Bve FAQ

[Wulf_9]

Ok,

Those who have info to share, post here your questions/answers and hints for new users to get going driving and/or routebuilding. Please do not use this topic as a discussion area, ideally it will swell to become a useful resource, that means facts, not speculation :D

The Offical Bve website is http://mackoy.cool.ne.jp click on 'Get' and follow the links to download the program and any of Mr. Mackoy's trains/routes you like the look of.
For more routes and trains try putting 'bve trains' or 'bve routes' in google, you will get plenty of hits!

Ciao

Saxon Locomotive Works - "The difficult we do immediately; the impossible takes a little longer"

http://www.zodiac-infosystems.co.uk/rail/bve

[Uwe Post]

A (nearly) complete and searchable list of BVE routes can be found here:

http://bve-routes.com

The free graphical BVE route building program RouteBuilder for BVE can be found here:

http://routebuilder.bve-routes.com

Primary German language resource for BVE is:

http://bve-train.de

[jsdickinson]

For routebuilding by hand all you need is a copy of notepad, trackviewer and patience ;). Trackviewer can be got from the Official BVE Website under the edit section.

A good tutorial for hand building of routes can be found here: http://members.aol.com/bvehelper/

If you PM/E-Mail Tim of NVTA (www.nvta.co.uk) he will send you a copy of most of the .csv commands for building routes. The document needs Microsoft Word to run.

If you need some help in building don't hesitate to PM me or email me.

Researching a route that you want to build is also key, look for track diagrams, take photos, maybe even purchase a Driver's Eye Video! They all help and save lots of time.

Also please read the BVE Developer Guidelines.... http://www.railsimroutes.co.uk/devel...nes/index.html

====================
James Dickinson
www.brj.rr.nu - BVE from around the UK.

[womer_uk]

I'll post my original BVE article here for any newbies

***How To Get, Run & Use BVE***
(Version 2.22, June 2003, written by John Womersley)

BVE, (Boso View Express) is a Japanese freeware train simulator, originally designed to run on Japanese Windows. Now it will also run on Western Windows with no problems.

There are many routes and trains for the sim, for example...

From Great Britain...........................

Most of the London Underground lines and some main line routes in great detail

From the US.......................

Some New York Subway lines, plus some main line ones too

There's also lines and trains from Canada, Australia, Hong Kong and Germany, plus of course a great many from Japan

One of the big advantages of BVE is that you don't need a top spec PC to run it, In Fact these are the minimum specs

OPERATING SYSTEM..... Windows 95 / 98 / ME / 2000 / XP
PROCESSOR....... Pentium II 233MHz
DISPLAY..... 640 x 480 High Color 32bit
GRAPHICS CARD.....16MB 3D with DirectX 8
Also unlike MSTS, all the routes and trains are FREEWARE, and are quite small to download, (Usually around 2 to 8 MB for a complete route and train), so it's OK if you are still on 56K dial up
For independent reviews of BVE in English, visit the following webpages
Japanese Railway Society..... http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~mt5h-nit...dhm/cbrdhm.htm
Trainsim UK .........................http://www.trainsim.org.uk/bve.htm
Crotrainz................................http://www.crotrainz.com/BVE_main.html

Now, How to get it,

1) Go to ..... http;//makoy.cool.jp/ this is the only web site that holds BVE, don't bother downloading any Japanese script, you won't need it. The top of the web page should say BVE OFFICIAL WEBSITE.

2) Click on "GET"

3) On the GET BVE page click on, "DOWNLOAD"

4) On the DOWNLOAD page, click on the SECOND BOX and download,BVE (ENGLISH) {bve2_5_3en.exe 3.04Mb, 27 Mar 2003}

5) On the same page, click on the BOTTOM BOX and download, "UCHIBO 8.EXE" (5.12MB, 8 Apr 01).




THAT'S THE LOT, YOU'VE GOT IT !!!, NOW TO INSTALL IT.



***HOW TO INSTALL BVE***

There should be two items....

1)...................BVE2_5_3EN.EXE [the main program]

2)...................uchibo8 [A Japanese route]


You need these two items to run the simulation, ..... Now,

1) Create an "BVE TEMP" folder on your HDD.

2) Double click "bve2_5_3en.exe", this is a self extracting zip file, click on it and you'll get a dialog box up, then unzip the files to your, "BVE TEMP" folder you created.

