TC3 or TRS09?

Q

quicksilver1983

New member
Before taking the plunge, I have read some things about both TC3 and TRS09 and would like to upgrade from Trainz 1.3/UTC/TRS2006/TC1.

However, which version of Trainz is better - TC3 or TRS09?

I really want to know before forking out cash for the dvd (would rather DVD format as I have a fairly slow internet connection).

I would be running on either my Samsung NC10, which is a 1.6Ghz Intel Atom, 2Gb DDR2 Ram, 128Mb Intel 945GME graphics (1024x600 resolution) or on my Compaq Pressario which is due to be upgraded to a 2.8Ghz P4 from a 2.66Ghz Celeron (equiv of a 1.7/1.8Ghz P4), 512Mb DDR Ram, 256Mb Geforce FX5700 (resolution of 1280x1024)

Both are probably not ideally suitable for running Trainz happily, but they do for now.

What are the absolute Pros/Cons of TC3 and TRS09?

I'm kinda verging towards TRS09, but am worried that neither system will run it and the fact a lot of the stuff I have downloaded for TRS06 may or may not work in TRS09..

Opinions??
 
TC3 contains 1960s steam and diesel locomotives with the Settle and Carlisle route.

If you have both and import the S&C into '09, the S&C will run much smoother
 
quicksilver1983 said:
Before taking the plunge, I have read some things about both TC3 and TRS09 and would like to upgrade from Trainz 1.3/UTC/TRS2006/TC1.

However, which version of Trainz is better - TC3 or TRS09?

I really want to know before forking out cash for the dvd (would rather DVD format as I have a fairly slow internet connection).

I would be running on either my Samsung NC10, which is a 1.6Ghz Intel Atom, 2Gb DDR2 Ram, 128Mb Intel 945GME graphics (1024x600 resolution) or on my Compaq Pressario which is due to be upgraded to a 2.8Ghz P4 from a 2.66Ghz Celeron (equiv of a 1.7/1.8Ghz P4), 512Mb DDR Ram, 256Mb Geforce FX5700 (resolution of 1280x1024)

Both are probably not ideally suitable for running Trainz happily, but they do for now.

What are the absolute Pros/Cons of TC3 and TRS09?

I'm kinda verging towards TRS09, but am worried that neither system will run it and the fact a lot of the stuff I have downloaded for TRS06 may or may not work in TRS09..

Opinions??
Click to expand...

Both prefer dual core, TC3 is about UK content, TRS2009 probably more real soon now. Push your memory up to 2-2.5 gigs that should help performance a bit. Most things work in TRS2009 so I'd go that route, perhaps you know some one with broadband who could download it for you and burn it on a DVD?

Cheerio John
 
kinda hard to upgrade my Compaq to that kind of memory cos the max that system will take is 1Gb (2x512Mb) - but it doesn't wanna boot with 1Gb installed
 
Hello quicksilver1983, the recommended specs on the box for TC3 are as follows :

Windows XP 1 gig RAM, 3 Ghz Processor Pentium 4 or equivalent, 128mb 3D Graphics card (nVidia GeForce4 or ATI).

I think John was right to state that you need a higher RAM, as there are an awful lot of splines used, particularly stone walls, rivers and telegraph poles, and to be honest I thought 2 gig is a bit conservative, I pushed it up to 3 gig on my PC.
I think you need to upgrade to a bigger machine honestly, for the future, for either TC3 or TS2009, the graphics and power hungry resources may be a bit too big a hit on your current machines to enable you to get 100% enjoyment out of either version.....
Probably not what you wanted to hear, but, we don't want you to waste your money if you cannot play the game.

Cheerz. ex-railwayman.
 
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Is your Compaq the Presario SR1210NX - Celeron D 330 2.66 GHz or the desktop dc7100?
Can you give us details of the motherboard inside your Compaq Pressario. The exact model number, etc.
That way you/we can try researching how much RAM that particular motherboard can take. (max). (if I remember rightly, most of the m/b's that went into those C 2.66 compac's desktops had 2 ram slots with a max of 256 SDRAM per slot ??? (socket 478 m/b's)...
You could try google searching that particular motherboard to see if their's a BIOS upgrage for it...
You should notice a bit of a perfomance boost going to a P4 2.8, from a C 2.66. (Celeron PC's where never designed to be gaming machines)
Personally, I think both machines will struggle to run TC3 & 2009. As John (& ex-railwayman) have mentioned above, you really should have 2.5+ of ram to run trainz's, plus a reasonable video card (atleast 256, preferably 512 - 1 gig) to run either version at good frame rates. (plus a good processor as well)...

