Why I like Trainz

cascaderailroad

New member
A person came over and said: "OMG, your a grown man, playing the Sims"

I like Trainz because of the ease of building a custom layout/route/DEM

I would like to be informed if there is another railroad simulator out there that has this ease of tracklaying as Trainz does ... are there other simulators that have this user friendly, route building ability ?

I am supposing that Railworks is the major competitor, BVE, Open Rails, Crosstie Studios ... etc ... What other train simulators exist ... and what are their downfalls, and inadequacies, as compared to Trainz ?

Railworks seems like a payware asset, train driving "Game", with a bothersome HUD that clogs the screen, where you gain points by completing a driving session ... I have been told that it is difficult to build custom route with it ?
 
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I love Trainz. When people ask me why, I tell them "It's Trainz!"

If someone ever asks me what train simulator is the best to get into, I usually say Trainz. I suppose the reason why Trainz has become the "go-to" train simulator for new players is because of just how easy it is to use. Tracklaying is a breeze, the amount of freeware content is mind-boggling, and developer support is strong and they interact with the playerbase. We are lucky to have so many talented modelers and route builders among us, and Trainz: A New Era has shown me this game has a very solid future

Don't get me wrong, Railworks was fun and I enjoyed playing it. The main problems I had with it are poor optimization, lack of developer support, aside from a heavy focus on spitting out $19.99 payware bundles left and right, and little to no US steam locomotives. But after moving to Trainz, there was no turning back.

The whole concept of Rail Simulator (predecessor to Railworks) began with Microsoft Train Simulator 2, which was dropped after Kuju Entertainment left to develop their own game, Rail Simulator. The developers hoped that 3rd party developers for MSTS would be making new content for RS however that didn't happen. This was mainly because of the lack of tutorials, complex and buggy exporter, and no support for the popular 3d modeling program, Gmax. I mean come on, soooooo much content for MSTS and Trainz has been made with Gmax and Railworks does not support it. After re branding themselves into RailSimulator Co. or RSC, they began developing new content for Railworks. Believe it or not, it wasn't about the money at first. The Devs where kind and generous. For example, they used to do route building competitions, the winners getting a prize of some sort, and they would do monthly specials on DLC. The also gave away content they could have profited from. For example, one time they built an entire route in 24hrs named TestTrak using default assets in the game. It was later released and included with all new copies of Railworks until 2012. Another route was a pet-project of sorts by one of the RSC developers, known as The Port Road. Set in the UK during the 1960's, It also included custom skinned Steam and Diesel locomotives. Aside from routes, they also gave away Scenery and Station packs, as well as the Class 801 after the release of their new project, Train Simulator 2012. TS2012 is considered by many to be the last "good" version of Railworks. After that it was all downhill.

Just to keep all of you guys on track, here is the timeline of the games development:


Kuju Entertainment -> Rail Simulator -> RailSimulator Co. -> Railworks -> Train Simulator 2012 -> Train Simulator 2013 -> Dovetail Games -> Train Simulator 2014 -> Train Simulator 2015 -> Train Simulator 2016 -> Train Simulator 2017 -> Train Sim World


It Initially started as RSC removed default assets and routes from the game, only to repackage them later and sell them on Steam. After the rebranding to Dovetail Games, the amount of routes included was reduced as well, going from 7 in Railworks down to 4 by TS2014. The also charged previous owners for updates to locomotives, meaning you had to pay full price again for something you already own. On top of that, they keep spitting out content faster than they can update it. Take a look at the store, some stuff hasn't been updated since 2013!

Overall, Train Simulator 2017 has its problems and it needs to die out. Hopefully the succeeding product Train Sim World will be much more successful in the long run.
 
I am a Trainz user because it is so easy to use and build a route in. One can learn the basics in 5-10 minutes and be up and running. The others are a nightmare to build in and even to use. The only simulator I sell is Trainz. It's just that good.
Alco_P-A
:)
 
I have had TrainSimulator since 2015. It's OK for what it is. It is a bit more gameish than Trainz, but that doesn't really bother me, I just ignore it. I don't build routes so that isn't an issue for me either. The interface is clunky and cumbersome. That's where the drawback is for me. I am not big on the driving the train myself thing, I much prefer to send the trains out on their own under AI control. We all know the AI in Trainz leaves a lot to be desired at times but at least it is there. If I do have to control a train myself I prefer the super simple DCC mode in Trainz, not available in TrainSimulator. Trainz is a much more flexible environment, has a much larger range of available content, especially freeware and it can appeal to users of all interests, TrainSimulator is limited in it's appeal in my opinion.
 
