Unified content library?

hokietrainz

New member
My son is running TS12 and TANE. I recently rebuilt the computer we both use and installed a 240 GB SSD as the primary drive. I still have two 1TB HDDS in the systemfor storage. This got me thinking (dangerous, I know). Do the different Trainz versions use a common content library? Could they? How? Could I keep the main program on the SSD and put the librar(ies) on a slower storage drive? How?

Thanks in advance for any help!

[edit] forgot to mention TANE is installed through Steam while TS12 was installed normally. Win10; Core i5-6600; 16GB DDR4; NVIDIA GTX750
 
Last edited:
Good thought and not a dangerous one at that.

Trainz will have two different databases so this is either a good thing or a bad thing, but I think I know what you're asking here. :)

Now for the good news with T:ANE. T:ANE can have the program its self, plus a small bit of data it needs to keep there on the 240GB SSD and with the remaining data on the 1TB "data" drive. You can do this when you setup it initially, or even at a later date if you want. This is exactly how I've setup my install(s) and so have many other people. We can help you with this, and there is an actual knowledgebase guide available on this via T:ANE its self in the settings-install tab.

With TS12 you can put the whole install on the 1TB drive - program included - because the user data folder exists in the same program structure. Now for some good news with TS12. Even if you installed the program on your 240GB SSD, you can simply copy, or in this case, move the TS12 install folder to your other drive. Once you do that, you'll have to create a desktop short cut manually or edit the existing shortcut to know where the install is, and most likely setup the firewall again, which usually will prompt you about TADDaemon and Trainz TS12 needing network access. In both cases there is no need to sit through a long reinstallation.

I hope this answers your questions. :)

John
 
Yes! Thank up for the thorough reply.

Now, the subtle question I also tried to ask...can I download content ONCE from the DLS and use it in both programs?
 
I have downloaded Trainz assets using FTP and installed them in more than one version, including those built for TS12 and installed in TS10 by amending the build number - solely for my own use of course.

Ray
 
Yes! Thank up for the thorough reply.

Now, the subtle question I also tried to ask...can I download content ONCE from the DLS and use it in both programs?

Yup you can do this too, though it takes a bit of manipulation...





1) Start up T:ANE and go to Manage Content.

2) Download what you want into TS12.

The reason for this is because downloading into TS12 guarantees better compatibility going forward than attempting to "fix" assets to work in TS12 that are newer versioned in T:ANE.

3) While in Content Manager, sort the data for the latest installed.
4) Open for edit.
5) Using File Explorer (aka Windows Explorer), go to wherever you installed TS12/UserData/editing (Mine is on my E: drive in E:\TS12 so I would go to E:\TS12\UserData\editing)

You'll see the content folders here.

6) Highlight the folders.

If there's a lot, many, many of them, do this in bunches of a 20 at a time.

7) Drag these into T:ANE Content Manager (Manage Content).

There will be a progress bar in T:ANE....

If there are any warnings about stuff already installed, check the open for edit in T:ANE and revert anything open to original. Right-click on the asset and it's listed there.

8) Once all your content is transferred over, you can now go back to TS12 Content Manager (CM for short), highlight all the open assets, and press CTRL+R to revert which will close them up.

I think I've got the steps outlined here using CM. There's another method which takes a bit more manipulation using File Explorer only and T:ANE CM. If you want that method we can discuss that too.

John
 
If you have both T12 and T:ANE, then you'll have to download T12 content and then share it with T:ANE as per John's instructions. If you download T:ANE content, getting it to work in T12 could be problematic, depending if the object uses any T:ANE specific features. At best, T12 will ignore T:ANE features, at worst, they won't work at all.
 
Back
Top