any opinions on Railworks2??

[Vern]

A slight bump, but worth mentioning as I am now suffering from it.

If, for any reason, Steam malfunctions it means you cannot open Railworks. This is currently an issue on the laptop where I uninstalled RW, together with Steam then relented and tried to reinstall. Unfortunately there is a process called "SteamGuard" which for reasons best known to Valve is flagging it up as new hardware and requires an unlock code to be input. Except that each time they send me a code, Steam is rejecting it as "not quite right" despite me entering the sequence correctly.

So Railworks won't run on the laptop where I do development and thus far haven't replied to my support request. The loss will hopefully be Trainz' gain as I dust off dormant projects in TS2010 for another look. I shall be uninstalling what there is of RW and Steam on the laptop tomorrow and leaving it off. Take that, RSC. The space will come in handy for TS12 when I get round to ordering it.

A cautionary tale but one also relevant to Trainz users as N3V sell a version through Steam. My advice - leave well alone and buy direct from N3V. Steam ain't worth the hassle.

 

[mrscsi]

A slight bump, but worth mentioning as I am now suffering from it.

If, for any reason, Steam malfunctions it means you cannot open Railworks. This is currently an issue on the laptop where I uninstalled RW, together with Steam then relented and tried to reinstall. Unfortunately there is a process called "SteamGuard" which for reasons best known to Valve is flagging it up as new hardware and requires an unlock code to be input. Except that each time they send me a code, Steam is rejecting it as "not quite right" despite me entering the sequence correctly.

So Railworks won't run on the laptop where I do development and thus far haven't replied to my support request. The loss will hopefully be Trainz' gain as I dust off dormant projects in TS2010 for another look. I shall be uninstalling what there is of RW and Steam on the laptop tomorrow and leaving it off. Take that, RSC. The space will come in handy for TS12 when I get round to ordering it.

A cautionary tale but one also relevant to Trainz users as N3V sell a version through Steam. My advice - leave well alone and buy direct from N3V. Steam ain't worth the hassle.

I got two free games with my video card, both were on steam. Neither are installed on my computer nor will they be. I realized early on that dealing with steam could be a very arduous situation. Although there are "hacked" DLL files floating all over the Internet that claim to solve that issue, I don't know if I would trust any. I think you're right in just removing railworks and steam and sticking with direct downloads from Auran/N3V…

 

[mcguirel]

Let me expand this controversial post with a side note:

Anyone who owns MSTS needs to really really really look at Open Rails.

No more version chasing as this will be opensource improvements as developed (huge plus and a possible ruining of Trainz).
It will have multiplayer and from I understand now it will be IP/Lan Based. Anyone with 3DMax/GMAX Talent can create.
Sorry, but I feel TS12 should of been TS2010 SP4 Value Added Pack and TS2010 Add-On Route Package Purchase(s).

The graphics on this is absolutely phenominal. 3D Content is in developement along with almost every feature minus a surveyor function as easy a Trainz ( only downfall ).
I am really considering migrating to Open Rails, but awaiting one open ticket to the HelpDesk to see what opportunity arises from it.

I feel honestly this MSTS OpenSource Mode is going to grow leaps and bounds and open many avenues for people who find they need to find a new source to enjoy Railroading.

In Additional edit: Some of the best creators in MSTS are coming back and am I totally impressed with what they have to offer, not only Payware but Freeware.
Bar none, some of the best rolling stock and engines I've witnessed.

 

[IsambardKingdomBrunel]

Yup i use OR, mostly with the S&D route for MSTS.

I prefer it to RailWonk ( oops the sensitive little darlins on ukts will be upset now ).

I see great potential in OR, as long as the correct people are involved in it's development.

IKB.

 

[meatloaf747]

:hehe: But the party goes on...

This reminds me of "We Didn't Start The Fire" by Billy Joel... :hehe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFTLKWw542g Me neither... The ever-musical side of Alberte :wave:

Billy Joel !!! And here I was thinking you where another Hendrix fanatic like me !!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bng3agUOYiI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoAXW30mMAg&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLeIdH2gTSc&NR=1

The totting side of Mac... :hehe:

 

[Mike10]

The shadows are a legitimate advantage, and one that Auran/N3V would do well to try and replicate - it would make asset creation slightly easier to not have to worry about supplying shadow meshes too.

The shaders are very useful, however, you do still have to supply shadow meshes for rolling stock.

This is the heirachy of meshes in Max for a relatively simple brake van for Railworks.

Mike.

 

[HSTGuy14]

I was actually thinking to buy Railworks 2 as it looks a lot more realistic than Trainz
This is a Railworks 2 Class 66:

and This is a Trainz Class 66:

 

[RRSignal]

Re-read this thread, then. I doubt you will want to buy.

Unlike a lot of people, I am couldn't care less about platform; I already have 3 different train sims running on my machine and would have no problem with a fourth if it provided what I wanted. And, I don't care much about price. But I'm not even willing to try RW2 because of the Steam DRM. I don't want somebody else being able to decide if and when they can turn off my software and render my investment worthless, which many other companies have done. Not to mention I don't want to give someone else carte blanche access to my computer.

Note I haven't even touched on the myriad of other problems with RW2; others have taken care of that above.

 

[IsambardKingdomBrunel]

Nice pics HSTGuy14.............

I have to agree the Trainz version looks much nicer.

Plus it won't have the crazy physics of the RW2 Class 66.

