What is New with Trainz 2009 Like Loco's and Rolling stock wise

Hey,

I was wondering what was the content like trainz 2009 it looked to be alot of older maps and rolling stock. Is there any new content.

Is there new Canadian Maps?
Is there new Canadian Rolling stock?

Is there a Via rail streamline coaches in that game like the coaches in 2006 for Canadian Pacific as default.

I am curious since I didn't don't load the beta.

Jen

World Builder Edition is focused on providing "the capabilities" to create awesome new content that looks and performs better than the "older" content. We have included assets from different asset types such as the SD40-2 Union Pacific loco and Walangarra Station. We have also included all the content from previous versions so that your current routes should work with a minimum of fuss.

The old content will, in most cases perform better than in previous versions. We have also added features such as an extended draw distance which improves the visual quality even without new content.

Engineers Edition (due out early next year) will have much more new content and could include CN rolling stock depending on who submits what and which content we provide.

You should also read www.ts2009.com/wb.php and www.ts2009.com/en.php for more information on what's in World Builder Edition and Engineers Edition.

Cheers

Tony

Tony.

What about payware content ??? All locos we bought will be compatible with TS2009 ??? I'm thinking about all beautiful VMD http://www.virtual-motive-division.com/ locos and all Sirgibby scenery stuff ???

Another question. I'm not decided to pre-order the download version or boxed version. Does the boxed version will offer goodies like the beautiful Movie found on TRS2006 second DVD ???

Andre.

Tony_Hilliam said:

World Builder Edition is focused on providing "the capabilities" to create awesome new content that looks and performs better than the "older" content. We have included assets from different asset types such as the SD40-2 Union Pacific loco and Walangarra Station. We have also included all the content from previous versions so that your current routes should work with a minimum of fuss.

The old content will, in most cases perform better than in previous versions. We have also added features such as an extended draw distance which improves the visual quality even without new content.

Engineers Edition (due out early next year) will have much more new content and could include CN rolling stock depending on who submits what and which content we provide.

You should also read www.ts2009.com/wb.php and www.ts2009.com/en.php for more information on what's in World Builder Edition and Engineers Edition.

Cheers

Tony

Click to expand...

Hey,


Thanks for responding, I was wondering what program can we use to open/convert the default trainz items like this Coaches in Trainz 2006 (Canadian Pacific Streamline) I wouldn't mind paint them in several different schemes and submit them for trainz.

If you know or could get something converted for us it would be appreciated!

Thanks for all your hard work with dealing with us.
Jenn

jennifer said:

Hey,


Thanks for responding, I was wondering what program can we use to open/convert the default trainz items like this Coaches in Trainz 2006 (Canadian Pacific Streamline) I wouldn't mind paint them in several different schemes and submit them for trainz.

If you know or could get something converted for us it would be appreciated!

Thanks for all your hard work with dealing with us.
Jenn

Click to expand...

One thing to keep in mind here is that in order to upload reskins to the DLS, you should get permission from the original author.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by "converting", but isn't it possible to re-paint the coaches using a standard paint program such as Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro? I don't have TRS installed at the moment, so I can't check for myself. I don't recall these items being "locked" in any way though, but I could be wrong.

If you're talking about updating them to 2009 standards, that would be up to the original author, as it would require changes to the mesh and texture files.

Patrick

The 2009 Beta has a "compatibility" option, and so far I've found that many items from TRS 2004 will load, display and run ok

Remember that this is still a beta, so there are known problems with reporting content as "faulty". There's also the problem that started when TRS 2006 error checking was introduced - it was much stricter than before, so it would flag errors in assets that worked ok, but didn't follow the guidelines.

I expect that 2009 will have similar error checking to 2006 (though Auran are planning to clean-up a number of assets).

As Partick writes, updating an asset to 2009 standard (i.e. using all the features of 2009) has to be done by the author - or by permission of the author because you'll have to go back to the original model and update it.

My view is that the TRS 2009 is a) capable of more detailing of scenery and rollingstock and b) able to run much of the older content (routes & rollingstock) with a greater performance than TRS 2006 or TC3 on the same hardware.

That's based on my experience and impressions of the Beta - on my hardware. I'm sure there are different opinions...

HTH,

Colin

Hi Colin --

I agree with your observation.

I imported all the .cdp files needed by my TRS2004 Port Ogden & Northern into TRS2009 and it all worked perfectly with much better frame rates and far less stuttering when caching.

