It is a limitation, automatically enforced by the software unfortunately. Earlier versions of Trainz had a very short draw distance but this could be enhanced (and fixed) via a third party app called Trainz Tuner. Hopefully T:ANE will leave the draw distance determination in the hands of the user and not reduce it in high asset areas, but don't hold your breath.
Trainz Tuner works really well, giving vast distances (if your system can cope). I use it with TRS2004.
I still remember the day when that vista opened up, creating reality at long last. I've stayed with it, partly though a general resistance to change (I'm not very good at adapting to new
(or unnecessary) ways of doing things), partly due to inertia, but mainly because I don't want to give up the facility to be able to have, and control, what I think is a critical aspect of the game. It provides equal viewing distance in Surveyor
and Driver.
However, there are a couple of drawbacks.
1. The more the game can see into the far distance, and the more objects and splines you add in Surveyor to your immense vista, then the more the game begins to stutter. It will eventually crash if you overdo it. Careful use of textures, rather than objects for distant terrain can help overcome this.
2. The Surveyor performance settings cannot be adjusted without losing the long draw distance. Simply going to the Performance Setting menu will default the game to the much shorter pre-set game limits (although pressing the X will back you out of the menu and restore the TrainzTuner settings). This means that you cannot adjust good and bad weather fog, and particle effect, etc., and retain long draw distances at the same time.
If the code gurus could sort out the latter problem it would be even more of a winner than it already is.
I reckon the majority of dedicated Trainz users are big enough, experienced enough, and ugly enough to be able to set their own draw distances. Getting the balance of distance and asset loading is part of the challenge. I love it!
