Trainz 2010 vs Trainz 12

[JJstrainz]

Hello Everyone,
It has been about half a year since I have played Trainz (Mainly due to my dissapointment in T:ANE)

However, I wanted to ask a question. What are the differences between Trainz 12 and Trainz 2010? I know there is the compatibility mode in 2010 and that MP is in 2012 (You can get MP in 2010 though). I ask this because even though I have T:ANE I really don't like it (Doesn't run that great + terrible lack of content) and I have TRS2006 (Doesn't run very well at all on my computer, or on any modern computer for that matter) As for content, I would like to be able to use some of my TRS2006 content that I have, although it will not break me if I can't.

As for my computer specs, it doesn't really matter as much because I can easily clear the minimum requirements (Although it would be nice to be able to run the game on some of my older computers)

So, what version should I get? They are about $5 apart in price (TS12 - $25 vs TS2010 - $20)

My specs:
2x Xeon X5650
20gb RAM
GTX 750ti

 

[johnwhelan]

I'd try TANE once more. I have a layout I've been running on Intel integrated graphics 4000 and they don't get much lower than that. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gpu-hierarchy,4388.html I'm getting 20+fps.

I'll stick a link in shortly for the beta. It's waiting for SP2 as the loco needs SP2 to get all its features running.

TANE has improved although a lot depends on the GPU. On my system I get better performance in TANE than TS12. Wait until SP2 is out and try it again. One of the big changes is that a lot of old content has been cleaned up for TANE. TRS2006 content for the most part should run in TANE although you might need to bring in an updated version of it.

Cheerio John

 

[JJstrainz]

I am signed up as a beta tester for SP2 already, and when I used it I did not notice much of a difference in performance. On medium settings I was getting about 30 FPS or so, which is misleading, because it was a very stuttery 30FPS. Another problem is the requirement for DirectX 11, which only my main computer can run. (Yes, you may be running it on HD 4000, but my laptop is HD 3000, which does not have 11 support, so I can't run T:ANE, but I would be able to use TS12 or TS2010)

One of the main problems I have with T:ANE is the lack of content that is in the game. This is not something that they are going to change with SP2. Or SP3. Yes, I can import content from before, but I have spent HOURS trying to get stuff working due to the numbers of errors there are, and for a lot of the content it plain just doesn't show up.

A lot of the content I use is from my previous UTC mod setup, and some content is from TRS2004. This content does not work for some reason (For example, many of the RRMods locos for TRS2004 do not even show up in game, or if they do the textures are messed up, they have broken cabs, etc.

 

[johnwhelan]

Go for TS12 then it will run on Directx 9 and gets slightly better frame rates than TS2010. Running on a laptop is challenging by the way. Stutter is probably more the hard drive. How full is yours? It should have 30% empty space, below 20% and hard drive performance starts to dive. Are you running win 10?

Cheerio John

 

[johnwhelan]

http://www.jatws.org/johnw/laptoplayout.zip

Something for you to play with. It's UK and the layout is in TANE. It should be complete. All the assets should work in TS12 and its all designed to run on a laptop with integrated graphics but series 4000 or above. Try it in TANE first, run the session to get an idea of what it can do.

Cheerio John

 

[meatloaf747]

Hello Everyone, So, what version should I get? They are about $5 apart in price (TS12 - $25 vs TS2010 - $20)

TS2012 49922 if you can still get it??? This version still retains "compatibility" mode for earlier content. Contents to version 3.6. Once you go to TS2012 SP1, you loose "compatibility" mode!!!

For some unknown reason, my medium to high spec'ed PC had problems running what I wanted to run in TS2102 SP1. Just ran like a dog, with lots of sputtering/jerking on large routes. Poor frame rates...

Tried Deluxe Tane and got frustrated with the problems I was having during all the patching, trying to run my favorite 2006 route.

I gave up in the end and went back to TS2010 49933. About 15 months ago I migrated most of my legacy/older contents into TS2012 49922. Been really happy with what I can run in 49922 and still spend 85% of my time in that.

That might change now that Tane SP2 is finally out. Plan to re-try importing my favorite 2006 route (& the route content) into Tane again, to see how SP2 handles it.

Got my fingers & toes crossed that most of the early problems (Pre SP1 & SP1) have now gone.

Cheers, Mac...

 

[Zeldaboy14]

2010. 2012 is iffy running, and I never had good experience running it (not recently though). I've used 2010 for some time, and I do like it quite well. Though, like the others said, give T:ANE a chance. We may all have once said it looked like a over-saturated 2012, but as times went on, we've discovered T:ANE far exceeds 2012 and maybe 2010.

 

[JCitron]

I always found TS12 to be a mediocre performer. The stuttering, and pauses became worse with SP1 and only improved slightly with SP1 HF4. T:ANE has grown well beyond what we saw in the beginning, and is by far the best version yet, though none of us expected that to happing in the beginning due to all the problems.

The performance with SP2 varied a lot during the testing so I wouldn't use the beta as a benchmark for performance. Currently SP2 Gold release, which is what the beta is at now, performs equally to SP1 if not better.

Using any version of Trainz on a laptop is a challenge due to the demands put on the hardware. The biggest problem for any laptops, outside of a high end gaming machine, is going to be heat and lack of overall resources. Many so-called gaming machines sold by places such as Walmart end up melting, figuratively, and outright crashing due to the strains put on the machine.

