Older PC - What version of Trainz to but?

T

tebee

New member
hi folks

I used to have Trainz UTC many years ago but dropped out partly due to family illness and partly because I found content creation so frustrating. I'm a railway modeler and I make a lot of models by kit bashing - taking a model of one thing and making it into something else - the fact that you couldn't do that in Trainz but had to make everything from scratch is probably the main thing to put me off.

But , 8 years down the line , my own illness has meant I've had to stop work and I find myself with excess time but not a lot of money. I've been spending some of this time developing a range of 3-d model trains which I'm hoping to bring to market next year as real models produced by 3-d printing.

Well it occurred to me that I could use the same models as a basis for content in Trainz and maybe do some of the things I was planning all those years ago, but was frustrated by lack of suitable content.

So I need to get myself a newer version of Trainz, but my pc's are older models and I've not got funds to upgrade at the moment.

So what version of Trainz would work well on them ? The laptop is a Pentium mobile 1.6 Mhz with 1 GB ram and my main machine is a P4 3 mhz with 2 GB ram , both running XP sp3 . I notice this is below the spec for Trainz 2010, so would 2009 or 2006 be better? What would I lose by going for an older version?

Are any of these versions capable of running or importing my old UTC content? Had a few routes I'd spent a lot of time on .

Tom
 
Welcome to the forums.
Sorry to hear of your illness...I've had some experience with such things. I used to run 2006 adequately on a system like your desktop. I would avoid 2009 as it's become somewhat of an orphan stepchild.
 
tebee said:
hi folks

I used to have Trainz UTC many years ago but dropped out partly due to family illness and partly because I found content creation so frustrating. I'm a railway modeler and I make a lot of models by kit bashing - taking a model of one thing and making it into something else - the fact that you couldn't do that in Trainz but had to make everything from scratch is probably the main thing to put me off.

But , 8 years down the line , my own illness has meant I've had to stop work and I find myself with excess time but not a lot of money. I've been spending some of this time developing a range of 3-d model trains which I'm hoping to bring to market next year as real models produced by 3-d printing.

Well it occurred to me that I could use the same models as a basis for content in Trainz and maybe do some of the things I was planning all those years ago, but was frustrated by lack of suitable content.

So I need to get myself a newer version of Trainz, but my pc's are older models and I've not got funds to upgrade at the moment.

So what version of Trainz would work well on them ? The laptop is a Pentium mobile 1.6 Mhz with 1 GB ram and my main machine is a P4 3 mhz with 2 GB ram , both running XP sp3 . I notice this is below the spec for Trainz 2010, so would 2009 or 2006 be better? What would I lose by going for an older version?

Are any of these versions capable of running or importing my old UTC content? Had a few routes I'd spent a lot of time on .

Tom
Click to expand...

You can run TRAINZ 09 very well on your desktop. I am using a similar system right now. The bottle neck will be your graphics card. If it is an integrated Intel 945 or similar it will choke on any version. You would need a stand alone graphics card nVidia or equivalent, with at least 256MB of on-board memory. Importing UTC content may be feasible using the Import Content feature built into 09.

MERRY CHRISTMAS tomurban
 
Last edited:
I'd go with TS2010 it has the least machine impact of any of the versions. However be aware that content is becoming more poly dense so don't expert to be able to run a thousand different steam locos at the same time just be a bit choosey about what you run. That includes the built in content for TS2010. I was running it on a p4 2.4 by the way.

If off loads more onto the video card so if funds permit a more recent video card might help but try it first and see how you get on.

Cheerio John
 
tomurban said:
You can run TRAINZ 09 very well on your desktop. I am using a similar system right now. The bottle neck will be your graphics card. If it is an integrated Intel 945 or similar it will choke on any version. You would need a stand alone graphics card nVidia or equivalent, with at least 256MB of on-board memory. Importing UTC content may be feasible using the Import Content feature built into 09.

MERRY CHRISTMAS tomurban
Click to expand...

I've an nVidia GeForce 7050 but it's integrated on the mainboard rather than a stand-alone card - this wasn't bought as a gaming PC :(

Looking around at what is available I found Murchison 2 - I bought the scenery splines from this for my UTC so it would be nice to get them back!

This is build as a stand-alone version , but does it include the surveyor and/or access to the download station?

And a Merry Christmas to you and everyone else on here.
 
I'd get TS2010 - it has a sort of legacy mode that runs most older content better than the intended version ever did. Your OP reads like you spend more time in Surveyor than in Driver and Surveyor performs very well in lower spec machines. You only get into strife in Driver where the graphics engine has a lot more to think about.

As for kitbashing, you can't in a 3D modelling program, but Surveyor is a kitbashers paradise!

