WHAT!!!???

ozzie34231

New member
1. The mildly interesting part.
I recently recovered some HO scale trains that I built over 50 years ago. This has rekindled my interest in trains and in searching I came across Trainz.
The price is very reasonable; I bought it.
2. The ugly, at least so far.
First the download was absolutely ridiculous; almost 3 hours! This is the 21st century. I'm accustomed to downloading this size file in a couple minutes.
Secondly, the program runs the same way, ponderously slow. When I click on something there is no indication that it recognized the click and any reaction comes about like honey in sub-zero weather.
This is not a horrible machine, 2.8 processor, 1 gig RAM, more hard disk space than I can quickly count, thousands of Gigs.
I read the manual once quickly, and the capabilities sound awesome, but who can wait. I'm 71 in a few days, I don't think I have time.
What!!!???
Ozzie
 
Ozzie,

Welcome to the forum , which version of Trainz did you download ?
And 1 Gig of Ram is a probable cause for the slow actions .

--- ,dave
 
Oooo...HO...my favorite...:D Your slow download may be due to the fact you don't have a First Class Ticket.....or if you do, it hasn't kicked in yet....:cool:
 
Hi Dave,
I downloaded yesterday, so I assume the latest, it says 2009 world build, etc.
What sort of RAM do I need?
I run some of the most sophisticated programs around, Inventor, Revit, Mastercam, Photoshop, all on this machine at seemingly instantaneous speed!
Ozzie
 
Hello Sour,
I don't know what that means?
And while I have some attention;
One of the reasons I bought the program was that I read somewhere that a fellow had designed his HO railroad with Trainz. As I said I rapidly read the 2006 manual and the 2009 but don't remember anything referring to scaling or creating a MODEL railroad. Are there some specific steps or do I wing it?
Ozzie
 
The speed of downloading a game has nothing to do with having a First Class Ticket. It would seem that this poor guy has bought TRS2009? I doubt many new to Trainz could run this very well or understand "Native and Compatible modes". Also Auran has understated both minimum and recommended PC specs. If you have TRS2009 I would ask for my money back and buy either TRS2006 or TRS2004. Both of these will run very well on your PC, TRS2009 wont run at full capability or run newer content when available.
Cheers
 
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Hi Dave,
...What sort of RAM do I need?

Ozzie
More than 1 gig for sure....even 2gigs doesn't seem to be enough anymore....:cool:
I thought you were talking about DLS downloading.....if you want to run Trainz you're just going to have to upgrade your hardware. TRS2004 would run decent with your set up....2006 would work but not as well as with 2gig Ram...
 
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Another thing that bothers me is that Trainz seems to want to take over the computer! I don't see a way to minimize the program to check my email or look at Ebay. Some programs acted that way back in the eighties, but nothing I've seen recently!
Ozzie
 
Be aware that with your processor and RAM, even in windowed mode, if you try to do other tasks while Trainz is running, your computer will probably fold it's arms, get pouty faced and say...no!....:cool:
 
I just tried windowed mode, still can't see how to minimize.

From the splash screen to the next is about 20 seconds.
From the stupid invitation to the internet site options to the first Survey screen is 35 seconds.
This thing is total crap. It has to be for $29. I should have realized that. What, $29 for the program hundreds for computer upgrade?
The stuff I'm used to costs thousands, that's my problem. I could draw an entire HO layout in Inventor, in 3D, before this thing gets off its duff.
A $150 program runs my CNC machines with a 1.6 proc. and 1/2 GIG Ram. It can simultaneously control 6 servos, poll the spindle thousands of times a second and correct servo movement a like number of times. Auran needs a programmer or two, BADLY, IMHO.
I fully understand that this is a game/hobby tool and I respectfully thank you all for your help. I mean no disrespect to this group.
Jerry Ozzie Pryor
Old Curmudgeon
 
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Just to make you aware, when you run in windowed mode you also need to reduce the screen size or it will revert to full screen.

Sorry, meant to mention that in my previous post.

Nathan
 
Amazing how everyone thinks because there machine can run other programs that it automatically means it should be good enough for Trainz.

Remember back in the day when Flight Simulator was the acid test of computers that would separate the IBM and real compatibles from all the rest? Well I submit that Trainz is the new test standard. If it can run Trainz then it's a real machine. :wave:

Well this game has to render a complete world that offers total freedom of movement in any direction and do it in realtime. That's going to take some serious computing power no matter how slice it. So turn the performance sliders down low and slowly increase them to the point where things start to go wonky. That's all your machine can do. Either upgrade or get a new machine
 
If you bought the program to use for designing HO layouts, then it probably won't be worth upgrading....I've got a number of good HO layout designing software that work fine with no hassles. Trainz just allows me to create train worlds I could never do in model railroading...:cool:
 
Another thing that bothers me is that Trainz seems to want to take over the computer! I don't see a way to minimize the program to check my email or look at Ebay. Some programs acted that way back in the eighties, but nothing I've seen recently!
Ozzie

You cannot minimize Trainz , you must exit (quit) , the program .
And you need more than 1 Gig of ram , sorry !

--- ,DLR
 
Hi Ozzie,

Trainz has never been intended to design a real model railroad. Having keyed that, it can be useful in that endevor.
I can minimize Trainz but I can't remember how just off hand. It took no special magic. Unfortunately my game (Trainz) computer died shortly after I became unemployed so a replacement will have to wait. The point is I can't run Trainz to remember how.:(
As pointed out, Trainz has to work much harder than a mere numerical control program.
As for the cost of computer upgrades, I sympathize. I remember how disapointed I was when I ran Duke Nukem 3D on a 33MHz 486. I really HATED to have to upgrade to a 90MHz Pentuim system.;)
By the way, if you don't have Vista, 1G of RAM should do OK. I was running .5G with XP and the inprovement was minor when I went to 1G. Mostly there was less hesitation. Yes, 3G would be better, particularly with Vista.
Yes, Trainz will suck up every cpu cycle you've got but then, If you are running Trainz, why would you want to run anything else? By the way, shuting down as many OS "processes" as posible so they don't waste cpu cycles is a good idea, learned from the flight sim crowd.
Yeah, I know what you mean about no feed back when you click on somethings. A pain in the posterior. Still the program runs fast enough for me as long as I stay away from CMP2. :hehe:

Don
 
You CAN minimize Trainz by doing an "Alt-Tab", but it may not appreciate it if done constantly. A First Class Ticket has no bearing on downloading the game. One Gb of Ram is not much, Trainz likes two and upward. Trainz is quite demanding of the RAM, CPU and GPU, and just when you think you've beaten it senseless with hardware, it finds another way to break your heart. Trainz would not be my first choice of planning a model railroad, but you CAN duplicate some very nice model railroads in Trainz.
 
Where did I read that before....? :cool:

Yeah, you see, I've grown accustomed to seeing the same answer I've provided in many threads repeated endlessly afterwords, so I asked myself "why". I have deduced that I must be on many members "ignore list", as many members are on mine, (but not you, evidently), and so they can't see my post. Working on this theory, I've realized that OTHER members may be on other ignore lists, so that you never really know if the OP is able to see what you've posted or not.

I have thusly dedicated myself to answering every question posed here, whether it has already been answered or not.

I'm sure that makes perfect sense to you now...:cool:
 
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