Well stick a fork in me... I guess no more Trainz for me!

TucsonCoyote

New member
*Sigh*...:'(

well after a lot of hard work and time speding on Trainz (and this includes the original (With Service Pack 3), Ultimate Trainz, 2004 (With Service pack 4), and 2006, (and even Trying to get Classics installed. I guess this coyote is done for this product. And let me explain in detail. That way this could be used as sort of a feedback to Auran...

When Trainz initially came out back in 2003, I was estatic, actually surprised that somebody had created a program that would emulate rail simulation quite well, and they made it so easy... In fact when Trainz came out, I ordered the product directly from the company..and over the next 5 years, I actually for quite a while had a bit of fun, trying to design layouts, and improve layouts and even come up with novel ideas for layouts (After all I was sort of a 'track-layer' and in fact I loved how this program was..

But as time went on, I purchased other Trainz programs, including The Ultimate Trains Collection, Trains Railroad Simulator 2004, and I was happy.

But it was during a period between August of 2007 and Now that really has left me unhappy. and disappointed.

First off Just recently I purchased Trainz Railwayz, and of course I was happy to see myself finally try and get all the way to Trainz classics... but after the 2 weeks of constant installs and uninstalls of 2006, as of today My computer finally said, "You have an Invalid registration Key or your Trainz program is damaged.. please reinstall Trainz..

So I tried again.. No such luck.. Finally in a bit of frustration I took 2006 off and tried to go back to TRS 2004. and when I fired it up the first time to get my system upgraded to the good Ol Service Pack 4? I get a Fatal exception, crash to desktop.. and you know what? I'm just tired.. Tired of Uninstalling and Reinstalling Trainz.. It's not be a happy thing considering that now I can't really use 2004.. I can't even use 2006, and more importantly I can't even use Classics (Heck I've been putting in the right code for it, yet it won't let me install..

So after blowing 100 dollars of Trainz Products, I guess I've come to the end of the line.. Unless someone wants to say I'm doing something majorly wrong or that I need to reformat my hard drive, I've finally hit the bumper at the end of the line. Game over, no more installs..

It's funny... When I started in 2003, I had just gotten rid of Microsoft Train Simulator, and its tools were too hard to understand, the activity/scenario editor was too complex, and I couldn't do track laying.

But then when Trainz Came along, things actually were a lot better. I actually had fun..

But now, that Auran has been "Derailed" as of 3 months ago, I have had nothing but grief...

So it seems I'm done.. Can't get any of the programs to work, and frankly that's sad.. I was hoping to see what Classics was all about, but since I can't even install 2006, what's the point of having these programs?

I can't send them back to the company, I can't unregister stuff.. In short, a no win sitch..

So there I go, a once happy customer now demoralized downtrodden and beaten to within an inch of his sanity as he watches Trainz go on without him..

It's doubly funny that at the height of Trainz's career, there were over 80,000 unique pieces of custom content.. 80,000.. Now there's only a quarter of that and no way to bring older material up to new standards.

In short, I'm done.. End of the line, Can't go anywhere or do anything anymore.. But unless Auran can rise from the ashes and fix these issues and work with the community, I see my Trainz Career going nowhere.. So maybe it's time to move on to something better..

anyway, I'm out the door, unless someone can help me figure out what I'm doing wrong (yes I admit I'm doing something wrong, but what it is ? I have no clue.

Anyway So long and thanks for the fun.. it was fun while it lasted..
But maybe one day.. I'll be back.. hopefully.

Tucsoncoyote--
 
When trainz is uninstalled it leaves a load of, erm, a lot of redundant data in the registry, hopefully you know how to use regedit at a basic level.
In regedit do a search for 'auran' and 'trainz' and delete anything you find, then try again (if you can be bothered :hehe: )
If you don't know how to open regedit, don't ask, get someone else to do it, playing around in the registry can cause mayhem with your system, you don't have to ask how I know do you :o

Cheers David
 
Instead of messing around in the registry yourself I would suggest to use a little freeware program called CCleaner. That did wonders for me when I had to un- and install TRS06.

( www.ccleaner.com )

Good luck
 
If and when you get these issues resolved, install Trainz 2004 and leave it at that. In my opinion, nothing that is newer is better.
 
