The Development History of Trainz (Video)

Looking for a little Trainz inspiration earlier on Youtube, I can across the the following video of 'The Development of Trainz' which I had missed completely when it was originally posted. I'm not sure I've taken much inspiration from it but a bit of a timely reminder with the release of TS3 this week of how we have got to where we are today, and thought others may also find it interesting. Unfortunately my Android TV has more chance of running TS3 successfully than my capable but aging unsupported mobile. Peter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pH5f7iVwyoo

I remember some of this development mentioned in the video. In 2001 I got MSTS and then purchased the Auran Paint Shed for MSTS in 2002. On the Paint Shed box was www.auran.com and I checked out the website and forums. Back in those days, Greg Lane was right in there chatting with the other users as he openly discussed ideas with them. I sat in the background and lurked as I watched what was developing. One of the discussions was to make the product as separate modules and sell content as packs. The modular design carried over as puzzle pieces that were used for the various components and when something new was being announced, the community was asked what that part was going to be. This theme carried right over into TRS2004 back in those days.

While I lurked and watched, I download the demo and loved it, but my system didn't and kept crashing because my ATI 9500 Le was crap. I thought about getting the early UTC version, but I was concerned about making that purchase online because Auran is located in Australia and not the US. A year later, there was the announcement that partner Merscom was going to sell TRS2004 in various retail outlets including CompUSA where I got mine the day after Christmas in December 2003. I recently found the very faded receipt in a box of old papers, and I still have my TRS2004 DVDs in its original box

Very enjoyable presentation, although no mention of Multi-Player being mostly unplayable in TANE, and buggy as hell in TS12?

Not sure why the video maker chose such awful music for the PC spec screen segments, like muzak combined with low-budget stock porn background clips

Especially the utterly obnoxious anime derived closing theme music, my poor ears, LOL.

Rico

Enjoyed the video, thanks for sharing it. I never knew what had happened to Auran until now. Liked being able to match faces with the names I'd heard and how Tony rescued the franchise through N3V.

I stumbled across TRS2006 about three years after it came out and have always been fighting systems with low specs until recently. Likewise, my Internet access has usually been sketchy, so I've always been behind on the DLS and online documentation too. Picked up MSTS somewhere along the way, but really liked being able to use Surveyor in Trainz.

JCitron said:

<snip> and I still have my TRS2004 DVDs in its original box

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I've still got the 5-disc Deluxe Edition of Trainz 2004 in its original case, which was a birthday or Christmas present. I was only 13 or just turned 14 and was on a $20/month allowance at the time.

jordon412 said:

I've still got the 5-disc Deluxe Edition of Trainz 2004 in its original case, which was a birthday or Christmas present. I was only 13 or just turned 14 and was on a $20/month allowance at the time.

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Wow! Yours is a rare early package and definitely worth putting away for safe keeping.

Mine was marked $39.99, but I got it on sale for $29.99. After I installed TRS2004, my semi-active model railroad stuttered to a stop and the spiders moved in. It was not only easier to use, but also safter for the models because my cats and nephew used to get into it and break things, so rather than lose another loco to the floor, I put everything away and it's been packed up ever since.

I just wish that there was some way I could get the Paintshed CD that was included in TRS2004 Deluxe Edition to work with later versions of Trainz. It would make having custom paint schemes much easier.