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100% Fun Train Sim

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 66 / 73
Date: November 14, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Trains Railroad Simulator 2004 is an unbelievable product. I've owned MS Train Sim and was quickly bored by it. This product on the other hand has me so excited I can't sleep at night! There is plenty of info on the mfg's website so I'm not going to repeat what's out there. (note that Amazon's site seems to have the publisher wrong, ALL TRAINZ programs are written by Auran out of Australia (www.auran.com). I believe the US PUBLISHER is Oteeva.

What I will say is that I have stopped playing all other games and even railroad tycoon 3 is collecting dust since TRS2004 Arrived. I would also like to add that I have a 5 year old son who loves driving/watching the trains go round. I've really enjoyed playing with TRS2004!

It's hard to explain, but playing with TRS2004 is exciting and fun and there's so much to look forward to (I download new things for it all the time)

So Let's review:
MS TRAINSIM = BORING = You'll want to go to bed early.
TRAINZ RAILROAD SIMULATOR = EXCITING & FUN = You'll want to stay up all night and you just might call in "sick" the next day ;-)

Hope this review helps you in your purchase decision.

For me, fun is what it's all about.

A Very User Friendly Game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 30 / 31
Date: December 03, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I did considerable online research but I was still hesitant about purchasing a train simulator...(if you have played very many video games, you will have a large supply of "disk coasters" laying around, although the demos offered these days have helpled considerably)

To make a long review short, I can truly say that it's been a fun experience...the learning curve is relatively short in acquiring the basics of driving a train...It reminds me of Roller Coaster Tycoon, in that a 5 year can enjoy basic elements of play but an adult can find it a challenge to micro-manage

The graphics are acceptable but the real plus is its flexibility of play...for example, you can drive the train from the cab using actual controls, or you can drive it out of cab with an easy-to-use HUD console, or you can merely dispatch via AI feature which allows "pc" engineers to complete tasks...there is also "route editor" which allows you to create/customise routes

I "was disappointed" that there were not a larger number of packaged scenarios...but there appears to be a strong online support with download features

I play a variety of games, but I can "heartly" recommend it...if nothing else it's a fine escape from the "nail biting" games I usually play...I would rate it a 4.5 due to the scenario issue, but only a 4 or 5 is allowed...If you enjoyed playing with trains as a "kid" you will like it...well, anyway, that's my opinion !!

Brilliant. The Best Game I've Ever Bought

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 29 / 30
Date: November 24, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I've been buying computer games for 20 years and some are more interesting than others, of course. But I've never bought a game before this one that I played over and over...for hours at a time, and never got tired of it! This is a world. For those of us who look for excellent graphics, you'll find them here--highly detailed, carefully constructed, and greatly varied visuals. And, like the best software (of any kind) you can go as deep or as shallow as you want; and there are tons of options, variations, and features. It's just a great, great game and so much more fun to use than other games. You choose whether to build a world, play a scenario, learn from a tutorial, drive a train, control several trains, tell AI drivers what you want to do, create your own scenery/scenarios/maps, or just sit around and watch this great simulation play itself out. You must buy this. It's extraordinary and compelling.

An extremely flexible simulator

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 26 / 28
Date: November 04, 2003
Author: Amazon User

A very brief review of a very interesting product. This review was written a few days after the simulator was published. This product has evolved from earlier versions of a railroad simulator such as UTC by Auran. There should be reviews of UTC on amazon. What you purchase is a basic framework of a model railroad in a computer. Although the basic CD comes with some 400 Mbs of trains, buildings, layouts, rolling stock from around the world. Besides that there is an associated web site that currently contains some 15,000+ downloadable items. Various individuals and groups produce everything from steam engines to carved wooden model toys. The web site has a forum where you can see how groups work together to create new content. Some are payware but most are free. John Banks is of interest since he has written his PhD on the way people have created the third party content and it's this third party content that has extended the simulator in ways that the creators of the software hadn't even thought about. It is sold as a railway simulator but is considered by some to be the best English canal and canal barge simulator available.

