transferring TR12 assets to TR19

simont

New member
Please forgive me - I'm often on here posting ridiculous questions, but being away from Trainz for a while things have gotten ahead of me. Now I have my first problem straightened out I want to start building my own train line. I saw on Trainz19 that you can import content from previous editions like TR12 to TR19. I was wondering if anyone knew how to do it. I've read the wiki page and I couldn't get much info from it that I could understand. I have a TR12 disc set.

Onn another topic - am I the only one in the Trainz community that thinks there should be a basic user's manual to download for TR19? there is a lot of stuff within the game and a printable user manual - not the wiki - would be a great addition a great help to a lot of people. I feel that TR19 has a lot going for it but at times it can be very frustrating. A user manual could help sort things out and allow people to discover more things in the game.
 
Yes we've asked about a user manual before, but got a lot of pushback due to the "Changing nature of the program, etc., and it's better to get stuff off the Wiki, blah, blah, blah". With that said, many of us disagree and would like something to read too at times.

However... As an experienced Trainzer, you may find that outside of the new interface in the main menu and Driver, much of functionality remains the same as it did in previous versions, but I do agree for those that are new to the hobby it's nearly mandatory, and for those that want a manual it's nice to have.

Yes you can import content. Exclude built-ins, payware, and Speed Trees (more about this below), then open folders for edit in TS12 Content Manager, and then import the opened files into TTRS19 so don't worry), by using file import from the file menu in that content manager. I recommend doing this in batches, which I did by author because there's so much stuff and it's easier to track what's done. Once that batch of content is imported, go back to TS12 CM and revert to original anything opened, select a bunch more and continue the process. Don't worry about anything needing fixing in TRS19 yet as there will be plenty to do later. Right now focus on the importing process.

Once imported into TRS19, I recommend checking for out-of-date assets. This will replace a bunch of stuff you brought in.


The alternative method for exporting and importing is to create a bunch of CDP files. Using this method, you need to watch the size of the CDPs created out of TS12 and keep them at around 500MB or less. There's a size limit, I think it's 1 GB so it's best to use 500 MB or so because it's easiest to manage.


As I said, the only assets you cannot transfer over are Speed Trees from TS12. These were compiled using an older driver, and the company that wrote the Speed Tree software offered no way to export previously created assets to their newer engine so we're stuck with needing to replace trees on routes, and there are methods and ways to do that which work, albeit, being a pain in the butt too.

I will warn you... The process can be quite long depending upon how much you bring over and what you bring over, and there will be things to repair. The repairs are the usual texture issues, config.txt file errors, typos, etc. Using the handy set of tools we have such as picture/photo editor (Paint.net PSP, PhotoShop, etc.), text editor, and of course PEV's handy tools.

In the end, however, you may find stuff you cannot update or repair due to being truly faulty due to script issues and badly formed meshes and LOD problems. These things are more strict now in TRS19 as these things affect performance. There are some assets, such as some small automobiles, for example, that were created from imported 3d models off of a stock-art website. These are great models for static display, but lack the features needed for a real-time rendered environment, and cause awful performance due to their high polygon count. Do we need a Smart Car with 256,000 polygons? (Not kidding!).

Anyway I hope you find this useful, or at least get you thinking in the right direction.
 
I've read the wiki page and I couldn't get much info from it that I could understand. I have a TR12 disc set.
If you are trying to extract assets from the TR12 disc set you will need to install the application first. Then you can save any asset to a cdp file and move it to TRS2019. However, it's unlikely to be worth the trouble, as almost everything built-in for TR12 is either built-in for TRS2019 or available for downloading from the DLS.
 
SailorDan -
However, it's unlikely to be worth the trouble, as almost everything built-in for TR12 is either built-in for TRS2019 or available for downloading from the DLS.
simont - Absolutely! Recommend look for the routes and other content on the DLS first. Most of the popular routes have already been updated to T:ANE level at a minimum.
Consequently, it will be massively easier to install these updated routes and content versions in TRS19.
 
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