10 February 2010

I should have course have mentioned the up to date version of Trainz Classics 3 for TS2009 and TS2010 is featured at a different site - Trainz Simulator 2009: Settle & Carlisle. Still plenty of free goodies but a great deal of the free stuff released for the original version was incorporated in the new pack.

09 February 2010

If, like me, you are fanatical about UK Mark One coaching stock, I strongly recommend you get across to the Trainz Classics UK site. The developers have created a huge range now covering just about every type of Mark One built. For some of these you will need the original models as supplied in Trainz Classics 3 or the Trainz S&C 2009 pack, but there are plenty of standalone versions too. Loads of other goodies for Trainz as well. I cannot praise highly enough the efforts of the UK Classics team in providing this additional content which, in stark contrast to the micro-payware £10 a time culture of Railworks, is provided entirely free of charge. That's customer support.

27 January 2010

I've decided to rename the ECML Railworks project log, the Route Building Log. Visit the page to find out why...

25 January 2010

As mentioned below, I've just started the route building diary for my Northern ECML Railworks project. See it here.

24 January 2010

I recently rediscovered the joys of BVE or rather OpenBVE, which as the name suggests is an open source rail simulator which can run routes and trains designed for BVE. A full write up is pending but thought I would share my enthusiasm for this programme with my readers. I have found particular joy running the ECML route with the Class 50 though that is only a small example of the routes and motive power available for this programme. One advantage of OpenBVE unlike BVE2 or BVE4 you can "mix and match" routes and trains without having to copy and amend csv files and it's all menu driven. You can also obtain a rating of your driving performance at the end of each run, in this case it's recommended you don't SPAD the red signal on the end of Berwick platform trying to bring the train to a stand. BVE and indeed OpenBVE are both freeware and give the commercial sims a run for their money. Whether it's the accuracy of the physics, the smoothness of the graphics or the little touches like superelevation on curves and subtle cab movement, the ambience is immersive and of all the sims - it is perhaps the one that most fulfills the true experience of driving a train, rather than running a model through an overblown artistic landscape. Anyhow, here's some links if I've piqued your interest:-

OpenBVE - This is where you can obtain the latest version of OpenBVE. Please read all the instructions carefully and in particular note the additional programmes and utilities you need to download and install/copy files from to run the programme.

BVE Pages - The site of Eazypeazy and Guillyman. Here you can obtain the superb ECML Newcastle to Berwick route, amongst others.

BVE TMD - Here you can obtain the Class 50 and other fine UK motive power for OpenBVE.

There are of course many other sites offering files for BVE, however the above is intended to serve as an introduction if you are not already familiar with the programme.

On to other stuff, well running the northern ECML in OpenBVE has inspired me to have a go at creating the route or at least part of it in Railworks. This will be quite a major undertaking, bigger than any of the routes I've done for RS or RW up to now. I'm planning to start a "diary" page of progress on the project, thoughts on using the RW editor etc. etc. Sort of like a blog but without the reader feedback... More on that soon.

01 January 2010

I would just like to take this opportunity to wish visitors to the site a very Happy New Year. I aim to try and provide a bit more coverage of the scene during 2010 but time is an ever present problem.

2009 was a year of mixed blessings for the train simming hobby.

Rail Simulator got its own parent company, RS.com and was rebranded and resold as Railworks. The add-on market picked up a bit but still mostly payware and nowhere near the level of content MSTS or Trainz has. A number of issues carried over from Rail Simulator namely the poor and erratic AI signalling and despatching though for 2010 RS.com are promising a new Scenario Editor. That will be welcome as creating activities at present is not very intuitive or quick. Let's hope there are some other core improvements too.

Auran released their latest iteration of Trainz - TS2010 EE (aka Engineer's Edition). This was originally intended as a content pack add on for TS2009 but somehow transformed in yet another re-release of the full product. I haven't checked over fully enough to write a full review but so far my thoughts on TS2010 are somewhat mixed. The good is the inclusion of a number of new routes, of most interest to UK users is the ECML from Kings Cross to York complete with a new HST. Unfortunately though, below the surface it's the same old Trainz. No central AI, despatcher or running to a timetable. Just switch the points as you go, no better than Trainz CE in 2001. A new type of foliage has been introduced called "Speedtree" (these can be seen in other recent non railway games, such as Fallout 3) but in Trainz they look a bit incongruous against all the old stuff and sans foliage look like a row of something rude and oversized sticking up in the air. Optimisation has taken a hit. Auran have stated that a 64 bit computer is actually required for best performance and this shows in Surveyor if you try and create a route using the new 5m terrain grid while running under 32bit O/S.

MSTS still seems to soldier on though of course the bitter news fairly early in 2009 was that MS cancelled their second attempt at building Version 2 of the sim and disbanded the Aces Studio responsible not only for MSTS but Flight Simulator too. I don't think the hobby has really recovered from that blow as, with the World of Rails concept, MSTS2 promised to be a genuine next-gen simulation, not just a rehash of old ideas. The irony is that the "recession", primarily engineered by Governments and Banks for the purpose of population mind control and to distract from the pointless wars being fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, is said to be over the worst anyway. So why couldn't MS have weathered the storm and emerged from the other side with their simulation department intact? Of course they're not the only company using "recession" as a means to screw over their staff and force in pay/job cuts and even redundancy...

Anyhow I digress, now some of the developers and artists previously working at MS/Aces have set up their own independent studio called Cascade Games Foundry. Their plans are all a bit cryptic at present and apart from a few hints hard to know whether train simulation figures high or even at all on their agenda. Another initiative called "Open Rails" has also started up. This is a community backed open source simulator which has as one of its objectives the ability to import MSTS routes. Can only applaud the initiative, but tread carefully where MS and copyright/code decompilation and use of intellectual property is concerned - even indirectly.

As for MSTS itself, during my route building hiatus in the summer I did briefly re-open the Route Editor. Unfortunately the experience reminded me just how horrible the tools are in comparison to more contemporary sims. Add to that many of the ancilliary programmes have gone the way of the dodo. Try getting TS Tools to work in Vista - after a struggle it worked partially for me. Demex - essential for distant mountains - can only be downloaded via a backdoor link but otherwise the original site is in an obvious state of disuse. The link to SW Reg to unlock the full version (needed for DM's) is still there but no idea if it still supplies a useable code and not worth gambling the money with no support site to get help from if it doesn't.

On other fronts, BVE continues to soldier on with reports of a new Vista compatible version in development. The unofficial Open BVE also has a good following, though what both versions need is a decent easy to use route editor. Zusi 2 remains one of the best all round sims, both operationally and for the feel of running a proper railway. However it is virtually impossible for the average user to create routes for. We are now in the fourth (or is it fifth?) year of waiting for Zusi 3 to appear, hopefully 2010 will be the one but I'll believe it when it's installed and up and running.

So, let's hope that somewhere along the line 2010 brings good fortune to the train sim hobby. Hopefully at some point I'll release another route for one of the sims and will keep you updated on that aspect. What news there was in 2009 has now been archived (see on left).

Happy New Year.

Vern.

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