Approach_Medium
Trainz Addict
I have been a Trainzer since the original version, but really since TS2004.
I have always enjoyed the simplicity of working in Surveyor, and driving trains. I like to create routes, from DEMs, and freehand.
But the one thing I have always been lustful for is better sound and sights in Trainz. I am dismayed at the fact that if I try to run more than one train in the same area, where both trains are visible, and with many different cars and locos, the frame rate drops to about 10 (Fraps), and there is a lot of stuttering. I have also been disappointed that with each new version of Trainz (I have TS2010 now), the improvements to graphics and sound have been very weak.
The other night, I was very frustrated with Trainz, and decided to go across the tracks and purchase Railworks 2. I downloaded the game directly, so was able to start playing right away.
The first thing I saw was that the graphics in RW is much better than in TS2010, and despite Fraps reporting a FPS of between 12 and 15 much of the time, I never saw the stuttering that I see in Trainz.
So, I enjoyed driving a train for a couple of hours. The sounds were nicer in RW than in TS as well, although I hear room for improvement there too.
Then, I started thinking about creating a route in RW. That's when the fun ended. Apparently (and from what I have read everywhere) it is much more difficult to create routes in RW than in TS. That's one thing I have always loved about Trainz; its intuitive interface will get you creating routes within minutes, rather than hours.
I still haven't done anything in RW editor (I've only had the game for a day and a half), and maybe I never will.
I am finding some other shortcomings in RW as well. For instance, you cannot drive more than one train yourself. I wanted to run a Free Roam session, but found no way to switch locos the way I can in Trainz. I love to just run without AI in Trainz, sometimes running up to 4 trains at once, and trying not to mess up on a long single-track route.
Another thing I found lacking in RW is the ability to move quickly about the world while in driver.
In Trainz, you just use the mouse to fly from place to place. But in RW, you have to use both the mouse and arrow keys. It is very clumsy.
So, what I am saying, is that sometimes it is necessary to cross the tracks and see things from a different perspective in order to appreciate what you have.
Trainz is by no means a perfect game, but from what I have seen so far of Railworks 2, I won't be moving away from Trainzland anytime soon.
But I would like N3V or whomever owns Trainz to think about the next major version of Trainz, and focus on better quality graphics, sound, and overall game performance.
Sure, multi-player is fun, and maybe it will sell a lot of copies of Trainz, but in the end, if you're a route builder and script writer like I am, we need more core improvement rather than additional fun things like multiplayer.
Perhaps with the release of Trainz multiplayer, the train will be split in two, each half being pulled by its own locomotives. One will go towards fun stuff like multiplayer, and the other (including I) will go for a better performing and more realism instead of new fun features.
Oh, and one last thing that pretty much locked the switches in favor of Trainz over Railworks 2 for me is that in RW, crossings are static, non-functional objects. One thing I love about Trainz is the functionality of crossings and other scripted objects.
Happy Trainzing
FW
I have always enjoyed the simplicity of working in Surveyor, and driving trains. I like to create routes, from DEMs, and freehand.
But the one thing I have always been lustful for is better sound and sights in Trainz. I am dismayed at the fact that if I try to run more than one train in the same area, where both trains are visible, and with many different cars and locos, the frame rate drops to about 10 (Fraps), and there is a lot of stuttering. I have also been disappointed that with each new version of Trainz (I have TS2010 now), the improvements to graphics and sound have been very weak.
The other night, I was very frustrated with Trainz, and decided to go across the tracks and purchase Railworks 2. I downloaded the game directly, so was able to start playing right away.
The first thing I saw was that the graphics in RW is much better than in TS2010, and despite Fraps reporting a FPS of between 12 and 15 much of the time, I never saw the stuttering that I see in Trainz.
So, I enjoyed driving a train for a couple of hours. The sounds were nicer in RW than in TS as well, although I hear room for improvement there too.
Then, I started thinking about creating a route in RW. That's when the fun ended. Apparently (and from what I have read everywhere) it is much more difficult to create routes in RW than in TS. That's one thing I have always loved about Trainz; its intuitive interface will get you creating routes within minutes, rather than hours.
I still haven't done anything in RW editor (I've only had the game for a day and a half), and maybe I never will.
I am finding some other shortcomings in RW as well. For instance, you cannot drive more than one train yourself. I wanted to run a Free Roam session, but found no way to switch locos the way I can in Trainz. I love to just run without AI in Trainz, sometimes running up to 4 trains at once, and trying not to mess up on a long single-track route.
Another thing I found lacking in RW is the ability to move quickly about the world while in driver.
In Trainz, you just use the mouse to fly from place to place. But in RW, you have to use both the mouse and arrow keys. It is very clumsy.
So, what I am saying, is that sometimes it is necessary to cross the tracks and see things from a different perspective in order to appreciate what you have.
Trainz is by no means a perfect game, but from what I have seen so far of Railworks 2, I won't be moving away from Trainzland anytime soon.
But I would like N3V or whomever owns Trainz to think about the next major version of Trainz, and focus on better quality graphics, sound, and overall game performance.
Sure, multi-player is fun, and maybe it will sell a lot of copies of Trainz, but in the end, if you're a route builder and script writer like I am, we need more core improvement rather than additional fun things like multiplayer.
Perhaps with the release of Trainz multiplayer, the train will be split in two, each half being pulled by its own locomotives. One will go towards fun stuff like multiplayer, and the other (including I) will go for a better performing and more realism instead of new fun features.
Oh, and one last thing that pretty much locked the switches in favor of Trainz over Railworks 2 for me is that in RW, crossings are static, non-functional objects. One thing I love about Trainz is the functionality of crossings and other scripted objects.
Happy Trainzing
FW