Download Station (DLS) or created by you. This includes any cloned DLC Routes and Sessions (see PageLink.PNG Cloning a Route/Session below)
 
 
Multiplayer For simultaneous development by multiple players. Special conditions apply


Creating a New Route

On the Driver/Surveyor screen the route options are shown as a set of buttons at the bottom of the screen.

Create a New Route

Click  CREATE ROUTE . This will start Trainz Surveyor and open the New Route Dialogue Window.

New Route dialogue window
PencilTips.PNG All these settings plus others can be easily changed at any time after the route has been created.
Route edit From the Edit menu select Edit Route or press  Ctrl   E 

For more details see PageLink.PNG Editing a Route below.

It is strongly advised that you enter some details before clicking the tick icon to create the new route. This will save you time and hassle later.

 Route name:  Enter a name for your new Route (keep it simple)
 Session name:  Enter a name for your Session (again keep it simple) - see Notes: below
 Geographical region:  Select a region from the drop down list
Route Details
NotePad.PNG Notes:
DotPoint1.JPG You do not have to add the name of a session but when you save a new route without a named session a default session will be automatically saved with the name Default. This can later cause confusion if a multitude of different Default Sessions appear so it is recommended that a unique Session name be entered at this point.
  A session can always be deleted later if you have no interest in creating one for your route - see PageLink.PNG Deleting Routes and Sessions below. However a route with a session does have some important advantages - see PageLink.PNG What is a Session? below.
DotPoint2.JPG Setting a Geographical region sets some basic features of the route - such as its latitude (used to determine the season of the year), the altitude (in metres) of the first baseboard, the number and types of moving road vehicles (if any), to name a few. If none of the installed regions are suitable you can download others from the DLS or create a region of your own - see WikiLink.PNG How to Create a Region Asset
DotPoint3.JPG The Working scale provides measurements that are comparable to model railroading dimensions, but the actual (physical) sizes of the layout and its assets are not altered or scaled down. It is only the Surveyor Ruler tool that will be affected. The choices are between Real scale (which is the default), G scale (100m real scale = 4.4m G scale), HO scale (100m real scale = 1.1m HO scale) and many other options.
DotPoint4.JPG The Working units choice between Metric (metres, kilometres) and Imperial (yards, miles) only affects the measurement and display of horizontal distances used for rulers and track distances, and for train speeds (km/h or mph). Note that track speed signs are always locked at either metric (km/h) or imperial (mph) and will not be altered by this selection. Altitudes are always measured and displayed using Metric units (metres).


When you click the Tick icon at the bottom right of the box the new route will be created and a new flat baseboard will be added. Depending on the settings you have entered and the version of Trainz you are using, you will see the following (but without the added yellow and white descriptive objects shown).

First baseboard Each Baseboard is always 720m x 720m (2362.2ft x 2362.2ft) regardless of the Working scale and Working units you have entered. It will be made up of 10m x 10m (32.8ft x 32.8ft) grid squares, over 5000 of them. The baseboard altitude (in metres) will depend on the Geographic region you have selected. The Geographic region will also decide if the baseboard is covered in a grass (or other) texture or the grid pattern as shown.

In Surveyor Classic
In Surveyor Classic (also known as S10), which is supplied with TRS19 and TRS22, the baseboards are controlled using the Topology Tools. To open the tools either click the Topology Tool Tab or press the  F1  key.
Topology Tools

  • Add New Baseboard button - click (it will stay active until another button is clicked) and then click in a blank area outside the baseboard to add a new baseboard in that position. Each click will add a new baseboard at the same altitude as the first.
  • Delete Baseboard button - click (it will stay active until another button is clicked) and then click anywhere on a baseboard to delete that baseboard. You will get a warning dialogue window -  you CANNOT reverse a delete to restore a baseboard 
  • Grid Size button - a drop down menu will give you a choice of 10m (the default) and 5m. This sets the resolution or sensitivity of the baseboard to height changes. It does not alter the size of the yellow grid squares which will always stay at 10m. With a 10m grid the smallest area (resolution) in which you can set a height is 10m x 10m. With a 5m grid that resolution becomes 5m x 5m, so 4 different height values can be set in a 10m grid. This is also used to change an existing baseboard from one resolution to the other.
The 5m option allows you to create  more accurate topology features  such as railway cuttings and embankments but it has a penalty -  significantly increasing the size of the route map  files. Each new baseboard you add will have its grid size set to the selected value. You can have different baseboards set to each resolution - those used by the track at 5m and those further out at 10m for example.
  • Advanced button - this will open another window in the Topology Tab that will allow a greyscale bit map image to be used to set the height of each grid.


In Surveyor 2.0
In Surveyor 2.0 (also known as S20), which is supplied in Trainz Plus (with S10 also available), there is no separate Topology Tools pull-out (or any separate tool pull-outs).

Marquee Tool To add new baseboards (note that you can add and delete multiple baseboards in a single step) select the Marquee Tool from the Tools Palette or Panel. The keyboard shortcut is the  F  key.


Loading an Existing Route

You must first find and select the route to load from those already installed. At the top of the Driver/Surveyor screen the route search options are shown as a set of buttons.

Route Search

Type:  ROUTES  is the default selection. No need to change this.
Source:  PURCHASED  is the default selection, Click and change to  MY CONTENT  for a route you have created (or already modified) or to  INSTALLED  for one you have downloaded from the DLS.
Region:  ALL  is the default selection. You can select a particular geographic region if required and IF the route had a geographic region set when it was created.
Search: You can narrow down the list of routes by typing the first few letters of its name (e.g. SA) as shown in the image above.

