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zhivago47 (7 posts)
May-12-02, 11:44 PM (EDT) "Question from a Newbie!" This has probably been answered 100 times but since I am new to MTS, bought it yesterday, and love it, please bear with me on these questions.....and by the way, hope this is the correct message area......if not I apologize...
1. Is there any other way to create a consist other than the way it has to be done now? Is there a program out there that makes it easier......(It is so much easier in Trainz), but so far I prefer MTS.....Very confusing the way it has to be done now!2. I have already downloaded several engines from a number of sites and am having trouble using them because they are missing the cabs and sound files.......I keep getting errors....Wouldn't it be easier for all if the designers would add them to the creation? And please, this is not a criticism....what I have seen so far is awesome, you guys are really good and make some great trains.....What I need to know is how to correct this problem so I can use your engines! Is there only certain cabs that will go with certain engines....I tried copying some other cabs into the folder but didn't work! And please I am not a program genius......my specialty is computer repair, but I am a wannabe creator (if I could just understand what a layer is and how it works.......sorry, went off on a tangent there)!3. Is there a program out there that will make it possible for a graphic nincompoop to create an engine much easier than the one supplied with MTS......that one has me totally lost! I would even settle for a program where I could just repaint one I have and use it myself.......Thanks,Tim Hunter"oh, that I were 20 years younger......then I would be a young dumbass instead of an old, well, you know what I mean......." Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
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Subject Author Message Date ID RE: Question from a Newbie! Gandalf May-13-02 1 RE: Question from a Newbie! zhivago47 May-13-02 2 RE: Question from a Newbie! darkfyre May-13-02 3 RE: Question from a Newbie! zhivago47 May-13-02 6 RE: Question from a Newbie! Gandalf May-13-02 5 RE: Question from a Newbie! zhivago47 May-13-02 7 RE: Question from a Newbie! johnf May-13-02 4

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Gandalf (196 posts)
May-13-02, 00:15 AM (EDT) 1. "RE: Question from a Newbie!" Welcome, Tim!In answer to your questions:1: There is a utility on this sight called "Conbuilder" (You can find it in the file library section...Link is at bottom of page). It's a great little program that will allow you to create consists outside of MSTS. It also will check your files to be sure they are complete and tell you where any problems are. Conbuilder will also automatically "alias" sounds and cabs from any of your locos to any of your locos, but I would recomend becoming a little more familiar with how this is done manually before using it too much...I've had some strange results come out of Conbuilder's alias feature.2: Check the readme files for the stuff you've downloaded. Just about everybody will tell you what sound and cab files you will need to use with their creations. Then all you have to do is copy and paste the Cabview and Sound folders into your new loco's folder. The only disadvantage this system has over the aliasing system is the Harddrive space required for the cab and sounds...which brings us to the next question. Most developers don't include sound and cabviews because they are so large. A complete loco with sound and cab included can easily top 20MB!3> In order to create new models for MSTS, you must use a #D modeling program whichwill export in a format MSTS will recognize. Right now, your choices are limited to:1. 3D Studio Max which is very powerful and flexible, but VERY expensive, and extremely complicatd (so I hear...I've never actually used it).2. Abacus Trainsim Modeler which is a very user freindly program, reasonably proced (around $40 US), and downloadable from the Abacus sight. I use this for all my modeling for MSTS.3. 3D Canvas which is also a very userfriendly program. It is available for download on the internet (I don't know exactly where, but if you search the forums on this sight for 3D Canvas, you should be able to find it) It costs about the same as Trainsim modeler. From what I understand, it is a little bit more flexible in it's abilities and has some more powerful modeling tools available. Again, I haven't personally used it.You can repaint your rolling stock (and just about everything else in MSTS) with a graphics editor and a Nifty little utlity called TGA Tool. TGA tool will convert the .ace files (The format MS/Kuju used to compress their graphics files) into regular bitmap files which you can edit with any graphics editor..even MSPaint! I would recomend using something a little bit more robust like Paintshop pro, if you can afford it, however. TGA Tool is available from http://fly.to/mwgfx/.Hope this answers some of your questions! PLease feel free to ask, there are a lot of great people on this sight who will help you out. You can also use the "search" funtion in the forums to find answers to a lot of questions. If you need more specific help in any of these areas, please feel free to email me...jjc123@msn.com. Welcome to the wide, wonderful and often weird world of MSTS. John Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
zhivago47 (7 posts)
May-13-02, 01:14 AM (EDT) 2. "RE: Question from a Newbie!" Thanks John, that was very insightful.....I have downloaded the programs you suggested....I have Photoshop7 so that will help I guess and I will look for the others you mentioned...I really appreciate it....And I do understand the size thing...I have only had the game one day and already my MTS directory is getting very large......I may have to get rid of some junk eventually.......I don't have a real large hard drive.....but I think this game is worth it......Haven't got much into the activities as yet.....heck, I like just running the trains in explore the routes mode.......I always wanted a train set and couldn't find room for it.....who knew I would have one on my desktop?