With it's F1 car acceleration, ability to cruise at over max speed at 25% throttle and haul twice as many freight wagons. Than are realistic in the real world, while doing all this.

The cab interior is great though, all RW2 cabs are better than anything in Trainz. Apart from some chinese, russian and jointed rail contributions to TS12.

IKB.

 

[NikkiA]

The cab interior is great though, all RW2 cabs are better than anything in Trainz. Apart from some chinese, russian and jointed rail contributions to TS12.

Ironically, the cab on the RW class 66 is about the worst of the lot (largely because the prototype is grey, boxy, drab and boring too), and the rumour3 class 66 interior is about as good as the RW class 66, it's one of the better of the 'older' trainz interiors.

On the other hand, Hummus' CD 471 EMU released today, along with any of Ocemy's engines, and the more recent stuff on trainzup (the ChS series and the new M62) blow away railworks' payware interiors. Which pretty much proves there's nothing intrinsic to trainz interiors being 'bad', we've just been lazy over the last few years (coupled with the fact that quite a few don't even use the interior views so don't care how they look)

 

[IsambardKingdomBrunel]

I disagree, i wouldn't say they "blow away" the RW2 cab interiors.

But they are certainly on a par with them.

IKB.

 

[mrscsi]

Ironically, the cab on the RW class 66 is about the worst of the lot (largely because the prototype is grey, boxy, drab and boring too), and the rumour3 class 66 interior is about as good as the RW class 66, it's one of the better of the 'older' trainz interiors.

On the other hand, Hummus' CD 471 EMU released today, along with any of Ocemy's engines, and the more recent stuff on trainzup (the ChS series and the new M62) blow away railworks' payware interiors. Which pretty much proves there's nothing intrinsic to trainz interiors being 'bad', we've just been lazy over the last few years (coupled with the fact that quite a few don't even use the interior views so don't care how they look)

Being introduced Ocemy's work (although I'm sure I've run across Examples over the years) but when I bought ContZ I guess I should say I was "awakened" to the level of detail that Ocemy puts in his work.

He has definitely raised the bar, thrown down the gauntlet, upped the ante, when it comes to detail level in Trainz. I think a lot more content creators are going to step up to the challenge instead of rolling over and laying down…

His containers are just absolutely sick when it comes to the level of detail.

 

[22alpha]

Ocemy is an animal! His work gives us all something to strive for! It certainly opens eyes to see what can be done. We have work to do!

Mike

 

[rumour3]

I was actually thinking to buy Railworks 2 as it looks a lot more realistic than Trainz
This is a Railworks 2 Class 66: Snip

and This is a Trainz Class 66: Snip

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't these both Railworks?

R3

 

[mezzoprezzo]

I was actually thinking to buy Railworks 2 as it looks a lot more realistic than Trainz
~images snipped~

Hi HSTGuy14.

Not a bad picture (the Railworks one, the Trainz tinypic isn’t opening for me), but how real is it?

I’d still like to see a modelled version of a real scene, with photographic evidence to compare the real deal with the Railworks modelled equivalent. To me that is the real test of how a product can emulate reality.

It not just the software which enables this, but also the wealth of creative assets made and shared by the community. Over the years, Trainz users have provided more than enough material to reproduce the right result for every continent and practically any country.

Some of the Railworks screenshots do look quite impressive, but there is always something in the image which lets it down. I’ve yet to see one which has blown me away.

The image shown has a nice loco. The track isn’t bad, but the building on the right platform, and the canopy on the left appear to be floating. They are not anchored to the ground. I can only guess that Railworks does not have a good enough selection of assets to make them look connected to the platforms.

There is also a strange block in the top centre sky, and what looks like the top of some kind of frame over the near left side track. A bit picky perhaps, but not something which should appear in a screen grab.

Let’s have a true test. How about posting a Railworks/real image comparison?

Cheers
Casper

 

[Retro00064]

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't these both Railworks?

R3

Ditto. The "bars" at the top and bottom of the "Trainz" screenshot do not look very Trainz-like to me.

Regards.

 

[sniper297]

That's correct, the first pic in post 227 is from Railworks, the bottom pic is from the predecessor Rail Simulator.

"it looks a lot more realistic than Trainz"

I agree, but that's ALL it has going for it, the AI traffic is hopeless, and all the "further enhance" patching they have done over the last three years only makes it worse.

Trainz has only one major flaw that makes Railworks look so much better;

Laying out complex trackwork with realistic looking switches takes minutes in Railworks, impossible in Trainz.

 

[zatovisualworks]

Laying out complex trackwork with realistic looking switches takes minutes in Railworks, impossible in Trainz.

Realistic? It depends on what you really realize it's realistic, dear guy.

I don't usually show this kind of pictures but your overassuring statement prompted me to show you that life 1:1 is life 1:1 whereas virtual life should keep being virtual...

Please, forgive my daring post but I sometimes get puzzled while thinking about the different perceptions of realism and virtuality most of us show off and how we tend to state ours to be the good one. Impressionism and expressionism in painting would be a good sample for starting over.

The photorealistic side of Alberte :wave:

 

[IsambardKingdomBrunel]

Nothing realistic about RW track, it looks like chunks of 2D angle iron.

There are some track textures in MSTS, that look better than RW.

IKB.

 

[mcguirel]

Nothing realistic about RW track, it looks like chunks of 2D angle iron.

There are some track textures in MSTS, that look better than RW.

IKB.

There is a guy for Open Rails, can remember who off hand that is working on th best turnouts I have ever seen. I find the site with info, will pass along.