Does Trainz Have a Future?

One thing to remember guys, if they update the engine that runs the game too much, most of the content will not be interchangeable between versions as it is now.
 
One thing to remember guys, if they update the engine that runs the game too much, most of the content will not be interchangeable between versions as it is now.

Who cares, there'll be newer and better content. There was some very nice pre-SP3 content (and still is on the DLS) that doesn't work with UTC or TRS2004, but I wouldn't want to go back to setting up consists outside of trainz and then hoping they'll fit at the trackmark I've selected in order to use them. A mesh is a mesh is a mesh. All the other bits and pieces such as attachment points and config files can be added, deleted and edited as needed for whatever features a new version requires. How difficult is it to put a bounding box object into a mesh to support real-world collision detection, and using REAL shadows cast from objects is tons easier than making shadow meshes. The wheels of progress will roll on, provided the engine does as well.
 
LOL It's worth visiting this forum just to see your latest, Ed. :hehe:

TC2005 sounds great, but I am not sure the publishers would go for it. :wave:

All silliness aside though, and like Aidan said, a big chunk of Auran has finished, but the small chunk that owns Trainz is doing fine, is recovering quickly from the upheavels and has no plans to leave the genre any time soon.

I am quite certain that at very least there'll be one popularly accepted common ground to come. It was always our intention with TC that there would be in the end, just like it was always our intention to improve the feasibility of the product for the investors.

Glad to see the subject is so close to the heart of so many of you, but I assure you that your fears are at this stage quite unfounded.

Cheers and have fun,

~R~
 
It's not interchangeable anyway

One thing to remember guys, if they update the engine that runs the game too much, most of the content will not be interchangeable between versions as it is now.

Well most of it isn't interchangeable anymore is it? I'm struggling to understand why Auran have even bothered to include CMP on the Trainz Classics disc. Everything in download station has a missing KUID that renders it useless. It's almost like they've made downloading content to 'Classics' impossible on purpose so they can sell us expansion packs later. (Like Settle & Carlisle for example). I'm very annoyed that I've forked out thirty quid for a less than a handful of content. Even Rail Simulator came with more than that!
 
I'm struggling to understand why Auran have even bothered to include CMP on the Trainz Classics disc.
CMP is the reason that I no longer use TRS2006, and will be the reason I won't be throwing caution to the wind and buying TC3.
I'm not a fan of the TC concept, but I would be tempted to buy TC3 if CMP was no longer part of the deal.

For those who don't know, I beta tested both TRS2004 and TRS2006, and CMP behaved itself very well for me and most of the beta team during TRS2006 testing, with a small percentage having nothing but trouble.
This strange "feature" of CMP has also shown itself to the community since it was released, with most people having no trouble with it, and a small percentage of the community having constant trouble.
Even after release, my CMP worked flawlessly for many months, and then one day it decided to play up, and got so bad that I couldn't guarantee that I would be able to use TRS2006 without problems.

The reason I bring this up is to hopefully stop those with no CMP problems from saying so, because one day it might not be so. :D

Despite any assurances that CMP in TC1,2 and 3 is fixed and more stable, I cannot bring myself to waste much of my time with it.

I strongly believe that TRS2006 is a far better product than TRS2004, and I have no reason to believe that the TC series hasn't improved it again in some ways. After all, I've witnessed pretty much each version being improved by Auran as the years have gone on.

For me, CMP should have just installed and listed all content on your machine, and that's it.
I run a lot of database type programs made by both professionals and open source hobbyists (like myself), and I've never come across a database program that's as unstable as CMP.

If it sounds like I've gone off-topic a bit (which has been known in the past :wave: ) then I disagree. If Trainz has a future then these are important issues that need to be addressed.
CMP finally stopped me using a program that I loved testing and loved using, and forced me to go back to an earlier version.

Why not get Bloodnok to knock up a "lite" version of CMP from scratch, with no Internet capabilities, no editing, and just the ability to install, uninstall and list assets.
Ship both CMP and CMP Lite with TRS so people can choose for themselves, and make TRS more forgiving with asset errors, like earlier versions.

Do that, and Auran have got my money for any future versions of Trainz they release.

Unfortunately, it won't happen. :(


I'm going to shut up now.

For now.

Smiley.
 
