The lost features in TRS19

G.M.

Well-known member
The lost features in TRS19
this is not a complaint or suggestion, just what I personally miss :)


-The Engine shed, now replaced by a mainmenu
It was fun to see your collection and had filters, button to horn, turn lights on/of, panto, zoom rotate
ofc you can make a 1 basebord map with track and place a loco, but its not the same.


-Rotating on merge
till T:ANE it was possible to rotate a map while merging, very handy


-Turntable interior
You could make switches to rotate and view it from the perspective of the one operating the turntable
was fun.


-Filters in Surveyor
each tab you placed scenery, track, trains etc.
had a filter, era, company, creator etc. was very handy,
because it was where you actually choose the options to place
now replaced by the pick list


-2 cab loco drivers
Since the beginning drivers are placed in content at a.driver0, wiki mentions a.driver1
not sure there ever was any version where it actually worked.(maybe I missed it)
in 2004 i made a workaround for Amazingmike with an animated mesh and a script,
so the standard driver would move to the other cabin of a 2 cabin loco.
it could work standard in trainz without any script from a content creator.


-The top row menu in Surveyor
Quickdrive, Edit Session, Undo/Redo, gridview, location bookmarks
all very handy are now hidden in submenu's, somehow can't get used to that


-The Seconds in Driver
older versions of trainz had hour:minute:seconds on the screen
the seconds are gone, those that want to realisticly drive schedules really need those


-Rename Consist
I think before TRS19 you could rename a consist/loco to something meaningful
this when you do Edit session, can't find it anymore.


-Carlist and rate in route config
You could put extra carz in the config of a route
why was this handy?, let say you use Region UK and build a route around London
Could put a few double deck busses and the typical cab in the route config
Now you would have to make a seperate region for each route


-On the fly scripting
I remember you could script while play a session,
not used it much, cause I need long thinking before I can script anything (old man)
but it seems gone.


Love TRS19 as it is, but it could have more features not less
maybe you know a few more that are gone
greetings GM
 
A very good summary of what was lost in the effort to improve Trainz. I wonder if there was a code incompatibility that would prevent, for example, the unified interface from working if any of the lost features were kept?

Some of the lost features appear to be aesthetic decisions, example: seconds unless those processor cycles were really needed elsewhere. As for the menu layout, I doubt that we could ever get most people to agree on the best configuration. Once you get used to one view, any change, even an obvious improvement, will be resisted.

Meanwhile, a good thing that previous versions continue to work so we can use whatever we're comfortable with. No need to upgrade if you don't want to unless you really want / need a new feature.
 
Last edited:
Yes Martin, some of the features that were removed,
were maybe good decisions at the time for that version and the PCs we had then


-Seconds uses a lil cpu time (they still get counted but not shown)
most calculations in Trainz are done way more often.


One (or 2) i forgot:
-Alias (still works btw)
was a very lowlevel (content creation wise) way to reskin, making it possible for every user
yes, it may not be the most efficient way, but our PC's are much faster now.
the new way, mesh-asset/script is just too complex for many, so we loose potential content creators.


-Paintshed
another very low threshold fun way for users to make/change something.
Yes, we saw very poor results sometimes, but that is not the issue.
Every human feels the need to create/modify/personalize and enjoy doing that
many "paintshredderz" later became Content Creators,
realizing they need to study more to make something good.
 
Add to what unbelievable was lost was the simple option to minimise the route map. This is essential when creating sessions as well as when actually driving, and is really annoying having to open it from a menu, rather than just clicking it from the task bar. I can not understand that or the loss of the score progress, or has any of that been brought back?
 
G.M. - Thanks for your fabulous Set_Driver_Conditions Rule. I am really enjoying using it - and now consider it essential for session testing operations.

There's a pleasant surprise awaiting you in Content Manager as it seems that you haven't yet discovered the delights - and usefulness - of the Asset Preview feature buried in the right-click menus.
This is a better replacement for the TS12 Engine Shed IMO, as it allows you to 3D preview just about any asset (not just locos and rollingstock).
It allows/ provides performance monitoring and evaluation tools/ tests of LODs, Poly and triangle metrics, etc. all features that were never part of the old Engine Shed.

Content Manager. Click on an Installed asset to select it. Right-click and choose Open... Preview Asset. (Ctrl +Shift + R) Check out the tabs and options in the right-hand pane...
Enjoy!
 
Last edited:
Yes PC_Ace TY, that viewer screen i see atleast an hour a day when making trains etc.
there i check how LODS behave and where I discovered that the .lm file does not do what you write in there ;-)


It's ofc. more a nostalgic (missing)thing, the Engine shed gave you that collector feeling
the ambience, pressing the horn, testing the panto, wohoo my lights and corona's are finally good.
I'm never against progress, just miss some of the old things that gave me joy with trainz.
and btw, its secretly still in the base content (but that's another story)

 
Last edited:
THANKS for note on Right Click, Preview after selection in Content Mgr!:D
Hope I can remember. Need to eat more jelly fish. (USA miracle TV medicine)
 
The ability to:

- Add comments to asset config.txt files.

- Rename assets in Content Manager easily.

- Use a usable mini-map that keeps up with our position as we navigate around a route. This is particularly helpful for setting up complex driver sessions.

- The ability to click on the route its self while editing a session;

This was useful and much quicker for assigning drivers to consists. A simple click on the consist locomotive assigned that to the driver immediately. The similar situation for adding in signals, junctions, or other assets for various rules and driver commands. The way it's setup now, we're required to either exit from the driver or session setup screen, get the properties on an asset to allow us to copy the name, then return to editing the session setup to paste it. Or worse, try to remember a convoluted name and then typing that in the search window.

and a lot more other things I can't think of at the moment.
 
Good points also 14 and John
in the config you can only add your own text at description " " or License " ", strange enough a trains engine file still allows rem " "
in scripts its so easy to add comments with double slash // I use it a lot (old brain forgets what i did lol)
config edit, right click the asset in CM and look in the Open.. submenu
 
Last edited:
One feature that's changed is Content Search. Now you have to use Crtl +Shft + F to open and close this , very clunky. Some of the changes just seem to be change for the sake of change, not necessity.
 
Last edited:
One feature that's changed is Content Search. Now you have to use Crtl +Shft + F to open and close this , very clunky. Some of the changes just seem to be change for the sake of change, not necessity.

Tried looking at the keyboard shortcut settings for search? I set the alternative to Ctrl Shift F as F8 dead simple, one key press.
 
Yeah, but why was it changed in the first place?

I guess it's just the way Trainz is going. Each new build that comes out is getting less and less user friendly, i.e. more clicks or keyboard use to do anything, and more and more functions hidden in sub-menus.

Just my observations.
Bill69
 
One feature that's changed is Content Search. Now you have to use Crtl +Shft + F to open and close this , very clunky. Some of the changes just seem to be change for the sake of change, not necessity.

No, Ctrl + F has always opened the search window for named objects (station names, industries, etc). The Ctrl + Shift + F was a more recent addition that opened an asset filter for all the assets, for bookmarks and for picklists. There was no previous equivalent in earlier Trainz versions. I am quite happy with both.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top