Newbie needs help getting started

4014Highballing

New member
Hello community,

I purchased TRANE when it was on sale for $40US with all of the DLCs, etc. I have it installed and so far have completed all of the tutorials. When I made the purchase, I thought I was buying software that would let me create my own virtual model RR, with no interest in being the operator, except by being the station master. I haven't even opened the simulator for several months, being so disappointed.

Just a few days ago, I got the notice about SP3. So today, I started looking through the website and these forums, and lo and behold there is a reference to TMR17! Is that a model railroading simulator? Can I plan my own layout, just as if it was in my basement?

I have never seen TMR17 mentioned anywhere before. Is there a separate forum? Is it a separate purchase?

Thanks for any responses. Very much appreciated. :)
 
TMR17 is indeed a separate purchase (there's two versions - the standalone game with it's content, and a version where the routes from it are available for T:ANE as payware DLC).

In terms of forums, there may be one for it in the Maintenance of Way section.

Shane
 
Welcome to the forums and to Trainz, which will become an extremely addicting hobby once you get into it.

TMR2017 is essentially T:ANE lite. The purpose was to create a sub-product for those not interested in the larger amount of built-in content and to honor the very early version of Trainz which came out 15 years prior and was sold as a model railroad emulator and route builder. TMR2017 has all of the capabilities you have now with T:ANE except it comes with a smaller, targeted, content set (assets) aimed at model railroading. Whatever you can do in TMR2017, you can do in T:ANE so why purchase twice unless you want to. (I was a beta tester so that's why I have it in my time line of registered versions).

With that said, in T:ANE at the Routes menu, click on Create Route and have a go at it. You will see the Surveyor screen with all the pull-out tabs on the side with various tools. The tools are simple to use and give it a try. If you want, and I recommend this totally, download a route from the Download Station which catches your eye. Be warned though, the quality varies of course being user-created routes with some better than others. But look at some of the more interesting routes you might see.

Once downloaded, and hopefully there are no missing assets, open the route in Surveyor and look around. This will give you an idea on how to build stuff. I did this very thing back in December 2003 when I purchased TRS2004.

Poke around with the tools, add track, etc. If you like what you've got, save and the route will be saved under your ID.

I will mention though, that built-in routes can't be edited, however, a new sessions can be created for them, which will be under your ID. It's due to copy-protection on the built-in stuff.

I will add that any content you download from the Download station using Content Manager is installed once and ready to use all over. The content isn't locked to a particular route and doesn't get downloaded multiple times as it does in other programs. This is the same with the built-in assets as well.
 
J I will mention though said:
Just to clarify, you can build routes in TANE and TMR17. With TMR17, you get sides and walls and ceilings, etc.
You can put edges on a TANE layout with a variety of backdrops on the DLS (maybe some are built-in).

However, you can download, clone, and edit most routes. Just not built-in ones or of course payware.
 
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Hello community,

I purchased TRANE when it was on sale for $40US with all of the DLCs, etc. I have it installed and so far have completed all of the tutorials. When I made the purchase, I thought I was buying software that would let me create my own virtual model RR, with no interest in being the operator, except by being the station master. I haven't even opened the simulator for several months, being so disappointed.

Just a few days ago, I got the notice about SP3. So today, I started looking through the website and these forums, and lo and behold there is a reference to TMR17! Is that a model railroading simulator? Can I plan my own layout, just as if it was in my basement?

I have never seen TMR17 mentioned anywhere before. Is there a separate forum? Is it a separate purchase?

Thanks for any responses. Very much appreciated. :)

You can definitely be the operator, that is one of the strengths of Trainz. It's just upto you how deep you want to delve, as you can eventually have a fully automated railway, BUT, it requires a bit of learning if you want advanced things happening. If problem solving and experimenting are your thing you'll be addicted.

I personally use Trainz as a creative outlet, creating my own route/layout and then setting up lots of AI trains to run on it. I jump between 'programming' my session with automated trains and sitting in Surveyor adding scenery and being creative.
The only difference between TMR and TANE is TMR is like someone said, TANE-Lite. TANE includes and lets you do everything you can do in TMR.

If you need any help feel free to ask. :)
 
4014Highballer, from this posting go up a couple of levels to the root of the Forums. TMR forum is just three below this one, about the fifth one down from the top.
 
Hi 4014 --

"When I made the purchase, I thought I was buying software that would let me create my own virtual model RR, with no interest in being the operator, except by being the station master."

And indeed you have and indeed you can. You don't need to purchase TMR17. I've constructed and uploaded a number of model railroads using T:ANE. And sessions for them too. See, for example, my latest:

https://forums.auran.com/trainz/sho...ge-layout-quot-The-Kab-Fourword-Railroad-quot

For others, search the Forums or search the Download Station with "philskene" as the author. Also youtube.

Rest assured, once you get the hang of it you will be able to make your own model railroads. Two suggestions though -- dissect existing layouts to see how it's done and start off with a very simple layout. And be patient. Layout construction skills do take some time to acquire.

Phil
 
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Think of Trainz as a kit of parts.

Think about what you'd like to model and what time period you're interested in. Then take a look at the screenshots to give you some idea of what is possible. Trainz has the widest range of assets or any of the SIMs. The DLS varies enormously in quality but on the US side whitepass is a content creator who has created some high quality assets.

You need to think about what sort of hardware you have. If its a GTX 1050 TI or less GPU then you'll need to be more selective than if you're running a GTX 1080TI. I'm assuming 16 gigs of memory and a quad core processor and monitor of 1920 by 1080. 4K just needs too much processing power.

If you want to create an asset there are tutorials around for Blender which is free. Ask questions in the forum.

Have a read here: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Trainz

That should get you started.

Cheerio John
 
Hello community,
When I made the purchase, I thought I was buying software that would let me create my own virtual model RR, with no interest in being the operator, except by being the station master. I haven't even opened the simulator for several months, being so disappointed.
Just a few days ago, I got the notice about SP3. So today, I started looking through the website and these forums, and lo and behold there is a reference to TMR17! Is that a model railroading simulator? :)


Seeing that you already have Tane SP2, (TRAINZ A NEW ERA), my suggestion would be to patch to SP3 94916, then purchase the TMR2017 (for "existing" Tane users, that installs directly into Tane). https://store.trainzportal.com/collections/dlc/products/trainz-model-railroad-2017-dlc-bundle

That way you get the best of both worlds. You get all the Tane & TMR2017 default routes & model railway layouts, plus all there contents. You then have a lot more content to work with in your construction of a model railway. That's the way I went & I'm very happy I did.

Note; TRM2017 (for existing Tane users) is discounted by N3V from time to time!!!

Cheers, Mac.
 
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