I'm impressed. It certainly is an improvement, even with this beta version. I'm assuming that the final version will be even better.

The only thing I don't like is the absolutely massive quantity of assets that I will never use.

Phil

PatrickTaylor89 said:

One thing to keep in mind here is that in order to upload reskins to the DLS, you should get permission from the original author.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by "converting", but isn't it possible to re-paint the coaches using a standard paint program such as Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro? I don't have TRS installed at the moment, so I can't check for myself. I don't recall these items being "locked" in any way though, but I could be wrong.

If you're talking about updating them to 2009 standards, that would be up to the original author, as it would require changes to the mesh and texture files.

Patrick

Click to expand...

Well When I tried reskinning them the files was in a format that paint shop pro could open same with photoshop. I always ask the author before hand. I have since emailed the author of them and never go a response and the site that he did have with the coaches had them already in Via rail scheme and I never got a response.

Hi.

What would be nice in future version of Trainz is a DVD containing ALL assets only. This way, you load your route, it copy your needed assets on the HD and let those you don't need on the DVD. I'm sure its something possible. I'm also annoyed by the quantity of unused assets copied to the HD.

Andre.

I've always found this line of inquiry, interesting. With the TC series, people complained about limitied assets built-in, etc, so Auran come out with a version (TRS2009) which has tons of built-in assets available to be used (if route-builders, etc have a will to use them), so people make the argument that there's too many assets...seems to be a no-win situation

Muliebuck:

What most of us really want is control of our content. We like to have lots of assets, but also to be able to delete, not just disable, large groups of things that we know we will never use. For example, many of us are only interested in building routes for our own geographic region, so things like killometer per hour speed signs are of no interest to many of us in the U.S. If the *.ja files were organized in smaller groups of similar types of objects, we could simply delete the *.ja files that contain those groups of objects that we are not interested in. This especially applies to Locomotives, rolling stock, routes and sessions, catenaries, etc. With Trainz it is currently an all or nothing bargain. It's like going to the Hobby Shop to buy a few models, and being told that you have to buy everything in the whole store! I have been lobbying (unsuccessfuly), for a long time for finer granularity in the content of the *.ja files for this very reason.

Or alternatively just have the game engine on the DVD and all other assets available on the Download Station.

Tony_Hilliam said:

World Builder Edition is focused on providing "the capabilities" to create awesome new content that looks and performs better than the "older" content. We have included assets from different asset types such as the SD40-2 Union Pacific loco and Walangarra Station. We have also included all the content from previous versions so that your current routes should work with a minimum of fuss.

The old content will, in most cases perform better than in previous versions. We have also added features such as an extended draw distance which improves the visual quality even without new content.

Engineers Edition (due out early next year) will have much more new content and could include CN rolling stock depending on who submits what and which content we provide.

You should also read www.ts2009.com/wb.php and www.ts2009.com/en.php for more information on what's in World Builder Edition and Engineers Edition.

Cheers

Tony

Click to expand...

I;m on a hard place right now. Reading their description it will be hard to make a decision.

For one WB will have the very handy surveyor (which I don't use much, but I like to play on it) and EE will have more content. Is there a way to gain that extra content for those of us that will chose to have the surveyor module even when we actually don't build routes for the DLS but for personal use?

I have always thought that the more content the better experience

andrev said:

Hi.

What would be nice in future version of Trainz is a DVD containing ALL assets only. This way, you load your route, it copy your needed assets on the HD and let those you don't need on the DVD. I'm sure its something possible. I'm also annoyed by the quantity of unused assets copied to the HD.

Andre.

Click to expand...

The posibility to create custom content .ja for each person's taste will be a daunting task even if that meant that the end user will have to build it during the installation process by selecting each asset he wants or predefined content packs that will be added on the fly to a .ja file.\

But I do understand your concern

I also find this a fascinating discussion.

We looked at smaller subsets of content, regional specific sets etc; we looked at download size and ease of importing old routes; we looked at which assets were most commonly used. It is surprising how often a German asset is used in USA maps for example. Ultimately we made the decision to err on the side of "more is better" for the average user.

Disabling content is fairly straight forward and removes the items from appearing in-game. (Interestingly, using the filter function does this also by only showing what you want to see).

Can I ask why having 1 or 2GB of unwanted content on your hard drive is such an imposition? It has no effect on loading times or performance. Is there something else I am missing?

It's like going to the Hobby Shop to buy a few models, and being told that you have to buy everything in the whole store!

Click to expand...

