External Resources

This page includes materials related to advtrains.

Please note: We are not responsible for the content of linked pages!

A lot of internal mechanics of advtrains, in particular the signalling system, are made based on systems used on railway lines in Germany.

Many websites listed here are about German signalling systems in general. However, only a small, modified subset of these systems are implemented in advtrains for simplicity.

• Wikipedia page on German signals - Gives a bit of context on the features added.
• Section of a website focused on German railway signals - Teaches a lot about German signals
• Another website on German signal systems
• signal book - Shows different types of signals used in Germany, including many that are not implemented in advtrains

Please note that, due to historical reasons, the signal aspect names may differ between the former Deutsche Reichsbahn and the Deutsche Bundesbahn, and, in a few cases, the same name may refer to different signal aspects.

• simsig - A Set of interlocking simulations, to “Get the hang of it”
• OpenTTD - A game with a signalling system. However, please note that setting up routes in advtrains is more complicated than in OpenTTD due to the nature of advtrains.

Advtrains uses LZB as its safety system. However, it is very different to the system used on German rail lines, mainly because many considerations in real life, such as signal transmission and central control, become less important in Minetest.

Players interested in German train safety systems can also read about PZB, an older train safety system that is not implemented in advtrains because of the existence of automated trains.

• LuaATC documentation
• Documentation on regular ATC
• Documentation on privileges

Advtrains is written in Lua and also allows creating automated setups using LuaATC.

• Programming in Lua ("PIL") - An introduction to Lua. The online version of PIL targets Lua 5.0 but is mostly relevant for Lua 5.1 used by Minetest and Advtrains.
• Lua 5.1 Reference Manual
• LuaJIT extensions - These extensions are provided by LuaJIT, another relatively common Lua 5.1 implementation. Please note that some of the extensions are limited by Minetest's sandbox, and the use of implementation-specific behavior in general is discouraged.
• Minetest API documentation - This may be useful if you write mods related to Advtrains.
• LuaATC documentation

Reverse dependencies for advtrains can be found on ContentDB.

The list below is sorted alphabetically.

• LinuxForks
• Pandorabox
• Tunneler's Abyss

The first post on Advtrains on the Minetest forum also includes an incomplete list of servers using Advtrains.

Youtube videos are an invaluable resource for finding out about real-world railways. Using videos, railways can be made more realistic.

Videos:

• Freight Train (1954) - A vintage film explaining the logistics of the American freight train system at the time.
• Freight and a City (1966) - A railway video detailing Sheffield's transformation from a slow and broken freight system developed organically into a modernised industrial town.
• Operation London Bridge (1975) - A video which goes into detail about a complicated interchange in London being modernised.
• Beginner's guide to German trains (2014) - A video by a British immigrant to Germany explaining the various layers of service on the German railway network.

Channels:

• RM Transit - Canadian YouTuber who goes into detail about various transit systems across the world and gives general opinions on what is good and what can improve.

The real world can be used as reference for various junctions and topographies of transport.

• ÖPNVKarte - An OSM map layer which shows public transport (mainlines in yellow, metro in blue, trams in green, buses in red)
• Transport Map - An OSM layer which shows railways as its most prominent feature.
• Raildar Junction Map - A map showing railways and junctions of the UK with a schematic and (hopefully) live train locations
• RealTimeTrains - A timetable of trains in the UK, which can be used for inspiration on timetabling services and junctions
• OpenRailwayMap - A map of railway lines with various information concerning speeds, signalling systems, and electrification.