routes on the DLS

martinvk

since 10 Aug 2002
I was looking at some of the routes on the DLS and started to download a few, based on the name and description.

Now I know that building a route is not an easy task, I've tried many times and they are all works in progress but there are a few things that really annoyed me after the recent downloads. I'm not talking about the missing unknown dependencies. It's easy to use something from a third party site and forget that others might not have it. Nor the compressed distances. It can be pretty boring to place and scenic kilometers of countryside.

No, it's when the title suggests a massive route from here to way over there when in reality there are only a few baseboards, a bit of track, some buildings and perhaps a couple of trees. What happened to truth in advertising? And when a title implies a prototypical route and the tracks are all parallel to the grids. Perhaps a few real world tracks are north-south or east-west but think the vast majority are at any angle not just 0, 90, 180 and 270 degrees. And dead straight without any curves is a rare occurrence.

It may all be in the eye of the beholder, one person's master piece is another's "you're kidding" Let's not discourage creativity but how many autosave routes need to be uploaded?
 
Martin,

I've been very leery of downloading routes from the DLS for this reason, being afraid to get yet another empty route.

I wonder though if these are the results of the mobile format not having local storage and the users are using the DLS for their cloud storage so we now see autosaves and WIPs.
 
I agree with you on most points, Martin.

N3V made, in my opinion, a wrong choice to have the mobile versions store their content on the same DLS as the PC/Mac version. They could have at least added some sort of flag so they could easily be filtered out.

And dead straight without any curves is a rare occurrence.
Rare, but they do exist.
Check 2km east of Rivers to about 3km east of Gregg: That is 69km /43miles of straight at a wicket 92 degrees angle.
It is about 35km (though at an 90 degrees angle) in my version though...

... ending with a curve :p

New-route-project.jpg
 
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
 
If I don't know who created it and there is no thumbnail and no screenshots or recommendations on here, I don't download it.
 
There are a lot of routes that were probably made on mobile versions and a lot of cloned routes as well. I just get easily annoyed by these, especially some of them look like those weird funky ones some of us made as kids back when TRS2006 was still new (e.g. "pointy mountains and holes for train crashes). I usually look for good quality, finished or nearly finished routes (even payware quality), not small routes with nothing, but default Auran rolling stock planted on them. I think this is another reason why all the freeware content are now considered "cringe" because of these.
 
I think this is another reason why all the freeware content are now considered "cringe" because of these.

Which is a great pity because there are a lot of really great freeware routes on the DLS. Telling the wheat from the chaff can be a problem.

The things that I look for are:-

  • a thumbnail is present
  • the thumbnail is a screenshot that does not show the grid lines (I hate those "thumbnails" that state "This is not a thumbnail")
  • the thumbnail contains a text label (this shows that the creator cares enough to at least add a title and knows something about creating/editing graphics)
  • a full description is present
  • the description gives some indication of the contents such as "all assets are on the DLS", "speed trees are/are not used", etc

Is that too much to ask?
 
I sometimes wonder if some of those uploading garbage, actually realise other people can see and download it.
 
Pware, I look for the same things. And, I look for a presence in the Freeware forum. That usually means the creator is still active and supporting the release, and it gives an idea of any issues with the route as well as screenshots of the routes most of the time...

Clam1952, it looks like some people use the DLS to backup routes barely started under construction, and somehow it gets past any quality upload checks.
 
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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
 
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...

Clam1952, it looks like some people use the DLS to backup routes barely started under construction, and somehow it gets past any quality upload checks.
Probably because the QA is focused on other things like the quality of the config file. The esthetics of the route is a judgement call that would require an active review, a topic very much discussed elsewhere. While I agree that the barely started route has no business being on the DLS, determining when it is far enough along to qualify will be a tough call. And while we all would like some sort of rating system, I don't know how it could be implemented fairly, without a huge backlog and without a huge hue and cry from all and sundry.
 
Before the big forum crash of 2006, I made a thread similar to this. I talked about the multitude of "crappy routes on the DLS" and I was instantly chastised because of my thread, and really put down by the majority of Forum users. There were a few PM's directed to me by some people who agreed with me, but for the most part I was criticized severely.
 
Before the big forum crash of 2006, I made a thread similar to this. I talked about the multitude of "crappy routes on the DLS" and I was instantly chastised because of my thread, and really put down by the majority of Forum users.

The problem of course is that we all start with little or no knowledge. Route building was very much a "black art" back in the days of Trainz UTC and 2004 that only a few seemed to be good at. Back then efforts that we considered "good enough" to upload would probably not "pass muster" today. Today I cringe when I think about the first route that I uploaded back in April 2004.

The expectations of users, the capability of the software and the standards of the experienced "core" of creators have advanced considerably since then. Unfortunately, we now seem to expect that the first efforts from new creators should match those of the "old hands".

I agree that there is a lot of "cr@ppy" layouts on the DLS and the explanations posted in this and similar threads make sense to me.

How do we encourage new creators to learn the ropes and develop the skills and at the same time ensure that we are not flooded with dismal and half-hearted first attempts? That is the problem.
 
Is it not also true that, in order to enjoy a multi-player experience (which is likely to be a major draw for newer, younger Trainzers), a route needs to be on the DLS? Pure speculation, but there may be groups out there who are not yet bothered by the beautification aspects of route building, but want to enjoy operating a simple (model) railway in multiplayer. Those same Trainzers may turn out to be the maestro content creators in the coming years so we should be wary of making them feel excluded or somehow inferior.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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)
 
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"
 
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.
 
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