Trainz Model Railroad Edition

@Tony,

I would appreciate a clarification of what the "Trainz Model Railroad Edition" will consist of.

I was under the impression that a collection of "Model Railroad" type layouts would be offered as a group, to be added to the TANE we already have.

The fact that you have called it an "Edition" makes me wonder whether it is going to be sold as a standard alone package, including its own version of TANE. This would cause a large redundancy for people who already have TANE.

Could you please clear this up for me? Thanks.

Bob

Is it still even happening? Was announced ages ago but seems to have gone very quiet about the whole thing. When I posted a few months back regarding its whereabouts, apart from a few people stating the obvious that you can create model railway layouts in the main product, there was no comment by anyone from N3V.

Vern said:

Is it still even happening? Was announced ages ago but seems to have gone very quiet about the whole thing. When I posted a few months back regarding its whereabouts, apart from a few people stating the obvious that you can create model railway layouts in the main product, there was no comment by anyone from N3V.

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The most recent newsletter seems to suggest it's still happening although I'm not sure in what form.

Shane

Philskene has two model railroads that he says will be included in whatever N3V releases - "The Port Zyd and Fulastern" and "The Shortz and Kerliez". He also says he has no idea on release plans or dates.

Bob

Vern said:

Is it still even happening? Was announced ages ago but seems to have gone very quiet about the whole thing. When I posted a few months back regarding its whereabouts, apart from a few people stating the obvious that you can create model railway layouts in the main product, there was no comment by anyone from N3V.

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From the latest Newsletter

We have a wide range of products currently in beta testing with more to come shortly including the long awaited "Trainz Model Railroad Edition".

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We'll be making announcements covering the details soon - there will be options available for existing TANE owners to access this new content.

If you haven't already put your name down for beta testing these routes and sessions, please do so via this link:

Although I have made a few assets for Model Trainz, I fail to see the fascination with it. The whole idea of a computer Train sim is to free one self from the limit of a "real" model railroad. Sure the screenshots look like Model Railroads, but so what? In my humble opinion, having the Trainz simulator means I can have the biggest, longest and virtually limitless "model Railroad" I want, and I don't have to be limited to a bedroom, basement, garage--- whatever.

Anyway, just wanted to throw my two cents worth out there.

Cheers,

Dave

Thank you for the info, Tony.

Bob

And that's the beauty of this hobby Dave - lot's of people have lot's of different ideas about what fascinates them and what doesn't.

People have pointed out lots of benefits from the smaller, more compact routes such as:
- you can start AND finish building a route without being overwhelmed by the scale of the task you have begun
- when driving, you have lots to things do in a small amount of time

So remember, Trainz can be whatever you want it to be...

... and don't forget that when the very first version of Trainz was released, it was advertised as a Model Railroad Simulator.

Full circle.

Tony_Hilliam said:

And that's the beauty of this hobby Dave - lot's of people have lot's of different ideas about what fascinates them and what doesn't.

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Yeah, I know. And that's good.

Tony_Hilliam said:

you can start AND finish building a route without being overwhelmed by the scale of the task you have begun

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Then why not build a realistic small town switching yard?

Tony_Hilliam said:

when driving, you have lots to things do in a small amount of time

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Well, a small town switching yard would let you do that wouldn't it?

Tony_Hilliam said:

So remember, Trainz can be whatever you want it to be...

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Thanks to you guys.

But, I still don't quite see the fascination with Model Trainz. Maybe part of it has to do with the way I'm treated by Model RR Shops when I tell them my model railroad is in my computer. I get the cold shoulder every time. I know, I know, I'm not much of a customer in their eyes, even though I spend bucks in these shops buying books and sometimes model stuff (just to see how it's made so I can make one for Trainz.)

Oh well, whatever floats your boat I suppose.

Cheers,

Dave

As has been the case since the very first days of Trainz, there is confusion over the concept of "modelling a model train set" versus "doing similar things to what model train set guys do". We don't, for example, model plastic trees or people, artificial turf etc and we still allow people inside the cab to drive (pretty hard to do in the real world).

It is true that this upcoming version is far more down the "modelling model trainsets" than we have ever gone before since the environment includes the "lifesize" walls of the wall, and even a full size cat can be found that towers over the locos. That choice has been made to do the very positive feedback from a number of people about the concept. But ultimately the joy is derived from building or operating a railroad using the tools we have available.

And floating boats is another thing you can do in Trainz

Although my preference will always be building prototype style linear routes I did enjoy the one model railway type project I did for Trainz. There's tons of plans in various magazines and books I have scattered round the house which I would never have got round to building. However a specialised model railway version of Trainz/TANE allows them to be visualised in the intended environment. So I'm quite looking forward to this.

Hi Vern --

" ... I did enjoy the one model railway type project I did for Trainz."

And I never got round to thanking you for it. It provided me with hours of enjoyment and inspired me to create a number of my own, all of which, like yours, are on the Download Station.

Phi

Tony_Hilliam said:

It is true that this upcoming version is far more down the "modelling model trainsets" than we have ever gone before since the environment includes the "lifesize" walls of the wall, and even a full size cat can be found that towers over the locos.

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I think this is a great idea. Not everyone is into driving "real" trains across "real" layouts that simulate the "real world" and involve monotonous hours of driving through an endless desert or similar landscape. I am sure that for some people the "Model Trainz" version of TANE would be all that they need and I would also be certain (would hope) that N3V would have done their market research on this before devoting the time and resources.

Just as long as us "grownups" with the "full TANE trainz sets" can also enjoy the same "mini-layout" experiences, just from time-to-time you understand, I would not want to surrender my Engineers cap or "Rail-roaders Licence" just to downsize.

For those interested in this whole concept of toy train layouts in Trainz, just search the Download Station with, for example, "model trainz".

From the marketing point of view, this spin off product could draw more people into Trainz and "virtual" railroading in general. The price of building and equipping a real model railway is now eye watering, even for those of us reasonably financially solvent. I could never justify to my wife spending over £200 to buy a OO diesel loco and three or four Mark One coaches to run behind it. However, the prospect of creating a replica of the prototype rather than something more akin to what they're used to could be putting off potential people joining us from the modelling community.

Hi

As someone who has delved into the Model railway genre of Trainz in the last year, and uploaded 4 'Rooms' in the Yorkshire Modelz Rly Cemtre, I am intrigued by this new TANE development. However I am not really clear as to how this new venture relates to the existing TANE. We can already create layouts that emulate a model railway with a variety of assets that exist on the DLS; so what will the Trainz Model Railroad Edition add or make possible that can't be done now.


Yorkshire

In addition (hopefully) the model version will contain all the elements necessary ready at hand, rather than foraging around the DLS. The included layouts will allow people to study the methods and techniques used by others to practice on their own projects.

Years ago I remember reading a book, or maybe series of books, called "The Railway Men" which was story about a young lad with a model railway which was inhabited by scale size people. That probably set me thinking then, what would it be like to take a ride on your own model railway? Later that idea germinated into disappointment that you couldn't actually ride the trains in Transport Tycoon, the discovery that the train driving sims of the time were entirely text based and my personal campaign for something much better. As I said, the ability to replicate full size railways is still the priority but I for one would like to try building Buckingham Great Central or Pendon as a virtual model railway. And entirely as an aside - no worries about distant mountains or view distance caps!!

Edit: And a complex model, such as some of the US modular layouts or the likes of Sierra Pacific, could take nearly as long to piece together as a 25 - 30 mile linear stretch.