So with this new sim by Kuju, what is the bottom line? I mean, I see that there is already repaints available, am I correct? Also, if I could just get some really valuable answers to some of my questions, I'd be VERY appreciative!!

1.On the average computer, how are the frames? (My computer can run all the SLI Seligman with the sliders maxxed out and two full SLI consists passing eachother in outside view with about 21-22 FPS on average...I know thats not a good asessment of my computer but lots of you guys should be able to relate.)

2.Is there any superelevation on the curves? Could there be? (unlike MSTS )

3.How are the sounds?

thats all for now...I figure those are the 3 most important things for me to look for in the new sim and in that order. I am not an avid gamer, but I do love trains! Thanks guys!

-Rich

On my laptop (HP Pavilion 5500), with default graphics settings...straight out of the box, no tweaking....I get between 17 and 28 FPS, depending upon the viewpoint and what is being viewed.


Not that I can notice.


Any answer to this question must be an opinion, so please bear in mind that this is mine:-
They are thin, weak, pathetic and basically woeful.

I run MSTS Shuswap or Cascade or Feather River and I hear a railroad in operation.
I run Rail Simulator Cajon Pass and hear a mixture of default MSTS and Trainz.

BK

Hey BK,

Thanks for the response...I am not sure of the specs on my computer...Right now I also only have a laptop. This is primarily because I am over in Korea at the time so the real computer is at the house. I don't imagine your laptop is much different than mine. I have a HP Pavilion dv9720us (which I JUST bought about a month ago) and although it says it has a Nvidia graphics card and I guess dual processors, it seems to only play MSTS decently. On the other hand, MSTS is also quite old and I have found that newer games with higher detail seem to run better...Odd... Anyways, as far as the sound, it seems so hard for the companies to get it right. MSTS 2 seems to have it right. If there were more flanges squealing and flat spots sounds coming from random cars I think it would be as good as it could get! Thats just my opinion though. Seems as if regular train simmers are not too happy with this new KRS...I still would like to give it a shot. MSTS was nothing compared to its current state when it made its debut. At least it could be upgraded!
One more thing, I went to the railsim website and looked around for the demo of KRS. Does anybody know if that demo can still be had? I really want to try it out before making the big decision. Maybe running MSTS is the best I will be able to have for the rest of this year....Oh well! Still though, I'd really like to try the demo if its still available....

-Rich

Nevermind...I hate when I find the answer 5 seconds after I ask the freakin question! Damn!

-Rich

My old PC runs RS fine, and my new one makes RS look and run fantastic. However, I installed RS to my son's Toshiba laptop, and RS wouldn't even start. FWIW, if your laptop or PC only has on-board video, you're likely not to get the sim to run at all.

Cheers!
Marc

My son has a new laptop, a Dell something-or-other with all the bells and whistles, and RS runs as smooth as silk.......better than on my HP.
So it looks as if it's one of those "suck it and see" situations for those of us who own laptops.

I have one acquaintance who also installed it to his laptop and it has a most peculiar graphical effect: it has a "heartbeat".
Over a period of maybe a second or so the frame rate cycles from a low of (say) 20 fps up to a high of 32 fps and then repeats, over and over and over, constantly. Doesn't matter what viewpoint is used.
It's quite odd to watch!

So my suggestion would be to ensure that you can return the product if it does not perform to expectations.

BK

Matter of taste I suppose, for me it sounds better, looks better, and runs smoother than MSTS. In general, as already noted there are some shortcuts like both US diesels sounding more like an out of tune lawnmower. But I have an onboard Sigmatel sound module, who knows what I'd hear with a real sound card.

Superelevation, none in the game. Yet. Think they started to add it but didn't finish, could be a possibility in the future.

very interesting!

I downloaded the demo last night. Hard to tell if it would be any good on this computer or not. I ran the default consist and with the sliders set to default settings my computer was registering 28-35 FPS...On the other hand, when I gradually slid the sliders to maxxed out, the FPS only dropped to anywhere from 16-24 FPS!!! For some reason, although the frames were at the numbers they were, the sim was still very jerky! I don't know why that is! Has anyone else had the same problem? The sim, running clearer and more smooth than that may have been pretty enjoyable. Just wondering...I heard of some patch! Is there a solution? I would like to know before I make such a purchase!

-Rich

I've generally had better results with the full retail version than the demo. I noticed the same issue you did with the demo, but thankfully I don't seem to notice it with the retail version.

I have mixed feedback on the sound. I agree that the recordings could have been done better, and that there probably were some shortcuts. I think you'll see improvement in this area as time progresses and more developers release content. I disagree that it's not any better than MSTS. The framework itself seems far better. Your wheel flanges actually squeal as you go through a curve. You could close your eyes and still know when you're going over a switch or bridge.

As far as I'm concerned, some of the community is going to feel obligated to stick with MSTS due to the far greater amount of available content. I don't see that as a good reason to pass up on KRS. Time will lead to more content. I'm still rather content running MSTS. But, I'm also forward looking enough to want to evaluate KRS for myself, and see what might be possible with the sim. So far, I'm very interested in the possibilities.

