Put another way, LOD improves performance. Any work around to avoid using LOD means performance suffers.
I agree that LOD does indeed improve performance, but it is not the
only way to do that. You provide a ton of tweaks in the
Performance tab that a user can do to improve FPS. Also they can further tweak the Trainz Settings once the game is launched. Examples are
Maximum Draw Distance,
Scenery Detail and
Tree Detail. Your comments here seem to put the burden too much on the 3rd part content creator and not enough on the user. It has to be a shared responsibility here. Also users can
preview a content item in TRS19 and see if they can handle it or not, and if not, don't use it. I admit I primarily develop for the
Ultra Graphics user setting in mind when it comes to build 4.6 items. Realism is what I am after in Trainz and that is why I am a Trainz Plus subscriber. I believe in this so much that I have spent close to $1400 out of my own pocket over the last few months purchasing professional level models from CGTrader and adapting them for use in TRS19.
None of these came with LOD and I
haven't the skill needed to produce LOD versions of those models as they are often very intricate. I did this for better looking content for my 14 routes that more closely matched the appearance and capabilities of TRS19, as much of the content on the DLS is
not up to that level. Your simulation, and every other user out there, benefits from this as I had to upload those items to the DLS.
If performance suffers, users complain.
The
primary reason most people, including me, continue to buy and use your Trainz simulator is because of the
amount of
freeware content available for it compared to rival products such as Train Simulator 2021 or Train Sim World 2, which charge for additional content in a manner similar to the old Microsoft Train Simulator. If quality content isn't available to match the realism capabilities of the current product (ie; TRS2019) users aren't going to be happy and will look elsewhere. In case you haven't noticed the number of quality freeware content developers has diminished as of late because of various reasons such as mortality. I might also mention that some of the people who have spoken here in favor of the status quo are
not currently creating build 4.6 PBR quality items for your platform, but continuing to develop for T:ANE or earlier products. Creating content that is both realistic and uses PBR textures is much more difficult then building a simple box which paints house features on it. Add LOD, night and winter modes on top of that and it becomes extremely difficult and time consuming to do with
very detailed models. Maybe that is one of the reasons that so little of the older content you continue to carry in your platform and the DLS is brought up to current standards. As an example I count 7954 build 2.0 or earlier built-in items in TRS19. The only reason many of those items continue to function at all is that you have exempted those items from current standards. A build 1.2 item in TRS19 doesn't make your platform shine in the way you intended.
If users complain, we sell less units, so Trainz is less profitable. Less profits means longer time to update and less features to add.
As many game companies have found out, trying to please
all levels of gamers is a losing proposition and holds back the game in the end. Your attempt to resolve this by producing too many different versions of your platform, all of which you have to support, acts as a drag on the development of the flagship product because scarce programming time must be divided between them. Add into this continued support for older versions and I can't imagine how you are going to remain profitable over the long haul. Your game company, and I know many, is the only one I know out there who does this to the degree you do. It will kill your business in the end if you continue with that "trying to please everyone" strategy.
So ultimately, effective LODs determines (to some degree) the future success of Trainz.
On this point I disagree almost entirely. The continued development of quality freeware content that supports the degree of realism achieved by the current platform will be the factor that drives customers to you. Without all that quality freeware content, your Trainz platform would have little to offer that sets it apart from your rivals out there who mostly match you in the graphics department - and without the "stuttering" I might add. I know as I own more then one Train simulator product, but I stay with your primarily because of the freeware. It is the freeware content on your DLS that makes your simulation platform so inviting and sets you apart from the others.
Now other then making it tougher on us freeware developers, what have you done to
encourage us
freeware content developers to continue making better quality build 4.6 or later stuff for you considering all the effort it takes these days to do it? Little, would be my answer. Highlighting new quality build 4.6 or later content recently uploaded to the DLS in your newsletter, in addition to routes, would be a good start. If you want stuff that matches TRS19 in appearance and realism a little recognition would help......
Bob