# I got Trainz Simulator 12 today!



## gc53dfgc (Apr 13, 2010)

Well my limeted edition of Trainz 12 came in today. I am very pleased with how nice of a set it is. I can't run it as my cpu is only a 2.00GHz and the game requires a 3.4GHz or greater. So I guess I won't be able to play until I get my new computer this fall. Oh I was the 36th buyer out of the max of 2500. From the pictures I have seen it looks like a very good game.

Here are some pictures.








http://profile.imageshack.us/user/gc53dfgc
The case from the front








http://profile.imageshack.us/user/gc53dfgc
The case opened








http://profile.imageshack.us/user/gc53dfgc
The game case for the disks








http://profile.imageshack.us/user/gc53dfgc
A coupon for 20% off a first class ticket








http://profile.imageshack.us/user/gc53dfgc
A hot key guide, a huge trainz poster, the manual, and the certificate of authenticity.








http://profile.imageshack.us/user/gc53dfgc








http://profile.imageshack.us/user/gc53dfgc
#36 out of 2500 run 








http://profile.imageshack.us/user/gc53dfgc
Signed case by the trainz team. The back of the case.

I sadly did not get one of those ten golden tickets which would have granted me the next 5 years of all trainz products for free but it's not the end of the world.


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## haphall (Feb 1, 2011)

Cool find.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

GC,

I'm too old/stupid to be able to figure out one of these new 3D simulators, but it sounds like a blast. Keep us posted on your creations, and maybe post some screenshots at some point?

Have fun!

(Oh ...maybe try building a virtual Pacific loco someday ... full 3D CAD model?)

TJ


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## gc53dfgc (Apr 13, 2010)

Don't have to. They already took care of that one for me. The exact G3. I have thought about asking them where they got the plans for it but am not sure if that would be wise or not.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...x=187&ty=126&page=1&ndsp=8&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5wRmp7R3Js

It was created for trainz 10 so it is easily transfered to run with trainz 12 and as soon as I get my new computer all built this will be the first game I play.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

That's in impressive 3D model. You should try to get to know the software/game developers, and see if they can help you in your long-term goals of building something like that. Bear in mind that their 3D model is of exterior parts/shapes, and not things like inner boiler details, but it's certainly a great starting point. I wonder what source info they used for their model, as you thought, too. Ask 'em!

Enjoy,

TJ


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## Xnats (Dec 5, 2010)

I just ordered mine today, hopefully it will be here by Thursday. 
I hope it is worth the 40 bucks with free shipping.


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## gc53dfgc (Apr 13, 2010)

I think it will be.I am still waiting to build my new computer that can handle it but my mother is saying that I should be ablet o start it aroun the end of winter or early spring. I don't mind waiting really. Gives me free time to spend on other things like trains and I know if I wait the time and have the money I can make a really nice computer that will last me a good 5-10 years which is fine by me.


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## Xnats (Dec 5, 2010)

lol GC - I'll let you know how it runs on a brand new 550 dollar AMD budget machine. At least if you order the same parts on your list, it should be why cheaper now.


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## gc53dfgc (Apr 13, 2010)

LOL, yeah.

I am not personally a fan of AMD for their CPUs or their GPUs. I am strictly Intel and Nvidia for those categories. Did you make your 550 dollar one or buy it made from a manufacturer?


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

$550 buys a lot of processing power nowadays, but you have to consider other parts of the machine as well. Adding an SSD to my machine made as much difference as most anything I could do.


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## gc53dfgc (Apr 13, 2010)

yeah,

If you buy a company made computer for 550 I don't see it having a lot if you consider all of the parts. SSDs being fairly expensive still for the size you get, hard drives are pretty cheap now though. The main expensive pieces are the cpu, gpu, and the motherboard. everything else is pretty reasonable.


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## Xnats (Dec 5, 2010)

*Seagate ST31000524AS Barracuda Hard Drive - 1TB, SATA 6Gbps, 7200 RPM, 32MB (TSD-1000AS5)*​
 *Ultra Gladiator Black ATX Mid-Tower Case with Clear Side, Front USB, FireWire and Audio Ports (ULT33182)*​
 *AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition AM3 CPU HDZ955FBGMBOX - 3.20GHz, Socket AM3, 6MB Cache, 2000MHz (4000 MT/s) FSB, Retail, Processor with Fan (A79-1955)*​
 *Asus DRW-24B1ST 24X Internal DVD Burner - DVD±R 24X, DVD+RW 8X, DVD-RW 6X, DVD±R (DL) 12X, DVD-RAM 12X, CD-R 48X, CD-RW 32X, SATA, 2MB, Black, OEM (A455-5022)*​
 *Asus M4A88TD-V EVO USB3 Motherboard - AMD 880GX, Socket AM3, ATX, DDR3, USB 3.0, RAID, SATA 6.0GB/s (A455-2899)*​
 *Coolmax 600-Watt Modular Power Supply - PCI-E, 120mm Fan (T13-1114)*​
 *Corsair XMS3 TW3X4G1333C9AG 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 RAM - - PC10666, 1333MHz, 4096MB (2x 2048MB), 240 Pin, Dual-Channel (C13-8220)*​
*Microsoft Comfort Curve Keyboard 2000 (Black) (M17-1847)*​ 
14-127-490 VGA MSI|R5770 HAWK 1G RT 

and for 3 case fans with white leds. When ever work udgrades to 64 bit operating system, I'll upgrade this. Now it is running trusty old XP Professional.

seems I have spent around 650 bucks but the wife thinks 500, so that is all that matters :laugh: I did get 65 bucks in rebates that I let her spend  which I would have ended up flipping the bill anyway on anyway:smokin:


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

gc53dfgc said:


> yeah,
> 
> If you buy a company made computer for 550 I don't see it having a lot if you consider all of the parts. SSDs being fairly expensive still for the size you get, hard drives are pretty cheap now though. The main expensive pieces are the cpu, gpu, and the motherboard. everything else is pretty reasonable.


