64-Bit drivers for RD?

[RoadMaster259]

After years of putting up with MSTS stuttering its way through a route I decided to really beef up my computer and give MSTS all the headroom it wants. So, I'm running an AMD Athlon 64x2 processor @3.00 Ghz; 8 Gb of DDR2/667Mhz RAM, and Windows XP Pro x64 so it will recognize all the RAM.

It's awesome. I can run the most complex routes and consists without any visual stutter at all. Then, after all that, I went to start using my RailDriver and found that the RD setup wouldn't work. I went to their website, only to find that there are no 64-Bit drivers for RD. Dang!

I wrote to RD support and received a very pleasant reply indicating that their efforts are being directed toward the newer sim releases. Although it doesn't solve the problem of the interface with my Win XP x64, it does explain why it would be so impractical to spend the time (and money) on developing 64-Bit drivers to interface with a 9 year old program. For your info, the e-mail from RD support site is reprinted below.

I'm rather hoping that there may be some train-simming computer guru out there who has developed his own set of drivers to allow RD to work with WinXP64. Since the RailDriver corporation has moved on to other train sims, it looks like 64-Bit RD drivers will have to be the offspring of the MSTS community (if at all). If there are such drivers out there presently, please advise me of their whereabouts.

Many Thanks,
Grant


Reprint of e-mail from RailDriver Support:

Hello Grant,

While we plan to start work on new drivers for RailDriver in the next
month or two, this unfortunately does not involve any further support
for Microsoft Train Simulator.

While our decision not to develop new software for Microsoft Train
Simulator (MSTS) is bound to disappoint many of our loyal users, we hope
you will understand and support us after we explain the reasons for this
decision. It was not made in haste or taken lightly.

MSTS was released in July of 2001 and had absolutely no provisions for
control hardware. Release of the RailDriver in December of 2002 was
preceded by over nine months of software development including inventing
ways to trick MSTS into sharing information (ever wonder why you have to
have the HUD visible to use the RailDriver?). Our software allowed us to
control MSTS on Windows 98SE, Windows Me, and Windows 2000. When Windows
XP (32) was released, we were fortunate in that Microsoft did not make
any fundamental changes which would have prevented the RailDriver from
working. With the release of Windows Vista and 7, we were not so
fortunate.

While a skilled community continues to support MSTS -- even to the point
of writing a patch to allow the program to run on Vista, MSTS has no
support from Microsoft, or from Atari (the current distributor of MSTS).
So we were faced with a difficult choice. Should we devote 6-9 months
developing new software for Vista/7, or put those resources to use
working with Kuju, and Auran to support current and future versions of
their software? We chose the future, and we hope you will bear with us
until that decision pays off.

I can't say if there are work-arounds with third-party software you can
try out. It's possible someone has written a patch that will allow you
to use it on XP x64, but I'm not certain that they have. In the event
that you do find something that will allow it to work, though, please
note that we cannot endorse the use of third-party software with the
RailDriver and if something goes wrong you'll have to contact the
program's author, not us.

Thank you for your interest and we apologize for the inconvenience.


If you have any more questions, feel free to contact me.

(I have omitted the author's name as the important thing is the message, not the messenger)

[rrc_tx]

The described performance improvement with an XP x64 processor is a valuable piece of information for upgrade consideration. I presently am operating MSTS with a functional interface to a full size steam cab simulator. The history of my project, as summarized at http://www.virtualrailroader.com/SLCS-Pt2.pdf and http://www.parallax.com/tabid/815/Default.aspx, began with RailDriver experimentation over seven years ago. A method of interfacing with MSTS that does not rely on the HUD display was finally developed that uses other PI Engineering products. This method is presently being replicated and adapted to other cab simulators in the US and UK.

RailDriver's stated intent to no longer support MSTS is disappointing. Although I respect their business decision to prioritize commercial training pursuits, they are turning their back on the market niche that made them successful in the first place: Human Interface Devices (HID) for MSTS. Fortunately for those of us that have elected to stick with our time and money investment in MSTS, there are many skilled and dedicated individuals that continue make valuable contributions to the hobby as witnessed in this forum. My project would not have eventually been a success without the wealth of forum information I have capitalized on.

RailDriver seems to have a history of dangling development products in front of us, like bait to fish, only to not deliver several months later. Examples have been TMTS and "coming soon" ReDAC hardware. In the past I have attempted to solicit paid-for software development from them and more recently communicated my project to PI Engineering for possible use in marketing their products. Both attempts met with little or no interest by them. Granted our hobby community represents a small market potential, even less for those of us using prototypical hardware, but they are in a very specialized business and their lack of follow-up and commitment is surprising.

I debated whether to write this editorial, but decided that if RailDriver is still reading the forum they should know that there are a number of enthusiasts that consider interface driver software more valuable than decorative hitch covers. If RailDriver has limited resources to devote to train simulation, I suggest they reexamine their priorities based on the market demographics and continued popularity of MSTS.