Welcome to TRS22 from the CEO

[hutten]

Hello everyone,

20 years of Trainz has been wonderful to me (since 2005, actually). Thank you very much, people at N3V.
It is not clear to me what situation applies to me, however. I am on Plus with half a year to go. Is there anything that I should do or change before January 15 to get into the position that I will have my "own" copy of TRS22 after some time?
Do I have to renew in advance?
Thanks for clarification.

Regards,
Paul

[gp792]

Hi Tony,

I have a question or two. First question is, If I am currently paying for monthly Gold membership, with no plans to switch to Yearly, will I keep my access to TRS22? Second, what TRS22 exclusive rolling stock is included? I noticed several new engines on the loading screen and was wondering if you could tell me more about them.

[Driver_Col]

Well done you guys "down there"! Having been on this journey since TRS2004, I have seen so many improvements and spent a huge number of hours both playing and creating. I do have two questions though:

I have never totally accepted TRS19 as my choice of a Route builder and are still therefore working in T-ANE however, I am prepared to jump into TRS22 in the faith that it will be a better version for me to work with. Also, I am not concerned about the financial aspects of the various offers, nor am I concerned about using a Beta version with the inherent issues that will need reporting so ...........

Question 1: If I go "all out" (whatever membership that entails) and start adapting my Routes to the proposed Beta TRS22, is there a chance that the Routes will no longer be available to general train users later next year due to their purchasing status? i.e. A Route building feature I could have with the "top" membership will not be available for "regular" TRS22 purchases?

Question 2: Assuming there are no anticipated issues (ref Question 1) in that area once TRS22 is officially released, and given that I find the "editions" and "memberships" a little confusing (Platinum sounds good, but then Gold is stressed .... and then there is "Plus"?????) .... what option should I take to get the best out of TRS22?

Again ....... well done for sticking with this Train sim journey. It has provided me with so much fun while allowing me to express my creativity in different ways. Given my age, there is a very good chance that TRS22 could be my last version of Trainz so it will get 110% attention from me! All the best. Colin.

[SRKing783]

Well then, as I expected, it was announced while I was sleeping!

No, seriously though, thank you N3V games for all of your hard work these past 20 years. Although I started mine past the 15 year mark, that was simply when I bought my first copy of Trainz… a mobile one.

Anyways, you guys have been doing an incredible job with working on Trainz. Really, thank you so much for putting out TRS22. I’m sure that Trainz will be here for far more than another 20 years.

[Tony_Hilliam]

For me it reads like MPS does not require a subscription - am i right?

Correct. There are some minor differences in access, but in practical terms, we don't expect that will affect things unless everyone sudddenly hits the MPS servers at the same time (unlikely).

What happens if I create a route in S20, cancel the membership later and fall back to classic surveyor - will I still be able to use and editor my route completely?

It is the tools that are new, not the underlying routes, sessions or content, so the route you build has no idea which tools you used to build it.

Will there be more content or features added or is the list final?

There are a few more details to be added to the lists (like for example there are 1,000 new scenery items included), and we yet haven't listed all the new train vehicles included, but roughly speaking, there are 5 x $40 value routes included for your $70.

What about the lots of open stretch goals from T:ANE Kickstarter times like finally a catenary tool?

Those stretch goals were presented if additional funding was added to the Kickstarter campaign. That didn't happen. In the end, the campaign raised a small fraction of the total development cost, but what it did do was give us the impetus (and cash injection) when we most needed it. To get all the features that everyone wants included, we simply need lots of people to jump onboard the latest offer, then we have the confidence and funding required to expand the team and add more features more quickly. Otherwise, it will be more of the same of taking our time, doing as much as we can with our limited resources.

I am on Plus with half a year to go. Is there anything that I should do or change before January 15 to get into the position that I will have my "own" copy of TRS22 after some time?

Existing annual members only need to renew prior to Dec 1, 2022 to qualify (so in theory you could have a break after your current renewal and before Dec 1 if you desired. Existing monthly members need to upgrade to annual before Jan 15.

is there a chance that the Routes will no longer be available to general train users later next year due to their purchasing status

No. As above, the tools used are irrelevant. The relevant part is the trainzbuild version - currently 5.0 for TRS19 SP5 and TRS22. It is likely that at some point (perhaps a year or two down the line) we will need to update the format for TRS22. Otherwise, routes will be compatible.

something like £55 at current exchange rates

We’re asking for less than 20cents a day to enjoy your hobby. If that price is too steep, then find a cheaper hobby.

what option should I take to get the best out of TRS22?