That's not to say that both machines won't run them, but you will probably need to have a lower resolution and the settings turned right down. Even then, they will struggle to process all the data on large detailed routes, (especially when you come to a highly detailed, large area, with lots of trains)...
I hate to say it, but your PC's are starting to get abit long in the "teeth' and it might be time to start thinking about saving those penny's for a complete upgrade/replacement !!!
With the cost of mid to high end gaming PC's coming down so much over the last couple of years, you no longer have to take out a mortgage on your house to get one. :hehe:
Happy trainzing.
Cheers, Mac...

ex-railwayman, my appoligies if my comments overlap some of what you have said above, we were obviously typing a 'reply post' at the same time. Cheers...
 
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Personally, I have every version of Trainz ever made, but I stick with 2006, as it works the best for me. I wouldn't bother with either 2009 or TC, were I you.
 
Euphod said:
Personally, I have every version of Trainz ever made, but I stick with 2006, as it works the best for me. I wouldn't bother with either 2009 or TC, were I you.
Click to expand...

Well yes but how much interest do you have in UK steam? TC3 or TRS2009 is the way to go for UK Steam and no doubt some one will sort out steam for the US sometime for TRS2009.

People's requirements differ.

Cheerio John
 
johnwhelan said:
Well yes but how much interest do you have in UK steam? TC3 or TRS2009 is the way to go for UK Steam and no doubt some one will sort out steam for the US sometime for TRS2009.

People's requirements differ.

Cheerio John
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's why the word "Personally" prefaces my reply.
 
meatloaf747 said:
Is your Compaq the Presario SR1210NX - Celeron D 330 2.66 GHz or the desktop dc7100?
Can you give us details of the motherboard inside your Compaq Pressario. The exact model number, etc.
That way you/we can try researching how much RAM that particular motherboard can take. (max). (if I remember rightly, most of the m/b's that went into those C 2.66 compac's desktops had 2 ram slots with a max of 256 SDRAM per slot ??? (socket 478 m/b's)...
You could try google searching that particular motherboard to see if their's a BIOS upgrage for it...
You should notice a bit of a perfomance boost going to a P4 2.8, from a C 2.66. (Celeron PC's where never designed to be gaming machines)
Personally, I think both machines will struggle to run TC3 & 2009. As John (& ex-railwayman) have mentioned above, you really should have 2.5+ of ram to run trainz's, plus a reasonable video card (atleast 256, preferably 512 - 1 gig) to run either version at good frame rates. (plus a good processor as well)...

That's not to say that both machines won't run them, but you will probably need to have a lower resolution and the settings turned right down. Even then, they will struggle to process all the data on large detailed routes, (especially when you come to a highly detailed, large area, with lots of trains)...
I hate to say it, but your PC's are starting to get abit long in the "teeth' and it might be time to start thinking about saving those penny's for a complete upgrade/replacement !!!
With the cost of mid to high end gaming PC's coming down so much over the last couple of years, you no longer have to take out a mortgage on your house to get one. :hehe:
Happy trainzing.
Cheers, Mac...

ex-railwayman, my appoligies if my comments overlap some of what you have said above, we were obviously typing a 'reply post' at the same time. Cheers...
Click to expand...
it's an sr1209uk. already looked at upgrade options and it is max 512mb per bank so only option I have really is a socket 478 Pentium 4 - of which I managed to find one for just £15 for a 2.8Ghz :cool:

Might have to consider getting a better machine - shop just down the road from me has a 2.8Ghz P4 with 1Gb Ram (upgradeable to 4Gb i think he said), with a PCI-E graphics slot for £125 (kinda steep I thought especially as it is a 2nd hander machine...)

Another option I have, cos I love the Compaq case for it's neatness, is to upgrade the mobo/cpu/ram/graphics and fit them into the old case.....
 
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johnwhelan said:
People's requirements differ.
Click to expand...
That's the key to it I think. Anyone deciding which version of Trainz to buy should assess each of them carefully against their requirements. Someone who wants to drive trains, make simple layouts and download a wide range of operative assets in a stable environment will want an old version such as TRS2004, whereas someone making 3D models and new layouts for publication will probably prefer TS2009WBE.

John
 
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meatloaf747 said:
ex-railwayman, my appoligies if my comments overlap some of what you have said above, we were obviously typing a 'reply post' at the same time. Cheers...
Click to expand...

No apology necessary Mac, just as long as quicksilver gets as much information from all of us to decide his best course of action......

Cheerz. ex. :wave:
 
I'm in a similar boat. I'm hearing that TC and 2009 need the dual core processor to run smoothly, so for now I'll stick with 2006.