This will produce a display of thumbnails at the bottom of the screen.

Existing Routes

Click on the thumbnail for the route you want to load, then click on the  EDIT ROUTE  button to load the route into Surveyor.

Edit Route

NotePad.PNG Notes: Routes and Sessions - An Endless Source of Confusion

Scenery objects that have been placed in a session will NOT APPEAR if the route has been loaded into Surveyor without also loading the session.

If scenery objects have mysteriously vanished when you reload a route into Surveyor it is highly likely that those objects have been saved in a session. You must load the session into Surveyor to make them visible again.

You can easily move most scenery objects from a session into a route if needed - see the Trainz Wiki Page WikiLink.PNG How to Use the Bulk Asset Update/Replace Tool for more details.

Loading a Route Into Surveyor From Content Manager

Trainz provides a shortcut that allows you to load an existing route directly into Surveyor for editing from Content Manager.

Load a route from CM

Steps.PNG Steps:
  1. in Content Manager select the filter Routes & Sessions
  2. select the route to be edited
  3. use the right-mouse-button to open the Command Menu
  4. select Open..., then
  5. select Edit Asset in Surveyor

Loading After an Unexpected Shutdown

If you select a route for loading after an unexpected shutdown of Trainz then any route (or route and session) that was open and running in Trainz Surveyor or Driver will be left marked as Open for Edit. When you attempt to load this route into Surveyor or Driver you will see a message listing the route and session (if any) that were affected.

Load after CTD
NotePad.PNG Note:

A similar message will appear when you load a Driver Game (see PageLink.PNG Saving and Loading Sessions in Driver below) after editing the original route or session that was used to create the Driver Session.

It is possible that the changes you have made may affect the operation of the Driver Session.

The message is saying that the assets in the list may have been changed since the last time you loaded them and exited Trainz normally. For example if you had been editing the route and/or session and had experienced a crash to the desktop or had used Windows Task Manager to terminate the program.

The options you will see are:-

 Use changes    Use the edited/changed versions that are in the open database assets - there is a possibility that they may have been damaged during the shutdown and may be corrupted
 Revert changes    Ignore the edited/changed versions and load the previous versions instead
 Cancel    Cancel the Load and return to the Surveyor/Driver menu screen

You could also use the Content Manager program (select  Manage Content  from the Trainz Launcher) to Submit the open route or route and session assets. This has the risk of replacing the last good copy of that asset or assets with a possibly faulty copy.

Editing a Route

DotPoint.JPG When a Route is loaded or a new Route is created all the assets you add will be automatically placed into a Route Layer

When you create a new route (with or without a named session), or load an existing route without a session, and start adding scenery assets they will automatically be placed into a Route Layer. See WikiLink.PNG How to Use Layers for more details.

Any ground textures, water, effect layers (turfFX and clutter) you add, or terrain changes (including new baseboards) you make, will be added to the Route Data.

Stop.PNG

WARNING: Do not edit track in a Route that is occupied by consists in any of the Sessions based on the Route

Moving or deleting a section of track in a Route that is occupied by a consist in a Session can cause the consist to become a "missing asset". This can happen if you load the Route only and not the Session. If a consist becomes a "missing asset" then the only immediate solution is to use the Delete missing assets command from the Tools menu in Surveyor.

Prevention:

if you have the consists placed in a Session then always load the Session, not just the Route, and move or delete any consists BEFORE editing the track they are occupying.



You can edit the Route Characteristics at any time by selecting the Edit Route command from the Edit menu or simply pressing  Ctrl   E .

This will bring up the Edit Route dialogue window (shown below).
Route edit
NotePad.PNG Route Characteristics:-

  • Name and Description
  • assigned Geographic Region, which sets a number of different features
  • Thumbnail image
  • Working Scale and Working Units
  • Draw Distance
Edit Route dialogue window
DotPoint1.JPG You can edit the Name of the Route. This will change the route username in the config.txt file but it will not alter the route <kuid> value
DotPoint2.JPG You can select a new Region. Depending on the region selected this could affect other features such as the moving road traffic, season of the year (through the latitude tag) and altitude
DotPoint3.JPG You can edit the Route Description
DotPoint4.JPG You can change the Route Thumbnail. Clicking the  Set Thumbnail  button will take a snapshot using the current camera view which will be used as the new thumbnail
DotPoint5.JPG You can change the Route Working Scale which will only affect the measurement shown in the Surveyor Ruler tool
DotPoint6.JPG You can change the Route Working Units to  Metric  or  Imperial  which will change the display of measurements using the Surveyor Ruler (to metres or yards) and how train speeds are calculated and displayed in Driver (in km/h or mph)
DotPoint7.JPG You can set or disable the Draw Distance Cap which will affect how far away from the camera that scenery objects will be drawn. This will affect the game performance and the fps (frames per second)
DotPoint8.JPG Clicking the Tick icon will save the entered values and exit back to Surveyor. Clicking the Cross icon will cancel any entered values and exit back to Surveyor

You can edit the Environment Controls of a Route by selecting the Edit Environment command from the Edit Menu.
This will bring up the Edit Environment dialogue window, more commonly called the Environment Tools.

For more details on editing the Environment see the Trainz Wiki Page at WikiLink.PNG The Environment Tools
Environment edit
NotePad.PNG Environment Controls:-

  • lighting conditions
  • weather and cloud cover
  • water color and water surface (rough, calm, etc)
  • wind speed (for SpeedTree assets only)
  • fog and snow
  • season (by the date and latitude)
  • world origin (latitude, longitude, altitude)
  • road traffic (on or off only)
NotePad.PNG Notes:

It is possible (and sometimes even expected) that a Route and its Sessions will have different environmental settings - for example the Route may have been created for the summer season but one Session may be set in winter and will require an overcast sky, snow, fog and generally lower light levels. See the Trainz Wiki Page at WikiLink.PNG The Environment Tools for more details.


