TrainzDE Multiplayer Server (hopefully 24/7) | TRS 2019

-Basti-

Active member
Hey guys,

to improve Multiplayer experiencing, i'm trying around with a rented dedicated server (in a datacenter) with the goal to run a 24/7 Multiplayer server.

We're trying around now for several days now and besides few connection losses, it seems to work okay.

Currently we're running the (german-themed) route "Schwäninger Land" by Astagos, using the Session "Schwäninger Land Version 0.8 TRS19-Edit) by GnatzED <KUID:830162:975000>

The name of the multiplayer session is "Trainz.DE Dedicated Server Test"

You're invited to join our session to do some further testing and collect experience about long-time sessions. There will be restarts required (especially the first time) to improve the session and fix problems, but the plan is to have sessions running over a far longer time as usual by now.

We mostly communicate via our (Trainz.DE) discord server, feel free to join us https://discord.gg/ePxqCbM (mostly german, but channels in english available)

Regarding the future, i want to try to run a second session on the server as soon as I have another TRS 19 license, maybe there could be an US/AU-themed one then, but this requires further tests.

I hope we can make the multiplayer more popular and make N3V improve it :p

Sebastian
 
Due to the server costs and the low usage, i'll cancel the server subscription by end of July.

It was mostly a test to see if it's possible to run a 24/7 TRS 2019 server which was successful so far, but I cannot pay that amount of money every month
 
Could you share with us your experiences and what you did?

Like:
How many people did play?
How long did you host a session on the same route?
What routes did you host sessions?
What routes would you advise (and why)? Which routes would you not advise (and why)?
Did only German players join or also other nationalities? What time-zones were these players in?
Would you advise N3V to continue your experiment on a server of themselves?
Anything else useful you learned from this experiment that you could share?
 
Sure I could share my experience.

If I remember correctly, peak of players had been around 15, i hosted a session longer than a month without connection loss. On home connection, it did not work longer than 24h for me with a (in general) stable connection. But the ping in a datacenter is much lower I experienced.
We tried different routes, from Schwaeninger Land via Niddertalbahn to Kickstarter County and more.

As the server ran 24/7 for a longer time, not only germans joined, also american and australian users.

On the server, i tried up to three simultaneous "Trainz Servers" which worked good. Most time, we had two sessions (one european route, one of other continents).
For running more than one Multiplayer instance, each instance must have its own Trainz installation (own program and content folder) and different Auran-accounts assigned.

For the route, its important to have enough replacement rolling stock as crashes happen. And it should be big enough to become not boring but not to big to feel like single player. All depends on the amount of users in average I guess.

On the technical side, for running a 24/7 server it should run on a server in a datacenter to have a very stable connection also to other countries, in my case it was hosted in germany by Hetzner. Disk space was SSD-raid, i guess its important especially for more than one session. The server must have a graphics adapter which can run TRS 2019 (in my case it was a 9th generation Intel i7 CPU with integrated memory which worked with very low graphic settings in TRS 2019) and of course - the Server must run Windows.

I told N3V my wishes for running a multiplayer server, but the feedback was... not much.

Biggest wish would be to have a dedicated server software where I do not need a GUI running, so a console mode. Currently the server must process all the game graphics which is in that case completely unnecessary.
Even a "low graphics mode" with very simple graphics in the game would help (low/no textures, always lowest LOD or so). A dream would be a dedicated server software for Linux, so i could run the dedicated server on the same machine as the Trainz.DE website for example.

Another - very frustrating - thing is that crossplay between TRS 2019 and TRS 2019 Platinum/Plus/etc is still not possible - at least, this is my latest information. This lowered my motivation a lot.

Further tools to manage MP-sessions would also be great, e.g. defining permanent moderators in a MP-session or so, Tools that I do not have to connect to the host to manage a session but can give the rights to that to another person permanently.

Also great would be an interface where i could read out the status and player count of a session e.g. to display it on a website.
 
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Biggest wish would be to have a dedicated server software where I do not need a GUI running, so a console mode. Currently the server must process all the game graphics which is in that case completely unnecessary.
Even a "low graphics mode" with very simple graphics in the game would help (low/no textures, always lowest LOD or so). A dream would be a dedicated server software for Linux, so i could run the dedicated server on the same machine as the Trainz.DE website for example.

Further tools to manage MP-sessions would also be great, e.g. defining permanent moderators in a MP-session or so, Tools that I do not have to connect to the host to manage a session but can give the rights to that to another person permanently.

Also great would be an interface where i could read out the status and player count of a session e.g. to display it on a website.

I would hugely support a dedicated server for Trainz!
I feel this would really push the multiplayer side of Trainz seeing as someone needs to actually host the session for anyone to join, having the session running 24/7 would help with players being able to jump on and off whenever and not have to wait for someone to host.

I'd gladly help with testing if it were to be developed.

Reece
 
I would hugely support a dedicated server for Trainz!
I feel this would really push the multiplayer side of Trainz seeing as someone needs to actually host the session for anyone to join, having the session running 24/7 would help with players being able to jump on and off whenever and not have to wait for someone to host.