If you are seeing a maximum of 30 fps, this means that you have the v-sync set to half. Setting this to full, will give you up to 60 fps, and setting this to none allows the full gamut. Depending upon the hardware you have, you may find that half is sufficient. The full and none settings do put more strain on the system.

With any version of Trainz, you are not going to find a lot of "native" content, meaning stuff made strictly for that version initially. It takes time to create content and native content is not always better, and some of the best content we have was made for TS12 and below and still is today.

It is quite possible to bring in route created prior to TS2010. It requires copying and updating the files within the route folder (I can't remember what they're called at the moment), but it's quite possible to do. I found it easier to install a sparse TS12 install strictly for converting routes I wanted to bring into T:ANE. Using this method, I was able to bringing in a route I created in originally in December 2003, and the copy I I'mported was dated from a backup dated January 2004. I brought the route into TS12, and moved a tree to force a change, which allowed me to save the route to the newer file format, which is T:ANE compatible.

For route which use Speed Trees in TS12, the trees need to be replaced with other trees such as Clam1952's trees and shrubs. There are these as well as other excellent trees which are compatible with both TS12 and T:ANE, and simply replace the trees I TS12 with these and then bring the route into T:ANE for final clean up. Using this method, I have converted three very complex routes, which I had created over the years through both mergers and own building. Given the hard work done on the routes, I didn't want to leave them behind.

 

[WildWillyWacko]

Which game had the great lightening effects?

2010. 2012 is iffy running, and I never had good experience running it (not recently though). I've used 2010 for some time, and I do like it quite well. Though, like the others said, give T:ANE a chance. We may all have once said it looked like a over-saturated 2012, but as times went on, we've discovered T:ANE far exceeds 2012 and maybe 2010.

Since you are still using it I was wondering if it was 2010 that had a feature that I really liked or maybe it was 2012 before they updated it.

I always enjoyed watching lightening storms and one of the Trainz iterations had some spectacular effects especially at night with cloud to cloud, cloud to ground and even back lighting of clouds during stormy weather. Somewhere along the line it seems that they dropped these terrific effects!

I am disappointed with TANE because I can't get steamers to emit from the portals and I don't see any mention of fixing that in SP2 and I think they boogered that up in 2012 also. I could see gong back to 2010 or the original 2012 to get that back plus the lightening effects.

Thanks

Willy

 

[johnwhelan]

When running TANE I assume you're running with shadows off and the distance set to 1500? I don't think your GPU is up to max settings. Intel HD3000 is well below the minimum you can expect to run TS12 or even TS2010 on.

Cheerio John

 

[cascaderailroad]

I bought TS10, and never really ran it ... Months later I saw the NKP Berkshire, Aerotrain, Blue Commet ... etc ... I immediately bought TS12 ... I really never ran it ... as my laptop doesn't have framerates better than 16 FPS, as it is integrated graphics POS laptop ... I have T:ANE, but I need to fire up my desktop that has 6GB RAM, and a GT430 video card (bought because I only have a 300W LiteOff® power supply

So the thing that swayed me to buying TS12 was the DLC locos that ran on TS12 ... TS10 and TS09 were just lackluster intermediate versions that should be disregarded, and completely ignored ... stay with TS12, and if possible T:ANE

I still run TRS2006 because it has no complicated layers, and is easy to run surveyor on a low end integrated graphic POS laptop

 

[JJstrainz]

Well, since Trainz 12 was on sale on Steam, I ended up snapping it up. Thank you for your help.

 

[Vern]

TANE is a car crash with SP2 and in another thread Tony Hilliam has stated the previous stable version (SP1 HF4) is "no longer supported" so I guess that means no rollback for the customers who feel they have been impaled on a pike.

So I've actually reverted to TS12 unless there is a shift in policy re TANE by N3V or a rapid series of updates to fix SP2. I do have TS2010 installed but TS12 is better so far as editing is concerned. TS2010 still has the bug whereby splines can become detached from interactive objects, trashing your route. Interactive objects such as stations don't retain the settings entered in the various fields. I could also no longer get Transdem to display correctly in TS2010 - where the mapping textures should be shown was just jet black terrain. TS12 not without its bugs but the final version did stop spline detachment. Downside is that CM became very temperamental (don't do anything else while downloading) and splitting splines has a nasty habit of dropping the created node to ground level rather than maintaining the gradient. And as with all pre-TANE versions of Trainz, once your track and road network is finalised, all your spline points need to be adjusted down by 0.15m or thereabouts to sit flush with the terrain.

 

[Zeldaboy14]

Since you are still using it I was wondering if it was 2010 that had a feature that I really liked or maybe it was 2012 before they updated it.

I always enjoyed watching lightening storms and one of the Trainz iterations had some spectacular effects especially at night with cloud to cloud, cloud to ground and even back lighting of clouds during stormy weather. Somewhere along the line it seems that they dropped these terrific effects!

I am disappointed with TANE because I can't get steamers to emit from the portals and I don't see any mention of fixing that in SP2 and I think they boogered that up in 2012 also. I could see gong back to 2010 or the original 2012 to get that back plus the lightening effects.

Thanks

Willy

Sorry for not replying sooner. 2010 has the compatibility mode, and has all the routes from 2006 on up (except for a few full versions of some routes from the Trainz Classics line). Performence with 2010 isn't as heavy as 2012 or even T:ANE is, but if your just looking at a basic simulator, 2010 is a good choice for a first start if your unsure. Although, be warned. 2010 has been out of support for some time.