Questions from a Noob

Trainhoguk

New member
Hi peeps, I have just got the Trains 2012 from Steam, my first Trainz but not first Train Sim, I still use MSTS and have "Railworks" (another Steam Sim).

I was quite surprised by the graphical interface whilst ingame for a 2012 title, its a cross between the above 2, and the fact it has an option for "openGL" is rather quaint to say the least :hehe: , so why am i here now.

Well i run an online gaming clan, as well as being an online TV presenter for vapourtrails , i run and manage 2 web pages independently from my own clans and i must say this is a mess imho, far to many log ins required for different activities, all that's needed is a passport system, and why is the main Auran page/s not listed as HTTPS / that is crossed out, in an age of ID thefts and fraud it is simply not acceptable to have an unsecured username and password system in place..solution to the web master is a slap and telling to sort it.

The Game, very good actually, its nice to have a chance to have a good run (ECML), although the deltic can JUST about reach 100mph (downhill with a tailwind) but mostly manages about 80-85mph, and as such does not keep to time table and that I presume causes Red signals after approx 133miles to be permanently on due to AI traffic being in the way, i am trying different cures for this, such as not adhering to set speed markers, you get a hit on score but meh atm, this worked well for the first 2 stops then on travelling to 3rd i got a red, with an opposing train coming at me, soo into reverse for a mile to a track switch, and the AI train switched there..brill thought I, still got 2 mins advance on the time to next soo back into forward we go, till the same signal went Red again, and yes another AI train, so back into reverse..lol, only this bugger keeps on the same line.. so end of scenario, try again, this time doing the same again as last time i made it all the way to the Retford stop, started off fine, not able to get the train up to 100mph as usual, pottering along at between 80-90mph with Engine screaming its nuts off went through a rather long tunnel and green lights showing to meet a "sprinter" type in the opposite direction on a right hander, emergency brakes were of no use obviously..lol, result a very impressive end of scenario again, ahh well that was 2hours on enjoyable fun but would be nice to be able to get to and be able to maintain the max speeds marked. Perhaps it would be possible to either edit the engine .ini or whatever edit properties it uses, or have the option to change the Engine type to a unit that's able to belt out the speeds without ripping the guts out of an engine :) .

Other problems noted:

I have constant crackle, not loud but there, on all scenarios (Creative Soundblaster X-Fi Elite Gamer Pro)

Constant irregular game freezes / crashes

The scenario on MCML called "The Mail train" ..lightening flashes across both monitors, so no watching Movies on the second monitor :( .

Gamma saturation on same scenario in the cab is awful , far to bright but altering it to an acceptable level makes other scenario`s night time as well :( .

The website is not sending out registration confirm mails it appears, the only reason i finally registered is due to another mail saying "we notice you have not confirmed your account" . lol


The only other grip is the FCT, bought my 3 month reduced price ticket to enjoy the faster download speeds for updates and the like but its still not registered as being active...grrr, now don`t get me wrong i have no gripes about paying for download speed, i already enjoy that for my Flight Sim stuff, but they are active on you account as soon as payment is made, not so here it appears..why ?, anyone have ideas how long it takes please, such a lot of content updates to do :) .

Despite the above i am thoroughly enjoying the game, the opening gates on approach, the mass of building types and signalling you can see , is rather nice and hopefully bugs will be sorted to allow for extreme game time xD
 
Hi and welcome to Trainz,
are active on you account as soon as payment is made, not so here it appears..why ?, anyone have ideas how long it takes please, such a lot of content updates to do
About the FCT:
This is a two step proces: Buying and activating. Check the website if you also activated it.
The next step will be is to go to your game and complete close and restart it.
In Content Manager: Clean your complete "to be downloaded" list, remove your login+pw, close, restart, re-enter your login+pw . This should give the server a 'kick' and fix your download speed. If you dont do that, it can take upto 48 hours before it to refresh.

Hope this fixes that for ya. Happy training.
 
Creative sound cards? ^^

Other problems noted: I have constant crackle, not loud but there, on all scenarios (Creative Soundblaster X-Fi Elite Gamer Pro)
In the age of supreme onboard multi-channel audio with SPDIF I/O connections, it may well be time to ditch the mid level sound card? I can record/produce multitrack music with my motherboards awesome stock audio capabilities and it's just a darn good quality big ram 1155 format board. Mid range "gamer" soundcards, are a bit passe' these days and quite restrictive no? U need state of the Art M.O.T.U (Mark of The Unicorn), http://www.motu.com/products/body.html?productslider=2 or TC Electronic, http://www.tcelectronic.com/powercorefamily.asp or other top end stuffs, (Avid etc). What OS u runnin? Ps: When required it's TC Electronic all the way for me :D Outrageous stuff. (just my 2 bobs worth)
 
What Peghorse said..., radical dude!
"Tis a shame you bought through Steam, as they have not kept up with the patches as well as N3V, but I'm sure if you wait long enough; all your dreams will be fulfilled.
 
