Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #8933 in Digital Video Games
- Brand: N3V
- Model: 40711imulator 121
- Released on: 2011-06-09
- ESRB Rating: Everyone
- Platforms: Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows XP
- Format: Download
Features
- Feel what it's like to put your hands on the controls of powerful locomotives as they power through towns, cities and rolling countryside.
- Design and Build your own railroads with the versatile Surveyor editing tool and access hundreds of thousands of user-create assets from the Trainz Download Station.
- Share your enthusiasm with other rail fans as your combine your efforts to operate a working rail line in the new Trainz Multiplayer.
- Zoom all the way out to the altitude of a satellite to see more of your railroad.
- Backward compatible with TS2010 content.
Trainz Simulator 12 [Download]
Product Description
Trainz Simulator 12 includes the most exciting new feature in the history of Trainz. You guys asked for it, and now we have delivered! Players from all over the world can build, play and operate railroads together in this new and exciting experience!
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
35 of 37 people found the following review helpful.
By Norm Hartnett
I've gone back and forth with myself as to how many stars to give this, anywhere from three to five, but, in the end, I had to give it five stars since I have not been able to get through a single day since buying it without fooling with it. And that's over a period of three weeks!The game itself can be divided into two sections, the game engine and content. The game engine is the part made by N3V/Auran (a smallish Australian company) and consists of two sections also, the simulator and the layout creator. In the simulator you have the option of running the railroad engines as either a model railroad (DCC) or as prototype where you have the actual controls in an in cab view with realistic physics. (It will take a mile or two to stop.) In the layout creator (Surveyor)you can create your own layouts (Routes) and AI driven operations (Sessions). The Surveyor is one of the most powerful landscaping engines I've come across but is fairly easy to get your feet wet in. Following the manual (sort of) I had an operating railroad within minutes.Content is both the greatest strength and the weakest link of Trainz12 and why I debated the number of stars to give it. Trainz12 comes with several layouts covering almost every continent and many countries. America, the UK, Germany, China, Russia, it is amazing. But... all these are created by Trainz users and, while good, there are some frustrating flaws. N3V tests these and they are really quite good but... What is really amazing is the amount of user created stuff. One hundred and ninety thousand plus items (193504 as of this writing)! You can create anything from horse drawn trams through steam engines (wood, coal, or oil fired) through electric (third rail, trolley, or catenary) through diesel to maglev. You can add animated people, animals, buildings, including automated industrial operations, rail cars load people, coal, wood, etc and deliver them. There is virtually no limit to how big your layout can be there are folks working on layouts that are hundreds of miles long! Not scale miles (although that is possible too) but full on real miles with all that implies in terms of scenery.But... with such a volume of items it can be very frustrating trying to determine which things you need for your layout, to find them, and get them in the game. Further complicating the situation is that the game has undergone many revisions over the ten years it has been in production and resources that worked in earlier games may (or may not) work in the newest version. N3V has kept them in the database for the use of folks who prefer the older games which has to be a plus. Also frustrating is that straight out of the box (download) the game informed me that there were in excess of 300 updates. All well and fine but N3V bandwidth limits the download speed unless you purchase a "First Class Ticket", this is not overly expensive but it is irritating. The game plays perfectly fine without the updates but they do address some minor flaws that I mentioned above. Furthermore if you want to download any more content, such as new routes, sessions, engines, rolling stock, etc etc the wait can be agonizing.If you are one of those folks that wished they could buy the house next door for your train layouts this IS the game for you! If you are a game modder or 3D modeler this game will challenge you and give you the ability to create new content for a new (or old) world. There is a huge international community at Auran dot com who will help you and give you advice. Check out the screenshots section, many of the screenshots are difficult to distinguish from real life!If you are a hardcore model train geek I'd recommend going ahead and buying this now, if you are a dabbler I'd recommend purchasing Trainz 2010 also available here at Amazon at 20 dollars less. (You will probably end up owning both. Note, Trainz12 is very demanding on computers. You can dial down the resolution, draw distance, and other things to achieve playability.)Got to go now, I'm running a 4-6-2 Pacific passenger train over the Mojave Sub Division from Mojave to Bakersfield. :)
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful.
