Can I run 2009 world builder and Special edition together

[Muntenyana]

Hi,

I saw a copy of trainz Special edition on a sale for less than $5, so I bought it. I have since read bad reviews on it on Amazon, so now I am wondering whether to install it to run together with my 2009 world builder or not. Is it worth installing and will it run seamlessly, easily and integrated into the world build edition?

• captainkman - Yesterday 04:18 AM
  
  
  G'day,
  
  The support Forums are here: http://forums.auran.com/trainz/forum.php
  
  This 'Special Edition' that you purchased, do you know if it is Trainz 12? It sounds like it is if you purchased it only recently.
  
  It sounds like it should be installed separately.
  
  Kieran.
  
  
  
  ​

 

[Muntenyana]

• Thank you Kieran for pointing me in the right direction. I have moved my question here.
  
  
  ​

This is what I bought (but not from Amazon) at a BTGames, a walk in gaming store in my local town, no mention of '12'

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trainz-Simulator-Special-Edition-DVD/dp/B00NZ3YPZ0

Does anybody have this edition, is it worth installing, or should I stick with world builder 2009? The reason why I am running such an old version of the game is it is mostly to entertain my 5 year old son (and me too a little bit, geee, the game is really addictive), and he only has my old pc, an Intel 2.2GHz Duo core, albeit with 4 Gigs Ram and a Nvidia GeForce (I think its GT750 or something like that) for him to play games on.

Thanks

 

[captainkman]

G'day,

It's me again!

So, looking at the box art, is is Trainz 12 with some of the official DLC (Aerotrain & Coronation Scot). It is a separate game from 2009 and should be installed separately. Attempting to integrate the two would just result in a delete-and-reinstall being required as it wouldn't work.

You can still run them independently of each other, though.

"Does anybody have this edition, is it worth installing, or should I stick with world builder 2009?"
You can install it, and then see how it runs, framerate-wise. It should be installed and run independently of 2009. Then, you can decide to use TS12 or stick with 2009.

By the way, looking at the computer specs you provided, it seems that installing some more RAM into the computer would do a lot of good; 8GB total would be ideal.

Kieran.

EDIT: I have another question; did the pack come with more than 1 serial number? Extra serial numbers aside from the actual game one will be required to claim the Aerotrain and Coronation Scot add-ons. There have been a lot of Trainz packs going around that have no extra serial numbers for the DLC; the one that comes up the most is 'TS12 Ultimate Edition' from GAME in the UK.

 

[Muntenyana]

Hi Kieran,

I think i now have all of the answers that I am looking for, I do thank you for that.

It only came with one serial number, and I think this is the reason for the negative comments on Amazon from those who bought the game complaining that the two 'bonus expansion tracks' are in fact missing. It may also explain why it was sold for only $5 on a sale at the gaming store.

My last question then would be given that this is a subset of Trainz12, I guess it probably wont run properly on the old pc that we use (I already wasted $25 on buying Trains2015 for this pc in a haste purchase, which does not run too well) so it probably would not be worth installing ? unless I install it on my laptop, which is more powerful (intel i5) but the bottleneck would then probably be the integrated HD graphics card, I would guess. If I did try to decide to install it on my laptop, and then change my mind and want to install in on the old pc (perhaps upgraded) does Auran licence allow for that?

In the end, I think my son and I should probably just continue with world builder 2009, and then later, if he still has interest in the game, when I upgrade to a more modern pc, look out for the latest trainz sim available and buy that.

 

[captainkman]

It only came with one serial number, and I think this is the reason for the negative comments on Amazon from those who bought the game complaining that the two 'bonus expansion tracks' are in fact missing. It may also explain why it was sold for only $5 on a sale at the gaming store.

If you send a message to N3V's Helpdesk, showing proof of purchase, they can send you valid CD keys for the DLC. It will, once registered, download upon the next time Trainz is open. It does also explain the poor reviews. People cannot claim their DLC and they expect it to be in route form when the two packs included only include locomotives and rolling stock.

My last question then would be given that this is a subset of Trainz12, I guess it probably wont run properly on the old pc that we use (I already wasted $25 on buying Trains2015 for this pc in a haste purchase, which does not run too well) so it probably would not be worth installing ? unless I install it on my laptop, which is more powerful (intel i5) but the bottleneck would then probably be the integrated HD graphics card, I would guess. If I did try to decide to install it on my laptop, and then change my mind and want to install in on the old pc (perhaps upgraded) does Auran licence allow for that?

