routes on the DLS

[Saieditor]

And some routes on the DLS are very poor quality cr@ppy routes using built in content from mobile trainz users. It annoys me when they are like 100 copies of the defult british midlands or city and country USA with the same name

Agreed. I will never download British Midlands again.

[Trainzlane]

If you are all wondering why there's a ton of copy/paste city country USA and British midland routes from the mobile version, chances are they were made by 5 year olds (most likely with little to no clue what they are doing) with a game their parents gave them on their ipad to keep em quiet for awhile.

[MSGSapper]

These days I tend to download stuff from the DLS based solely on authors that I trust and who have a proven track record of quality items. If you do that you will seldom be disappointed. Also considering how many items there are on the DLS, this strategy can be a real time saver. Now and then over the years I will try something from a new developer to see the quality of their items but don't do that so much these days as their is just too much junk to sift through.

Also when it comes to quality routes check to see if the developer has dedicated support threads for that route on the DLS. While not always a definitive statement on the quality of the route, it does show that the developer is serious about their route(s) and intends to support them. Also I tend to avoid downloading any route or item where their is no thumbnail image of that item on the DLS, or screenshots in the support thread. I want to have an idea of what it looks like before I download that item from the DLS.

There are many other indicators of quality item authors but these are often good ones to consider.

Bob (AKA MSGSapper)

[cascaderailroad]

Also I tend to avoid downloading any route or item where their is no thumbnail image of that item on the DLS, or screenshots in the support thread. I want to have an idea of what it looks like before I download that item from the DLS.
Bob (AKA MSGSapper)

You will be missing out on quite a few of all the great assets, that have no "Preview Thumbnail"

[martinvk]

It's all about the tipping point in your risk analysis. The chance of missing something great vs the risk of being inundated with junk. One way of increasing the odds is to pay attention to the reviews from known people who also took a chance and found a gem.

[rhban]

Just like people post a: "Test Thread" just to see if it actually shows up on the Forum ... Some spend a 1/2 hour laying track with so sharp of curves, that a trolley could not negotiate the super tight curves and sharp turnouts ... and they want to quickly see whether it actually uploads onto the DLS ... Others see their 3 - 1/4 whole days work, as an absolutely wondrous masterpiece, a completed finished work of art

I do agree with you, but since I first downloaded Trainz, I've been looking a lot more closely at real railway lines, and I was surprised to find that there are, in fact, some very tight bends. In addition, I had been worried that some of my gradients are steep, but once again I find that in real life (with electric power) our city* trains take on some very steep gradients.

* Perth, Western Australia

[MNIBARI08]

are u ok everyone.

[blueodessey]

Hello folks, I am up here in beautiful mountains of Southern California. Me and my family r doing well with nature's forest....

In re to junk routes, have 👍 agree, I wasted countless hours of time looking for something in particular, many times no preview, but or worse!! No description or a cryptic description of what the route is which makes it really tough to find what you're looking for in a particular type of route.

Take care all..... I feel your pain for sure..... 😎

[ray_whiley]

In my early days with Trainz some twelve years ago, I used to find great pleasure in looking at the Download Station to see what fellow enthusiasts had created as new routes. Sadly, this is no longer the case. Having a browse just now through the latest ten pages, I found several routes named "New Route" - the illustration showed merely a view of a bare baseboard, with one or two lengths of track, and in some cases "on edge". A good few others seemed to be versions of routes which were built in with TRS2004 - I have no intention of looking at them to see what modifications, if any, have been made.

Of course, it is not possible for "routes" which are uploaded to be checked to make sure they are genuine. But if any creators of "non-routes" read these forums, perhaps they would like to think things over and realise that a couple of lengths of track are not a route!

Why do they do it?

Ray

[JCitron]

In my early days with Trainz some twelve years ago, I used to find great pleasure in looking at the Download Station to see what fellow enthusiasts had created as new routes. Sadly, this is no longer the case. Having a browse just now through the latest ten pages, I found several routes named "New Route" - the illustration showed merely a view of a bare baseboard, with one or two lengths of track, and in some cases "on edge". A good few others seemed to be versions of routes which were built in with TRS2004 - I have no intention of looking at them to see what modifications, if any, have been made.

Of course, it is not possible for "routes" which are uploaded to be checked to make sure they are genuine. But if any creators of "non-routes" read these forums, perhaps they would like to think things over and realise that a couple of lengths of track are not a route!

Why do they do it?

Ray

Mobile routes, Ray.

The mobile devices have little or no storage and the users upload their routes to the DLS for storage.

It would be nice if N3V had included a filter of some kind to remove mobile routes from the general population by giving them a different build version that we can filter on.

[euromodeller]

Just gone to Content Manager to see what's new, 27 routes/sessions newly uploaded by 1 person using v3.7!!.

[clam1952]

It will get worse, kids finished School for the Summer Break here.

[valbridge]

I am relatively new at route building, and must admit really enjoy the challenges involved to make a route interesting and practical for those who choose to download. My first route was the Blue Mountains Line v2 which currently has around 1500 downloads. This encouraged me no end. So much so I embarked on building BR Southern Region-Brighton Line which is also arousing interest. The philosophy used here is that if it [route] bores me, then its probably going to bore you. Of course that could be construed as a subjective philosophy, but none-the-less go by it. With the emergence of SP3 route building has improved greatly and I for one may well become prolific for both large and small, old/modern. But it all takes so much time to get it right, and learning the ropes, never ending . Some enthusiasts may well be a bit laxed with their imagination and a tad impatient to get the results of their efforts to the DLS but eventually may come up with something amazing and should be encouraged and guided with a bit of constructive critique. I have always requested feedback from anything I upload, especially from the veterans. And their comments, guidance has, and will, always be appreciated. However, having said all that I do agree the DLS has some pretty awful stuff in it.

Cheers,
Val.

[ish6]

Hi All --

I thought N3V had a "star" system in which one can vote for best or worse item, or in this case a route?

Ish

[cascaderailroad]

I have downloaded some pretty lackluster poorly made routes, and have picked up some rather interesting dependencies, and and examine their assets how they used them, and I use those assets that I never knew existed ... then I delete the bad routes ... one was: "Suffragette City V1.0 by kurtnielsen", "NEC Wilmington - Philadelphia Big Trains Full Version by hummer19971", and "E123 - by ecb03" ... pretty fun routes though