Trainz Simulator 2009: World Builder Edition

Review from Starks - Tuesday, 03 March 2009 @ 8:38am

As a child, my interest in steam trains dates back to a Cubs trip I took with my father, where he got me onboard the 3801; A steam engine of great renown in the Australian steam history. At age 4, seeing this giant green machine, which hissed steam and bellowed black soot at a station is one I’ll never forget. Coupled with the roar of a passing engine at high speed, along with the ‘chugga chugga, chugga chugga, chugga chugga WOOO WOOOOOO!’ and from an early age I had a slight obsession with trains.

Frankly, if watching the following YouTube clip doesn’t send a small chill of childish abandon down your spine, then you’re more robot than human...

*sigh* All that’s missing is its whistle.

In any case, the love of trains of all types, both diesel, steam and electric, not to mention the rail systems themselves, is one that is a worldwide fascination, and not restricted just to the shores down under. Never the less, the Aussie developers Auran have, for about 8 or 9 years now, been quietly producing a train simulator that has gained world wide recognition as one of the best produced.

Since Microsoft Train Simulator will no longer be released, as Ensemble Studio’s has been shut, Auran’s Trainz remains the only simulator of its kind left and has not disappointed with its 2009 new release.

Not bad for a company that’s been financially crippled since the release of Fury.

What’s even more impressive is that Trainz Simulator 2009 is going to have two installments; the World Builders Edition, which is what I have, and the Engineers Edition, which is to be released later this year. The former, which holds the Surveyor function, is aimed more at those who desire to create content, and the latter is aimed at those who simply wish to drive trains and does not have the Surveyor functionality.

Anyways, I was impressed with the in-game images that were loaded to Auran’s site, and during the install did a bit of reading of the forums and the like. The depth to the game is quite staggering, with a lot of the physics, mechanics and workings of trains built into the simulator. Reading about how they implemented things such as air pressure brakes to react in as real a way as possible, down to the train driver being forced to understand and correctly adjust the water and steam levels in order to keep enough boiler pressure to keep the engine running at its peak performance.

Add to this the complexity of gradients, which cause slippage, and sanding, a concept that sees the driver and the fireman halt the train to sand the rails in order to get traction and prevent the steam engine from slipping back down the hill or ‘free-wheeling’, and I began to appreciate just how complicated it must have been trying to operate one of these steam locomotives. Truly, it makes you marvel at the skill set of those who worked the rail system.

Oooh, lots of buttons...

After installing the game, I decided to first give the content manager a go and try to install some ‘Aussie’ rolling stock and locomotives into the game in order to make it a more familiar scene. This was when I encountered some of my first problems. Once I had found a download of the C38 class, I had some difficulty installing it to the actual game as content. A few posts on the Auran forum saw this problem overcome, only to be faced with ‘corruption’ issues, or incompatibilites between the files on the content manager and the game itself.

I’ve since been trying to solve this problem, but my knowledge in the matter is limited and I have read that some of the content made by earlier Trainz Simulators, such as the ’04 or ’06 releases, is not totally compatible. Whilst this was a bummer, I did manage to download some new routes and the like, and decided to give the game a go.

I opened Trainz and jumped into the Surveyor mode. As someone wishing to design their own model railroad for my back room, I thought this would be a good practice at putting one together. This is where Auran’s title comes into its own. From the incredible range of textures for the ground, to the ability to change gradients, the capability to create interactive industries and stations, all the way to designing your own fictional or prototypical line, Auran has accommodated almost everyones needs. It is quite possible, in my humble opinion, to be able to replicate almost any, if not all, railway lines found in the world.

Require snow for the Russian winter? Easy. Need to include winding mountain railways? Done with a few clicks. Want to build a completely fictional line with lots of bridges, that is 1000km long, with hundreds of train stops and lots of coal sidings? Simply a case of 'Have you got the time?' as it is all able to be done in the Surveyor function. A truly amazing tool.

Landscaping abilities even Jamie Durie would die for.

While I found the camera a tad counter-intuitive, and indeed it didn’t scroll out far enough for my own liking (i.e. I didn't get a satisfactory 'birds eye view' of my prototype... Well, not to my liking, anyway) in order to build line from a more preferred height, the Surveyor mode is like a graphical CAD tool. You're able to go to great detailed lengths, or just design something you wish to use as shunting practice. I found very few limits to the Surveyor function and couldn’t help but admire the detail and length that they have gone to in order to give the enthusiast a sandbox of endless potential. Because, frankly, that is what it is – A gigantic sandbox with the functionality to boot.

About my only gripe is that, unlike some other track designer programs, such as XTrkCAD, it didn’t have as precise a drawing nature as one would probably like. However, the graphical interface and the fact that it a route designer for the game that can double as a modelling tool means such versatility would be more a feather in its cap than something the game actually sets out to achieve. I suppose the benefit of including so much versatility is that you can accomplish with some proficiency functions you didn't initially set out to achieve.

Moving on to the Railyard, and as far as I could tell it really was just a showcase for all the engines you possess in the game. Whatever you download, or wish to run, can be viewed here whether it be rolling stock or locomotives. Nothing huge, but a nice plus if you want to have a look at your engine without worrying where you’re going or if you’re going to be late.

Keep rollin' rollin' rollin rollin'...