I'd gladly help with testing if it were to be developed.

Reece


As written above, its possible already however in the current way it's quite expensive and more like a workaround ;-)
 
i paid around 70€ per month for a fast enough Server with i7 and Windows Server 2019 license
 
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As written above, its possible already however in the current way it's quite expensive and more like a workaround ;-)
It's possible but like you said, it's a workaround, I'm talking about an actual Trainz Dedicated Server Console/GUI to run the session, and not have to go through what you did for example. I like your workaround though, thinking outside the box. With the dedicated server software, It'll be nice to be able to wack onto a server and bingo! The session is live and awaiting players.
 
It's possible but like you said, it's a workaround, I'm talking about an actual Trainz Dedicated Server Console/GUI to run the session, and not have to go through what you did for example. I like your workaround though, thinking outside the box. With the dedicated server software, It'll be nice to be able to wack onto a server and bingo! The session is live and awaiting players.


Honestly - I do not think there will be a dedicated server software in the near future. I already asked years ago for it without any progress. But i'm open for a surprise by N3V.
 
i paid around 70€ per month for a fast enough Server with i7 and Windows Server 2019 license

Yikes, ye that is steep. Did you consider contacting a gaming server company that could load the game for you onto a dedicated server? Much cheaper. My Space Engineers server was around £10-£14 a month. It is a physics based game so the CPU and GPU requirements are alot higher than T:ANE or TRS19. Cannot believe the different 19 versions are not compatible, that is just poor planning and development.

In hindsight, I think bumping this thread would maybe have gathered a few more players than you have had. I certainly don't play European or American trains but I'd have jumped on for the experience. Most i've ran is three on a route. Server version would be more versatile but I get the feeling most of what we wish/want is not taken into account from N3V.

Well done though for being a sort of pioneer on this. We shall all learn from your experience. Did you consider funding such a server from users?
 
I dont think that a game server company would be interested in, Trainz is not that spread to make profit with game servers. The development would be more expensive than the income.

I tried to get some support from users, in germany but also in other countries, the first weeks were okay, then i paid the most alone again... i just paid enough, sorry :)
 
Nothing wrong with bringing it to an end bud and ye there is usually a reason a companies not selling game specific servers for all the games out there that have multiplayer.
 
I was on the 24/7 server a few times, and was one of a bunch of us who offered to help pay for the server. I think all of us got a bit put off by some of the issues with the multiplayer state of the game, and I got the impression that until some of the issues were fixed having a persistent server was requiring to many restarts. Issues such as ghost trains, and sync problems. Not to mention the regular/gold/platinum incompatibilities. I would like to see another persistent server, once the money issues are fixed.
 
What game server companies need is a actual server side software and not the fully fledge game, having to run a actual game puts too much of a load on the hardware, you could get a server from Shadow game servers, which is a fully fledged gaming rig, but again the price goes up for better hardware. The best example could be Space Engineers, which has a GUI server console which just runs the software to host the session without having to do any 3D rendering, because you need a account and the full game running, it costs more to run on a server which can handle that, but it's the only option we have unfortunately.

If N3V made a software client which just runs the required coding for multiplayer then you could run on a low end server, or N3V could look into a hosting solution for multiplayer.

I would like to have a 24/7 server running when I release my Waterloo & City Line update. So users can jump on and off as and when without the need to organise a session.

But 1 could dream of such a thing hahah ;)
 
I was on the 24/7 server a few times, and was one of a bunch of us who offered to help pay for the server.
I did not see your offer, but i also was not that often playing for myself as work and the newborn require a lot of time at the moment, also a reason to cancel the subscription as I did not really could use it besides a few times.

I think all of us got a bit put off by some of the issues with the multiplayer state of the game, and I got the impression that until some of the issues were fixed having a persistent server was requiring to many restarts. Issues such as ghost trains, and sync problems. Not to mention the regular/gold/platinum incompatibilities. I would like to see another persistent server, once the money issues are fixed.
I did not hear much about problems with the MP-server, my own experience was that there was far less problems than on a home-hosted session. Maybe the session runtime has been to long as the server ran some times far about a month, so maybe one week runtime and then a restart is a better solution - i don't know. The incompatibilities is a mess, i often complained about it towards Tony, but... no news (afaik).

Of course i would offer myself to host again a 24/7 server, if i do not have to cover the costs all myself, if there are e.g. 10 people sharing the monthly cost, it wold be fine for me to pay a *part* and run the server.
As said, there could run 2 sessions at the same time and there could be session-changes each 2 weeks or so, maybe poll-based.
But as said - only with adequate (finanical) support.

I would like to have a 24/7 server running when I release my Waterloo & City Line update. So users can jump on and off as and when without the need to organise a session.
Maybe in the future... :)
 
My involvement was through the VIP Voice discord server, that's why you didn't see from me directly. I asked Mika what was going on with the server a few times, and that was the extent of my info about it until you posted here. I offered to help maintain the server and sessions also.

I understand about real life first though, good luck to you!
 
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