What's Up with Auran? Answer is Here!

[Mr.Jingles]

Just a typical PR interview really.
An Australian website doing a favour for an Australian company (who they've worked for in the past, lol)

It looks as though Fury is still going to be the "all eggs in one basket" project for Auran, which is worrying.

Maybe Fury will take off in it's new form
I didn't care much at all for the version I played a short while ago, and I'm generally a fan of online RPGs.
I also downloaded and played the trial of Battlestar Galactica from Xbox Live last week, and I have to say it was poor.

I don't know what Auran need to do to turn things around but they need to think of something soon.
I used to think of them as an innovative company that managed to do things that companies with much larger budgets couldn't seem to achieve, and I admired them for that.

Now they seem to focus everything on Fury, whilst they squeeze every last drop they can out of Trainz (17 versions!!!, that says it all)

I still stand by the statement I made months ago, and that's that the driving force behind Trainz, and possibly Auran's success over the years, have left the company.

I'm talking about the likes of Greg Lane, John Banks, etc.
Do a search on the net, and you'll also find references to a programmer that left Auran for some reason, and many people likened him to the next John Carmack, which is high praise indeed!
I have no idea which programmer at the old Auran they're referring to, but it does strike me that at one point, Auran had it all going for them, and then someone came up with the idea of Fury.

Maybe they all want a piece of the World of Warcraft pie, but to do that, you have to write a game that can compete with that.

I don't like writing bad things about Auran, but they really seem to have shot themselves in the foot over the last 2 or 3 years, and seem quite happy to keep going in the same direction.

What's up with Auran?
I think they took on the big boys too soon, and should have concentrated on what they knew.

Smiley.

That pretty much sums up what I am thinking too.

I always stood behind auran but as soon as certain fine people started to leave (or were forced to leave) the most interesting ideas left with them and slowly started to degrade the quality of the trainz product line.

There is a tribal wisdom of the dakota indians I'd like to quote on this part :

when you discover that you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount

Most companys understand what it means, however some don't.
(if you are confused, that "dead horse" is "fury" I'm referring to)
Auran is pushing all the resources that are left into the sinking ship, just to go down with it, that's sad for me to see.

I know I haven't posted here for quite some time (1+ year ?) but have been following the happenings in the meantime and let me say it's not looking good for the future of a once so florishing franchise.

Tata
Mr.Jingles

 

[timberdv]

Double Post

 

[timberdv]

Hey, Can you give us some more money?

Why would anyone spend one penny more on a program that is doomed? Auran can't even manage to complete their obligation concerning a contest they used to promote their product. Or even acknowledge that they have canceled the contest. Just give em some more money guys. They will love ya for it. Thanks, but no thanks!

 

[johnwhelan]

Why would anyone spend one penny more on a program that is doomed? Auran can't even manage to complete their obligation concerning a contest they used to promote their product. Or even acknowledge that they have canceled the contest. Just give em some more money guys. They will love ya for it. Thanks, but no thanks!

Reality is that Auran still are the best in town at the moment. For hobbyists I think they will remain so as their system is very flexible. They have limited resources so it looks like the contest has been put on the back burner for the moment. I think the secret here is to use what resources are available to the best effect which is what I think is happening. Auran's highest priority is basically the engine, the DLS and creating an environment that encourages content creation.

Software is rather odd, it doesn't wear out mind you it doesn't always run under a new version of Microsoft's operating system either, and with the newer video cards and cpus around today the old code still isn't doing too badly.

Thanks for the update Rob, when can we put in pre orders by the way?

Thanks

Cheerio John

 

[amigacooke]

Why would anyone spend one penny more on a program that is doomed?

Here's some of the reasons why I'll take a £20(?) punt.

Updated Passenger Objects - It will now be possible to have alternate passenger sets which can be specified at stations. This means that you can have appropriate passengers for your route other than the current defaults.

Bogie movement - Bogies can now be configured to have horizontal movement .

Automatic Fireman - The ability to have an automatic fireman has been added to assist driving.

Coupler Repair - It will now be possible to repair a broken coupler.

Improved Steam Sound - Steam sound will now be based on the RPM of a locomotive. Instead of before a train having to have a custom sound made, a base sound can be made for a variety of steam locomotives. Steam sounds are also synchronised to the locomotive's cylinders.

