Introduction and a Question

[drjoe]

I saw a thread on here when I was browsing around, and it was basically "What brought you to Trainz?". I am a long time MSTS user and I have RailWorks2 and I have Trainz2006. Guess what? Each of them has strengths that I like, so I am not going to ever get into which one is best. Not important to me. Those of you who are members at TrainSim.com may recognize my handle. I use the same one there. I feel as if I made one or two big contributions to the MSTS community. Maybe I can contribute here, or maybe I will just enjoy.

The thing that got me to Trainz was that I found a copy of Trainz 2006 in a bargain bin for the amazing price of $6.00. It was interesting, but certainly different from MSTS. As I explored the DLS for what was available, I noted that the content was improving, and it seemed as if the base sim was trying to improve as well ( Do any of the Train Simming developers every move fast enough or include your "got to have this function" improvement? ). Trainz was moving past being a "model railroad" simulator. So I dabbled and watched. Then Auran started sending me vouchers for buying 2010, and also a newsletter. Then I saw My First Trainzset, and because I have a grandson who always asks to play trains on papa's computer, I thought about getting that for my grandsons. Well, Auran bundled 2010 with My First Trainzset, and the price was the same if I used my voucher and then bought My First Trainzset. Now I have 2010, My First Trainzset, and an unused voucher that apparently I can give to someone!

The other part of the decision to get 2010 was based on wanting to enjoy the particular features of Trainz 2010, especially the AI. I certainly love my MSTS setup, having all I could want from it. While MSTS is not going to change ( all work on MSTSBin has been stopped for a long time ), Open Rails looks very promising. RailWorks 2 looks beautiful, but physics and AI need some improvement. Changes are slowly coming with RW2, and I expect most problems to be corrected over time ( unfortunately, a long time ). I am also in a VR that supports both MSTS and RailWorks2. Most VR's are record engineer's reported activities ( scenarios in RW2 and sessions in Trainz ), and the ones I like best have lots of other trains ( AI ). PhilSkene and Sniper have "demonstrated" the fantastic capabilities of Trainz' AI ( I do think that Trainz is the "leader" as far as overall capabilities of AI ), and I want to explore the possibility of our VR also supporting a Trainz division.

So that tells you how and why I came to Trainz. Now for my question: Due to space constraints, I want to move my Trainz2006 to another computer, preferably before I install 2010 on my laptop. Can I simply install it on the other computer? I don't have too much downloaded content for it, but I would like to keep what I have ( and I know some may no longer be available on the DLS ). After installing on the other computer, is it possible to just copy over the files? Since the other computer has a different graphics card, is there something I shouldn't overwrite? Thanks to anyone who can help with this.

Joe Morris aka drjoe

 

[RRSignal]

Hi, Joe. Welcome! First, let me say that I am not settled on one sim either. I have MSTS. I was considering RW2 but am unwilling to try it due to the DRM even though it's on sale for Christmas. I love the ease of creation of Trainz, which was really my primary reason for selecting it; MSTS was borderline impossible and most say RW isn't too easy either.

In short answer to your question, I can't say anything about TRS2006, but I've found one can move TS2010 as long as it's been properly installed, including all installed content. I moved Trainz from my C: to D: drive due to space concerns and then to another computer, all with no trouble (though it helped to make some registry tweaks to point from my C: drive to my D:, I think that's optional.) The portability of TS2010 is a HUGE - but often overlooked and undocumented - bonus of Trainz, since it eases system reconfiguration and upgrades greatly. That's especially important considering the size and amount of content that may be installed into it. I also have my Trainz backed up to a hard drive; all I have to do to get it working would be to simply copy the entire Program Files\Auran folder to whatever drive I want to restore a fully-functional copy.

I would strongly consider keeping TS2010 on a second drive unless you have lots of space on your C: drive. You'd be surprised how much space content takes and how fast it accumulates!

 

[JCitron]

Joe,

Welcome to the forums.

I too came in from MSTS. There's some great stuff created for that sim, and I wish in some ways it could be imported to Trainz. There are some nice routes such as the D&H Bridge Line that are really nice to drive.

Anyway, regarding moving your install. You can install TRS2006 on your other computer using the same license.

To move your content, copy the local folder to a removeable hard disk, DVD, etc.

Setup TRS2006 on your other computer in the normal fashion. There will be no need to register the software since it's already registered to you.

Import the content from the removable device into Trainz using Content Manager. Open up File on th menu and choose import content.

When the content is imported, ensure that it is committed, and you'll be good to go.

John

 

[martinvk]

Ever since I first downloaded anything from the DLS, I always kept a local copy of the CDP file in a safe place, Then if I ever needed to reinstall anything, I didn't have to download it again unless it had been updated in the meantime.

If you don't have too much extra content, just open them all for Edit in CMP. Then save the Edit folder in a safe place. Install TRS2009 in its new location and then import all the content from the old Edit folder into the new installation.

Meanwhile, welcome to Trainz. If it wasn't for your space constrains, it is quite possible to have multiple versions on the same computer.