Two Questions

Just watched a couple of UTubes on Surveyor 2.0 & Trainz2022. Obviously some very interesting and new features. After 20 years of the existing Surveyor, not sure I am up to the learning curve nowadays! However, a worthwhile development, though I am delighted that we are given a choice in the programme, I would probably switch between the 2.


Question 1


I noticed that when forming junctions, no blades or frogs were created in the video streams. Is this because it is Beta and they are not implemented yet or because the modelers used non pro track?


Question 2


If I buy into the Plus and thus have access to the new surveyor and TS2022 Beta, can I elect to have my existing copy of Trainz 2019 stay as it is, ie, non Plus mode, and have TS 2022 Beta as a separate installation on the same computer but obviously with Surveyor 2.0?


It's not clear to me from the advertising blurb what you are actually getting.


Thanks

Yorkshire said:

Question 1: I noticed that when forming junctions, no blades or frogs were created in the video streams. Is this because it is Beta and they are not implemented yet or because the modelers used non pro track?

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I just tested that with Pro Track and you are correct. No moveable blades, frogs and check rails are added. Not all features are currently present in the beta - for example keyboard shortcuts. So I would suspect that the full features of procedural tracks will be implemented in a forthcoming beta release.

Yorkshire said:

Question 2: If I buy into the Plus and thus have access to the new surveyor and TS2022 Beta, can I elect to have my existing copy of Trainz 2019 stay as it is, ie, non Plus mode, and have TS 2022 Beta as a separate installation on the same computer but obviously with Surveyor 2.0?

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I can only relate my experience in getting the Trainz Plus subscription from my TRS19 Platinum Edition (non-subscription) purchase. Trainz Plus and TRS19 are identical as far as the program code goes, they only differ in the permissions and features that you have access to. So when I paid the first subscription those permissions were activated in my copy of TRS19 PE, there was no software download. This turned my TRS19 PE into Trainz Plus and the first thing I noticed was the change in the graphic on the Launcher Screen. This change occurred on both of my copies of TRS19PE on different computers, one copy is on the beta stream. So my original TRS19 PE (both copies) has been turned into Trainz Plus.

The computer that has Trainz Plus on the beta stream continues to receive the beta updates, which are now Trainz Plus betas which include Surveyor 2.0.

If I opt out of the subscription then those permissions will be removed and my Trainz Plus (both copies) will revert to TRS19PE, with no download of software involved. I expect that the computer on the beta stream will revert to the latest TRS19 beta.

My theories.

From my experience frogs and blades are created in S2.0 but maybe some third party track is not updated as such.
It works very well and shows the frogs and blades on both track crossing sides if the alignment /height of the tracks is within the tolerance set to make the switch working and looking properly.

eg if on track is little to heigh it show no blades and frogs or partially so you can finetune the height up or down and when reaching the correct point it will immediately show the correct details.
Very nice and easy to work with!

Many thanks for your helpful replies. I think I will probably wait until TS2022 becomes a separate install sometime next year. There were two aspects of Trainz Plus that I didn't get on with when I tried it. In a session, if I went into surveyor mode then returned to driver mode, certain features like messaging were lost for the rest of the session. That didn't happen when I used edit trains in the standard mode. Also if I went into Surveyor mode I had to save it when returning to Driver but then the session was overwritten, so basically I lost it! Obviously it had some valuable features for some people but just didn't work for me, thus I gave up my trial subscription. I want to keep TS2019 as it is now.

John

Things are changing so quickly I hesitate to try to answer questions any more...

I'm on Gold subscription which means I have Plus. I had a Plus beta install and when TS22 beta came out it came from this Plus beta install. However, it installed TS22 as a separate install so, by default, the two remained separate.

I would try this if you decide to go "Plus." Upgrade your account (make your payment for Plus) and then wait a bit and check your "MyTrainz" web account for a TS22 download in the "Digital Downloads" section. Mine now shows both a TRS19 and TS22 download. When you do the installs keep them separate. I create the folders and then install the app into that folder. For example, TS22 will be installed into a "TS22" folder. Do the install and then set the update stream you prefer. If you know you want the full beta (every beta release) then consider naming your app folder "TS22 beta" and then later, if you want a stable install also name it simply "TS22."

Likewise, creat a userdata folder for your install and give a meaningful name "TS22 beta user folder" or "TS22 beta data" - Be sure to point the newly installed app to this folder. When you do it will ask you graphic settings and account info again. Set those, quit the app, then launch again and double check that settings, account info, and path to data folder are correct.

Yorkshire said:

There were two aspects of Trainz Plus that I didn't get on with when I tried it. In a session, if I went into surveyor mode then returned to driver mode, certain features like messaging were lost for the rest of the session. That didn't happen when I used edit trains in the standard mode. Also if I went into Surveyor mode I had to save it when returning to Driver but then the session was overwritten, so basically I lost it!

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There are some "traps" that users can fall into when using the UDS feature of Trainz Plus. Those traps can be avoided if you take some basic precautions when you save your edits in Surveyor before you jump back into Driver. See the Trainz Wiki page at https://online.ts2009.com/mediaWiki/index.php/How_to_Use_the_UDS_Interface and in particular the sections on Saving and Resetting the Session Rules.

Thank you Tony for coming in on this (something I didn't expect) - and for putting me right about use of Plus - I obviously didn't explore it enough - the problems of becoming 'senior'! I might dip my toe in again after all! Thanks again for all the contributions by everyone, much appreciated.