Trainz 2019 Keeps Crashing For No Reason

[itstypicalrailfanner]

So, I recently got a new laptop. It's not special in any way, but the performance is slightly better than my previous laptop. I can play Mist Survival on medium settings, so it's pretty good. The only problem is, ever since I switched computers, Trainz 2019 started randomly crashing several minutes after loading a route or session. I'm talking any route and session. I load my custom route, it crashes. I load a Lone Pine Branch session, it ****ing crashes. When I mean crash, I don't mean the typical "X is not responding" crash, I mean the game full on closes itself and I'm back to desktop. It does this every... single... time I play the game. I've tested just about every other game in my steam library, and none of my steam games close themselves out of nowhere. So I know it's not my device. I also know for a fact there isn't an asset that is causing issues because this happens on every damn route and session I load. And if there is somehow an asset that is causing issues, there should be some sort of crash report detailing why the game crashed and what the asset did to cause a crash. This is getting annoying.

My specs:

HP Laptop 15 dy2xxx

11th Gen Intel R Core i7-1165G7 2.80 GHz 2.70 GHz Processor

8 GB Ram

Windows 11 64 Bit

Intel iRISx Graphics


For security if it helps, I use totaldefense ultimate and windows security. I've tried making my trainz content folder, the Trainz 2019 application itself, and my userdata folder exceptions for totaldefense. I've also ran an extended database repair. I don't know what else to do. I know it's not any of the assets I have because this happens no matter what route or session use. My drivers are also up to date and because I'm using the Steam version (which is also up to date), I can't manually update Trainz 2019. My audio drivers are up to date as I know some have had issues where their copies of Trainz 2019 crashed because they were going past a certain speed with steam locomotives or any locomotives, which for some reason has to do with audio drivers.

 

[pware]

Firstly, may I congratulate you on providing a very thorough and detailed report - they are very rare in these frustrating and stressful situations.

You seemed to have covered all the "normal" remedies for crashing problems. The fact that the crashes only occur in Trainz and with all routes seems, to me at least, to confirm your conclusion that it is not a faulty asset or a hardware issue.

My suggestion at this point would be to completely uninstall TRS19 and reinstall a fresh copy as an administrator. Then run tests using that original "as installed" version without any installed DLC, DLS or third party assets.

 

[itstypicalrailfanner]

Okay I'll try that.

 

[Dinorius_Redundicus]

How does your new laptop compare to the required specs for TRS19?

 

[pware]

In addition to the above suggestion to check the specs of your new laptop, if your specs are "marginal" I would set the performance settings to their lowest/minimal values before starting the tests.

 

[itstypicalrailfanner]

Sorry for the very late reply, but I am thinking the same thing.

 

[itstypicalrailfanner]

So, the minimum specs have to be an intel i5 3GHz 64-bit processor, 4 GB of ram, Nvidia GT 430 or better/AMD ATI 5550 or better, version 11 of direct x, and a sound card. My previous laptop had intel graphics and there weren't any crashes like the ones I'm experiencing. Can having the option "Maximize Compatibility" instead of "Maximize Performance" cause crashes because I think that's why the crashes are happening.

 

[itstypicalrailfanner]

I found the issue. It was because I was using maximize compatibility. Now, I know never to use that again and will just stick with maximize performance instead.

 

[pware]

I found the issue. It was because I was using maximize compatibility. Now, I know never to use that again and will just stick with maximize performance instead.

I don't know about that solution being the best or even advisable.

"Maximise Performance" is intended for developers while "Maximise Compatibility" is for normal Trainz usage. I have always used "Maximise Compatibilty" and never experienced any problems. In the earlier days when this option appeared in Trainz, I (and others) misunderstood its purpose and opted for "Maximise Performance" because we thought it would give a boost to frame rates, etc. Instead we got a host of problems - for example, scripts not working.

 

[itstypicalrailfanner]

Hmm, weird. So, then why did it work? My guess is maybe Trainz needed to sort itself out. Also, the solution worked, though I am going to switch back to maximizing compatibility since I don't want anything being broken.

 

[JCitron]

Hmm, weird. So, then why did it work? My guess is maybe Trainz needed to sort itself out. Also, the solution worked, though I am going to switch back to maximizing compatibility since I don't want anything being broken.

Why did it work?

The maximum performance settings changes how scripts and things work within the program and our older content doesn't work well with that. The differences between that and maximum compatibility are enough to cause your program to crash when you open the route and session. From what I understand, maximum performance is something that N3V uses when they create their DLC routes and built-in stuff and it's currently no applicable to the rest of the content that we use.

 

[itstypicalrailfanner]

Oh that makes sense.

 

[pware]

Back to the original topic - have you made any progress in resolving the issue? Did a fresh install make a difference?