Where'd all the Trainz fans go?

[jordon412]

So You Want to Know Where They've Gone . . .

There's a good chance you'll find them here:
http://www.publicrecords360.com/

EDIT:
The process to find out their actual name is complex.
Step 1: Select 'Advanced Search'.
Step 2: Check the boxes 'Posts' and 'Forums'.
Step 3: Type the username into the 'username' box.
Step 4: When the results show up, select the username to view their profile.
Step 5: Select the 'About Me' tab to find what state they list. This will help later. If it has their birthday or age, this'll help also.
Step 6: Go to the Download Station and search for content made by the username with the 'username' box selected.
Step 7: Using the username's KUID number, search your Content Manager via KUID author. Search using these boxes:
Installed Local (True if you have TS12 SP1HF4 installed)
Author #<insert username here>
IN ORDER TO CONTINUE, YOU MUST HAVE ONE PIECE OF THIS USER'S CONTENT INSTALLED ON YOUR EDITION OF TRAINZ
Step 8: When you find one piece of content you have installed, right-click on the content.
Step 9: Select 'View Config File', at the bottom.
Step 10: The Config File might have the username's actual name, or the creator's username.

Now if you have their actual name, you can find out where they now live. Please note that you can only search for people living in the United States, not for people living in other countries.

Step 11: Click on the link to the website above.
Step 12: At the top of the page, type in the first name in the first box, and the last name in the second box. If the location is listed in the 'About Me' tab, put in at least the state. Select 'Search Now'.
Step 13: If you only search by name only, there a good chance that you will more than twenty results. The website will list only twenty results. If you get more than twenty, select 'State' and click 'Apply'. If you also have their age, select 'Filter by Age'.
Step 14: And after all that work, there's a really good chance you'll find out where they live, and possibly ways to contact them.

 

[BOGIEMAN]

Cascaderailroad, & other Trainzers

Oops! sorry chaps! yes I should have put it another way, realising after I hit the send key I issued a statement several minutes later concerning permission required for route uploads.

I will re-iterate a previous statement I made some time ago that in my case, (the ECML oldyfication I`ve been working on), when complete, this backdated route will be sent direct to the original creators for their perusal as only they can decide whether or not it goes to the DLS.

Sadly it appears to be the case that unless people can get their heads around TRANS DEM then self creation/modification of prototype routes is & will be barred to many future Trainzers, in particular affecting many older enthusiasts who hold a vast amount of railway knowledge which we could all benefit from. Perhaps the only way around the problem would be for the TRANS DEM creators & the Trainz company to get together & offer as payware, sections of terrained baseboards made to order so any budding route creator who wishes to build his/her version of say the Settle - Carlisle line can do so without upsetting any of the original route builders.

Think about it, the game needs to progress in a way that suits old & new creators, technopohbe tweakers such as myself, & all other types of Trainzers, also we should be mindful that players may get bored after running 50 or so sessions on a layout that cannot be altered.

Regards

BOGIEMAN

 

[sniper297]

I suspect a lot of it has to do with TANE. The Trainz series was plagued with a huge problem from the beginning - JET. No other software in history has delivered so little for the hardware required to run it. The game engine is so clumsy it requires 10 times the horsepower of similar games to produce mediocre graphics and truly awful performance, which is why so many MSTS users are still with MSTS.

Then the promise of TANE - better graphics and better performance on reasonable hardware? Nope, from all the posts I've read it's actually worse. The release of TANE means no more patches for TS2010 or TS12, so whatever bugs or performance we're living with now are cast in concrete and will never see any improvement. And of course the obsolescence of build numbers mean you can no longer upload anything you make in TS2010 to the DLS, so those who are sticking with 2010 (best of a bad lot in my opinion) don't really have anything new to post about.

The only thing I find surprising is that more players didn't give up on Trainz.

