Introduction Trains, Trains and more Trains! This is the latest installment of the Trainz program from Auran which brings the user a wide of array of steam, diesel and electric trains to test your might with. Travel through a century of history as you board the old steam driven trains and end with the latest and greatest in train technology. So as you journey through time with Railway Simulator 2006 make sure you have your tickets ready! Installation and Documentation Installation of Trainz Railway Simulator is relatively easy, simply insert the disk and go. However, during the installation you will need to insert a serial number! This is a bit tedious on the ridiculous side, as the program only comes on a disk, but I guess you need the code to access the download database which was something I was never able to make work from the core program! The add-on comes with an 80 page printed manual and includes a 300 page manual in PDF format once the product is installed. The manual, though it is relatively informative, can get a little confusing at times. Frankly, I was better off just trying to figure it out on my own. The manuals that are included with this simulator are geared towards the Surveyor mode and really do go into great detail about designing your own railway worlds. So, if you are at all reluctant about designing your own maps this will help greatly! All Aboard! It was with great anticipation that I approached this title as I was a big fan of the original Microsoft Train Simulator and I have always wanted to see one of Auran's offerings. Little did I know that I would be in for a world of aggravation and a world of headaches with this version of the Railway Trains Simulator, AKA TRAINZ 2006. On the box the list of features sounds incredible, it touts 11 drivable routes, passenger and freighter modes, 50 new and “exciting” activities, a wide array of trains to pick from and the ability to design your own railway worlds. Sounds great! It would have been had it been executed properly, or from what I have read remotely resembled that of Trainz 2004. From what I understand, Railway Simulator is the same product as Trainz 2006 and was released with a different title for European sales. The World You Operate In With eleven drivable routes, I was ready to get in and go. Having had no experience with previous Trainz titles, I decided to look through the printed manual. This was little help as I ended up going into the program and selecting one of the preset tutorials.
The tutorial is pretty simple to follow as it guides you through every aspect of running a train. So I recommend that you take a look at these before you get too far into the program. It will give you a good crash course on moving the trains in your virtual environment. The tutorial for the steam engines is almost required reading as you will find yourself sitting at your computer screen trying to figure out how to make the darned thing move! Out of the 11 routes, I found that a three of them are merely demo’s and aren’t complete maps, so I am guessing that you must purchase these maps or attempt to download them through the Exchange. This was a serious let down, as I had navigated one of the routes picking up and dropping off passengers only to be rewarded with the surrounding scenery turning into a black endless pit. I am guessing that is the end of the route demo. With the remaining routes, I found that 2 of them caused the program to CTD, so this drops the complete amount of routes down to 6. Although adequate, you will need to learn how to edit what engines you want to use for each route. Otherwise, with some routes you will have limited control of the train, this is the part of the product that I found a little tedious. I would have really liked to have seen a quick drive option, simply pick a route and go explore! My favorite route out of the entire package is probably the Winter In The Alps. I found this one only by accident when I was loading up the Surveyor mode. It ships without any train engines on the existing map, so one has to add the train they want to drive which is a good thing because the entire map is devoid of any train traffic. Thus, making it a good beginners map.
This particular map was easy on frame rates and provided some of the best scenery I had seen in this entire package.
Routes Included with this Package: Hawes Junction, England
Scenerios: Apollo Bay (Demo) - I haven’t figured out the location of this one yet; and Winter in the Alps - not a completed route just a map. Trains, Trains and more Trains There are a LOT of drivable trains that come with Railway Simulator 2006. Unfortunately, there is nothing in the printed manual to show you which trains they are! In the menu there is a viewer that allows you to look at all of the consists and engines. The interface does allow one to sort what he or she is looking for, but I was unable to make this function work which in turn made milling through the engines and cars a rather tedious task. Now, there is another option to allow the user to select an already constructed consist, the engine and cars etc. This was a bit easier then trying to build one on my own. Thinking that I could go to the 300 page PDF also resulted in nothing. There was no list of drivable engines to look at or any reference to what was included in the overall package.
You will find that some of the trains are nicely done and others are very basic looking, in fact some look almost hurried. This is to be expected I guess with the amount of drivable trains. But I found that most of the familiar diesels, steam engines and modern passenger rigs are rendered relatively well, though I don’t think they are as good as those of the Microsoft Train Simulator. I found that some of the engines actually sit above the tracks instead of on the tracks which makes it look kind of funny. The interior of each engine is nicely done and you will be able to pan around and admire the artwork of each engine from the engineer’s station as you drive your train across the countryside. The more familiar the train, the better it will look on the inside.