TucsonCoyote,

My only thoughts are, that if you can not operate any of the Trainz programs, it has to be a problem with your OS ?
I can understand possibly you are unhappy with 06, and/or 04, but the fact that NONE of the Trainz programs are working ??

Just a thought ---DLR
 
Something Better?

Coyote,
If you are thinking along the lines of Rail Simulator............good luck! It looks REALLY PRETTY,but is anything but user friendly.It does work well "out of the box" but just try to add new content or alter a scenario and if you are anything like me(and I know I am), you will be scratching your head and uttering "what the F___K ! I think it will be fine once there is payware available that can be installed with the installer program,but I truly believe that the average person will be dismayed and give up!I have! Good Luck to you. I hope you can figure out how to make Trainz work.It's really the best out there right now.
 
When Trainz initially came out back in 2003...
Not that it helps your situation any, but Trainz initially came out long before 2003...:cool:
 
Hang in there.................

If you installed your OS (Operating system) several years ago, you probably have a whole pile of problems burried in it. eg; registry issues, redundant temp files, cookies, possibly physical problems on your HDD, etc, etc.
My advice is to save everything important, then reformat your C: DRIVE and re- install your OS.
Make sure you INSTALL the latest drivers for all your hardware. Download/install all of Microsoft updates.
Reboot and do a clean install of whatever version of Trainz you want to run, (plus any service pack) and wella, problem/s should be solved.
Footnote; A newbie came and saw me just under four months ago and he was having all sorts of problems trying to run Trainz 2006.
We did the above and apart from the occasional minor CMP problem, his Trainz 2006 has been running error/problem free.
Bottom line was the problems weren't being caused by Train'z, it was the crap/errors he had in his operating system that where causing all the problems.
We also doubled the amount of RAM, which I'm sure helped the game run better !!!! :confused:
Good luck. Cheers.
 
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The Info you seek, and some commentary about Trainz In General.

First up - give us your system details. Secondly, has it passed Trainzdiag ??

The system is as follows:

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 Processor, 3500+, 2.21 Ghz, 1GB of Ram,

Video Card: Nvidia GeForce 7950 GX2, using the 6.14.11.6921 Driver released 12/5/2007. Forceware version 169.21 Release Date 12/19/2007.

Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Professional 2002 Edition with Service Pack 2 Installed.

Now as for you question about does it pass Trainzdiag, the answer to that one is yes it does, and I do have the latest Traindiag results if you need them.

When trainz is uninstalled it leaves a load of, erm, a lot of redundant data in the registry, hopefully you know how to use regedit at a basic level.
In regedit do a search for 'auran' and 'trainz' and delete anything you find, then try again (if you can be bothered :hehe: )

I don't mind being bohered considering I'm retired and don't have much work on my hands. Think of it as relieving stress..

If you don't know how to open regedit, don't ask, get someone else to do it, playing around in the registry can cause mayhem with your system, you don't have to ask how I know do you :o

Cheers David

Oh I know.. Regedits can be perhaps the most irritating things.

Instead of messing around in the registry yourself I would suggest to use a little freeware program called CCleaner. That did wonders for me when I had to un- and install TRS06.

( www.ccleaner.com )

Good luck

Tried Ccleaner, No such luck.

If and when you get these issues resolved, install Trainz 2004 and leave it at that. In my opinion, nothing that is newer is better.

Well I was content with 2004, and I'll probably stick that way.. After all Seems that whenever I work with 2006, it's nothing BUT grief...Nuff said on that subject.

Coyote,
If you are thinking along the lines of Rail Simulator............good luck! It looks REALLY PRETTY,but is anything but user friendly.It does work well "out of the box" but just try to add new content or alter a scenario and if you are anything like me(and I know I am), you will be scratching your head and uttering "what the F___K ! I think it will be fine once there is payware available that can be installed with the installer program,but I truly believe that the average person will be dismayed and give up!I have! Good Luck to you. I hope you can figure out how to make Trainz work.It's really the best out there right now.

