Why do so many people still use Trainz 2006?

A thought that's just occurred is the amount of people still using trainz 2006, simply why? I'm going to get flamed for writing this but I much prefer using TS10, the Auran JET graphics engine has been slightly improved, everything looks crisper and better and I like the speed treez. It just irritates me the amount of people that when you release something, they make a request for a backdated version. Why are some users still using a game that's over 7 years old? I know some games are timeless like Simcity 4 and Railroad Tycoon, but Trainz 2006 hasn't aged well, most simulators rarely do (unless it's the Sims). Some of the pixels in Trainz 06 are like the size of a human fist.


But getting back on track, why do these people refuse to update? I mean it must be a pain in the backside with all this brilliant content that has been released being unavailable to download because you're still stuck in the 'good ol days when N3V was called Auran and all their stuff seemed to magically work without any dodgy patches needed, blah, blah, blah ...' Get with the times! I know my copy of trainz is 3 years old now which in computer terms is practically Victorian, but I'd rather use something that was Victorian rather than Stone Age.


So to conclude my rant about the Trainz 2006 Luddites; get with the times!

Yes I'm fully aware that my forum thingy says I've used trainz 2006, but that was back then.

Many people have lower end or older computers and don't want or can not afford to upgrade computers and/or the Trainz program.

Some people are just comfortable with 2006 and choose not to upgrade.

Lastly, there are those who pirated it and well..... upgrading really isn't an option.

A better question would be why are you still using TS10? That's practically the same as TS09 with more content and that's nearly 5 years old now... Answer that and you'll probably answer your own question.

Paul

Everybody has their reasons. Newer isn't always better and, even if it is, the cons sometimes outweigh the pros. Some of us actually put some thought into our needs and expectations rather than blindly upgrading. Unfortunately, the software industry relies heavily on the mindless lemming approach to upgrading, and Trainz is no exception.

paulhobbs said:

A better question would be why are you still using TS10? That's practically the same as TS09 with more content and that's nearly 5 years old now... Answer that and you'll probably answer your own question.

Paul

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I'm still using TS10 because it's not dramatically different to the later versions of TS12, and the vast majority of content on the DLS can still be used on TS10, I'll upgrade when necessary, for example when it starts looking dated. I originally stopped using Trainz 06 for that reason.

RRSignal said:

Everybody has their reasons. Newer isn't always better and, even if it is, the cons sometimes outweigh the pros. Some of us actually put some thought into our needs and expectations rather than blindly upgrading. Unfortunately, the software industry relies heavily on the mindless lemming approach to upgrading, and Trainz is no exception.

Click to expand...

Blindly upgrading? Yes that is what put me off of getting TS12 but TS10 is that perfect mix of where it's well established but not yet dated.

I still use 2006 because most of my route building occurred in 2006 and I've found no reason to "reinvent the wheel" to get everything over into later versions. I like 2006 and find it easier to use than the later versions. I have a "high end" gaming PC and it works well without the low fraps problems of older PCs. If I could fix any one thing in 2006 it would be the sound issues. The later versions have/had their own sound related issues as well. Specifically, I use the talking defect detectors in 2006. You cannot hear them unless you navigate far enough away from the train for them to become audible. Any other sound issues in 2006 are no big deal to me. 2006 was also know for it's losing of the assets.tdx file and it talking so long to rebuild it. I fixed that with TADMON (the dos based utility someone released years ago that I also use with 2010). I've lost some TDX files but have not had to allow Trainz to rebuild one in over three years. I've set TADMON to keep a backup of the last 20 TDX files and that has proven sufficient to prevent Trainz from having to rebuild a lost TDX file. Trainz makes a disaster of rebuilding the TDX file. And, to this point, I've been able to backdate 99% of the newer content to work in 2006 so I'm not losing out on the new content as long as it works in 2010 and I can download it.

I use it to build and operate routes. Not chase content errors all day. I also prefer the older trees from Trunda. My computer is old, but, it runs everything I need it to. I'm not upgrading it for one game.*

You would be surprised how many people still use 2004 for its simplicity.

My question is. Why should it even matter if people use 2006? Some still use UTC and 2004. If they choose that game on their own then obviously thats their choice and they have reasons to do so just like you had reasons to get 2010. So again. Why does it matter that they use 2006 instead of 2009 - 2012? And for the record I use 2006 - 2012. I dont want your reply to this. This is just fact and opinion vs. personal preference.

The other day I experienced a power outage at my house. Would you like to guess which system was up and running in 3 min and which one required an EDR for 45 min?