Merging Routes

DotPoint.JPG Two (or more) separate routes can be joined together (merged) to create a new route

There are some important restrictions on the merging of two routes:-

  • Payware (DLC) routes cannot be merged with Freeware (DLS) or other Payware routes
  • The Session Data and Session Layers in the first route can be saved in the merger, if required, but those in the other route are not
  • There may be a significant height difference between the two routes and this may not be easy to overcome
  • The orientation of the two routes (East-West or North-South) cannot be changed


LinkWiki.PNG

A detailed description of the process of Merging Routes can be found on the Trainz Wiki Page How to Merge Routes


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What is a Session?

DotPoint.JPG A Session is always a part of an existing Route - you cannot have a Session that does not belong to a Route
DotPoint.JPG If you create a Route without a Session then ALL the active industries and rolling stock, time, environmental conditions, etc, will revert to their original (default) values. There will be no AI drivers and drivers will have a very limited set of available commands for manual driving

In general, while a route provides the physical structures (or "hardware"), a session provides the services (or "software"). While you can easily have a route without a session, it could be a very limited (or even a boring) experience.

A single route can have multiple sessions, or none, but a session must always belong to a route. To put it into Trainz terminology, a session has a route as a dependency.

A session consists of two parts:-

  1. Session Data and
  2. Session Layers.


DotPoint.JPG When you save a Session, all the items in the Session Data and Session Layers will be saved


 Session Data: 

Session Data are often the "invisibles" that control the operation of a session. Session rules, driver orders and loco assignments, commodities (loaded, unloaded and carried) and most of the Environmental Settings are examples of Session Data.

Session Data

Session Data contains:-

  • Drivers (names, AI commands and assigned locos)
  • Driver Commands - those available for AI and manual driving
  • Session Rules
  • Industry Settings (commodities consumed and produced)
  • Consist Settings (commodities carried)
  • Consist Locations - this is stored in the session even if the consists are placed in the route
  • Switch Settings (left/right) - but the default switch direction is stored in the route
  • Environmental Settings - Water Surface (rough/calm/etc), Snow Altitude, Lighting (sun, ambient and water colours), Sky (clouds), Road Traffic (on/off), Date (day, month), Wind strength, Fog level, Weather (rain/fine/snow), Brightness level. You must edit and save the session for these settings to become part of the Session Data - see WikiLink.PNG How to Use Environment Tools for more details. If both a route and a session have saved Environmental Settings, which do not have to be the same, then those in the session will be used. If the session does not have any saved Environmental Settings then those in the route will be used


 Session Layers: 

DotPoint.JPG Session Layers are used to hold the scenery assets that you want to only appear in that particular Session and not in all Sessions
DotPoint.JPG Session Layers can be left empty and the Route Layers can contain all the scenery assets

Session layers

Session Layers give you a way of organising or grouping the assets displayed in your session.

Session Layers can contain:-

  • Scenery
  • Rolling Stock (including locos) -  Note:  It is strongly recommended that all rolling stock be placed into a Session Layer
  • Trackmarks, Triggers, Direction and Priority Markers
NotePad.PNG Notes:

While it is possible to add track and track objects (bridges, tunnels, turntables, signals, switches, etc) to Session Layers it is not recommended. These fixed assets should be placed into Route Layers.


LinkWiki.PNG

A detailed description of Layers can be found on the Trainz Wiki Page How to Use Layers


NotePad.PNG Notes:

Scenery, Rolling Stock, Triggers and Markers (Track, Direction, Priority) can be used in both Route Layers and Session Layers. Assets placed in a Route Layer will appear in all sessions that are based on the route. The vast majority of (if not all) scenery items will be placed in Route Layers. Assets placed in a Session Layer will only appear in the currently loaded session.

Examples of assets that would be placed in a Session Layer instead of a Route Layer would include:-

  • products waiting at a factory for pickup in an industrial session that would not be present in a weekend or holiday passenger session
  • signallers holding lanterns in a night session only or standing alongside manual track switch levers in a daylight shunting session
  • trackmarks and triggers that are only required in one session but not in all sessions
  • crowds of onlookers alongside the track in a session recreating an historic steam train run, together with
  • historic rolling stock in a special vintage train session running on a modern route


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Loading (and Creating) a Session

Creating a New Session

DotPoint.JPG To create a new Session you must first create a new Route or identify an existing Route

A new session can be created in two ways:-

 Method DotPoint1.JPG Automatically When a New Route is Created 
Route Details Follow the steps shown in the section PageLink.PNG Creating a New Route above by entering:-
  • a Route name for the new route
  • a Session name for the new session
  • a Geographical region
  • Working scale and Working units
 Method DotPoint2.JPG Adding a Session to an Existing Route 


NotePad.PNG Notes:

A route can have many individual sessions so a new session can be added to an existing route that already has sessions installed.

The first step is to locate (but not load) the route as described in the section PageLink.PNG Loading an Existing Route above.

Once you have selected the route from its thumbnail, click the  VIEW SESSIONS  button.

View Sessions

Then click the  CREATE SESSION  button. If no other session exists for this route then this will be the only choice available to you.

Create Session

 

Both methods will load the route into Surveyor and create a new session with all its values/parameters set at default levels.

Loading an Existing Session

There are two different ways to load existing sessions into Surveyor.

