HD Terrain Discussion Thread

[amigacooke]

I don't think you understand this upgrade. This HD stuff is the most significant and the most needed for Trainz. Its a bitch to lay ballast under tracks at curves. Anyways, I just upgrade my gold membership from monthly to yearly. Sorry that you're going to miss out the best feature ever! I love the new Surveyor..... except the water.

I’ll be delighted to use the new features when they’re out of development and in a retail product.

[UP5521]

looking forward to using this, everytime I try to create a cut and where the railroad crosses over water and/roadways using trestles and abuttments, it does not look right, hopefully this will be the solution.

[AV3]

I do apologize if this has already been asked but will HD Terrain along with S20 and other features that have been announced on the trainz plus website be ported into the normal versions of TRS22 or will they be subscription only features?

[nugget2225]

I am really looking forward to the HD terrain, But i am a creature of habit. I just can't seem to get use to the new surveyor, I just kinda prefer the original Surveyor. I will Get used to the changes. I mess around on an empty baseboard with 2.0. Hopefully i will have it down pat by the time it release in the next Trainz 22 Update.

[JCitron]

I do apologize if this has already been asked but will HD Terrain along with S20 and other features that have been announced on the trainz plus website be ported into the normal versions of TRS22 or will they be subscription only features?

Going by past experience, N3V has come out with features in Trainz+ then later on released the same features as part of a newer version of Trainz. The UDS system initially found in TRS19-Plus is now part of TRS19-Platinum for instance. This has been the same with other things including the Content Store which was once only part of TRS22+.

Now with that said, we can only say that past performance doesn't guarantee future results and we can only wait and see what Tony decides.

[wreeder]

Just my opinion, I think the days of service packs adding new features to existing retail products are over across the entire software industry. I think you can expect bug fixes for TRS22 but I would be surprised if any new features make it into the game. That is kind of the point of having a subscription model to software development. Users continuously pay to have access to the latest greatest features. If you don't want to play that game you find yourself playing the role of a Dickens' waif holding your empty bowl asking "Please, sir, I want some more."

[jeff1959]

The part of this issue that I don't understand is this - If you are enjoying the software version you are using, and would rather not pay (or can't afford to pay); then keep using the version you have. I know there are people still using TANE, as well as older versions.

While I do have the Trainz+ version, I use some REALLY old versions of other things. I am still playing Civilization 3 (Current version 6); EA's NHL 09, Madden 08. While there are newer and "better" versions, I am happy with these and choose not to upgrade. Just the opinion of a stingy old fart with little money for entertainment.

[martinvk]

.. Just the opinion of a stingy old fart ...

another one here. The older versions of Trainz wont suddenly stop working. If you're happy with them as they are, why change just for the sake of changing? Now if your hardware is failing, you might not have a choice but that is another issue. Also, if your current hardware is just OK, you might want to consider if it will be as good with the newer versions being released.

[capdiamont]

I do apologize if this has already been asked but will HD Terrain along with S20 and other features that have been announced on the trainz plus website be ported into the normal versions of TRS22 or will they be subscription only features?

looking through this thread, HD terrain will be compatible with retail versions of Trainz 22. Meaning routes created with HD terrain will be playable with retail versions of Trainz 22. HD terrain seems to be S2.0 and both will require lots of testing before going to retail versions. New features do tend to get into retail versions after a time.

[AntonyVW]

I seem to recall that when the 5m grid became available, and had been in use for a while, there were some (me included), who asked for better, as in something like a 1m or 2m grid. I seem to remember being told not possible (at that time anyway).
Well I guess technology continues to evolve. It was this that made me think it was time to blow the dust off. A lot seems to have progressed (survey 2 for example), so Im having to go through a new lerning curve. But very much looking forward to the new HD terrain.

[capdiamont]

I seem to recall that when the 5m grid became available, and had been in use for a while, there were some (me included), who asked for better, as in something like a 1m or 2m grid. I seem to remember being told not possible (at that time anyway).
Well I guess technology continues to evolve. It was this that made me think it was time to blow the dust off. A lot seems to have progressed (survey 2 for example), so Im having to go through a new lerning curve. But very much looking forward to the new HD terrain.

I think it had to wait for better CPU and GPU performance plus adding Surveyor 2.0 and file compression.

[clam1952]

I don't think in a million years that if you import a route with the new grid into TRS22 it will retain the new grid but default to 5 or 10, it would need a major update to TR22 as well as Trainz Plus, in the future yes but probably not in the next year.

[amigacooke]

I don't think in a million years that …

Quite a pessimistic time frame.

[capdiamont]

I don't think in a million years that if you import a route with the new grid into TRS22 it will retain the new grid but default to 5 or 10, it would need a major update to TR22 as well as Trainz Plus, in the future yes but probably not in the next year.

Per Tony:

Will routes/sessions made with this work for non Trainz-plus users or even TRS19SP5 users?
>>
It will be compatible for TRS22 users. TRS19 are already a couple of format generations behind.

Sounds like HD Terrain is a large update to code, however Trainz 22 and Trainz+ have the same code base, so features can be moved to retail versions. That is part of the point of Plus is to test features before they make it in to retail versions. Tony has already said Plus alpha of HD Terrain testing is looking at this December if all goes well.

[Tony_Hilliam]

TRS22 owners will benefit from the new HD terrain. They won't be able to edit those routes (but can convert to the old grid with some loss of detail and edit in Classic).

In the current generation of builds, TRS22 will get an update at the time we release the official Trainz Plus update. This ensures compatibility for routes and session (both MPS and DLS).

The initial Alpha release will hopefully be ready this week or next and will be a stand-alone install (since all editing will be throw away work in the Alpha build).

We've also just released info about the Alpha test here: https://docs.trainzsimulator.com/docs/trainz-plus
and the next new feature that will be part of the Alpha here: https://info.trainzsimulator.com/trainz-plus