Having lockup and other problems

First of all, I love this program. It gives me the ability to create layouts like I used to have in my younger years. I have figured out how to do a lot of things thanks to Google and the help of people here. However, I am still having lockups like I have had since the start. These only occur when I am building, not when I am driving. I have gotten into the habit of saving my work quite often: every few minutes or so. I don't know what is causing them. It wasn't a big thing before because it would only take less than a minute to reload everything. But now, my latest endeavor takes about 8 minutes to load.

I am building a layout that is 9 squares. I start with a blank square and then merge 8 more to it. This is being done in N gauge US model. The lockup can happen anytime, but is quite likely to happen if I leave the computer for 10 minutes or so.

My hardware should be more than sufficient: 8 core 3.6 MHz AMD, 16 gig RAM, AMD RX460 GPU.

Am I trying to go too big? (I ask this about the loading time of the session.) To date, track is laid and buildings now being added. When I drive what I have done already, I have no issues whatsoever with 7 trains running at the same time. Video is nice and smooth. No lockups.

Any help for this newbie will be greatly appreciated.

I should also mention that this is running on Win10. I am a Linux user, so the ONLY thing installed in Win10 (which is thoroughly updated) is Trainz.

Your RX 460 is a bit on the light side for TANE / TS17 but if it runs smoothly it should be OK. A GTX 1060 is normally considered a good fit, and some consider that on the light side.

So driver is fine just surveyor?

Thanks John

I can run driver for over 1/2 hour with no issues. 7 to 8 trains all running at the same time. I can walk away with it running and come back 30 minutes later and it is still running smoothly.

Can I ask whether that's Mhz or Ghz for the processor? If you're getting system lockups I'd look into checking for possible hardware issues as well.

Shane

AMD Vishera 8 core, 3.6Mhz. Ram is 16 gig DDR3. I have no issues at all with this machine other than Trainz.

As a hobby, I build and repair computers, so I know that this machine is running well.

What about that loading time to get to the editor? 8 minutes sounds like a long time to me.

That may be caching related - does any mention of caching appear during load?

Shane

Nothing. The only error I ever had was the one explained in another post. And that error only happened in that one save session.

I still wonder about the load time though: it seems awfully long to me. Is 7 - 8 minutes normal to load session? I know that smaller ones load in 20-30 seconds.

I suspect its hardware related to the session. When you run on expensive SSDs using a xeon or i7 processor, a GTX 2080TI and 16 gigs of memory these sort of problems go away.

I might start over in case something you've done is demanding the sort of resources you don't have.

The other thing to check first is the content you are using. One sketchup building can be enough to bring any machine to its knees. I forget how to check for very high poly objects but I'm sure Shane will remember. In content manager you can preview assets, just check the poly count and if it has lod if needed.

Content can make an enormous difference Middleton for laptops will run on Intel integrated graphics for example but not much else will.

Cheerio John

If memory serves me right it's under the in-game options - it's related to performance information.

Shane

If I have to, I guess this machine could handle a 4th HD and I have a few SSDs laying around. But I don't understand why it is this slow loading: my machine far eclipses the minimum requirements and also the recommended requirements. The GPU is close, but that RX460 is rated a tick better than an Nvidia 1060. Besides, the GPU has nothing to do with the loading time: all it is doing is showing a static picture until the program loads the session.

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gpu-hierarchy,4388.html

The 460 is below the 1060 on this comparison. Different games run differently on different cards. nVidia have a program that helps game programmers code to get the most from their cards. N3V take advantage of this and generally use nVidia cards themselves. TANE / TMR2017 which is basically TANE runs mainly on the GPU.

If Middleton for laptops runs OK and I suspect it will then its probably the content you are using.

Dig in the forums and there are ways to spot the most demanding content. Jcitron has done it and switching three or four items made a very big difference to performance.

Cheerio John

I have looked everywhere in the game and cannot find performance statistics what I have inserted into the session.

I had Driver running for over an hour before with 7 trains running. No problems whatsoever: smooth as silk.

autodctr said:

I still wonder about the load time though: it seems awfully long to me. Is 7 - 8 minutes normal to load session? I know that smaller ones load in 20-30 seconds.

Click to expand...

Load time is way too high, you are only loading 9 baseboards, should load in under 10 seconds IMO, your specs seem great except your GPU. This simulator runs mostly in the GPU. Your Radeon RX 460 is most likely the cause.

It might be something to do with the way you constructed the route. It is not necessary to merge eight baseboards into your base route.

To expand the initial baseboard, press function key F1 and then the 'X' key. Now click outside the edges of the board to add more terrain.

Merging is problematic and causes funny things to happen.

Trevor

Will try that and let you know. Thanks!

Tried the F1 + X. certainly easier than the way I was doing it, but no time difference noted. Let me explain what I did and what I noyiced, and then hopefully someone will tell me that it is normal or how to fix it if not.

I made a new layout. 3 bases big. Lots of track on the layout, some roads, some animated buildings, several hundred trees. I continually saved my progress, even amid several lockups and having to reboot. When finished, from choosing to edit the scenario to when it actually appeared on screen: about 8 seconds. Exited game, exited Windows and went into Linux. Back to Windows, back to game, chose to edit scenario: about 8 seconds until scenario appeared on screen. Did this a couple more times: always the same. Then I added 6 locomotives and about 150 cars to the scenario. Saved. Clicked on icon to drive. Almost 8 minutes for screen to appear. Once it appeared, everything ran just fine. Exited game and went back in. Still 8 minutes. Obviously, adding cars and / or locomotives made the difference, but why?

Am I missing something or is this to be considered normal?

Thank in advance!

Well, thanks to all who gave answers and tried to help. But, I figured it out. So, let me answer my own question.

Reinstall the game......something didn't install correctly or got screwed up after installation.

I deleted everything including layouts that I had done (sniff, sniff) just in case something was corrupted in the saves and would thus corrupt a new install. Reinstalled the game. Made a layout of 6 bases. Scenery done, 9 trains plus extra cars and locomotives. (Only had 2 freezes during construction.) Now, from clicking to enter Trainz until my layout comes up for editing is roughly one minute! That is just a tad better than the 20 minutes that it used to take. Takes just another minute to go from editing to driving. 9 trains running at the same time and all running smoothly.