Currently using TRS2006 Limited edition. Although I love this program so much that I persist trying to get a decent layout built, dispite their hearbreaking distruction when Trainz self distructs. We are not talking about the violation page when the program kicks out to desktop, which is just an annoyance that is recoverable, we are taking about a complete wipeout requiring Trainz to be deleted from the computer and reintroduced. In the past year this has been done three times.
Perhaps readers might understand my degree of frustration that has driven me to make this post if I relate the following tale where I lost everything including other programs. Let me begin by stating that my computer is a homebuilt, with Trainz in mind, using a AMD Athlon 64 FX on an ASUS motherboard and a speedy video card.
For several months of problem free operation and while testing out a layout of sufficent size to take over a minute to boot up and running it for about an hour the screen of my computer went black and the computer refused all efforts to recover. The computer would not restart past the four warning beeps to indicate a memory chip failure. I replaced the memory chips. Still no response. I replaced the WD2000 Hard drive with a Patriot 64, still no response. I removed the battery on the motherboard for a few seconds to refresh the BIOS. The computer comes alive again but of course there is now no operating system due to the replacement of the Hard drive. Rebooting Windows we are up an runnning again. After going through the Windows secutity hassle because of the new hard ware, Trainz was reintroduced into the computer.
Now it what was on my mind is just how could Trainz scramble the BIOS of the motherboard. I ruled out a virus as at the time of the crash had not been on the internet for several months. Not being a programmer I shall leave it up to the experts to fathom the plausability of a Trainz fault scrambling BIOS .
Happy that Trainz was again functioning I proceeded with the content manager to deactivate all the content that I would never use. This of course takes hours to do. Having completed this task I began to rebuild my layout till it was time to retire for the day. The next day I called up Trainz and nothing happened. The CPU was going full tilt (98%) but could not acivate Trainz. At this point my frustration with Trainz had reached the boiling point and I seriously considered a divorce, consigning it to the trash bin, but my love of the program finally drove me to retry.
After purging Trainz from the computer and reintroducing it, it is working and I feel safe to build again. So this is where I am today, with a layout under construction and the desire to purge all that clutter of tacks and objects and layouts that will never be called upon but warry to do so.
As to the question regarding further purchases from Trainz, this is seriously in doubt. The fees paid to the download station are wiped out when the program crashes and all that has been downloaded using the download ticket is gone.
What I desire from the program to motivate a future purchases:
1) Train whistles that are loud enough to be hear at a distance, currently they cant even be heard from the rear of the train. The whole sound driver portion of the program needs a serious rebuild.
2) The ability to rename content so that the user can find the desired object, rather than trying to remember what is "a95DC4566a" or a "ma132pt2" is.
3) elimination of defective content from the built in objects sent out with the purchase of the program. example: "C83" which has no corrisponding object.
4) the lack of standardized stopping points to for loading to take place. Some are centered and others at the end of the objects track.
5) a standard signal system for industries. Currently one must experiment with placing signals near industries. The AI knows where the industry is and switches tracks to get there but does not recognize the stopping point and continues on passing the target and remains clueless that it has done so until stopped for a while by traffic ahead and the alternate route search is triggered at which it will reverse and sail past the target again in a neverending cycle of back and forth.
5) A Trigger for monitoring the output of an industry so trains can wait at a siding till there is sufficient cargo to match its load capacity.
6) A download ticket that reactivates should a failure take place, requiring a new install of Windows. My guess is that this can be monitored by reading the install date of a windows component or more generously its own Trainz install date.
7) I find the alternate route search by the AI drivers to be somewhat of a greater hazzard to a smoothly running layout than a help. It would be nice to make it as an option for a trackplan rather than a default.
Perhaps readers might understand my degree of frustration that has driven me to make this post if I relate the following tale where I lost everything including other programs. Let me begin by stating that my computer is a homebuilt, with Trainz in mind, using a AMD Athlon 64 FX on an ASUS motherboard and a speedy video card.
For several months of problem free operation and while testing out a layout of sufficent size to take over a minute to boot up and running it for about an hour the screen of my computer went black and the computer refused all efforts to recover. The computer would not restart past the four warning beeps to indicate a memory chip failure. I replaced the memory chips. Still no response. I replaced the WD2000 Hard drive with a Patriot 64, still no response. I removed the battery on the motherboard for a few seconds to refresh the BIOS. The computer comes alive again but of course there is now no operating system due to the replacement of the Hard drive. Rebooting Windows we are up an runnning again. After going through the Windows secutity hassle because of the new hard ware, Trainz was reintroduced into the computer.
Now it what was on my mind is just how could Trainz scramble the BIOS of the motherboard. I ruled out a virus as at the time of the crash had not been on the internet for several months. Not being a programmer I shall leave it up to the experts to fathom the plausability of a Trainz fault scrambling BIOS .
Happy that Trainz was again functioning I proceeded with the content manager to deactivate all the content that I would never use. This of course takes hours to do. Having completed this task I began to rebuild my layout till it was time to retire for the day. The next day I called up Trainz and nothing happened. The CPU was going full tilt (98%) but could not acivate Trainz. At this point my frustration with Trainz had reached the boiling point and I seriously considered a divorce, consigning it to the trash bin, but my love of the program finally drove me to retry.
After purging Trainz from the computer and reintroducing it, it is working and I feel safe to build again. So this is where I am today, with a layout under construction and the desire to purge all that clutter of tacks and objects and layouts that will never be called upon but warry to do so.
As to the question regarding further purchases from Trainz, this is seriously in doubt. The fees paid to the download station are wiped out when the program crashes and all that has been downloaded using the download ticket is gone.
What I desire from the program to motivate a future purchases:
1) Train whistles that are loud enough to be hear at a distance, currently they cant even be heard from the rear of the train. The whole sound driver portion of the program needs a serious rebuild.
2) The ability to rename content so that the user can find the desired object, rather than trying to remember what is "a95DC4566a" or a "ma132pt2" is.
3) elimination of defective content from the built in objects sent out with the purchase of the program. example: "C83" which has no corrisponding object.
4) the lack of standardized stopping points to for loading to take place. Some are centered and others at the end of the objects track.
5) a standard signal system for industries. Currently one must experiment with placing signals near industries. The AI knows where the industry is and switches tracks to get there but does not recognize the stopping point and continues on passing the target and remains clueless that it has done so until stopped for a while by traffic ahead and the alternate route search is triggered at which it will reverse and sail past the target again in a neverending cycle of back and forth.
5) A Trigger for monitoring the output of an industry so trains can wait at a siding till there is sufficient cargo to match its load capacity.
6) A download ticket that reactivates should a failure take place, requiring a new install of Windows. My guess is that this can be monitored by reading the install date of a windows component or more generously its own Trainz install date.
7) I find the alternate route search by the AI drivers to be somewhat of a greater hazzard to a smoothly running layout than a help. It would be nice to make it as an option for a trackplan rather than a default.