Disappointed with Trainz 2012

[ollieplimsoles]

Hello Everyone. I am new to any version of Trainz so please excuse me if I state the obvious or have posted in the wrong place. I have just installed and patched TZ2012 to Build 58414. I have started with the 'Lincoln Relief' scenario. Results have been distinctly underwhelming I'm afraid. This may be blasphemy but, it seems to be a league or two below Train Simulator 2014 that I have been using. I thought I'd give TZ2010 a go as well attracted by good reviews, wide selection of routes and large amount of 3rd party content. I may have it set up incorrectly though so I'm asking for advice. The problem is mainly the graphics performance. When the scenario loads it takes time to 'draw' the cab interior at the start, to 'draw' distant objects for about 30seconds and to 'draw' at any change of camera e.g. when selecting Chase View or other camera changes. When the train is moving I can see the track being 'drawn' in front. 'Stuttering' also occurs during Cab View and other camera views. These just don't happen with the 'other' simulator. My PC is quite up to date, (see spec below), so perhaps I am doing something silly? Anyhow, I am open to any suggestions as I know I should be getting a better experience than this! Regards, Mark S
Intel Core i5 3570K Processor overclocked to up to 4.5GHz
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Cooler
Asus P8Z77-V LX Motherboard with USB 3.0
8GB PC3-12800 1600Mhz DDR3 Memory
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 1GB Graphics Card
1000GB SATA 7200rpm Hard Disk
500watt Xigmatek PSU
Windows 7 64bit

 

[shaneturner12]

Welcome to the forums.

Firstly, the ECML route in Trainz is large, so one should expect a bit of stuttering on that route at least at the start whilst it's still loading in the assets required for the route and session. The speed of the hard drive has a bearing on this - the faster the hard drive, the less stuttering usually.

It's difficult to compare against RW/RS (the main rival) as I haven't personally played it, but to be honest a lot of what is available for Trainz is free (but I'm not going to go into the pros and cons of that).

Also, unless I've missed something, the requirements for the other sim are lower than for Trainz.

Shane

 

[ollieplimsoles]

Thanks Shane. Just to mention that I've tried switching between DirectX and OpenGL with no apparent difference between them regarding quality or frame rate. I'll try with a smaller route and try some content from DLS and see what happens.
Regards,
Mark S.

 

[cheechako]

I left Trainz over a year ago in part because of the sluggish performance and reduced graphics compared to RW/TS on my i5/GTX660. The performance can vary quite a bit depending on the route and camera.

However, it is true that Trainz can be better on lower end systems than the competition, especially when you have to turn down graphics settings, which is one of the main reasons to use the other one. And, Trainz has quite a variety of community-created content. When I bought the other one, I was excited about the announced Workshop support, but that is only routes that can use all the paid DLC content.

As is the case with any game, limit background tasks, lower settings, and all that. It still is a rather painful experience for me, especially compared to what I see in the other one. The good news is that Trainz will have a new and improved engine that should address all of these things. This project is currently being kick-started. That's the reason I'm back now, and struggling with the sluggish Trainz2012 to reacquaint myself. I didn't want to leave Trainz - I wanted Trainz with better performance and graphics, so I am definitely backing this!

 

[clam1952]

Try a defrag, after patching the drive is usually fragmented which doesn't help, also be aware that the first run of a route requires all items to be loaded, subsequent runs the items are cached so they should load a bit quicker

 

[shaneturner12]

Thanks Shane. Just to mention that I've tried switching between DirectX and OpenGL with no apparent difference between them regarding quality or frame rate. I'll try with a smaller route and try some content from DLS and see what happens.
Regards,
Mark S.

No problem. As most Trainz content is created as freeware, the quality can vary quite a bit. Make sure you have the latest DirectX files though, as it may help on the framerate side.

Shane

 

[AntonyVW]

Something that has not yet been mentioned is that Trainz is 32bit whereas you are using a 64bit setup. As a result it is not using your pc to its best as all 32bit software is limited to just 4Gb ram and I note that your pc has 8Gb ram. This is one of the big changes we will see in the new version that we are being asked to pledge to on kickstart - the fact that it will be a 64bit game. Once that goes live we should see a big improvement on the way the game plays. And just out of interest Im currently running an i7 with 8Gb ram and 2xNvidia GTX460 and I cant wait to get rid of the jitters it currently has.

