Trainz: A New Era

[artimrj]

The Mojave was not in my list. I have 400 hours of downloading trying to take advantage of my 6 month ticket. When you get a few routes installed, there are less and less assets to dl as they all pretty much use the same ones, much like RW freeware routes. I downloaded at least 300 routes to get that list. Now I also have around 50 of them that just have 2 or 3 unknown assets or faulty. But the routes still work. I have not played with them much to even notice what could be missing and if it messes anything up. Also some of the routes have gold water. I learned how to fix this. I also found a KUID search engine which helps you get the unknown or missing assets. But that is time consuming and I do not have amny to spare to look for assets all over the world, the majority have been from Russian sites that I found so far.

I also read someone, Sniper I beleive from TS.com who gets the assets in Trainz 2012, then exports them as a CDP and imports it into TANE. I got enough to do with Railworks at the moment so I won't be doing much searching for a while.

And lately it appears someone is working on the DLS as stuff that was missing last week is now in place. Trainz downloads some files everytime I run so I assume they are the missing or mislabled files.

I also have around 1200 pieces of rolling stock and about 800 engines. Still testing them out though. Some rolling stock can not be configured for products, they are just cars. Then there are 3 or 4 different addons that are for industry purposes like LARS, everything does not work with everything.

At any rate I have a large collection of good stuff. I have been working on an interactive session, so any time I put in the game is directed towards that goal.

The Lafayette route is my top priority right now. I wrote 5 new scenarios for it in the last 2 weeks. That took about 40 hours. They are all an hour long or so and had to be tested too many times for AI and other timings.

[artimrj]

Oh and the Content Manager works just fine for me. Much easier than the web site DLS. I look at the web site to see what is new then open the CM and find the KUID for what I want and it is all over in a few minutes. I have been getting speeds of 1000-1200 KBS

[StrategyFirst]

I was always wondering on how realistic T: ANE was. I got the newsletters, etc. with all the pictures, but I couldn't tell if they were screenshots or cinematic/photoshopped pictures. I suppose I shouldn't expect too much from N3V on this, but it seems that they don't realize that Run 8 holds the place for the best simulator (physics/realism-wise), and Railworks holds the top for the most realistic (graphics-wise), so Trainz should keep their place as the best model railroad simulator, even if that's not their goal; it gives Trainz something unique.

[gwgardner]

I got a $20 coupon for Trainz:A New Era. I suppose I'll get it. It's been a while since some of you got it, like Bob. Any updated impressions you care to share after a year of running it? Most importantly, does it offer anything of much greater value over Trainz:2012, which I already have? I ask here rather than simply going to read the Trainz forums, because I'm a dedicated DTG Train Simulator player, and so are most of you, I guess. So you will possibly be looking at Trainz from the same kind of perspective I would.

[_o_OOOO_oo-Kanawha]

I got a $20 coupon for Trainz:A New Era. I suppose I'll get it. It's been a while since some of you got it, like Bob. Any updated impressions you care to share after a year of running it? Most importantly, does it offer anything of much greater value over Trainz:2012, which I already have? I ask here rather than simply going to read the Trainz forums, because I'm a dedicated DTG Train Simulator player, and so are most of you, I guess. So you will possibly be looking at Trainz from the same kind of perspective I would.

Negative.

I bought T:ANE for some trainsimming on my Mac and somehow got a PC version for free.

I didn't notice significant improvements over Tz2012. A little more eye candy and some small physics enhancements. No new wonder graphics engine as promised, so the game still looks like a model railroad simulation game. Also, it is an incredible resource hog and will strain even the most powerful computer without any apparent reason or gain.
The included C&O Hinton Sub doesn't even look remotely like C&O. Mojave isn't available (yet) and MILW Idaho district isn't up to standards, neither is the UK WCML. These both still look like Tz2010.

N3V pursuit of T:ANE led to the exit of many loyal followers and content providers, both in the small pay ware and in the larger freeware scene. JointedRail has plans to start its own UE4 based train simulator, under their brand Crossties Studios. Most of the DLC in the DLS is obsolete and has to be updated to T:ANE standards by authors who have left the scene.

The good to excellent Eastern European content of Tz2012 hasn't made it into T:ANE. Commercial DLC is of a strange choice, French and Chinese locos without a native route?

But for $20 you couldn't go amiss in sampling T:ANE. Perhaps when you and I and many others stick around, the franchise will eventually get somewhere.

[gwgardner]

Thanks much. Thorough overview.

[artimrj]

Well I have a whole different outlook on it after the major update we got a few weeks ago. And it is anything but negative. First off you have to realize I got a new rig. 6th gen i7 6700k at 4 ghrz, 16 gig of ram and an NVidia 970 with 4 gig on it. I runs great!!! And so does everything else. My old rig a Phenom II with 6 physical cores and 8 gig and NVidia 760. I could not use shadows. Distance viewing was restricted to 3500 meters. With the new one everything is set to ultra and shadows at 4096. So to get the most out of it, you need a hefty rig. Also win 10 64 bit. The routes that come with TANE are not very good. I purchased a 3rd party version of Marias Pass and it is really good, probably the best rendition I have seen of it. I also have several freeware routes that were made for TANE and they are also top notch.

I do not know what they promised to their kickstarter people, I never saw the vids or anything. So I do not realize what they are all crying about and really don't care. Yes it is still model railroad for me cause I use it that way. I use DCC controls. I also have TS2014 and there's no comparison. It was on sale for $9 so I grabbed it before TANE started getting updates. I was not impressed with it and have like 3 hours playing in it. The only purpose it has for me is getting older assets out of it and porting them to TANE.

