Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Alasdair AL-series manual

 This vehicle is built under "Real Scale" initiative. Learn more: https://sl-gemc.blogspot.com/2019/03/real-scale-initiative-by-gemc.html

Common features.
1. Fuel - this vehicle is equipped with GFS fuel system. It uses DIESEL FUEL. It has one fuel tank, accessible from the right side. Fuel capacity is 53 gallons(200 liter).

2. Electricity - this vehicle is equipped with two batteries and electricity consumption system. Battery compartment is located on the right side of the vehicle, next to the front wheel. The system supports all GEMC batteries types, so you can choose your favorites. OEM batteries for this vehicle provide 80Ah output each.(see Batteries and electrical devices policy update for details).

3. Gearbox - Alasdair AL-series busses are equipped with automatic gearbox. You can switch between positions with E/C or PgUp/PgDn buttons.
Gearbox positions:
Transmission lock - vehicle physics off;
R - Reverse;
N - Neutral;
D - Drive.
You can shift up from the D gear to engage or disengage speed limiter or cruise control.
You can also change gears by clicking their corresponding buttons manually(gears 1-3 are accessible only via clicking).

4. Starting sequence - this vehicle is equipped with realistic startup procedure. Click the ignition switch on the dashboard once to turn the ignition on, wait for the glow plugs signal lamp to turn off, and then click+hold the switch to crank up the engine. Depending on car's conditions, startup time may vary.
Additionally you can start the vehicle via UniHUD(see below). To do so, press the key button. Keep it pressed until the engine starts.
3rd method of starting the engine is to use gesture(gestures can be obtained from the UniHUD(question mark button - Gestures). In this case, the whole sequence is played automatically. 
4.1 Engine compartment start/stop controls - to start the engine from within the engine compartment, set the ignition switch on the dashboard to ON position, and then press and hold the green "Start" button inside the engine compartment. To stop the engine from the engine compartment, click the red emergency shut-off switch. In order to be able to start the engine again, click the emergency shut-off switch again to release it.

Dashboard overview.
Dashboard controls

5. Dashboard controls:
1 - interior lights master switch(ON by default);
2 - 1st deck lights;
3 - 2nd deck lights;
4 - interior fan(fan sound on/off);
5 - air conditioner(just for the looks, no effect on gameplay);
6 - heater(just for the looks, no effect on gameplay);
7 - driver's area illumination;
8 - route sign illumination;
9 - gear selector buttons. Gears 1-3 can be triggered only by clicking their corresponding buttons.
10 - reverse sound alarm on/off(ON by default);
11 - battery master switch(ON by default);
12 - wheelchair ramp(powered by electricity);
13 - ignition switch(see chapter 4);
14 - hazard lights;
15 - fog lights(must be enabled via customization menu);
16 - headlights;
17 - park lights;
18 - gauges illumination(ON by default, wired to the headlights);
19 - assault alarm switch;
20 - combined stalk switch. Click the spinning part to toggle wipers. Click the stalk itself to toggle turn signals(short click - right turn signal, long click - left turn signal).
 Additionally there's a pannel to the right from the driver. It contains parking brake lever, and doors control pannels. Door controls are self-explanatory. There are controls for individual door wings, or for the entire door. You can also operate them via UniHUD. If you want to operate them from the outside, simply click the respective emergency door control lid on the side of the bus.

6. Speed limiter and Cruise Control - this car is equipped with those two options. Both can be toggled by shifting up from D gear. By default it is speed limiter, and you can switch between the speed limiter and Cruise Control by using either menu(Vehicle - Limiter/Cruise), or a special button on the UniHUD. You can adjust desired speed using "Limit+" and "Limit-" buttons in the "Vehicle" sub-menu or on the HUD. If you have Cruise Control mode selected, you can adjust your speed via keyboard when the CC is on. Press W(Up) key to increase speed by 5 units, press C(PgDown) to decrease. Stopping the vehicle by using the brakes will disable the CC.
 
Other functions. 
7. HUD - This car is utilizing second generation of GEMC UniHUD, which means dynamic controls layout and simple operation.

8. Occupants and animations - depending on the model, this vehicle can provide room for up to 73 occupants, including driver.
Passengers can change their seats by using the bus menu, or their UniHUD(obtained from the vehicle). Passengers can also use "Stop" buttons mounted on handrails inside the bus, to alert the driver.
Driver can use "Eject" function on their UniHUD to eject unwanted occupants. 

9. GTFO! support - this vehicle supports GTFO! system(https://sl-gtfo.com) out of the box. Being a city bus, it doesn't come with built-in cargo visuals, but you can attach your prims to it and use them as a cargo. To do so, change the description of your cargo prims to "CARGO"(without quotation marks). This will make those prims elegible for participation in our cargo loading/unloading scripted sequence. Cargo prims will be loaded starting with the ones that are placed deeper inside the vehicle, and going towards the outside. Unloading is performed in reverse. 

10. Customizing - click the vehicle to get the menu, then click "Customize..." button, and you'll be presented with a number of customizing options. These include 11 pre-made colors, 11 pre-made liveries with and without ads, an option to add a custom livery, dynamic license plates with UK/HK type option and custom background image, and a number of other addons such as fog lights, ability to add custom route signs and so on. Additionally you can modify the vehicle using SL's building tool. Please make sure to turn the vehicle's "EDIT MODE" on before editing, to ensure the stability.

AL5 Livery template(click).
AL5 Spec map template(click).
Front route sign w:h ratio: 32:10.
Rear route sign w:h ratio: 16:9.


GEMC, 2020.