Driver is where the joy of the game is. If Surveyor is the nuts and bolts, Driver is the shine and shizz-nit. Seriously, there’s nothing like jumping in a steam engine, shovelling some coal in the fire box and pulling on the whistle. Abso-bloody-lutely fantastic!! I don’t know how many times I jumped in a train, got her up to high speed, went to external camera and watched as she flew along. Of course, I’d often derail the engine as I’d be doing 65mph in a 35mph zone, but I think the in-game teenagers were doing something to the tracks to cause the issue; My driving was fine.

All jokes aside, this is really what the game is about. From the careful creation of a prototype or route, to actually running the line you have created gave me immense satisfaction. Granted, my little line consisted of three stations, a coal mine and was simply a giant oval with some mountains and a tunnel, but that’s what it’s all about really – Creating, building, tweaking then enjoying.

The main premise of the 'enjoying' is fulfilling what are called 'waybills' or services; Essentially, completing the basic purpose of a train - Taking goods too and fro, delivering raw materials to a primary industry, shunting to help make more room or supply trucks to other trains, running passenger / goods / mail services - There really is an endless variety of prospects to complete. Always at the forfront of driving is the fact that you need to integrate with all the other services being run at the time; Adherring to speed signs, adherring to lights, watching for signals, complying with orders, giving way to express trains - All things a real train driver would have to be aware of in real life. For those with a 3 second attention span, this may seem boring, but for people who love trains, or enjoy simulators that require a degree of patience, preparation and forethinking, this is really fun stuff.

After running my line for a while, I went back and added a little bit. Made it a bit more complex, put some more engines in it and tried again. I was overjoyed, literally, as I would fly past a station to see another train shunting some coal trucks and a third going in the opposite direction with an express passenger train. The satisfaction in making a running, working and semi-accurate route was a good deal more than I expected. Below is some footage, not from my route, showing the scenary and cab of a diesel in the Banks Heath Scenario. It will help to give you an idea of how the trains are worked by the player, the scenery (although the vid doesn't do the graphics justice) and the scope of the game.

So what are the downfalls?

Good question, and no game is perfect. This specific edition of Trainz, while comprehensive, lacks enough tutorials to actually allow you the ability to learn how to drive at an advanced level. This may not be entirely the fault of this specific edition, as the aim of WBE is for content creation, and Engineers Edition, to be released, is designed with drivers in mind. Even so, while the tutorials present give you enough to get some steam engines moving and going at a fast pace, I did get stuck trying to get a ‘Big Boy’ moving.

Although I understand that the technical operations are different from train to train, I found that elements of one train were not always easily found on another. The cutoff, for example, a crucial part of getting an engine running at peak performance, differed in position from train to train and were sometimes hard to find. I couldn’t locate it at all in the ‘Big Boy’. Was I blind? Possibly, but I guess an area for improvement by Auran would be to supply a more in-depth manual on trains, how to operate them and some tips on what to look out for on different classes, and how to identify specific controls.

To add to this, a lot of the handles, knobs, swivels, taps and all other doo-hickeys are a little too ‘elusive’ in their purposes. For instance, the amount of water valves on some of the steam engines are large; The ‘Big Boy’ has about 10, not to mention all sorts of other things. What does each do?! I can’t answer you that at all.

Even the gravel is super detailed!

Perhaps an element of improvement would be to allow the Railyard section to give the player the opportunity to get in the cab and have a look about, have some notes on what does what and then explain the differences. Since each useable part in the cab has a tag to it, for example the brakes always have ‘Train Brake Lever’ pop up, perhaps making every knob have a name and a corresponding purpose that could be found in the Railyard would help newer players to the series ease their introduction and learning curve.

Other than this, Trainz 2009 is fairly robust. I found only a few graphical glitches, which I attributed to my shitty laptop rather than the game. I have to admit, I thoroughly enjoyed playing it, and still am; I intend to try and rebuild some of the NSWGR South Coast line, as that will be the setting for my own model railway. But honestly, this is one of the first times I’ve been challenged by a game to improve my own skills since I got into competitive Halo. What is really exciting for me, as a player, are the mods, add-ons, content, new routes and much much more that is being developed for this game by both Auran and the community.

I realise just how ridiculous it sounds but the thought of how much more I can get out of this game, and do in the game once I explore a little, is very exciting. Just watching some of the YouTube clips people have put up showing new routes, add-ons and mods that they're developing is exciting and makes me want to play the game more. This is the type of giddy addiction I haven't felt since my first foray into games like Civilisation, Sim City and Halo.

I would suggest that those gamers out there who were fans of Railroad Tycoon, or loved Sim City but would like go from ‘builder’ to ‘user’ in order to take advantage of their creation, should give the title a go. I can guarantee you that the level of investment and satisfaction will more than justify your decision.

I'll leave you with a few of my favourite train YouTube clips. All aboard!

Pros

• One of the best simulators I've played since Sim City 2000. Probably a whole lot better
  
• The level of detail and depth is astounding, not to mention the physics and level of detail
  
• Huge community support and downloadable content, which Auran support - A decision that really benefits the community

Cons

• Surveyor, while brilliant, needs to have its camera looked at
  
• Can be a steep learning curve
  
• Simply not enough hours in the day to play it