I don't get it?

K

KingTubby

New member
Hi

I am a complete newbie to Trainz having just purchassed Trainz Classic. And whilst I have no compaints about the quality of the software or the actual idea I must admit I am slightly baffled as to what to do!

This isn't a criticism of the game, more an admission of being a little confused. The manual does a good job of explaining some of the technical jargon - but it doesnt really help explain how to 'play' the game.

Can anyone offer some advice on how to get the most out of this game.

Some links to tutorials would be great, also can anyone suggest some good newbies routes etc to download

cheers
 
Trainz is very open ended. Basically you can do whatever you wish :)

I'd advise starting by running the built-in driver sessions. They will teach you how to drive in DCC mode (simple) and CAB mode (much more challenging).

In Surveyor you can create your own layouts. Creating a simple test layout is quick and easy. Creating a full realistic route is vastly more difficult and can take years.

Examples of all sort of items can be downloaded from Auran's DLS (Download Station) or from numerous fansites (freeware and payware). Driver sessions need layouts and rolling stock, layouts need track, buildings, vegetation, signals etc, and rolling stock needs bogies, enginespecs etc. Resolving missing dependencies is sometimes easy, often difficult. Many of the threads on this forum are concerned with resolving dependencies.

You can create your own driver sessions.

You can create your own buildings, rolling stock, etc but this requires a freeware third-party program such as gmax which is far from easy to learn.

The main thing is to have fun! Ask here if you have questions, all beginners do.

John
 
Hi John

Thanks for that feedback, much appreciated.

The thing that was confusing me was that in simple driver mode there are still no clear objectives? Is it completley up to me to literally drive where I wish?
 
Welcome to the Trainz community!

To get started, you might want to complete the tutorials supplied (not very sure about this, I'm on TRS2006), then try to drive a few trains of your own. I guess it's personal preference, but driving in DCC is much much easier than in cab mode. =) Most of the time, driver sessions would have something called a waybill. This tells you which goods are needed where. Although there is no tight timetabling (as far as I know) in TRS, you can drive your train at your own pace, following speed limits and signals. Alternatively, you can create

After this, you could check out Surveyor. This is the component that keeps people addicted to TRS even after so many years because of it's play value-you never get tired of building routes and seeing them come alive.

I still use the tutorials at trains.0catch.com and go through them everytime I have some problem. Or if you'd like, feel free to post under Surveyors, Operators, Engineers. The community would be pleased to help you. In my case, I preferred not to start downloading all sorts of content from the DLS immediately. Rather, get used to the (already) humongus amount of content, familiarize yourself with tracklaying, signalling, and sessions first. After that, you could use the DLS to search and downloads assets (trains, buildings, scenery etcetera etcetera).

And when you're ready, you can always jump in and try your hand at creating your very own custom content. These require external programs such as Paintshop Pro, Gmax, 3D Canvas bla bla bla, and as john259 has mentioned, they're not the easiest of programs to learn. I've not tried this yet, but in order of difficulty, the unexhaustive list would be:

Reskinning/repainting locos and rolling stock,
Replacing parts (bogies, horns etc.)
Creating buildings and scenery,
Creating interactive trackside industries,
Modelling rolling stock,
Modelling prototypical locomotives.

And so much more!

Once again, welcome to the World of Trainz! :D
 
Last edited:
KingTubby said:
The thing that was confusing me was that in simple driver mode there are still no clear objectives? Is it completley up to me to literally drive where I wish?
Click to expand...
Yes, that can be confusing. Driver sessions created by other people can leave things entirely up to you, or they can specify what you're meant to achieve fairly tightly. I'm not familiar with Trainz Classics so I don't know what its built-in driver sessions offer.

The Razorback Railway scripted activities give you specific goals to achieve and then either direct you through step by step or leave you to figure out how to achieve them (as in shunting puzzles etc). BUT - sadly Trainz Classic lacks many of the assets that are built-in with TRS2004 and TRS2006, so our activities won't work with it.

Perhaps someone else can recommend some activity-like driver sessions for TC?

One more thing - Trainz can be overwhelming. Don't try to do too much all at first. Take a quick look round at its various aspects to see what they are, then pick one you fancy and maybe explore that in depth for a while.

John
 
Last edited:
KingTubby said:
Hi

I am a complete newbie to Trainz having just purchassed Trainz Classic. And whilst I have no compaints about the quality of the software or the actual idea I must admit I am slightly baffled as to what to do!

This isn't a criticism of the game, more an admission of being a little confused. The manual does a good job of explaining some of the technical jargon - but it doesnt really help explain how to 'play' the game.

Can anyone offer some advice on how to get the most out of this game.

Some links to tutorials would be great, also can anyone suggest some good newbies routes etc to download

cheers
Click to expand...

One problem with TC is some TRS2006 built-in assets may not be available. It is a simulator rather than a game. Think in terms of a model railway set that you can switch gauges and time periods on. I have an interest in GWR Broad Gauge. The GWR Broad gauge items for example are modelled on plans from the Broad Gauge society. Narrow gauge logging layouts abound, fancy a trip on a Russian line its there. Most is free but there are a few very good payware items.

http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?t=406

for example.

No interest in trains but want to run animated horse drawn wagons, trams, buses they all exist. Many are passenger enabled. Trainz is big and it can be complex so I suggest nibbling a small bit off first.