Actually, I think it's more like going into a hobby shop and looking around at the things you want to look at and not looking at the things you don't want to look at. There is no $ cost for looking.

Taking the shop analogy one step further, you're also suggesting put all the content from the store into small rooms with doors labeled Germany, USA, UK etc. To open the door, the customers then need to knock and wait for some time (~downloading) then look around to see if they wanted any of this stuff or not.

It's true that by putting everything into one big room, everyone has to wait longer at the main shop door but they get to see everything once inside. The advantage is that the route the are making at home may need one item from every room and in that case it's a real pain.

There is no right or wrong answer as there are many types of Trainz users. Classics erred way on the wrong side of things and hopefully 2009 will suit the majority of users.

Tony

Tony_Hilliam said:

Can I ask why having 1 or 2GB of unwanted content on your hard drive is such an imposition? It has no effect on loading times or performance. Is there something else I am missing?

Tony

Click to expand...

Maybe not now ( ??? ) , however in previous releases there was a definite advantage in removing some of the .ja files , this was reflected in both load times and fps ingame.

For many , the ability to create own .ja would a dream come true .
.

Hi Tony --

"There is no right or wrong answer ... "

I can but agree and, of course, you will be damned if you do and damned if you don't.

With MSTS I used to curse the duplication of dependencies that cluttered my HDD, with every route having its own individual folder containing all the assets used by that route.

BUT at least when downloading the route I knew that I'd have ALL the dependencies, and if I wanted to delete a route it was just a matter of deleting a folder. And the loading time was quicker because of the limited number of dependencies that needed to be loaded to make it work.

What I'd actually like to see is a section on the Download Station where I can place a zip file containing all the dependencies needed by my route and where I can download other complete routes. A "one-stop shop" as it were. The same for locomotives, rolling stock, ... 'cause I'm getting just a bit too tired of searching the far corners of the Universe for that one elusive asset to make something work.

Phil

Missing Assets

'cause I'm getting just a bit too tired of searching the far corners of the Universe for that one elusive asset to make something work.

Sorry to butt in Tony and Phil but I've also got to the stage where I'm just inclined to delete anything that has missing assets.

Some sort of system where all assets for a route are held together would be great or, failing that, some sort of incentive to convince content creators that the DLS is the best place to put their creations.

Cheers

Paul

Tony_Hilliam said:

It is surprising how often a German asset is used in USA maps for example.

Tony

Click to expand...

The point I think you are missing here is that many of us users that you classify as "World Builders", that you have an entire Trainz release targeted at, are not at all interested in any routes other than the ones we ourselves build. Therefore, if the built-in routes were in a separate *.ja file, not only could we delete the routes and sessions, the dependency that you refer to above no longer exists, which then allows deletion of any German_whatever.ja files that we don't think we want.

Obviously, those users that are interested in these routes would not care, (or may not even be aware), that there are a larger number of smaller sized *.ja files than in previous releases, so no harm done.

Tony_Hilliam said:

Disabling content is fairly straight forward and removes the items from appearing in-game. (Interestingly, using the filter function does this also by only showing what you want to see).

Tony

Click to expand...

True, but there is still a lot of time and work involved in finding and disabling all of the items in CMP that you are never going to use, and once disabled, there is no way to preserve this info so that you do not have to repeat the process each time you upgrade to the next version of Trainz.

Tony_Hilliam said:

Can I ask why having 1 or 2GB of unwanted content on your hard drive is such an imposition? It has no effect on loading times or performance. Is there something else I am missing?

Tony

Click to expand...

This causes an increase in the number of DVDs, or worse yet CDs, required every time you create a "Norton Ghost" backup image of your computer, which most of us, (at least the wise ones), do each time Microsoft automatically updates our Operating Systems via Windows Update.

I kinda jumped ahead so I hope this is really on topic...

But I too build for my own enjoyment. I don't run other folks routes without fully moding them to my liking. I also pick out a very narrow area/time frame to work in(Arkansas/Oklahoma/Missouri, 1968-81ish) in the old Missouri Pacific stomping grounds. Lots of opportunity for Frisco/MP, Rock Is./MP and MP/SP interaction as well as others in this area. Its just my thing ya know

So I would like the ability to simply eliminate all things that don't 'fit' my vision. I really don't even want it on my HDD...just takes up space that I need for other things...like I said, MY vison of Trainz is WAY more narrow than some/most but I need to limit the number of resources that are in the game.

Its just me tho...