Rather than me try and summarize, I would check the links in my opening post. The store link, the Trainz Plus link, then maybe even the original membership FAQs here: https://www.trainzportal.com/pages/trs19-faqs

And thanks to everyone for your kind wishes and support.

[brucem56]

Congrats on 20 years. Haven't been here that long myself, started with TS12, but have enjoyed the game very much.

Here's to many more years of Trainz.

[HPL]

The Online Store says: "TRS22 includes six brand new route packages. See full details of each package below." But "below" I only see five routes. Is "six" a typo or will there be an extra route later?

[pware]

The Online Store says: "TRS22 includes six brand new route packages. See full details of each package below." But "below" I only see five routes. Is "six" a typo or will there be an extra route later?

Tony's post #20 above states

there are 5 x $40 value routes included for your $70.

So I would assume that the "six" in the advert is a typo.

[deneban]

Congrats on 20th anniversary, just purchased TRS22 and I have been with this adventure since version 1.2, pre-SP3 (which does not even appear in the forum banners). Time flies when your having fun.

[Kilrbe3]

Well, best of luck, but that's TR19 you reselling, so nope.

It's also quite sad you guys can't even go back and complete old goals. That guy made a great point about Cat wire from T:ANE kickstater. That be a great feature, going back and getting what has been most requested for, for years now.. But hard to get that when you just opening photoshop and changing the logo and text from 19 to 22 and saving file. "Those who fail to learn from history, are condemned to repeat it". You guys are also just straight up copying the business model from the other big train dev too now with 'yearly renaming releases'. Sad sad sad state the industry is in right now. From indie devs, to sim devs, to AAA devs.

Back to enjoying T:ANE for me!

[Vern]

You guys are also just straight up copying the business model from the other big train dev too now with 'yearly renaming releases'. Sad sad sad state the industry is in right now. From indie devs, to sim devs, to AAA devs.

Back to enjoying T:ANE for me!

You can join me in the naughty corner for former customers! Sadly it seems if you post an alternative view on this board, as I predicted you just get flamed and all but told to "foxtrot Oscar".
And actually, Dovetail haven't charged for the classic TS update for many years - it is funded by sales of DLC. Likewise this year's Rush Hour core update to TSW2 core was free, entirely optional to buy the Season Pass which gave you the three new routes.

As I said, the price for the non subscription version might just have scraped in if S20 included, but a few changes and new routes I'm unlikely to play is not worth £55 or as the CEO put it 20c a day.

[DARTrider]

Okay, a few concerns, questions and suggestions:

Having never upgraded a Trainz version (I did go from '04 to '19 but there was no content to port), I'm wondering how I am expected to port my 600,000 assets to this new version! I believe Trainz should have a bulk asset port feature, where the new games can detect your content file and immediately move it from the old game to the new game, or have the new game replace the original game files and certain other aspects but keep all screenshots and content. This will stop people's drives from becoming black holes with all the information they possess.

Will there be platinum and regional variants of the game and will the price go down during normal sales?

Will we eventually get a launcher that can launch all of the games from the same window? For example, say I just got done playing TRS22 and I wanted some nostalgia, so I can open '04 straight from the launcher already open.

If possible, could we have a local content database for our stuff inside a folder marked "Trainz Content," and in this folder is all your content ever. If you could get it to work you could open TRS2019 and it would select all assets compatible with TRS19 and let you use them, while graying out other assets, and open TRS2004 and have all compatible assets for it. No need for 3 content files for 3 games taking up hard drive space, just 1 for all 3.

Thank you!

[clam1952]

Well done on 20 years, I've only been here for 13 but on the whole it's been worth it.

Strikes me that 12 months of Plus membership and keep TRS22 for $64.49 (£52.19) which includes Surveyor 2 plus FCT and keep forever, is a better offer than stand alone at $69.99 (£52.56) with buy your own FCT on top of it. You don't have to go for Gold Plus unless you want the DLC as well. Seems a no brainer to me. Do the maths as they say.

[CaseyBerg]

You had me at “forever”.
Thanks to everyone at N3V for bringing a little extra joy to retirement life. Here’s to another 20 years.
casey

[H222]

You can join me in the naughty corner for former customers!

Considering you're allowed to flaunt a competitor's sim in your signature and 90% of your posts are barely, if at all even slightly constructive, it's some "naughty corner" you inhibit

Perhaps Rule #13 (one I'm most familiar with) of the CoC might be worth reading before you continue to contribute so negatively towards Trainz.

Just my 20c