Am I a Traitor

Hi Everybody.
I have come to the forum to admit that today I bought........ RAILWORKS!. In mitigation of my crime I must state that I made the purchase for only one reason, that being the Exeter to Bristol addon route that is to be released next week.

The route is in fact my local line that I travel along very often and which I have always felt that I would like to drive especially with a 125 or 130 on approach to Bristol Temple Mead. Therefore when I saw that the the route was finally coming up for release my resistance crumbled and with heavy heart and trembling hands I typed in my details and downloaded our competitors software with tears streaming from my eyes.

After reading many postings on this forum regarding Railworks (mostly bad) I will confess further that I spent this afternoon trying to master the intricacies of the simulator and have drawn some early conclusions.

My first one would be that I cannot get the screen resolution above 1280 X 1024 without getting the message that the "settings are not usable". However my video card screen settings are always operated at 1600 X 1204 and my Trainz settings are the same resolution (first black Mark).

With the settings at the above, the graphics do not seem as clear or sharp as Trainz although the difference would not be enough to put me entirely off Railworks. The graphics also look rather grayish as compared to Trainz and I am reluctant to change the settings on my monitor as they have been at what they are since I purchased the monitor 18 months ago. (Second black Mark)

One thing I have liked in my early observations is the map of the line I was running (London to Oxford) with all the signal settings, distances and station approach rolling across the bottom of the monitor as you were driving. I know this can be included in Trainz by a rule but it did seem a far more professional presentation than we have.

However, on first observations I think I will still be using Auran and Trainz as very much my first and favorite simulator. As someone said the other day "Trainz Is Fun" and I think that sums it up.

Bill

Hi Bill,

No, no one should brand you as a traitor.

You purchased RW with you own money, for a reason you indicated.

You are mature enough to make your own decision about what you buy or use.

There are those in the Trainz Intelligentsia who will call what you did foolish, but, it's your money and your call.

Enjoy what you like.

Have fun,

You've purchased them in the same way that I purchased MSTS + Addons and Rail Simulator. They are gathering dust in my DVD rack until I can get round to putting them on Ebay with a start price of 99p

Hi aardvark
Thanks for that I feel 10 times better already

On rummaging around in steam and Railworks tonight I noticed that all patches are applied automatically without the need to do anything on my own part.

I believe this is one area Auran need to improve dramatically as I have not patched 2010 since I bought it last Christmas. This is due to the problems many have posted on the forum when patching.

I did think of downloading 2010 again as I thought this would then bring in all the patches with the new download. Not so, I was informed on the forum but even with a fresh purchase and download you still need to patch the version yourself.

That left me thinking that they must test the patches with a running version of 2010 so why not bring that version into the download to the benefit of new and existing purchasers.

I posted my thoughts on that with no response from Auran or any other member and I am still querying why. As stated this is certainly one area where steam and railworks have the upper hand to the benefit of their customers.

Penny for anybody's thoughts on that one
All the best
Bill

In regards your problems with the screen res..........make sure you have the "FullScreen" option ticked and also run the video settings test.

RW ran here at 1680x1050, but is no longer installed.

Trainz does fine for me at 1600 x 1200 res.

Hi lewisner and everybody.
I to have MSTS and Rail Simulator gathering dust in the drawer so perhaps we can jointly put them on eBay as a Bulk purchase of 1 pound or make an offer.

Rail Simulator was a particular disaster for me and finished up in the said drawer after only two weeks. At that time I particularly wanted to design my own route which I had found impossible with the Microsoft simulator. I was soon to learn that the same was to be said of rail simulator.

As I understand it RailWorks is a follow-on from Rail Simulator but this time my ambitions are limited to just driving the Bristol to Exeter route with my route building skills still firmly focused on Trainz.

I have spent well over 18 months building my " North Devon branch lines" and have several times said I will upload it to the DLS. However, each time I think of that I then decided that adding this or that would improve the route before uploading.

Having now completed the route I look back over my early track laying, scenery etc and think to myself that it looks rather amateurish as compared to what I have learned and done over the last few months due to the experience gained.

The above begs the question, Is any route ever really finished. That could be an interesting subject of a new thread.

All the best
Bill

No ordinary bloke (like me) could hope to really build anything worthwhile on either MTS or Railworks without being techy inclined. Odd how we keep getting threads up about Railworks? I have only kept MTS for one reason and that is a commercial route that will be a big help whilst I am doing my present project with Trainz as it covers a long route between 2 cities in a different country. I will always be forever glad that after using MTS I came across Trainz by pure accident surfing the net re train sims. It has given me the chance to do what I want without long learning curves.

