So... 2009

[Merad]

I gave you my money now please give me a break.

I have bought every trainz except the "classics" BS and I have to say this is very dissapointing.

Under Windows Vista 64 the Harlem Lines scenarios crash when you close the screen with the movie.

Although high resolutions are available in options, they won't cross multiple screens, even if those screens are tied together to act like one screen. ([Matrox triple head to go] and I will claim this as my fault for the time being but every other program works...)

Windowed mode won't

And finally but far from the least:

The FP 7

The FP 7 has a sound loop bug that causes an audio pop when the sounds for the mid throttle play. Very annoying. It's had this bug since the 2004 edition of trainz. Three, yes, three entirely new computers and all the clean reinstalls that entails have proven this is a problem with the now very aging program.

That's just 30 minutes of putzing around on a clean install.

I won't speculate on how Auran put their time on this program. I'd will say that it's high time to make a brand new engine. This one is old and tired and adding a few visual capabilities don't hide it.


And can I please make a suggestion if Auran can take the time to make a new interface?

How about some polish on the user end?

Like, we have mouse wheels now. Can we use them? Maybe add zoom to them in Railyard? Or even better add a snap function and put them in Driver so that you can select an object with your mouse and then use the wheel to zoom in. If the object has an interior zooming in would snap the interior once it got close enough. Zoom out with the wheel and you snap out of the interior.

This would have a great effect on the editor (I haven't opened it yet but I'm just guessing here that the mousetrapped doesn't do jack their either).

Look at the program Supreme Commander for excellent ideas and samples of how useful a mouse wheel can be. Or is it, I suspect hard coded into the old engine that the visual system can't be used that way.


Every edition falls farther behind where it should have progressed too. It's time to ditch the current models and work and start anew. Stop padding out your game with content made by the players (I already had almost everything "new" in there, how about you? And yes I do like that some stuff has been updated that's a plus there), chuck in the towel and make an engine that can actually take advantage of an 8800.


PLEASE.

 

[Ian_Coleman]

Mouse Wheel

My mouse wheel works in TRS2004 - zooms in and out in Driver and Surveyor!

Ian

 

[Approach_Medium]

Take it easy!
First off, I just ran the Harlem Line up to Golden's Bridge and had no crashes.
The movie ran fine. Did not crash when I closed it.
The only problem I did have was that the sound was kind of strange sometimes. I didn't hear the popping you're talking about, but it is inconsistent.
There was a house on the track, and a road bridge blocking it at Golden's Bridge, but maybe I moved them before I started to drive.

I have a dual-monitor system, but don't have them configured as one, since the resolution/size of the second monitor is way different than the main.

I have to agree with you in that the old Trainz interface with it's peculiarities is still in 2009.

Have you tried any of the other routes? Maybe there are some bugs in the Harlem line that come out on your particular hardware?

FW

 

[JRT]

Its Vista, it never works:hehe:

 

[jadebullet]

Yeah, vista is probably the problem. XP for the win.

 

[axe1970]

I will just confirm that the mouse wheel works in Surveyor. I use it all the time.

I know this is the "same old story", but here goes.

Auran are a small company, probably smaller now than when TRS2004 was produced, so to expect them to build and new game engine would be too expensive to even contemplate.

Most game company's buy the "game engine" they use to make games, however the cost to buy the tech for those games are massive, (where probably talking tens of millions of dollars). It ain't going to happen.

Most of the trainzers/users here, have been around for a few years now, and I think we realize that in order to support Auran we have to keep satisfied with these small updates every year or two. Having said that the engine improvements made in TRS2009WBE are a bigger leap than the last few editions on the Trainz franchise.

I know I am probably labeled as a "Auran Fanboy", but if there were no Trainz what would we have?

Regards

 

[edion2]

Maybe its just a BROKEN mouse wheel ?

Need a new mouse driver, maybe ?

This seems to be an isolated incident. My mouse works too.

 

[Isaacg]

Well, I can say for the least. I've had no problems with Trainz on my Vista PC before. It might be your PC. I agree on the "new" content thing. I was going to release something that may have gone in, but I decided not to. I don't know what happened to the "new" stuff. Its pretty much all versions of trainz bundled into one! Anyways, I've no complaints, I'm happy, etc, etc.

