The simulators consist of route and session editors called Surveyor, and a Driver module that loads a route and lets the player operate and watch the trains run in either "DCC" mode, which simulates a bare-bones Digital Command Control (DCC) system for the simple stop-and-go of a basic model railway, or "CAB" mode, which simulates real-world physics and adds working cab controls.
The games emphasize themselves on inclusion of content, and all subsequent games following Trainz Community Edition would allow users to install 3rd-party rolling stock, scenery, routes, and other content under the .CDP file type.
In the route editor, Surveyor, the user can shape the landscape, paint with ground textures, lay tracks, and place buildings and roads. The user then operates the trains in Driver, either in free play, or according to a scenario called a Driver Session (previously called Scenarios in the early versions of Trainz, Ultimate Trainz Collection, and TRS2004) which can range in difficulty from beginner to expert. In CAB (cabin) mode the train physics are more sophisticated than in DCC mode; adding real-life considerations such as wheel slip on the rails; how the weight of the consist slows acceleration and deceleration. Any train can be given directions to be driven by the computer.
The simulators are supported by a large library of freeware assets which can be downloaded from the N3V servers, referred to as the Download Station (DLS). Unless users purchase a First Class Ticket with real money, download speeds for the DLS (both in Content Manager and directly through File Transfer Protocol on the Trainz website) are throttled, which tends to be a point of contention in the Trainz community. PaintShed is a simple program for aiding and easing the process of 'reskinning' traincars, altering their livery, by recoloring and adding new heraldry to Trainz locomotives and other rolling stock. The Content Manager (CM) module is a Windows program that allows management of the in-game database files. It was renamed under the name of Content Manager Plus (CMP) in TRS2006.
Trainz rolling stock assets were also used in a Microsoft Train Simulator expansion pack dubbed the "Regional Add-On Pack", which allowed users to drive locomotives used in Trainz in MSTS maps, with some locomotives being unused in the former altogether, such as an ATSF Dash 9, UP DD40AX, and a Penn Central GG1. Another add-on, "MSTS Paintshed", was basically a reskinned version of the Trainz Paintshed module, which allowed users to make reskins of the same templates found in Trainz Paintshed, and export them to MSTS. Both of these add-on releases were created by N3V, originally Auran at the time.
The first ever version of Trainz originally started life as a set of downloadable files in 2000, eventually becoming Trainz 0.9, which was a CD-ROM beta that was mailed to testers by Auran.
The Ultimate Trainz Collection, or UTC, was released on 26 November 2002 in North America as a 3-CD set including extra rolling stock, and a CD-ROM with TrainzScript-based scenarios and route map content based on Trainz 1.3 tech. This was the first edition to include the formerly separately retailed PaintShed program and support RailDriver,[1] as well as the first incorporating Trainz user developed freeware content as part of the release, some of which became Trainz staple content in TRS2004 et al. through current releases.
Trainz Railroad Simulator 2004 was the first version of Trainz to include interactive industries and loadable rolling stock capabilities, which allow the player to deliver various resources (such as coal, wood, and steel) and passengers to various industries and stations across the playable area. There were many industries included and much of the bundled rolling stock was updated to include this new dynamic loading and unloading animated capability with a corresponding load-state dynamic driving physics change in the handling of a consist. It was also the first version of the Trainz series to have built-in steam engines.
This edition was also the first to support downloadable fan-made content, such as characters, buildings and scenery from the popular Thomas & Friends franchise, which has since seen the birth of a massive community on YouTube involving users recreating episodes of the series using Trainz or creating their own original stories.
