User Reviews (1 - 11 of 13)

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There's a better alternative!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 8
Date: January 11, 2006
Author: Amazon User

All TRAINZ railroad simulators are based on model railroading, NOT real-world railroading, a fact that becomes obvious as one becomes familiar with the simulator. For example, zooming out reveals that the "terrain" consists of a narrow strip of territory--like a model railroad layout--rather than a unified simulated world. In my opinion, Microsoft's Train Simulator, even though outdated, is a much better product and certainly costs much less.
TRAINZ requires an immense amount of processor speed, hard disk space, and graphics memory--be sure to read ALL of the system requirements before buying.
Whatever you do, do not buy the 2006 version of TRAINZ. It is a poorly designed product rushed to market too quickly and has more bugs than a swamp in summer.
Both versions of TRAINZ tout the ability to obtain lots of free content by download (an internet connection is obviously needed--I add this to cover the stupidity of people who think a computer simulation game can be run without a graphics card). This come-on of free content is mostly felonious. Yes, additional content can be downloaded, eating up huge amounts of hard drive real estate; however, once downloaded that content proves mostly worthless because it contains even more bugs and errors than the original program.
I'm happy to see that some people are having fun with TRAINZ, but I have found it frustrating and disasterous.

game is not practical

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 31
Date: September 01, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I just purchase the game so I could play it, I didn't program it, somebody else did, shouldn't have to configure and fix all the issues associated with this game. You can spend countless hours trying to get this game to configure on your computer and I can't get it to work. Most average people buy/own average computer, (dell, hp,....etc) This game runs if you want to purchase aftermarket video cards, build your own tower and waste time updating drivers and configure it once it gets installed. Shouldn't have to do this to play a game. When I go to a resturant the food is served to me hot, fresh, I don't have to go back there and cook it. When I buy a new car and need new tires I don't have to update my axle to support the new tires, just unloosen the lug nuts take old tires off, put new tires on the rims and tighten down the lug nuts,oh I pay some guy in the garage to do this too. This game is a complete waste of time, I am not a graphic junky, if I want that realistic look I would have become a real train engineer. I have installed many simulation games on my computer and never had trouble until now.

Total Failure

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 30
Date: December 10, 2004
Author: Amazon User

It came on two CDs and you eventually discover that the second CD holds the software which is needed to fix the bugs on the first.

You also need a graphics card or equivalent.

I do not have the graphics capability so although it appeared to load it would not run.

I shall give it away or bin it.

A Very User Friendly Game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 30 / 31
Date: December 03, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I did considerable online research but I was still hesitant about purchasing a train simulator...(if you have played very many video games, you will have a large supply of "disk coasters" laying around, although the demos offered these days have helpled considerably)

To make a long review short, I can truly say that it's been a fun experience...the learning curve is relatively short in acquiring the basics of driving a train...It reminds me of Roller Coaster Tycoon, in that a 5 year can enjoy basic elements of play but an adult can find it a challenge to micro-manage

The graphics are acceptable but the real plus is its flexibility of play...for example, you can drive the train from the cab using actual controls, or you can drive it out of cab with an easy-to-use HUD console, or you can merely dispatch via AI feature which allows "pc" engineers to complete tasks...there is also "route editor" which allows you to create/customise routes

I "was disappointed" that there were not a larger number of packaged scenarios...but there appears to be a strong online support with download features

I play a variety of games, but I can "heartly" recommend it...if nothing else it's a fine escape from the "nail biting" games I usually play...I would rate it a 4.5 due to the scenario issue, but only a 4 or 5 is allowed...If you enjoyed playing with trains as a "kid" you will like it...well, anyway, that's my opinion !!

This has to be the biggist let down

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 16
Date: June 25, 2004
Author: Amazon User

i cant even install the game on my computer. now when i bought this game i thought i was gonna be able to do all of the suggested stuff but insted i cant even install it. DO NOT BUT THIS GAME. use the thirty bucks to buy a model railroad engine car or track cause that is what i should have done.

OK......

