Versions and Compatabilty

S

sarus

New member
I am completely new to trainz and have been finding the whole thing about versions and compatibility of resources and add-ons very confusing.

Basically, my 6-year-old son is a train nut and I want to get trainz for him. He is also a Thomas fan and particularly loves Oliver and the real GWR 1400 (especially 1442 Tivvy Bumper). We have been playing with an old TS 2004 version and love it, but the add-ons don't work.

I am gradually learning about kuids and dependencies and such, but I guess we do need a later version for all this stuff to work. Compatibility seems to be the biggest problem though, and I can't find out which resources from which websites are for which versions and whether they are cross compatible. A lot of content seems to be for TS 2006.

We just want to easily run the Thomas trains on Thomas maps, we want a basic GWR 1400 to run and we don't care about visual quality, although we do have a high-end PC.

So, 2006, 2009, 2010 or even later. Your advice is greatly appreciated.
 
09, 10, 12, T:ANE routes will not work at all in 04, 06

A T:ANE route will not work in 09, 10, 12 ... and a 12 route will not work in 09, 10

Some 09, 10, 12, T:ANE assets maybe can be forced to work in 04, 06, with allot of fiddling with config files, but may not operate properly, and allot will not operate at all.
 
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What about from bottom up? Will 2006 routes and content (engines) work easily in 2009, 2010 and up?
 
In terms of compatibility it's fairly complex although in general terms most things from earlier versions work in later versions although some of these may require changes to do so. There are exceptions to this though.

In terms of the other way round, although some assets can be 'backdated' (changed to run in a lower version) not all can and some like routes and sessions don't work properly if backdated.

Shane
 
TS2010 build number 49933 has a compatibility mode. This means most of the older content will run ok. Some TS12 assets can be backdated with changing the build number and work ok. I use a lot of older assets in TS12 and TS12 SP1, without problems. Sometimes there are minor things that need fixing in the configs. As said before routes very rarely backdate.
Cheers,
Mike
 
Many thanks for your help guys. I have just bought TS2010. My son will be really excited I am sure. No doubt I will be back here with lots of noob questions sooner or later.
 
Any update to this thread with TANE and TS2019?
Can old stuff created with say TS2010 be used in TANE or TS2019 and how much finagling is required to do so?
 
In Decembe,r TRS19 was my first foray in Trainz. I downloaded many locos and rollingstock not paying attention to the version they were made, and most worked fine, but of course I had some problems. But I think everything TS12 and newer works just fine, although the locos may need some tuning? Last month I also got T:ANE. A little more judicious in downloading, but the TS12 locos and rollingstock are fine in that so far.

I have put a few of T:ANE routes in TRS19 since the beginning, with mixed results, but generally good. Not much experience trying any routes earlier than T:ANE, in either version.
 
Most content created in previous versions will work fine in T:ANE and up. Some older content will require repairs and updates in order to make it work, while other content is fine on install. The issues range from incorrect tags in the config files, to missing textures and broken scripts, and or incorrectly configured LOD. The reason the errors now appear is due to increased and better error checking in newer versions. If the old content was made to the specifications set for that version at the time, then it will load into T:ANE and up error free.
 
Thanks for the info. I am just getting into simulators this month and I already got burned when I bought the latest TSW and found it not to my taste (having to walk the platform, open the cab door, enter the cab and sit down before I can get a train moving). So I am being a cheapskate and trying TS2010 (eBay $6 with ship) first and if I like I can splurge for the latest. T:ANE is also pretty cheap on ebay about $14 so that may be another option. I'm most interested at the moment in creating small model railroad layouts in a realistic way (no visible benches or shelving) so the Surveyor module seems like exactly what I want.
 
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The majority of ebay sales do not have a valid serial number, so be careful.
You can also buy TANE for $20 from our store, or get 2009 free by signing up for the newsletter in your MyTrainz account.
 
To add to what Tony said, if you buy a secondhand or invalid e.g. fake copy of Trainz you will be unable to register it and gain access to the Download Station for extra items or to the rest of this forum, so follow his advice.
 
Well thanks for the warnings - which as it turns out may be quite apposite :-(
For my $6 I received an apparently sealed jewel case in a cardboard sleeve. Opening reveals the product keys for 2009 and 2010 but no DVD!
So I will take that up with the seller and meanwhile may have to take the plunge with a more current version purchase.
Would be nice if there were a free trial version especially for something with quite a steep learning curve.
 
nxn said:
Well thanks for the warnings - which as it turns out may be quite apposite :-(
For my $6 I received an apparently sealed jewel case in a cardboard sleeve. Opening reveals the product keys for 2009 and 2010 but no DVD!
So I will take that up with the seller and meanwhile may have to take the plunge with a more current version purchase.
Would be nice if there were a free trial version especially for something with quite a steep learning curve.
Click to expand...

Bummer... Others have run into missing CD-keys but no missing discs.

You can try the subscription method and see if you like it or not.
 
I recently imported a large complex route I created for TS2006 into TANE and it imported with no missing or faulty assets, not even a warning. Quite a few assets were automatically downloaded from the DLS and some of these were also automatically updated in the process. Still not a single error or warning. I was unexpectedly surprised.
 
Tony_Hilliam said:
The majority of ebay sales do not have a valid serial number, so be careful.
You can also buy TANE for $20 from our store, or get 2009 free by signing up for the newsletter in your MyTrainz account.
Click to expand...


It would be nice to have the ability to buy a copy of TS12. For older machines without Directx 11 and without a GPU upgrade path TS12 offers an introduction to trainz. For developing scripts as well the logs files have separate lines which are easier to read than all crunched up together.

Cheerio John
 
GamersGate has legal digital copies of TS2012 for purchase. That's where I purchased my copy from. TS2012 is also available on Steam for those who don't mind having to register on Steam.
 
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