Cheers

EDIT: You see what happens when I say I'm happy with TS2009, it goes down under and smashes my PC... So much for that lol jk... I reinstalled it a couple of times, it should work now.

 

[RobbieK]

I don't think people are giving enough credit to Auran for the performance improvement engendered in TRS09. TRS04 runs fairly smoothly on my rig (which is fairly top-end) but nowhere near as fluid as '09. The difference is huge. I have yet to see appreciable framerate drops even in very dense scenery. And this is with a greater draw distance than was possible in '04. I dunno what they've done, but it's impressive.

Put it this way, if Microsoft offered an upgrade to Flight Sim X that delivered even a fraction of this kind of perfromance improvement, I reckon that the Flight Sim community (and they can be a vocal lot!) would be doing backwards somersaults with joy, and would be rushing to pay for it even if no new content was offered.

The way I look at it is this: TRS is the operating system. The content, be it 3rd party or made by Auran, is the stuff to run on that operating system. TRS09 represents a massive leap forward in terms of the capability of the operating system, and thankfully it is backward compatible so we can still play with all our old toys made for previous versions. It is worth paying for that leap forward, in my view.

Of course, the real fun will begin when the content creators begin to put together new toys that take advantage of the new capabilities. This will be both 3rd party, through the DLS, and offered by Auran (TEE). Like any new OS, it takes a while for content to be created which takes advantage of the new features.

For my money, and given that this is a niche market, I reckon Auran have served us incredibly well with the latest offering. Well done everybody!

 

[Kelly88]

Yeah, vista is probably the problem. XP for the win.

thats complete rubbish
there is no prblems with Vista

I run 2006/2008/TC 1&2 all on a laptop with Vista and no problems there at all


maybe instead on complaing you should look at your instalation setups

 

[Approach_Medium]

IMO, Trainz (I have played ver 2004, 2006, and now 2009) has been the best entertainment value for my money by far!
For the $29 USD I paid for TS2009, I am not going to look for a perfect program. Since I'm not into creating content just yet, I'll wait for others to do it for me<g>.
I love that in 2009, CMP works much better.
I really enjoyed running the Harlem Line last night. I drove the entire length, and was able to see the stations far enough in advance to slow down and stop. I don't think I could have done this in TS2006, considering the shorter draw distances.

I will continue to create my CSX Riverline route in TS2006 because I can use UTM tiles created by Transdem, which I cannot do in 2009, but once I am done with them, and have removed the last one, I am going to import my route into 2009 to complete it.

FW

 

[StorkNest]

I have no problem usually with different opinions on Trainz but this...

... and make an engine that can actually take advantage of an 8800.

Demanding the software should only be designed to take advantage of your hardware is out of line. I shouldn't have to explain why.

 

[JCitron]

I have to agree with the others here.

My mouse works fine with TRS2004, TRS2006 and did with the Beta of '09. The program is running on a Vista Ultimate 64-bit machine with an 8800GTS video card without any problems as well. I would seriously check your drivers and hardware to ensure that the device is working properly.

Auran has created a program that is very unique and offers a lot for the little bit of money that it costs. I get more EPM out of this program than any other including the venerable Command and Conquer series from EA. (EPM = Enjoyment Per Money). In summary my ROI (Return On Investment) potential is higher than what the program cost me initially. For a small company, they have done a lot with very little, which is a good thing. Granted there are still faults, but nothing is perfect in this imperfect world.

Their game engine works fine for what it does, and as others have said here, it probably cost a lot of money to purchase in the first place. They are recently taking advantage of many of the features that were never used before therefore we are most likely to see even more of the capabilities that haven't even been come close to the full potential that this gaming engine has to offer.

Targeting the program to make use of the latest hardware isn't always a good thing because there are many more customers that do not have the latest and greatest. Aiming for the mid-line approach is the best of both worlds. People with the latest will set the best performance, and those with the lesser power will still see good performance.

I could probably say a lot more on this, but I won't. I'm not a blind follower of Auran. I have offered my critique here quite often when I felt it was necessary.

