A New Dimension in Model Railroads

I, frankly, am a little confused about all the angst surrounding the announcement of the release of TMR. You prefer prototypical virtual trains? Great - you've got TANE. You prefer model railroad virtual trains? Great - you've got TANE, and the coming TMR. Personally, I prefer BOTH (but usually not at the same time)! And let's not forget, those hardy souls that wouldn't think of using a newer version of Trainz than 2004, Or 2006, Or 2009, Or 2010, Or 2012! And what about those great content creators who have never run a layout in their life, unless you consider a simple loop or a piece of straight track that they use to test their content, a layout! All of us are trainzers, not better or worse, just different. Different things give us the pleasure of virtual railroading. Let's stop beating each other up over the things that give us enjoyment. Or worse, say that if you don't play (enjoy) the game my way, I'm going to take my marbles, and go home. I want you to enjoy Trainz the way you want to, and I would appreciate it, if you would want the same for me.

Bob
 
I have added some clarification to the opening post and to the news article about the impact for existing users.

Just re-read your first post, and thanks for making things clear, sir!

Trainman7161, TANE already replaced TADDaemon and also has a completely new Content Manager. The multi-threaded engine now allows database operations on a separate thread avoiding the long pauses seen with large database operations in past versions. I run all versions of Trainz regularly and the last time I ran 2006 I was surprised at how short the draw distance was and how empty the environments were. Comparing apples with apples, TANE (on my mid-range system) is way ahead of any other version.

In regard to your earlier post, the vast majority of TMR routes are brand new, and all the sessions are new. And I have never understood the concept of a company avoiding generating revenue. No revenue = no staff= no new features, content or updates at all, so I totally miss your point.

Hi Tony ..

Just my 2 cents --

@Trainman7161 -- TADDaemon was a nightmare worst then "A Nightmare on Elm Street" for me -- For that sole purpose I will always recommend TANE.:)

--And about generating revenue, you go for it Tony!!! :wave:

Take Care
Ish
 
TADDaemon could usually be handled if you know how. Running Trainz offline fixes half the problems. Also, I've recently found using TCPView to close connections can bring it and the nastier TrainzUtil in line even when it's headed toward a DB repair or or you've got multiple instances of TrainzUtil chewing away at nothing in the background. It just takes a little patience and hammering away at the connections as they open.
 
What exactly does this 'new' game have that you can't reproduce in TANE?

Read the other thread, it will tell you you can either get it as stand alone or a addon to tane sp2 with extra dlc you can also buy.

I spose it mainly give you the advantage if you like building or runninng model railway/roads you have all the model supports, valance, curtians, walls and other objects in one place without having to search or download them.
 
I, frankly, am a little confused about all the angst surrounding the announcement of the release of TMR. You prefer prototypical virtual trains? Great - you've got TANE. You prefer model railroad virtual trains? Great - you've got TANE, and the coming TMR. ....... Let's stop beating each other up over the things that give us enjoyment. Or worse, say that if you don't play (enjoy) the game my way, I'm going to take my marbles, and go home. I want you to enjoy Trainz the way you want to, and I would appreciate it, if you would want the same for me.

Totally agree, but I am not confused, just not surprised. There is a core of posters who take the negative view towards anything that N3V does, and that includes making any money from their products to help support and improve the "real" version of Trainz. As President Obama once remarked, if you are always negative about every thing then you can say "I told you so" on the occasions when you are proven right, and when you are proven wrong most people will forget your negativity - its a "win-win" philosophy.

If individuals don't like the new product, and it is not for everyone, no-one is forcing them to use it. So why do they have to complain about it?

TMR is not a threat. The "real grown-up" version of Trainz is still going. T:ANE SP2 is about to go into beta testing, and the NEXT version of Trainz is under development - all of which costs $$$.
 
A brief note to Tony and company:

I hope you read this Tony, as I rarely post, but I love the whole Trainz thing as a hobby, and have been using it since 2003 (I changed username at some point).

I really think you are barking up the CORRECT tree with a product specifically tailored to allow reproduction of the thousands of truly excellent model railroads that have been built in real life over the decades. This has potential to even get real-world modellers onboard. TMR might be the one that gets me spending money on Trainz again, depending on what I read about it over the coming weeks. However, I recommend adding tools to it that make creating the "room" and "baseboard" much much faster than manually using digholes, splines etc etc. Enabling multideck layouts somehow would be handy too, as many model railroads that are worthy of replicating use this technique. If you are going to make a product like this, go the whole mile and you will have a winner on your hands.