 Method DotPoint1.JPG Search For the Session 
The easiest way to load an existing session is to use the search tools at the top of the Driver/Surveyor screen.

Session Search

Type:  ROUTES  is the default selection. Change this to  SESSIONS .
Source:  PURCHASED  is the default selection, Click and change to  MY CONTENT  for a session you have created (or already modified) or to  INSTALLED  for one you have downloaded from the DLS.
Gameplay:  ALL  is the default selection. There is no need to change this
Search: If required you can narrow down the list of sessions by typing the first few letters of its name.

This will produce a list of session thumbnails at the bottom of the screen. As with the route thumbnails, the list can be scrolled horizontally.

Existing Sessions

The same colour coding system used in the route thumbnails also applies to session thumbnails.

  Payware on DLC Must be purchased and downloaded, but some may be free. There will be a  DOWNLOAD  button on the bottom right of the screen. If a price is included in the button then that is the purchase price (in $US)
  Payware installed Already installed from the DLC. DLC items cannot be deleted. To remove them use the Uninstall option in the Content Store from the Launcher. You can reinstall them later without any additional cost
  Installed Downloaded from the Download Station (DLS) or created by you. This includes any cloned DLC Routes and Sessions (see PageLink.PNG Cloning a Route/Session below)
 
 
Multiplayer For simultaneous development by multiple players. Special conditions apply


Click on the thumbnail for the session you want to load and then click on the  EDIT SESSION  button. This will load BOTH the route and the session into Surveyor.

Edit Session

NotePad.PNG

If the  EDIT SESSION  option is not present then the selected session is a saved Driver Game (a "game" saved when in Driver) and cannot be edited. See the section PageLink.PNG Saving and Loading Sessions in Driver below.


 Method DotPoint2.JPG Select the Route First 
Select the route as described in the section PageLink.PNG Loading an Existing Route above. Then click the  VIEW SESSIONS  button.

View Sessions

This will display a list of thumbnails for all the sessions in that route. Select the session thumbnail you need and then click the  EDIT SESSION  button.

Edit Session

Again, both the selected route and its session will be loaded into Surveyor.

NotePad.PNG

If the  EDIT SESSION  option is not present then the selected session is a saved Driver Game (a "game" saved when in Driver) and cannot be edited. See the section PageLink.PNG Saving and Loading Sessions in Driver below.

 

Loading a Session Into Surveyor From Content Manager

Trainz provides a shortcut that allows you to load an existing session directly into Surveyor for editing from Content Manager.

Load a session from CM

Steps.PNG Steps:
  1. in Content Manager select the filter Routes & Sessions
  2. select the session to be loaded and edited in Surveyor
  3. use the right-mouse-button to open the Command Menu
  4. select Open..., then
  5. select Edit Asset in Surveyor

Both the route and the session will be loaded into Surveyor for editing.

Loading a Session into Driver From Surveyor

To start Driver simply select a session as described above in Loading an Existing Session and click the  DRIVE SESSION  button.

Driver Game

This will load both the session and the route into Driver.

You can save your "game play" in Driver at anytime. See PageLink.PNG Saving and Loading Sessions in Driver below.

Loading a Session into Driver From Content Manager

Trainz provides a shortcut that allows you to load an existing session directly into Driver from Content Manager.

Load a session from CM

Steps.PNG Steps:
  1. in Content Manager select the filter Routes & Sessions
  2. select the session to drive
  3. use the right-mouse-button to open the Command Menu
  4. select Open..., then
  5. select Open Asset in Driver

The session and its parent route will be loaded into Driver and the simulation will be started.

Editing a Session

DotPoint.JPG When a Session is loaded into Surveyor or a new Session is created for an existing Route, all the assets you add will be automatically placed into a Session Layer

When you create a new session, or load an existing session, and start adding scenery assets in Surveyor they will automatically be placed into a Session Layer. See the Trainz Wiki Page WikiLink.PNG How to Use Layers for more details.

Any changes made to the Session Rules (including drivers and their commands), the Environment Tools, Industry or Rolling Stock settings, will be added to the Session Data.

There are also other changes that will be added to the Session Data.


You can edit the Session Characteristics at any time by selecting the Edit Session command from the Edit Menu or by simply pressing  Ctrl   R .
This will bring up the Edit Session dialogue window which is more commonly called the Session Editor (shown below).

For more details on editing a Session see the Trainz Wiki Page at WikiLink.PNG The Session Editor.
Session edit
NotePad.PNG Session Characteristics:-

  • Name and Description
  • Session Rules which control/set:-
    • drivers and their consists
    • driver commands
    • time of day/night
    • events
    • and much, much more
Edit Session dialogue window
DotPoint1.JPG You can edit the Name of the Session. This will change the session username in the config.txt file but it will not alter the session <kuid> value
DotPoint2.JPG You can edit the Session Description
DotPoint3.JPG You can add, delete and edit the Session Rules

You can edit the Environment Controls of a Session by selecting the Edit Environment command from the Edit Menu.
This will bring up the Edit Environment dialogue window, more commonly called the Environment Tools.

For more details on editing the Environment see the Trainz Wiki Page at WikiLink.PNG The Environment Tools
Environment edit
NotePad.PNG Environment Controls:-

  • lighting conditions
  • weather and cloud cover
  • water color and water surface (rough, calm, etc)
  • wind speed (for SpeedTree assets only)
  • fog and snow
  • season (by the date and latitude)
  • road traffic (on or off only)
NotePad.PNG Notes:

It is possible (and sometimes even expected) that a Route and its Sessions will have different environmental settings - for example the Route may have been created for the summer season but one Session may be set in winter and will require an overcast sky, snow, fog and generally lower light levels. See the Trainz Wiki Page at WikiLink.PNG The Environment Tools for more details.


