Thoughts On Train Simulator Classic's Current State

...and those having issues with Cross City signalling, so that's another new thread to start....and we need a new thread for photos of cute wee kittens..... damn you lot for being human and shifting conversations around...

 

Ahh well yes i did come across as forum police, and my point was actually not meant like that. It was more like, maybe the issue with that particular dlc deserved a thread of it’s own, because if someone comes up with a solution, it will be searchable.

I’ve got quite some experience with projectmanagent, and everything that is searchable is of greater help.

 

No worries Kim, it wasn't replied to with malice, just an adult counter argument.

And you raise a valid point with the 60 thread.

 

The irony is that the game is relatively useless without addons.

 

No problem and they are correct. The MJW Class 60 belongs in a thread of its own and I apologise for the lack of thinking on that.

 

Ah now flying trains. Who remembers MSTS before the coupling strength alteration or placing invisible points to break up long sections? AKA Cutbank syndrome. I remember running a steam hauled consist from Tulloch up to Corrour on my West Highland route and the train launched into orbit over the points at the north throat of Corrour!

 

I mean, we have flying cars, so why not flying trains?

 

Ah the train crashes in MSTS, those physics were as funny as hell. Flying wagons, bouncy couplers that bounced more than a lowrider meet. How times have changed.

 

Sorry, what's MSTS? Does it have a current state?

 

Microsoft Train Simulator. Not the first cab view train sim but the first mainstream one, released in 2001. It spawned a huge following and content creation circle. Modern hardware and operating systems now have issues running or even installing it, but if you own it Open Rails is a freeware open source programme that will run MSTS content.

 

Where's the place to download your MSTS creations?

 

It used to be UKTS. Now there are places that preserve UKTS content, and you can actually find some old payware routes kicking around. I downloaded what I could from UKTS for preservation purposes even though I have yet to find a system I could use for the game - which cannot even be purchased now, so therefore can only be acquired by new users as abandonware at this point with the lack of a sales portal.

 

Thanks, I was asking Vern directly - I know UKTS is down but he may have private backups of his routes or the needed UKTS_ids (I don't know which ones he has done actually). But from time to time I'm firing up OpenRails and there's fun stuff like that magnificent SeaView fantasy line which is quite amazing....

At The Railyard's Nick even reviewed it in a great video


That's my "thoughts on MSTS's current state" . Stuff like MSTS, (Classic) Doom and Train Simulator will never fade.

 

For the benefit of everyone here, I have zipped my copy of the UKTS file list as of August 30, 2023. This should cover all files posted to UKTS on that date. It does not include files that were deleted before this date and therefore were not posted to UKTS, though some might be in personal collections or in torrent files somewhere. It also does not include the next month or two of continued uptime and files being posted. I may go about adding to the list if I ever have a working copy of Excel again, or I could even post a version of this on Google.

I might even have a copy of the related files as well if Vern wishes for me to share them with you or anyone else.

 

They should be archived over at Trainsim dot com in the file library there. The CD’s are gone though…

 

Share away!

 

Which ones are they? Don't want to create an account on another site if archive.org has the files. I'd only need the Route names.

 

You can get the UKTS Files here - no account required

https://archive.org/details/@eldomtom2/uploads

 

Just bear in mind that some of my MSTS routes were a bit hamfisted and primitive compared to what others achieved with a better skill set.

However routes like the Stratford on Avon and Midland Junction Railway or the northern section of the Swedish Inlandsbanan have not to my knowledge been attempted in any other sim. Take them as representation of the prototype rather than an accurate depiction.

 

Yes but the point is - which routes are Vern's? Is it these three

Stratford, Midland Junction and Swedish Inlandsbanan?

 

Those two are mine.
Also West Highland Line.
Far North Line.
Alston Branch.
Blackpool Tramway though if it's on there the community enhanced "Tram Sunday" version is much better.

 

Ah they are Train Simulator as in Railworks routes, not MSTS.

 

I got these, was looking for your MSTS routes

 

Just looking at TS dot com and it doesn't look as if the routes on CD got rescued .

Well if anyone has them and wants to upload somewhere I'm quite happy with that.

 

Sorry, I don't have anything left over from MSTS as I lost a lot of it back in 2014 when my HDD died on me. I don't know if treinpunt.nl is still around as they had a nice collection of Dutch routes and trains as well as some UK stuff. Modern England route was fun as there was a supplied activity where you was driving a Voyager and had to fight your way through all the other freight and passenger traffic in that one. Happy days.

 

Oh, that is a shame. There were some that were available in parts, but some CD ones were not available.

 

I have the SMJR route and the West Highland Line route on disc. The SMJR is the creme de la creme of MSTS routes. It will be worth trillions in years to come and it's all mine ROFL.

 

This fits.

 

With Vern's permission, SMJR & WHL in one zip. How tiny the files are compared to these days.
I had to remove the K4 and MK1 files from the WHL as they were not for redistribution.
https://mega.nz/file/FiowSQpT#ROgWyVFU7Pku1nP82KPVe2EpkNVENHulI0Cj_f-5Zlw

 

That's fine Mike, thanks for doing that. So long as people have the route that's the main thing, they can play around making their own consists.

 

Success

 

For clarity: Run the smj.exe in the Railworks directory?

 

Excellent, glad it's up and running.

At one point I did have aspirations to do the SMJ network in TSC (or Railworks as it was then) but the plans faded away and I don't have the stamina for large route projects like that these days.

kilt46 I guess that is correct. I only ever ran it from the CD installer.

 

hmm not showing up for me. I ran the exe file in my Railworks folder.

 

It's not a route for TSC, it's for Microsoft Train Simulator or OpenRails (the open source successor to MSTS).

 

Since this is MSTS, shouldn't this discussion move to the Off-Topic section?

And, no, the current state of TSC does not require a reversion to MSTS.

 

Ah so this is just a red herring as it pertains to TSC. How confusing!

 

The discussion was about TSC, but then it veered off to discuss some ancient simulator from decades ago. Have a look at the screenshots above and decide whether anymore of your life needs to be expended discussing MSTS (on a TSC board).

 

But what if that is the solution?

 

No need to be rude about it, was a harmless divergence. If the mods want to separate the bits regarding MSTS etc. into a separate OT thread sobeit. Without MSTS there wouldn't have been a Railworks/TSC, or TSW for that matter. It's an important part of train sim history.

 

You really need to take some valium. A couple of off topic posts, are not exactly impacting your life detrimentally.

 

Lets talk about Trainz!!!

 

There's a train in GTA V, does that count?

 

However, unlike GTA San Andreas, you can only drive it in specific missions.
I'm also not sure whether the implementation of the physics model is up to an "acceptable standard" for (some) TSC players.

 

There's also subways in some old DOOM wads, using texture cycling to simulate movement

 

If you really want to drive from Banbury Merton Street, it is included in Peter Goodearl's Wycombe Railway & Joint Line, though in that route the line doesn't go anywhere. It wasn't really on the S&MJ either, but there was a connection at the wonderfully named Cockley Brake Junction.

 

There is a mod that let's you freerome drive both passenger and freight trains in GTA V and also one for RDR2 too.

 

?....along the lines of "when in Rome...."?

 

Hmm, grammar Police...

But if you must know, I typed freeroam on my phone and it auto corrected it to freedom, I caught it before I hit post reply but putting roam gave me an auto correct of free rome I removed the space and missed the fact that it was rome and not roam.

There, hope you sleep better tonight knowing the full path and thought process of my faux pas.

 

Good idea. There is a sale until the 20th IIRC.