Horrible Installation Experience

I purchased TS 12 last night. No download instructions were included anywhere with the email acknowledgements of my order. After playing around, I discovered that if I displayed my orders and then clicked on a order number, I could find the download page. Who thought that was a good user experience?

Then I spent many hours downloading the files. It was terribly slow. It seemed like I was living with a ten year old internet. Once I finally got them all downloaded, I couldn't find installation instructions anywhere, so I simply clicked on the Setup file. Got nothing but file errors. I posted a tech support message. The response - we will get back to you within FIVE DAYS. That's tech support?

After searching around on this forum, I found it was suggested that people were having problems with corrupted files from the download. I checked mine and sure enough, they were not the correct sizes. So, now I have to go through the multi-hour experience of downloading the files again. The first one eventually downloaded OK. I'm on the fourth try to get a satisfactory download of the second file.

The download page suggests that if I'm having problems downloading with a web client that I use an FTP program. I loaded an FTP program. The web page says that I should "follow the FTP file location to reach the request file." but doesn't even give me the name of a file to find (perhaps those listed for downloading - that might be a good idea, but they don't exist anywhere on the FTP server that the instructions sent me to).

Maybe I should just check the manual - opps, no where to be found unless I use a Google search to find it. And it makes almost no mention of download installations.

This is the worst experience I have ever had downloading a software program. I own a business that sells software to thousands of customers. If I performed anything like this, I'd be out of business in days. This is absolutely horrible. Auran should be embarrassed putting stuff like this out to the public.

Well I imagine you feel better now that you've gotten that off your chest. Hopefully you will begin to enjoy the Trainz experience, and will be able to forgive them.

The instructions are in the second or third email with your download links, check your spam folder if you haven't received it, it sometimes takes a while to arrive.

5 days response is probably because they are closed for the Easter holiday and only have basic cover, plus it's the weekend and N3V is not Microsoft with Thousands of Staff.

On the purchase page under "What is a digital Download" it suggests using a download manager, to avoid getting corrupt files which you obviously have, could be a bit clearer however most experienced PC users use a download manager for large files for this reason.

The corruption is the fault of your ISP not N3V, just a slight glitch which you can happen at any time on any ISP and you probably wouldn't notice, is enough to corrupt a large download.

Use Freedownload Manager as recommended, not your browser which is incacapable of resuming or checking the files are complete. That way you will get all the files and a lot faster as it will download several files at once faster than a browser or most FTP clients. If you found the post with the file sizes then check all of yours and only download those that are short again.

Using FDM it took me about an hour and a half to download all files.

FTP instructions are clear and on the download page after you click the files link.

Look at File location on FTP Server near top of page

And Using FTP at the bottom.

I would strongly suggest using FreeDownload Manager though unless you are experienced in using an FTP client and you have one that supports resume.

There is also an alternative download location.

Jeff491 said:

I purchased TS 12 last night. No download instructions were included anywhere with the email acknowledgements of my order. After playing around, I discovered that if I displayed my orders and then clicked on a order number, I could find the download page. Who thought that was a good user experience?

Then I spent many hours downloading the files. It was terribly slow. It seemed like I was living with a ten year old internet. Once I finally got them all downloaded, I couldn't find installation instructions anywhere, so I simply clicked on the Setup file. Got nothing but file errors. I posted a tech support message. The response - we will get back to you within FIVE DAYS. That's tech support?

After searching around on this forum, I found it was suggested that people were having problems with corrupted files from the download. I checked mine and sure enough, they were not the correct sizes. So, now I have to go through the multi-hour experience of downloading the files again. The first one eventually downloaded OK. I'm on the fourth try to get a satisfactory download of the second file.

The download page suggests that if I'm having problems downloading with a web client that I use an FTP program. I loaded an FTP program. The web page says that I should "follow the FTP file location to reach the request file." but doesn't even give me the name of a file to find (perhaps those listed for downloading - that might be a good idea, but they don't exist anywhere on the FTP server that the instructions sent me to).

Maybe I should just check the manual - opps, no where to be found unless I use a Google search to find it. And it makes almost no mention of download installations.

This is the worst experience I have ever had downloading a software program. I own a business that sells software to thousands of customers. If I performed anything like this, I'd be out of business in days. This is absolutely horrible. Auran should be embarrassed putting stuff like this out to the public.

