HVR2 Patch 7 Beta

Please read all of the following. It may be a good idea to print this page for future reference.

Important Patch 7 has been tested extensively in house and we now offer it for user download. We would advise that in the unlikely event of a problem that you should back up your saved layouts. It is always good practice to carry out backups so please follow the procedure described below.

How do I backup my layouts?

1. Find any shortcut that you use to start HVR2. The shortcut maybe located on your Windows Desktop, or in the Start Menu.
2. Right click the shortcut and then left click “Properties” in the menu that appears.
3. In the Window that appears, left click the button named “Find Target”
4. A new window will open showing the content of the folder where HVR2 is installed.
   You may now close all other open windows at this point if you wish.
5. Within the HVR2 folder you will see a folder called “Saves.”
   This is the folder you need to make a back-up copy of.
6. Right click the folder and left click “Copy” in the menu that appears.
   Minimise the HVR2 folder to the task bar.
7. Right click on the Windows Desktop then left click “Paste” in the menu that appears.

A copy of the “Saves” folder will now appear on the Windows Desktop.

You may now rename this folder to e.g. “Saves-pre-P7” if you wish. You could also burn a copy the folder to a CD for good measure.

Downloading and Installing Patch 7 Beta.

DOWNLOAD PATCH 7 BETA (4.5 MB)

We advise that you click the “Save” button in the Window that appears. In the next window you will be asked where you want to save the downloaded file. Browse to a suitable folder and save on you hard disk or save it to your Windows Desktop.

When Patch 7 Beta has downloaded, either close the download dialogue box or click “Open folder”. Either way, locate the Patch 7 Beta download file and double left click. Follow the on screen instructions.

This completes the patch procedure.

If you have any problems loading Patch 7 or any other issue regarding Patch 7, please contact Hornby via email: HVR Support.

What's new in Patch 7 Beta?

Under the surface there have been changes to the graphics engine that displays HVR2 on your screen. These changes will improve frame rate and user interface response on some slower less powerful PCs. Also, "fixes" for issues that affected some users have been introduced including the following:

Fixes

• Crashing during Alt-Tab/Task Manager switching.
• Move/Select Track section “flying off” into space.
• Palette colours in “Paint landscape” now show correctly.
• Scroll arrows fixed and consistent on all menus.
• All types of keyboards should now work.
• Train sounds now play when needed (instead of all train sounds at once!)
• Points and crossovers correctly implemented on elevated track.

HVR2 configuration tool changes

• Dynamic Steam: You can now choose to run HVR2 with no steam, full steam or dynamic steam. Generating the steam cloud in HVR2 can slow your graphics system and cause poor frame rates. You can now select from 3 options for the way steam is implemented in HVR2. You may turn steam off altogether, select “Full Steam,” this is the way HVR2 worked previously or if you require, you can now select “Dynamic Steam.” With “Dynamic Steam” selected the faster a loco goes the more steam is produced.
• Additional Monitor Resolution Support: We have added further selectable monitor resolutions including Widescreen monitor support.
• Advanced graphics settings: These improve performance on lower specification PCs and graphics systems. We recommend that you email us for further information/advice before implementing any of these settings: HVR Support
• Sound: You may now disable sound.
• Controllers: You can choose to have large controllers on screen. This is useful if you have a large monitor with a high resolution.
• HVR2 running in a window: The window is now re-sizeable at any resolution.
• Save Path: It is now possible to specify the location of your “Saves Folder”. This feature was requested by those of you with “networked” computers. If you wish to use this feature please follow the instructions below:

Changing the Save Path

Carry out this procedure BEFORE saving any new layouts See notes below:

1. Create a folder where you wish to keep your saved layouts. This maybe in your “My Documents” folder.
2. Using the “Save Path” feature in the HVR2 Configuration tool browse to the new folder and click “OK”

Notes
If you change the location of the “Saves” folder and you want to access the layouts you saved before you made the location change, you will need to move/copy them to the new “Saves” folder.

If you have just installed HVR2 and have not created/saved any layouts, you may want to copy the sample layouts from the old “Saves” folder to the new “Saves” folder.

Enhancements

• 10 undo steps for track laying.
• Increased maximum number of Track Segments to 2048
• Tunnels may now be placed closer together.
• Intro movie plays in full screen.
• Dynamic Steam (see above.)
• Virgin Trains Driving Brake Van when selected and placed on track a controller will now appear in the “Track Control” screen. If you wish you may now control this item as you would any other loco. Note: The Brake van only appears in the “Rolling Stock” menu. it is not really classed as a loco.

Anomalies

• Platform Editing: Platform sections disappearing when using rotated short radius platform sections. This anomaly only affects one hand versions of rotation.
• Virgin Train Brake Van/HST Implementation may have sound anomalies.