Well I know I've at least got options.. after all if worse comes to worse, I could always go out and buy an old copy of Micro$oft Train Simulator.. or wait another year till MSTS2 comes out, but then when you have a lot of time on your hands (Like I do), well then it's best to put it to good use.. and from what I've seen Trainz has been the top of the line product.. Too bad they went 'Belly up" and hopefully someone who is wise and can get these issues fixed with the newer products can solve the issue and maybe we could get back to the fun.. After all that is what Simming is all about.

But I'll hang around with Trainz.. After all it's a lot easier to use than the other so called products out there on the market..and until something a lot better comes along, well, we're stuck with it..



TucsonCoyote,

My only thoughts are, that if you can not operate any of the Trainz programs, it has to be a problem with your OS ?
I can understand possibly you are unhappy with 06, and/or 04, but the fact that NONE of the Trainz programs are working ??

Just a thought ---DLR

If you install your OS (Operating system) several years ago, you probably have a whole pile of problems burried in it. eg; registry issues, redundant temp files, possibly physical problems on your HDD, etc, etc.
My advice is to save everything important, then reformat your C: DRIVE and re- install your OS.
Make sure you INSTALL the latest drivers for all your hardware. Download/install all of Microsoft updates.
Reboot and do a clean install of whatever version of Trainz you want to run, (plus any service pack) and wella, problem/s should be solved.
Footnote; A newbie came and saw me just under four months ago and he was having all sorts of problems trying to run Trainz 2006.
We did the above and apart from the occasional minor CMP problem, his Trainz 2006 has been running error/problem free.
Bottom line was the problems weren't being caused by Train'z, it was the crap/errors he had in his operating system that where causing all the problems.
We also double the amount of RAM he had, which I sure helped!!!! :confused:
Good luck. Cheers.

Well after I've given all this data, I think that maybe, (and this is from my own expertise), that perhaps it's either time to get a new system or maybe just a simple wipe and reinstall of the OS.. After All it's been at least 2 years since the last reinstall (which was due to an upgrade on the Hard Drives) so Yeah I'm thinking that once i get this one done then I'll probably stick with TRS04. Seems to be the most stable to date.

Also I am just curious as to why the Download Station went from almost 80,000 different content items down to just 18,000.. Seems that when Auran went "Belly Up" Back in December, I have a feeling a lot of content creators just out and out yanked their content, and decided that Trainz was a "Dead End product". (I myself personally don't see it as such, but I think that if a lot of creators took the time and the care to do the scripting right, then maybe there would be a lot more content left.. But Like I said, I am curious as to why the sudden downturn in terms of content.

Also it's funny to note, that since TRS2006 has come out, there's been really issues with the game. I'm starting to wonder if this is because of the "Game Engine" this is built on (the JET game system). Perhaps maybe if folks could come together and work on both issues, (Both the content creation issues and the Game Engine in General, perhaps maybe the game would improve..

So is Trainz really a Dead horse? Not likely.. I have a feeling that if folks work together they could actually produce a better product than the original.. Given that they are given some sort of "Standardization.

(After all can't run a Narrow Gauge Locomotive on standard guage track without a third rail..) But at least I know there are folks out there trying to get some sort of "Standardization together..

Let's just hope this idea keeps going.. I personally have sunk enough money to help pay for improving the product I feel. So then Maybe it's time to improve it.. But that's just my observations on this.

Tucsoncoyote--
 
Hope the re-format goes well - it does sound like that should solve the issues you've got.

Just one or two points:

Auran haven't gone bust, they just wound up Auran Developments, the developers of 'Fury', and have downsized the rest of their operation. They are currently working on the next Trainz Classics version www.trainzclassics.co.uk .

The DLS hasn't reduced in size - it's just that in order to make it run a bit smoother the default 'search everything' option doesn't pull every item up immediately. If you flick to page 2 (not forgetting to make sure you have ALL the right Trainz versions selected), then a truer count will come up (I make it 89553 for versions between 1.3 and TRS06).

Hope this make things a little clearer...

Paul
 
Are any other programs indicating problems? That might be a vital clue.