By awaken
Trainz Simulator 12 [Download]I'd say it is not a game - it is kind of constructor, where you can build railroad of you dream from ground up.I was in trainsimming since 2001, when Microsoft Train Simulator was released. I not just played it, but also developed 3D models of locomotives and other rolling stock, scenery objects, trees, etc.In Trainz 12 you can do everything - build scenery, layout tracks, run trains, and develop some dispatcher's activities. So, the game may cater to very different categories of the users - those, who enjoying to build virtual railroads, those who like to drive trains using realistic cab controls, and those who dreams to be a train dispatcher in the control tower, to give orders to trains and drivers.Driving trains in Trainz 12 could be very realistic, with scripted locomotive models, which allows every lever , button and switch in the cab to be operated. Scripting allows to model builders make every little things in the rolling stock to be animated: doors, windows, fans, wipers, whatever. Also, it is possible to build locomotive with full interior , to walk inside, using free camera, and manipulate various switches and control boards.Some users with programming skills, could extend the game to impossible levels of realism, using embedded programming language TrainzScript (which syntax is similar to Java and/or C++)The only drawback is performance with certain routes: huge routes with detailed scenery and lot of objects, could be slow to load.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
By Michael J. Andress
TS 12 is a simulator. TS12 is a SIMULATOR. TS12 IS A SIMULATOR.TS 12 is not a game.Why the emphasis on simulator - because that is what this software product does and does superbly; simulate the operation of a train.If one knows little to nothing about trains and how they operate, the details about how to move them safely from one point to another and nothing about how to actually drive a modern disel locomotive, a not so modern diesel locomotive or a classic steam locomotive and one wants to know one will after diving into this software. TS12 is a simulator.Getting tired of hearing that TS12 is a simulator yet? Good! Because if you are a gamer and want to jump in and drive a train from somewhere to somewhere else and get a reward for it or points for completing a mission or become a hero engineer then forget it because that is not what TS12 is about. You can hop into a train and go sight seeing if you wish and that can be a fun to a relaxing exercise. Yep - what every gamer is looking for.TS12 is a simulator and a darn good one.That said TS12 has issues. Graphics are dated - 2010 quality at best. In a town, in a large train yard with minimal activity and even a high end graphics card can get bogged down by a gamer's standards. SD texture vegetation are interlocked planes and those planes show and are ugly.Auran brags on its 242 page enhanced manual. They shouldn't. There's not a lot of information in it. You'll get most of what you learn about operating a train from 4 very well put together and downright interesting and fun tutorials. Too bad the rest of TS12 content doesn't meet the same standard. The rest of the manual covers how to build routes and create sessions. If creating content is your thing and you seriously want to do it for Trainz - plan on divorcing your wife, andoning your kids and shooting your dog because you won't have time for anything else. The learning curve for using the development side of the simulator is the steepest of any I've used in over 30 years of gaming, scenario development, map building etc. Don your detective hat when trying to figure it all out because you are going to need it.And finally - don't buy the marketing hype about the 100,000+ user submissions and all the content available for download. Oh - it's out there at various places, mostly on the publisher's site but much of it was/is produced by rank amateurs who get the big picture but can't be bothered with details and in TS12 the devil is in the details. TS12 depends on a massive database which must be up to date for user produced content to work the way it is intended to work. Uh huh...I've been downloading what I considered would be interesting content for about 3 weeks or so now. Not one has come across without MISSSING DEPENDENCIES, Dependencies, dependencies... What are dependencies? They are the assets, graphics, scripts etc that make the independently developed content work. Problem is if the developer uses assets not available on Auran's Download station then you've got to hunt them down on your own. Good Luck with that. The process can run from being nigh unto impossible to as easy as a quick google search and grabbing it. I won't even discuss broken dependencies, faulty dependencies, dependencies with errors, obsolete dependencies - shall I go on? No! Let's not.There are some quality 3rd party content vendors for Trainz DLC - if DLC is what you want - and you will if you like Trainz - then that's the route I would recommend.In summary - if you are into hard core simulations (real sims not games disguised as sims) and you have an interest in RailRoading then Trainz may be for you. If you are a gamer then run, run and don't look back.
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