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Saving a Route and a Session

Routes and Sessions are saved from the System Menu on the Surveyor screen.

Save
DotPoint.JPG Selecting  Save  or pressing  Ctrl   S  will save the route, or the route and the session, with the previously entered name(s) when they were loaded or created. You will be asked to confirm both the names (and can change them if you wish) and the Save command.

DotPoint.JPG Selecting  Save As...  will save the route, or the route and the session, with the previously entered name(s) when they were loaded or created. You will be asked to confirm both the names (and can change them if you wish) and the Save As command.


NotePad.PNG Notes on Saving Routes and Sessions:

DotPoint.JPG DLS routes and sessions can be modified and saved as new routes and sessions.

Modifying and creating:-

  • if you have modified a DLS route then you can delete the original route if you no longer need it and your modified version will not be affected
  • if you have modified a DLS session then you can delete the original session if you no longer need it and your modified version will not be affected. However, if you delete the original DLS route then your modified session  will not work 
  • you can create a new session for a DLS route but it  will not work  if the original DLS route is deleted

Saving:-

  • when saved, modified DLS routes and sessions will become Your Content and can be found using the  MY CONTENT  search option in Surveyor/Driver
  • the original DLS routes and sessions will not be altered or replaced by your modified versions

Uploading:-

  • you can only upload your modified DLS route and session to the DLS if you have the permission of the original creator
DotPoint.JPG DLC routes and sessions can also be modified and saved as new routes and sessions if the creators of the original DLC content have allowed it - see PageLink.PNG Cloning a Route/Session below for more details

Modifying and creating:-

  • some DLC routes and sessions are encrypted and cannot be modified - that is a decision made by the content creator
  • your modified DLC route or session will become an alias of the original and will need the original route and session to be present on your system to work
  • if you delete or disable the original DLC route or session then your modified versions  will not work 
  • you can create a new session for a DLC route but it  will not work  if the original DLC route is deleted or disabled

Saving:-

  • when saved, a modified DLC route or session will become Your Content and can be found using the  MY CONTENT  search option in Surveyor/Driver
  • the original DLC route and session will not be altered or replaced by your modified versions

Uploading:-

  • you can upload your modified DLC route or session to the DLS but it can only be used by those who also have the same original (unmodified) DLC version installed


Saving a New Route and Session

If you have created a new route and select Save or Save As..., then you will be presented with the following Save Route Dialogue Windows.

First Save First Save As
In both cases the name of the route that was entered when it was created will be shown and you can change the name, even in the Save option. However, there is no option in either case to change the name of the created session because the other options have been greyed out and cannot be selected.


Saving an Existing Route

DotPoint.JPG If you have loaded the route only and not the session and HAVE NOT edited any Session Data or Session Layers, then selecting Save will produce the following Save Route Dialogue Window.
Save Route with no Session

Gears.PNG Settings:

 Option  DotPoint1.JPG Overwrite route only. This is the default selection so there is nothing to change.

White Select Dot.png Overwrite existing route and:
White Select Dot.png Do not save session
  • the route will be saved (overwritten using its current name) but no session will be saved.

 Option  DotPoint2.JPG Overwrite route and create a new session. Tick the box Grey Select Dot.png Create new session.

White Select Dot.png Overwrite existing route and:
White Select Dot.png Create new session:
  • enter a name for the session (the suggested name Default is NOT recommended).
  • the route will be saved (overwritten using its current name).
  • a new session will be created using the name you enter and it will be added to the route.
  • because you did not originally load a session, the new session will be saved with default values for all settings.

 Option  DotPoint3.JPG Create new route and a default Session. Tick the box Grey Select Dot.png Save new route and session.

White Select Dot.png Save new route and session:
  • enter a new name for the route. The route will be saved with its new name.
  • the original route will not be changed.
  • a new session will be created using the name Default and it will be added to the new route.
  • because you did not originally load a session, the new session will be saved with the default values for all settings.
After you have made your selections, click Tick.PNG to Accept or Cross.PNG to Cancel


DotPoint.JPG If you have loaded the route only and not the session and HAVE edited Session Data or Session Layers, then selecting Save will produce the following Save Route Dialogue Window.
Save Route with Session

Gears.PNG Settings:

 Option  DotPoint1.JPG Overwrite route and create a new session. This is the default selection so there is nothing to change.

White Select Dot.png Overwrite existing route and:
White Select Dot.png Create new session:
  • enter a name for the session (the suggested name Default is NOT recommended).
  • the route will be saved (overwritten using its current name).
  • a new session will be created using the name you enter and it will be added to the route. The new session will have the settings and changes you have made.

 Option  DotPoint2.JPG Overwrite route only. Tick the box Grey Select Dot.png Do not save session.

White Select Dot.png Overwrite existing route and:
White Select Dot.png Do not save session
  • the route will be saved (overwritten using its current name) but no session will be saved.
  • if you have edited the session and later exit the program without saving those edits (you will be prompted to save the session) then any changes you have made to the session will be lost.

 Option  DotPoint3.JPG Create new route and a default Session. Tick the box Grey Select Dot.png Save new route and session.

