Kuji Rail sim release date Friday 5th October 2007

In regards to RailSimulator, I think I'm going to wait a bit and see whether or not the Southern Pacific GS-4 Daylight becomes available for download for the RailSimulator. If it drops, along with the Union Pacific's 4-8-8-4 Big Boy (the simulator DOES support articulated locomotives, does it? Please say it does!). I'll definitely purchase the simulator.

Those two locomotives, along with Southern Pacific's 4-8-8-2 Cab Forward Locomotive, are my top three Steam Engines that are an absolute must in any simulator. Without them, my experience wouldn't be complete!

That's why I'm going to sit tight and stay with Trainz for now. (I'm currently installing it for the first time in two years.)

-NK
 
My thoughts

I just picked up Rail Simulator from Future Shop in Canada. The advertised prices was $39.99 CDN, but when it scanned it came up at $29.99 CDN - so I got a great deal on it.

At first after install, it took forever to open the start page in fullscreen, we're talking minutes - turns out it was my firewall that for some reason didn't get to popup and ask me to let Rail Simulator access the internet - I discovered this when starting the sim in Windowed mode - after that, the start up was much much quicker.

Graphically, nice and clean - sharp image and runs smoothly and looks great with all the sliders up full on my system in 1680 X 1050 widescreen on a 22" LCD monitor - except for one thing - every minute or two, it stutters and this coincides with a lot of hard drive activity. Annoying.

For the life of me I cannot figure out how to see more of the in cab controls - seems I only get to look out of the window and have to use the keyboard controls - anybody know? I expected a 3D cab similar to TRS, but it seems to be a 2D more like MSTS or BVE.

I haven't figured out surveyor yet - the learning curve is really steep and the tiny booklet is not much help at all. I'm still looking for the Marker-platform object - the book says it's there, but I can't find it! A nice feature is track laying is really easy and laying down 2 or 6 or even 12 tacks at once can be done - saves a lot of time.

The editor is a vast improvement over MSTS (that editor was quite frankly a piece of crap, it crashed more often than it worked), but much less easier to use than TRS - it may be that I'm just not used to it yet.

I'd like to see TRS add more functionality to Surveyor, like multiple tracks laying at once, setting the curves of track, and importing track marks.
 
lightrail said:
For the life of me I cannot figure out how to see more of the in cab controls - seems I only get to look out of the window and have to use the keyboard controls - anybody know? I expected a 3D cab similar to TRS, but it seems to be a 2D more like MSTS or BVE.
Click to expand...

Lightrail:

Hold down the right mouse button to pan around.

Rob.
 
I hate to say this, but Rail Simulator is nothing more than MSTS2. The controls are the same (for the most part), the hud is the same, and the physics and graphics are drastically updated. If it's not MSTS2, it is at least what MSTS should have been.
________
COLORADO DISPENSARIES
 
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It is highly likely that it it related to the original aborted MSTS2 since both were developed by Kuju (as was the original MSTS).
 
teddytoot said:
It is highly likely that it it related to the original aborted MSTS2 since both were developed by Kuju (as was the original MSTS).
Click to expand...

This myth has already been dispelled several times. Despite my dislike for the new Kuju Rail Simulator it is necessary to do so once again.

MS took back all the work Kuju had done on MSTS2 (the original one) to try and salvage something from the mess. It appears they couldn't unravel what Kuju had done hence the decision to scrap the project at the time and only recently revive it with a fresh start, using the FSX game engine as a base.

There are all sorts of urban legends surrounding the falling out MS had with Kuju - not least the one which had MS managers "raiding" the Kuju studios and removing documentation and discs with MSTS2 code on them. While that might be a bit far fetched, it is certainly true to say if any of the original MSTS2 code had turned up in KRS, Kuju would be looking at an almighty litigation writ from Microsoft.

What does seem to ring truer is that Kuju stuck to the MSTS style for Rail Simulator. That is quite apparent in several areas - e.g. the blueprint you need to produce for a route is akin to the tile extraction you had to do first in the RGE, before building a route. And they also seemed to incorporate some startlingly similar bugs (in addition to a host of new ones). And the "Developer" file structure and Asset Editor procedures seem to defy all logic (as do all the different track "rules) compared to Surveyor where it's all seamless in a menu and you just get stuck in building a railway!