The big attraction for me with 2009 is that you can make narrower cuts for route creation. I'll look into upgrading my pc when finances allow.
 
JimDep said:
I'm in a similar boat. I'm hearing that TC and 2009 need the dual core processor to run smoothly, so for now I'll stick with 2006.

The big attraction for me with 2009 is that you can make narrower cuts for route creation. I'll look into upgrading my pc when finances allow.
Click to expand...

Not quite, you should see an improvement in frame rates moving to TRS2009 even with a single processor. It uses a number of tricks to get better frame rates one is running on more than one core, but another is texture compression and that one works on single or dual core machines. Basically the textures are compressed to a quarter size which means smaller files to move round the machine and in very crude terms it quadruples the amount of memory on the graphics card.

Cheerio John
 
Thanks John, that's very good to know and much appreciated.

This might be time to make the plunge!
 
Hi John Whelan,

When you mention that frame rates are better in TS2009 than TRS2006, are you using compatibility mode or native mode in TS2009. If you are in compatibility mode, you make me envious because in my case TRS2006 or TC3 perform much better, no stuttering and very fluid. I have reinstalled TS2009 three times and always the same disappointing results. The last time I reinstalled TS2009, I downloaded and installed only two routes which were designed to run in compatibility mode: Summer Lake Valley and IndustRail2. I corrected all the errors and warnings I could correct, still no joy. Direct X gave better results than OpenGl. In Options, I reduced the settings to Normal, draw distance set at 2000 meters. Antivirus off. Internet to off.
Consequently, I went back to TC3 and removed TS2009.

My specs are: Antec Nine Hundred casing, Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 (3.0 Ghz), Intel mobo DP35DPM FSB=1333 Mhz, Corsair HX Series 620W, 8 Gb Corsair DDR2-800 RAM, 320 Gb WD Caviar Sata-II 7200RPM, EVGA GTX 260 896Mb, Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer, Saitek Eclipse II keyboard, Logitech G5 mouse, Windows Vista Home Basic 64-bit with SP1.

Cheers
Gilles
 
>
When you mention that frame rates are better in TS2009 than TRS2006, are you using compatibility mode or native mode in TS2009. If you are in compatibility mode, you make me envious because in my case TRS2006 or TC3 perform much better, no stuttering and very fluid. I have reinstalled TS2009 three times and always the same disappointing results. The last time I reinstalled TS2009, I downloaded and installed only two routes which were designed to run in compatibility mode: Summer Lake Valley and IndustRail2. I corrected all the errors and warnings I could correct, still no joy. Direct X gave better results than OpenGl. In Options, I reduced the settings to Normal, draw distance set at 2000 meters. Antivirus off. Internet to off.
Consequently, I went back to TC3 and removed TS2009.


Currently I'm running TRS2009 in native mode on a P4 2.4 with a 3850 AGP video card. On simple layouts its fine.

To be honest at the moment I'm going through a period of going over content and updating it for TRS2009 and making new content. Neither of which are particularly demanding on the machine when I'm using a test track. I understand that compatibility mode has had a few tweaks to make the compatibility better which means the performance is now about the same as TRS2006 or slightly worse than TC3 but there is enough items available now to be able to run in native mode.

I note you are comparing TC3 to TRS2009 compatibility mode running with a draw distance of 2,000 meters. I think TC3 uses a shorter one than that so to compare apples to apples perhaps you should drop the draw distance. TRS2009 has long draw distances.

I wonder if there is something else going on here since your system should run Trainz fairly well, the video card is only just a little slower than a 4870.

Cheerio John
 
quicksilver1983 said:
it's an sr1209uk. already looked at upgrade options and it is max 512mb per bank so only option I have really is a socket 478 Pentium 4 - of which I managed to find one for just £15 for a 2.8Ghz :cool:

Might have to consider getting a better machine - shop just down the road from me has a 2.8Ghz P4 with 1Gb Ram (upgradeable to 4Gb i think he said), with a PCI-E graphics slot for £125 (kinda steep I thought especially as it is a 2nd hander machine...)

Another option I have, cos I love the Compaq case for it's neatness, is to upgrade the mobo/cpu/ram/graphics and fit them into the old case.....
Click to expand...

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/barebones.html

Just add a graphics card and you're good to go (you can use the HDD, CD/DVD drive, mouse, keyboard, screen etc from your current machine). I bought one, added a £35 graphics card and an HDD I already had and then had a brand new, Trainz-capable (not lightening fast or super smooth, but definitely usable) machine for under £200

Mike.
 
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