Here's a few other things to check, with apologies if you've already done them. Most of them probably won't find anything but it's worth checking I think just in case:
  • Check whether Device Manager reports any problems (Control Panel > System > Hardware > Device Manager - look for any red X's).
  • Run a Memtest to check the main memory is ok (read the instructions on their web site regarding how to create a boot disk).
  • Run a full anti-virus scan using an up-to-date signature list.
  • Run a full anti-adware scan using an up-to-date signature list.
  • Run a full scan with Microsoft's Malicious Software Removal Tool.
I'd echo the previous advice - try to get TRS2004 going and ignore the other versions.

John
 
Okay here's what I got in 2004 (After install)

Well I Uninstalled everything. I even did a regedit. then reinstalled TRS04 onto the computer. Got all registered (just added in my Content ID) and then after launching the game (Without the SP4 patch), the system terminates and comes up with this fatal error:

Class: Hardware
Reason: Access Violation
Exception @ 04369449 in C\WINDOWS\system32\DivxMedia.ax

Recoverable Exception: Yes

EAX: 03E22950 EBX: 03E22A3C ECX: 00000000 EDX: 7C90EB94
ESP: 0013E504 EBP: 80004005 ESI: 03E22A30 EDI: 03E22A3C

DS: 00000023 FS: 0000003B
ES: 00000023 GS: 00000000
SS: 00000023 CS:EIP: 001B:04369449

Flags: 00210206 (CF:0 ZF:0 SF:0)

04369449 - 00000001(+18449) C\WINDOWS\system32\DivxMedia.ax
Unable to gather Full Diagnostics

So this is what I get when I install TRS04...any thoughts on this one?

Tucsoncoyote--
 
Finally a Little success on TRS04..

Well after looking this over and re-reading the issue above I finally figured out that DivX had to go.. Now with that out of the way TRS2004 is running.. (So here's something to comment about. If you have Divx and you want to run Trainz 2004, then you might as well delete Divx..Else you get the CTD (Crash to Desktop)..

But now the next question is will it be able to work...(also I wonder if this is the same issue behind 2006..Just a thought

Tucsoncoyote
 
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Here's some info on DivX (I haven't read it, dunno if it will tell you anything):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divx
AFAIK DivX isn't part of Trainz. I can't find it in my TRS2004 or TRS2006 program files.

The trainzoptions.txt line to disable the intro video is:
-intro=disable

HTH, John
 
Thanks TucsonCoyote - your system specs are fine and good to hear it passed Trainzdiag.

Regarding your first post, installing/uninstalling over and over, getting message of "invalid key and maybe the program is damaged" - suggests faulty install due to bad CD's/DVD or reading-error in your optical device.

I've had this problem with a flight-sim a while ago. The old CD's would install fine but with the release of a DVD-collection with some new features plus updated game-engine, there was no way to install it properly.

Solution in my case was to update the firmware in my CD/DVD-RW. Perhaps you want to try this. If things go pear-shaped because of it, you can always go back to the previous version of firmware.

Q: Do you have Nero7 on your machine?? (I for one could never run Trainz when I had it installed.)
 
AFAIK DivX isn't part of Trainz. I can't find it in my TRS2004 or TRS2006 program files.

Actually, if you look in your 04 folder, you'll find the video folder which houses the intro. The intro video is an avi file and......
AVI = DIVX

Sounds like an incompatible codec or the right codec isn't installed.
 
Update your Windows Media Player, that should fix your DIVX error. I just check my AVI playing from trains and a few tutorials that use the DIVX and they all play just fine on several different computers, but my media players may have been updated already. Its worth a try anyway.
 
Just removed Divx, and surprise surprise.

Well It's rather intriguing as since I removed the Divx codec, I was able to install 2004.. But then it got me to seriously think .. Is it the Divx Codec that is causing the major Issue.

Well I decided to try again. and lo and behold. Trainz Railroad Simulator 2006 was able to be installed, and no "Invalid Key or Damaged Install" message...

So then I guess I'm back in business.

It's rather odd that a Divx codec would be at the heart of the matter. and that it would be the cause of so much grief. (It's further odd that somehow the DivxMedia.ax file might be the root cause of this issue.)

So right now, I'm back in business. Now if I can get my 2004 Layout over to 2006 once I repair all the dependencies, then Maybe I can really start designing a great layout for you guys..

After all seems only fair for all the help..

Thanks again..

Tucsoncoyote--
 
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