...
I have been given a copy of Microsoft's Train Simulator, and I have, quite simply become addicted.
To start with I had better give you the minimum spec it will accept:
Pentium II 266
4MB 3D Hardware accelerator
Win 95/98/Me
32MB Ram
500 MB Hard Disk space
Now this is the ... Read review
Microsoft Train Simulatorhas been developed by the team responsible for Microsoft's flight ... more
simulator range and shows the same high attention to detail in both graphics and gameplay. The latter is similar toGP3's, giving you the chance to control whatev...
Postage & Packaging: free Super Saver Delivery Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Pro Traintakes you to one of the most beautiful areas in Germany, the scenic Rhine Valley ... more
region. Travelling in several new trains, you will ride past the cities of Cologne, Bonn, Mainz, Koblenz, Wiesbaden and Frankfurt.With over 400 km (250 miles) of track to run on, several complete trains (locomotives, cabs, cars) to ride and a new set of activities (scenarios and objectives) to perform, Pro Train is the only add-on any train sim fan will need!
Postage & Packaging:free Super Saver Delivery Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Advantages: see opinion Disadvantages: see opinion
...is no technical support from Microsoft for this aspect (understandable because they are letting you dabble around with their product).
However there are many websites where people are uploading their work to share with others. Some charge an annual fee to allow unlimited downloads, which is fair I think. But there is a real community developing, that could soon rival other online communities in terms of communication and co-operation. ... ...have, among my collection, the Mallard and Ivor the Engine, as well as many other modern and not so modern trains.
However this will take up a lot of disk space. My train sim file takes up 3GB on the computer, but please don't tell my wife because she will not like it!
All in all, a brilliant package and even more scope for the advanced user. ... more
Question- How can you tell when a train spotter reaches orgasm?
Answer- He drops his notebook and binoculars.
That puerile little aside is the sort of thing that I would have said up until a few months ago. However, something that happened to me over the intervening weeks has caused me to re-assess my cynicism. I have become an ardent 'Train-Simmer'. Now this does not mean that I boil on the East Coast Mainline (is it possible to boil on an English train? I heard that when it's cold Connex put a candle in each carriage, and when it's -15 degrees they even light it!).
I have been given a copy of Microsoft's Train Simulator, and I have, quite simply become addicted.
To start with I had better give you the minimum spec it will accept:
Pentium II 266 4MB 3D Hardware accelerator Win 95/98/Me 32MB Ram 500 MB Hard Disk space
Now this is the bare minimum. I have a Duron 750 and it works well. You can toggle in the program between better speed or better graphics. The really important thing is hard disk space. The full install takes up 1.8 GB! And I will return to this later!
Now the one thing that I had better say is that this is not a game. It is a fully-fledged simulator. It is a complex process in learning how to drive a train (at least that is what I tell myself as I continually break speed limits and crash into buffers!)
The programme features 6 routes: Marias Pass (Rocky Mountains) Northeast Corridor (Washington DC to Philadelphia) Tokyo - Hakone (Japan) Hisatsu Line (Japan) Innsbruck - St Anton (Austria) Settle - Carlisle (UK)
Each of the routes features tutorials and different pre-defined activities with varying lengths and levels of difficulty. The locomotives range from the most modern of US electric trains to the world-famous Orient Express and The Flying Scotsman.
There are numerous camera views, and even a view from the carriage, where you can sit and watch the world go by. All in all, it is a truly amazing experience and has a lot to recommend it. But I haven't even got to the best bit yet.
SO WHAT'S THE BEST BIT THEN?
Funny you should ask, because I was just about to get to that.
The program contains editors. You can make up your own activities with the routes provided, and you can even make up new locomotives. I personally am building a new route based in the South of England and based on realistic detail. Someone has built a route from London to Doncaster, and someone is even plannign the Trans-Siberian Railway, apparently, all the way (in real-time this will take a week to complete!)
However this not a practice for novices, as it is very complicated, and requires a lot of patience I'm going grey at the problems I have had), and there is no technical support from Microsoft for this aspect (understandable because they are letting you dabble around with their product).
However there are many websites where people are uploading their work to share with others. Some charge an annual fee to allow unlimited downloads, which is fair I think. But there is a real community developing, that could soon rival other online communities in terms of communication and co-operation. I have downloaded many trains and routes, and now also have, among my collection, the Mallard and Ivor the Engine, as well as many other modern and not so modern trains.
However this will take up a lot of disk space. My train sim file takes up 3GB on the computer, but please don't tell my wife because she will not like it!
All in all, a brilliant package and even more scope for the advanced user.
Advantages: Realistically complex Disadvantages: Real-time play, means setting aside up to 3 hours or so
...at Singapore Duty Free – Microsoft Train Simulator for the equivalent of £24. Of course, at that price I HAD to have it. My dad is retired from being a railway signalman, and “you have to like trains, if you’re joining this family” as my mother said to my then-fiancée, who married me all the same!