Smiley,

With the utmost of respect :
Did anyone at the time of Beta testing try to discipher why some of the testers could not use CMP without problems ?
OS, Internet connection, etc. ?
It still appears to me that the solution to CMP is a basically simple one, but one that is going to be very difficult to discover.
I like your idea that a patch for TRS06 be written and released that allows the user to disable CMP if the user wishes, but as you have stated, "Unfortunately it won't happen" !
And I suppose there are other things in Auran's great plans of things to be, that are more important to them than what members are begging for ?

---,dave
 
Did anyone at the time of Beta testing try to discipher why some of the testers could not use CMP without problems ?
Dave, without breaking my old NDA, you can be sure that everything was tried with all combinations of systems.
I remember personally trying to duplicate a problem someone was having for hours on end, without success.
I now suffer that exact problem every time I use TRS2006 (or did).
Neither the Beta testers or Auran can be blamed for CMPs problems in my opinion.

It just backs up my original statement that CMP tries to do too many things, and the more complicated a program is, the more elusive these problems are to track down.

I remember years ago chatting with someone on here (via Email) about the old Content Manager that came with the earlier versions of Trainz, and laughing at it, saying how boring and useless it was.
What I wouldn't give for a simple program like that now. :D

Smiley.
 
This would give me a real reason to accept TRS2005 and future iterations, but not while the dead hand of CMP hovers at the portal, and the devil of CCP waits inside.

Why not get Bloodnok to knock up a "lite" version of CMP from scratch, with no Internet capabilities, no editing, and just the ability to install, uninstall and list assets.
Ship both CMP and CMP Lite with TRS so people can choose for themselves, and make TRS more forgiving with asset errors, like earlier versions.

Can this be done?

The silly thing is that I will continue to buy all new versions, even though I have no intention of using them

Cheers

Narrowgauge
 
The only use I have for CMP is to commit content & backup my own routes.It's too slow even on my broadband connection to view & download content when using thumbnail view it takes forever to load.

I prefer to use Downloader Pro it's so much quicker & by downloading to a new folder each month ( jan08 feb08 ) etc it creates my content backup as i download separate from the Trainz Folder.

If CMP worked in a similar way where you could select the download folder & then import & commit it would be an improvement.

Dave
 
When I first received TRS06, I too had many, many problems with what I thought, was CMP. However as it turns out, if you fix the content with CMP, it works. Sure, it's slow and tedious but it's not difficult. Once you fix the content and discard the assets that truly don't work, you'll find that CMP and TRS work quite well.

I rarely have crashes or lockups anymore.

Have fun!


Boco
 
It appears that CMP is the "Boogieman" that will scare otherwise intelligent users from buying future versions of Trainz. Perhaps Auran should take note, and offer CMP separately from the next version of Trainz. I know it would make the forums alot more interesting....think of the hilarity that will ensue!

Fix the faulty content, then use it in whatever version Trainz you choose, and you will be pleased.

Ed
 
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When I first received TRS06, I too had many, many problems with what I thought, was CMP. However as it turns out, if you fix the content with CMP, it works. Sure, it's slow and tedious but it's not difficult. Once you fix the content and discard the assets that truly don't work, you'll find that CMP and TRS work quite well.

I rarely have crashes or lockups anymore.

Have fun!


Boco

This is the price we pay for having an open resource like the DLS that anyone can contribute to. IMHO it's well worth the extra trouble to weed out or fix the problem cases in return for an absolutely incredible variety of assets, virtually free for the taking. The alternative is a stripped-down collection of assets a la Trainz Classics, which may be fine for the built-in layouts included, but is very limited in variety as a result.

Unfortunately the priorities of serious layout builders and Auran's don't exactly mesh here--Auran would no doubt much prefer a smaller, reliable collection in order to minimize technical support and avoid discouraging new purchasers from continuing. So there will always be a need for tact and diplomacy on both sides of the issue.

--Lamont
 
Yes I have an opinion.... and it hasn't changed since I first saw the beast while it was still in beta.

In my opinion.

If Windows gave the same percentage of its users problems similar to the ones we experience, the whole world would be up in arms. I strongly believe there are a large numbers of users out there in the world, who try Trainz and give up in disgust. I know I would have done if I had been presented with this type of problem, life is too short for CMP aggravation

Here it appears that we must always blame the user or the content, there seems to be a mindset that if CMP freezes, it is not a program problem.

If the program had been properly designed and coded to begin with, correctly implemented error handling would be taking care of the problems of both content and user. When CMP falls into an apparently incommunicable stupor it is very poor error handling, and lousy programming.

In my opinion....

Cheers (I think, but then that is only my opinion):wave: :wave: :wave: :wave:

Narrowgauge
 
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