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Hello All:I've recently purchased a new computer, and with it comes the possibility of it handling MS Train Simulator (with the addition of a more powerful vid card). However, I'm really not sure what MSTS is and does. Obviously, it simulates the world of trains... but how does it do this?Does one actually run a simulated train, make meets and passes, perform switching work, etc, with this sim? In otherwords, can you immerse yourself into a virutual cab and the sim be used as if you were an engineer on a railroad... OR does it more replicate the model railroad aspect of train interest? (i.e. You have an exterior vantage and watch the train you are controlling/operating.)Perhaps there's a website that can take a total TS idiot, and walk him through what the sim can and can't do? BTW, yes, I've liked trains all my life and also am a "sometimes" model railroader, etc. Can't remember when I didn't like trains.I'll let you guess which prototype RR was my favorite."Coonskin" aka Andre Ming
Welcome aboard, Coonskin. To answer some of your questions: >Does one actually run a simulated train, make meets and passes, >perform switching work, etc, with this sim? In otherwords, can you >immerse yourself into a virutual cab and the sim be used as if you >were an engineer on a railroad... OR does it more replicate the >model railroad aspect of train interest? (i.e. You have an exterior >vantage and watch the train you are controlling/operating.)The Microsoft Train Simulator (MSTS)really does allow you to run a simulated train, with your choice of either immersed in the cab or watching from trackside. There are also views with your head hanging out of the cab window, or riding the caboose, or aboard a passenger car. The virtual cab of the locomotive is often a close representation of the matching prototype. The simulation can be pretty realistic; it is also possible to mishandle the train and cause a wreck.The website here has several 'FAQ' topics which will help you to get your train moving. As you develop more skills, there are more things you can tackle. There are a large number of different locomotives, cars, trackside scenery objects, and whole routes constructed either to matchg a specific prototype, or a fanciful freelance.As for the 'Coonskin', there are a number of Frisco cars and locomotives available here for download. Locomotive 1522 is expected soon, as well.Again, welcome aboard. Dan
Thanks Dan.My current machine has Windows XP, a 1.3 Ghz Celeron, onboard D3D compatible video, DX sound compatible, 128 megs of RAM. Think it can handle MSTS?Aw shoot... think I'll just go down to Wal Mart and buy a copy and find out.Andre Ming
Howdy Coonskin!Welcome to MSTS! You'll find all kinds of wonderful info here in the forums.Personally, I think one of the best things about MSTS is its flexibility. Part of the fun is adding new locos, cars, scenery, etc.. and driving them. You'll see there are oodles of very very talented people contributing here.Welcome, welcome.Enjoy.GaryH
Hi again, Andre. Actually, sounds like you have a faster machine than I do; Mine is a Celeron 700 with Windows ME. One thing most users have found out is that MSTS is very demanding of Video Cards. Most of the experts recommend AGP video with at least 64MB of memory. I'm not sure what the specs are on your on-board video, maybe you can find out from the manufacture's documentation or at their website. A lot of guys are using GeForce or Nvidia cards, there have been some problems reported with Radeon or Voodoo cards. You might think about adding some more RAM, too. With 128MB, you might want to limit any other programs running in the background while you use MSTS. 256MB of RAM would ease that concern a little. But your Machine should do well enough to at least find out if you like MSTS. There are lots of add-on programs here, and some on the official Microsoft Web Site. One you might think about pretty quick would be the official MicroSoft 'Patch' to upgrade MSTS. Fixes some bugs in the program, for example the locomotive front couplers were difficult to use during switching. Again, welcome to the Forum. Dan
Yikes, I thought this was a draft notice! I'm too old to go thru that again! Hmmm, so you wanna know if it's worth the dough, hey? I think so, and all the add-ons and hacks that come from the wild eyed fanatics around here make it even better. The file library is full of stuff that microsoft/kuju didn't even think of, so you'll probably need a bigger hard disk. I've been playing computer games since computer games were first invented, and the first-person perspective of "you are there" virtual reality has always been my favorite type of game. Flight simulators and first-person shooters/role playing games have been around for a long time, but a trainsim was always missing. I even tried to learn how to program about 15 years ago so I could make my own train simulator game, never had a day's luck with it tho. The answer to all your questions is yes. You can operate like a model railroad, if you're into exploring routes with a fast passenger train you can do that, you can turn on simplified controls and disable derailments, or turn off the automatic fireman and try to stoke it to keep the steam pressure up and keep the fusable plugs from melting all by yourself. You can play like my youngest son does crashing Thomas the tank engine into Gordon on the Seaview route, or do switching and peddler freight operations on the Port Ogden and Northern like I do. That sounds like what you're interested in, man after my own heart, so that's what I'll describe. Nobody ever accused me of being a man of few words, but since a picture is worth a thousand words, I'll just use a bunch of pictures! Front cabview, default GP-38, starting in the coalmine. Like all my activities this one starts with the engine only, you want to pull a train somewhere you gotta put it together yourself. Left window cabview. Right window cabview. This is one MS/KUJU missed, they had a head-out view for the steamers, but not the diesels. One of our guys came up with this hack. There's no multiplayer, unfortunately, but there can be AI traffic trains in the activities. They don't live up to their "Artificial Intelligence" label tho, so activity designers have quite a challenge trying to get them to actually behave intelligently. Once you start picking up cars and adding them onto the train, it can get rather long, so if you insist on the purity of viewing only from the engine, backing downhill around curves across bridges can get a little hairy. So I cheat and change to one of the external views, then zoom in-rotate-pan down and around until I have a sort of "brakeman riding the last car" view for coupling on. There's a few things about helpers that aren't very realistic, like the drivers on the steam helpers still slipping when the player engine is digging in after turning on the sanders, but the physics are fairly good otherwise, and it's hard to get up some grades without them. I'll take a Dash 9 to go, with 6,000 extra horses and a side of fries!Most of the screenshots you'll see on this forum are external views, but that's mostly because the trains are so pretty to look at. Some of the add-on engines come with their own cabview, and there are replacement cabviews for the default engines too.