On the occasions of erratic ill-health which hits me from time to time it is a great medicine (!) and I can reproduce both the present day and that which is sadly gone.

I have TS2010, TRS2004, RailWorks 2, and OpenRails installed on my computer.

TS2010, MSTS, OpenBVE, Train Dispatcher 2 & 3, and lots of other stuff. No sweat about having multiple sims. I decided against RW, originally, because of the lack of content, especially U.S. stuff. I'm glad I didn't buy it because of the DRM.

I bought Railworks to help with building my SDJR route as RW has a version of it, John.

Hi Everybody.

rjhowie2 said:

No ordinary bloke (like me) could hope to really build anything worthwhile on either MTS or Railworks without being techy inclined. Odd how we keep getting threads up about Railworks? I have only kept MTS for one reason and that is a commercial route that will be a big help whilst I am doing my present project with Trainz as it covers a long route between 2 cities in a different country. I will always be forever glad that after using MTS I came across Trainz by pure accident surfing the net re train sims. It has given me the chance to do what I want without long learning curves.

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I think that say's it all RJ. As you state there have been many postings on this forum regarding railworks, but the fact that they are placing their comments on this forum demonstrates that they are most certainly using Trainz as their first and primary simulator. I think if I was a member of the Auran management team that would make me feel pretty good as it would demonstrate that we are getting the majority of things right.

Like rjhowie I have bought Railworks for to obtain one route and I have no plans at present to use it for anything else but driving that route. My plans may change, but as stated with Trainz you can do many things especially route building without having to go through a long learning curve which for me would take away much of the pleasure in building that route.

I am supposed to be retired but I am very often asked by my previous employers to do workplace accident and investigation reports for them. This has been especially prevalent over the last couple of weeks when I have done three of these reports which has left me feeling like I was working full time again. However, there is nothing better when you decide to turn in the work for the evening than to pour yourself a glass of wine put your feet up on the desk and travel along your route creation riding in a first class Mark one restaurant car.

Now that's what I call heaven, and thanks for that Auran.
Bill

aardvark1 said:

Hi Bill,
No, no one should brand you as a traitor.

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Why not ? it is fun to be a traitor :udrool:

More seriously as a beginner, I think that trainz has the advantage of a fantastic library of downloadable content, but that its graphics and sound effects are outdated.

When comparing screenshots, railworks look better, but does not have the same amount of downloadable content.

jeanba4 said:

Why not ? it is fun to be a traitor :udrool:

More seriously as a beginner, I think that trainz has the advantage of a fantastic library of downloadable content, but that its graphics and sound effects are outdated.

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Thanks for the comments jeanba4 and can I first of all welcome you to Trainz and the forum.

As you state the graphics and sound are somewhat outdated in the simulator and there is general agreement that a new jet engine is needed. But having said that the one thing I have noticed in using Railworks for the first time is that the graphics are not as good as Trainz (at least on my system at present).

The above may be that I have not been able to get the screen resolution as high as I am running in Trainz but it is my intention to have a another look at that later today.

As for advice to you as a newbe, I would suggest that you could not do better than to start building your first Trainz route. it can give you a great sense of achievement when you drive your first engine along your very own creation. However, the thing to remember above all is to have fun. Laugh at your mistakes and take pride in your achievements

You will have many hours of pleasure in front of you I am sure

Bill

Your not a traitor mate,

You are exactly like me and many others on here, you are a rail fan, and trains are what makes your boat rock, I have Rail Simulator at the minute, but I am tempted by the call of Railworks.

I have Rail Simulator, and I like it for it's graphics and especially it's dopler sound, but I do not like Rail Simulator for it's route building, in my book it's too fiddly and off putting.

I love Trainz for it's easy route building, and it's continued progression in wanting to be the best on the market. I also love Trainz because of this forum, there are a lot of great friends on here who I trust, and I treat as my family, if I am ever in trouble, my forum friends appear far and wide to help me solve my problem, along with my good friends at Auran who are also on hand anytime I need help.

As someone mentioned earlier, Railworks is good, but Trainz is fun...

Joe Airtime

I've stated before, Railworks is like a bad road accident - you know you shouldn't look but can't help yourself!

It's actually a tribute to the outwardly fragile ecodisc that it's survived so many spins in the DVD drive I've reinstalled so many times, the latest just this Sunday gone.

