Blown away by Trainz functionality

[Gary25b]

I've only had Trainz 2010 for a week or so, and every day I try something new in it, and it just keeps getting better and better. This is in comparison to my long, long experience with MSTS and considerable time with Railworks.

What has really astonished me is the AI functionality. I made many activities for MSTS and was pretty good at it, but couldn't dream of doing what I've seen in Trainz.

What got me to write this right now was that I just came across the Hawes Junction route, and saw the list of sessions, 'active' and 'passive.' The passive sessions being hands-off runthroughs of the active sessions. Never had so much fun with a train simulator, as just sitting back and watching the passive session proceed through all the switching, coupling, uncoupling, passing, etc.

By the way, whoever created those sessions deserves some big Kudos.

Funny how over the years in the MSTS-related forums I'd read all the put-downs of Trainz. Once again I learn not to believe everything I read or hear.

Hats off to Auran and all the route and session developers.

Back to the fun.

 

[mitch456yui]

Oh yeh, Trainz does that to ya.
I'm still amazed by it now...

 

[narrowgauge]

Gary25b

Welcome to Trainz.

Thank you, it is nice to hear from someone new, it makes a change from the negativity that seems to prevail at the present. I have worked with Trainz since 2001 and I still believe it is the tops in rail simulations. Easy enough for 10 year olds and still complex enough to challenge the old ones.

Peter

 

[Sampug394]

Thank you, it is nice to hear from someone new, it makes a change from the negativity that seems to prevail at the present. I have worked with Trainz since 2001 and I still believe it is the tops in rail simulations. Easy enough for 10 year olds and still complex enough to challenge the old ones.

Peter

Well said in all Parts sir.

 

[WindWalkr]

Welcome aboard, Gary.

I'd like to thank you on behalf of the Trainz team for your support and your kind words. Posts like yours that make all the hard work worthwhile.

Kind regards,

chris

 

[Euphod]

(Snip) the negativity that seems to prevail at the present.(Snip)

Glass half empty or half full? I was surprised to see this in print, as my perception has been hardly any bad press about 2010, a small amount concerning Speedtrees, and nothing but glowing reports from the experts!

I haven't seen much bad about 2010 on these forums...

 

[leeferr]

Gary, welcome to Trainz. It's the game that I've always dreamed of. It is very flexible and generally seems to be limited only by your imagination. Have fun and again, welcome.

Mike

 

[axe1970]

Welcome aboard Gary,

I like you enjoy setting up the AI to do my bidding. It's the simple things in life

Sure I'd like to see some improvements to the AI system, but all in all I get alot of enjoyment out of it. That and a easy waste of my time

regards

 

[weevil]

Trainz has had it's ups and downs and I haven't always agreed with the development directions that have been chosen, but for me TS2010 is overall my "hands down" choice at the moment.

Stuart

 

[Mike10]

What got me to write this right now was that I just came across the Hawes Junction route, and saw the list of sessions, 'active' and 'passive.' The passive sessions being hands-off runthroughs of the active sessions. Never had so much fun with a train simulator, as just sitting back and watching the passive session proceed through all the switching, coupling, uncoupling, passing, etc.

By the way, whoever created those sessions deserves some big Kudos.

AndrewH created those sessions for Hawes Junction.

Hawes Junction is really just a teaser for the full route, which was released first as Trainz Classics 3 ( www.trainzclassics.co.uk ) and later as an add-on for TS2009 ( www.settleandcarlisle.co.uk )

Mike.

 

[Dinorius_Redundicus]

Funny how over the years in the MSTS-related forums I'd read all the put-downs of Trainz. Once again I learn not to believe everything I read or hear.

Welcome from me too. I hope you get into content creation for us at some point, it adds another very enjoyable dimension to the hobby and one that everyone benefits from if you share your creations.

I've never visited MSTS, so is it possible to summarise their main criticisms of Trainz? I'd find it interesting to calibrate my own experiences against their perceptions.

~ Deane

 

[Gary25b]

I've never visited MSTS, so is it possible to summarise their main criticisms of Trainz? I'd find it interesting to calibrate my own experiences against their perceptions.