White Select Dot.png Save new route and session:
  • enter a new name for the route. The route will be saved with its new name.
  • the original route will not be changed.
  • a new session will be created using the name Default and it will be added to the new route. The new session will have the settings and changes you have made.
After you have made your selections, click Tick.PNG to Accept or Cross.PNG to Cancel


NotePad.PNG Notes:

DotPoint.JPG If you have edited any session Data or Layers but have selected the option Do not save session then later, before you exit the program, you will be prompted to save the edited session by the appearance of the Save Session dialogue box (see below).
DotPoint.JPG If you decide to create a new session and leave its name as Default then a new Default Session will be created to add to any others also named Default that may already be present in a route and this will cause confusion. This is why it is not a good idea to use Default as a session name.


Saving an Existing Route and Session

DotPoint.JPG If you have loaded a route and a session and have edited the route or the route and the session then selecting Save will produce the following Save Route Dialogue Window.
Save Route and Session

Gears.PNG Settings:

 Option  DotPoint1.JPG Overwrite route and session. This is the default selection so there is nothing to change.

White Select Dot.png Overwrite existing route and:
White Select Dot.png Overwrite existing session:
  • both the route and the session will be saved (overwritten using their current names).

 Option  DotPoint2.JPG Overwrite existing route and create a new session. Tick the box Grey Select Dot.png Create new session.

White Select Dot.png Overwrite existing route and:
White Select Dot.png Create new session:
  • enter a new name for the session.
  • the route will be saved (overwritten using its current name).
  • a new session will be created using the name you enter and it will be added to the existing route.
  • the original session will not be changed.

 Option  DotPoint3.JPG Overwrite route only. Tick the box Grey Select Dot.png Do not save session.

White Select Dot.png Overwrite existing route and:
White Select Dot.png Do not save session
  • the route will be saved (overwritten using its current name) but no session will be saved.
  • if you have edited the session and later exit the program without saving those edits (you will be prompted to save the session) then any changes you have made to the session will be lost.

 Option  DotPoint4.JPG Create a new route and a new session. Tick the box Grey Select Dot.png Save new route and session.

White Select Dot.png Save new route and session:
  • enter a new name for the route.
  • the route will be saved with its new name.
  • a new session will be created using the same name as the original session and it will be added to the new route.
  • the original session and route will not be changed.
After you have made your selections, click Tick.PNG to Accept or Cross.PNG to Cancel


NotePad.PNG Notes:

DotPoint.JPG If you have edited any session Data or Layers but have selected the option Do not save session then later, before you exit the program, you will be prompted to save the edited session by the appearance of the Save Session dialogue box (see below).
DotPoint.JPG If you decide to create a new session and leave its name as Default then a new Default Session will be created to add to any others also named Default that may already be present in a route and this will cause confusion. This is why it is not a good idea to use Default as a session name.


DotPoint.JPG If you have loaded a route and a session and have edited the session (Data or Layers) only and not the route, or have already saved the route but not the session, then selecting Save will produce the following Save Session Dialogue Window.
Save Session

Gears.PNG Settings:

 Option  DotPoint1.JPG Overwrite the session only. This is the default selection so there is nothing to change.

White Select Dot.png Overwrite existing session
  • the session will be saved (overwritten using its current name).
  • the original route will not be changed.

 Option  DotPoint2.JPG Create a new session. Tick the box Grey Select Dot.png Create new session.

White Select Dot.png Create new session:
  • you can enter a new name for the session or use the suggested name which will include the date, time and session runtime.
  • a new session will be created using the name you enter and it will be added to the existing route.
  • the original route and session will not be changed.
After you have made your selections, click Tick.PNG to Accept or Cross.PNG to Cancel


Saving a Route and Session Using the UDS

The UDS (Unified Driver Surveyor) Interface allows you to quickly switch from Driver to Surveyor and back to Driver again without having to restart the session from the beginning. You can edit a route and session while in Surveyor and then switch back to Driver to continue the session where you left it.

Stop.PNG WARNING:

This powerful ability does come with a warning. If you save the edited session before switching back into Driver then all the moving consists will be saved in their new positions. Other changes, such as the status of Session Rules, will also be saved in their new states. See the Trainz Wiki Page WikiLink.PNG How to Use the UDS Interface for more details.


Most of the problems users seem to be experiencing with the UDS, judging from the posts in the Trainz Forums, is when saving their edited session before switching back into Driver mode.

DotPoint.JPG Using Driver Mode involves driving consists (either manually or through the AI) and activating rules. These will change the Session Data
DotPoint.JPG Overwriting the Session will save changes to the consist locations and the Session Rules


NotePad.PNG Note:

An important change that has been introduced by the UDS is that train vehicle placement is now saved as part of the session, even if those vehicles have been placed in Route Layers.

PencilTips.PNG For this reason, it is strongly recommended that all consists be placed into a Session Layer and become part of a session instead of the route


When you are in Driver Mode at least one of the consists will probably be moving. Some of the Session Rules may have already been completed while others may still be running or waiting for events (e.g. triggers to be activated). If, after switching to Surveyor Mode, you then choose to save using the Overwrite existing session option then you will be replacing your original starting session with a new one with the consists saved in their new positions and the Session Rules saved in their new states. So when you later load and restart the session things will not be the same as they were in the original or starting session.

 Unless you have a particular reason for overwriting the original Session  then the recommended save options are:-

Line740.png
 Option  DotPoint1.JPG Do not save session
  UDS-DoNotSaveSession.png

Tick the box White Select Dot.png Do not save session. This will only save the route using its existing name. This will save any edits that you have made to the route but not to the session.

Line740.png
 Option  DotPoint2.JPG Create new session
  UDS-CreateNewSession.png

Tick the box White Select Dot.png Create new session. This will save the route using its existing name. It will also save the session using a new name you enter in the text box below the option (Stage 3 in the example shown). The original session will not be altered. This is useful when you want to test out changes to consists, industry settings, Rules, driver commands, etc but do not want to destroy the original session.