In the age of supreme onboard multi-channel audio with SPDIF I/O connections, it may well be time to ditch the mid level sound card? I can record/produce multitrack music with my motherboards awesome stock audio capabilities and it's just a darn good quality big ram 1155 format board. Mid range "gamer" soundcards, are a bit passe' these days and quite restrictive no? U need state of the Art M.O.T.U (Mark of The Unicorn), http://www.motu.com/products/body.html?productslider=2 or TC Electronic, http://www.tcelectronic.com/powercorefamily.asp or other top end stuffs, (Avid etc). What OS u runnin? Ps: When required it's TC Electronic all the way for me :D Outrageous stuff. (just my 2 bobs worth)

Nah, this does every thing including but not limited to broadcasting in both SAM4 (radio DJ for online game) and (Wirecast For TV Presenting), grabs and produces sample tracks and is already connected via SPDIF to the speakers :) , and its only one of 4 Certified THX cards out there, a lot say they are but get em on a bench and the lie will out :) , no matter what the board specifications state it is still limited by the confines of its programming, and shouts of "High End specs should be taken with a pinch of salt, much the same way as IGP`s are trumpeted as super fast rendering etc etc, where-as in reality a low end budget card will blow it out the water, its the same with onboard anything really, be it graphics or audio, onboard means limited and get it changed. This is especially so with anything related to live broadcasting, onboard means using system resources that could be better utilised in the outgoing stream, it depends what you require form the system you are using tbh

As for system specs,
Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit (beta tested windows 8 and found it wanting)
CPU i7 930
Motherboard Gigabyte UD7
12GB DDR3 Tri band
Graphics Main GTX275 (1870mb DDR) Secondary Card GT240 (for physics only)
Sound X-Fi elite Pro
2 fixed WD15EAR HDDs with 4 hotswap drives for archiving
and
a partridge in a pear tree :)

needs updating soon though, she is 3 years old and out of date graphics and HDD wise now, the board is USB 3 so maybe a few SSD`s are on the cards :) .


Finally got the FCT working, 137Gb`s of stuff..LOL!, talk amongst yourselves..this may take a while :)
 
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137Gb`s of stuff..LOL!
I take it you selected all items that Content Manager tells you have updates. This basicly involves 40% of the DLS, not items you actually have on your machine that needed updating.

For updating your local items, just use the in-game update option; that will only update the items you actually have (and will also use the speed of your FCT). The rest of the updates are basicly items that have an updated version on the DLS, not items you actually have yet... so you are basicly downloading new content not updating them.
 
What Peghorse said..., radical dude!
"Tis a shame you bought through Steam, as they have not kept up with the patches as well as N3V, but I'm sure if you wait long enough; all your dreams will be fulfilled.

You may have a point there, current steam download is at build 47103 but I see the current update seem to be 49+ .

Thanks oknotsen, yep, down to only 598 content items now, will grab overnight :) .
 
I make strong points against buying Trainz from Steam, as it is well known that Steam versions are not as up to date as the N3V version, and for TS12, this is critical as you cannot play multiplayer maps with an out-of-date build.

Shane
 
When reading your post the first time, I apparently missed you had a Steam version. Since I did notice you "run a gaming clan", it might be interesting to know that you can not play multiplayer with the Steam version as that requires you to have the latest build, currently being 49922.
In other words: If you want to play trainz with your clan, you need a different version.
 
When reading your post the first time, I apparently missed you had a Steam version. Since I did notice you "run a gaming clan", it might be interesting to know that you can not play multiplayer with the Steam version as that requires you to have the latest build, currently being 49922.
In other words: If you want to play trainz with your clan, you need a different version.

ah, i was not planning to play online with Trainz, the Gaming clan is for Battlefield 2 / Battlefield Bad Company and Battlefield 3, as well as EvE online and Star Wars Old Republic, it would appear though that due to patching issues within the Steam client it could be classed as "Not fit for purpose"..
 
No worries about secure logins to Auran's servers.

https://www.auran.com/planetauran/portal.php

Planet Auran is where, your login information is kept, all financial transactions are done as well as activation of FCT, and logging into the DLS.

The only insecure login is the forums, which is pretty normal on most sites.

You mentioned trying to watch movies while using Trainz. This will definitely cause system crashes. The program uses a lot, and I mean a lot of CPU and GPU resources as you are driving or building routes. In addition to crashing, these other applications running can cause the program to perform poorly as well.

John
 
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