Railworks 2 - Any good?

D

Davie_UCF

Here since 2001, Trainz!!
Howdy ho.

I hear Railworks 2 has been released (which is apparently a big update to 1 and free to previous purchasers.. also its half price on Steam right now, so a chance to get it cheaper)

Is Railworks worth getting? especially at 15.99, the graphics look nice, it just seems to feel a bit more real in its textures and appearence, but other than that does it have any use?

Thoughts, opinions and so on!

David
 
It's RW1 with a new front end and menu system, not much in the way of core or any content (routes, locos) update. The new driver's HUD has been compared to a Fisher Price Toy. Several riotous threads at UKTS worth reading though not necessarily a balanced perspective (footie fans). There's been a few teething troubles as well with the release, people losing access to payware DLC and RSC didn't exactly score in the diplomacy stakes by the suggestion this might be because the content wasn't legitimately obtained.

Best thing going for it is that the update is free, but in truth more like RW1.25 than 2.0.
 
I tried out RailWorks 2 that I downloaded for free because I already have RailWorks 1. I thought that the new HUD was better than the old HUD but the signals don't show correct aspects. They show green, yellow, and red aspects at the same time so I don't know if the next signal will be yellow or red. I like the display of speed limits and stations. I was able to slow down trains before lowered speed limits. I was able to stop trains at stations.
 
I deleted Railworks back in June, and since they're not intending to fix the AI traffic and signals I didn't bother to reinstall to see what's new in RW2. Skimming the posts at http://forums.uktrainsim.com/viewforum.php?f=314 and http://forums.trainsim.com/vbts/forumdisplay.php?98-RW-General about all the stuff that got broke by the update, I gotta wonder what still DOES work other than the new Mario Cart driver console.

As for what Railworks does better than Trainz, you can pose highly detailed models in realistic looking scenery and take awesome screenshots. :hehe:
 
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Railworks, I heard, has tons of bugs. Stick with good ol' trainz. I started 2-3 years ago with Trainz Classics.
 
That was a joke, Mike, altho many a truth is said in jest. It's a matter of taste, I think Railworks LOOKS more realistic than TS2010, but that's ALL it has going for it. Original poster was attracted by screenshots, for my money the ONLY thing Railworks is good for is screenshots, it's not a train simulator. I bought railsim in October of '07 when it first came out, had high hopes for it, created a really PRETTY route, then discovered they designed AI traffic to be nothing more than animated background scenery;

http://forums.trainsim.com/vbts/showthread.php?294524-Signal-Demo-Route&p=1614096#post1614096

which is hopelessly limited in scope and ridiculously complicated to set up even one simple meet, and even that falls apart if you sneeze on it. For the casual gamer who enjoys cruising around in free roam admiring the scenery it's actually a pretty good game, but for those looking for actual railroad operations it's hopeless. Like the difference between a Sony PlayStation and an actual computer, you can play video games on both, but a PlayStation is not a computer. Like a computer missing a keyboard connection, Railworks is missing the most fundamental thing that makes a train simulator an actual simulation.
 
And as I discovered earlier today on opening up the editor, the font on the pullout menus and data entry boxes has been reduced to something like a 4 size, almost unreadable - at least on a 15" laptop monitor. Apparently this has been reported but whether RSC regard it as a fault (they did banjax the font once before but put it back). What this highlights is the biggest single problem with RW using the Steam wrapper, is that it's virtually impossible to roll back to an earlier version of the software that might not have the particular problem.

Suffice to say I'm done with RW development at least until that is sorted out - a freeware route is not worth burning out your eyeballs for.
 
I find Railworks 2 a much better version, then Railworks. They finally enabled offset from rails, and the game jsut got less buggy and more enjoyable. I finally built my first route in it too. It no longer makes your head explode. So I could reccommend the upgrade.
 
Out of curiosity I did buy a copy of Railworks to see what it was alike wquite a while back. Not being techy orientated I found the idea of building anything a bit more challenging than the much easier Trainz. I threw the Railworks out.
 
Who cares...?

:cool: I tried that bull about supporting just any so-called "great new sim" stuff with msts & RS.

If your "over there," you can't be here.

Save your bucks, TS2010 came with over 19,000 default assets, that alone are being updated almost daily.

Then there is the Auran Download Station.

Spend your money where it counts...new versions, payware locomotives, routes, rolling stock for Auran Trainz Simulator...

Or maybe a RailDriver desktop controller.

Or a second monitor.

Or a new graphics card...the're cheap now.

Or more memory.

Or Photoshop.

Or 3ds Max 2011.

Get with The Game!

Learn to code in C++(scripting).

Learn software to make sounds.

Buy something in 3d compatible to gmax, texture it & sell it.

There is something here for everyone....

Happy Trainzing!
 
Trainz definately wins... but theres one thing about Railworks that really bugs me.. I should say one thing about trainz that bugs me.

How come Railworks feels more real?
Something about the locos, they feel big, whereas in Trainz it still feels like a model railway, they don't feel big like real locomotives..

If Auran could sort that out it would do wonders.... but I can't put my finger on what causes it... no matter how good the scenery or loco is it still doesn't feel big..
 
Davie_UCF said:
Trainz definately wins... but theres one thing about Railworks that really bugs me.. I should say one thing about trainz that bugs me.

How come Railworks feels more real?
Something about the locos, they feel big, whereas in Trainz it still feels like a model railway, they don't feel big like real locomotives..

If Auran could sort that out it would do wonders.... but I can't put my finger on what causes it... no matter how good the scenery or loco is it still doesn't feel big..
Click to expand...
I have to agree actually. RW2 just seems that the locomotives are much bigger. While in trainz I can't help but feel they are fake. I don't have a clue why but it is just the way it is.
 
Is it any good?

Well, interestingly, I've just installed Railworks 2.

The graphics are absolutely stunning. Gorgeous even. And it's so very smooth. And the locomotives and rolling stock are outstanding detailed. And ... . And ... . It's easy to see why so many have persisted with it despite the problems.

It's a pity that operationally it is so poor. And so b-o-o-r-i-n-g. And ... .

If you accept that it is really a platform for very talented loco and freight car modellers to make money from payware you will be fine.

The great thing about Trainz is that it's FUN.

Phil
 
It's all about the machine...

:cool: If you had a way to monitor the poly count in Trainz vs RW, you would see that Trainz, having more assets "per-mile," the frame rates as well as detail may drop...

On the other hand, it could be your graphics card, or how it is configured.

My JointedRail & RRMods locomotives look fantastic whether I'm up on the Proto Clinchfield or on a plane flat board with no scenery.
 
The great thing about Trainz is that it's FUN.
Click to expand...

Amen. And at the end of the day, that's what we're here for. It is not fun trying to squint at squiggled up font or having to reselect loads of trees before they paste evenly on the terrain (and hoping you don't disturb your track in the process). It's not fun trying to work out just why the heck some egghead from Kuju/RSC decided to do something in the most user unfriendly way possible. It's not fun trying to get your views past the payware clique-elite who feel they now run the RW boards at UKTS.

Loaded up Trainz yesterday afternoon and it is like strapping on an old familiar pair of friendly boots, that won't leak or blister your feet...
 
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