3)Now go to your BVE TEMP folder and click on the SET UP icon,

4)Accept the default option, "C:\program files\BVE\", and click on the desktop computer icon

Thats it, the main BVE program is now installed !!!!!!

We are almost finished, we have just got to put a route and a train file in.
Double click on UCHIBO8, a dialog box will come up, extract the files to your BVE TEMP folder, and click "OK".

Now find the files and look for the three microwave oven icons, there should be, COMMON.EXE, ENGLISH.EXE and JAPANESE.EXE. Double click on Common.exe and it will extract to the default BVE folder. It will then ask to overwrite a few files, say YES TO ALL.

Now finally run English.exe, again click OK to extract to the default file, Now delete the three temp files and you're done !!!.

*********EXTRA NOTE FOR WINDOWS XP USERS********

Right Click on the BVE.EXE icon in C:\Program Files\BVE and choose "Properties" from the drop down menu. From the new window, now choose, "COMPATIBILITY"
1) Click the top box so that there is a tick in, "Run this program in compatibility mode for Windows 98/ME"
2) Click the bottom box so that there is a tick in the, "Disable visual themes" box

3) Click Apply





THAT'S IT, YOU'VE DONE !!!








A few tips............

1) Run BVE in it's default mode, I find that it runs far better.

2) When you have finished playing BVE, ALWAYS RESTART YOUR PC. It can sometimes make your PC act a bit odd.

3) If the sim is a bit jerky this is sometimes caused by bad writing of a route or it's too much work for your graphics card, It usually helps to alter the drawing distance by pressing the oblong button at the bottom left of the sim, press graphics and move the, "graphics resolution" bar to the left,

TROUBLESHOOTING
Taken from the BVE HELPER WEBSITE..(Hope you don't mind Brett)
http;//members.aol.com/bvehelper

Unable to use Direct3D
You need to Update your DirectX Drivers, BVE2 requires at least DirectX 8
Unable to change to HAL
BVE was unable to access the Direct3D hardware. You may be able to fix this problem by Updating your Graphics Card Drivers from the Manufacturer.
Also: Your card may not have any Hardware 3D acceleration
BVE should still run in software mode, just a lot slower
ERROR 5: Invalid Call or Argument
This error is caused by missing files. On most occasions you can just continue without any problems and you may not even notice that the object(s) are missing.
Some Route Authors assume you have other Routes installed from which they have used objects. You can open a Route file to deduce from which Route the objects are from.
Also: If you are writing a route, this error can be caused by an mistake in your Statement, either bad syntax or a missing value.
ERROR 380: Invalid Property Value
The most likely cause is that you don't have the Japanese Fonts
To fix this you need the English String Table
Copy the new STRING.INI into your BVE folder, and Overwrite the existing copy
ERROR 445: Object does not support this Action
The culprit for this error seems to be 16 Million Colour bitmaps.
Some Graphics Cards only support 256 Colour bitmaps for texturing.
The most common file to cause this problem is BLACK.BMP
Changing this bitmap from 24-bit to 8-bit colour is first step in tackling this error.
This can be done with Windows PAINT, or to get a 8-bit copy of BLACK.BMP
Go to the BVE HELPER WEBSITE for this
Before you try other "messy" solutions,
you might want to Disable Direct3D to have a look at the Route

From the Start Bar Menu, choose RUN... and type in DXDIAG
The DirectX Diagnostic Tool window will appear,
Go to the Display Tab and click Disable Direct3D

If you're determined to Drive the Route in Direct 3D then...
Other 16 Million Colour bitmaps may cause the same problem. You will need to fix these by Opening the images with PAINT and then using SAVE AS, change to image to 256 Colours and overwrite the existing file.
An image viewer, such as ACDSee is a handy tool for locating these bitmaps.
Another cause can be bitmaps larger than 256 x 256 pixels, once again some Graphics Cards do not support larger images for Textures. Using PAINT, open the image and from the IMAGE menu select ATTRIBUTES.
From here you can change the size (in pixels) of the image, then Save.
Still no luck ! Another step to try is changing the dimensions to multiples of 16
Eg: If an image is 244 x 98, change it to 256 x 96


USING BVE

Now you are now ready to run BVE, The route you have downloaded must ALWAYS be left installed, as many other routes use the objects as default ones

Now we will look at the file structure of BVE,

Go to C:\program files\BVE, you should find this.......

