Newbie, seeking basic level advice/info/help!

[Delticfab]

Hi, I'm the parent of a 6 year old, who's been cutting his teeth on various trainz dvd's. He started with the ipad version, and moved onto Trainz 2009, Trainz 2004, and Trainz Railway Simulator Ultimate Collection.
(although the 2009 dvd stopped working and wouldn't reload, so that didn't last long!)

The PC we're using is 4 years old, and runs on window's vista. So I haven't tried to run the later versions.

But, my question for you today is this: I think we can download additional trains (my son tells me this is the case) but, I can't really figure it out. He likes to make his own layouts, and seems to have got wind of it that there's other trains available... and he wants them! I'm keen to find out if this is possible in the first instance, and also if they are free, or need an additional purchase. I've found other programmes I can buy, but TBH I don't really trust this old computer to deliver the goods even if I make a purchase, so I'm hesitant to pay for downloads - I'd rather buy the hardcopy if that's what I need to do.

So, can I or can't I download extra trains for him to run? Many, many thanks to you for reading this and hope you can help!

Happy Easter!

 

[cascaderailroad]

At: http://www.auran.com/TRS2004/DLS.php
And in "Manage Content" AKA: CM (Content Manager) you highlight by clicking on an asset ... and download them ... You then click on "Open For Edit" and "Commit" any "Opened" assets.

Sometimes an asset has missing dependencies that must be also downloaded ... and too some assets have errors and mistakes that need to be corrected in order for them to show up in the game.

As far as TS2009 ... it can be uninstalled ... and reinstalled ... if it is not able to be fixed. Likewise with: Trainz 2004, and Trainz Railway Simulator Ultimate Collection you must install and register your UN & PW.

 

[gearhead2578]

Also worthy to mention with Vista - you may need to right click the Trainz icon, select properties, click compatibility tab, check the "run as administrator" box. If your Vista is 64 bit, make sure Trainz is installed in "program files (x86)"

 

[Delticfab]

Also worthy to mention with Vista - you may need to right click the Trainz icon, select properties, click compatibility tab, check the "run as administrator" box. If your Vista is 64 bit, make sure Trainz is installed in "program files (x86)"

Hi, thanks for your advice.
I've done the run as administrator bit, that was easy enough! But, actually, the download site is a complete nightmare. I really need someone to tell me, if I can find stuff for free? Because it's a total mystery to me. I've registered all of the trainz games that we own, and although they are now registered, it hasn't unlocked the door to what I hoped would be a free download place for more trains. Or if it has, where the door is...
I'm not someone who struggles in general, indeed, I have even got a degree, but I'm begining to think that there must be some secret language required to navigate the trainz site! Please, please can someone tell me (and presumably others like me!) what I need to do, or if I'm loking for something that simply does not exist... Thanks!!!

 

[ray_whiley]

Delticfab - welcome! Everything on the Download Station is free, although downloading can be slow unless you purchase a First Class Ticket.

When you go to the Download Station, if you immediately click on Search (and nothing else) it will list the latest uploads - the latest are on the first page, then you can go backwards day-by-day by clicking on Next.

If you want to limit your search to buildings, locomotives or whatever, choose the category from the drop-down list.

If you want something that was made for an earlier version of Trainz, tick the versions which do not have a tick. In other words, as you have TRS2004 then tick 2004. You could access content made earlier than that by ticking other boxes.

Anything made for a version earlier than 2009 (if you can use it again) should work in 2009. If not, try compatibility mode. Anything made for a version later than 2004 will not work in 2004 - although an earlier version may be available as well.

Does this help? - if not, please ask more questions and I'm sure you'll get there in the end. (If an eighty-year-old like me can sort it out, anyone can!)

Best wishes.

Ray

PS Don't be fooled by the 'Trainz Veteran' tag - I'm still learning - and enjoying it. It helps me to be a 'recycled teenager' as someone described me the other day.

 

[RRSignal]

Incidentally, there are two ways to find content. One is by the "Black Pages", the link to which CascadeRailroad gave. The other is via ContentManager, which is under the Content tab when you first start TS2009 (and I think TRS2006 has it as well.) This makes finding dependencies that locos need easier. The one caveat is there is still some stuff on the DLS which has not been updated to work with TS2009 and later (as evidenced by a red exclamation mark next to it after you download or import it), though most of it will probably work with TRS2006.

FYI, a couple good sites that should have locomotives that generally should work with TRS2006 are http://www.trainzproroutes.org, http://www.steammachine.com/ and http://www.uslw.net. It's mostly U.S. stuff. Paulz Trainz (http://www.paulztrainz.myenet.info/) has some good U.K. stuff, but it's payware and I'm not sure what versions most of it is compatible with. That's all I can think about at the moment.

 

[ray_whiley]

Yes - my reason for concentrating on the 'black pages' method of finding content was that the OP seemed to be using TRS2004 as 2009 had 'stopped working'.

Ray

 

[RRSignal]

Doesn't TRS2006 come with a CM thingy? Seems I really missed out on '06.

 

[cascaderailroad]

TRS2006 may be on EBay, and such, in New-Unopened-Unregister Disc's ... be careful to buy a new-in box disc.

http://pspmedia.ign.com/psp/image/object/949/949510/Trainz_Railwayz_2D_Hi-res2boxart_160w.jpg

TRS2006 has 3 advantages: It has fair framerates on low end, Integrated Graphics PC's, Surveyor seems less prone to problems such as black holes, and lost work on layers, and the CMP works easily.

TS09, TS10, and TS12 have much superior graphics, which makes TRS2006 look like model trains.

I prefer use Surveyor to build in TRS2006 ... an import finished work for testing in TS10.

TRS2006 also has Paintshed and Trainzmap (BLAH).

TRS2004 is still highly used and also still works great.

 

[RRSignal]

Yeah, I kind of want to look at it just to see what it's all about. If it's $5 or so, I'll give it a shot...I figure I can throw it on an old laptop and use it on the road like Trainz iPad.

 

[adamisaac]

My son likes Thomas Tank content. If you are interested I could give you the benefit of my limited knowledge on how to import these into Trainz!