RRSignal said:

Everybody has their reasons. Newer isn't always better and, even if it is, the cons sometimes outweigh the pros. Some of us actually put some thought into our needs and expectations rather than blindly upgrading. Unfortunately, the software industry relies heavily on the mindless lemming approach to upgrading, and Trainz is no exception.

Click to expand...

TRS2006 has no complicated layers ... surveyor is simple to lay track in ... the framerates in TRS2006 work well on low end integrated graphics PC's ...09.10, 12 do none of these things !

Sometimes ... something new ... is not so good !

Don't knock old programs ! That still work great !

I am not a mindless lemming ! (They are so cute ... but not so smart) !

lol; https://www.google.com/search?q=lem...HcsATp5oDgDQ&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1297&bih=657

Just think, I used to be huge with trainz 2006. It was fun, easy, and a good collectible. nNot to mention that it didnt make a big deal out of patching and it worked right out of the box. But I like to stay up to date. If and when auran releases a new version of trainz, Im going to get it.

You'll still get the same program with new error checking routines and DLS access.
Not much more.

I get far better frame rates on my old banger using TS12 than I ever did with any of the older versions

This would be due to the error checking in the newer versions as the biggest killer of frame rates is bad content and in early versions of trainz you have no idea which or if any content is bad or causing performance issues.

I never use the layer functions its there but you do not have to use it if you chose not to.

cascaderailroad said:

TRS2006 has no complicated layers ... surveyor is simple to lay track in ... the framerates in TRS2006 work well on low end integrated graphics PC's ...09.10, 12 do none of these things !

Sometimes ... something new ... is not so good !

Don't knock old programs ! That still work great !

I am not a mindless lemming ! (They are so cute ... but not so smart) !

Click to expand...

NSWGR_46Class said:

I get far better frame rates on my old banger using TS12 than I ever did with any of the older versions

This would be due to the error checking in the newer versions as the biggest killer of frame rates is bad content and in early versions of trainz you have no idea which or if any content is bad or causing performance issues.

I never use the layer functions its there but you do not have to use it if you chose not to.

Click to expand...

Um, nooo.....

Ok, let's say, just for the sake of argument, that the enhanced error-checking has some validity. And it does. And it doesn't.

Data optimization (sanity, cleansing) is ideal for any product. Were it not that we are dealing with an 11+year old engine, one cold argue that it's idea. But, being that the Trainz/Jet engine is a dinosaur (to put it kindly), every little bit helps. That's why there is such a huge emphasis on "proper" content creation where that emphasis was pretty much non-existent before.

Also, there is a huge difference between "what helps" and what the game is checking for. All the groundwork for "what helps" was laid in TS2009.

There are a few legitimate cases where the cleaner optimization of TS2009+ work. For instance, older versions of the game allowed missing textures to be stored in subdirectories (subfolder), requiring an extremely expensive (for a performance standpoint) search, even if those subdirectories were located directly below that of the asset in question. In the vast majority of cases, the optimizations are none at best: rejecting a tag in config.txt serves no purpose.

It's not by choice for me. My current computer refuses to run anything newer than 06.
I'd love to upgrade to '10 with all the wonderful content available, but it's just not possible for me with this computer.

Ok a lot of people have said they refuse to upgrade because their computer wouldn't be able to handle the game, well I've been using a Dell Dimension E520 which is 6 years old and has run and continues to run TS10 quite well, in fact it operates TS10 better than it operated TS06.

I think the improved error checking in TS12 is well worth the hassles yes we have some Sketchup content that can kill anything, perhaps TRS2006 has an advantage in that most of the Sketchup content arrived after TRS2006.

Performance on older hardware, the later versions can use dual core or hyperthreading and put more work down to the GPU plus you can use more than 2 gigs of memory if you run 64 bit windows. Realistically you should be into 64 bit Win 7 or Vista these days as a minimum rather than XP but there is still a lot of 32 bit XP around. One issue with the later versions is that some of the newer content is more demanding but if you stay with the less demanding content you should get better frames rates with the later versions running the same content.

Also don't underestimate inertia, what I've got works why should I upgrade? Well the normal mapped new items look a lot better and there is more content available for the later versions, plus most current content creators have learnt a bit more about how to get the most of of Trainz, ie better performance. Initially a lot of content was showing errors but as the DLS gets cleaned up this is much less of a problem. Then you have scripts, in the earlier versions these could interact and crash Trainz in the later versions they are bit more more stable.

Cheerio John