Whats the best Trainz version to use?

[cressjl]

...Also for those that say TANE runs smoother then TS12, that is rubbish...

You can consider my opinions rubbish if you want, but I did apply a certain level of scientific process to my comparison. I can hamstring T:ANE to the point it matches TS12 in performance, and it will outperform TS12. I can also boost TS12 performance to closely match T:ANE in a "normal" configuration as closely as possible, and it will still outperform TS12. To maximize the performance of T:ANE and reap the full power of its rendering...yes, you need a fairly good machine.

 

[clam1952]

Well, i can't update it yet as i don't have the money to.

Computer markets are good for bargains, both second user and new, there are many of them all over the UK. Just make sure they will replace or refund the cost if something doesn't work, in my experience most traders do. I've built some good PC's using second user parts over the years, a lot of traders do upgrades for the must have the latest club and some of the parts are barely a year old.

 

[LNERlover5]

I agree with SuperSpeed, NVIDIA Geforce 210 with both games graphics set to the lowest, TS12 surprisingly holds up well with around 12 FPS

"renderer the initialization has failed" which means that my computer isn't good enough for it, which is stupid seeing they told us in the update videos they had improved the game engine so that it works with low end computers.

Get all Trainz versions except TANE unless you have a super gaming rig computer.

You're basing your arguments on your opinion, rather than your lacking knowledge of computers. The Geforce 210 was never designed for gaming, and 8 years on nobody should expect it to do so.

As for your render initialisation error, that's because your Geforce 210 does not support DirectX 11, a feature set available to GPU's as much as 6 years old...

With comparable visuals to TS12, TANE simply runs better. Only now you have the option to push it a little further if you wish.

 

[PendennisCastle]

I can't buy anything else until christmas because my parents are using the money on taxes, bills and shopping.

 

[Matt3985]

For me TANE runs pretty well at good frame rates as long as the shadows are turn off but I can get good frame rates with water textures on max as well as textures and scenery detail with about half the draw distance so its manageable for me. While Mac 1 was the only one I got excellent frame rates with everything on max out I still like TANE and I know it's a huge step in improvement of quality and design.

 

[chris2001trainz2010]

Trust me when i say this: go with either TS2010 or TS12. T:ANE needs a pretty high-spec computer to run at reasonable FPS, so TS2010 and TS12 are the better option if you don't have the money for the supercomputer T:ANE needs to perform well.

But hey, i've heard some people seem to like T:ANE better for whatever reason, so it's all up to you in the end.

 

[ARhian7]

What you decide to get is only a decision you can make.

My honest, thoughts regarding T:ANE is that I much prefer and enjoy it over TS12 now. However TS12 did give me a lot of loyal fun over the previous years of use before T:ANE came along. Started TS12 couple months back and it took a good 3 mins to load my old route. That same route is much bigger now in T:ANE and took 30 - 45 seconds to load and runs smoothly at 48-59 fps (depending on the amount of content in an area).

My home built pc is mid range and definitely not "high end" or a "super computer".
Specs:
Windows 7, 64 bit,
Motherboard ASRock P67 Pro3
Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.30GHZ overclocked to 3.60 GHZ
GEForce GTX 770
16 gig DDR 3 ram
Creative SB X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Sound card

I just set the settings for what my pc can run T:ANE smoothly at. No point in trying all settings on High/Ultra or similar as that is not being realistic for this pc's capabilities.
Pc maintenance is done regularly to prevent over heating, loose cables etc.

 

[pware]

I can't buy anything else until christmas because my parents are using the money on taxes, bills and shopping.

Yes, that is the real world. Its not all fun and games, unfortunately - at least not until you retire and the kids are "off your hands".

 

[pdkoester]

When T:ANE first came out, I didn't like it. I waited a long while for fixes, and in doing so I watched as TS12 seemed to degrade itself over time. Fast forward to the builds this year, I find T:ANE way better, more stable, and I can turn EVERYTHING up, and not slow down. Laptop, same thing. Being honest. Yeah, it still needs newer, fixed content, but some of it I was able to fix. They even got Mojave available now, I didn't have to go through fixes for that. But, we'll see what happens as newer updates come out, if it breaks or makes things,

 

[pitmilly]

The "best" Trainz version of all time was undoubtedly TS2010 as it accumulated all the content and routes from previous versions, including compatability mode.

