Question About Trainz Plus

[raymac1946]

I am thinking about getting a Trainz Plus subscription as a way to support the Trainz franchise. I get my copies of Trainz via Steam.
Currently I have TANE and TRS2019 installed. I would prefer to keep TANE as I have some assets that will not work well in TRS2019 - mostly old scenery and some Reggie's Trainz wig-wag signals. I use TRS2019 mostly for driving as I like its interface.
Now if I get Trainz Plus will this mean another install of TRS2022? That would mean three Trainz installs. Would I then have to uninstall TRS2019, delete its local files, and then reinstall my third party content in TRS2022? I have a fair bit of stuff from Trainz-Forge, JR, and K&L Trainz. Or does TRS2022 somehow overwrite TRS2019 and take over the local content? I am just not sure how the subscription model operates. I currently have a FCT.

 

[ColPrice2002]

Hi,
I have TS2022+, TS19+, TANE, tmr17 installed. All have separate data directories, so there’s no sharing or taking over content from one to another.
If I want to transfer from TS19 to TS22, I’ll make a CDP from TS19, then import it.
if you have payware from non-N3V, you should have the install files or package still available? You’ll need to install it to the new program.
Good news is that you can choose where the program stores its data so you know where it is.

Some developers have 2 installs off the same program - one with only the basic assets so they can check for availability of assets.

Cheers,
Colin

 

[JCitron]

TRS22+ is a separate install and doesn't go anywhere near your other installs. You can, if you want to import your content from TRS19 and TANE into TRS22+ and continue on. Many of us have done that as well as kept the previous installs with little or no ill effects other than eating disk space. Trainz being Trainz, you know past performance doesn't always guarantee future results. Any third-party content can be installed normally as you can in any Trainz installation. There's no difference here between them.

Your FCT will continue. The subscription version includes the FCT as part of the package. The difference is you're paying a smidge for it over the course of the year instead of annually. As a current FCT holder, you may be entitled to a discount. I was but that may have been a first-time promotion thing when the Plus program was introduced, so don't quote me on that.

If you join at the Gold-Plus level, you can download all DLC content and anything else that's available and you get to try out new content for two weeks before it goes up for sale. As Gold-Plus user, the content authorizes and becomes part of your install. You may need to update the package, within the Content Store, to change the status which has been common with most assets. You may already have some DLC, and you can install that as well. That's not counted as part of the free stuff but is installed via the Trainz Content Store just the same.

You can pay annually, meaning a lump sum payment which falls on the anniversary date of your signup/purchase, or you can pay monthly in small increments. Your subscription is good as long as you are paid and is good for the month, or year if you paid annually. If you lapse, then your install goes back to a default install, meaning just TRS22 without all the extra DLC content, except for the DLC you purchased. If you decide to pay again, then the subscription will pick-up where you left off. The trade-off of doing this is that you will have missing dependencies if you have used these assets in your own routes. When you reactivate your subscription, your dependencies will return. The advantage of this is that you can start and stop paying for something if you don't use the program for months at a time, such as you only use Trainz during the winter and are traveling or too busy in the summer to bother. This subscription plan isn't uncommon. I encountered this recently with some really, really expensive music-editing software. The subscription price is reasonable and can be started and stopped at any time just the same in exactly the same fashion and the results are the same. For this program, the software can be activated on an as needed project, by project basis, which of course is not quite the same with Trainz but works similarly.

I hope this helps.

 

[stagecoach]

You should be able to do a copy of your TRS19 data folder and paste it elsewhere. Rename it so you know it is the copy for TRS22 to find. Open the launch screen and settings. Redirect the path in the install tab to your copied folder and do a DBR.

 

[raymac1946]

Thank you for the advice. I have been able to get my 3rd party locos and rolling stock into TRS2019 from TANE so I know the drill. I still have copies of the CDPs for these assets. Most of the routes I have are either from Steam so they download and install easily or I could redownload from the DLS for other routes. I am not sure in the long run if I'll keep TRS2019 in service, although I do want to keep TANE. Years ago I had TS12 and I could reinstall that through Steam butI don't think I will.

 

[stagecoach]

Don't forget if you stop your subscription you will lose TRS22 unless you have a purchased version.

 

[raymac1946]

Understood but as I pay for a FCT it isn't that much more to get Trainz Plus. I can always reinstall TRS2019 as I own that.

 

[capdiamont]

Every so often, they have a sale where annual subscribers to Trainz+ get to keep the retail version of Trainz 22, so if that happens, check with tech support to see what you need to do to get that, when the sale is on.

