Back after long absence

[Allypup2]

Hello all.

I started with trainz 2004 (with paint shed) (registered under different e-mail, had harassment issues)

Then got 2006. Had fun with my own route and had begun prototyping the Boston and Albany, circa 1950.

In 2008 I became ill and spent the next 3 years under the care of the US Veterans Administration. In putting my life back together, my gaming computer was gone and with the return of some property I found my Trainz copies, and some ( not all ) of my cd archived files.

I have just installed and updated my 2006, and been viewing the forums to get up to speed. I would like to update, but according to min. specs, 2009 is as high as I can go.
My system is a 2 year old HP Pavilion
AMD Phenom II N850 triple core 2.20 GHz
4 gig ram
64 bit
Win 7 Home Premium SP1
AMD M880G with ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250 ( I believe this is shared memory )

Apparently with 2006 I need to Purchase a FCT in order to download anything. And the Content Manager is a nightmare.

My overall goal is to recreate the 1950's and I would very much appreciate hints and suggestions on how to precede;
For example would purchasing 2009 be a good move?
My disability pension is too low for me to be able to upgrade my system.

 

[cascaderailroad]

I want to welcome you back, and will help you in any way that I can, as I am mostly working with TRS2006 on my Toshiba Satellite 105 (beater laptop), and TS10 on my higher end desktop PC.

TS09 is less of a trainzbuild than TS10, so TS10 is superior to TS09.

If your PC can handle TS10 I would go for that, but I would also recommend going straight to TS12, as some have said the TS12 has better frame rates than TS10. If you need a higher end PC to run more recent versions, a desktop retrofitted with a higher end power supply, so that it can power a quality video card, is rather inexpensive at @ $500 or less. Most laptops are not meant for gaming simulators.

The CMP in TRS2006 is rather easy, but most content is build 2.7, 2.9, 3.0, 3.6, and must be retrofitted (backdated) to trainzbuild 2.6 in order to play in TRS2006.


Forum PM, Skype, or YahooIM/Mail is always welcomed to all.

PM me and I will hop on Skype, (as I am rarely online, asside from the forum PM).

 

[shaneturner12]

That is correct. Any version older than TS2009 is considered unsupported.

Your system is similar to mine (although mine is only a dual-core processor and a ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4200 card), and I'm able to run TS12 albeit with low framerates so it should manage TS2009 OK but framerates may be low depending on what assets are used. It is possible to reduce the graphics (draw distance and detail) on TS2009 and later though.

Shane

 

[Allypup2]

Thanks Cascader and Shane,
I do not mind lower frame rate and minimizing settings, It might be possible to save enough for a better system, albeit a year or so.
I could minimize assets to only those for my prototype my main criteria for which version 2009, 2010, 2012 is the route building so which version is best for that is probably the better question.

 

[boc61]

Welcome back. I've also returned after a long absence.

 

[rjhowie]

Always good to see a return and as boc61 rightly says after a long gap.