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: March 15, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I like TRS2004 alot. I am hoping to get TRS2006 soon. One problem on my game though.... The water in the driver and surveyor modules does not reflect the sky. Nor does it look too 3D. I have tried both DirectX 9.0c and openGL but I guess there is just nothing I can do about it. My graphics card is an Intel 82845G card and the TRAINZ system requirments said you need a NVIDIA GEFORCE chip. If anyone can help,please write back daily.-(...),Age 11, "the train geek"

100% Fun Train Sim

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 66 / 73
Date: November 14, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Trains Railroad Simulator 2004 is an unbelievable product. I've owned MS Train Sim and was quickly bored by it. This product on the other hand has me so excited I can't sleep at night! There is plenty of info on the mfg's website so I'm not going to repeat what's out there. (note that Amazon's site seems to have the publisher wrong, ALL TRAINZ programs are written by Auran out of Australia (www.auran.com). I believe the US PUBLISHER is Oteeva.

What I will say is that I have stopped playing all other games and even railroad tycoon 3 is collecting dust since TRS2004 Arrived. I would also like to add that I have a 5 year old son who loves driving/watching the trains go round. I've really enjoyed playing with TRS2004!

It's hard to explain, but playing with TRS2004 is exciting and fun and there's so much to look forward to (I download new things for it all the time)

So Let's review:
MS TRAINSIM = BORING = You'll want to go to bed early.
TRAINZ RAILROAD SIMULATOR = EXCITING & FUN = You'll want to stay up all night and you just might call in "sick" the next day ;-)

Hope this review helps you in your purchase decision.

For me, fun is what it's all about.

Brilliant. The Best Game I've Ever Bought

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 29 / 30
Date: November 24, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I've been buying computer games for 20 years and some are more interesting than others, of course. But I've never bought a game before this one that I played over and over...for hours at a time, and never got tired of it! This is a world. For those of us who look for excellent graphics, you'll find them here--highly detailed, carefully constructed, and greatly varied visuals. And, like the best software (of any kind) you can go as deep or as shallow as you want; and there are tons of options, variations, and features. It's just a great, great game and so much more fun to use than other games. You choose whether to build a world, play a scenario, learn from a tutorial, drive a train, control several trains, tell AI drivers what you want to do, create your own scenery/scenarios/maps, or just sit around and watch this great simulation play itself out. You must buy this. It's extraordinary and compelling.

An extremely flexible simulator

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 26 / 28
Date: November 04, 2003
Author: Amazon User

A very brief review of a very interesting product. This review was written a few days after the simulator was published. This product has evolved from earlier versions of a railroad simulator such as UTC by Auran. There should be reviews of UTC on amazon. What you purchase is a basic framework of a model railroad in a computer. Although the basic CD comes with some 400 Mbs of trains, buildings, layouts, rolling stock from around the world. Besides that there is an associated web site that currently contains some 15,000+ downloadable items. Various individuals and groups produce everything from steam engines to carved wooden model toys. The web site has a forum where you can see how groups work together to create new content. Some are payware but most are free. John Banks is of interest since he has written his PhD on the way people have created the third party content and it's this third party content that has extended the simulator in ways that the creators of the software hadn't even thought about. It is sold as a railway simulator but is considered by some to be the best English canal and canal barge simulator available.

Target market is very broad, the sort of people who are interested in model railways certainly have taken it up. But there are many youngsters 3+ who enjoy watching the game or simulator. The jet engine in this version is new, it takes advantage of the new graphics cards to allow more interesting water effects. It also is more efficient than the old version but that is balanced by the some highly detailed models that need faster computers to run. It also seems to run smoothly on a wider range of video cards than the old version. Auran has upped the minimum suggested requirements but since this version is more efficient some quite positive comments have come from users with less than the recommended systems. The software can be tuned to take best advantage of the hardware and quite detailed instructions are available in the forums on how to do this.

In a word enjoy.

My Son Loves It

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 13 / 15
Date: July 21, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I bought my son this simulation for his birthday (8th). He loves it. It runs well on our computer and has only crashed when he loaded up a layout with zillions of objects (hundreds of cows, cars, houses and such). (Win98SE, Athlon 1800XP, 512 Meg, ATI8500 or NVidia 5600). He learned the editor and driver with only a few hours help from me. He spends hour after hour experimenting with the editor tools, looking through the object list, creating complex layouts, and running trains.
This is one heck of deal! A solid product at a great price that kids love. You can't beat it.

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