 

[HiBaller]

I suspect a lot of it has to do with TANE. The Trainz series was plagued with a huge problem from the beginning - JET. No other software in history has delivered so little for the hardware required to run it. The game engine is so clumsy it requires 10 times the horsepower of similar games to produce mediocre graphics and truly awful performance, which is why so many MSTS users are still with MSTS.

Then the promise of TANE - better graphics and better performance on reasonable hardware? Nope, from all the posts I've read it's actually worse. The release of TANE means no more patches for TS2010 or TS12, so whatever bugs or performance we're living with now are cast in concrete and will never see any improvement. And of course the obsolescence of build numbers mean you can no longer upload anything you make in TS2010 to the DLS, so those who are sticking with 2010 (best of a bad lot in my opinion) don't really have anything new to post about.

The only thing I find surprising is that more players didn't give up on Trainz.

And there you have it in a nutshell. As computers got more sophisticated - and complex - the JET engine was still plugging away. Now that T:ANE is out, I can look forward to nothing being done about the myriad bugs and performance issues in TS2012 (and below, for that matter). Eventually, and that day will arrive soon, TS2012 will be put out to pasture and I'll end up dropping Trainz as a hobby. I had an opportunity to give T:ANE a try on my best machine and, I agree, that the graphics are slightly worse than TS2012 no matter how much I mess with the settings.

I've been at it for almost 12 years and each year I get more and more disillusioned and my Trainz sessions get fewer and farther between. A really great way to open a new avenue for the simulator port it to Linux. Ive advocated that for years. N3V has it on everything including a phone for crying out loud, but steadfastly ignore the fastest-growing operating system since Windows 3.1. If Trainz ran on my Linux machines, I'd snap up a new copy in a heartbeat. But, until then, my interest will continue to decline and I'll be on the 'missing in action' list.

Bill

 

[narrowgauge]

Bill

When did you last try T:ane? The current version is much improved. The DHR runs faultlessly, judder free, with all the mountains visible, in T:ane which it never did in TS12

Why is Linus so special? What would be involved in porting T:ane across?

How many more copies would be sold if this was done? Can T:ane be run in Linux in a virtual Windows? This last question applies to other Windows based programs

My impression is that installing Linux is more complex than putting a Windows disc in a drive and clicking Go. What benefits come from the seemingly extra complication. Another factor is that it seems a dedicated Linux machine is required in addition to a dedicated Windows one. I could not be persuaded to transition to a totally non-Windows environment.



Peter

 

[narrowgauge]

Duplicate post....

 

[clam1952]

Peter, I've had 2009 working in Linux using Wine, which is about as high as you can go or could when I tried it a few years ago now. Worked in SuSe, Mandriva and PC Linux OS and another forum member is currently running 2009 in Ubuntu.

Wine (originally an acronym for "Wine Is Not an Emulator") is a compatibility layer capable of running Windows applications on several POSIX-compliant operating systems, such as Linux, Mac OSX, & BSD. Instead of simulating internal Windows logic like a virtual machine or emulator, Wine translates Windows API calls into POSIX calls on-the-fly, eliminating the performance and memory penalties of other methods and allowing you to cleanly integrate Windows applications into your desktop.

VM's are not good as they emulate the Hardware, Wine uses the Linux drivers as a normal Linux application would.
I agree that TANE although not perfect yet, is way way better now than it was and a definite improvement on any previous version, if it works for you, it clearly still doesn't for some though.
Linux these days can be installed by any idiot using an install disk just as Windows does.

This is a bit off topic I think sorry Dave!

 

[Vern]

There is also the possibility that people might have become ill, or even passed away. If they lived on their own with no train sim related social interaction outside the forum, we might never know. Although we occasionally see posts from spouses or partners that a user has died, I would imagine the last thing a grieving widow(er) has on their mind is putting posts on forums they may not even know their partner used, to report their demise.

