TrainPlayer Screen Saver
Windows Version 2.6
Readme,
8 Aug 07
Welcome
Congratulations on your purchase of the TrainPlayer Screen Saver! You have acquired an intricate work of technology designed for little more practical use than to amuse you in idle moments. We hope you enjoy it.
This is no ordinary passive screen saver -- you can actually drive instead of just watching. Instructions are in this document.
Version 2.6 is the first version of the screen saver. If you encounter bugs or problems, please send e-mail and let us know about them, so we can let you know when an upgrade is available.
Requirements
The TrainPlayer Screen Saver is for Windows only. It doesn't require any special hardware.
Windows 98 / Millenium users: we are still working out some graphics problems on these systems. Please write so we can alert you about fixes.
Windows Vista users: the installer copies files into protected locations, so requires administrative privileges. We are working on a more Vista-friendly procedure. If you encounter installation problems, please let us know.
Installation
How you install the screen saver depends on what package you purchased.
If you purchased just the Screen Saver: the package comes with a custom installer, which requires a license key. You should have received your license key by e-mail, and by now you have probably already entered it.
If you purchased TrainPlayer Deluxe or TrackLayer Deluxe: the screen saver is automatically installed along with the product, and uses the same license key, which is requested the first time you run either program. You must activate the screen saver on your desktop, as described below. During this process you may be prompted for license, unless you already entered it on starting the program.
The installer puts the file TrainPlayer.scr into your Windows system directory (c:\windows\system32). Any file with that extension in that location shows up on your list of available screen savers.
To activate the Screen Saver:
Right-click on your desktop and choose Properties.
Click to open the Screen Saver tab, shown here:
From the Screen saver drop-down, choose TrainPlayer. After a short delay, you will see a layout in the preview window. You may be required to enter your screen saver license key at this point.
Set the wait time and password option as desired.
If you like, click Settings to customize the operation, as described below. This is optional -- you can come back and change settings any time.
If you want to see the screen saver in action without waiting, click Preview.
By default, the TrainPlayer Screen Saver does not terminate on moving the mouse, as most do. You must click a mouse button or press ESC.
To uninstall: delete the file TrainPlayer.scr from your Windows system directory, and delete the TrainPlayer folder from C:\Program Files. In Display Properties, choose a different screen saver.
Operation
To configure the screen saver, click the Settings button in Display Properties, or press P while the screen saver is running. The settings dialog appears:
Options are:
Starting layout: select a layout to be the starting point of each saver session. This layout will always come up first, and the selected train on this layout is the one which will travel during the session. (If you have TrainPlayer, you can modify the selected train or build one of your own.)
The default choice is the Turtle Creek Central. To choose a different starting layout, click the Browse (...) button. Try this button! The new layout browser gives little previews, so you can easily see the available layouts.
Automatic zoom changes: set the frequency of changes in the zoom and position. Fastest is to change scenes about every 5 seconds, slowest every 60 seconds. If box is unchecked, no changes will happen automatically -- press N to change to another random scene, or +/- to zoom in and out manually.
Automatic layout changes: choose whether the train will automatically jump to other layouts. If unchecked, train will not jump unless you press L. If checked, choose Periodically if you want the train to jump every so often (adjust frequency with slider), and/or choose At Track Ends to have the train jump when it hits a stub.
Background color: the background color appears in scenes where the layout does not fill the screen. Choose a color for the background, or Random to have it vary between random pastel shades.
Enable keyboard commands: check this box if you want to be able to operate the screen saver using keyboard commands. Commands are listed below. If this box is not checked, then moving the mouse or pressing any key will terminate the screen saver and restore your normal screen. If the box is checked so keyboard commands are enabled, return to normal screen by pressing ESC, or clicking a mouse button.
Sounds: uncheck this box for a silent screen saver. If checked, you hear switch throws, horns, etc.
Random switch: check this box to have a random switch thrown to a random position every so often.
Click OK to save changes, or Cancel to exit without saving.
Keyboard Commands
When keyboard commands are enabled, these keys are available:
F faster increase train speed by 5MPH S slower decrease train speed by 5MPH R reverse change direction of train movement space throw upcoming switch throw the next switch train will encounter L change layout at next junction, jump to a different layout X exclude layout exclude the current layout from any future display N change scene change to a random different zoom and position T toot horn sound the train's horn for a few seconds + or - zoom in or out change the zoom level P properties bring up settings dialog H help display these commands on the status bar
Layout List
The TrainPlayer Screen Saver comes with these ten fine layouts from 101 Track Plans for Model Railroaders (Linn Westcott, copyright 1956, Kalmbach Publishing Co.).
0 Turtle Creek Central
5 X 8
17 Gorre & Daphetid
4 X 7
29 Nantahala & Smoky Mountain Gorge RR
4 X 8
43 Deadwood, Big Horn & Pacific RR
6 X 8
48 Virginia & Truckee RR
12 X 9
53 New York, Ontario & Western RR
9 X 12
60 Platonical River Southern RR
5 X 11
62 Adirondack RR
12 X 12
89 Bednigo & Pine River RR
14 X 20
95 Hungry Horse Timber Co.
14 X 38
The screen saver installer adds these to your layouts collection (if you have one). If you are a Deluxe user and already have these layouts, the new versions will overwrite the previous ones; if you have made modifications in any of these layouts, your changes will be lost on installing the screen saver.
To obtain more layouts: help yourself to any of the plans on the User Layouts or Baustert Gallery or Kalmbach Layouts pages.
To prune the layout list: By default, the screen saver chooses randomly from the entire collection in your TrainPlayer Layouts folder. If you prefer not to see some of them, or to include others located elsewhere, you can arrange this as follows.
First, enable keyboard commands in the properties dialog, as described above. Then, when the screen saver is running, and a layout comes up which you don't care to see again, press X. An alert will ask if you wish to exclude this layout from the screen saver collection. Click Yes and the layout will be removed from the list of candidates, so you will not see it again in the screen saver. (The layout itself is not deleted.)
To include other folders or exclude many at once, you can edit the file ssconfig.txt found in your Layouts folder. Each line of this file has a pathname or wild-card file descriptor, preceded by a keyword INCL or EXCL. Lines beginning with INCL will add the indicated file(s) to the list; those with EXCL will eliminate files. Pathnames may be either full or relative to the Layouts folder.
Sample ssconfig.txt file:
INCL *.rrw include all rrw files in Layouts directory
EXCL mylayout12.rrw exclude a specific one from the list
INCL c:\mylayouts\*.rrw add all layouts from another directory
EXCL c:\mylayouts\layout16.rrw exclude one of those added by the above line
Notes & Troubleshooting
The moving train generally bounces when it encounters another train. In some cases, trains may end up overlapping and moving in the same space. If this bothers you, press L to move to another layout.
Jumping to another layout occurs (a) when the train hits a stub, (b) after a period of a few scenes, or (c) when you press L. In the last case, the jump does not occur until the train comes to a switch or junction point between two tracks.
If the screen saver does not start or gets an error, check the Task Manager to see if another instance is running in the background. The entry to look for is like this one:
If you see an entry like this, click End Process to terminate it.
Contact
Send comments, bug reports, suggestions, complaints to info@trainplayer.com.
