Upgrade to Trainz 3.7?

Chadd04

Knuckle Shuffling
Hi i wanted to know if anyone could tell me if its a good idea to upgrade to Trainz 3.7 from 3.6 or not? I've heard some negatives about it, but I know quite a few people have done it.
 
Short answer to that question:
Are you into Multiplayer? Yes, update to build 58414.
Do you use a LOT of very old content? No, do not update past build 49922.

I'm sure more people will reply to give you the longer answer ;).
 
I would advise against it. YMMV, but, maong many other things, it introduces a huge number of problems, especially with DLC.
 
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As you've probably noticed, some users try and get other users to avoid SP1 at all costs.

What I will say is that it depends on whether you are starting fresh, or have a lot of content installed (and whether you have the patience to handle what SP1 may throw at you).

With a lot of content installed, it may involve fixing/updating some content, but the amount of content that needs to be actually fixed is getting smaller.

There are quite a few bugs with SP1 at the moment, but quite a few got dealt with with the 3 hotfixes.

One other thing though. Some content will only work on TS12 SP1, and once a route is saved in TS12 SP1 it cannot be read by anything before SP1.

Shane
 
Of course, some users will try to tell you it's the best thing since sliced bread, conveniently ignoring all the problems it causes. Unfortunately, once you install the patch, you can't "undo" it, at least without reinstalling and losing any modified routes and sessions.
 
Install both pre and after then you can decide what works for you.

I don't have a problem with SP1 although I've had crashes in CM but I don't experience the stuttering claimed by others. That must come down to how you use it.

The reason I went to SP1 is that cab controls in cab mode now work.
 
Of course, as has been said by a few people here, that this is all rubbish and avoid it like poisoned earth. If you plan to upgrade, make a backup copy of what you already have installed. If you don't like the new version, restore your backup. Period. That's what backups are for anyway. In the IT world, it's called disaster recovery. The errors that you'll encounter with the older content are things that should have been fixed in the first place. This is the next level of error checking that has been implemented. Missing thumbnails are easily repaired, and many content creators, including third-party creators, have updated their content to repair the error. In the event that something is not repaired yet, the fix takes longer to open the content in CM than it does to repair the asset. Other errors are some incorrect tags in the config. txt files. Among the more common one is Mode which requires an actual text-string value and not a number which many content creators put in there. These fixes are documented here in the forums and in the Wiki.

Now being one that has updated to SP1 already and a bit beyond, I can say that yes, like all Trainz versions thus far, this is still WIP - a work in progress. The good news is there are also some nice hidden gems and some nicely fixed things too. If you already have TS12 49xxxx version, you'll have noticed that merging doesn't work. As a route builder this is a fatal flaw that was sadly released with TS12. The SP fixes that and nicely so. There are a few other things worth mentioning too such as the ability to straighten roads and other splines now without going to the track tool, and some nice things under the hood.

Now, there is the DLC issues. If you don't upgrade you do miss out on the newer stuff being released, and yes there is the DRM which I've heard (read here) in the forums that N3V is looking to improve that current situation to allow users to modify the content locally but not upload it.

And to clear up another rumor. The program does not require that you are online all the time. This is false if you've read it. I use Trainz TS12 SP1 HF3 offline all the time. In fact I find there is better performance this way without the network connection.

John
 
Why upgrade to something that may or may not work when something new is in the air to replace it???
cheers,
Mike
 
Why upgrade to something that may or may not work when something new is in the air to replace it???

I'd answer this by saying:

* Because it's free, and better than what you have right now.
* Because while we're as excited about E2 as you are, it's not going to be in your hands in the immediate future. :)


The advice above about taking a backup before updating is good. That way you can try it out for yourself and make your own decision.

chris
 
I would advise against it. YMMV, but, among many other things, it introduces a huge number of problems, especially with DLC.

It would be good to get a list of these problems so that each may be worked on individually and be fixed. I realize that you also have a problem with DRM, but it would be good to understand which particular elements of DRM concern you the most. For example, some people are fine with Steam DRM (purchased items attached to an account rather than a machine ID), while others are not.