~ Deane

As I recall, mainly the graphics, and that it was strictly for 'layout' type routes - toy-like.

On both counts, way off the mark. Trainz even has coupler slack sounds! Small thing, but it sure adds to the realism. The graphics are stunning, in my opinion, with a level of added detail and real-world-like 'clutter' and scenery on some routes that really makes it come alive. The sounds are more realistic for steam engines. The loading/unloading mechanisms are much more varied and interesting. The ability to jump on board AI trains and run them ... I could go on and on about what I'm finding in Trainz.

Thanks for all the welcomes from everybody. As far as getting into the content creation with Trainz, what I hope to do is make some scenarios/sessions for various routes and post them.

 

[warrenup]

I would like to chime in here too. As a long time MSTS user, I was somewhat reluctant to buy Trainz 2010. I really enjoy the great work done in MSTS for UK routes and equipment, but for some reason the US side has never been as strong. I too was very impressed by the Hawes Junction tutorials and the ease of which I could operate in Trainz - not only my own train but the AI ops as well. I have downloaded and really enjoy the Erie Northern layout for the eastern US and am just starting on exploring Cumberland to Connellsville. The EN route encouraged me to start reskinning some passenger equipment for Lehigh Valley, Erie Lackawanna etc and it actually worked for me! The site of the cornell red baggage cars and coaches following that LV FA1 in upstate New York scenery is a virtual time machine.

I have started down the ECML route and found it interesting thus far - looking forward to trying S&C when I have more experience.

Yes, there are gaps and quirks - and some patience is required to get the most out of the program - but anyone who has dealt with MSTS should have the perfect background for those issues.

I am not about to toss my MSTS content because the realism created by the route makers is impressive. However the ability to create content and have a dynmaic AI environment has won me over - and best of all I don't have to deal with MSTS's Activity Editor.

Congrats to Auran and all the folks who contribute.

 

[allenconnor]

Love Trainz

Welcome to Trainz. I've been with trainz for some yeare now and still am amazed at what you can do with it. Running AI trains is what I really enjoy. While they're running I can be switching cars around. Portals are another part of it, which is great for getting trains off and on the route. It's so easy to put your trains on the track and get it going any way you want to. I was never able enough--money wise-- to have a big model train layout, but now I can have all I want and a layout bigger than anything that I could have dreamed of. It's unlimited.

Allen

 

[backyard]

Experience, is the key...

Hello Gary25b, welcome to the Auran Trainz Forum Community! :wave:

Check out this method of using the Auran Trainz Forums Daily & post your reply...

I have been around since 2003 & I am still amazed at how fully functional Auran Trainz really is.

We have the function of using digital elevation mapping to model the prototype railroad companies with all the grades, towns, track, signals, & scenery to take you places you have never been.

But you have to do your homework! Study everything you can & before long, you will have a wealth of resources like you never knew.

Anything you can think of should be perused using the "search" functions. Also, open the Download Station & just hit the search button to find the latest new assets...it's like a visit to the Local Hobby Shop(LHS), where you can also purchase the RailDriver through Walthers, usually at a discount.

Thanks for you comments, that goes a few miles to help our Content Creators be inspired to create even more!

Happy Trainzing!

 

[JCitron]

Welcome to Trainz, Gary.

I too came from MSTS way back when TRS2004 came out. I had tried earlier versions, but they crashed on my clunky computers I had at the time. Finally when TRS2004 came out, I jumped ship and haven't looked back since. During my tenure with MSTS, I had been attempting to build routes and activities in MSTS only to have a totally useless mess because the tools would crash. I agree the British routes were a lot more thought out. Perhaps it's the smaller size of everything over there.

What I found very frustrating with MSTS was how the opposing traffic would lock junctions and nothing could ever change this. With Trainz, the user is in control, not the other way around. We can jump from an AI-driven train to one of our own.

Building a custom route, or customizing anotherone is easily done as well. I've spent the past 5, almost 6 years working on my own route. In MSTS laying track and placing objects was a chore, particularly when the program crashed. With Trainz I've spent whole weekends in and out of Surveyor, laying track, placing objects, then doing quick drives to see how things work. It's as you've said, and many of us have before stated, this is quite a program and a very addicting one at that.

John