Target market is very broad, the sort of people who are interested in model railways certainly have taken it up. But there are many youngsters 3+ who enjoy watching the game or simulator. The jet engine in this version is new, it takes advantage of the new graphics cards to allow more interesting water effects. It also is more efficient than the old version but that is balanced by the some highly detailed models that need faster computers to run. It also seems to run smoothly on a wider range of video cards than the old version. Auran has upped the minimum suggested requirements but since this version is more efficient some quite positive comments have come from users with less than the recommended systems. The software can be tuned to take best advantage of the hardware and quite detailed instructions are available in the forums on how to do this.

In a word enjoy.

My Son Loves It

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 13 / 15
Date: July 21, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I bought my son this simulation for his birthday (8th). He loves it. It runs well on our computer and has only crashed when he loaded up a layout with zillions of objects (hundreds of cows, cars, houses and such). (Win98SE, Athlon 1800XP, 512 Meg, ATI8500 or NVidia 5600). He learned the editor and driver with only a few hours help from me. He spends hour after hour experimenting with the editor tools, looking through the object list, creating complex layouts, and running trains.
This is one heck of deal! A solid product at a great price that kids love. You can't beat it.

Railroad going somewhere!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 12
Date: February 15, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Although I am just now getting to purchasing "Tranz" I can honestly say that I am looking forward to alot of fun and learning experiences with this program. I did download the free demo, which is very generous consisting of 100mb plus. Although can not save any of the "surveying" layouts that you create, they are easy to create and alot of fun. For the most part the surveying program is very realistic and you are able to creat whatever type of landscape desired. The demo is limited in scope however, take the time to dowload it and you will be hooked on this program. I purchased Microsoft train Simulation and I would not encourage anyone to waste their money on that program!!! MST is not user friendly in creating layouts. Is very difficult to understand the operations of and thus yes, very boring!!!! Tranz has so much more to offer for free downloads and in future developments will no doubt become even more realistic.
Try the free download, you'll love it!!!!

Great Train Simulator and a fantastic value!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 11
Date: February 22, 2005
Author: Amazon User

First, let's understand what we're looking at here. TRS 2004 is an advanced 3D Railroad simulation, which can take a decent amount of computing horsepower to provide an enjoyable experience. Those who don't bother to read the system recommendations and requirements on the box or on Auran's Website (such as those amazed that a "graphics card" is needed) will probably be somewhat disappointed when their 5 year old computer doesn't run it well. Most people with a fairly new, fairly powerful computer should find that it runs sufficiently. If your computer can run games such as Far Cry and Doom 3, it should have no problem running Trainz. Again, check the requirements BEFORE purchasing, or don't whine about it later. That being said, TRS 2004 is a wonderful world of railroading. There are so many different aspects to the program, that almost everyone is sure to find something of interest. If you like creating your own worlds fron scratch, you can do it. If you simply want to watch the trains run, you can do it. If you want to drive the trains, you can do it. If you're interested in the assets management aspect such as providing fuel for the power plant, power for the other industries, etc., you can do that. If you want to build and paint your own 3D scenery items, engines and rolling stock, you can do that as well, with the included Paint Shed and the free downloadable GMax, which is a scaled down version of Discreet's 3DStudio Max.

It's amazing how one person can complain that it doesn't come with enough items, and then also complain that those items take up 1.5 gigs of hard drive space. Granted, out of the box TRS 2004 doesn't come with everything you could ever want to run on your railroad, but it does come with a sufficient amount of engines, rolling stock and scenery items from around the world to more than adequately get you started. Add to that over 39,000 additional free items, mainly created by a large and active 3rd party development community conveiniantly archived at Auran's Download Station, and there's an amazing array of just about everything you could want. While downloading larger items for free can be time consuming, faster download speeds are available for an incredible price of under $10 per year, which helps to defray the cost of providing the servers the content is stored on. The support provided by the program's authors is amazing, both via online forums, a helpdesk, and through live online chat sessions. It isn't unusual to catch some of the principles of the company such as the CEO or members of the design team online and answering questions or giving details about forthcoming improvements. Imagine going online and finding Bill Gates providing support for some of Microsoft's products. Of course, that won't ever happen, but that's what you'll find from Auran.

