Trainz for kids?

M

manwray

New member
My 5-year old son is a train nut. He started as many have with Thomas the train engine and I thought he would grow out of it. However, he has not and has gotten even more interested.

We were in Best Buy the other day and I saw "Trainz Driver Edition", the price was very affordable, so I thought my son might enjoy it. He has, although many of the trains are quite hard for him to operate.

I checked out the Auran website, looking for other possible train games. I see there are several other possibilities available, but I'm not sure if they would be much too advanced for him. He likes to drive the trains, derail them, and would also like to make his own layouts if possible.

Could someone please offer their input on the other trainz softwares, especially when considering it would be for my 5-year old son. Maybe there is some other train driving softwares you know of?


Thanks,

Manuel
 
Hello and welcome! I myself have started on Thomas the tank engine as well:p I think most of us here may have. But anyways. Trainz driver is for simply driving,period. If he would like to experiment making his own routes etc. I would recommend getting Trainz 2004,Trainz 2006,Trainz Classics 1&2,Trainz Classics 3.or the newest to the collection Trainz 2009. I myself work with Trainz 2006,for me this is the best version,because the newer versions have some compatibility problems. And if your son wants to make his own routes etc,will run into problems. Not to mention the older programs require less of a monster,fo a computer. So I will leave that decision up to you. And when you buy 1 of these programs,you will be able to set up your own trains and drive them about on a pre-built route,or a custom 1 that he has made. And did I mention they have Thomas the tank characters for them?;)He will also be able to download many many routes,as well as other things from the download station,such as locomotives etc. Although getting them into trainz requires a small bit of know how and paitence...But if you help him out with it,or slowly show him how to do it himself,or just not let him download anything,is an option. Heck perhaps you will become hooked on it yourself:hehe: then you will have to fight with your son for the computer...
Oh,1 last thing,if some of the locomotives are to hard for him to operate,there is an option for when you start a session,that you can choose to run in Cab mode,or DCC mode. Which simply means that Cab mode you operate it using all the controls in the cab,and DCC mode is where you operate the train more as if it was on a model train set with 1 speed dial.
I hope this was what you were looking for.
Good luck and happy trainzing to ya:wave:
Gandalf(Mike)
 
Manuel

My now 5 year old has been playing with trainz for over a year and a half.

I would recommend 2006, having recently upgraded to 2009 I cannot recommend it, it needs A LOT of bugs ironed out before it could be considered for use by a young one.

My boy started out watching me drive trains, or more specifically the AI when I had actual work to do.

If we let him he would be on the computer playing trainz from morning till night, that is one thing to be wary of.

It is a good environment for learning though, it has helped encourage my son to want to know how to spell and read, count trucks, learn about businesses needing supplies, and planning how to get things done, to name a few.

He now can drive trains himself, sort out problems when the AI gets confused, and is starting to modify layouts and add trains to do what he needs.

He too started with Thomas, and anything else train related, and that has not changed, and shows no sign of changing.

Gandalf,
Where can I get the Thomas characters from? my son would love it, at the moment he pretends using what rolling stock we have that is similar, I have not been able to find the main characters on the download station, maybe I am looking in the wrong place.

Regards,

Richard.
 
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Not sure that I know specifically what "Thomas" is, but there is a complete set of wooden "toy" train stuff included in TS2009 (as well as in the prior TRS versions). Do a CM2 search on Author = ccordes. The rolling stock is preceded by "Wd" i.e. "Wd Boxcar", "Wd Gondola", etc. The track and bridges, etc are preceded by "Pine", i.e. "Pine Track", "Pine OverPass", etc.
 
Welcome to Trainz Manuel. This can be an addicting program for anyone. Your son is starting in on a very time-consuming hobby at a really young age. He'll end up in the house Trainzing instead of bike riding. ;)

All in all, there's plenty of Thomas stuff available that will load up nicely in TRS2006.

@Richard - My 2 year-old niece loves watching the trains too. Whenever she visits and I'm Trainzing, she wants to climb up in my lap so she can drive. It's interesting to see her operate the computer like an expert. I think it's in the genes of the latest generation of children these days.

This is an addicting to adults too. I find myself losing a whole Saturday afternoon if not longer when I'm using Trainz. There are some reports of people forgetting the rest of their family/life while using the program.

Anyway check the DLS for some Thomas stuff if your son is interested. I was born way too long before Thomas became popular. I used to watch the real thing from a fence across the street from my house. My dad would walk me over there to watch the B&M freights as they went by to Maine.

John
 
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I think this may help you decide which version to get, since you get MOST of all there is available from Auran in one package.

Trainz The Complete Collections: $15 US or so (Amazon new packages and used packages as well for even cheaper)
This collection includes: Trainz Railroad Simulator 2006, Trainz Routes 1, 2, 3 and 4, Trainz Railroad Simulator 2004, Ultimate Trainz Collection and Trainz Paintshed.

You may even find some time for enjoying it yourself. :D

Hope this helps,
Lenny
 
i got my son 2006...still trying to figure out what is going on.

when i did a search for thomas on dowload station all i could come up with is a driver called thomas??

i wish that the owners of thomas the tank engine would get together with auran to come up with a single thomas package..no distractions.

like the whole island and all the chraracters with specific custom scenery just like the original books.

you could even tie in the sim with some real tasks related to the original stories.

there are a lot of boys who reach a certain age and find they have to give up with thomas and move onto more cynical games ect..

this would easily offer a way forward for those boys to persue thier thomas interests and maybe lead into a more constructive use of their time with all the learning that comes with it.

just cant believe that this market hasnt been more fully explored...its not like they would have to write loads of code..its all there..just needs some characters to be built.

ps..i found some charactes on the magandy site...but does anyone know where i can dload james!!! just cant see it anywhere.

alternatively if somone could point me to an identical engine..i think i could remap it since my fulltime job is 3d using 3dstudio max.
 
My sister was able to operate a train in cab mode across Marias Pass from Shelby to Cut Bank. She was experimenting with different controls.
 
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