new, confused

ratbustard

New member
first off, my name is alex, and i am completely envious of everyone on here posting in the screenshots/progress thread; some incredibly sick scenarios/scenes. i, like most, came from a model railroad household - my dad is a huge lionel collector, and i have some HO stuff. right now, this is more economical for me, and it's pretty nice change from playing FPS's and racing games. but i'm having some issues with this game.

some quick info: i purchased this game via Steam (1/28/2011), and installed with no issues. my pc is more than capable of handling this game: quad core, 4G ram, massive video card, etc.

anyway, i've done some searching and i can't really find any answers to my questions.

when i download from the download station, about half my downloads have had "errors." they are all downloads i've found online and looked to be from reputable sources and users within the game, yet i can't use them because of hash errors. what the hell are those anyway? i'm fairly proficient with computers and software, but i am totally confused by these errors. even rolling stock that didn't appear to have issues downloading, appears red in my consist mode and won't let me place.

some downloaded content has gone without issue though. do the ones i have issues with need other downloads like certain trucks? horns? other components? etc?

any and all help would be greatly appreciated. :)

picks for clicks? here's a picture of my car :p :

IMG00168-20100516-1608.jpg
 
Long story short, there are errors in content because, when it was created, Trainz was less-stringent about error-checking and let a lot of things slide. Unfortunately, performance also suffered so Auran decided to tighten up the error-checking in order to improve it. You know how optimization is a big part of software and hardware development - same applies to content as well.

There is a project underway to eliminate errors or faulty assets, but it will be awhile before that is complete. There is a thread in the TS2010 forum as to how to fix assets called "A listing of errors and how to fix them." About half of all errors are simple typos in config.txt files, a file all assets have which tells the sim about the asset.
 
Hot Ride...!

:cool: Hello RB, welcome to Trainz! The errors are currently being fixed even as we speak.

The content was created for Legacy versions of Trainz(TRS2004,etc). They were made for lightweight computers & seemed to work well, reported no errors then, however they had hidden bugs that were identified & Trainz was updated to current gaming standards, but the updating process will make them usable in TS2010.

There is a lot of content on the Download Station so it may take some time to do this.

Not all of the content is faulty by the way, so hang in there, I think you will like Trainz.
 
hey, thanks for the replies fellas!

i'm already a big fan of trainz, so i don't mind waiting, but i also can't wait to use some of the download content; does that make sense? ha

any and all help i welcome and appreciate, so whatever it is, throw it this way. oddly enough i'm a big amtrak fan, and want to create the route i usually take to chi-town, and the downloads are having an affect on that. i'm also from the NE indiana region so CSX and NS are the main railways i see. however, i did see this on a CSX line the other day (must of been a new unit being transferred):

IMG00147-20101105-1317.jpg
 
Hi,

With a user name like your I think you may be called "rat" quite often with no offense :hehe:

Anyway, the advice given so far is quite correct but one thing you mentioned is about certain items needing other parts. The answer is yes, a locomotive needs various parts, hornsound, enginesound, bogies etc. Most of the time if you download a Locomotive or something else like a layout that requires Dependencies, Content Manager (CM) should find them for you IF they are on the Download Station (DLS). If CM does not find them for some reason you should see a yellow flower symbol with the loco or layout. By right clicking on the content and then selecting "View Dependencies" a pop-up window opens showing you what is needed. (On the pop up window is another button to "View in Main list"/whatever). First if any items have a question mark "?" next to them in the pop-up window (they will be the first items) you will have to search for them and many here will help you get started with that.

If you "View in Main List" you may find some items with a "DS" symbol, then these are on the DLS and you can download them as normal. Sometimes CM takes a coffee break for some unknown reason :hehe:

Now if you have a RED flower next to an item such as a loco or layout, this means you have some "faulty/error" content in the list which the previous post mention about. You may then like to try and correct them as mentioned.

As always, all new games are no different there is a learning curve and for Trainz it can be quite long but very rewarding.

The search feature is of great help but like many may not give you an easy answer. Starting threads with questions after searching and you will have heaps of help.

Enjoy and say good-bye to your family and social life.

Craig
:):):)
 
Hi,

With a user name like your I think you may be called "rat" quite often with no offense :hehe:

haha! funny, my college nickname was actually Rat. i get more confused when people call me alex.

i agree, this learning curve is long, but i look forward to its rewards. i'm member of other forums, so i know search features, and i'll try to get this one to work.

thanks for the help so far everyone, but keep the comments coming. :cool:
 
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