Games - Trainz

	Games - Trainz

Trainz, fully Trainz Railroad Simulator or Trainz Railway Simulator, is a 3D computer game and train simulator created by Australian games developer Auran.

Concept

The game is divided into four modules: Driver, Surveyor, Scenarios, and Railyard.

Modules

Surveyor is the route editor. Here, the user can shape and 'paint' the landscape, lay tracks, and place buildings, scenery and trains.
Driver takes the scene created in Surveyor and allows the user to operate the trains. There are two methods of manual control: DCC mode which simulates the simple stop-and-go of a model railway, or Cab mode, which simulates real-world physics. Alternatively, the trains can be given instructions and driven by the computer.
Scenarios are pre-scripted activities which let you go through a specific set of challenges, such as getting your passengers to their destinations on schedule, or switching rail cars in a rail yard without damaging the cargo.
Railyard (known as My Collection in earlier versions of the game) is a virtual trainshed where the user can view locomotives and rolling stock.

An additional 'module' is the external program Paintshed, which is a simple program for recolouring Trainz locomotives and other rolling stock. Paintshed has been included with Trainz since version 1.5.

Trainz also has a large content creation community who use modelling software such as Gmax to create additional scenery and rolling stock models for use in the game. The more recent versions of Trainz include a lot of third-party content, and registered owners of the game can download (and upload) third party content via the .

Community Involvement

Auran have, on a number of occasions, involved community members in the development of Trainz, via their . Some of the community initiatives have included:

The Language Beta Translation Group was set up in 2003 to translate Trainz 2004 into the many versions it was going to be released as. The lengthy translation were never used.
The Content Creation Group (part of the beta testing group) was created for Trainz 2004 so that more regional content was to be included in the game. The group was a success with much of the new content in TRS 2004 and TRS 2006 having been created by the CCG.
Trainz on the Road was a program to demonstrate and sell Trainz at model railway and computer shows. The TotR concept is a success in the way that the community itself organised shows to promote the game. Auran rewarded demonstrators with premium access to its DLS facilities.

Version History

Trainz version 1.0 (The Community Edition) was released in December 2001.

:Trainz 1.0 had four service packs released during 2002, the last of which was for non-English versions only. Thus the original version is commonly known as Trainz 1.3.

Ultimate Trainz Collection (UTC or Trainz 1.5) was released in November 2002.
Trainz Railroad (or Railway in the UK) Simulator 2004 (TRS 2004 or Trainz 2.0) was released in September 2003.

:TRS 2004 had four service packs released throughout 2004 and 2005.

Trainz Railroad Simulator 2006 (TRS 2006, Trainz 2.5) is the current and final version and was released in September 2005.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Trainz ]

Games - Trainz

Concept

Modules

Community Involvement

Version History

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