You're not buying the SSD for size, you just need your commonly used files on it. My Windows 7 machine boots in half the time from the SSD, and everything is "snappier". The transfer speeds are 2-3 times the speed of a 10k RPM WD Raptor drive, it's one of the best performance boosts you can add after you have enough memory and processor power.


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## gc53dfgc (Apr 13, 2010)

gunrunnerjohn said:


> You're not buying the SSD for size, you just need your commonly used files on it. My Windows 7 machine boots in half the time from the SSD, and everything is "snappier". The transfer speeds are 2-3 times the speed of a 10k RPM WD Raptor drive, it's one of the best performance boosts you can add after you have enough memory and processor power.


Well if you get an SSD just large enough for the operating system it won't be to costly but if you want one that you can have a game or two or three put on that you play often it can get expensive.


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## tankist (Jun 11, 2009)

i got SSD, using as OS drive. yes it is faster, but frankly i'm a bit underwhelmed (i did complete the OS optimization guide). your build is not high end, but seems appropriate for the job. at the moment i lean towards Intel CPUs , your choice obviously. 

as far as the title, well , i will be waiting for it to go on sale on Steam. 
what i really miss is the openness. didn't look to in-depth, but at a time i wanted to build set of controls for it, seems not as straight forward as in flight sims. i know they sell a controller, but it is way to expensive for what it is.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

What underwhelms you about the SSD? I found that it was one of the most effective performance boosts I could install. I already had a quad-core Intel Q9550 and 8 gigs of memory, and the Radeon 4890 graphics board, so I started looking at other areas of the system.


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## Xnats (Dec 5, 2010)

Well it came, it got installed, and I was not impressed - lol  
The game just kept crashing after the install but after I registered on the website things got much better. The patches look about as long as the install to complete. I only messed around with it for a few hours, since I got stuck working last night, out of all times. The game is a video card hog, namely the Appalachian Coal Route. The North East Corridor and the Mojave Dessert ran much smoother. I guess with any sandbox design game, the more AI's and scenery the lower the FPS. The coal route is nothing but trees. 
I'll have to play around for 2 weeks before I give a finial grade. I am already not liking the Company N3V though. I went to register my Key Code on their website and it tells me that it is invalid. My package came un-opened so I don't think it was a return issue. I sent in a claim and got a reply 4 hours later that they will respond to my ticket within 5 business days, do to heavy volume :thumbsdown: I just wonder what the heavy volume is about. My key worked to load the game but is needed on their website to download extra material. Maybe next week I toss up a short vid, if the little kinks are worked out.
Not to be unfair - once my son and I were chugging along down the track we were having a blast. We crashed into a dead end after getting lost in a power company plant yard. Drove off a cliff because the world just ended right there :laugh: and lost a load of coal speeding up a mountain a little to fast and died racing down the mountain trying to catch it But hey all is good because the horn works and it keeps Mommies away too


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## Gansett (Apr 8, 2011)

My wife works for a company that installs the hardware for the military's various simulaters. Might be able to get ya a deal on a 14'9" flat screen...

Yes, a 14 foot 9 inch flat screen.


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## tankist (Jun 11, 2009)

John, underwhelmed - expected more, it is faster, but not that much faster to be super excited about.

Stan, 
well trainz was always slow and buggy. i think i have pretty powerful setup with plenty of everything. and still it is not smooth as i would expect. video card hog? more like inefficient waster. 
although its winter now and all that heat is not really wasted, lol.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

tankist said:


> John, underwhelmed - expected more, it is faster, but not that much faster to be super excited about.


Gosh, I'm not sure what you expected. I saw a very significant performance boost in booting and loading large applications. Amazing that we see such a different effect, you must run a totally different mix of applications than I do.


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## gc53dfgc (Apr 13, 2010)

Well I own Trainz 2006 and it runs like a dream on this computer or at least it used to. The first install was perfect never a singal problem with it. Then I tried to download extra content and that was a nightmare. I would get the stuff downloaded (and I was younger) never new you had to move it from the download station files into the game files and it would permanently crash the game so it could never be played again. Now this computer has gotten a virus here or there so it has had a couple of fresh installs but after that first and second one wierd things started to happen. Some of the game overlay buttons would be filled in with white splotches instead of their logo, things would load a little slower but not a lot, and then things would just not load. So my computer got another virus (not my fault) and I went to re install it and I get about half way then it says that the disk is corrupt and can no longer be read. The disk has no major scratches and very few minor ones so I am not sure what happened to it but I have to go buy a new trainz 06 now because of it. Other then that the game always ran fine on this old computer and never had freezes so I can not complain about trainz 06 at least. 
If I could just figure out the download station thing I would be set for life. So I plan on doing a review with it on my new computer when that gets built but I doubt I will have any slow or bug issues with it. new patches will be out that aleviat the bugs and with what I am putting in my computer speed won't be a problem no matter how power wasting it is.

I have found that almost all sims take more power in the GPU area mainly because they are a lot more open world or have a longer rendering distance then that of say a first person shooter would need so that is one part that takes up a lot of juice. The new real tree technology while not needing a lot of power for jsut one when using hundreds could also add up to the demand. and trainz 12 also incorporates a lot more people/car/boat animations then the previous ones which will also use power. I am interested to see what railworks 3 will look and work like when it comes out. looks more detailed but I hope they get the crashing more down to a science which also needs to be done with trainz. Microsft Trains Simulator was the only sim to ever get close to a realistic train crash, all the others have just forgotten it or put it to the side.


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