Trainz Classics UK website (updated 1st June)

[ex-railwayman]

I can get authorisation to release information when required, or, maybe I'm just more prepared to play 'fast and loose' with my NDA.

Mike.

Can you play faster then please Mike and tell us where things are at this present moment in time with the release date (if known) .....

As Auran have left it up to you and Paul to tell the whole community what's happening with TC3, which quite frankly is diabolical IMHO, I feel empathetic with you both, as you will probably now have to start dodging the flak in answering questions from frustrated Trainzers now that it is 3rd June and we have no way of knowing what is happening at the moment....TC3 has been hyped up considerably and I'm sure that many of us would like to know how much longer we will have to hang on for....I'm certain the old addage "all good things come to those that wait" may apply in principal, but we've been waiting for over a year, and maybe some of our patience is now wearing a little thin....considerably more so, now that it appears that Auran have turned their attention to another product entirely. I will be brutally honest but the last thing that was mentioned is that it's gone Gold, what the hell does that mean please, some of us have no other experience in PC / DVD games, only in playing Trainz, a lot of us are not young and may not be familiar with todays' modern sayings.
I apologise in advance if you find my remarks blunt, but who else can we approach with our questions and get a speedy reply, certainly not from anyone down under as it appears they are more interested in Fury than us lot...Yes, I may sound p****d off, but that's Auran's fault, not yours....But without you and Paul helping us out, where else can we go ???

Cheerz. ex-railwayman.

 

[GreatEastern]

Ex: It has been mentioned elsewhere on this forum (although it was entirely missable) - when something goes gold it is considered finished and is being sent to the publishers (AFAIK).

Andy

 

[paulhobbs]

Actually i believe the 'gold master' is used to press the final DVDs in a similar manner to the process used to create vinyl records. Obviously the DVDs you buy are not created by burning each one individually, that would take too long.

Nobody has actually said that TC3 has 'gone gold' and I strongly suspect nobody knows exactly when the first copies will be shipped, not even Auran. After all, the manual and the box have to be printed as well as producing the DVDs and a problem with any one of these things can hold up delivery.

That's the reason nobody is saying when it will be ready.

Paul

 

[Mike10]

'going gold' means that the 'gold master' has been produced and is ready to be sent off to be duplicated, packed into boxes with the manual etc and packaged ready for shipping to distributors. In other words, it is finished enough to be sold. (I doubt anyone involved would ever consider it finished to the stage where nothing else could be done or added ) This final testing stage involves not only BETA testing all the content and game package itself but the installer as well. Obviously there is plenty of scope for things to jump up as not being ready.

Some distributors want to have their own 'versions' of the game produced with their own intro screens, packaging etc. there are also the translated versions for non English speaking regions and those will all have to wait in line to have their own 'master' produced. The first version to be produced is the 'Auran version' which is sold through the online shop run by the n3vrf41l publishers.

Nobody has actually said that TC3 has 'gone gold' to be fair. Tony gave an interview to another website, which was reported on here, in which he said he 'expected' TC3 to go gold on a particular date. Unfortunately delays have meant that didn't happen on schedule.

Yes, it has been a long time in production. I can't argue with that point. Some of this has been due to production issues and some of it due to issues completely outside of our control. Believe me when I say that every one involved is as keen to get it finished and out to people as you all are to get hold of a copy.

Whilst I cannot give a specific date for completion (and doing so would set us up for some 'you said this week' type posts) I can assure you we are definitely on the home straight. Rest assured we will let you know the moment the status of the release changes.

And I see Paul has beaten me to the punch (in a much less 'wordy' manner) whilst I've be writing this

 

[teddytoot]

Those of us who have been around for some time will remember that the original version of TRS2004 (i.e. without any upgrades) did contain the remains of Auran's experiment with animated passengers at the small station on the Australian route. They looked somewhat artificial as they only moved in straight lines and turned right angles. They would come out of the building and eventually sit down on the seats.

 

[amigacooke]

TC3 has been hyped up considerably

Compared to TRS04 and TRS06 the publicity has been so laid back as to be positively horizontal.