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What always gets me is that people always say they're in business, and their business involves computing in some way. But yet they always appear to have absolutely no idea what they're doing when it comes to computer operations.

Now I guess I may be a cut above the rest, but I found nothing confusing the first time I ever bought a digital download from Auran/N3V, and I found nothing confusing after I purchased TS12. I found nothing confusing or lacking in the communications that I got after the purchase. I did not experience slow download speeds, I did not experience any file corruption, and maybe I guess I have installed software for the last 30 years that it's second nature to me just put the files in their own directory and of course I'm going to run the setup.exe as an administrator on a Windows 7 64-bit system…

I really can't fathom needing instructions. I really can't fathom someone who claims to sell software for a living needing instructions. I'm sorry, but that last paragraph just strikes me as a mix between ignorance and arrogance…

i agree with the above post.

mrscsi said:

What always gets me is that people always say they're in business, and their business involves computing in some way. But yet they always appear to have absolutely no idea what they're doing when it comes to computer operations.

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People don’t always say that. Some employ IT staff to deal with their computer business needs. Their private computer skills are often considerably lacking.

Now I guess I may be a cut above the rest,

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Possibly your opinion only.

but I found nothing confusing the first time I ever bought a digital download from Auran/N3V, and I found nothing confusing after I purchased TS12. I found nothing confusing or lacking in the communications that I got after the purchase. I did not experience slow download speeds, I did not experience any file corruption, and maybe I guess I have installed software for the last 30 years that it's second nature to me just put the files in their own directory and of course I'm going to run the setup.exe as an administrator on a Windows 7 64-bit system…

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Aren’t you the lucky one!

I really can't fathom needing instructions.

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Ever tried sky diving? As you fall, and your chute fails to open, you can always ask the guy passing you on his way up if he knows anything about parachutes. To which he’ll probably reply, “No, do you know anything about gas ovens?”

I'm sorry, but that last paragraph just strikes me as a mix between ignorance and arrogance…

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No need to be quite so offensive in defence of a product which is clearly causing a customer a fair bit of grief.
An offer of help might have been more appropriate!

mrscsi said:

What always gets me is that people always say they're in business, and their business involves computing in some way. But yet they always appear to have absolutely no idea what they're doing when it comes to computer operations.

Now I guess I may be a cut above the rest, but I found nothing confusing the first time I ever bought a digital download from Auran/N3V, and I found nothing confusing after I purchased TS12. I found nothing confusing or lacking in the communications that I got after the purchase. I did not experience slow download speeds, I did not experience any file corruption, and maybe I guess I have installed software for the last 30 years that it's second nature to me just put the files in their own directory and of course I'm going to run the setup.exe as an administrator on a Windows 7 64-bit system…

I really can't fathom needing instructions. I really can't fathom someone who claims to sell software for a living needing instructions. I'm sorry, but that last paragraph just strikes me as a mix between ignorance and arrogance…

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The Auran/N3V setup is the worst download system in gaming.

And on the third day you rose, pompous A$$!!!!

Love these forums
Harold

I'm sure he would be out of business in a matter of days if he sold software to thousands of users with the same level of ability that he apparently has, if he had to be competitive and sell the product at a price point that would require 30 man-hours of tech support per customer just to help them get it installed…

I know Auran/N3V would probably be out of business in a matter of days if they had to offer that level of support for their digital download priced at AU$50

I come from a background when working for CIGNA we supported 30,000 users over 24 locations in six different countries and supported them at the desktop. Believe me I've seen all levels of computer competency, and maybe he comes from a mindset where like in a corporate environment the software is merely pushed to the desktop and the customer technically has no responsibility in installing it or configuring it.

Unfortunately on the retail level when it comes to games, a certain level of computer competency is expected of the customer. Now had he wanted to complete automated install with minimum input on his part maybe he should've opted for the DVD, I'm sure it has an AutoRun where all you have to do is drop the DVD in and click next after entering your serial number.

But a company such as Auran/N3V cannot offer or even begin to offer any type of in-depth tech support other than for the game itself. They cannot teach users computer competency, they don't have the resources and I doubt they ever will…

hminky said:

The Auran/N3V setup is the worst download system in gaming.

And on the third day you rose, pompous A$$!!!!