Wow, now doesnt this sound familure, Kuju putting out a unfinished product. And did i read someone was hoping for an update? Arnt we still waiting for them to finish MSTS1 That never got fixed? Thank god for Bin and TS2.

Am I surprised? Not really. But I would also not call it unfinished, since super elevated track isn't a required feature. It would be nice, but isn't something I'm going to miss either.

The latest offerings from MLT provide a suite of sound effects that include flange-squeal.
In fact, if you run Cascade or Shuswap straight out of the box, so to speak, the sound package overwhelms the EA/KRS effort.

The more that I have used this new sim the more it reminds me of the Trainz series and the sound "framework" is, to all intents and purposes, identical.
And that is not meant as a compliment; Trainz users waited for improvements for several years, in vain.

Please don't take these comments as being a total bagging of RS.
It has potential but, after such a long gestation, I am disappointed in the product that EA/Kuju have given us.
At the moment I see it as little more than yet another in the Trainz sequence. The cab-interior graphics, many aspects of the in-game functions, the Scenarios, the setting-up of consists and drivers, the editing suite......they have all been seen before in the various iterations of Auran's product.
In fact, if RS had been produced by Auran it would no doubt be named "Trainz 2008"

BK

Haven't run Cascade in quite some time ... I'll certainly give it an honest comparison the next time I'm in there.

KRS is indeed very Trainz-esque, but it's also an improvement over Trainz 2006, which was the only other sim I've run. I have to agree with you on the "Trainz 2008" comment - you're absolutely dead on with that. KRS / Trainz uses a rather visual interface and style, but it's also very time consuming for making longer trains. Even with MSTS there were a few hoops to jump through with the AE, thankfully we have Conbuilder and other wonderful utilities. I just hope there's a nice API that will allow for some interesting possibilities for third party utilities.

I just hate to see people call software "unfinished" - I've been a programmer for about seven years now. Trust me, there's no such thing as finished. I'm always thinking about the things I'd like to do as I build new applications, but I also have to realize I won't make any progress if I don't set things aside for future versions. You're also pressured to meet deadlines. Because of that, there's always going to be some things that won't make a version, and things you might start but don't have time to finish.

I feel obligated to jump into these types of discussions simply because I know it's beneficial for the developers. Threads like this are always full of ideas, concerns, complaints, and can really help spark some new ideas for programmers. So, that's where I'm coming from.

Some of the team who worked on Trainz also had a hand, later, in creating Rail Simulator, Andy.
Thus the reason behind the close similarity between the two.

I have also worked in the IT business (not as a programmer, however) and completely agree with you about "unfinished" software.
By its very nature, software development is dynamic and always open to improvement.

BK

Sorry but that's a rumour that's been debunked by RSadam, no member of the Trainz team ever worked for Kuju on Rail Simulator. The fact that RS has some elements similar to Trainz has more to do with the melding of ideas from all the rail simulators which I would have thought would have been natural whether the implementation is better or not.

John

Sure.

BK

I see at least one add on loco which includes improved sound files. Does this mean that the sound issue is not that big a deal? We have seen wonderful sound enhancements for MSTS over the years. As long as KRS sound can be augmented, maybe the sound issue doesn't eliminate the sim from serious consideration?

Sounds like somebody is telling porkies.

Anyway that does not exactly cover all bases ( ex-members of the Trainz Team ).

If they did ( and I don't necessarily believe it ), then I would be interested to know who they were. Anyone prepared to name names ?

John

I ran it on a cheap machine with Nvidia 6150 onboard graphics, which is below the list of supported chips. It ran ok with the sliders down, and looked a bit better than MSTS, but nothing to get hysteric about. Now I have a Intel dual core at 2.67 GHz, 3GB RAM (677MHz), Nvidia 8600GTS 512MB graphics card, SATA II harddisk, ExtremeMusic soundcard. With everything maxed out it runs great and looks great. I do get framerates in the low 20ies in some cases, but most of the time it is much more - I do not look at the figure too much, it looks nice and that is what I want to have. Of course, if you fly to some remote place as fast as you can, it will take several seconds until all the scenery is loaded.


I would not bet a cent on it. It was planned, there is a field with that name, but superelevated switches are a bit hard to calculate geometry-wise, and the have not yet succeeded in rendering switches right in all cases - if the track distance is small (as in UK), then often the display shows a piece of diverging rail welded to the guiderails, so in the prototype you would not get through this junction, but of course, it is only a graphics issue and nothing happens if you go through such a switch. But it looks ugly. They have a long list of other things to fix, so my guess is they will get to superelevation on doomsday plus/minus a week.


Mixed. The framework for them is a bit better than in MSTS. I am no expert in sounds, so I cannot tell you exactly by how much it is better, but there is certainly no chance-over between different sound recordings at fixed RPM, as in MSTS steam engines.

Obviously, the developers did not take as much care with the recordings as some enthusiasts (payware and freeware) do.