Bought TS2012, not sure what to make of it

[o0spyder0o]

G'day all
Last time I played Trainz it was on the 2006 UTC and having tried RW3 for a while I thought the latest Trainz 2012 would be worth looking into. I'm not into the US routes, the UK trains and routes being my main interest so I was a little dismayed to see how the included king's cross route looked no different to the graphics I had in TS2006. Am I missing something here? I have all details maxed out.
The deltic's cab isn't a good showcase for something made for 2012, the exterior just managing it as it is. Checking the other routes I was hopeful for the sim when I saw how much better the Mosti route and trains were, ditto for most of the other ones as well. So plainly the sim can cut it if something has been given attention to the detail, my question is now, what Uk trains and routes of quality are there and where do you get them? I've looked at the content manager and can't find anything, mind you I can't figure out how to search with it anyhow.
Is there anything I can replace the 55's cab (and other trains on that route) with? There's something that looks like a class 101 or similar, the interior of that was kind of bleached out and lacking also. There must be something better?
Many thanks

 

[Euphod]

Welcome back. As you probably know the great bulk of the assets made for Trainz have been made by third party creators. Much of it has not been brought up to the standards that 12 can display, some of it has. I have noted a bit of displeasure from fans of UK assets such as yours, and can only attribute it to a lack of third party creators releasing items for 12. I know John Whelan has made many, but don't know how many of those are locomotives and not freight wagons. There is definitely a hole to be filled by someone or some group willing to make newer objects for the game, perhaps as payware?
12 is capable of wonderful graphics, but that only narrows down the number of users that are talented enough to make the content, and causes those that do to have to commit to spending longer making the content. The US has several groups and individuals making both payware and freeware for the game, but other nationalities produce in a smaller percentage.
Good luck to you!

 

[o0spyder0o]

Well that helps explain it for me then, thank you. I thought Auran/N3V would pump out trains and routes like Railworks does for their developers too. Shame they didn't bring the Uk side into 2012 standard as this would probably put off people somewhat. Hopefully I can find some UK stock then. I don't think even ukts has much in that regard.
Appreciate your reply. Cheers

 

[Euphod]

N3V has been releasing DLC payware packs on occasion. Right now the Duchess pack is on sale, have a look here:

http://www.auran.com/shop/display_product.php?PID=343&VSN=RDV-TSPEC2DUCH

 

[Euphod]

There is also this:

http://www.auran.com/shop/display_product.php?PID=618

 

[Davie_UCF]

Sadly Trainz is like this, we have tons of content but most of it is quite a few versions old so not up to standard. It's not really as good as Railworks in that regard.

What I love Trainz for is creating, on my own routes I can usually get over the fact the 37 cab isn't all that great compared to RW3. There is a lot of great content out there on the DLS for the UK scene, still not as good as RW3 content but a factor of that is also that RW3 has a much better engine that has great lighting which improves everything a lot! Where as Trainz is on pretty much the same engine it had on the first ever release, plus a few changes a long the way.

So for me Trainz is where I can escape and create a route.
And Railworks is where I go for a more immersive drive to a schedule.

David

 

[peghorse]

All I know is that TS12 is as good as you make it.
But then I'm the sort of person that will adjust the
height of every single tile on a multiboard layout one by one.
Railwha..? ^^

 

[cam_jp]

I know what you mean.

My last Trainz was 2006 too. I know what you mean. The graphics is better and new controls good, but content is fairly sparse. I think they may be hoping to rely on third party creators and download tickets, not sure. (I admit I recently got the Blue comet for under A$4, but would prefer scenarios/sessions)

I certainly would like more routes and sessions released. I actually asked about downloading recommendations here: http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?89278-Scenarios-please-recommend-(DLS-or-third-party)

- Cam

Ultimately I agree with peghorse "TS12 is as good as you make it."

 

[JCitron]

If you want some nice UK content, purchase the Skipton to Carlisle. This route comes with some nice locos and wagons.