BVE............This is the main folder, there are also some other common objects in here (Signals etc), but also you will find two other folders, these are,

RAILWAY... See below

and

TRAIN....All loco’s and multiple units are stored in this folder, (You'll find "113_4", which is a 3 lever Japanese Railways class 113 EMU, and "E217", a 2 lever Japanese Railways class 217 EMU), ANY extra trains you download ALWAYS go in this folder.

Now we will open the train folder and see what's inside...

WAV files... These are for such things as doors opening and closing, brake and run sounds.
BMP files... These are ordinary bitmap files and contain things like the the main panel,speedometer etc. If you double click on the, PANEL.BMP file you will be able to see the panel in full detail, (note, most train panels are now photo realistic,so they will be an improvement on this)
DAT files... There will be only one file, this controls the parameters of the train and should be left unaltered
TXT files... Usually only one, (train.TXT),this contains details of the train shown in the Train Information screen on start up, If you open the one in the 113_4 folder you will see a lot of garbage symbols, to correct this delete the garbage and paste and save the following script below

JR 113 EMU
Built 1963

Q = Emergency Brake

Power = 4 Levels
A = Increase
Z = Decrease

Brake = 8 Levels
< = Decrease
> = Increase

Now do the same with the E217 Train.TXT file and paste this in ...

JR E217 EMU
Built 1994

ATS & ATC CONTROL

Q = Emergency Brake

Z = Increase Power
(5 Levels)

A = Increase Brake
(8 Levels)

BK Space = Speed Hold

RAILWAY.......This folder has three Sub folders, which are...

OBJECT.. This stores the objects for each individual route, as well as some default ones for common routes (a mixture of .wav .bmp .cfg .b3d .csv and .dat), Most new routes will simply contain everything in one folder, and will use very little of the default ones

ROUTE......Stores all the route files for each route (*BVE v1 are .rw BVE v2 are .csv)

*NOTE.. BVE 1 was the original version of the sim, this was replaced by BVE 2 in about 2001, BVE 2 offers far more scope for detail, and is now the standard format, though most BVE 1 routes will run with no problems anyway

SOUND.....Stores all the sounds for each route (station announcements etc), and some default ones too. (all .wav)

CONTROLS

The best way is to use your keyboard, the other options are not worth using or won't work

Key commands,
TWO LEVER TRAIN
Z Increase Power
A Decrease Power
< Increase Brake
> Release Brake
? Activate Emergency Brake
ONE LEVER TRAIN
Z More Power / Less Brake
A Less Power / More Brake
Q Activate Emergency Brake
COMMON TRAIN CONTROLS
UP Arrow Forward
DOWN Arrow Reverse
(N Neutral)
SPACE BAR ATS Accept
INSERT Continuation Chime Reset
DELETE Emergency Brake Reset
END Open Emergency Brake
PAGE UP Change to ATS Control
PAGE DOWN Change to ATC Control
BACKSPACE Speed Hold
SHIFT + F2 Safety System Power On
CTRL + F2 Safety System Reset
F3 "Passenger Meter" On/Off
SHIFT + F3 Time & Door (Press Again) Frame Rate Display
F4 Open/Close Time-table
SHIFT + F4 Scroll Time-table UP
CTRL + F4 Scroll Time-table DOWN


To find out how to use BVE, you must visit the BVE HELPER website at.....http://members.aol.com/bvehelper/
(NOTE, DO NOT use the, "GET BVE" option on this page, as it is for an ancient version of the sim)
ADD ONS,
Fortunately BVE has quite a few addons, details below.......
BVE TRACK VIEWER....... Operates in the same style as MSTS Route Viewer, to get it....
.
1) Go to ..... http;//makoy.cool.jp/ (don't bother downloading any Japanese script).

2) Click on, the CRANE ICON,

3) A page of garbage symbols will come up, Don't worry about this, simply click on the THIRD FROM BOTTOM LINK ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE, Your taskbar should say...
http://mackoy.cool.ne.jp/make/tools.html

4) You should get a page up saying, "Track Viewer", now click on ver.1.2.5, 712KB, 05-Apr-2003, at the top of the page and download.

when installed these are instructions for use....

