I'm debating between TRS 2019 Platinum or North American Edition. I'm more interested in Surveyor within the two programs as per my other post under Trainz 2019 forum. Does Surveyor allow to "build" custom structures and or change existing structures? If Surveyor is different between the two program Surveyor portion, is there a breakdown list of the Surveyor portion?
I know the Platinum Edition has higher graphic resolutions but I don't necessarily need flowing grass that I'm sure will take up added memory in my computer and needless processor speeds. I'm more interested in building a model railroad with multiple automated trains and not be inhibited by my limited space my basement size which I have no basement... lol!
Thanx in advance
The Surveyor is more or less the same in both versions except for the camera options and the unified driver-surveyor system found in Platinum and up. You don't need to use the Turf-FX, which is in all versions of TRS2019. The old methods still work using textures, static grass objects, and splines, although, they don't look as nice as the Turf-FX grass.
The graphics resolutions are the same across all TRS2019 versions regardless of the build.
Here's an overview of the basic functions of Surveyor found in both versions.
http://online.ts2009.com/mediaWiki/index.php/Surveyor
You can create your own content using Blender and import the content in. You can also, clone, reskin, and modify non-DLC, and non-built-in assets. You can also modify non-built-in or DLC routes as well, and go as far as to merge them together if you want. With TRS2019 Platinum and up, you can modify a built-in route as such, but you can't merge the routes into anything else, but should you download a route from the Download Station, or install it from a 3rd party website, you can modify those to your heart's content.
Since assets, except for dig-hole type assets, such as tunnels, turntables, and other similar assets, aren't locked to the grid, you can also kitbash buildings together. We do this all the time with factory buildings to create a complex setup of buildings.
The program is pretty much like a gigantic model railroad with many, many aspects to it.
You can build the model railroad of your dreams and even sit in the cab and go for a ride. My route, one that I started in early January 2004, is a real-world representation of a model railroad I was building. The current route is about 189 miles long give or take since I've been updating and rebuilding the route from scratch in a lot of places. The program is nice in this respect because I was able to bring in the original route from 2004, load it up, and modify that as if there was nothing amiss. I laughed of course at my track-laying, which I thought was the bee's knees back then.
Expanding a route, which is only limited by your computer resources and your own imagination, is done by adding baseboards. You can also merge other already created routes, as mentioned above, and even create prototypical routes using a third-party program to generate the terrain. You can even import that and merge that into one of your own fictional routes. I did that and put in tracks into a what-if type situation. This was quite a challenge getting the tracks in while keeping roads and terrain pretty much intact. It meant crossings galore, bridges, and a couple of tunnels, and a lot of fun too.
As was said in another thread, we do recommend you get the package with the most content. This will also give you the most options.
Yes you can setup quite an operation once you get the experience and work through the quirks of the AI drivers. We've setup quite complex operations complete with interlocking towers, signaling, and interactive industries all while multiple AI drivers are driving all over the place.
Hope this helps answer your questions.