 

[merlot]

Also disappointed

G'day all
Last time I played Trainz it was on the 2006 UTC and having tried RW3 for a while I thought the latest Trainz 2012 would be worth looking into. I'm not into the US routes, the UK trains and routes being my main interest so I was a little dismayed to see how the included king's cross route looked no different to the graphics I had in TS2006. Am I missing something here? I have all details maxed out.
The deltic's cab isn't a good showcase for something made for 2012, the exterior just managing it as it is. Checking the other routes I was hopeful for the sim when I saw how much better the Mosti route and trains were, ditto for most of the other ones as well. So plainly the sim can cut it if something has been given attention to the detail, my question is now, what Uk trains and routes of quality are there and where do you get them? I've looked at the content manager and can't find anything, mind you I can't figure out how to search with it anyhow.
Is there anything I can replace the 55's cab (and other trains on that route) with? There's something that looks like a class 101 or similar, the interior of that was kind of bleached out and lacking also. There must be something better?
Many thanks

Had 2004 and 2006 and recently purchased 2012. Disappointed with the effort needed to keep trainz build up to date, with lack of content that will run on latest version, with all the missing dependencies that appear in the content that can be downloaded assuming download manager is working. This used to be a great product, but it now requires too much fiddling with content parameters to keep it going.

 

[shaneturner12]

Hi merlot,

There are several places you can get information on how to get content working for TS12 - for example, there is a sticky thread by gisa in the TS2010 forum.

Most faulty content has been fixed as part of the Download Station cleanup program, and are available as content updates. In TS12, this can be done in-game by clicking Content Updates, followed by Download All.

It is also essential to install the patches, as the patch system has changed since TRS2006.

If you are not sure on the patching side, see my New Users guide at http://trainz.shaneturner.co.uk/tutorials/index.php/home/new-user-guides---ts2009-ts2010-and-ts12.

Shane

 

[o0spyder0o]

I grabbed a 3 month FCt to grab some routes and stock but some things end up missing or failing to run. I went back to RW3 tonight and the difference was startling between the two.
Trainz has some great things going for it, the track detail on some of the installed routes are clearly better than RW3 and so are some of the sounds but RW has it for the UK content and the game engine. I guess I thought Trainz 2012 meant 2012 quality graphics but it's not. Anyway, not intending to start a sim vs sim argument here, they both have their good and bad points. RW sucks the money out of you if you want good content.
I can see the route building aspects of Trainz would be the feather in its cap, I laid some track down in 5 minutes of playing with the editor but gave up in RW because it's got a less than friendly editor. Besides, creating routes and stock isn't my thing, I just like to drive other's creations and immerse myself in the game.

 

[tomurban]

"I thought 2012 meant 2012 quality graphics but it's not." It's out there, unfortunately at this point in time it is mostly payware from either NV3 or third party sources. And most of that is US content. Good quality content takes time to make and time is $$$$$.

 

[Davie_UCF]

"I thought 2012 meant 2012 quality graphics but it's not." It's out there, unfortunately at this point in time it is mostly payware from either NV3 or third party sources. And most of that is US content. Good quality content takes time to make and time is $$$$$.

Unfortunately no matter how good the model, it won't make much difference as the Jet Engine doesn't really help. It needs a major overhaul with a decent lighting engine among other things to make Trainz stand up against other games.

 

[RRSignal]

I've seen the RW2/3 lighting engine. Seems like everything looks like an overcast day in January, so it isn't that great. And, while we're at it, I'm not fond of dark texturing and lighting in order to make textures blend; real life has light. Maybe the shadows are a little "too good"...

 

[tomurban]

Unfortunately no matter how good the model, it won't make much difference as the Jet Engine doesn't really help. It needs a major overhaul with a decent lighting engine among other things to make Trainz stand up against other games.

Can you give an example of better graphics in games. I am no expert, but some of the ones I have seen the scenes are so dark, I have trouble getting oriented.

 

[stovepipe]

Besides, creating routes and stock isn't my thing, I just like to drive other's creations and immerse myself in the game.

Different strokes I guess, personally I find driving set scenarios in RW rather dull - I want more than that.

 

[KenGreen]

I am always confused by the statements that Trainz has poor graphics and that it needs a better lighting engine etc. I find the graphics quite pleasing. I use Trainz like a model railway have about 15 drivers running in AI mode on ECML with the graphics at max as I love the LOD effect with the scenery, it blurs into the distance and doesn't just jump out on you like earlier versions. The scenery and the detailed houses shops etc does it for me as much as the trains. I jump from train to train to see the progress of each driver and sometimes will sit in the carriages for the ride. To say that the quality of the UK content is poor is ridiculous. I stopped using compatability mode with TS2010 but bought SnC add on, Murchison 2, Marias Pass and lately Marias Pass X and all of the steam DLC's from N3V and if you check the DLS for Skipper1945 amongst others you will find the finest UK content you could wish for.

Ken