So I say, after the SP1 update, graphics are better, everything runs smoother, the database works good and faster, you have more control over the environment. A lot of shots of TANE have a bleached out look, well you can adjust all of that right in a scenario/session. You have total control on how the environment looks.

The DLS: has 340,000 some items, well that is a smoke screen. All of that is total for all assets back to day 1 of Trainz. Older stuff does not look good at all and a lot of it does not work in TANE. Obviously it is still new and there is not much TANE stuff out there yet, but it is slowly coming. Most of TANE's problems are in the construction end of it. That is what they are working on now in the Dev forum. I personally do not plan to build anything. I did all my building in Railworks, I am not doing it in TANE as I do not feel like learning another new program, been way too many things I had to learn over the years and I am done. I just want to play now and TANE is great for that.

There are 2 types of sessions you can make, interactive/scripted or quick drive. The scripted ones have little documentation and you have to really work to find info on them and it is generally for older versions. As with Railworks, no docs do not help. So at the end of the day, you have to reverse engineer existing sessions to try to figure out what is going on in them, and they are way more programmable than Railworks scenarios. I have a list of places that have partial instructions for certain things, so it is a treasure hunt for info. But the quickdrive is fun. You set up some trains to do some industry work and start driving and working. If you need more cars, you can add them on the fly. If you need more trains, you can add them on the fly. You get a list of all your engines with engineers in them and you just click on one to go to that train. You can also give them instructions to act like AIs.

I use DCC mode as I say, but the real mode is really neat. Dynamic brakes work properly, you can also bail off brakes. Helper engines work as they should. Self lapping brakes also work as they should.

I play TANE to have fun. And it is fun. When I need to be serious, then I go to Railworks. TANE is like having a giant model railroad where you can do whatever you want. Railworks has the workshop, but I get tired of all the A to B runs there. In TANE you can have interaction with just about any industry, you just set it up. Coal cars unload on the m ove, other items load on the move, it is not a tedious operation like RW has. You have 30 coal cars and you drive over the chute at 4 MPH and they flood unload, and also fill the same way. Industries work like the real world, you take logs in and lumber and saw dust/wood chips come out. You take green coke and alumina in and ingots and plates of aluminum come out. Oil in, diesel, gas, aviation fuel, kerosene, etc come out. Take woodchips in and partical board comes out.

In the end, Railworks has the graphics and eye candy, TANE is slowly getting to that point. Adjusting the environment yourself fixes a lot of the look it has. TANE has the "fun factor" or model railroad if you will. Change to realistic mode and you get the serious mode. Scenarios are complicated and at times refuse to work in Railworks. If you make your own scenarios in TANE you design your own fun, to go interactive/scripted, you need a lot of education, being a programmer would even help as you can write scripts for engines and HTML for displays. The only tools you need are notepad and a graphics program if you intend on painting. In the Content Manager, you find your asset, right click and tell it to edit. No fuss no muss.

So at the end of the day it is about what you really want to do. Railworks and TANE are in my eyes both very good Train Simulators. One is prettier than the other, and one is more fun than the other. Both can be quite serious.

[_o_OOOO_oo-Kanawha]

I;ve updated both my Mac and PC T:ANE's to SP1 today and will re-evaluate.

Any advice on a good US route for T:ANE that is in the DLS -complete-? One of the major hassles with any version of Trainz is the often frustrating search for dependencies (KUUID's)

[gwgardner]

Thanks Bob. Very informative, much appreciated.

[artimrj]

I;ve updated both my Mac and PC T:ANE's to SP1 today and will re-evaluate.

Any advice on a good US route for T:ANE that is in the DLS -complete-? One of the major hassles with any version of Trainz is the often frustrating search for dependencies (KUUID's)

Are you saying you never have to search for RW stuff? Or any other sim's stuff?

I have quite a few routes from the DLS that work in or are for TANE that are good. Some I had to look for dependencies, but not many of them. Some require a small amount of editing, but mostly rolling stock requires the editing and not the routes. If I get a chance to play in TANE later today I will make a list from the CM and post it. There are also good freeware sites with routes. I like all of these and if outside kuids are needed, he has them linked. http://glenwoodshops.com/index.shtml

Jointed Rail has a few routes for free, not all work in TANE though. They have a lot of rolling stock for free also and most of it works in TANE quite well. This is where I bought Marias Pass - http://www.hp-trainz.de/index.html

[hminky]

Cumberland to Connellsville from Glenwoodshops is a good route.

Try the CarTagger and ExTrainz rules, defines industries and where to send cars.

The MegaRoute is too big to use either of those rules. The rules "timeout".

Most of the complaining in Trainz is about the ECML, it is a very dated route and all the UK guys wanted a Railworks look.

I don't use the shadows, they don't work well during switching.

If you could control the time in Railworks I would use that, but Trainz is the only Train-sim where you can advance the time while playing. Necessary if you want to do more than set-piece sessions.

Harold

[buzz456]

Hmm, turning to the dark side. I thought this forum was about TS.

[_o_OOOO_oo-Kanawha]

Hmm, turning to the dark side. I thought this forum was about TS.

Would it be a valid proposition to open Trainz, Run8 and MSTS Open Rails sub fora in a separate section off Railworks forum?

Many of us play more than one train sim, and some of us even play flight sims.

There already is a FSX forum which sees some infrequent use.

[buzz456]

How about a totally separate forum or does one already exist?

[_o_OOOO_oo-Kanawha]

How about a totally separate forum or does one already exist?

You mean a dedicated forum outside the rwa.com domain? Sure, these do exist. And these fora often have sub fora on other railroad sims, prototype railroading and such.

I understand your concern, fora need to moderated, uploads need to be managed etc. But if one limits it to discussion only there are a few more areas for you and the mods to patrol.

One tends to meet some of us from here on other fora as well, often using the same handles.