Cheerio John
 
Euphod said:
Crap.....seven years and all this time we were supposed to DO something?
Ed:confused:
Click to expand...
And here I thought the main objective of this game was to download stuff...
icon6.gif
 
Have you ever wanted to build a model railroad layout and never had the room? This is you're chance. You can build your dream layout with no thought to cost or space. If you have ever wanted to visit other countries and see the railroads there, just visit the download station. There are great payware routes also. Numerous sessions and activities can be downloaded if you are more interested in operations. The only limit is your imagination. Welcome to the Forum and the great world of Trainz.

Jack
 
first things first

Yeah, King - I know what you mean. I came to Trainz from MSTS in which one 'plays' using pre-developed 'activities' that tell you what to do in detail. So, when I first opened Trainz, I was puzzled just as you are.

I think that the basic thing anyone new to Trainz has to understand is sessions - something like the activities of MSTS, but a lot more open. A session is where the action is. First you need to comprehend what a session is, and then you will probably want to develop your own. Many like to go on to route building, but there are some excellent, challenging routes out there, just for the downloading as well as others that are payware. Understand that you can do whatever you want with any route included or added - in Surveyor you can build entirely new sessions, add or subtract features to the route, etc. You cannot change the original route or any original session - any variations saved are identified with a 'c' in the vertical bar that separates routes from the sessions that run on them. Some downloaded routes don't have any sessions - you have to develop your own session to even to look at them in Driver mode.

First, I would do what John269 suggested. I use TRS 2006, but assume that TC has driver tutorial sessions teaching the operation of locomotives. But early on after those tutorials, I would open one of the included routes in Surveyor - the route itself, not a session. Then open the rolling stock tab (the one at the bottom of the lineup on the right side of the page in 2006 - has a spoked wheel icon), select an engine and place it somewhere on the rails of the route (does not matter where), add a few pieces of rolling stock, go into temporary driver mode while still in Surveyor (little icon of a man at upper left) and start driving around, probably in DCC at first. I don't know what there is in a TC route, but you can imagine yourself running from town or industry A to town or industry B - maybe from a coal mine to a generating station. If you do this you have just tried out your own session or activity (and it is saved, too) and can go from there, learning to use the session editor to make it either automatic or set it up for hands-on operation anytime you want.

Once a session is saved for temporary driver mode testing, you can open it again later in Driver mode. Whatever you do in Surveyor and save is stored in the Local file under Auran|TRS2006, but it's in a sort of code, so you cannot just open the file and read it in a human language. If you want to back up your work - or anything downloaded and committed - that is the file to back up.

After that, I'd go on to checking other people's sessions, examining them in Surveyor (use Edit Session) to see how they did things. Then start looking at routes, etc. Then to your own session and route building if interested in such. You can spend your life at this! And, from what I have seen of others' work, I think some people do spend their lives at this. And I'm most grateful to them for sharing with the rest of us.

Have fun!

Dick
 
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Jump right in...

KingTubby: Lots of good advice here, especially the link to http://trains.0catch.com/. I downloaded those tutorials (.pdf) and printed them out. I keep them in a folder beside my computer and refer to them regularly. ( I'm old and suffer from CRS )

Please know that Trains Classics, while being the latest and supposedly the most "refined" version of Trainz, has a limited amount of built-in content. I believe my version had 2 routes included. A search of the Download Station today listed the following available; 2687 routes, 24,586 "buildings", 8087 locomotives, not to mention all the trackside objects, and other items available. Know also that some items will not work across all the versions of Trainz. Most are upwardly compatable, that is if the item was created in TRS 2004, it may work in TRS 2006 and TC, but may not.

When you get familiar with Trainz and surveyor you may want to start creating your own route. There are third party programs that will let you form the terrain of your choice.

The compatibility issues and downloading can be a challange sometime, but don't get frustrated. I know I have tried to do too much too fast and had to walk away from Trainz for a while, but always seem to come back. Needless to say, this forum is an invaluable resource for all Trainz users new and old.
Thanks, Durff
 
If getting to grips with all the jargon is a problem, the Razorback Railway has a glossary of over five hundred terms relating to Trainz, real railways, and the RBR system.

John
 
john259 said:
Yes, that can be confusing. Driver sessions created by other people can leave things entirely up to you, or they can specify what you're meant to achieve fairly tightly. I'm not familiar with Trainz Classics so I don't know what its built-in driver sessions offer.

The Razorback Railway scripted activities give you specific goals to achieve and then either direct you through step by step or leave you to figure out how to achieve them (as in shunting puzzles etc). BUT - sadly Trainz Classic lacks many of the assets that are built-in with TRS2004 and TRS2006, so our activities won't work with it.

Perhaps someone else can recommend some activity-like driver sessions for TC?

One more thing - Trainz can be overwhelming. Don't try to do too much all at first. Take a quick look round at its various aspects to see what they are, then pick one you fancy and maybe explore that in depth for a while.

John
Click to expand...
Read, read and then read the forum posts. I am also a newbie (somewhat) and have spent hours in the forums. This has alerted me to many areas in my TRS2006 version and has assisted me with the overall understanding of the program.

Good luck with your Trainz experience.
 
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