I found one that I had never heard of and there were holes in the cab of the train, a rushed job apparently. The gauges in each train are relatively easy to read, but you will find yourself driving the trains from the HUD display in the upper right corner of your screen. Driving a train is a bit of a challenge, but the controls are relatively easy once you get to know them, very reminiscent of the controls in MSTS. It’s simply knowing when to brake that is the challenge and following all of the posted speed rules. The program comes with two modes of control, one being real world control and the other being something called DCC control. The DCC control is roughly the same kind of control you would use on a model train-set, forward and backwards; I like this one! Navigating the trains through the maps is also a challenge. As you near things like switch stations, you will need to switch to your external mode and use your mouse cursor to switch which direction you want the train to go. Why the developers didn’t make the switches accessible through the map view is beyond me; that would have provided better planning when it comes to navigating the rails as the switches have a way of sneaking up on you. If you set up a schedule for your train, you will not have to worry about making these switches as it is all pre-set when you start your run.
The one train that I wanted to get in and drive the most was the F7, but there were no drivable routes (at least that I could find) with the train set up and ready to go. What I decided to do was go into the Surveyor program and load up a route that I knew worked and delete all active trains on that particular map and then add the F-7 to it so I could jump in and deliver some passengers throughout the map. I succeeded in adding the train to a map, but after about 30 minutes of driving the train, I had found that I forgot to remove one train. Since I chose a map that only had one set of tracks, my adventure was quickly over as I found myself piling into that other train head on. DOH! Cargo and Passengers Another nice feature with this program, is the addition of loadable and unloadable passengers and cargo. When you near a passenger station, you will see people standing outside the terminal as well as hear them.
Cargo is also handled the same way as you navigate the different train yards. You will operate a wide array of cargo trains, everything from food to chemicals and you will need to get them to their destination on time. The addition of allowing the user to actually transport cargo and passengers is a nice addition as it gives the player a goal to strive for when navigating the routes.
Planning a Run! Traveling from station to station is a relatively easy task, but in the real world, trains have to keep schedules and be on time. This is where the challenge comes in, you have to remember that all of the other trains that are functioning in your sim are on their own schedules. So if you don’t leave the station on time you will ultimately effect other train traffic, whether it be cargo or passenger. Route planning is accomplished through an easy to use drop down interface at the bottom of the screen. Simply right click on the ticker tape and add for instance "load- wait 5 minutes- walk around train- drive to next station." The ones that have already been created will allow you to simply watch the train go and you can just let the sim handle everything. This function will operate in both control modes, but I did run into problems with some maps when in DCC mode. When you create your own worlds, you can add other train traffic and they will keep the schedules that you have set up for them. The Surveyor This is the coolest part of this entire game. It allows you to create a world in which to drive your trains. Think of it as your very own model railroading world on your home PC. Surprisingly, I found it relatively easy to use and was able to take maps that have already been done, easily edit in the trains that I wanted to drive, as well as modify existing routes and their sceneries. Creating your own world is very simple and a little reminiscent of the same engine used in the last Roller Coaster Tycoon, yeah I play it and love it!
When you create a world you can select between different scales, real world, HO, etc! This is an interesting feature, but I didn’t really see any difference when switching between the two, it probably has a lot to do with real world distance. Building your world is a lot of fun, as laying the track is relatively easy as is placing scenery objects and building towns. The user can also add a dynamic graphical environment, cars will move around in your virtual environments as well as other moving scenery like cranes and other types of work equipment. Along with buildings, you can add a dynamic sound environment for each station or stopping point, or anywhere on your route for that matter.
The Sound The sound is decent. However, I did find that it does cut in and out at times and isn’t fluid when transitioning between views, it simply cuts in and out. The world though, offers some nice sound bites. All of the train stops have audible sound environments as well as existing switches and the bells on the road arms are really loud. Oh yeah, every engine has a different whistle and it wouldn’t be a train sim if it didn’t have a whistle! Right? Every engine has a different sound, which I found to be a nice touch. Out of all the trains I tried, none of them sounded the same including the steam engines. Ironically, the best sound-set was not from Railway 2006, but from Train Driver in the Class 117 Diesel. Performance This product operates in OPEN GL, so performance is pretty good! However, and yes there is a however, when you get into complex route environments where there are a lot of trains and cars moving around you will notice an impact on your frame rates and at times can bring your computer to a screeching halt. The only thing that I can suggest to you is that you fiddle around with the detail settings until you find a happy medium and can run the more complex routes acceptably.