Love these forums
Harold

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What is "worse download system in gaming" concerning downloading the files putting them in a directory and running setup.exe? Have you never done that? Have you ever been expected to do that?

If not I will contend you have not been around computers very long. That has been a standard practice for at least 20 years. Thinking about it I believe Windows 2.0 was the first time I think that I ever saw a setup.exe

I may have seen one earlier than that with SpinRite back in the DOS days. I'm pretty sure DOS itself was install.exe or install.bat…

But I'll stand by my original statement, a company the size of Auran/N3V cannot provide support in the realm of computer competency.

I don't think there's any game company out there that actually teaches users how to use the computers in order to get them to buy the game. That is truly cost prohibitive…

Now you can call me pompous all you want Harold, it doesn't change the fact that if you wanted an automated install with minimal interaction, buy the DVD, if you want to buy the digital download, follow the simple instructions. If you can't follow instructions, turn your computer off and find a new hobby…

It seems Jeff491 has made a purchase and found it a frustrating experience, many people are in a similar boat.
One poster is welcoming, the next jumps down his throat, why bother, Jeff could turn into a valuable member of the community given the chance.
BTW the OP states he owns the business and may not be the salesman.
Ruffled Rog

mezzoprezzo said:

People don’t always say that. Some employ IT staff to deal with their computer business needs. Their private computer skills are often considerably lacking.


Possibly your opinion only.


Aren’t you the lucky one!


Ever tried sky diving? As you fall, and your chute fails to open, you can always ask the guy passing you on his way up if he knows anything about parachutes. To which he’ll probably reply, “No, do you know anything about gas ovens?”


No need to be quite so offensive in defence of a product which is clearly causing a customer a fair bit of grief.
An offer of help might have been more appropriate!

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Yes I have jumped out of a perfectly good airplane…

And I wasn't commenting on whether or not he generally had a problem.

I was commenting strictly about the last paragraph of what he wrote. And I will tell you that more and more people are making those types of comments in this forum over the last year.

They take their shots, they always say something like "I'm in this business or I am in this business and I couldn't do business this way."

When 90% of the time it's computer competency that is the issue.

Are you going to tell me you've never seen anybody trash Auran/N3V "tech support?"

Are you going to tell me that 90% of those issues aren't related to computer competency?

Because yes he may have had a problem, but everything he listed had been gone over in the forums and had he read the forums while even downloading, would have realized what potential pitfalls might arise. He admitted reading the forum actually…

But then he went on to say that he sells software to thousands of customers and he couldn't do business this way or he would be out of business in days…

And my point is if he is selling software to thousands of customers who are as computer illiterate as he seems to be, he has to charge a lot of money for that software in order to make any profit at all on top of the support costs…

I guarantee he charges more than AU$50 for any software that he has to provide installation support for. Chances are he deals with corporate customers were all they do is go in and push the software to the desktop with little or no intervention from the end-user.

I'm familiar with that type of operation and it is not even comparable to what Auran/N3V does and can never be…

Ghost42 said:

It seems Jeff491 has made a purchase and found it a frustrating experience, many people are in a similar boat.
One poster is welcoming, the next jumps down his throat, why bother, Jeff could turn into a valuable member of the community given the chance.
BTW the OP states he owns the business and may not be the salesman.
Ruffled Rog

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This forum seems to be filled with hostile people who should be moderated.

I was called a troll because I had one of the first posts about TS12 not being perfect. I guess that is expected from a proprietary forum, no honesty.

I am done here, like you said why bother. There are other Trainsims.

Harold

Ghost42 said:

It seems Jeff491 has made a purchase and found it a frustrating experience, many people are in a similar boat.
One poster is welcoming, the next jumps down his throat, why bother, Jeff could turn into a valuable member of the community given the chance.
BTW the OP states he owns the business and may not be the salesman.
Ruffled Rog

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And again I did not jump down his throat regarding his problem…

I merely commented on the last paragraph…

Reading really should be fundamental…

I too have owned many computer-related businesses in my adult life, never have I compared my experience in something so simple to what I did in my business.

