Is it okay to be unrealistic in Trainz?

[ray_whiley]

Do whatever you want, as I do - it's your Trainz and as others have said, the world of Trainz has many different aspects. If you create something and enjoy doing it, fine - that's all that matters. There is no need to create for others - but if you want to share with others, that's fine too.

Ray

 

[oknotsen]

Why did you print "American National" on the flag of the Netherlands?


Anyway,
I think a lot of us will appreciate a route that realistic even though it is unreal. A lot of us also like model railroads, which can be far from real. Heck, there are even a lot of people who like trains with a face on the front.

Do what you like; it is a hobby, remember? Things are supposed to be fun and relaxing.... Or at least most of the time.

 

[maruffijd]

Thanks Phil, I'll be sure to take your advice. Right now I'm using only Built-in and some DLS assets, and I plan to keep it that way so there aren't too many dependencies one has to download. I'm planning to use just a couple different types of trees and buildings, but in different ways, so there won't be as much lag while still looking good. I've always got performance in mind when I'm building my route, so if something doesn't work for me, I'll make sure it gets fixed so that it works for other users as well. I've already taken a look at the route-building tips on the TRS wiki, and I also keep them in mind while I'm building. I guess it's really a case of what the user playing wants. If they want a realistic route, then they can, but if they want something more fantasy, then they can have that too, and I guess that's the beauty of Trainz.

Don't forget the tutorial vids for advice and tips.

"I'm just wondering if building a somewhat unrealistic route would gather any attention ... I will try to make the route as realistic-looking as it can possibly be, but I am not aiming for a picture-perfect representation of a real railroad."

You would certainly get my attention 'cause they are exactly the sorts of routes and layouts I've been uploading to the Download Station for a decade or more. Like this still to be released layout that could never exist in real life -- but still follows prototypical practices (full screen / 1080p):



Three suggestions:
Use only built-in or Download Station content. Quite a few of us don't like to search to the farthest corners of the Universe for missing dependencies.
Make it as interesting and as varied as possible.
Try to keep frame rates reasonably good by using the same asset many times rather than a large number of assets only once.

Good luck and I'll be looking forward to the end result.

Phil

Like the vid. Route looks excellent, good camera control, and really like the way the horn go "ska-weeeee." (I put at least one of these on a route just to hear it's horn) yes I know about changing horns, I'd rather keep the locos as is to not muddy a creators hard word.

 

[Saieditor]

I agree. My basic story for the route is that in the 1970s, the American National Railroad Corporation, an alliance between many different railroad companies, was formed as a conglomeration of most passenger and some freight lines across the United States. American National found themselves with hundreds of freight and passenger locomotives, and repainted most of them into its famous red, white and blue colors. The route, of course, aims to simulate the early days of American National, both its passenger and its freight operations, in the summer of 1973.

Inspired by Amtrak and the Bangor and Aroostook railroad, American National adopted this simple paint scheme for most of its fleet, especially passenger trains, though some freight trains had this livery too. Its only other livery was a simple all-black livery with white "American National" text.

That's all I've got for now, really, but there's a lot more work to do yet.

Reminds me of Ted Benson's photos of the California Zephyr in the canyon with Amtrak E8's on the front.

 

[PendennisCastle]

Build anything you want in Trainz, there is no rules about building in-game, i built my own fictional route which is set in the north of england, it's not that accurate but still nice to drive on.

Here is a shot of the massive viaduct just before the abandoned station of Solway with a 3F Jinty passing over with a 3 Coach Push and Pull train.

 

[littleshunter060]

Why did you print "American National" on the flag of the Netherlands?


Anyway,
I think a lot of us will appreciate a route that realistic even though it is unreal. A lot of us also like model railroads, which can be far from real. Heck, there are even a lot of people who like trains with a face on the front.

Do what you like; it is a hobby, remember? Things are supposed to be fun and relaxing.... Or at least most of the time.

:hehe: I just made it as a visualization of what the colors for the rolling stock would look like. I knew it was going to look like one country's flag or another, since so many countries have red, white and blue flags. I also agree with you that Trainz, as a hobby, should be fun and relaxing. I don't think it's much fun if you're stressing over the smallest and most prototypical details, unless you're a rivet counter, that is.

 

[littleshunter060]

Build anything you want in Trainz, there is no rules about building in-game, i built my own fictional route which is set in the north of england, it's not that accurate but still nice to drive on.

Here is a shot of the massive viaduct just before the abandoned station of Solway with a 3F Jinty passing over with a 3 Coach Push and Pull train.

I like how it's coming along so far, It reminds me of a scene from Thomas the Tank Engine. The viaduct actually looks pretty good, I've seen lots of really tall brick viaducts in the UK (well, pictures of it anyways.)

 

[JCitron]

As the others have said here, you can do whatever you want with Trainz. It's your program and the only things that will stop you are running out of imagination and the limitations of your computer!

Over a decade ago, I got my first version of Trainz after trying the demo a year or so before. In December 2013 TRS2004 went on sale at CompUSA and I couldn't wait to install it. It was at that time, that my poor little N-scale layout became a spider village and cluttered because Trainz fulfilled my railroad hobby. After playing with the built-in routes, I downloaded some from various people to see how they were created. Surveyor proved to be the biggest and best part of Trainz for me, and my route building efforts were aimed at recreating my model railroad in Trainz, but on a real scale. Nearly 14 years later, the same route exists, though parts have been swapped out and others deleted as I have improved my route building skills. Even today, even with the rebuilding, the route has that look about it with some areas are absolutely stunning while others still look like my first creations. It's probably time to retire this route and archive it away, but that deep nostalgic soft spot in my heart digs the route up from time to time to give it a rework and a drive.

What has kept this route going for so long you wonder?

In part it was sticking to a theme. The vision was to recreate a New England railroad which took over the current operations of our freight lines from Pan Am Railways, then known as Guilford Transportation Industries. Included in the route, however, are branches which are totally fictional with one in particular being on land that does not exist on our coastline. Using quite a bit of Imagineering, I was able to work in a peninsula off the northern Massachusetts coast, between the Merrimack River and Gloucester. On this peninsula were two main cities, and a handful of villages and old industrial towns. Sticking to this theme has kept the route together, though there are parts now which are out of the scope and need to be trimmed back again, however, for the most part, the route is still based on the same theme. By sticking to this theme, I was able to pick and choose which assets I would use carefully in order to fit the region and period, the 1980s-1990s to be exact, and to ensure the towns look like they belong in New England and not the Midwest. This "purpose" also gave the Raison D'être for the very existence of the route. This in the end has meant that there are things that can't be included such as coal mines and steel ore docks, or automobile factories in large numbers. This does however mean that large mill cities will exist with their canals and long, now empty, mills and lots of factory worker's homes and cottages abound along their pre-planned and well laid out streets. It meant that there will be more farms and woodlands than big towns, though there will be areas of suburbs creeping in and taking over. Seaports too, not the big modern ones in large numbers, but instead smaller seaports with fishing and lobster boats, fancy yachts, light houses, and big mansions on the coastline.

Keeping the theme has meant that finding the assets needed a bit more difficult, but has also helped to keep the choices clear and concise. With nearly 400K assets available to download today, finding exactly what you want or finding too much of a good thing can be both a blessing and a curse. This doesn't mean I still don't have a lot of stuff installed. That happens with over a decade of Trainz use.

Anyway enjoy the program as a hobby as it will both entertain you as well as frustrate you. When you feel frustrated or burned out, step away and you'll be ready to jump in and enjoy the travails again of this great program.

John