So Did I Pick A Bad Time To Get Into Trainz?

[Elwenil]

So I bought Trainz 2010 Engineer Edition from Gamers Gate last week. I was looking for something a bit more sim than the old Railroad Tycoon games and less expensive than the Railworks games. I get the game only to find out that I bought a digital download version that so far can't be patched, most of the assets that I was able to download when I first got the game won't work with 2010 unless I go through a million different "fixes" that only work some of the time, and now the DLS has gone to hell and I can't connect even though I paid the extra cash for a FCT. Honestly, is this DLS problem something people have always complained about or is this something new because I searched around and it seems it's always been something that people complain about. Perhaps I should have done more research before buying this game but honestly, I buy a lot of games each year and I rarely run onto a game that requires this much work on the purchasers side to get it up and running and keep it that way. In many ways this series reminds me of the various trucking simulators put out buy SCS Software in that it is very poorly optimized code that doesn't seem to be very well thought out. I love the fact that the game is very flexible but it seems to me that the developer should have retained a bit more control with the custom assets so that they could at least conform to one standard and have the later games either require all new content that is separate for the different versions on separate downloading stations or something to keep this ridiculous mess straight. Maybe I'm just not as savvy as some of you guys but I've done custom mods from FPS and RTS games before and not had this much trouble sorting through all the information. It's just very frustrating and intimidating trying to jump in this game and understand what can be done, what can't be done, what parts I can use, what parts will work with modification and what is just a defective part from the beginning. The asset thing alone is really making me wish I had bought an older version but if I can't download anything for the 2006 version, it's sort of useless. So basically, is this the "norm" and I can expect this sort of thing to continue or is the 2010 version just off to a very rocky start and the DLS is always a pain to deal with?

 

[paulhobbs]

The DLS works fine. If you look closely you'll see that most of the complaints are coming from a very small group of people who are unfortunately very vocal. If the DLS was anywhere near as bad as they claim everybody here would be up in arms.

The assets on the DLS for older versions are being repaired now although this process will probably take a few months to complete. TS2010 will inform you when the fixed assets have been uploaded if you have the older ones installed.

Paul

 

[Elwenil]

Thanks for the reply. I wondered if the older assets would be updated for the newer versions. I noticed that there were updates for some of the content I have and I seem to be getting 4 or 5 updated daily, but I was curious if all the older stuff would be updated since it seems it's up to the user who created it to update it if I understand correctly. Also, the DLS may work fine for you but I have owned the game for 10 days. Out of those 10 days I was able to download assets the first day for free, I bought a FCT the second day and downloaded more, then I was unable to connect until yesterday when I read the tip about changing my password, that worked for a few hours and then it stopped and I have not been able to connect since. According to my CM, I've been able to download a grand total of 207.71 MB. If this is unusual, please let me know and I'll try and contact Auran to see if I have some sort of problem, but from the posts I am reading, it seems like a lot of people are having the same issues I am.

 

[clam1952]

The DLS is working normally for FCT users, you need to do the password change trick.

If using Win7 or Vista it is advisable to "Run as Administrator" not from just an admin account.

1. You need to activate the FCT which can take 24 hours to start working.
2. Remove anything you have in your download list from before activating the FCT or it may stop at the slow speed until it's empty.

If not working and not showing activated in content manager.

1. Check you internet connections are correct in Content manager
2. Check your firewall is allowing content manager access both in and out.
3. If not working reset your password in your profile, may need to do this a couple of times.
4. If that doesn't work reset your login details in Content Manager, thats remove password and user name, save, close Content Manager, restart then put your original user details and password back and save. May need to exit and restart to any change. Again you may need a couple of attempts.

If none of that works then you may need to raise a ticket at the helpdesk, link at top of forum but be prepared for a possible long wait, as there is only one guy on the helpdesk who is often snowed under.

Most of us don't have problems with the FCT by the way, just seems to afflict the unlucky few.

The faulty assets problem will be resolved as Auran are running a content fixing exercise at the moment so that everything should be compatible with current versions, will take quite a long time though due to the large number of assets that need to be checked.
Items on the DLS for version 2.7 upwards should be ok in 2010 and there is quite a lot of updates of fixed stuff going on daily.

GamersGate appear to be using the same build number as a couple of other non Auran publishers, so it may eventually be possible to get the patches from one of them. Worth asking in the 2010 forum if any one has found a patch for your build yet.

 

[pware]

I agree with Paul. A lot of the complaints come from a very vocal minority - but that is the norm - we are far more likely to complain about a product than we are to sing its praises.

I have never had any problems with the DLS. On the few occasions it is down there has always been a notice posted in the forums - those who complain about not being able to access the DLS during these times obviously do not read these notices.

In my experience (from lurking in these forums for many years) the majority of complaints come from users with computers that do not meet the minimum specs or have out of date drivers, are trying to install while not logged on as an Administrator, have not followed the published instructions for installing the program or its service packs, or lack the skills/patience/aptitude to do some basic troubleshooting themselves.

I get particularly annoyed by those who think that posting a complaint typed entirely in UPPERCASE or posting it in many different forums will solve their problem.

I held off updating to Trainz 2010 because of the complaints posted on these forums. When I eventually did update I followed the instructions posted by Auran and found that I had no problems installing the program or running any of the patches. Trainz 2010 works perfectly for me.

There. Now that I have vented my spleen (and posted my first complaint) I feel much better.

 

[Elwenil]

Clam,

Thanks for the tips. My FCT seemed to take effect immediately after purchasing it. All my Internet settings and firewall are fine to run the CM and Trainz. I have done the password thing multiple times since it worked the other day but to no avail. I just changed the password again, but for some reason I changed it in the CM after not being able to connect and then I changed it in my profile with Auran. For some reason it seems to have worked, but it also completely cleared my download list. Perhaps it was not a wise idea, but since I couldn't download but could search just fine, I had been adding things to the list pretty steadily and it probably had 70 or 80 items on it. Maybe that was the whole problem and I'll know better from now on to put that many things on it, but it seems to be working ok with one or two items. Maybe the unintentional clearing of my queue helped or maybe changing the password in a different order, I don't know but it's working good and at a decent speed so I am happy with that. Apparently there is not much hope of a patch for the oddball digital version as yet, but maybe that will come in time. So far it hasn't been a huge issue but I do wish it would not freeze when saving which is seems to do more and more. Again, thank you everyone for your help. At least now I know I was having some sort of unusual problem and there is hope to salvage my jump into the railroad sim world, lol.

 

[mrscsi]

I agree with Paul. A lot of the complaints come from a very vocal minority - but that is the norm - we are far more likely to complain about a product than we are to sing its praises.

I agree with both of you. I usually get into Trainz then get over it for a year then get the next version and repeat the process...

2010 however is showing some great promise and has worked flawlessly for me. The update feature (for assets) in the game works great. I have always had a FCT so DLS has always worked.

Yeah I have had to fix some assets and some I can't seem to fix but hell there ain't nothing perfect in life and damn sure it aint perfect for 50 bux...