Frankly I would've been embarrassed to admit that I owned a software company and couldn't figure out how to put six files in a single directory, check their size, and run setup.exe without written instructions how to do so…

I don't think MANY people are in a similar boat, my count is about 10 or 12 and I guarantee they sold more than 10 or 12 copies…

I've tried to help most of those 10 or 12. But AGAIN I was commenting on his last paragraph…

hminky said:

This forum seems to be filled with hostile people who should be moderated.

I was called a troll because I had one of the first posts about TS12 not being perfect. I guess that is expected from a proprietary forum, no honesty.

I am done here, like you said why bother. There are other Trainsims.

Harold

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You've said that before Harold, I expect you'll be back tomorrow saying it again…

The reason you're called a troll is because you always seem to jump in and use $'s to hide profanity…

That just shows your immaturity I guess. You also have a tendency not to read and comprehend the entire post that you're commenting on. That I guess shows a basic lack of comprehension skills that I'm not sure anyone can address…

Did anyone possibly think that the OP might be selling xbox or whatever to thousands of people?

Have fun,

aardvark1 said:

Did anyone possibly think that the OP might be selling xbox or whatever to thousands of people?

Have fun,

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That's obviously a great point…

I would love to have the original poster come in and have a discussion in a nonabusive or non-combative way and explain how he conducts his business and how he is able to do something that Auran/N3V obviously is not in his opinion.

It could be that Auran/N3V might be able to benefit from some of his expertise and knowledge in the areas of software sales and support after the sale.

Now I guess I could've reinvented the wheel and just copy and pasted all the suggestions that were given to him by an earlier poster. But he was given top-notch advice that I couldn't improve on.

I merely made mention to the last paragraph of his post. And all of a sudden everybody thinks that I am jumping down his throat because he has a problem. I said what I said because he insinuated that Auran/N3V was somehow deficient because they didn't hold his hand and provide him step-by-step instructions on how to download six files, put them in a directory, check their file size, and execute setup.exe…

He insinuated that he sold software to thousands of people and he couldn't do business that way, and that he would be out of business in a few days if he did…

I really don't think that's the case but I would surely welcome the original poster to come back and elaborate because maybe I'm missing something in what he wrote in that last paragraph…

Because let's not forget what it was I was commenting on…

"This is the worst experience I have ever had downloading a software program. I own a business that sells software to thousands of customers. If I performed anything like this, I'd be out of business in days. This is absolutely horrible. Auran should be embarrassed putting stuff like this out to the public."

And it's that paragraph alone that I have a problem with. Because I do not think that it is true. I've had far more issues downloading software from Microsoft or Symantec or even Apple than I have ever had downloading files from Auran/N3V. I firmly believe that the majority of his issues stemmed from computer competency and not anything that Auran/N3V is responsible for…

Again if he's doing something different and providing a product at roughly the same price point that Auran/N3V is, I invite him to come back and explain how he does it, because it can only make the community a better place if in fact he's able to provide support for those people who obviously don't know how to download six files, put them in a directory, check their file size, and run setup.exe without written instructions and provide a better customer experience at the same price point.

Maybe he has a Mac, they are always perfect and nothing ever goes wrong............

Mick_Berg said:

Maybe he has a Mac, they are always perfect and nothing ever goes wrong............

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Obviously you've never experienced the sad Mac

It looks kind of like that and like an old stubborn Missouri mule it really doesn't tell you a lot more of what's happening other than it's sad…

Now of course I know the newer Mac operating system is quite a bit different but I used to get a kick whenever I had customers tell me they had a sad Mac, I would always ask "what did you do to hurt its feelings?" Which is why I guess I didn't have very many Apple customers:hehe:

I guess the hardest part of the horrible installation was clicking on the file that said setup.

bunkerrattmk2 said:

I guess the hardest part of the horrible installation was clicking on the file that said setup.

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As Harold says Auran/N3V has the worst in the gaming world…

I don't actually agree with that however, steam for example doesn't even tell you where the files are going, I like a little bit more control over my system, some people don't.

To me there could be nothing more simple than just put six files in a directory, verify the file size, and run setup.exe it's only natural to me to do that. Now I realize that's because of my experience with computers. If it's not natural for someone to just do that, and they need written instructions, then it's not the installation that's flawed it's the end-user's computer literacy this should be brought into question.

I fully realize that not everybody knows how to even make a directory let alone put six files in it. But again that's not really Auran/N3V's responsibility to teach someone how to do that for AU$50…