2014 is here

[buzz456]

I thought I would start a new topic for the arrival of the updated Train Simulator 2014.

[_o_OOOO_oo-Kanawha]

Mine has just arrived and is installing now.

Finally, we have some Train Simulator News on Steam. That has been along time coming.
Now I am going to find out what the buzz has been all about.

[fraserm]

My first download was incomplete. It took a surprisingly short amount of time. I'm doing a verify cache and it's taking a MUCH longer time. I'm hopeful...

M.

[_o_OOOO_oo-Kanawha]

Nice, a "Railworks Stopped Working" (is that SBHH incarnate?) right after staring my first exploration. Had to wait for 5 minutes, watching all kinds of advice and advertisement.
Poof, back to the desktop.
The TS2014 guinea pig is my laptop, 4GB Windows 7 x64, which used to run a virgin TS2013.

Oh well, my first 8GB dual core desktop is updating now ...

[buzz456]

I wonder if they are going to do away with the commercial after a bit or if we are going to have to hack a fix for that soon. I sure don't want to have to watch that every time I start up. Maybe there is somewhere in the settings.....

[_o_OOOO_oo-Kanawha]

If it is a local movie file of some sorts we should find and delete it, like with MSTS. If the startup sequence depends on it, it can perhaps be substituted with a dummy.

What about 2013_startup.ogv? Is that an Ogg video file? Deleting it now and see what happens ...

Better not, the game won't start without it.

[Bananarama]

My observations thus far:

• TS2014 loads much faster than TS2013, and route loading got quicker as well.
• I'm not fond of the social media aspect to the interface, but it is what it is (and I don't plan to spend much time in menus).
• Some menus are rather bland and seem unfinished compared to the rest of the interface.
• Distant terrain is back and terrain import works like a champ. It's not without its bugs, however, as distant mountains may exhibit artifacts if there's missing areas. (I'll try a different set of DEM and see what happens.)
• Some terrain flashing/tearing when approaching or traveling away from distant mountains.
• Exiting editing mode and using the "Play Again" button does nothing, but I'll have to check again later and see if it's on my end.

Overall, TS2014 is a winner. Here's to Derek, Adam, Matt and the rest of folks at RSC for a job well done!

[Bananarama]

I wonder if they are going to do away with the commercial after a bit or if we are going to have to hack a fix for that soon. I sure don't want to have to watch that every time I start up. Maybe there is somewhere in the settings.....

Use the Esc key...

[TDHenderson]

My download worked fine, spent about 15 minutes on Marias Pass. So far, so good. I really like the new interface, it is much better than TS2013, in my opinion. Overall my frame rates are higher and I was able to bump up my AA settings a bit more and still have nice high 30's and higher in external view with a passing AI train.

View distance seems better, but I'd still like to see trees further out. Just my .

The new manual is nice, but still lacking on creation tools. I do hope that will come out soon, been too long for an updated creation tools manual.

Overall, I am happy!!

Trevor

[jamesphh]

Download complete. Too many issues. Loading screen is way, way, way too long. Hard to find settings. Everything is washed out. First two 3rd party routes failed with a ' railworks exe has stopped working' ( C&O and VNHRR). A very bad first impression.

[Bananarama]

The initial (first install) startup synchronizes online content, but subsequent starts had things up in a jiffy, which leads me to believe caching has improved a great deal. I'll have to do a complete reboot and see if the startup has slowed any.

[_o_OOOO_oo-Kanawha]

Yes, it doesn't seem to like 3rd party routes very much, either playing them or editing ...
Perhaps some key assets got shifted around?

[Bananarama]

My own routes loaded fine - no issues found.

FWIW, I just did a fresh reboot and TS2014 loads lightning quick - even on this old system.

[Bananarama]

I noted that Engine Driver and Store icons do not function.

[imphantum]

Did anyone buy the TS14 again? It comes with a "new" SD70m in SP livery