Minimum Spec or Better, but only 10-15fps

[ulmer94]

Hi
I have a couple of problems.

Problem 1:
I meet or exceed the minimum requirements for TS2009. I have Windows Vista Home Premium, 1GB RAM, 256MB of graphics, Pentium dual-core processor.
Yet I get 10-15fps, 20 at best, running a low-end route, such as Highland Valley or some such, and forget about running a really detailed route because it'll crash the program! That's with all the graphics settings in the Options set to their lowest values.

Problem 2:
I have no budget for new graphics, RAM, etc. if I need it, which the box and TrainzDiag say I don't.

Does anyone have any (free) solutions?

Thanks

 

[RRSignal]

Well, if you have a retail copy of XP, perhaps that would help.

That aside, it's going to come down to tweaking and shutting down unnecessary background processes. Shutting off networking, your anti-virus, and firewall will probably do the most good. If you can detach your network cable then great; otherwise, run the command ipconfig /release from the run Window. Here's a little more detail if you aren't familiar. You can restart your network without rebooting by entering ipconfig /renew

As for other processes, it's a long story and varies by system so I cannot tell you what to shut down and what not to. There's a program called Gamebooster from iobit that temporarily turns off many background processes though I don't know exactly what.

Generally, if you own any HP products, you can shut down any hp background processes permanently with no ill effects; many if not most software vendors and hardware manufacturers background processes to support their products - very few if any of which are necessary - and HP takes the cake as they may install as many as 4 or 5 for something simple like a scanner or printer. But if you go this route, do so at your own risk and use caution before shutting down any process; I recommend killing them via Task Manager to see if any ill effects result and, even then, only with the aforementioned HP processes, which will begin with the letters 'hp'. You can always Google a process name and decide whether or not to try nuking it.

 

[Retro00064]

I hate to say it, but those specifications look a bit low for running TS2009 or TS2010. Just because you meet the minimum requirements does not mean that you will get great performance. My laptop's specifications are roughly the same, and TRS2004 (which is a rather old version of Trainz, from way back in September 2003) still slows down on moderately detailed areas on routes (though I do not have all of the sliders set all the way to the left). TS2009 and TS2010 apparently have some/many of the old lower-polygon-count built-in models replaced with newer, higher-polygon-count models, placing extra load on your computer.

Regards.

 

[johnwhelan]

Hi
I have a couple of problems.

Problem 1:
I meet or exceed the minimum requirements for TS2009. I have Windows Vista Home Premium, 1GB RAM, 256MB of graphics, Pentium dual-core processor.
Yet I get 10-15fps, 20 at best, running a low-end route, such as Highland Valley or some such, and forget about running a really detailed route because it'll crash the program! That's with all the graphics settings in the Options set to their lowest values.

Problem 2:
I have no budget for new graphics, RAM, etc. if I need it, which the box and TrainzDiag say I don't.

Does anyone have any (free) solutions?

Thanks

Vista is known for needing more resources to run software than XP or Win 7. 1 gig of ram doesn't help, and is probably the cheapest upgrade you can make take it to 2 gigs or better still 4 gigs or more if you have 64 bit version of the operating system available. People have noted that TS2010 gives better frame rates on the same hardware.

Make sure you are running in Native mode, which might not be the default in TS2009. Have a look through the performance settings you could probably drop the distance back from 5000 meters. Are you running Directx? if not try that. After that dig in the developer settings and look for assets that need a lot of resources then sub them.

Remember that Trainz is open ended which means content can be very demanding. No matter what the hardware is the right combination of assets can bring it to its knees.

Cheerio John

 

[ulmer94]

Vista is known for needing more resources to run software than XP or Win 7. 1 gig of ram doesn't help, and is probably the cheapest upgrade you can make take it to 2 gigs or better still 4 gigs or more if you have 64 bit version of the operating system available. People have noted that TS2010 gives better frame rates on the same hardware.