This was actually the case with Barney, a very prolific and enthusiastic Trainz user in the early days (not sure what he would have made of TANE though), who suddenly dropped out of sight. It wasn't until some years later that we learned that he had become very ill and sadly died.

Another name from the early days was CeeBee, not sure what became of him, hopefully still with us on this mortal coil even if not active in train simming anymore.

 

[JCitron]

I've been thinking about this since earlier today. We've been lucky that this program, in as many iterations and versions, has actually lasted this long compared to many, many others that have long since become recycled plastic bags when their CDs and DVDs were ground up for trash. Like everything, nothing is forever so, and keeping this in my mind I enjoy this now rather than worrying about the what-ifs and the shortcomings the program has.

The old versions still work which is amazing given the date of the program, and T:ANE is actually proving its self to be something much better than we ever had. The latest beta has been showing some nice things, and is far, far better than what we started with including TS12. Speaking of TS12, I have since migrated that off my main computer to my backup drive since I haven't touched it in more than 2 months, and then it was to check for something I thought I had, but didn't have anyway. The thing is, guys I'm thinking of NOW rather than later because for me there is no later...

Keep in mind that program developers, users, community members, and so on, all come and go. It's part of the product's lifecycle and a company's lifecycle. Just like any company, N3V/Auran started from a thought, grew up, matured. If we think about it, it's just like life, and just like any other company and product we've used. If we look back at the great railroads from the past, think hard about all the great companies that are no longer with us. The Pennsylvania, New York Central, LMS, GWR, and so on. The same with other companies such as Polaroid, Kodak, and so many more. If we look in our sheds, attics, and basements, how many old programs do you have boxed up totally unusable on today's hardware and operating systems, but boxed up because we don't have the heart to throw them away. If you're like me, I have a cabinet full in the basement, and a closetful upstairs. Some are only 5-1/4" floppy disks, others are 3-1/2" disks. All pretty much useless today even in Virtual Machines. Heck, the graphics and speed in the VM is far better than we experienced back in the 1990s and before when many of these programs were published, and now the programs look like garbage when we run them.

If you are interested doing something for fun, check out the Internet Archive and software...

https://archive.org/details/software

Have some laughs...

Nothing is forever and enjoy it while it lasts.

John

 

[Dermmy]

I suspect a lot of it has to do with TANE. The Trainz series was plagued with a huge problem from the beginning - JET. No other software in history has delivered so little for the hardware required to run it. The game engine is so clumsy it requires 10 times the horsepower of similar games to produce mediocre graphics and truly awful performance, which is why so many MSTS users are still with MSTS.

Then the promise of TANE - better graphics and better performance on reasonable hardware? Nope, from all the posts I've read it's actually worse. The release of TANE means no more patches for TS2010 or TS12, so whatever bugs or performance we're living with now are cast in concrete and will never see any improvement. And of course the obsolescence of build numbers mean you can no longer upload anything you make in TS2010 to the DLS, so those who are sticking with 2010 (best of a bad lot in my opinion) don't really have anything new to post about.

The only thing I find surprising is that more players didn't give up on Trainz.

I don't often agree with Snipe - G'day Snipe! - but he's nailed it this time. TS10 rules and they killed uploads to kill the best - to date - version of the sim. Kinda forces you to update or stagnate. I'm stagnating.

As for who's disappeared - I could add twenty or thirty names to that list without thinking too much about it. I used to post a lot (6,700 ain't easy!), but now I just tend to lurk around the screenshots threads. Lots of reasons - mos of them already covered....

I gotta disagree with Snipe a little bit just out of principle - I'm not surprised more players don't give up. The sim has has never lived up to expectations and it has always needed a cray to perform well, but it has an undeniable addictive quality that just grabs hold and won't let go. Which is probably all that's keeping the franchise afloat....

 

[narrowgauge]

Dermmy

I agree with your thought in your last two lines, Trainz is an addiction, and content creation in all its forms is the addictive component, which is something that N3V are neglecting to support.