Andy ;)
 
I have an older computer too, with a max of 2 gigs memory DDR SDRAM, an AGP 6800 pro NVidia card with 128 megs of memory.
Athlon 64 2.4 gig Processor. Getting a faster video card is pointless. I've tried and it bottlenecks because of the type of slot it's in.

TR2006 works fine on mine, as long as I don't overdo the content and keep the drawing distance down.

I was told a year ago by several members here that my computer would be a "slide show" with 2009 or 2010. IOW, it would run so slow it wouldn't be fun.

So which is it? I don't have the $$ to waste.
 
Looking around at what is available I found Murchison 2 - I bought the scenery splines from this for my UTC so it would be nice to get them back!

This is build as a stand-alone version , but does it include the surveyor and/or access to the download station?
Click to expand...

Hi Tebee

While TS:Murchison2 can be installed as a stand-alone "driver-only" version, it will ALSO install into TS2009 and TS2010 (if you have them installed) to give you FULL SURVEYOR functionality

Merry Christmas
Michael
 
JimDep said:
I was told a year ago by several members here that my computer would be a "slide show" with 2009 or 2010. IOW, it would run so slow it wouldn't be fun.

So which is it? I don't have the $$ to waste.
Click to expand...

My machine is probably a bit 'better' than yours, but it is nobody's Cray. What I like about TS2010 is that even when framerates are low it remains smooth and acceptably watchable with none of the stutters and jerks which spoiled earlier versions.

Will it be a success on your machine? Unfortunately there is only one way to find out...

Andy
 
I'd say TS2010. I've repaired a mates computer who's running TS2010 on a P4 2.8 Ghz with 3gigs of ram & a Nvidia 7900 GT. It seems to run OK, with most of the settings set around halfway across the sliders. Draw distance, detail, etc, etc...
You don't mention what sort of video card you have in your P4. I would recommend you increase your ram up to either 3 or 4 gigs, (if possible). Depending on your existing video card, I'd also consider upgrading that as well. Remember your P4 motherboard has a AGP video card slot, not a PCI Express-16.

IMHO all versions of Trainz run well in XP SP3... I think your Notebook will struggle to run any version of Trainz 2006 and above. (Not unless you are doing just the very basic's with Trainz)...

If you do get TS2010, I would also recommend that you consider getting Murchison 2. It's an incredible layout. The good thing about running Murchison 2 on an older PC is that you can choose whether you want to run the 29 sessions in either Hi-detailed or Standard detailed. The STANDARD detail version is alot more FPS friendly on older PC's than the Hi detailed version. You get both versions when you install Murchison 2. Good luck.
Cheers, Mac...
 
Last edited:
yes I loved the original Freeware Murchison enough to buy the sprites - it's the only bit of payware for Trainz I ever bought.

I've discovered Murchison 2 is only 16 € on Steam so I may go and buy it from there and see how it runs . Am I right in thinking this is 2009 based in stand alone mode? It will be my Christmas present to myself.

If it runs like a pig I'll go out and buy the full 2006 and if it's OK I'll go out and buy 2009 or 2010.

Tom
 
tebee said:
yes I loved the original Freeware Murchison enough to buy the sprites - it's the only bit of payware for Trainz I ever bought.

I've discovered Murchison 2 is only 16 € on Steam so I may go and buy it from there and see how it runs . Am I right in thinking this is 2009 based in stand alone mode? It will be my Christmas present to myself.

If it runs like a pig I'll go out and buy the full 2006 and if it's OK I'll go out and buy 2009 or 2010.

Tom
Click to expand...

Tom: As previously pointed out by myself and others, your P4 (mine is a 3.0 mhz dual core) will run 06, 09 and probably 2010 fairly well assuming a modest route and few if any faulty/broken dependencies. It will be the graphics card or lack of one that may cause you problems. Can you give us some idea as what is currently in your machine? With this information we can provide a better answer to your question.


Sorry: I missed post #6. That onboard chip will probably run 09 as long as you stay away from 100 car freights and four locomotives. Stay away from 06 as it is no longer supported.

tomurban
 
Last edited:
TS2009 runs better on my system (see below) than TRS2006. But then my cpu is multi core and ts2009 takes advantage of it while TRS2006 does not.
 
tebee said:
Well it occurred to me that I could use the same models as a basis for content in Trainz and maybe do some of the things I was planning all those years ago, but was frustrated by lack of suitable content.
Click to expand...

No, you need to modify the content first, because, if you try to incorperate content as it is, the poly count will be wild and therefore cause lots and lots of problems. Added to that, some of the exporters still have that 32,768 limit.


tebee said:
So I need to get myself a newer version of Trainz, but my pc's are older models and I've not got funds to upgrade at the moment.

