Rating: 
Summary: game is not practical
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Best for the Model Train Enthusiast
Review: I'm not nearly as enthusiastic about this product as some of the others here. Even with a moderately fast computer, it is slow in just about every regard. The program takes too long to start up, there are too many option screens to step through during that startup process, and graphics rendering within the program, for scenery and so on, is plainly sluggish.
In addition, too little is included with the program. Auran has addressed this by offering additional stuff on their web site, but at a price. If you use a modem connection, a complex scenario with necessary components can take literally hours to download (product updates are a nightmare). If you have a faster connection, download speeds are limited to modem speeds unless you're willing to pay extra for a "First Class Ticket," something I'm not willing to do to simply experiment.
The quality of the independently made scenarios and components on their web site is questionable. One scenario immediately crashed the program. Another was missing components and refused to start, with no clear explination about what was missing. This was more than fustrating after spending hours to download each.
The learning curve is fairly steep if you decide to go beyond just driving around the included scenarios. I decided to modify existing scenarios instead of starting fresh with a blank screen. However, even this left me quickly confused, digging through several .pdf manuals for answers.
Finally, the program does not exit cleanly when it quits, leaving the entire computer (menus, other programs, and so on) running very sluggish until the computer is restarted. In fact, even that restart takes several times longer than normal.
In the end, I decided this program wasn't worth the effort, or the 1.5G of space used on my hard drive. Perhaps a dedicated model train enthusiast, disappointed by the short list of options available, might truly appreciate this program. Anyone else will probably lose interest just about as quickly as I did.
Rating: 
Summary: An extremely flexible simulator
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Railroad going somewhere!!!
Review: 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!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Railroad going somewhere!!!
Review: 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!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Great Train Simulator and a fantastic value!
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: My Son Loves It
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: This has to be the biggist let down
Review: i cant even install the game on my computer. now when i bought this game i thought i was gonna be able to do all of the suggested stuff but insted i cant even install it. DO NOT BUT THIS GAME. use the thirty bucks to buy a model railroad engine car or track cause that is what i should have done.
Rating: 
Summary: A Very User Friendly Game
Review: 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 !!
Rating:
Summary: A Very User Friendly Game
Review: 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 !!
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