I like the complexity of Trainz. But when my brain gets exhausted by binary decision trees and faceless faces I fire up World of Subways 3 and drive a train round London Underground's Metropolitan and Circle Line.

Mick
 
I have enjoyed Trainz for almost 10 years. I like to download routes and change them to suit me. I hate doing scenery and my own routes are usually just flat earth baseboards and one texture to cover the grid. My favorite routes are the old 2004 Phil Skene and Dermy routes that I have converted into Tane.
My focus is on logistics and industry production and handling. My complicated layouts function with very little signalling, the AI drivers usually work things out on their own.
I like to have as many consists working as I can. I enjoy the thrill of keeping all of them doing what they have to do. I have never really had a problem with the AI drivers. If they get stuck you just hop in and get them on the way. I have had as many as 50 consists working on a large layout at the one time. That was in 2004 as well.
Now that Tane has been sorted out I am back into Trainz pushing the limits for my enjoyment.
I had a look at some of the other sims but none can compare with Trainz on an all round basis.
I will be playing with Tane for the some time to come, unless they kill it off like the older versions now.
Cheers,
Mike
 
I too like the complexity yet ease of use of the Trainz franchise. I've been at it since December 2003 and haven't looked back.

Recently, well in late June 2016, I was at a train show for the 150th anniversary celebration of Old Peppersass, the first cog railway engine and the opening of the first cog railroad up to the summit at Mount Washington. Anyway I did a demonstration of a Trainz route Steamboateng is working on for the local museum. I had videos running on a big screen TV. Periodically I would stop the loop and let the younger folks give T:ANE a whirl. They got right into it and had a time of their life driving and playing with Surveyor. What was interesting is how many of the older people said "Oh that's Trainz". I used that once but a very long time ago. They too asked good questions about T:ANE and probably went on to buy a copy, but it was the kids who enjoyed it the most.

I wrote up a detailed account of my trip "west" here:

http://forums.auran.com/trainz/show...l-and-Trainz-on-the-Road&highlight=peppersass

John
 
I've often said this same statement ( Why I like Trainz ) followed by , over all the other VR trains programs and modeling in real scales . ( Although H O and O scale are still put up for the Holidays , can't beat Lionel :hehe: ) Number one with myself would be time and cost , the ratio to what I always wanted in a layout , route and content as to cost! Trainz has one this battle , with the add it experiences of being able to run Rail of many different Country's , scales and systems .

Matt
 
Your account of travel would sure make for an interesting book to read?

I really enjoyed memory lane according to JCitron, and since I haven't made it to that particular part of this country, it would be handy Guide to have along with me if'n I ever make it out that way.

Great Pictures and story, at least some trains still run out of the 98 original.........Good Day Sir!
 
A person came over and said: "OMG, your a grown man, playing the Sims"

if some one gives you crap for playing a train sim, don't be surprised. I got a lot of crap, so I went cold turkey.

i didn't switch to ts, I switched to just cause, battlefield, and need for speed.
 
I personally enjoy trainz because its the only game I'm aware of that has such an ability to download assets and make your own. Its very customiseable in that sense. Another reason I downloaded it was to see how industries interact with eachother. I live in Florida, specifically a beach town where literally nothing goes on and because of that, I have to research how industries operate. I figured in buying a simulator, I could get used to a product flow sort of thing (another reason I got into things like iPortal) at a really young age so I could have a basic idea (I will never say I completely learned how real industries work via simulator). One last reason - its not a job like Run8 or something. It takes minutes to switch a train in trainz, vs. an hour or two in run8.
 
Seriously, Vinnie? You write how much you enjoy playing with Trainz yet your signature says "I hope N3V goes bankrupt" ? :eek:
 
I just love Trainz !!!

I love the flexibility that is built into Trainz software (there you go, I'm old school).

It's a game that allows you many choices - to build and create your own world or, you can download other people's creations and enjoy them too.

You can choose whatever trains you like from many countries around the world, purely to run on your layout. How marvellous is that!