Peter

 

[cascaderailroad]

With the planned unsupport of TS12 this September, I would think that all uploads to the DLS in TS12 would be rejected ... and since the NEXT T:ANE is the new N3V baby, T:ANE will get little attention as to SP's and hotfix's, and T:ANE will also be abandoned like a red headed stepchild ... just like all the other versions were abandoned containing faults

 

[Smileyman]

This was actually the case with Barney, a very prolific and enthusiastic Trainz user in the early days (not sure what he would have made of TANE though), who suddenly dropped out of sight. It wasn't until some years later that we learned that he had become very ill and sadly died.

Barney's gone?
Oh man, I had no idea.

Things like that should put things in perspective for people.
If the latest version of Trainz doesn't do it for you, find something that does.
We're only here for a limited time, and it shouldn't be wasted.

Hope CeeBee is still with us.

Smiley.

 

[ish6]

Considering how long Trainz has been on track, its amazing that so many are still here from the early days. Interests wax and wane, life happens, etc. Even if Trainz is still used on a regular basis, participating in forums is not always the high point of each day.

I've been coming and going for a few years now. The Trainz bug dies down and I get hooked on other things for a while or busy with life but inevitably I come back. There sure is a lot of different people posting now a days and a lot of the old timers are gone. I have hope for the game and the community to reach what it used to be back in the '04/'06 days. We all just have to act as a community that is welcoming to new comers wanting to try Trainz.

Hello Everyone --

Yes ....

Yes ....

On both those quotes .... I've been there!

Also, the forum just get tiring ... You take a break, but then realize that break is longer then expected!

Then you just back on board when there's something new, etc!

It happens to me!

Ish

 

[amigacooke]

The Trainz forum started off concentrating on what Trainz could do, while acknowledging the faults. Latterly, the inverse seems to be the case.

 

[wholbr]

Snip~Also, the forum just get tiring ... You take a break, but then realize that break is longer then expected!

Then you just back on board when there's something new, etc!

It happens to me!

Ish~snip

Obviously not all of them come back which is what the OP and others in this thread have been pointing out. The reasons for that I believe is what the OP wanted the thread to discuss not why some may just take a break from the hobby and return, which is something completely different.

Bill

 

[ish6]

Obviously not all of them come back which is what the OP and others in this thread have been pointing out. The reasons for that I believe is what the OP wanted the thread to discuss not why some may just take a break from the hobby and return, which is something completely different.

Bill

Hi,

Dave's question:
What happened to these guys, who, until a year or so ago, were posting on the forums almost daily?

I mean, serious, what happens? Well, lots of things ... It's why I quoated Martin and Strr, because their right ... As well as what I posted on my own behave!

And of coruse, there's an endless reasons why folks stop posting ... there's plenty to pick and choose from from previous posted in this thread as well!

It's just trainz life!

Good example, Claude .... have not done trainz in like 5 years, using using T04 -- He recently purchase TANE like two days ago ... so, again, what happens ... well, many things!

Sadly many have passed away .... etc ... There's a thread dedicated to them somewhere in these forums!

Regards
Ish

 

[HiBaller]

Bill

When did you last try T:ane? The current version is much improved. The DHR runs faultlessly, judder free, with all the mountains visible, in T:ane which it never did in TS12

Why is Linus so special? What would be involved in porting T:ane across?

How many more copies would be sold if this was done? Can T:ane be run in Linux in a virtual Windows? This last question applies to other Windows based programs

My impression is that installing Linux is more complex than putting a Windows disc in a drive and clicking Go. What benefits come from the seemingly extra complication. Another factor is that it seems a dedicated Linux machine is required in addition to a dedicated Windows one. I could not be persuaded to transition to a totally non-Windows environment.



Peter

I tried it just last month as my neighbor bought it not realizing it was for a 64-bit machine. He now has one and has T:ANE installed. He and I have been trying our best to make it run properly, with no progress.