 

[raymac1946]

I have gone ahead with the Trainz Plus subscription. Most of my DLC followed me over from TS2019. I have installed some of my 3rd party assests.The only thing that won't work so far is a CNR aluminum boxcar from JR (version 3.5 not supported.)I have not yet installed any routes from the DLS . Maybe I'll keep TS2019 after all as I do have enough storage room.
I tried creating a session on a busy route (SnC Skipton.) Surveyor 2 looks like it'll be a bear to work with until I learn more. At least I was able to downgrade to Surveyor 1. The session ran OK and the graphics look pretty good. This is with an i7-11700 and GTX 2060.

 

[raymac1946]

Certainly it's early days but I think the best reason to try Trainz Plus is to experiment with S20. In my view it will probably be worth it to learn. It appears to have more of an "Object Oriented" workflow as opposed to the "Process Oriented" workflow of S10. I did succeed in creating a very small test route with S20. Doesn't amount to much but I'm learning.
I have decided to keep TANE, TRS2019 and Trainz Plus installed for the time being.

 

[capdiamont]

Main thing is to play around, learn, have fun, before you try making something serious. Glad it is working out.

 

[raymac1946]

One of the trickiest things I have tried to do in Trainz was building a shunting yard. I think this is actually easier in S20 because you select and operate on yard components eather than select an operator like "straighten spline" and then apply that to your track segments. Maybe it's just me but the S20 way seems more intuitive.

 

[Tony_Hilliam]

In S20 you can also use a prefab yard and basically copy and paste it in one move.

In practice you may want to play around with the size and length of your yard, but still MUCH quicker and easier in S20.

 

[raymac1946]

Thanks for the advice, Tony. I am still figuring out how the Marquee Tool and scrapbook collection works.
I am getting somewhat proficient with the yard bulding technique I learned from an Approach Medium tutorial. One thing I like about S20 is how easy it is to paint ballast under the track layout. Also how much better it is to add trees without using the old billboard stuff. I suspect that I'll use S20 whenever I can, even if I have to unlearn a bunch of techniques I used for years in S10.

 

[JCitron]

Thanks for the advice, Tony. I am still figuring out how the Marquee Tool and scrapbook collection works.
I am getting somewhat proficient with the yard bulding technique I learned from an Approach Medium tutorial. One thing I like about S20 is how easy it is to paint ballast under the track layout. Also how much better it is to add trees without using the old billboard stuff. I suspect that I'll use S20 whenever I can, even if I have to unlearn a bunch of techniques I used for years in S10.

Don't worry, the techniques will come in time. It took me a while to figure out how to use the marquee tool and even still I get confused. Like you, I was very comfy with S10 and will jump back and forth as needed. For me, it's almost 20 years of using Surveyor 1.0 in its various but similar iterations. The biggest issues I have with S20 are the interface not hiding the side panels when they're closed, and the icons being so small. With the side panels not closing, I find my work area to be closed in and cluttered. If we could hide and remove the dark side panels, or better yet move the panels to another display, that would be a big improvement.

 

[raymac1946]

I am trying to go "cold turkey" with S20 in Trainz Plus - there must be some way to get what I want in S20 without falling back on the S10 "crutch." I plan to keep at least TANE in my library of games because it has some legacy assets that won't work in later editions, and of course I must use S10 there. But I'll just touch up any routes I have in TANE and use Trainz Plus for any learning and future route building. I will never be a very artistic route creator but it seems easier to get something that looks OK in S20. I'd be interested in knowing what the real Trainz pros prefer to use.

 

[raymac1946]

Not that I am a fanboy or anything, but I really am enjoying Trainz Plus. I got the same nice driving interface of TRS19 and the Surveyor 2.0 capability is really worth it. I have uninstalled TRS19 because I don't need it any longer. I'll keep TANE as it's my first Trainz install and I have some original route building there that won't be worth upgrading to TRS22.

 

[rwk]

Ok, but if I want Plus exclusive content like the Amtrak set I have to keep paying every month to be able to keep using it? That means paying over $500 in five years time. Can I just try it for a month and then stop using it if I feel it is not worth it? I now have regular 22 as well as 19, TANE, and a 12 install that I don't use except to grab files from for the newer versions. Can I buy just a month to try it and not a recurring subscription where I have to remember to cancel before the billing date?

 

[JCitron]

Ok, but if I want Plus exclusive content like the Amtrak set I have to keep paying every month to be able to keep using it? That means paying over $500 in five years time. Can I just try it for a month and then stop using it if I feel it is not worth it? I now have regular 22 as well as 19, TANE, and a 12 install that I don't use except to grab files from for the newer versions. Can I buy just a month to try it and not a recurring subscription where I have to remember to cancel before the billing date?

You can install Plus for a month. It's a separate install just like all Trainz installs. Just remember to cancel if you decide.

 

[MasterTracklayer]

Isn`t what @rwk asked, @JCitron. The new assets that he gets with Plus: He wants to know if any of them will still work when the subscription expires. I would think that most of them would still work, but the announcements by N3V that I`ve read strongly suggest that they will all stop working. I think that the truth may well be somewhere in between.