I do not advise. Begin to "glitches" and "crashes". 'll Have a problem (are): http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?106597-Nickel-Plate-quot-Unknown-Location-quot-!
Also - TRS 3.7 will kill all the power of your computer!
Termin, I am glad to see that the problem highlighted in this thread was identified and fixed on the day it was reported and had nothing at all to do with being V3.7 killing your computer after all.

Unfortunately it is this type of experience that people like to highlight as a reason to avoid SP1. This type of problem could have happened in any version of Trainz and appears to be caused by either an incomplete download or possibly a database error.

We can only fix known, reproduceable problems. The fix for Termin was either to redownload or repair the DB. The fix for people who install a patch, update content and don't take a backup copy and then decide to revert to a previous version without losing their work is to take a backup first (the same as they would lose work using most office products if they save the latest version without keeping a prior version).

For anyone who is having problems, please feel free to spell out the reproducable issues you have with SP1 HF3 and we will attempt to identify and fix them.
 
I am not excited about E2 at all actually,
cheers,
Mike

Hi Mike (and I assume you are from Australia?). I realize E2 may not be for everyone (or T2 for that matter - Trainz: A New Era), but it would be great to understand a little about why you have dismissed the concept prior to seeing the full project being revealed.
 
As some have said that TS12 SP1 has some bugz, and many things, like merging routes, are faulty ... Is TS12 SP1 going to have any updated SP's in the future ? Or is TS12 SP1 going to become another TS09, rushed out product to TS10, and become unsupported like 04, 06 are now ... and be abandoned as broken, when the new era of Trainz comes out ?

What I am saying is TS12 SP1 going to be fixed ... or is it going to be abandoned, and dropped like a blemished hot potato in the trash can ?

And will TS12 SP1 DLC assets be usable in the next version of Trainz ?

These are things I would like to know, before I rush out and buy TS12.

Do all the present TS12 discs, and digital downloads, now come pre-patched up to SP1, and trainz-build 3.7 ?
 
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Maybe this question has been asked and/or answered and I missed the point, can I please ask : Should one buy the latest TS12 version with the upgrades and fixes what happens to our current 49922 build versions - Does the new one overwrite build 49922 and are will the glitches and bugs we read about be sorted out ?
 
Hi Tony, (South Australia was part of Australia the last time I checked) I was introduced to Trainz in 2007 when I found a Trainz 1.3 in a bargain bin. From when I was a small boy I wanted a trainset, like most lads in the Fifties. Sadly I was never in the position to afford fulfillment of this passion. Trainz opened a whole new world to me at a time when had been forced onto a disabillity pension with many hours of nothing to do. I soon found that 3.1 was too restricting and purchased the Utimate Trainz Pack that included 2004 and 2006. These gave me the chance to have the trainset I had always wanted. I built my own routes and if I got sick of them I could hit the delete button and start again. Something that would be difficult with a model railway layout.
The computer I had was able to run 2004 ok but 2006 not so good. I stuck with 2004 until 2010 had been out for about a year. By this time I had been able to update my computer and found 2010 was as reliable if not more so than 2004. I still kept 2004 on my computer because it was like an old friend.
When TS12 came out I waited for a year or so staying with 2010, mainly due to having Compatability Mode because of the large number of older assets I had built up. Then one day I went to a Victrainz Group meet in Melbourne and was shown the new TS12 By Zec and was really impressed by the look of it. I bought it and found it was not so good once the pretty wrapping came off. I don't need to list the faults the programme had but I became disappointed with it. The biggest disappointment was that N3V didn't seem to want to fix the problems and everyone had to work out for themselves how to get around them. I went back to 2010 and only used TS12 for a few routes made by a couple of favourite creators. Then came SP1. No way was I rushing into that once I saw how many new problems were caused. I could never see why the original problems could not have been fixed as they came out, rather than the way it was done.
Then we have the Them and Us battle between the disappointed users who found TS12 lacking and the ones who were lucky to get the SP1 mess to work. Users who preferred to stay with the older more reliable versions of the game were treated like second class citizens and told we were holding up progress.
Well if TS12 was progress then they can keep it.
I still purchase First Class Tickets so I can download assets and I purchase Payware from sites that still produce product for the older versions. But I will not consider buying any more versions and that is why I am not interested in what the new wonder Trainz is going to do.
Cheers,
Mike
 
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