New Signalling System - TC3 brings with it an entirely new signalling system. Trainz will now understand the concept of home and distant signals. It will also now be possible to implement block working on your routes with prototypical behaviour of both semaphore and colour-light signalling systems. A new set of signals will be included in TC3 but the added flexibility of the system can be used to create alternate sets of signals for other regions and eras.
​

Improved Physics simulation of Steam locomotives - The entire physics system for steam locomotives has been given an update. An increased number of parameters within the engine spec configuration file and a greater degree of flexibility in their implementation has improved the characteristics of all steam locomotives leading to a more realistic and flexible system..

Better Animated Wheel slip - The animation of wheelslip has been improved and the subsequent effects of allowing wheelslip to continue on the fire state and steaming ability of steam locomotives has been implemented.

Improved Mini-map - Enhancements have been made to the look of the mini-map and some improvements made to the features available within it.

More realistic AI Control - The AI drivers will now use the loco/train brakes. Along with other enhancements this results in a more realistic driving manner of AI consists.

Changes to water - Water is now see through.

AWS system - AWS equipment will be present and fully functional in each locomotive represented in Classics 3 that was fitted with the system while in service with British Railways.

 

[Scitimar]

Auran's highest priority is basically the engine, the DLS and creating an environment that encourages content creation.

Aurans highest priority is Fury and to believe anything else is naive.

Sci

 

[GreatEastern]

Aurans highest priority is Fury and to believe anything else is naive.

Sci

I think if you read what was posted more carefully you will realise that the user was posting what they believe to be Auran's highest priority for TRS and not as a whole company. I say this because they were offered as priorities in contrast to the route building contest that is now in limbo.

Andy

 

[Scitimar]

I think if you read what was posted more carefully you will realise that the user was posting what they believe to be Auran's highest priority for TRS and not as a whole company. I say this because they were offered as priorities in contrast to the route building contest that is now in limbo.

Andy

And you think that money finished where ?? Auran as a company are quite entitled to put company funds anywhere they like ... so I say again > Fury is Aurans highest priority .

Sci

 

[GreatEastern]

And you think that money finished where ?? Auran as a company are quite entitled to put company funds anywhere they like ... so I say again > Fury is Aurans highest priority .

Sci

That may well be true but I wrote my post because you implied that another user was being naive and had got it wrong with regards to where Auran's priorities were. My post therefore pointed out the actual context of their post and how you had taken it out of context.

Andy

 

[Joe_T]

amigacookie just think to where your £20 punt will go. It won't go into the trainz pot. It will go into the dead stick pot which is FURY so until people learn to stop supporting Auran they will continue to use Trainz as a cash cow for Fury. so I will never buy another copy of Trainz not just TC until fury is DROPPED! Granted that is just my opinion and may not be shared with others but we have our freedom to express our opinion so I used it.

 

[GreatEastern]

Wahey! Let's just help push what remains of Auran over the edge by boycotting it and make sure that TRS goes down the plug hole with it! Either that or Auran will decide that TRS doesn't have the customer base to warrant more versions if we all boycott it.

Well that's clearly the sort of sensible thinking that we need to ensure the future existence of our beloved hobby

Don't you think just a little bit of the money you would pay for TC will go towards paying the staff who produced it? Or were they being paid from thin air? Or shock horror a bit of the small amount of money coming in from Fury?

Seriously Louise, I thought you had more sense than that...

 

[slave-driver]

Thanks for dropping in and updating us Rob. Your right that many have already made up their minds about what's happening. Most have no clue what is needed to keep a corporation going so they won't understand what you've said.

Bill

 

[aardvark1]

....Snip.... Your right that many have already made up their minds about what's happening. Most have no clue what is needed to keep a corporation going so they won't understand what you've said.

Bill

Hi Bill,

Sadly, you are correct in your comment. More so when the corporation is going through a financial situation like Auran and as are many other corporations worldwide.

Thanks,
Ron

 

[Joe_T]

Wahey! Let's just help push what remains of Auran over the edge by boycotting it and make sure that TRS goes down the plug hole with it! Either that or Auran will decide that TRS doesn't have the customer base to warrant more versions if we all boycott it.

Well that's clearly the sort of sensible thinking that we need to ensure the future existence of our beloved hobby

Don't you think just a little bit of the money you would pay for TC will go towards paying the staff who produced it? Or were they being paid from thin air? Or shock horror a bit of the small amount of money coming in from Fury?

Seriously Louise, I thought you had more sense than that...

GE where do you think the cash from TC sales are going it ain't on TC or Trainz its on FURY the dead stick. If more people had the guts to speak out about this there would be no need to boycote it as Auran would have no option but to listen. I do have more sense than you are clearly giving me credit for but if I am not happy where my money goes then I won't buy something or any of that companies products.