Last November, Dad and I had the pleasure of controlling an express locomotive (Clun Castle at Tyseley Railway Museum) over about ... ...of what each control was, and how difficult it is to stop a train “on the button”.
So it was with some interest that I loaded Train Sim, knowing that one of the locomotives was a British steamer (4472 Flying Scotsman).
The initial load went OK, but the game steadfastly refused to get past 1st base, locking up my machine. Even MS’s offer to send an error report was locked, so I couldn’t avail myself of this service. Had I ...
BNibbles 05.09.2001 (03.11.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Microsoft Train Simulator (PC)
Advantages: slow enjoyment Disadvantages: no fast kicks
This game was released in 2001.Some people did not give it much hope.
After all it was a game about driving trains. Yet here we are at the end of 2004 and it is still there. For the technology of the time it was quite good. But it could run slowly on some PC's. The hard drive requirement was large and there was no immediate adrenaline rush that you get with some games.
This could only apply for a small specialised corner of the game market. After ... ...so you had to follow the tutorial to learn how to start a train, and you learned how to stop one.
They are not like driving cars. Especially Steam Engines. Electric or diesels are easier, Take of the brakes, put into drive, apply power and away you go. What people do not realise is that a train
can weigh in at hundreds of tons. That takes time to get moving, and time to stop.
The whole pace of this game is much slower than any car driving game ...
Coloneljohn 04.12.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Microsoft Train Simulator (PC)
Advantages: Crystal clear graphics. Disadvantages: Difficult at times.
...thumbs up to the brilliant Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000. Reviews stated that the two games in question here had the same sort of features and would have updates made available over the internet. This makes the increased price tag more affordable as you can change the game variables etc in the future.
The first thing that strikes you when you enter the CD into your drive is the amount of disk space the game needs to run at its most perfect state. ... ...on that one. With all of this disk space needed, it was inevitable that the game would take an eternity to install. It didn't disappoint, it took bloody ages. If you have nothing better to do while the installation is happening, you can watch the screen as it gives a basic tutorial on the game followed by advertising. One word of advice though. Don't set the installation away and then leave the computer altogether as it asks for disc 2 after around ...
Nortis_8 12.08.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Microsoft Train Simulator (PC)
Advantages: Can be fun Disadvantages: Lack of street cred
...do something well. Microsoft have produced this game as well as a Train Simulator could be hoped to do. Apart from the frame rate, which is more than likely limited to my PC, my only other fault would be that the tracks are very linear, going from A to B rather than being a network of tracks spanning a large area. Apart from that, there's not a lot of room for improvement, the simple fact is that trains just aren't going to make a world class title. ...
real_rob_writer 28.09.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Microsoft Train Simulator (PC)
Advantages: None that i can think of Disadvantages: graphics
...saw it was written by Microsoft so assumed there would be a heafty price tag to go with it, I was right, it costs £50! I passed on this, on the principle that it was way to expensive, i’m sure in a few months it will be cheaper, or failing that I would find a friend that had it, so I could copy the CD’s (no I don’t do that!). Well anyway a few day later the sucker that I am, decided to go and buy train simulator (oh dear that was ... ...graphics looked awful, unlike other Microsoft games I have. There is also something wrong with the graphics when the simulations are being loaded, they are all messed up, and it looks strange. The loading screen was stuck for ages and it kept crashing (well you know what Microsoft products are like)! Eventually I got the thing to load the simulation, I drove up the track and stopped and went again, and then I got bored. That’s all there is ...
Please_believe_me 20.09.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Microsoft Train Simulator (PC)
Product Information for "Microsoft Train Simulator (PC)" »
Product details
Publisher
Microsoft
Genre
Flight/Transport Simulation
Sub Genre
Train Simulation
Release Date
18th October 2002
EAN
0659556583910; 5017783021806
Operating System
Windows 2000 / 98 / 95 / Me
Manufacturer's product description
Microsoft Train Simulator has been developed by the team responsible for Microsoft's flight simulator range and shows the same high attention to detail in both graphics and gameplay. The latter is similar to GP3's, giving you the chance to control whatever level of detail you want--from the pressure gauges to stoking the engine. Of course, the un-technical among us can just take the train out for a spin and keep it simple across the six world tracks that Microsoft initially offers. Graphics, like the flight sims', are very impressive, but will need a powerful machine to get the full beauty while chugging along in the countryside. Apart from the free reign on the tracks, there are a number of missions, or tasks, that you've got to complete, ranging from simply getting from A to B to rescuing a train à la Thomas the Tank Engine. With more depth than most, this game is for all comers alike; whether you've been following trains for the last 50 years or this is your first foray, the learning curve is there. Okay, so you can't back left at a whim, nor fly by the control tower at mach six, but the thousands of train aficionados out there are sure to have their imaginations stoked by the six tracks, nine locomotives and track editor. --Jason Denwood Experience the excitement of trains on your PC! Take the controls from the engineer's cab with 6,000 tons of freight behind you and exciting challenges ahead. Or relax in the passenger's seat and enjoy the unfolding scenery. Trains, routes and sounds have See all