If anything, they have made third party development harder in KRS than it was in the original MSTS...

So to summarise once again...
The EA/Kuju Rail Simulator is NOT an incarnation of the original MSTS2.

The new MSTS2 being developed in house by Aces is an all new product with no relation to the original aborted MSTS2, either.
 
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When I was saying that KRS is MSTS2, I guess I wasn't clear. The point I was getting at, having come from MSTS originally, is that KRS is what MSTS was supposed to have been. MS made some serious mistakes with the original, whether it was the front coupler bug, to various little things that they took for granted, to that insanely hard route creation tool.

In teddy's defense, I would suggest considering what he said, not what it could mean. Is KRS related to MSTS? Well it would be very naive to think that Kuju didn't learn anything from the creation of MSTS. They obviously did, and in doing so improved upon it. To say that KRS is related to MSTS, is no different than saying that today's bullet train is related to Stephenson's Planet. Both are trains, this is true. However one is very primitive, the other very modern. Built by two differing companies, the newer still incorporates several things from the former. So, in that sense they are related.

I think Teddy was getting to that point. KRS is related to MSTS, since it seems that Kuju took what they learned and improved upon it.
________
DDbreastsWOW live
 
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magickmaker said:
When I was saying that KRS is MSTS2, I guess I wasn't clear. The point I was getting at, having come from MSTS originally, is that KRS is what MSTS was supposed to have been. MS made some serious mistakes with the original, whether it was the front coupler bug, to various little things that they took for granted, to that insanely hard route creation tool.

In teddy's defense, I would suggest considering what he said, not what it could mean. Is KRS related to MSTS? Well it would be very naive to think that Kuju didn't learn anything from the creation of MSTS. They obviously did, and in doing so improved upon it. To say that KRS is related to MSTS, is no different than saying that today's bullet train is related to Stephenson's Planet. Both are trains, this is true. However one is very primitive, the other very modern. Built by two differing companies, the newer still incorporates several things from the former. So, in that sense they are related.

I think Teddy was getting to that point. KRS is related to MSTS, since it seems that Kuju took what they learned and improved upon it.
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Yes, fine, lovely. (grind, groan...) Let's not labour the point, etc.

Next please!

Perchpole
 
man, I got this game the day it came out, it was ok. I expected/wanted more. MSTS is better, but ever with Trainz. For built in content it smashes on both of the other sims. (trainz and msts)
 
RS experience (all good)

I bought Rail Simulator in July of 2008, then bought the Raildriver unit in August of 2008. I was impressed with the control of some of the engines under RailDriver (some worked, some did not).

I would have to say that there are a few bugs in Rail Simulator, but they were not really noticable to me, an dthe company is now offering service pack 2 for Rail Simulator.

I realize that mentioning RailDriver may be in the wrong message base, but I am making a general comment about it that can be said in a couple of sentances.

I got really lucky with my purchase of the 2001 version of MSTS, I found it new for only $5.00 US....and would like to add that MSTS is still really good and could match Trainz or RS for performance. (Not graphics, I am talking physics, and other true to life controls).

I would like to add that the RailDriver unit is worth every bit of it's price as it handles UTC, TRS2004, TRS2006, TC1, TC2, TC3, RS, and MSTS. I don't know if it handles all of the 50 or more routes that I have collected in the past 3 years, but I am sure that someone could help me out here ...

Happy Virtual Trains to all ....... Russ Campbell (rcamp42)
:p
 
In a new rail simulator, I am looking for everything that Trainz does and a better graphics engine. KRS certainly does not provide that and I don't think MSTS2 will either. That's not to say that they couldn't, but their developers are aiming at the train driving simulator market.

TRS X? Who knows.
 
Creating content for KRS is a bit harder than creating content for TRS. Creating/editing config.txt files is easier than creating/editing blueprint files. I gave up after trying to create NYCTA subway cars for KRS. 3D meshes for TRS content use attachment points to locate other parts such as bogies and cabs which is easier than entering coordinates in blueprint files for some parts but not other parts such as animated doors on train cars.
 
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