 

[Mr.Jingles]

A little something I don't understand is :

Not only was it difficult for the teams that worked hard to make Greg's ideas a reality; it was especially difficult for the people who had to find the investment capital to keep paying for the ideas.

Am I wrong or have about 17 Million Dollars been pumped into the now dead and freely downloadable "Fury" project ?

I can only hardly imagine how amazing a Trainz Product would have turned out if Greg Lane's ideas would have been realised with these 17 Million Dollars.

And what's the suggestions boxcar forum for ?
In the meantime after most of the staff got fired, ANY idea gets approved even those which already exist or are just plain dumb suggestions but which wonders me even more is why isn't any idea being picked up, worked on and implemented since the creation of the suggestions forum ?
Is this part of the forum just a blackbox in which we throw our ideas so they will disappear until the next big unrecoverable forum crash ?

Am I the only one seeing this ship sinking ?

If fury has been improved at all in the meantime (seeing there are quite a few patches out), I may give it another try, but about half a year back it was abysmal to say it nicely and telling from the new gameplay movies it hasn't become much better, so I find it hard to believe that it's actually creating any revenue at all.

I think that pushing out a slightly modified TC every few months (a new map, some scenarios and some tiny code improvements being announced as a "whole new product", which seems more like a patch to me) is what's really fueling the fury project.

Anyways, good luck with your business plan, I'm not throwing my money in a black hole anymore.

There are multiple ways to destroy a once so loyal fanbase and that's one of them ...

Tata
Mr.Jingles

 

[class143]

I think its great news that TC3 is to be released and I will definatly be buying it due to a intresting route, stock and other things. In my opinon Auran can put their funds where ever they like, if Fury is their main priority then let it be their main priority. TC3 shows they are still putting money into Trainz and by the looks of it, it will be excellent.

Looking forward to it.

 

[johnwhelan]

GE where do you think the cash from TC sales are going it ain't on TC or Trainz its on FURY the dead stick. If more people had the guts to speak out about this there would be no need to boycote it as Auran would have no option but to listen. I do have more sense than you are clearly giving me credit for but if I am not happy where my money goes then I won't buy something or any of that companies products.

And your alternative product would be? Boycotts are fine if there is a reasonable alternative but this sounds like cutting your nose off to spite your face to me.

Fury's development costs are to a large part paid for. Now its just pulling it all together. Trainz is a fairly mature software product that will be facing competition in about a years time from Microsoft. Translation its in the bargain bin at Walmart and the income today isn't what it used to be.

Auran's only hope for survival is to diversify and sell product. How many copies of Auran Trainz software have you purchased recently? I assume from your recent posts that you haven't purchased TC. If you haven't and don't appear to be interested in future purchases does any one care?

My personal preference would be that you refrain from making quite so many negative comments and try to come up with some constructive comments and suggestions, if you are unable to do that then take the dog for a walk or find some other pastime.

Cheerio John

 

[amigacooke]

I don't know how Auran raises its income or how it disposes of it and I suspect that is the case for pretty much everyone on this forum.

What I do know is that the features in TC3 are worth the asking price to me. That's the same reasoning I have used for any piece of software I have bought. Except Windows of course, that's never been worth the asking price. Now Amiga OS ......

 

[LieLestoSbrat]

Except Windows of course, that's never been worth the asking price. Now Amiga OS ......

Completely of topic but I do love Amiga OS. Could do with getting my old A600 out and having a play.

Rob

 

[electra]

Auran's only hope for survival is to diversify and sell product. How many copies of Auran Trainz software have you purchased recently? I assume from your recent posts that you haven't purchased TC. If you haven't and don't appear to be interested in future purchases does any one care?

My personal preference would be that you refrain from making quite so many negative comments and try to come up with some constructive comments and suggestions, if you are unable to do that then take the dog for a walk or find some other pastime.

For the record, I haven't bought TC either (despite owning a copies of every incarnation of Trainz prior to it) and I've no plans to invest my hard earned money in TRS again until '09 appears. Does that make my opinions on TRS worthless, too?

Like it or not, John, Louise is as entitled to express her opinion as everyone else on these forums (including yourself). I feel I should also ask why you chose to attack Louise about her comments, given she certainly wasn't the only descenting voice on this thread and is only one voice in many who've expressed dissatisfaction over the recent Trainz releases.