That said, things move on and last time I loaded up TS2010 to build a route it was surprising how aged it felt. Crude terrain textures which even at the most concentrated setting looked pixelated, garish looking track and roads floating off the ground surface and of course the ever present risk of splines becoming broken at interactive objects. TS2010 has also been off support for some time now, so no uploading content to the DLS.

Certainly for anyone coming into Trainz it has to be said that, providing you have the hardware, TANE is looking like the best option. With TS12 rapidly approaching life cycle end (and no sign of an extension from N3V) TANE will effectively be the only officially supported (PC) version. Many of the bugs in TS2010 persisted into TS12 with the added pain of the final versions having a very buggy and almost unusable CMP.

My perception of TANE is evolving especially now I have a laptop that can run it somewhat better in Surveyor. Yes there are considerable bugs remaining, the whole sorry history does no real credit to N3V, it still doesn't look anything like the target graphics and shouldn't need anything like the hardware actually needed to run. However the appeal of procedural track, no more broken splines, splines now sitting correctly on the ground, some of the new and excellent trees (the ST_RMM range for one) really starts to make it the first choice in the Trainz world.

For the record - what laptop do you have? I have been running (albeit with some degree of stutter) Train Simulator 2 on a MacBook Pro (OSX 10.12.4 - Intel Graphics3000 -38MB) and am now looking at specs for a gaming PC that will hopefully give better results. I also downloaded Trainz - A New Era last year which turned out to be a total waste of time and money as on my existing equipment getting anything to actually move proved next to impossible. There appears to be an almost unbridgeable gulf between the development of these superb games and the supply of comprehensible and reliable information about the hardware that is needed and readily available.

Any assistance or comment will be appreciated

 

[Christopher824]

Wow... lots of opinions here, as I think the OP asked for was our opinions...

Here is mine. I can only comment on TS12, TANE and Driver for Android. Out of these 3, I have had the most problems with TS12 with database problems, merge proplems, too big of map problems, and more... TANE works almost perfectly on my laptop, and the Driver works almost perfectly on my Android phone.

As far as TS12 and TANE go, i mostly do route building, TANE has TS12 beat by 1000%. It is a gigantic improvement, but like most say here in this post, you have to have a system that can withstand it. It is definitely hardware intensive. TANE is newer and if you use older assets and/or routes you may not get the results you want. It was definitely a shock when I first starting using it, but after SP1 and me buying a new laptop, all is well now. I find it funny that today I sat in the doctors office waiting for my wife at her appointment, I was playing Driver on my phone, and it was fun, and it worked very well.

So my answer (opinion) to the OP is this. The best version is the version that works best on the equipment you are using. Period.
.

 

[davies_mike57]

My favorite game is the TS 12.
Mainly play around with the Trainz Simulator 12, but have all the other TC3, TRS 2006 Classics, Trainz Demo (American version with the Marias Pass layout), TRS 2004 still loaded on my computer, and the old versions are still enjoyable to play around with.
Still yet to install TANE, because would rather install a disk copy not interested in downloading a digital online copy.

 

[Tony_Hilliam]

My favorite game is the TS 12.
Mainly play around with the Trainz Simulator 12, but have all the other TC3, TRS 2006 Classics, Trainz Demo (American version with the Marias Pass layout), TRS 2004 still loaded on my computer, and the old versions are still enjoyable to play around with.
Still yet to install TANE, because would rather install a disk copy not interested in downloading a digital online copy.

You can purchase a box version from the store - shipping takes ~2-3 weeks.

 

[PC_Ace]

davies_mike57 - If you're enjoying TS12, then you'll LOVE T:ANE if you have a modestly capable computer to run it.
Everything you like about TS12 simply works better - and looks nicer and more detailed - in T:ANE.
And the faster your video card is, the more you'll love it!