Make sure you are running in Native mode, which might not be the default in TS2009. Have a look through the performance settings you could probably drop the distance back from 5000 meters. Are you running Directx? if not try that. After that dig in the developer settings and look for assets that need a lot of resources then sub them.

Remember that Trainz is open ended which means content can be very demanding. No matter what the hardware is the right combination of assets can bring it to its knees.

Cheerio John

I am not running in Native mode, I don't have all Native mode compatible content and Native mode makes it look awful.
I do have all the sliders pushed to the left in the performance settings already. And I'm running DirectX. And I really, really wish I had XP on this machine. I had a laptop with a 1.6ghz Celeron, 512mb of memory, and virtually no on-board graphics and Trainz seemed to run just as good (EDIT: okay, not good, but...) or maybe even a bit better on that machine

But I don't have an extra copy of XP lying around, and I have nothing in my budget for ugrading a computer for Trainz.

 

[johnwhelan]

I am not running in Native mode, I don't have all Native mode compatible content and Native mode makes it look awful.


But I don't have an extra copy of XP lying around, and I have nothing in my budget for ugrading a computer for Trainz.

Run native mode and switch the awful looking things for things that look better. I assume you mean trees, Speedtree in TS2010 helps here but there are one or two that work not too badly in native mode in TS2009.

Cheerio John

 

[madtrainz14]

Hi
I have a couple of problems.

Problem 1:
I meet or exceed the minimum requirements for TS2009. I have Windows Vista Home Premium, 1GB RAM, 256MB of graphics, Pentium dual-core processor.
Yet I get 10-15fps, 20 at best, running a low-end route, such as Highland Valley or some such, and forget about running a really detailed route because it'll crash the program! That's with all the graphics settings in the Options set to their lowest values.

Problem 2:
I have no budget for new graphics, RAM, etc. if I need it, which the box and TrainzDiag say I don't.

Does anyone have any (free) solutions?

Thanks

hi

try a program called ( game booster )

:wave: :wave: :wave:

 

[ulmer94]

@johnwhelan
I like the trees I got, they're dmdrake's, trunda's and jankvis's good'uns. Is there some way to fix/upgrade them for TS2009 so that a spline crossing in front of them on-screen doesn't make them see-through in Native mode?

@madtrainz14
I haven't got around to it yet, but somebody has already suggested that. I will try it.
_____________________________________________

And any other ideas for speeding things up?

Thanks!

 

[madtrainz14]

hi
1 disk cleanup and then disk defragmenter
2 try cleaning the pc up of old programs you do not use
3 give game booster a go v2.3
4 give the pc a good clean ( heat will slow it down ) only if you no how to
5 see if your drivers are all up to date on windows

hope it helps

:wave: :wave: :wave:

 

[malikrthr]

I have a 2009 Dell Inspiron 1545. It had an intel Pentium inside Dual core T3400 processor running at 2.17 GHz. I wonder if this would be considered as Intel Pentium V (5). I have 136 GB right now with a 1TB external hard drive, Intel R series express chipset family, 768x1366 highest resolution, and Windows Vista home premium 64 bit. I have played trainz 2006 and trainz classics good on medium-high end routes. I have started reading about gaming laptops and desktops and saving my money to probably build a monster of a computer that will run trainz with over 4.0 GHz, intel core i7 980x extreme, 500GB hard drive.

 

[johnwhelan]

@johnwhelan
I like the trees I got, they're dmdrake's, trunda's and jankvis's good'uns. Is there some way to fix/upgrade them for TS2009 so that a spline crossing in front of them on-screen doesn't make them see-through in Native mode?

@madtrainz14
I haven't got around to it yet, but somebody has already suggested that. I will try it.
_____________________________________________

And any other ideas for speeding things up?

Thanks!

Stopping services basically does two things one is it frees up memory the second is it seems to slow the system down. If memory is a bottleneck they can help, if it isn't then they won't.

