SimSig:Railway Operations Centre

SimSig Sessions
On Our Lines plays SimSig
Railway Operating Centre (ROC)
URL	http://roc.onourlines.co.uk
Version	1.3.1 Alpha
Developer	Ela and Arturs
Bug tracker	https://github.com/ElaTheDeveloper/ROC/issues
Upcoming Sessions
3 - Saturday 23 November 2024 East Coast Mainline 4 - Saturday 28 December 2024 Christmas Session - North Wales and Borders 5 - Saturday 1 February 2025 TBC 6 - Saturday 8 March 2025 TBC

During our SimSig Sessions voice communication will be provided by the Railway Operating Centre, or R.O.C. (pronounced: ɑːr əʊ siː). The ROC allows easy communication between Signallers and Controllers, breaking down each signalling area into their own channel. The ROC also allows private calls to be made between two users as required.

The ROC is a web app that will switch users between different Discord channels depending on a number of factors. To use the ROC, and therefore to be able to fully communicate with all participants during a Session, a user must join the On Our Lines Discord server, and request the SimSig role. Once this is done, users can login to the ROC with their Discord ID, unlocking its functionality. A Windows build is availible to download here.

Please note that ROC is still in it's ALPHA stages, and is slightly unstable and has some bugs. ROC is an open source project released under the GPL-V3 licence. It's repository (and where you can contribute) are avalible here on its GitHub

ROC can be used outside of a SimSig session, however panel names cannot be adjusted and no support is given to users outside of the official sessions.

Basic Usage

To enter into the ROC's system, you first must join the @on-our-simsig-lobby voice channel on the Discord before heading over to the ROC in your browser.

Copy your Discord Username (click on your name next to the settings cog in the bottom left of Discord) and paste it into the box. Click the Join Game button. It must include the discriminator (the # followed by 4 numbers).

You can set the panel you are working in the top right. Type in your panel name and click “Set Panel”

The main window of the ROC software (Alpha Version).

To join a sim, click on the "Join Sim" link for the sim you are working.

Calls

Normal Calls

Placing a Call

To place a call, click on the panel you wish to call. If the call is accepted, you will be moved to the private call channel. If not, you will hear a reject tone.

Receiving a call

If you receive a call, you will hear a phone ringtone and a call will be added to your call queue.

You can accept or reject the call from here. To accept the call, click the green button with the user's name. To reject, click the red X beside the user who you wish to reject.,

Leaving a call

To leave the private call, both participants must click the "Leave Call" button.

• Railway Operating Centre Call Windows
• 

  ROC's Incoming Calls list, shwoing an incoming call, the time the user called and the option to answeror reject the call. (Alpha 1.3.1)

• 

  The screen shown when calling another player. This screen will not be dismissed till the call is accepted or rejected. (Alpha.1.3.1)

• Private Call (Alpha 1.3.1)

  ROC Showing two users in a Private Call (Alpha 1.3.1)

Railway Emergency Call

Sometimes an emergency call needs to be made to an entire panel, or other group.

Placing a REC

To place an Emergency Group Call, press the "EMERGENCY CALL" button. A pop up will appear asking you to either cancel or select the panel you wish to call.

Recieving a REC

If you are a recipiant of a REC, you will hear a siren, and your ROC screen will be filled with a warning. You can connect there or will be automatically connected to the REC. Stay on the line until the nature of the emergency is known, and you and the person in charge have come to a full and clear understanding. Press the "Leave Call" button on the voice channel in use.

• The window shown to players who have clicked the "Emergency Call" button

  The window shown to players who have clicked the "Emergency Call" button

• The Dialog shown to players who are recipents of a REC. Once the countdown is expired, or if the player clicks "accept", they will be added to the call.

  The Dialog shown to players who are recipents of a REC. Once the countdown is expired, or if the player clicks "accept", they will be added to the call.

Electron App

The Electron app can be downloaded from GitHub. The source code is also availible there. The Electron app is merely just a Chrome window, minus all the decorations. It just loads up the ROC webpage but allows you to have it in your taskbar.

Please be aware this is currently untested. It may not function exactly like the Chrome browser and therefore may have issues. Preliminary tests indicate there is no issue. However, do not expect much support if bugs are encountered.

Currently only avalible on Windows, however if users wish to build for other platforms, please do. The source code is avalible here.

Compatibility

Here is a compatibility chart of web browsers that ROC works with. Please note that testing takes place on the latest browser verison only.

Railway Operating Centre Compatability Chart

	Desktop Browsers				Mobile Browsers
	Google Chrome	Mozilla Firefox	Microsoft Edge (Chromium)	Microsoft Internet Explorer	Apple Safari	Chrome for Android	Safari for iOS	Chrome for iOS	Firefox for iOS
Compatible?	Full	Full	Full	None	Partial	Full	Partial	None	Partial
Notes				Underlying technologies unsupported by IE. Please use Edge or another browser.	Call audio (incoming and rejected) does not play (See note below). WebSockets can randomly disconnect. If the tab unloads, a full re-join is necessary.	If the tab unloads, a full re-join is necessary.	Call audio (incoming and rejected) does not play. WebSockets can randomly disconnect. If the tab unloads, a full re-join is necessary.	Unknown yet. Investigating.	Same issues as Safari for iOS. All iOS browsers suffer the same bugs as Safari on iOS as all iOS browsers must use the Safari rendering engine.

Sound on Safari

If you wish to have your phones ring on Safari on Desktop, please whitelist ROC in your browser settings to be allowed to autoplay audio and video.

• 

  In the Safari preferences, go to Websites and then AutoPlay. Whitelist ROC by visiting it before opening this panel.

Known Bugs

There are currently a number of known bugs present on the ROC; it is beta software and its development is ongoing.

• Sleep/Screen locks: Ensure you leave the tab/window/tablet open without screen lock/auto sleep enabled. It will kick you if your device locks and you will have to rejoin from the lobby. This is a websockets thing. Basically don't let it unload.
• It is possible to call one's self. Please just reject yourself if you call yourself. It won't cause any issues.

Please add bugs to the Issue Tracker.

Credits

Design: Ela and Arturs

Code: Ela

Libraries Utilised:

• socket.io
• nuxt-socket.io
• VueJS
• NuxtJS
• Discord.JS

Icons:

• Eva Icons

Support Development

If you enjoy playing SimSig with ROC, please consider dropping Ela a coffee and and supporting the On Our Lines Patreon. The Patreon helps pay for hosting and coffee keeps Ela's coffee mug full.