This tool provides you with a view of a route from all angles and heights, and is useful for spotting any coding errors. The controls are

LEFT Mouse Button: Height Up and Down
RIGHT Mouse Button:Left and Right movement
PageUp: 25m Forward
PageDown:25m Back
Up Arrow:1m Forward
Down Arrow:1m Back
Ctrl + Up Arrow: 10 CM Forward
Ctrl + Down Arrow: 10 CM Back
Right arrow: Enlargement X1 to X16
Left arrow: Reduction X16 to X1
F5: Reloads the file

Remember, if you do make changes to the route file you must press “F5” which will re render the route with the changes you have made.


BVE SIGNAL INSTALLER....... This will provide you with the correct countries signals for each different country, although the program is German, full instructions are in English when downloaded... To get this
1)... Go to......... http://www.bve-train.de/
2)... Click on ......"Download Sonstiges" (at top, in centre)
3)... Go to bottom of page and click on, "Der Signalinstaller" (It's a .ZIP file) and download and install

BVE ROUTE RANDOMISER , BVE ROUTE,SIGNAL AND TRAIN SELECTOR (v 9)

This program...
Provides an easy way to choose a different train than the default one for the route you are driving.
Allows you also to access the route developer mode of BVE easily for each route.
Can change the signal behaviour for most routes to make driving more interesting.
Changes the default Japanese signals for the correct countries ones
To get it go to..... http://koti.mbnet.fi/lopomo/trainsoft/BRR.html
and Download
BRR9.ZIP (200Kb)

ROUTES & TRAINS,
RAIL SIM ROUTES UK.......... http://www.railsimroutes.co.uk/ Lots of UK routes and trains, good links section
TRAIN SIM CENTRAL............ http://www.trainsimcentral.co.uk/ Lots of London Underground routes and trains, good Links section
(My advice on downloading Japanese routes is to leave alone for now, as some of them are tricky to get running, although there are quite simple ways of overcoming this which I will explain in another article)

HELP & ADVICE,
If you do get stuck, visit the BVE FORUM, everyone is friendly and helpful on there if you do run into problems, and news of new routes etc are always posted on here. Furthermore the message board has NO ads, popups or spyware, (which is more than can be said for many other boards !)
Go to........ [Link Expired]

Any other questions ?

Then just post away on this message board

John

[Wulf_9]

Nice one John, thanks for that ;)

To add one more hint for maximum enjoyment - turn your speakers up :D

Ciao

Saxon Locomotive Works - "The difficult we do immediately; the impossible takes a little longer"

http://www.zodiac-infosystems.co.uk/rail/bve

[Eternal Traveller]

>*********EXTRA NOTE FOR WINDOWS XP USERS********
>
>Right Click on the BVE.EXE icon in C:\Program Files\BVE and
>choose "Properties" from the drop down menu. From the new
>window, now choose, "COMPATIBILITY"
>1) Click the top box so that there is a tick in, "Run this
>program in compatibility mode for Windows 98/ME"
>2) Click the bottom box so that there is a tick in the,
>"Disable visual themes" box
>
>3) Click Apply

Personally I would suggest running in Compatibility Mode for Windows 2000, as I find this improves performance greatly, due to the greater sharing of kernel code with Win2k and XP as opposed to 98/Me.

Following on from Wulf's comment - plug your soundcard into a decent hi-fi setup... you may as well be in the real cab on something like X-City South...

[Stooopid_person]

>>*********EXTRA NOTE FOR WINDOWS XP USERS********
>>
>>Right Click on the BVE.EXE icon in C:\Program Files\BVE and
>>choose "Properties" from the drop down menu. From the new
>>window, now choose, "COMPATIBILITY"
>>1) Click the top box so that there is a tick in, "Run this
>>program in compatibility mode for Windows 98/ME"
>>2) Click the bottom box so that there is a tick in the,
>>"Disable visual themes" box
>>
>>3) Click Apply


This is only required with BVE 2.3 and below. BVE 2.5, you don't have compatibilty problems.

[Downunder Tom]

For hand coding I have a intrersting Method.

If you have a version of windows with edit.com, I use it as it has line numbers that match the errors you might get while coding.