 

[TorenHynes]

Trainz doesn't need really high FPS to be playable, it's not like a FPS game or a RPG where the action can happen in a split second. If you get something like 30FPS that should be plenty of FPS to allow Trainz to run to its fullest extent.
A tip on impoving FPS, though, is to use textures for far-away forests and villages becuase having tons of trees/houses/buildings can really lag down Trainz.

 

[philskene]

ollie --

Some routes have a well deserved reputation for bringing even high end PCs to their knees. The built-in ECML and Norfolk & Western, for example, can degenerate into slide shows on my computer. It's all to do with the mass of detail and the huge number of assets required by the routes.

As a suggestion, try something a little less demanding. A route where fewer assets have to be loaded into memory and processed by the graphics card. Your PC is better than mine so you should certainly be able to get better than this (best watched full screen and HD):

If this does interest you, look for routes by "philskene" on the Download Station.

 

[KingConrail76]

Hello Everyone....Regards, Mark S
Intel Core i5 3570K Processor overclocked to up to 4.5GHz
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Cooler
Asus P8Z77-V LX Motherboard with USB 3.0
8GB PC3-12800 1600Mhz DDR3 Memory
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 1GB Graphics Card
1000GB SATA 7200rpm Hard Disk
500watt Xigmatek PSU
Windows 7 64bit

One thing that hasn't been mentioned, your Power Supply is on the small side for the Hardware you're powering, especially with the i5 overclocked to 4.5 GHz...
--I have an AMD Phenom Black, at 3.6 Ghz, otherwise similar specs, and I am running a 775 Watt Thermaltake power supply. (If I had 2~3 Nvidia cards, I'd run a minimum of 1000 watts)

When T2 comes out, it should be absolutely blistering on your system, however, for current versions of Trainz, you simply will never utilize your hardware the way "the competition" does.
-In essence, you are expecting your Hardware to make Software perform better, and it simply will not.

I'm in the same boat, to some extent, as my big desktop "work" machine (built for 3D Modeling/Graphics/Route Building) does not run Trainz as well as I would expect, but my off the shelf HP laptop (middle of the road) runs Trainz better than expected.

 

[ollieplimsoles]

Hi Guys. Thank you all for your extremely helpful and considered replies. They are all useful. I'll lower my expectations and certainly be very keen to look at any revamped version when it appears. I do most of my 'mainstream' gaming on my Xbox/PS3/Wii, ( I know, I have all three...sad or what for a 55 year old family man ), and only use my PC for FSX, TS2014, 'sensible' things and now Trainz 2012. I have played Rage on it with no problems whatsoever so any new version of Trainz should be really good. I look forward to it. Thanks again, Mark S.:wave:

 

[shaneturner12]

If you want to know more about the new version (Trainz: A New Era) have a look on the Kickstarter page (link is in green above) and the Trainz: A New Era + Kickstarter forum.

Shane

 

[ftldave]

I found the information in this post to be helpful: http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?92805-Help-trainz-12-run-smoother-simple-quick-tip

 

[cheechako]

Trainz doesn't need really high FPS to be playable, it's not like a FPS game or a RPG where the action can happen in a split second. If you get something like 30FPS that should be plenty of FPS to allow Trainz to run to its fullest extent.

I would be happy with a stable 30+ on Murchison high-detail. Yes, I've read the warning when launching the high-detail version. If I can drive Horseshoe Curve with max settings, TSX on, and shadows from trains, landscape, and structures at a stable 60, why can I not get half that in Trainz? (Somewhat rhetorical - I think the answer might be Trainz: A New Era.)

You don't need 60, but this software has other concerns - those twitch games don't need the level of draw distance that we want here. When we are not focused on the swarm of enemies in our face, we have more chance to look off to the horizon and see all the trees and hills "pop in". If we swivel the camera a bit (turn our head), it can be really disconcerting for the frame rate to drop to half or less for a bit. Again, I can get used to stable 30, but bouncing from 15 to 40 or so every time I move around a bit is annoying.

When I just let a complex route load fully and then sit back and just watch the scenery go by, things tend to stabilize. But, to be honest, I have a much better simulator for that experience.

I'm looking forward to (pledged, even) the new engine because I want to sit back and watch AND get in close and hands-on in the same simulator, and hopefully do this without dropping to a slide-show when I transition between the two.

p.s. As I hinted at and others have mentioned, there are various things and tips to get the most out of this game. You may be limited to sluggish performance with a low-end machine, but that is also a case where you might not be able to run the other sims at all! I find patience (let things load, let the camera catch up to you) help the Trainz experience as well.