Line740.png

If you have have NOT edited anything while in Surveyor and select  Save  then you will be shown the Save Driver Session dialogue window to save the session in its current state as a Driver Game (also called a Game or Driver Game). This is exactly the same as pressing  Ctrl   S  while in Driver.
alte=Save Driver Session
The Driver Game will appear in the Select Session menu for the route. Loading it will resume Driver at the point where it was saved.

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Exiting Surveyor

If you exit Surveyor after editing without saving then you will be prompted to Save.

Unsaved  Route  Unsaved  Session 
Exit Route Save Exit Session Save
DotPoint.JPG Selecting  Don't Save  will exit Surveyor without saving. Any changes you have made will be lost.
DotPoint.JPG Selecting  Save  will exit Surveyor after saving. You will be prompted to select what to save as described in the section PageLink.PNG Saving a Route and a Session above
DotPoint.JPG Selecting  Cancel  will cancel the save command and return you to Surveyor.


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Cloning a Route/Session

DotPoint.JPG A Clone is an exact or duplicate copy of an asset
DotPoint.JPG Most routes and sessions can be cloned. Some Payware routes and sessions cannot be cloned
DotPoint.JPG Cloned routes and sessions can be edited and saved as Your Content


Cloning a Route or a Session allows you to work on a duplicate copy of the original. All changes that you make will be saved in the cloned copy leaving the original copy unchanged.

Stop.PNG Cloned assets are subject to copyright laws and they remain the property of the original creator


DotPoint.JPG Freeware routes, that have been downloaded and installed from the DLS, can be cloned and saved as new routes.
  • They are saved with a new <kuid> that will include your personal identity code, so they will become Your Content and can be found using the  MY CONTENT  search option
  • The original route from the DLS will not be altered or replaced by your new version. You can delete the original DLS route if you wish and your cloned version will be unaffected
DotPoint.JPG Payware Routes, that have been downloaded and installed from the DLC, can also be cloned as new routes if the creators of the routes allow it.
  • Some Payware routes are encrypted and cannot be cloned.
  • When an approved DLC route is saved it will be given a new <kuid> that will include your personal identity code, so it will become Your Content and can be found using the  MY CONTENT  search option
  • The original Payware route will not be altered or replaced by your new version
  • If you delete or disable the original DLC route then your cloned route  will NOT work 
  • You are allowed to upload your edited clone of a Payware route to the DLS but it can only be used by other users who also have the same original (unedited) DLC Payware installed.
DotPoint.JPG Sessions that have been downloaded and installed from the DLS (freeware) or DLC (payware) follow the same rules as described for DLS and DLC routes above.
  • Some Payware sessions are encrypted and cannot be cloned.
  • When an approved DLC session is saved it will be given a new <kuid> that will include your personal identity code, so it will become Your Content and can be found using the  MY CONTENT  search option
  • The original Payware session will not be altered or replaced by your new version
  • If you delete or disable the original DLC session or the original DLC route then your cloned session  will NOT work 
  • You are allowed to upload your edited clone of a Payware session to the DLS but it can only be used by other users who also have the same original (unedited) DLC Payware installed.


Using Surveyor

Routes and Sessions that have been loaded into Surveyor can be cloned using the  Save As...  command from the Surveyor  System Menu 

RouteSaveAsMenu.png CloneSaveAs.png

Enter a new name or edit the original name (as shown above) for your cloned route or session.

NotePad.PNG Notes:

DotPoint.JPG If the first option (White Select Dot.png Save new route and session) is selected then the Route will be cloned using your new or edited name. The Session will be also cloned using its original name but it will use the newly cloned Route as a dependency instead of the original Route.
  • If the original route is Freeware (e.g. from the DLS) and you do not want to keep it then it can be safely deleted, which will also delete the original session but the new cloned route and session will remain active on your system.
  • If the original route is Payware (e.g. from the DLC) then deleting or disabling it will disable your cloned route and session. When Payware is cloned it must remain active on your system for the clone to work.
DotPoint.JPG If the second option (White Select Dot.png Save new session) is selected then only the Session will be cloned using your new or edited name (make sure that you change the "Default" to something else) but it will still use the original (uncloned) Route as a dependency - so it is vital that you DO NOT DELETE the original route.
  • If the original session is Freeware then it can be safely deleted if you no longer need it.
  • If the original session is Payware then deleting or disabling it will also disable your cloned session.

Using Content Manager

 1. Select the Route or Session to Clone 

Cloning a route

Steps.PNG Steps:
  1. In Content Manager select the filter Routes & Sessions
  2. select the route or session to be cloned
  3. either
    • from the Content Menu select Clone OR
    • press  Ctrl   D 


A Task Window will open to display the result.
Clone task completed

In the image above the original Route has been cloned and given a new <kuid> value.

The newly cloned Route will be shown in Content Manager as a New Asset that is Open for Editing.


Steps.PNG Steps:
  1. close the Task Window
  2. select the Open for Editing filter.

New Asset

 2. Rename the Clone (an Optional Step) 
You can give the cloned Route or Session a new name and a new description. Note that these changes will not appear until after the New Asset has been submitted.


Steps.PNG Steps:
  1. right mouse click the New Asset.
  2. select Open...
  3. select Edit Config File Text.

The config.txt file will open in your default text editor. You can then edit both the Title (username) and the Description of the Route or Session.