The other aspects of Trainz that have prevented me from buying or using an Trainz product after TRS2010, are listed here, not by way of complaint, but for your information. If these concerns can be ameliorated too, I will be a certain buyer of the new product:

1. It took me years to fix the assets "broken" when I moved from TRS2006 to Trs2010. I have some massive routes that I am happily using, and have no wish to go through that pain and anguish again. I don't want TMR to mess with my TRS2010 installation in any way, including "updating" (read: breaking) my asset collection.

2. DRM - I hate it. I want to be able to purchase TMR, install it on a non-internet machine, and be able to use it forever if I so wish. Trainz is a niche product, and most people who like trains are intelligent enough to realise that carrying out pirate activity against your company will kill it, and with it, our own preferred software provider. Those that do engage in piracy against a niche product like Trainz will soon move onto some other challenge. The DRM saga just gave me another reason not to try more recent versions of Trainz.

3. Product completion. I don't want to buy a new product, then find out that it isn't finished or is bugged to the point of being unusable, as was the experience of so many with TRS2012 and TANE. I avoided those dramas by sticking to TRS2010, but so many didn't. If I buy TMR and it fails in a MAJOR way, requiring updates and patches just to get to basic functionality - I will bin it and won't be back again.

On the positive side, if you produce a classy piece of software, I will throw money at you for years, as I did between UTC and TRS2010, and be happy in doing so.

I hope to give TMR a go, please don't fail to fulfill the potential that such a product has.
 
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In regard to your earlier post, the vast majority of TMR routes are brand new, and all the sessions are new. And I have never understood the concept of a company avoiding generating revenue. No revenue = no staff= no new features, content or updates at all, so I totally miss your point.
Tony_Hilliam;[/B said:
Same old knockers, year in, year out. Now I can understand the 5 to 12 year old's not understand the need to continuously generate income to keep the N3V's doors open, I can even understand some of the teenagers not grasping the concept, but all you grown adults, well!!!

At a really wild guess, I'd say N3V's weekly wage bill is somewhere between $10,000 to $20,000 (maybe more). If N3V aren't able to generate the income to support those sorts of outgoings, (& wages are only part of their outgoings) what do you think will happen?

If this new Model Railway Sim is not your cup of tea, so be it. What I can't understand is so many of the usual knockers, knocking it before they have even seen it. Why would you want to make comments that might turn other people off it??? That's to me makes no sense and is like "shooting yourself in the foot" behavior. (And as for the 10 year old kid, with the nasty avatar name #14, well, he hasn't even got a registered copy of any version of Trainz)!!!

Model Railway layouts can be a lot of fun. (Phil's & Felix's are just a couple of good examples). Even if you just want a break from running trains over long distances, or a break from the large route your creating...

I'll be buying the new Model Railway sim. Why, because there's a very good chance I'll like it. Hopefully it'll provide some extra content for my Tane route building as well.

The most important reason I'm going to buy it is because I want to help keep N3V doors open. (& no, I'm not a Tony Hillian/N3V fan boy). Just someone that was in business for 27 years that had the weekly/monthly worry about generating enough income to pay all the bills & keep the business doors open...

Happy trainzing all.

Cheers, Mac...
 
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Snipped from the previous statements: "What I can't understand is so many of the usual knockers, knocking it before they have even seen it."

Well, could you blame anyone, after the way Trainz: A New Era panned out? Just my opinion.
 
Same old knockers, year in, year out. Now I can understand the 5 to 13 year olds not understand the need to continuously generate income to keep the N3V's doors open, I can even understand some of the teenagers not grasping the concept, but all you grown adults, well!!!

Although on this one I'm hoping to support the new product, it's not out of any misguided sense of loyalty to N3V. They are a commercial company which means they need to innovate and create fresh ideas to keep people coming back. If people just throw money at them out of a sense of charity then the company will never push forward. We had all this debate around TANE = released far too early, followed by numerous service packs and patches. While it's much better than it was, still not really anywhere near the target levels that were publicised during development.

Perhaps those who feel N3V need special financial help should set up a monthly standing order from their bank, or why not arrange to leave a legacy if you peg out? H'mmm, thought not...