So what version of Trainz would work well on them ? The laptop is a Pentium mobile 1.6 Mhz with 1 GB ram and my main machine is a P4 3 mhz with 2 GB ram , both running XP sp3 . I notice this is below the spec for Trainz 2010, so would 2009 or 2006 be better? What would I lose by going for an older version?
Click to expand...


I'm running 2010 on a Sempron 1.8ghz, 1GB RAM and an Ati x700 card and having no problems at all if it helps, my tablet PC is also capable of running 2k10 with no issues, which has the same processor, 1GB more ram and a nVidia FX5200 graphics card. Its also an experience to use. :)
 
I'm running 2010 on a 3.0 P4, 4GB RAM, Geforce 9500GT an it does fine. It can get pretty jerky when there are lots of individual parts to display, but usually works well enough to be enjoyable. Speaking from experience, if you buy 2010, get the disc based version and avoid the downloadable digital versions.
 
I'd say don't waist your money on 2009 , Mur. I've sold people new PC's when their old one was better than your. Sorry.
you have mostly a good system... albe it old. and it will run 2006 fine. 7050 is bottom of the range 7 serries top of that range is 7950. So video is your week point
As supplied the Toronto line in 2006 will struggle on your system.
If you do go for 2010 then just stick with little, less detailed routes and you will be OK I guess, not tested. But in 2006 you will be fine
If you are looking at building add on stuff for trainz great and 2010 not in compatibly mode is how it should run.
As that will feture proff you.
Ho there are a couple of demos for 2006
http://download.cnet.com/Trainz-Railroad-Simulator-2006-Hawes-Junction-demo/3000-7561_4-10478416.html
and
http://download.cnet.com/Trainz-Railroad-Simulator-2006-Driver-Challenge-demo/3000-7561_4-10477297.html
that is more than a gigs worth of data... delending on who your telco is it might be cheaper to buy the game
 
winjmoore said:
I'd say don't waist your money on 2009 , Mur. I've sold people new PC's when their old one was better than your. Sorry.
you have mostly a good system... albe it old. and it will run 2006 fine. 7050 is bottom of the range 7 serries top of that range is 7950. So video is your week point
As supplied the Toronto line in 2006 will struggle on your system.
If you do go for 2010 then just stick with little, less detailed routes and you will be OK I guess, not tested. But in 2006 you will be fine
If you are looking at building add on stuff for trainz great and 2010 not in compatibly mode is how it should run.
As that will feture proff you.
Ho there are a couple of demos for 2006
http://download.cnet.com/Trainz-Rai...Hawes-Junction-demo/3000-7561_4-10478416.html
and
http://download.cnet.com/Trainz-Rai...iver-Challenge-demo/3000-7561_4-10477297.html
that is more than a gigs worth of data... delending on who your telco is it might be cheaper to buy the game
Click to expand...

I'm not sure why you are recommending TRS2006 rather than TS2010. With the same routes and assets in native mode TS2010 should give better frame rates rather than the more demanding TRS2006.

Cheerio John
 
Elwenil said:
.... Speaking from experience, if you buy 2010, get the disc based version and avoid the downloadable digital versions.
Click to expand...

Ah ! Why do you say that ? I was thinking of getting a downloadable version for two reasons.

1: I'm in mainland Europe, but I'm English and would prefer an English language version to one in the local language.


2: I've not a lot of money spare - this is my Christmas present to myself - and it's considerably cheaper on something like Steam (24€) as opposed to buying it from Auran ($49). I don't know why it should cost considerably less buying it indirectly , but it does. The same applies to Murchison 2 - 16€ on Steam and $39 direct.

2009, however is far cheaper to buy on disk - £10 from the UK including postage.

I have long since given up trying to make any sense of game prices and just go for the cheapest option.
 
Actually, I am aware of the reason why it's cheaper via Steam than it is from Auran/N3V Games directly - patching issues.

The Steam version is likely to not be compatible with some of the DLC content (especially content that requires TS2010 SP3 hotfix or TS2009 SP4)

Shane

EDIT: This only affects TS2009/TS2010 - older versions may be OK
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

T
Modifying BDANEAL's Older Content
Replies
12
Views
779
Thad09
T
A
Game minimum requirements
Replies
10
Views
540
johnwhelan
J
J
Rail Enthusiasm versus The Future
2
Replies
25
Views
917
pfx
P
H
Longtime user, been absent for a while...
Replies
7
Views
300
JCitron
J
G
Nouveau sur TrainZ 2019
Replies
1
Views
172
Forester1
F
Back
Top