Test by clicking on start and run and typeing edit and hit the ok button

Once i get the code to the point that it can be viewd, I have track viewer and the editor loaded at the same time loading the route and using the reload button to view the changes as I code,

I extra good point is that it forces you so save to be able to see what you have done, and this must be a good thing. It also helps when your trying to place free objects, making small adjustments and seeing the changes.

I have also had at times structure viewer and Windows explorer to look for objects at the same time, but some times this is a little much for my old computer.


Hope this is usefull

Tom

[Wulf_9]

I have actually managed to run 2.3 without compat mode but it varies across differing hardware/software setups it seems... some cope and some don't... 'try it and see' is the thing to do :+

Saxon Locomotive Works - "The difficult we do immediately; the impossible takes a little longer"

http://www.zodiac-infosystems.co.uk/rail/bve

[jsdickinson]

BVE Train Sounds
================

Adjust.wav = Triggered if you over-run or under-run a stop point.

Air.wav = Triggered upon releasing of the brake.

AirHigh.wav = Triggered when brake pressure reaches its highest value.

AirZero.wav = Triggered when brake pressure reaches its lowest value.

Ats.wav = Triggered when ATS not cancelled.

AtsCnt.wav = ATS continuation chime.

Brake.wav = Triggered upon application of the brake.

CpStart.wav = Triggered when the master reservoir reaches its lowest value (compressor runs).

CpLoop.wav = Played while the master reservoir is below its highest value (compressor running).

CpEnd.wav = Triggered when the master reservoir reaches its highest value (compressor stops).

Ding.wav = Triggered when the train passes over a transponder Tr 1-4 with ATS-P active
or speed limit when ATC is active.

DoorCls.wav = Triggered when the doors are closed either side.

DoorClsL.wav = Triggered when the doors are closed on the left hand side.

DoorClsR.wav = Triggered when the doors are closed on the right hand side.

DoorOpn.wav = Triggered when the doors are opened either side.

DoorOpnL.wav = Triggered when the doors are opened on the left hand side.

DoorOpnR.wav = Triggered when the doors are opened on the right hand side.

Eb.wav = Driver vigilance device (deadman's handle), triggered at 1 min. intervals if no control input,
Delete key cancels alarm, if 5 seconds elapse, brakes are applied and train stops.

EmrBrake.wav = Triggered upon application of the emergency brake.

Flange(x).wav = Triggered usually when negotiating curves and on poor running rails (the .accuracy command in csv routes).

Halt.wav = Triggered by a command in the route file I think (I've never used it).

Klaxon.wav = As Klaxon0.

Klaxon0.wav = Triggered by Enter/Return key (key assign #1).

Klaxon1.wav = Triggered by Shift + Enter/Return (key assign #1).

Klaxon2.wav = Triggered by Ctrl + Enter/Return (looping sound), can be used for bells or alarms.

Leave.wav = Triggered when you are clear to leave the station.

Loop.wav = Triggered when a route is started and loops until you exit or change routes.

Motor(x).wav = Triggered according to throttle and current speed depending on how the train.dat file is set up.

Passage.wav = Not known by myself as yet.

Point.wav = Triggered when passing a switch or crossing.

Rub.wav = Triggered as the train slows down under braking (brake shoe squeal).

Run(x).wav = Dependant on the section of track the train is travelling on (see below).

SpringL.wav = Triggered when at a station and when negotiating left hand curves.

SpringR.wav = Triggered when at a station and when negotiating right hand curves.

ToAtc.wav = Triggered when switching train control to ATC (when fitted).

ToAts.wav = Triggered when switching train control from ATC (when fitted).


BVETSS 1.0 Sound definitions
============================

Run No.
Train WAV Filename
Description

0
Run0.wav
Jointed rails, wooden sleepers

1
Run1.wav
Jointed rails, concrete sleepers/Jointed track at higher speed with wind noise

2
Run2.wav
Continuous welded rail

3
Run3.wav
Continuous welded rail - Tunnel and under/over bridge

4
Run4.wav
Jointed rails, wooden sleepers - Tunnel and under/over bridge

5
Run5.wav
Passing train sound, continuous welded rail

6
Run6.wav
Continuous welded rail on steel bridge

7
Run7.wav
Passing train sound, jointed rails

(Sorry to copy and paste this info from that thread Wulf but someone in another thread said it would be useful for it to be in the FAQ.)

====================
James Dickinson
www.brj.rr.nu - BVE from around the UK.