John

 

[Approach_Medium]

Targeting the program to make use of the latest hardware isn't always a good thing because there are many more customers that do not have the latest and greatest. Aiming for the mid-line approach is the best of both worlds. People with the latest will set the best performance, and those with the lesser power will still see good performance.

I agree 100% on that! I am running a 4yr old system with a GeForce 6800 w 256MB (the video card cost me $500 when I bought it) and TRS still runs well on it.

FW

 

[johnwhelan]

Quote:
Originally Posted by JCitron
Targeting the program to make use of the latest hardware isn't always a good thing because there are many more customers that do not have the latest and greatest. Aiming for the mid-line approach is the best of both worlds. People with the latest will set the best performance, and those with the lesser power will still see good performance.

I agree 100% on that! I am running a 4yr old system with a GeForce 6800 w 256MB (the video card cost me $500 when I bought it) and TRS still runs well on it.

FW

I must be missing something here.

I have a p4 2.4 AGP video card and I get more frames per second running TRS2009 than TRS2004. Are you saying that TRS2009 is only targeted at five old machines such as mine and brand new ones and some how produces lower frame rates on four year old machines?

TRS2009 handles some content differently but you can always swap in a different kuid for the problem ones.

Cheerio John

 

[aardvark1]

HI all,

Yup...mouse wheel works here, really like TS2009 that I purchased via the download option and all is working well, except for a few minor things....but no biggies.

Looks like the OP is in full compliance with the First Rule of Complaining, which states:

Rule 1 - Blame Auran first....because I have done nothing wrong and my PC is not at fault.

Have fun,

 

[Approach_Medium]

I've just gone into TS2009 Surveyor to begin creating my first "freehand" layout in 09.
After having worked (in TS2006) on a prototypical route with all of the terrain and track splines being completely laid out in Transdem for more than 6mos, I am enjoying the freedom to do what I want with the terrain.
TS2009 is soooo much smoother when using the terrain tools than 2006 was.
The smaller grid makes it possible to sculpt hills and valleys with much greater ease and detail than 06 would allow.

The extended draw distance is really nice. I can see the hills I have created in the distance.
So far, absolutely no crashes in Surveyor.

Has anyone seen the TS2009 track? I think there's just one type right now, but wow! It's impressive. Very realistic! Even can see tie plates.
Only thing I would wish for were annimated switches that aren't fixed track, so that they could be raised and lowered along a grade more easily.
Oh well, can't have everything<g>

While I haven't given up my prototype route, it's fun to play around with something different once in a while.
For this freehand route, I am planning to create the terrain first, then add textures and trees, etc, and finally start to build population centers with railroads and roads. The way it all happened in the first place!

FW

 

[AHSAN]

thats complete rubbish
there is no prblems with Vista

I run 2006/2008/TC 1&2 all on a laptop with Vista and no problems there at all


maybe instead on complaing you should look at your instalation setups

Hello

I agree on this, I've got TRS2004, TRS2006, TC1,2,3 and 04 Paintshed that works all perfect on Windows Vista:

anyone needs a hand on their PC give me a shout.:hehe:

Regards

Ahsan

 

[minigunner]

I have to agree with a lot of people here, that Trainz is a good game. It's not some mega-expensive hit like say Call of Duty 4 (PS3, Xbox 360, PC), but as said Auran is a small company, and train sims are not a big genre. IMO, TRS is great considering that. BUT: I do have the same Harlem Line issue as you. I'm running a decent-level Vista (32 I think) PC. After the update and everything, it was a little better (i'll explain in a sec), but not letting me quit the movie. Pre-update it skipped to the movie, now I can select Cab or DCC, but then it goes to the movie, and blocks my view, and if I hit escape it quits the game and displays an error. The movie plays though. I should add that when I changed my resolution, I couyld no longer see the X button on the movie window, but when I could, hitting that still quit out.

 

[Approach_Medium]

I've been reading about several issues concerning Windows Vista. I am <still> running XP Pro, and won't be going to Vista, unless someone hands me a <legal> copy and asks me to try it out.

Microsoft is already working on the next OS. Perhaps there's a lot more about Vista that disappoints than they want to admit?