I love to create layouts with huge numbers of trains all running at the same time, ... Trainz lets me do that.

We are fortunate to have some of the best model creators in the world, providing us with an unlimited number of assets to work with. Thank you guys!
Because of that, we can build cities, bridges, tunnels, forests, transport and industry systems, in whatever environment we like.

To me, Trainz is like having a magic wand. If I wave it,... I get ideas,... I become a builder and create a new layout,... I then become a manager, setting the commands for drivers,... then I sit back to enjoy the fruits of my labour, watching dozens of trains doing a range of different things, ...and then finally I get satisfaction in achieving something of value,... something that really works and something I can share with fellow Trainz lovers.

Overall, Trainz provides a range of knowledge through the Forum, the manual and video tutorials; thus allowing me to complete a multitude of tasks I would never have dreamed of in my previous working life.

I'm so grateful that someone had the foresight to create a wonderful hobby for old guys like me. (Sorry, young guys too)

Cheers,
Roy
 
*Yoda voice* Ah, I see....strange kids they are.

But if that is their pathetic way of having fun so be it. No spam, flame posts or whatever those kids send will take away my fun from Trainz because they are totally unrelated to the game. Just try to ignore them..all they want is attention, those are mostly kids who don't get enough of that outside the net.
 
The ability to create what I want when I want is the selling factor of Trainz for me. Plus this is the only railsim available for Mac at this moment in time so that contributes too... but most importantly the route creation tools are arguably the best of any currently selling railsim on the market. Reskinning an asset is easier in no other sim, and importing a model is probably the easiest here too. There are many drawbacks to Trainz (many of which could be fixed if old versions became open-source, actually), but the customization and flexibility of the many different content creation methods are the best of their kind currently. Though with a few new competitors on the near horizon, who knows what's next? If another sim manages to make content creation as easy or easier than Trainz, it can and will become the king of its kind. For now, though... despite the now 16 year old game engine, Trainz stills manages to stay afloat due to the ability to create your own world almost effortlessly, especially compared to its competition.

One of Trainz' other main advantages is the large freeware collection. Other games, take Railworks for example, rely on DLC and expansion packs to give out almost 90% of the content. While there is a strong payware presence in Trainz (and for some reason the payware houses all hate each other with a fiery passion and just uselessly compete forever...) it isn't exactly the over $5,000 full collection of DLC Train Simulator has on Steam! Freeware content keeps this community and game running strong - especially in the route building department - and that is one of the best things about Trainz. The ability to reuse an asset uploaded years ago in practically any version of the game and the massive collection of content is pretty ridiculous. But good! You can never have enough good content... I still struggle to understand how a game built on other peoples creation of content has no updated/(mostly) complete content creation guide.

Building any world with the thousands of assets available to anyone is incredible. It's the best parts about Trainz.

Cheers,
SM
 
When years ago I initially started with MTS as it was the only rail sim I knew of then one day went on a search for railway simulators out of curiosity and vwalla! Discovered Trainz I went off MTS simply because I realised that I could build a dashed lot easier on Trainz. Neither was I limited to sit driving one train and so on. Railworks I did try too out of curiosity when someone let me see theirs but quickly ditched it. What I am working on in a long project right now would have been impossible elsewhere. There is so much more variety apart from ease of use whatever version of it one has and because of it's ease of use gives great encouragement to many people who are not heavily techy.
 
Seriously, Vinnie? You write how much you enjoy playing with Trainz yet your signature says "I hope N3V goes bankrupt" ? :eek:
I like the game, and I hope it goes open source so that way, things such as asset validation can be removed. There is absolutely no reason I should be forced into doing a 24 hour validation, and yes, it took that long. This game has a lot of potential IMO, and N3V just ignores it like many other things.

What I mean by validation, is this....it lists a certain amount of assets (in this case, its 66) and goes through them and ends at 33. I had one 2 or 3 days ago that was 41,000 assets and took 24 hours to get thru, then followed by a database repair. The repair was understandable and only took 3 hours, but the validation is just nonsense. Its a hog on this computer and makes everything run slowly.
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Apart from this, I really do like this game, and I really hope it goes opensource or N3V starts reviewing their problems.

Last thing, I do use TZ12, as TANE won't even start up for me....


I must say though, the flexibility and ability to create things are the reason I'm here. Every other game has been nothing but a huge turn off for me.
 
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