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Post by grizzly (Alex) on Mar 28, 2012 1:18:36 GMT -5
... on the better sim, Trainz or Railworks? Bearing in mind I am coming from the MS TrainSim which is old in the tooth and I am now looking for something in the same vein but newer. I especially am interested in CP Rail, and post war anywhere periods. TIA
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Post by Tom Constantine on Mar 28, 2012 12:31:23 GMT -5
... on the better sim, Trainz or Railworks? Bearing in mind I am coming from the MS TrainSim which is old in the tooth and I am now looking for something in the same vein but newer. I especially am interested in CP Rail, and post war anywhere periods. TIA I like them both for different reasons. Think of Trainz as a model railroad. If you zoom out in map view you will see the tables and the track laid just like that dream HO layout you always wanted. I have several versions but at the moment, only Murchison Junction stand-alone (based on Trainz 2009) installed. It is a marvelous route described in another post here. At the moment though, Railworks 3 is my train sim of choice. It is a Kuju design so for all practical purposes it is MSTS's grandson. It comes with several routes and is heavily supported on Steam with payware DLC. (Can get expensive). There is also a growing trove of freeware (look at trainsim.com) and quite a few 3rd party websites & forums. Railworks, like MSTS is heavy on prototypical operation even though there are fictional routes. One feature I like is that although there are some nice US routes there are also some Germany and UK routes. I'm currently delivering passengers between Woking and Portsmouth in the UK. I don't think you can go wrong with either sim, but at the moment, I'm favoring Railworks 3. |
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Post by Tom Constantine on Mar 28, 2012 12:35:14 GMT -5
Another thought occurs to me... There is a freeware product called Open Rails that modifies MSTS into a more up to date sim. www.openrails.org/I haven't tried it because I haven't got MSTS installed anymore. It is still packed away from my move last summer. I believe Bookman has it. I'll point him this way. |
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Post by grizzly (Alex) on Mar 28, 2012 13:03:01 GMT -5
Thank-you Tom, you confirmed what I thought, i.e Railworks seems to be the one for me. But that openrails seems to add longevity to MSTS which is still a very valid sim I think but struggling with wide screen and todays fancier graphics a little. Thanks again.
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Post by ctarana on Mar 28, 2012 13:17:01 GMT -5
;D I have Auran's Trainz, so If I would recommend one or the other I'd go with Railworks!  The reason is, I disagree with Auran's current policy of forced obsolescence in its product lines.  Stating that any one product has a fixed lifetime (measured in months or years), and ALL support stops after that point, doesn't make good business sense to me! 95% of this policy is designed to encourage members to buy paid subscriptions to the Download Station. They claim that they are trying to reduce costs, but there are several holes in that argument. The first problem is the files already on the server from the older versions are already taking up a fixed amount of space. The second problem is the inablility to download things from NON-Auran 3rd Party Websites, because those sites use the Download Station to store files that you need to have (Dependencies) in order to properly use an addon! That's just my 2 cents! ;D Thanks, Guys! ChristopherT |
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Post by leylandspurr on Mar 29, 2012 3:18:04 GMT -5
I've been trying Open Rails using a basic MSTS install but adding some of the extra tracks I had for that (Italian and German steam and so on). It's an improvement on MSTS itself, but needs work still (it is open source so should be under continuous development).
I just bought a cheap copy of Railworks3 (aka Train Sim 2012) from the closing-down sale of a chain of 'Games' shops in UK - it looks very similar to earlier versions but I haven't come across any of the old 'bugs' yet. Certainly the eye candy is good.
Performance of both seems reasonably realistic although learning two sets of controls at once is a struggle.
Leyland
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Post by grizzly (Alex) on Mar 29, 2012 11:25:32 GMT -5
Thank you all
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Post by bhk on Mar 29, 2012 21:52:48 GMT -5
MSTS with Bin is an improvement on the original and Open Rails goes even further.
Bear in mind (as Leyland indicated) that OR is undergoing continual change and is still in beta form but already there are significant gains over the base MSTS.