My gaming machine: 3-core AMD Athlon II x3 460 @ 3400Mhz (64-bit); 8Gb RAM; the game installed on a SATA II (7200RPM) HDD. For video, I have an NVIDIA GeForce 8400GS @ 1Gb of RAM, running DX11.1. Drivers are up to date @ 341.93. At rest, my GPU runs about 149 degrees F. With T:ANE, it hops to 175 degrees and begins to throttle down.

As for Linux, it is far easier to install than Windows because it is free - no time-consuming verification/validation steps. It is easily dual-booted with Windows. An ISO file of Ubuntu Live can be downloaded and burned onto a DVD to boot from. Ubuntu Live is a full-featured evaluation and runs from the DVD and will not mess with your HDD. You can do whatever you want to explore Linux and then either pop the DVD out and forget it, or have it install on your HDD in a small partition next to Windows. At boot time, you can choose which OS to run. It is, in fact, as simple as putting the disk in the drive and clicking "go".

I have transitioned most of my daily chores (emails, browsing, movie-watching, music listening, and whatnot) to my Ubuntu machine. Open Office provides a suite of software that closely duplicated anything Microsoft can come up with for doing spreadsheets, writing, calculation, databases and drawing - and is free. I now do all my novel writing on Ubuntu and not Windows. If you don't like the default, plain-jane desktop, then install any of the myriad desktop environments (like XWindows) that please you. Try that on a Windows machine. Using GUI's, you have complete control of all aspects of OS operation and maintenance. I rarely use the "command window" (terminal) except to delve a little deeper into the machine's nervous system.

Wine is an emulator and, as such, cannot really run modern Windows gaming programs as they deal too heavily with the emulated video "card". I also got 2010 to run, but 2012 refuses to run and crashes. I doubt seriously if T:ANE would even start.

I didn't know about the September date, but I am not surprised that N3V wants to kill 2012 so they don't have to deal with the vocal bunch that wants a few things fixed.I suspect that when 2012 is unsupported I will simply fade away, to become part of a future "what happened to whatsisname?" threads.

Bill

 

[pware]

Getting off topic ...

My impression is that installing Linux is more complex than putting a Windows disc in a drive and clicking Go.

That was certainly true a few years ago when I first tried installing Linux but my last attempt, installing the latest version of Ubuntu on an old MSI notebook, was a completely different experience. The install went perfectly smoothly with minimal user input required. Afterwards the OS recognised every device I was able to plug into the notebook, something that previous Linux installs never did. So things have improved considerably in that area.

I could not be persuaded to transition to a totally non-Windows environment.

I am in agreement here. I fire up my Ubuntu notebook about once a week and use it mainly for web browsing. I don't see Open Office as a full replacement for MS Office, unless all you do is simple writing tasks and very basic spreadsheets.

Claims that Linux desktop/laptop installs are growing faster than Windows really lack any credibility and are not supported by statistics from the industry - the only counter claim I found was based on percentages. If, in a 12 month period, Linux installs went from 10 to 15 (my arbitrary figures) then that is a 50% increase while if Windows installs went from 100,000 to 120,000 then that is only a 20% increase. The percentage figure looks really impressive for Linux but does not represent the reality.

 

[dricketts]

Well I'm still here.

I'm working on getting my WIP route into TANE with speedtreez but it's a chore. I like many here don't have the time I used to. I've been a sales rep for one of the large national LTL trucking companies over the last 4 years. It requires a fair amount of travel and hard work.

At the end of the workday I just can't find the energy to mess with TANE. It seems like work. I've got enough work to do.

I'm not sure but I wonder about Euphod. If I remember correctly he lived alone in Chicago and mentioned some health problems before his disappearance. I fear the worst. I liked Ed. He posted really nice comments in my Frisco High Line thread weekly.

Angelah was getting up there in age and she had health issues. She was very nice and helpful to me. I miss her too.