The license agreement permits you to install it on one computer at a time, but it won't void if you install it on both of your computers at the same time so you are free to do so.

In the end, I think my son and I should probably just continue with world builder 2009, and then later, if he still has interest in the game, when I upgrade to a more modern pc, look out for the latest trainz sim available and buy that.

I would personally install TS12 on both computers and see if it runs acceptably on either, then decide if it is worth using it instead of 2009. I would personally recommend purchasing more RAM for your son's laptop whether you use TS12 or 2009 on it. I think RAM is fairly cheap these days? I last bought some 5 years ago......

It is ultimately your decision, and your money.

Kieran.

 

[Muntenyana]

Hi Kieran,

Thanks VERY much for all your helpful pointers, it is really appreciated.

So, I installed the special edition yesterday on my laptop, and it indeed does say trainz 12 installing

It seemed to run ok on the laptop, and i played around with it for a while, but besides a different look to menus and so on, oh and a newlayers button, I couldnt really determine from the short time spent on it what the benefits from using it as opposed to 2009 World builder really are, so I Googled this of course, and most results yielded the Auran trainz forum, but, I could not find a thread that really addressed the differences. The graphics all seem to be of a similar standard and quality, for example the inside of a steam loco seems to be exactly the same in both editions. I wonder if you have a view on the differences. There does seem to be a lot less content in the special edition as opposed to world builder 2009, you know, buildings and stuff one would use to build a route, but I guess one could download all of that, or perhaps port (somehow) content from 2009 (still very new to all of this). I have noticed that my kid prefers to build routes with harbours and airports and fences and buildings and roads with vehicles, farm animals etc, and spends very little time driving a train on the route that he has spent hours and days creating (which I think is great) Every now and again he selects a train in easy drive mode and drives his route, then decides to add more stuff. Eventually, once declared complete, he simply begins a new route from scratch and repeats the process. I also tend to prefer building routes than actually driving.

 

[captainkman]

G'day,

"I couldnt really determine from the short time spent on it what the benefits from using it as opposed to 2009 World builder really are."
Only having TS2009 limits you to a few of these packs, such as the Settle & Carlisle route and a couple of others which were built with '09 in mind. TS12 allows one to purchase the rest of the packs that were not made compatible with anything below TS12, such as the SS4 locomotive add-on. Having TS12 also allows you to download and use content that was built for TS2010 and TS12, and this is an advantage since routes cannot be backdated to versions earlier than the one they were made in.

"I wonder if you have a view on the differences."

Certainly. I don't have 2009 myself, just 2010, but I do know enough about 2009 to tell you the main differences (apart from the menu ones that you have already noted):

- TS12 features animated trees known as Speed Trees; these were introduced in 2010.
- TS12 uses a new content set, whereas TS2010 and 2009 include a lot of old assets from 2004 and 2006. This is why there's not as much content - a lot of the 'rubbish' was filtered out and replaced with brand new, higher-quality content.

"....or perhaps port content from 2009."

This is very much possible, and can be done several ways. If you have content downloaded from the DLS or a third-party site, and wish to move it as well, the method can differ from the one used for only moving built-in content. With Trainz, as with a lot of things in life, there's more than one way to skin a cat.

"I have noticed that my kid prefers to build routes with harbours and airports and fences and buildings and roads with vehicles, farm animals etc, and spends very little time driving a train on the route that he has spent hours and days creating (which I think is great) Every now and again he selects a train in easy drive mode and drives his route, then decides to add more stuff. Eventually, once declared complete, he simply begins a new route from scratch and repeats the process. I also tend to prefer building routes than actually driving."

Now that's interesting. I prefer driving over route-building; I like to drive on downloaded or built-in routes. I am glad to hear that you're both enjoying the game.

Also, something that I perhaps should have mentioned earlier, regarding both versions of the game:
Above the Routes menu, there will most likely be a gold star. If you deselect this, this turns off the Favourite Content filter, making more content available.

There is also a tick box in Main Menu --> Options with 'Show only favourite content' next to it. I am not sure if this is in both 2009 and TS12 (it may be in neither!) but it would be worth checking out, to ensure you are seeing the full content set. I do know that it is present in TS2010.

Kieran.

 

[Muntenyana]

Thank you very much Kieran, for all of the information, I have learnt a lot from you over these few messages

Thanks for the gold star tip, as well as the fav content tip, i will look out for it. I did not know about that.

I am sure that I will see you in the forums, happy trainzing!

 

[captainkman]

Happy Trainzing to you, too.

Kieran.