Bruce
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Post by ctarana on Mar 30, 2012 7:44:52 GMT -5
I used to have BVE (Boso View Express) 4.0 back when I ran The Old Hangar. ;D I just downloaded and installed OpenBVE and I'm very impressed with that one! The website is at: trainsimframework.org/. You did have to download a few dependencies like oalinst.zip, but everything you needed was right there. Once you get it running, there are two content systems for obtaining trains, scenery and routes. The first system is a "Managed Content" system where you download files from their servers. The second system is the "Legacy Content" system, which allows you to manually install the files in the Railway Folder's Object, Route and Sound subfolders. It's MUCH faster than BVE 4.0, routes that took 10 minutes in BVE 4, take a couple in OpenBVE to load. I was up and running three minutes after installing it, and then I hit the servers to see what routes there were. I give THIS version of OpenBVE a 20 out of 10! It will run older BVE 4.0 content too just fine, you just dont get the external view on the older trains!    ;D Thanks, Guys! Christopher |
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Post by Tom Constantine on Mar 30, 2012 11:13:39 GMT -5
There's a sale on Railworks 3 aka TS2012 at GetGamesGo in the UK. www.getgamesgo.com/category/train-simulator-2012-saleRW3 is 14.99 and the deluxe is 19.99 (includes Horseshoe Curve content.) I bought 3 engines for 9.99 each. They do take PayPal. You need a steam account because they send you a 15 character token to activate your purchase through steam. |
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Post by grizzly (Alex) on Mar 30, 2012 14:07:42 GMT -5
Thanks again - so much to absorb - but hey that's what retirement is for eh? Strangely, I seem to get less done for all the extra time I thought I would have.
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Post by leylandspurr on Mar 30, 2012 15:47:09 GMT -5
Yeah, you've got it right,
Seems to me like "retirement" is a signal for the rest of the world to fill all your days (and more) with endless drivel.
Sorry, rant of the week.
Leyland
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Post by bhk on Mar 31, 2012 0:07:30 GMT -5
I used to have BVE (Boso View Express) 4.0 back when I ran The Old Hangar. ;D I just downloaded and installed OpenBVE and I'm very impressed with that one! ........ So am I, Christopher. I used BVE, and created some stuff for it, back around 2001 or thereabouts. ("Heavy Coal" was one of them.) I loved it because of the sounds and physics......the fact that I was stuck in a cab with a single view ahead made not the slightest difference. Never tried OpenBVE...until today, after reading your post. It is brilliant!!! Now....where are all the routes for it? Seems to be limited to Hungary, Brazil, Austria and Japan. Is that all there is? (as the song says). Bruce |
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Post by ctarana on Mar 31, 2012 14:03:13 GMT -5
;D ;D ;D Heavy Coal was one of my favorite routes for BVE! ;D ;D ;D Depending on how you installed OpenBVE your data files will either be in the installation folder or somewhere else? I installed the addon that places all the data files in the installation folder. So I have C:\OpenBVE\UserData\\LegacyContent\. Under the Legacy Content Folder you will find a Railway Folder (With Object Route and Sound) and a Train folder. Just like BVE 4.0!  That's where the routes and trains go that you download! You can either search for OpenBVE routes or trains (which is best) or try searching for BVE 4.0 routes and trains. The BVE 4 trains work fine, they just lack the external views! ;D BVE 2 trains and scenery seem to lock up OpenBVE so I deleted all the ones I tried!  There are hundreds of trains out there for OpenBVE just looking at UK stock! There are three good Japanese routes out there (including Uchibo) and about 50 or so Japanese trains. Didn't add the patch? By default, you can find your userdata directory here: Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\USER\Application Data\openBVE Windows Vista/7: C:\Users\USER\AppData\Roaming\OpenBVE Linux / Mac OS X: ~/.config/openBVE If you installed the patch to store userdata in the installation directory, you can find your UserData directory there. The userdata directory contains your settings, your managed content add-ons and the error log. You can find the log under UserData\Settings\log.txt. Christopher |
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Post by bhk on Mar 31, 2012 18:40:28 GMT -5
Christopher, Okay on "Heavy Coal"......I'm glad you enjoyed it. Many other BVE users have said the same thing, so I am flattered and somewhat embarrased by the praise. I did install the patch which allows the Userdata directory to sit in nthe OpenBVE directory, so I have now downloaded one of my favourite BVE routes - Aberdeen to Edinburgh, and all the files are in the locations you have stated. Hwoever, there seems to be something amiss, as I am not seeing any shapes beyond the cab other than signal lights - which gives the impression of driving in a dark tunnel and that is not what Aberdeen to Edinburgh is about! Anywhay, thanks for the HU and I'll have a go at a few other routes. And Uchibo was another favourite. Bruce |
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The reason is, I disagree with Auran's current policy of forced obsolescence in its product lines. 
;D
That's where the routes and trains go that you download! 
There are hundreds of trains out there for OpenBVE just looking at UK stock! There are three good Japanese routes out there (including Uchibo) and about 50 or so Japanese trains.