From what I have read on the AURAN forums, there a lot of bugs with this version of RS 2006 and from what I have read most people that made the switch from 2004 to 2006 are going back to 2004 until AURAN patches this product. I experienced a few CTD’s and on some occasions, I was left sitting at the station unable to move the train at all. It was only after I exited the program, restarted it and went back to the same route was I able to drive that particular engine. The Exchange and Multiplayer This was an option that I was hardly ever able to get to work. Usually when I tried connecting, it told me that the server was unavailable, and when I did make it work it, only showed me a picture of an upcoming release of a new route. The content manager was also another exasperating program. Although I was able to connect with it, I wasn’t able to download any files and I found navigating the program as a whole to be a little tiresome. AURAN states on the box that you will have access to thousands of free downloads; well they are free, but they only allow limited daily use at their site and if you want to upgrade to a full featured member, it will cost you monthly. This was a serious let down for me, but I was never really able to get anywhere with the online features in the program and was usually met with a message that the server was down or I didn’t have an active connection to the internet. I have DSL and I am connected all the time. To compound these problems you have to go through a lengthy registration process through the AURAN site and then set everything up within the program itself. The manual was little help here; at least for me. The multiplayer in the program will allow you to connect through their servers with other players and operate in a virtual world. I was never able to try this feature and frankly don’t know if it works or not. Sounds pretty cool though! Of course, I think I would rather take to the sky in a P-38 and go engine hunting in war torn Europe! TRAIN DRIVER also from JustFlight Available from JUSTFLIGHT is a nice little add-on called Train Driver. The package that I looked at operates with or without RS 2006 installed. I chose to use the installation that works with RS 2006 as I figured that would work best in the long run. Train Driver gives the user the West Somerset rail system and offers the user 6 new engines that date back to the days of steam to present. The route has been created with historical accuracy in mind and in my opinion adds a lot to RS 2006. Touting 20 accurate activities and 10 detailed stations this add-on will immerse you into the West Somerset Rail business. The route is also bug free so you can use it without fear of a CTD.
Why do I need this one when I have RS 2006? Well, I kind of thought the same thing. But after all the problems I had fighting with the stock routes, this was a nice fully featured route that was easy to use. If you aren’t into building your own routes, then this product is a nice alternative to that of the full blown version of RS 2006, as it doesn’t include the Surveyor mode. As I navigated the route I was amazed at the detail, though this detail comes at a cost at times and takes a toll on your graphics card and CPU. The reason I added the Train Driver program to this review is that if you contemplating trying out RS 2006 program and not really sure. Tthe Train Driver program will offer you a good chance to see what the program is all about before plunking down your hard earned cash for it. The extra route is nice too! Train Driver retails at $29.99, so it is considerably cheaper then that of the RS 2006 program which sells for $44.99 Tickets Please! In the end, I found that I do kind of enjoy RS 2006. With all of its problems, it does have some real pluses and has the potential to be as good or if not better then Trainz 2004, or MSTS for that matter. The only downside to this product, and frankly is what scared me away from 2004, is the price. Though I think 2004 was considerably more when it was released through AURAN. Currently the Limited Edition version sells for $69.95 and the standard sells for $49.95 through AURAN, but the DVD version of RS 2006 can be had from other outlets for $44.99. This I feel is reasonably priced and makes more sense than that of the pricing direct through AURAN. You also have to ask yourself how much of a hard core train simmer are you? I am not much of a train simmer, I would rather be flying a 747 or a Connie for that matter, than navigating endless hours of rails. Where this product appealed to me was the addition of the Surveyor mode, creating your own worlds is pretty cool! And the addition of being able to move physical cargo and passengers throughout each route just adds a lot to a sim like this. Do I recommend this one? I will after AURAN releases a
patch, as of now there has been no sign of an update and that is what I was
ultimately waiting
for
before I wrote this review, but according to their forums one should be
available in
the near future. |
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