It isn't the perfect program (what program is?). There are a few issues and features which could be better, but at least the people who wrote it are interested and active in making it better. If you like trains, you just might find all of your free time being taken by this program. I've personally spent the last 3 years with this and previous incarnations of this product, and I can truthfully say, in terms of value received compared to price paid, it's both the best and cheapest program I own. Endless hours of enjoyment to be had by fans of all ages is truly priceless.

24/7 Fun-Filled Excitement

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: December 09, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Our 6 year old son has been FASCINATED with trains for a few years now (like most boys) and he has played other train software programs. However, when he found TRAINZ on google and liked what he saw . . . we purchased this program for his enjoyment. Well, I gotta tell ya, setting it up was alittle on the "higher" learning curve but now . . . we cannot get him off of this program. AMAZING for us to watch him (6yo) paint the train (Paint Shed), create the track layout including town, cars, and run his trains.

Now . . . he is teaching mom and dad how to run the program.

Listen, if your CHILD is interested in TRAINS . . . . this program is a MUST BUY!!!! You will be "AMAZED" beyond comprehension on the graphics and simplicity of this smooth program. Additionally, you will enjoy countless hours watching your child "dream" and play an educational program and LEARN!!!

Cheers . . . Joe and Jan, Oak Harbor, WA, USN.

There's a better alternative!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 8
Date: January 11, 2006
Author: Amazon User

All TRAINZ railroad simulators are based on model railroading, NOT real-world railroading, a fact that becomes obvious as one becomes familiar with the simulator. For example, zooming out reveals that the "terrain" consists of a narrow strip of territory--like a model railroad layout--rather than a unified simulated world. In my opinion, Microsoft's Train Simulator, even though outdated, is a much better product and certainly costs much less.
TRAINZ requires an immense amount of processor speed, hard disk space, and graphics memory--be sure to read ALL of the system requirements before buying.
Whatever you do, do not buy the 2006 version of TRAINZ. It is a poorly designed product rushed to market too quickly and has more bugs than a swamp in summer.
Both versions of TRAINZ tout the ability to obtain lots of free content by download (an internet connection is obviously needed--I add this to cover the stupidity of people who think a computer simulation game can be run without a graphics card). This come-on of free content is mostly felonious. Yes, additional content can be downloaded, eating up huge amounts of hard drive real estate; however, once downloaded that content proves mostly worthless because it contains even more bugs and errors than the original program.
I'm happy to see that some people are having fun with TRAINZ, but I have found it frustrating and disasterous.

game is not practical

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 31
Date: September 01, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I just purchase the game so I could play it, I didn't program it, somebody else did, shouldn't have to configure and fix all the issues associated with this game. You can spend countless hours trying to get this game to configure on your computer and I can't get it to work. Most average people buy/own average computer, (dell, hp,....etc) This game runs if you want to purchase aftermarket video cards, build your own tower and waste time updating drivers and configure it once it gets installed. Shouldn't have to do this to play a game. When I go to a resturant the food is served to me hot, fresh, I don't have to go back there and cook it. When I buy a new car and need new tires I don't have to update my axle to support the new tires, just unloosen the lug nuts take old tires off, put new tires on the rims and tighten down the lug nuts,oh I pay some guy in the garage to do this too. This game is a complete waste of time, I am not a graphic junky, if I want that realistic look I would have become a real train engineer. I have installed many simulation games on my computer and never had trouble until now.

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