Trainz Railway Simulator 2006 (known as Trainz Railroad Simulator 2006 in the USA), or TRS2006, was a transitional release, incorporating the stable Auran JET based TRS2004 GUI modules with only some graphics improvements, but introducing the data base manager Content Manager Plus (CMP) as a new core technology. ContentManager.exe (now called just CM) combines data base management, and secure FTP upload and download facilities and special user definable filters all in one integrated system. By defining a good filter, the user could 'selectively not see' the clutter of regional items in the Surveyor asset selection menus saving user time when world building. This important filtering feature was further improved in Trainz 2009, becoming far more powerful and easier to use. In addition to these improvements, several new routes were included, such as Hawes Junction (representing a small section of the Settle and Carlisle Railway and serving as a demo for TC3), Toronto Rail Lands 1954 (representing Toronto's sprawling railyard in 1954), and Marias Pass Approach (representing the BNSF Marias Pass line between Shelby, Montana and Cut Bank, Montana and serving as a demo for the full Marias Pass payware route). TRS2006 was published in September 2005, and the base release with its single service pack formed the core of the regional releases (most are joint ventures with 'Trainz Partners' combining payware content provider's products with the base Trainz software) over the next four years until the introduction of new technologies in TC3 and TRS2009. In Germany, it was published by Bluesky-Interactive, as ProTrain Perfect.[citation needed]
Trainz Railroad Simulator 2007 (abbreviated as TRS2007) was the second release targeting a regional market distributed by Anuman Interactive for sale in France, Belgium and Switzerland.[7] There were initially two versions: the standard version which consisted of Trainz Railroad Simulator 2006 with Service Pack 1 applied, and the Gold edition, which included French regional add-on items.[8] Halycon Media later distributed Trainz Railroad Simulator 2007 with German region-specific content for the British, Austrian, and Swiss market.[9] This release version of TRS2007 was not available in American markets, though the Gold edition content was included in later games.
Trainz Classics, also abbreviated as TC (TC1, TC2, TC3), is a series of 3 standalone Trainz Railroad Simulator 2006 joint venture customizations put together by Auran and different professional providers of third party content. Unlike typical Trainz releases which feature a round-the-world sampling of content typical to different regions of the planet, the Trainz Classics versions feature a large railroad layout with plenty of special professionally written sessions exploiting the featured railroad. Trainz Classics 3 renewed evolution of the Trainz base technologies incorporating various changes to the older stable four-year-old data models resulting in the publication of a new .pdf file TC3 Content Creator's Guide.
TC1 focuses on the Metro-North Railroad's Harlem Line in the 2000s (due to EMD FL9 locomotives still being in service), TC2 focuses on a freelanced city called "Modula City", featuring European trams running in the city and to an island (a demo version was included with TRS2004). TC3 focuses on the famed Settle-Carlisle Line from Skipton to Carlisle in the late 1950s/early 1960s during the steam-diesel transition.
The content from Trainz Classics 1 and 2 were later released as built-content for TS2009 and TS2010, and can be downloaded from the DLS for all future games. Trainz Classics 3 was re-released as an expansion pack for all subsequent games as the Settle & Carlisle Route, with extra content added from the original release (some of the Mark 1 coaches in BR Blue were also included by default in these versions due to being used in the consists of trains on the built-in East Coast Main Line routes).
A version of Trainz Classics which included regional French content and staple content from previous games was also published by Anuman Interactive. This version of Trainz was built on the Trainz Classics interface which later paved the way for future Trainz releases.
Released in 2008, Trainz Simulator 2009 received the "World Builder Edition" name from its greatly improved Surveyor and graphics capabilities such as better terrain tools, quad detail and normal-mapped terrain, new stitched track modelling technique, a large collection of stock assets, and performance improvements to allow for higher detail trains, terrain, textures, and routes. It also introduced improved physics, Content Manager v2.0, new screenshot and video capture functions, user interface improvements, and an embedded web browser for easier community interaction.[10][11]
Trainz Simulator 2010, or TS2010, introduced improved graphics capabilities, Speedtree technology, an overhauled user interface, seasonal assets, and layer support in Surveyor.[12] TS2010 also introduced Native Mode, which allowed the game to harness new 64-bit processing, while retaining a Compatibility Mode for older 32-bit computer architectures and better performance with older routes and assets marked as "Faulty" due to stricter code enforcement..
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Trainz, N3V Games released a Trainz app for the iPad on 4 December 2010. Users can lay tracks, drive trains. Users have access to Driver and Surveyor and can create routes and drive trains with the help of tutorials. An Android version of the game was released on 22 July 2011 and has the same features as the iPad version. The app is a port of Trainz Simulator 2009.
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