Would you upgrade to 2010 or 12?

[rileym]

First off, please forgive if this thread has been started a million times. I just didn't find this question posed.

My son is absolutely enthralled with Trainz. We first got the Pack with 04 and 06 and then upgraded to a digital download of 2009. Along the way we have purchased a lot of content (mostly locos, a few routes). He is about to turn 8, mainly builds simple routes, but would be devastated if we lost the content we have purchased in an upgrade.

We're running it on a 5 year old Dell PC with 1 GB of RAM and a stock graphics card. For his birthday should I upgrade him to 2010 or 12?

Thanks so much for the help.

 

[Eaglefan9727]

First off, please forgive if this thread has been started a million times. I just didn't find this question posed.

My son is absolutely enthralled with Trainz. We first got the Pack with 04 and 06 and then upgraded to a digital download of 2009. Along the way we have purchased a lot of content (mostly locos, a few routes). He is about to turn 8, mainly builds simple routes, but would be devastated if we lost the content we have purchased in an upgrade.

We're running it on a 5 year old Dell PC with 1 GB of RAM and a stock graphics card. For his birthday should I upgrade him to 2010 or 12?

Thanks so much for the help.

In my opinion, Trainz 12 is really not worth the money. I would say stick with Trainz 10.

 

[Euphod]

I would stay put where you are, were I you. There is nothing in 2010 or 12 that is worth upgrading for. Good luck.

 

[peghorse]

I adore TS12 but thats just me.
The fact is your PC would not run either of those at their best in it's current specification I am sorry.

 

[cascaderailroad]

I am suprised that 09 works at all on a 1Gb desktop, let alone a 1Gb Laptop.

TRS2006 runs kinda choppy framerates on my GF Toshiba Satellite 105, 2Gb Laptop that has Intel Integrated Graphics.

Mine would never handle 09, 10, or 12

 

[NSWGR_46Class]

my GF Toshiba Satellite 105, 2Gb Laptop that has Intel Integrated Graphics.

The Integrated Graphics is your problem here


Given the info supplied I would say go with 2010

 

[cascaderailroad]

I would never consider 09, 10 on my laptop ... the real question to be answered is: will 10, 12 run on the Original Posters 1 Gb Dell ?

 

[Euphod]

Whether it runs or not, is it really worth buying the newer versions? I think not.

 

[fran1]

Stay where you are, until you upgrade the computer.
To save your bought assets ( in fact anything you want) get an external hard drive and transfer the content via a USB port.

 

[Dermmy]

I'd just patch your 09 up to current build, which pretty much IS TS10 minus a tiny bit of built-in content. That way you spend no money and get what is IMHO the best current version anyway.

The integrated graphics is still gonna bottleneck you though....

Andy

 

[cascaderailroad]

All payware should be backed up anyway, as a CDP, on a Memory Stick, External Hard Drive, DVD+R Disc ... etc ...

A new laptop that will run Trainz will cost @ $1000 and up, that has 2Gb Dedicated Graphics Memory, and 8Gb Ram, 1Tb Hard drive ... all other laptops are junk.

You could upgrade your PC or build one for @ $500 ... a new desktop will cost @ $800 and up, that will run Trainz (the most rediculously demanding video game in the world).

 

[johnwhelan]

TS1010 gets you speedtree looks a bit more realistic but for a 5 year old with imagination I'm not certain.

www.crucial.com and run their scanner see if you can add a bit more memory, it doesn't have to be crucial brand but their scanner is very good.

DLS gives the same content for TS2009 sp4 as TS2010 so no gains there. TS2010 has some built in routes but that is about it.

So noting earth shattering but TS2010 isn't terribly expensive and has a bigger number and a few bugs removed, performance is about the same as TS2009. TS12, I haven't gone there yet, too many reports about its even more restrictive about content with errors than TS2010.

Cheerio John

 

[geoffwilliams]

Given your setup I would stick with TS2009. I wouldn't patch it beyond Service Pack 3 though, or you are likely to see performance drop.
Geoff

 

[npr284]

FWIW, A lot of the enjoyment with Trainz is building a layout with your own two hands, despite the version. I have been with TRS2004 now for 7+ years and the one thing that really helped improve my Northern Pacific era layout was learning how to "see" things in real life and then trying to duplicate what I saw into the layout. This helps greatly to remove some of the inherent "toyishness" from what you are perceiving and improves the overall effect. But, if you do upgrade to TS10, etc, what usually happens is you almost certainly must upgrade the hardware, if you want to "improve" the overall Trainz experience. I run TRS2004 on an HP Quad unit with dedicated video chip and it runs just fine. I KNOW if I get TS10 (not TS12) I could run all my content in "compatibility mode". But, some of my nicer content will most likely NOT run well under TS10, so am avoiding upgrading just now.

Al

 

[cascaderailroad]

If you did upgrade ... do not buy DELL ... and do not buy Mac

 

[Retro00064]

I used to run TRS2004 on a Dell Inspiron 1521 laptop with a ~1.8 GHz CPU, 1 GB RAM, ~80 GB hard drive, and ATI Radeon X1270 integrated graphics, and I got adequate performance on it. Now I use a Dell Studio 1537 laptop (specs in my signature), and I get better performance. I can even run TS2010 well with a decently thick forest of SpeedTrees.

The graphics in my laptop are of the "HyperMemory" type, meaning in my case, from what I can tell, that around 1/4 of the approximately 1 GB graphics memory is dedicated, and the rest is shared memory (i. e. the system RAM).

SpeedTrees are a win, in my opinion, not a fail as some people will tell you. Some of this criticism may be based on only the built-in SpeedTrees; try out Pofig's and McGuireL's SpeedTrees before making a final opinion, in my opinion. Granted, billboard trees' appearance in TS2010 "Native" (regular) mode is rubbish (though in Compatibility mode they look fine), but my opinion is that SpeedTrees are superior and nice to have.

Anyway, I would suggest that you upgrade your computer. Since I have not tried TS2010 on my old laptop, I can not say how it may run on such a laptop like yours, but nevertheless upgrading would be worth it, in my opinion, even if you stay with TS2009.

My thoughts.

Regards,

Retro.