  1. locate the line that starts with username.
  2. edit the text on that line between the Quote (") marks (but do not delete the quote marks) to change it to the new name of this Route/Session.
  3. locate the line that starts with description.
  4. edit the text on that line between the Quote (") marks (but do not delete the quote marks) to edit the description of this Route/Session.
  5. save (usually  Ctrl   S )
  6. exit the text editor.


 3. Submit the Clone (a Necessary Step) 

DotPoint.JPG When submitted a cloned DLC Route or Session will be described as Payware, Modified

Steps.PNG Steps:
  1. right mouse click the New Asset.
  2. select Submit Edits

The New Asset entry will vanish from the Open for Editing display. Open the Content Manager filter Today to check that it has been correctly submitted. If you have renamed the clone than it should appear using its new name.



NotePad.PNG Notes:

You can rename a cloned Route or a cloned Session in Surveyor but the clone would still have to be submitted in Content Manager first using its original name and then loaded into Surveyor. You would then have two Routes or Sessions with the same name to select from - one would be the original and the other the clone, and telling them apart may not be simple. You can use the Driver/Surveyor main screen  MY CONTENT  source filter to locate and load the correct cloned Route or Session because the clone will have your <kuid> code and not its original code.

Route edit

Load the cloned Route or Session into Surveyor, then

  • to rename a route open the Edit menu and select Edit Route, or press  Ctrl   E  - see PageLink.PNG Editing a Route above
  • to rename a session open the Edit menu and select Edit Session, or press  Ctrl   R  - see PageLink.PNG Editing a Session above

Both will also allow you to edit the Name and Description of the cloned Route/Session.


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Saving and Loading Driver Games in Driver

Saving Driver Games

DotPoint.JPG Driver Games (sometimes called "Saved Games" or "Driver Sessions") are "Game States" saved while in Driver Mode

Driver Games save the "state of play" in Driver - the position of consists, the commodities and levels in rolling stock and industries, the state of the Driver Command queues, Session Rules, clock time, etc. Once saved, the Driver Game can be loaded back into Driver to continue the play at the point where it was saved.

When you are in Driver select  Save  from the System Menu or press  Ctrl   S .

This will display the Save Driver Session dialogue window showing the name of the current session with a date and time stamp (shown left below). If you click the Tick then this will be the name used for the saved game. Alternatively, you could enter your own unique name (shown right below).

The space below the entered name will display any other saved driver games for that session.

Save Menu
Save Driver Game Save Driver Game

Loading Driver Games

Saved driver games will be shown with their sessions for a selected route. The section PageLink.PNG Loading an Existing Session shows two different methods of displaying saved sessions and their driver games.
Method DotPoint1.JPG will display ALL the saved sessions and driver games which may be a very long list.
Method DotPoint2.JPG will display ALL the saved sessions and driver games for a selected route, which should be a much shorter list.

Using Method 2: select the route first and then click the  VIEW SESSIONS  button. This will display a list of thumbnails for all the sessions and driver games in that route.

Load Driver Game

NotePad.PNG Notes:

DotPoint.JPG Where a route has multiple sessions and driver games they will all be shown by their thumbnails with no way of telling which driver games belong to which session.
DotPoint.JPG It can also be difficult to tell which thumbnail is a session and which is a Driver Game, especially if you have removed the date/time stamp Trainz automatically adds to the name of a Driver Game. A simple way to tell is to click on a thumbnail to see if the  EDIT SESSION  button is still visible. If it is not, because driver games cannot be edited, then the thumbnail is for a Driver Game.

Where there is only one session in a route, the session will be the first thumbnail shown in the list followed by the driver games. Note that the session is selected by default.

Select (hightlight) the Driver Game you want to load and click the  DRIVE SESSION  button.

Driver Game

This will load the Driver Game, the session and the route into Driver.

Stop.PNG If you load a Driver Game after you have edited the original route or session that was used to create it, then you will receive a message warning you that changes have been made to the original assets. The changes could affect the operation of the Driver Game.
 
Warning assets have changed You will have the options of:-

 Cancel  - the Driver Game will NOT be loaded, or
 Ok  - load the Driver Game wirh the changes

If the changes to the route or session have been:-

  • minor and non-operational, such as scenery assets (trees, buildings, etc) then the Driver Game can be safely loaded.
  • more significant operational changes, such as triggers, trackmarks, active industries, consists, tracks, etc, then it may not be wise to load and run the Driver Game.


Only you can be the judge.


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Deleting Routes and Sessions

DotPoint.JPG Deleting a Session will delete that Session and its Driver Games (if any), not the Route it was created from or any other Sessions
DotPoint.JPG Deleting a Driver Game will only delete that Driver Game, not the Route or Session it was created from or any other Driver Games


All the Surveyor and Driver screens for loading routes and sessions have a  DELETE ...  button as an option.

  WARNING:
Stop.PNG If you delete a Route you will also delete all the Sessions and Driver Games created using that Route
Stop.PNG If you delete a Session you will also delete all the Driver Games created using that Session


If you need a more selective way of deleting routes, sessions and driver games, then use Content Manager from the Trainz Launch Screen. Select the Filter Routes & Sessions.

CM list of routes and sessions

The Type column will identify each entry as a route, session or Misc. Misc in this case means a saved Driver Game.

You can delete routes and/or sessions individually but if you delete a route by itself then its dependant sessions and driver games will be shown as faulty with Missing dependencies. Likewise, if you delete a session by itself then its dependant driver games will be shown as faulty with Missing dependencies.

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Trainz Wiki

TrainzWiki.png

Route and Session Building Guides

 

More Tutorials and Guides to Using Trainz


This page was created by Trainz user pware in September 2021 and was last updated as shown below.


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