"Grown adults" also have a responsibility to their own bank balance - blowing £30 on a computer game that fails to deliver, when the same money could be put to more productive use is not a sensible thing to do.
 
Vern, what you say makes sense and could be said of any software (or hardware) developer - Microsoft Vista, Windows 8, Apple Newton, Samsung Galaxy 7 Note - list is endless. Commercial pressures (to pay the bills, meet the weekly payroll, etc) and the Marketing Dept far too often mean that a product is pushed out onto the market long before it is ready. From posts that were made some time after the initial release of T:ANE, as faulty and "unready" as it was, indicated that contractual obligations between N3V and a distributor were the cause of the early release.

Computer software (and hardware) development is always a risky business.
 
Vern, what you say makes sense and could be said of any software (or hardware) developer - Microsoft Vista, Windows 8, Apple Newton, Samsung Galaxy 7 Note - list is endless. Commercial pressures (to pay the bills, meet the weekly payroll, etc) and the Marketing Dept far too often mean that a product is pushed out onto the market long before it is ready. From posts that were made some time after the initial release of T:ANE, as faulty and "unready" as it was, indicated that contractual obligations between N3V and a distributor were the cause of the early release.

Computer software (and hardware) development is always a risky business.

Yes, I was going to say the same.

The other thing too is this time around the grunt work is already done. We have to keep in mind here that the initial release of T:ANE had lots of bent and broken parts that needed ironed out in order to make the puzzle pieces fit. What we have now is a foundation upon which other spin-off programs, aka products, that can be built not unlike any other company developing a base design then spinning off other products based on that.

Let's hope that this spin-off is a success.
 
The Basemapz post has been removed from here (by me) so it can be moved to a more appropriate area of the Forums. Thanks to all who responded... info about this tool will be reappearing soon.

Regards,
-Mike
 
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Hi Mike,

It's nice to see you here now and again!

Your project appears to have come to fruition and this nifty utility with be a handy tool for us to use for transferring all those book plans we have to Trainz format. Wouldn't Lin Wescott be pleased if he saw this stuff today. I recognized the plan you have shown here as one from the 101 Track Plans book I have, which is so dog eared from reading through and daydreaming all these years.

At the moment, unfortunately, I have too many things on my plate to beta test your software diligently enough to warrant me volunteering to help, but do keep me in mind. If things loosen up a little, I'll PM you my email address.

John
 
I have actually used Transdem to get model railway plans into Trainz, albeit sometimes the detail can get a bit blurred (it's actually better to use a smaller image). Mike's system certainly has merit though with the Transdem system the detail is painted on the terrain rather than using fixed objects.
 
ModelerMJ Mike that looks really good and could have been useful way before now, there is a couple of good model railway/road plan sites on the internet that it could be good for. I like the idear and good on you and its worth to try out. always had getting the scale right when I have tried it in the past and this would have made it quicker.

Tom
 
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The other thing too is this time around the grunt work is already done. We have to keep in mind here that the initial release of T:ANE had lots of bent and broken parts that needed ironed out in order to make the puzzle pieces fit. What we have now is a foundation upon which other spin-off programs, aka products, that can be built not unlike any other company developing a base design then spinning off other products based on that.

Let's hope that this spin-off is a success.

An old adage I always keep in mind (but do not always follow) is "Never buy anything labelled Version 1.0". If the original T:ANE release was version 1.0 then perhaps SP1 HF4 is version 1.14. I would hope that TMR 2017 (having been built from T:ANE) comes out as at least "Version 1.1"
 
If I can't import track plans like ModelerMJ has shown, I don't see much of a need to buy the new game. If it's aimed at model railroads, it NEEDS this feature!
 
Looks good, Mike! As I remember, TransDem had a similar issue with UTM tiles disappearing, but I think it was solved by adding a 'name' to the tiles.

Curtis
 
For those who just don't get it, actually reading the Blog should clarify why N3V think this a a very good idea indeed - this should have stayed the main focus of Trainz all along I reckon. It will appeal to a huge group of people with plenty of disposable income i.e. 'real' railway modellers who will use it it recreate classic model railways of the past or to plan new ones. In fact most modellers would beat a path to N3V's door to possess a Trainz version of Peter Denny's Buckingham in one of its many guises if it was included or available as an add on.

Paul
 
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