You don't show a location but memory isn't that expensive, from $12 for a gig at newegg, even 4 gigs can be had for $40.

Othewise you are back to the developer bit and look for items with 'worst buffer count' and eliminate them. As for trees have a dig in the forum some trees look better than others in TS2009 native mode. I don't think there is any magic bullet here. There is a search and replace command in TS2009 so you can replace anything with anything on a route.

Cheerio John

 

[ulmer94]

@madtrainz14: Done all that now. Did most of it except Game Booster before I started the thread. Game Booster did not seem to help even a little bit. Thanks anyway!

@malikrthr: You're turning me green with envy. Thanks a bunch :hehe:

@Everybody: OK, I don't know if y'all can help me, but I'm revising this to "How can I speed up Trainz without eliminating/replacing assets or buying expensive hardware/software?" If there are no solutions...oh well. I have been enduring bad frame rates up till now, I can survive until I can afford a good computer or good hardware...but I was hoping for a more immediate solution.
Any advice?

 

[tomurban]

John Whelan gave you some good advice. Add at least 2GB of RAM that matches what you have now. $40 should cover it at newegg.

tomurban

 

[malikrthr]

Here are some good tips for better frame rates on low to medium end computers. Go to options in the trainz menu and where it says advanced setting or tuning settings, you can adjust the sliders like for the train poly count, detail, draw distance, shadows, and more. Adjusting this should help a bit.

 

[ulmer94]

First thing I did, malikrthr. Everything's all the way to the left.

And I don't have $40 for RAM in my budget, tomurban. That's why I'm asking for free software help....

 

[tomurban]

Another way to improve frame rates is to run TRAINZ (driver mode) in cab view. On a low spec system I have experienced frame rates increases from 100% to 125% in cab view.

tomurban

 

[Mick_Berg]

Hi...........I meet or exceed the minimum requirements for TS2009.............
Thanks

I don't mean to make fun of ulmer94's situation, but I thought his phrasing, "I meet or exceed the minimum....." as opposed to "my computer meets..." was amusing.

What is the minimum spec for a human being to use Trainz, I wonder?
1. At least one working eye. (perspective effects will be lost)
2. At least one working ear (mono sound only)
3. At least one working finger (or toe) to press keyboard buttons (however this will result in all splines being joined together because of inability to hold the shift key permanently down)
4. IQ of 50 or less to tolerate Trainz silliness
5. Add your suggestions here.....

Mick Berg .

 

[ulmer94]

@Mick_Berg: If I respond with my usual response to that sort of thing, I'll obviously have too high an IQ for Trainz because I can't tolerate the silliness, so I'll keep my 's to myself. :hehe: I meet all the other human minimum specs to use Trainz, anyways.

@tomurban: I know, but I am a Trainz Watcher as a rule, not generally a Trainz Driver. I like my outside cameras.

Sorry guys, if I'm being difficult to help because I'm not willing to sacrifice certain things...

Is there anything in the command line options that might speed me up? And I have some assets that are faulty that I can't figure out how to fix, would faulty assets slow things down a lot?

 

[johnwhelan]

And I have some assets that are faulty that I can't figure out how to fix, would faulty assets slow things down a lot?

Yes but the buffer thing will pick out the problem ones as well.

Cheerio John

 

[ulmer94]

What is a good buffer count? I have Trainz open right now with one of my custom routes (and no, I don't usually run Trainz and another program at the same time).
I'll give you exactly what it says:

StitchedMesh Statistics
total buffers: 1078
unprocessed buffers: 0
indices:1890708
materials: 287
total requests: 3685
unprocessed requests: 0
worst buffer count: <kuid2:124017:26053:1> (199)
worst index count: <kuid:42884:37021> (385440)
TNI vertex count: 0
TNI index count: 0
TNI render calls: 0
TNI shader sets: 0
MeshObjects visible: 252

This can't be good because I'm running at between 3-7fps in Surveyor. Even when I don't have any other programs running. What should it look like?