RSDL Announce: Rail Simulator 2: Railworks – The evolution of Rail Simulator

[illinoiscentral]

Thank You Mouse.
I check it off and on through the day. I also have many friends right here, I'm sure you do too.

 

[martinvk]

Actually, with always on broadband, I often have a Trainz window open in one of the browser windows so while technically here, I'm not always really here :hehe:

Now back to regular programming. I will occasionally visit the RS forums to see what the others are doing and how they deal with similar problems. I even get a kick out of their rationalizations for whatever short comings they find in RS. Seen from the outside, it can sometimes be quite funny to read. They are hardly unique in that regard since we have also been known to gloss over certain aspects of Trainz so let's not get too smug.

 

[nikos1]

Im not sure what to do at this point, the cancellation of MSTS really killed alot of my interest in train simulation in general. TRS 09 looks like it has some nice features, but im not going back to TRS until it has a completly new graphics engine. RS 2 shows promise but i even must show sceptisim at this point, until i hear what bug's have been adressed i cant make a decision. If the trailing engine sounds, light beams and grade crossings arnt fixed in this version then im not sure if it would be worth my money, though the Class 37 looks rather tasty.
But right now there's still no good replacement for MSTS2, nothing that would offer the prototypical route building possibilities. Proto route building is painfully slow in Trainz and even more so in RS with the lack of objects.
Oh well, i think ill just go railfan instead, i like the graphics better.

 

[pommie]

How dare you!
I get on here because I have friends here and enjoy it here. Mind your own damn business. You have no right to address me in that manner. I'm homeschooled and waiting on my new books, when I get them you'll see less of me. I also live in the country so I have very little friends here. This is hwere I go to talk and socialize. Some people actually enjoy my company.

Thank You Very Much and Good Day.

You started this little battle by abusing me (and others) in the Fury thread, just what is your problem with Fury anyway, and now I am the one at fault, sheesh, if you can't stand the heat don't enter the kitchen.
Anyway, enough of hijacking this thread bye bye :wave:

 

[stagecoachdriverdave]

All I hope is they stop being so greedy by offering a different version in the US and UK, then making the other pay for the content the other comes with, I think that's a complication that's unnecessary and segregates the fans. I am transatlantic and only being able to have UK content without paying again seemed like the most stupid idea they could have come up with.

Matt

 

[ess1]

Matt,
Rather like TC3

 

[illinoiscentral]

Yes we all love to use the Forum in the background. Let us now get back on subject.

Pommie: I'll PM you.

 

[perry_weekley]

Looks interesting. Having missed the boat on Rail Simulator and having a new computer that does brilliant with the demo I look forward to at least trying the Demo of the second. Then I might jump on board.

While I do think it is quite odd that they announce it now. 3 months since MSTS2 was delayed. I still await the announcement of the release. I still sit in class dreaming of when I will come home to play a new Train Simulator 2. Then I get home and find it's still a dream. I am not giving up on that dream. Train Simulator 2 is not vaporware. I have a gut feeling that it will be coming out. That Microsoft is going to release it this year.

Trainz 2010? If they can improve 2009's brilliant content manager, add in new content to show off what the new engine and game can do, add a new engine, and be willing to give out a new platform for a 2010 game. I am in. I am tired of Trainz being changed in miniscule amounts for each release. For their big 10 they should be releasing a whole new engines since Jet 2 is not only out dated but the graphics don't look right compared to the main streams Far Cry 2 which uses a system comparable to Trainz for route building. Even Grand Theft Auto 4 has a better handle on what a train should look like in 2009/2010.

Do I support Trainz? Yeah, but only because it's the most open ended modeling game we have for now. For graphics and fun? Rail Simulator. For the future? Train Simulator 2.

 

[Vern]

am not giving up on that dream. Train Simulator 2 is not vaporware. I have a gut feeling that it will be coming out. That Microsoft is going to release it this year.

A nice sentiment Perry but I haven't seen any evidence that MS intend to reverse their decision. The product was by no means even half finished and the team working on it has been dispersed. Many have publically posted and despaired on blogs or forums that all their hard work has been wasted. Even if the global economy did miraculously pick up in the next 3 - 6 months, it would not be enough to convince the suits and accountants at MS. TBH, I would see more chance of the Flight Sim franchise getting a reprieve than Train Sim, which only ever amounted to a one off release, anyway.

I agree that for TS-X Auran really do need to start over with something that is substantially new and not just the same old repackaging with a bit of fresh content. GTA IV trains even look better than those in RS though of course R* didn't have to cater for an interactive simulation or the need to provide a sandbox for homebrew content. Closer to the genre, World of Subways has demonstrated how a 2009/2010 train sim ought to look, albeit the developer dropped the ball a bit on other features. At least WOS tunnels aren't tied to 8 positions of rotation. It's improvements like that, or the ability to define curve radius when placing a spine that would characterise X as a truly new product and not just another recycling exercise.

 

[sethmcs]

How does one jump from simulator to simulator or (even different version of the same simulator) and expect to accomplish anything? There is a learning curve to each sim. I am still trying to master TRS2004 since 10/28/05.:hehe:

 

[Vern]

How does one jump from simulator to simulator or (even different version of the same simulator) and expect to accomplish anything? There is a learning curve to each sim. I am still trying to master TRS2004 since 10/28/05.:hehe:

It's certainly not impossible as I've built routes in MSTS, TRS and most recently RS. My biggest problem now is time (lack of) and attention span, started several projects recently with great enthusiasm only to stall a few weeks later when something better suggests itself.