I have trainz, as well, but I like this game better and it runs much smoother......I have a pretty good computer but still Trainz runs sluggish........
Again, thanks John......What a remarkable site here and the forums are excellent........I don't think I have seen such excellent forums since the old Hockey ones I used to be a part of......Tim Hunter"Displaced Yankee"
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darkfyre (245 posts)
May-13-02, 01:15 PM (EDT) 3. "RE: Question from a Newbie!" LAST EDITED ON May-13-02 AT 01:16 PM (EDT)Hmm? A train simulator running sluggish?Could be a number of things...-When was the last time you ran ScanDisk/Disk Defragmenter? It may also be a good idea to run Disk Cleanup..-How long has your comp been running? (hey, even with the best case/cpu fans..)-How much space is left on your drive? (well, i got 15-20% of my drive space left, MTS still runs fine)-What kind of video card you got?-How much RAM do you have? (I recommend at least 256 MB..I have 128 but my comp keeps running out of memory)-By 'good computer', I assume you have at least an 800MHz Pentium III?-Check the graphics settings on your train simulator. You may want to change a few details.
Hauling cars is fun; but crashing them is even better.

-Darkfyre Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
zhivago47 (7 posts)
May-13-02, 11:30 PM (EDT) 6. "RE: Question from a Newbie!" I am running a Dell Pentium III in Windows XP with 386MB Ram, have two hard drives, with about 20mb of empty space, have a TNT Riva 2 graphics card with 32mb on that, and I shut down everything when I run the program........MSTS runs great......no problems and I have it set to the highest standards........Trainz runs ok, but not as well as MSTS......I think the requirements there are a lot higher.........I am not knocking Trainz......It is a nice program, but I prefer MSTS......if they would just make it easier to do consists like they do in Trainz........
Anyway, thanks for the info and reply........Day three and I still can't get away from the game.......good grief, maybe I shouldn't have bought it.......good thing I am a disabled vet with time on my hands......Tim Hunter"Old enough to know better, but young enough to not give a ....."
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Gandalf (196 posts)
May-13-02, 05:12 PM (EDT) 5. "RE: Question from a Newbie!" No problem, Tim. I have got my share of help from people on this sight and am happy to jump in when I can help someone else.As far as Trainz running slow...I discovered that it runs much better in DirectX rather than Open GL on my system. Also, if you set the refresh rates in your Trainz configuration screen, Advanced options so that both horizontal and vertical are at "Auto", you'll get a performance boost.John Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
zhivago47 (7 posts)
May-13-02, 11:34 PM (EDT) 7. "RE: Question from a Newbie!" Thanks for all your help John.......I have decided to take Trainz off my computer for now and just run MSTS........nothing against the program, but can't play both at once so I will take the one I prefer......Again, you have been a great help......Tim Hunter"Just an old man playing with trains!"
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johnf (370 posts)
May-13-02, 03:48 PM (EDT) 4. "RE: Question from a Newbie!" LAST EDITED ON May-13-02 AT 03:49 PM (EDT)hey what a great answer, gandalfJohn Fowlis
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