Bristol to Exeter is looking good and I've already got it pre-ordered albeit getting put away for Christmas.

wholbr said "I have spent well over 18 months building my " North Devon branch lines" and have several times said I will upload it to the DLS. However, each time I think of that I then decided that adding this or that would improve the route before uploading.

Having now completed the route I look back over my early track laying, scenery etc and think to myself that it looks rather amateurish as compared to what I have learned and done over the last few months due to the experience gained.

The above begs the question, Is any route ever really finished. That could be an interesting subject of a new thread."

I started one of my Routes (Sunderland) in late 2004 but without the benefit of DEM, Google Earth and so on with with the result that all the heights are wrong.
So although it's fun to drive I would feel ashamed of it if it was on the DLS. Plus the fact that every time I feel satisfied with a bit of it somebody brings out new Content (like the TC3 Signals) and I have to change everything for the new stuff.Thus, I prefer to think of my Routes as forever "Work In Progress"
Re Rail Simulator I'll probably get flamed for saying this but the ECML route didn't impress me - some of the buildings were nice but the route as a whole didn't look like the section north of Darlington which I know so well. Nor indeed was I struck by the graphics but that may be because I am used to Trainz. I generally find the graphics in MSTS and RS to be rather washed out and pastel looking.

lewisner said:

Nor indeed was I struck by the graphics but that may be because I am used to Trainz. I generally find the graphics in MSTS and RS to be rather washed out and pastel looking.

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Well, now the 80's are coming back! :clap:

Hi Everybody.

Vern said:

I've stated before, Railworks is like a bad road accident - you know you shouldn't look but can't help yourself!
Bristol to Exeter is looking good and I've already got it pre-ordered albeit getting put away for Christmas.

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AAAH Vern I bet that statement that the Bristol to Exeter route is to be put away until Christmas does not hold good. As soon as it arrives you will be wanting to give it a run, especially after I start telling you how good or bad it is following the release next week.

I was also looking at the UKSM site late last night and noticed your name getting kicked around a bit when he came to threads on Railworks. I take it you must of had a few "up and downers" with some of the more prominent posters over there which by reading some of the comments by them would be perfectly understandable. I had not visited that site for a very long time and was struck by how much it has become a long-running advertisement for Railworks.

lewisner said:

Re Rail Simulator I'll probably get flamed for saying this but the ECML route didn't impress me - some of the buildings were nice but the route as a whole didn't look like the section north of Darlington which I know so well. Nor indeed was I struck by the graphics but that may be because I am used to Trainz. I generally find the graphics in MSTS and RS to be rather washed out and pastel looking.

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Lewisner, I have not been able to spend much time with Railworks today but I have to agree with you from my first experience with the simulator yesterday the graphics compared to Trainz do seem to be rather gray Pastel looking. This has surprised me as many who have posted on this forum regarding Railworks have stated that the graphics are better than this simulator. Oh well you learn by experience!

lewisner said:

I started one of my Routes (Sunderland) in late 2004 but without the benefit of DEM, Google Earth and so on with with the result that all the heights are wrong.
So although it's fun to drive I would feel ashamed of it if it was on the DLS. Plus the fact that every time I feel satisfied with a bit of it somebody brings out new Content (like the TC3 Signals) and I have to change everything for the new stuff.Thus, I prefer to think of my Routes as forever "Work In Progress"

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I think this is really interesting what you have said there, as their must be many Trainz fans who have created Routes that have not been put on the DLS because they feel they are not of sufficient quality or that the actual layout would not come up to what the "Trainz intelligentsia" would expect and therefore they just remain as "work in progress". I would count myself and my route as one that folds into that bracket.

As stated I think a separate thread on the matter would be a good ideal as my feeling is that there could be many (if not hundreds) of excellent routes out there that could give Trainz fans many hours of pleasure in running them if the creators could be encouraged to bring them on to the DLS and the community were to accept them as not perfect but well worth the running and not criticizing the creators. With Christmas coming up they could make excellent and cost free Christmas presents to the community.

Anybody up for that
Bill

I take it you must of had a few "up and downers" with some of the more prominent posters over there which by reading some of the comments by them would be perfectly understandable.

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Indeed. Though probably least said, soonest mended. My policy where that forum is concerned is to not let it get in the way of privately enjoying what RW does well and use the file library to host any routes I might eventually produce. I probably have gone a bit overboard in recent months announcing projects with great enthusiasm then losing interest, but then who hasn't and it's a bit disengenuous of third parties to fire that off as ammunition.

My aim from now on is to take the route building (for any sim) underground and not make any announcement until it's in a file library somewhere.