 

[Smileyman]

.....the remains of Auran's experiment with animated passengers at the small station on the Australian route. They looked somewhat artificial as they only moved in straight lines and turned right angles. They would come out of the building and eventually sit down on the seats.

You should have seen what the animated station people got up to in the versions the beta testers got sent, before they decided to go with static passengers.

Smiley.

 

[johnwhelan]

Quote:
Originally Posted by johnwhelan
Q1:

Animated passengers appear to be possible

http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showt...hlight=Neoklai

So it should be technically possible to reference them in a passenger set. It's probably something that is covered by the none disclosure agreement whether they are present or not, so I shouldn't worry I'll just look forward to seeing them when I buy the product.

Don't forget that those people are scenery items, not products, with several different animations. To use them as a passenger product you would need to place every attachment point with every animation in mind to ensure they don't walk through walls, posts, trains or each other. And then when they're on the train...

Having built an alternate passenger set from scenery object people I honestly can't see any major problem here. You just drop in the .im file etc. into the appropriate passenger slot in the set. I would agree that they should be set up to walk up and down the platform rather than across it but that's done in the GMAX mesh.

The attachment points are already built into the passenger enabled stations, you don't need to touch these.

Cheerio John

 

[Natvander]

Quote:
Originally Posted by johnwhelan
Q1:

Animated passengers appear to be possible

http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showt...hlight=Neoklai

So it should be technically possible to reference them in a passenger set. It's probably something that is covered by the none disclosure agreement whether they are present or not, so I shouldn't worry I'll just look forward to seeing them when I buy the product.



Having built an alternate passenger set from scenery object people I honestly can't see any major problem here. You just drop in the .im file etc. into the appropriate passenger slot in the set. I would agree that they should be set up to walk up and down the platform rather than across it but that's done in the GMAX mesh.

The attachment points are already built into the passenger enabled stations, you don't need to touch these.

Cheerio John

I'll try and explain in a little more detail.

Someone creates some animated people and convert them (insert...whatever you choose) into a passenger asset. Some walk this way, some that way, some round and round, some read a paper etc etc.

Firstly...we use it on a pre-existing station, with attachment points positioned for static passengers. You'll see passengers walk into posts, each other, the building, and off the platform because the majority of stations have attachment points facing various directions, none of which were designed for an animated passenger.

Next, we create a new station. Unfortunately all attachment points will need to be positioned so that they can accept ALL animations, being mindful of the platform width and length, posts, seats, buildings, each other etc because of the random placement of the passenger meshes. Of course to do this you will need to know the extent of all the animations.

Passengers looking around, reading a paper, waving etc would most certainly work immediately (and would be a welcome addition) but at the present time walking passengers, while the concept is good, IMHO are not feasible.

 

[Mike10]

I would agree that they should be set up to walk up and down the platform rather than across it but that's done in the GMAX mesh.

The attachment points are already built into the passenger enabled stations, you don't need to touch these.

Cheerio John

And if some of the attachment points are at 90 degress to some of the others?

Not all the attachment points can be guaranteed to be at exactly the same angle. You also could have problems with how far up and down the people walk, they may walk off the end of the platforms, through buildings etc.

It seems simple at first glance but I think it is more problematic that it appears.

Mike.

 

[ex-railwayman]

Many thanks Mike and Paul, and again, I'm sorry if you think I've hassled you into divulging news. However, we are keen as mustard to play with our new toy and knowing the creative genius of those who have been involved with the development of TC3 has maybe hightened our impatience...I appreciate that to offer specific release dates is tantamount to criticism when not met, but further delays may leave the community a little restless. Maybe in publishing that TC3 was due out in Q2 of 2008, was in hindsight, done with good intention, unfortunately, if it doesn't happen, offers ammunition to the hecklers from the back-benches, although, it does look as though this target will be met. And yes, it was the interview that layed the foundations to this "going to gold", and as this was delayed, but with nobody at Auran advising us, maybe not being kept in the loop has strengthened our uncertainty. But at least, unlike Auran, you aren't treating us like mushrooms......

Cheerz.

Ex.