Trainz 2019 North America

[SurvivorSean]

So I had Trainz years ago and don't normally follow this forum. Looks like a steal at 15USD this weekend.

Does it have RD support?

Someone mentioned to me recently I should consider Trainz but I forget who. I think I might give this a shot.

How does everyone here like it or not like it?

Thanks

Sean

[SMRY]

Was our very own world famous QTW = Quincy that put the bug in the ear.
Been some time, believe RailDriver will work, seems the files needed to be in correct order/place within Trainz file/folder structure.
Also,seems I recall RD was rather finicky within Trainz at that time. My versions was New Era Platinum, rather fancy version came in a collectors tin, a host of literature, & golden ticket(s) for the Download Station .
I never had any good luck with the Download Station, nor, the First Class Ticket system. Even TZ support finally gave up on me.
Run8 saved me from all that & others.

[seagoon]

How does everyone here like it or not like it?

Sean, I was involved from the very first iteration of Trainz and eventually bowed out around 2012.

Along with other in-game irritations I became frustrated with the fact that the game engine (Auran's 'Jet') never improved; version after version came out but still with the original core and by 2012 that was enough for me.

You will either like it a lot or will become pissed off with it and, like SMRY said at the end of his post, Run 8 is what keeps me in train-sims.

[haverfordwest]

I also had the very first version of Trainz in Dec 2001 and every version since.

Stopped using it last year, as nothing worth while ever changes with the game.

N3V fiddle around with fripperies and change the name once a year, but that's it.

Mike.

[SurvivorSean]

Run8 will always be on my hard drive, and who knows perhaps some day I'll get tired of this as well. It's downloading now and I'm going to test it out with my son. I know At The Railyard had a pretty good review of it which kind of sold me on giving it a shot. Apparently the AI is one of it's stronger points which has me interested. I don't expect Run8 physics one bit.

I would be more interested in Rolling Line if they had some AI controls and it wasn't as model railroad like. To me that is what I remember about the original Trainz. We will see and then I'll see if my son is interested this weekend and I'll buy a copy for him so he can create some routes while out of school. Apparently that is another one of the strong points.

Thanks

Sean

[NorthernWarrior]

The strong point of Trainz is and always has been the ease of building routes in Surveyor particularly if, like me these days, you are into building more model railway orientated projects.

The NA version is essentially a cut down version of the main TRS19 program, for a bit of a discount. It might be worth waiting to see if the Steam version of the full game gets a discount as then you get all the content not just a handful of American routes.

[SurvivorSean]

Couldn't wait any longer. With this "VIRUS" locking everything down and to be honest scary but perhaps other motivations (don't get me started) has already screwed up my 1st vacation of the year in March. Now on weekends I'm under suspicion for being in Toronto since the virus of course is spreading exponentially. But anyways I'm way off topic so I'll get back on it.

I actually purchased it and so far the only issue I've seen is a disk error or something when trying to import TANE content for TS19 and Jointed Rail. Though the routes did install. The units took a little bit and I'm running under LOW graphics settings due to my graphics card being a bit dated. The processor is pretty good so I may upgrade eventually.

My son likes it so far and I seem to have the freedom to do what I want. Yes I'm going to miss the Run8 physics and I'm not sure how good their MP actually is.

I hear their AI is pretty good as well but we will see about that. I'm more interested in kind of free roam type worlds though it appears the signals are always at clear kind of like explore mode in MSTS. This is a minor issue for me at the moment.

In some ways I'll miss the random (run8) or even some kind of scheduled spawner. Not sure if there is anything I can program to assist this (doubt it).

So far haven't run into any bugs but it's very very early. For me the scenery is still loading in or getting detailed as it's loading.

I'm going to do a live stream on it as well in a few minutes.

Thanks

Sean

[philskene]

Sean --

I've tried all the other rail simulators but always return to Trainz. Maybe the physics ain't the best. Perhaps the graphics not quite so smooth as its competitors. Missing dependencies can be an frustration. But there is a mass of freeware and payware. And, most importantly, it allows me to be creative -- both in route building and session creation.

You have probably see some of my videos and screen shots in this Forum? These are from my latest route,"Rivercide":













Phil

[SurvivorSean]

Well I've had fun on the 1st day of trying it out. The actual activities are few included but they were fun. To that point things seemed much better than my original version of Trainz and even at low graphics was way better than I remember (mind you a newer computer than then older in today's standards).

Now where I got into my first issues was the quick start world thing where I probably was trying to do too much too fast and it crashed twice in a row. So it will be interesting to see how stable things get once I push it too hard. It crashed once on me to my surprise then crashed again shortly after. Actually captured it on my 2nd live stream today.

I recall MSTS having some interesting bugs like this back in the day but to save resources I'm going to hold off any more live streaming until I figure out what I'm doing with things and if some of the things I'm hoping to do wind up being a bit too unstable. So far though I think it has potential. But I appreciate the comments and any suggestions.

Thanks

Sean

[seagoon]

......most importantly, it allows me to be creative -- both in route building and session creation...Phil

But Phil, your creations are really works of art and not merely layouts or routes.
They are highly detailed and superbly crafted.