Some of my routes have been replicated in more than one sim - e.g. my West Highland line has a MSTS and TRS version, while the more recent Sulitjelma got done in TRS and RS. Taking a balanced view, each programme has its strengths and weakness but in general terms, like ancient warriors training with swords heavier than those carried into battle, if you can master MSTS route building the rest are a doddle (well apart from the German Zusi which requires a PhD in geometrical drawing).

 

[Scitimar]

How does one jump from simulator to simulator or (even different version of the same simulator) and expect to accomplish anything? There is a learning curve to each sim. I am still trying to master TRS2004 since 10/28/05.:hehe:

Depends on what you wish to accomplish though , from a modeling perspective and using 3ds Max , a model is a model , I can put a model in any game , trainsim game or a train model in any other games that allows user files , only slight differences are required to the output ( shaders mostly differ ) , but textures ( though using different file extensions for MSTS Trainz and RS ) are still the output of Photoshop.

Im not sure what to do at this point, the cancellation of MSTS really killed alot of my interest in train simulation in general.

Yep , same here .

snip ... and even more so in RS with the lack of objects.

What objects are ya looking for ?

 

[nikos1]

What objects are ya looking for ?

Wooden trestles, proper US signals (semaphores, searchlights, and older style tri lights) not the Darth vader nonsense that comes with Cajon, small town depots and FREEWARE Downtown buildings to name a few.
Are you offering to make them? If you did you would be my hero.

 

[Scitimar]

Wooden trestles, proper US signals (semaphores, searchlights, and older style tri lights) not the Darth vader nonsense that comes with Cajon, small town depots and FREEWARE Downtown buildings to name a few.
Are you offering to make them? If you did you would be my hero.

Not offering directly , sorry . I don't have the game , and RS , like every other game outfit ( with 1 cool exception ) never keep up with plugins for 3rd party add-ons . Nearly everyone I know has moved to 64bit Max versions and , with that 1 exception , all plugins are 32bit , and at least 2 versions behind current Autodesk releases . I do have a mate with RS and an earlier 32bit Max release who raids by parts box , so I'll see what I can do for ya ... I know what ya mean about the freeware situtation .

 

[amigacooke]

I agree that for TS-X Auran really do need to start over with something that is substantially new and not just the same old repackaging with a bit of fresh content.

Financing the niche market of rail simming has to be the real bugbear. Is it reasonable to expect any developer to expend the sort of budgets that are used for GTA IV on a market a fraction the size?

Is it not time that expectations for a rail sim match the developments budgets that are available rather the the budget we'd like to be available?

 

[Vern]

Agreed it must be a fine balancing act between development needs and the money available, the more so during this so called recession. Nevertheless, any franchise must evolve and while Trainz, RS or any other sim may not be GTA you can't keep selling it on a 9 year old core. (I doubt GTA IV would have sold so well had it used the original top down view ).

Within that budget there ought to be money for R&D into some of the more basic issues - better AI/autonomous dispatcher/timetables, control over curve radii, tunnels at any angle, seasonal variations within the same route. Everyone knows or has their own personal wishlist!

The community has been supporting Auran financially even if it has involved some leaps of faith that ultimately disappointed - I purchased TS2009 but in all truth have barely fired it up. I just renewed my FCT even though, at present, I'm focusing on trying to develop another RS route. I don't think there should be any illusion that if money wasn't coming in to Auran from Trainz, it would have gone the same way as Fury and that there are still unanswered questions as to why the sudden switch from the avowed policy of releasing TC culmulative packs as the way forward to TS2009/X (unfortunately in the process leaving TC3 - probably the best version to date - out in the cold).

In all likelihood I will buy TS-x even if only to satisfy my curiosity and that I live in hope of one day getting the perfect train sim but Auran do need to take on board there will come a point at which even the hardened fan will say enough. I think quite a few of us will be watching Rail-Works to see if that follows a similar path and you already have the added complication, from the route builder's POV, that in order to get enough 3D models to create a decent freeware project we are having to buy payware routes (Foliage Packs, IOW, Rascal etc.) which end users of your projects are also going to have to buy.

Still what we have is far better than what preceded - the text based output of the likes of Simudrive. We can only hope that all the companies currently supporting the genre see enough of a future to keep going and hopefully updating too.

 

[simulatortrain]

It's the enemy!!! (I might get it though, if the American trains have the right paint schemes this time.)

 

[Vern]

It's the enemy!!!

Think maybe that is a little strong, but spend enough time in the RS World Editor as I've been doing recently and you do begin to appreciate the strong points of Surveyor. This is particularly so where terrain texture is concerned, anyone following the latter part of this UKTS thread: http://forums.uktrainsim.com/viewtopic.php?f=215&t=93826
can only imagine my increasing frustration at the semi-official response to what I felt was a valid point. Terrain textures don't transition abruptly.

Time to dust off TC3 methinks, particularly with those lovely Mark One sleeping cars to drool over.

 

[jeffmorris]

I bought Railworks from Steam website today and I thought that it's better than Rail Simulator. I drove the passenger train from Barstow to San Bernardino and I thought that that its graphics was better than Rail Simulator's graphics but I'm now on a new computer with Intel I7 920 CPU, Windows 7 and GeForce 9800 GT card. My old computer had Intel P4 with HT 3.2GHZ CPU, Windows XP, and GeForce 7800 GS card.

 

[mikemike]

yes, but you all know not only what to post but who should be allowed to post, and if a perfect train-sim came on the market you wouldn't be bothered by lesser types anymore and we wouldn't have to act nice to you to find out how to make something work in "my little choo-choo".

Looking in the Archives. This "RS" subject comes up all the time and usally the thread is closed. I believe you all need to re-read "What to post in General Trainz". I have come to my senses, this is Trainz, not RailSimulator, not Fury, not any other game...just Trainz.