Computer Train Games

[NSBrakeman]

Can anyone tell me the best computer games for trains? You know, the ones where you can be the engineer and set out/pick up cars and the like? If you know of the best one with the best graphics, sounds, operational opprotunities, and view (from engineer's cab side), I would greatly appreciate it. This is my first computer game, so I would rather get the best on the market, no matter the cost. I'm sure there is over 20 variations, so all help is appreciated greatly! Thanks you guys.

Dave North

Route of the 400s
Chicago and North Western

[tunnel88]

I've never really seen any of these games so i guess i can't help... Usually i head to the layout when i want to 'play' with trains! http://www.trainboard.com/biggrin.gif

Seriously, anyone know how sharp they are and stuff?

[ten87]

My son and I like to play Lionel's TrainTown http://gregor.sierra.com/3dultra/traintown/ . It has something for beginner to advanced with lots of fun for a five year old and a 40 year old too. Plus the price is right, I picked it up for ten bucks at the local office supply store sale. Here is a screen shot: http://gregor.sierra.com/3dultra/traintown/img/screens/tunnelscreen.jpg

Ed Harrison

[This message has been edited by ten87 (edited 18 July 2000).]

[StickyMonk]

its not really the same type of game you want but i often play railroad tycoon II (and the expantion pack). i have never seen any of the operational ones as im not sure we can get them in england.

go to www.railroadtycoon2.com (http://www.railroadtycoon2.com) for info

and when you get good at it you can then play online http://www.trainboard.com/biggrin.gif

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Matthew
wheres all the C636's????
stickymonk.com (http://www.stickymonk.com)
Matts Photo gallery (http://monkhome.homestead.com)

[Maxwell Plant]

Me too Sticky! TY-II is what I play, but what I sometimes fire up the old 486 and play the original RR TYCOON. I've demoed a few of the "Run the train from the cab" games and didn't like them much.

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RAILROADING-TO-THE-MAX!
Brent Tidaback, Member #234 and a N-Scaler to boot!

[NSBrakeman]

Not that I think those games are bad, but I am interested in the kind where your view is from inside the cab of a diesel locomotive. Anyone know about these kinds or should I post it on a different forum for computers and such?
Thanks!!

Dave North

Route of the Streamliners
Chicago and North Western

[Maxwell Plant]

Dave, I thought I just said, "I've demoed a few of those 'run the train from the cab' games, didn't like them." I think you're in the right place, maybe nobody here has played them, or like me, didn't like them.

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RAILROADING-TO-THE-MAX!
Brent Tidaback, Member #234 and a N-Scaler to boot!

[Alan]

I don't like computer games of any kind, and definitely not train ones, I would rather run the model railroad. - - - so why am I reading this topic? http://www.trainboard.com/confused.gif

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Alan

The perfect combination - BNSF and N Scale!

www.ac-models.com (http://www.ac-models.com)
Andersley Western Railroad (http://Andersley.homestead.com)
Alan's American Gallery (http://galleryusarail_tehcaj.homestead.com)
Alan's European Gallery (http://eurogallery.homestead.com)
Alan's British Steam Gallery (http://britishsteamgallery.homestead.com)

[Chessie_SD50_8563]

I thought microsoft was suposed to come out with a "drive the train from the engineers side of the cab" simulation.

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Theres no such thing as having to many coal hoppers or GP40-2 when you model Chessie System
LONG LIVE THE KITTEN!!!
LONG LIVE BIG BLUE!!!

[Gats]

There was an arcade game (sit-in type), I saw in Hong Kong, where you drove Japanese commuter trains from station to station. A version came out for Sony's Playstation as well.
Yes, it was hard, and when you did something wrong, like overshooting the platform or charging through a speed restriction, and little anime girl would pop up in the lower left corner and scold you. Don't ask what she said - it was in Japanese! But the finger being waved did look mighty serious! http://www.trainboard.com/smile.gif

Max, I run RR Tycoon from Win 98 on a clocked (450) Celeron 300 with no problems.

Gary.

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Gary A. Rose
The Unofficial TC&W page (http://www.pnc.com.au/~audiosat/)
N to the Nth degree!

[StickyMonk]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Gats:


Max, I run RR Tycoon from Win 98 on a clocked (450) Celeron 300 with no problems.

Gary.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

i used to have the origonal RR tycoon as well but even on my old computer a 166MMX win 95 it wouldnt run, i was told the computer was 2 fast, i wouldnt want to try it on my PIII...... might blow up http://www.trainboard.com/biggrin.gif



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Matthew
wheres all the C636's????
stickymonk.com (http://www.stickymonk.com)
Matts Photo gallery (http://monkhome.homestead.com)

[ten87]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>I thought microsoft was suposed to come out with a "drive the train from the engineers side of the cab" simulation.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I just saw the preview page for the Microsoft train simulation game. WOW! This looks like it is a train version of their infamous flight simulator. http://www.microsoft.com/games/trainsim/ Here is a screen shot:

http://www.microsoft.com/games/trainsim/img/screens/ss13_BNSF_1Cab_sun.jpg

Ed Harrison

[This message has been edited by ten87 (edited 26 July 2000).]

[NSBrakeman]

COOL!!!! That's what I was looking for! Is it on the market yet? Do they have versions from inside of an older EMD cab? Thanks a lot, Ten87!

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NS "We need more SD40s!!!" Brakeman

[E-8]

Wow! That looks great! I would buy that. I have a laptop and I am always looking for things to entertain myself when I can't be online and I am worn out from working on a project. Right now I have a pool game on CD that is the most realistic thing that I have ever seen. The train game looks great. Looks like it will be some time though before it is available and I'm sure it won't be cheap.

Has anyone ever played A TRAIN (I think it was called)? This was put out by Maxis, the same fols who gave us the addicting Sim City and Sim Farm (among others). It was a great game where you started building your railroad and the town built up around you. You started out small and if you did it right you ended up with skyscrapers and the whole thing.

In the days before the Internet (as we know it) a friend of mine and I had that game and the computer crashed and that was the end of it. Anyone else remember this game? All the Sim City Classic stuff is available but that train game seemed to drop off the face of the earth. I have even done searches for it. There is no mention of it on Maxis' web site.

Charlie

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Ship It On The FRISCO! (http://www.frisco.org)

[mtaylor]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by E-8:
Wow! That looks great! I would buy that. I have a laptop and I am always looking for things to entertain myself when I can't be online and I am worn out from working on a project. Right now I have a pool game on CD that is the most realistic thing that I have ever seen. The train game looks great. Looks like it will be some time though before it is available and I'm sure it won't be cheap.

Has anyone ever played A TRAIN (I think it was called)? This was put out by Maxis, the same fols who gave us the addicting Sim City and Sim Farm (among others). It was a great game where you started building your railroad and the town built up around you. You started out small and if you did it right you ended up with skyscrapers and the whole thing.

In the days before the Internet (as we know it) a friend of mine and I had that game and the computer crashed and that was the end of it. Anyone else remember this game? All the Sim City Classic stuff is available but that train game seemed to drop off the face of the earth. I have even done searches for it. There is no mention of it on Maxis' web site.

Charlie

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I bought this game with the "A-Train Construction Kit" when it first came out. I must have spent months playing this and the original "Sim City" back on my old 386. Now I run ten computers in my home running on a CAT 5 switched network. I used to havew dedicated Ineternet accesss before I moved, I can't wait till I get it again. A-train was great during it's day. I still have it but is does not run well on my PIII 500 http://www.trainboard.com/smile.gif I also played the heck out of Railroad tycoon. I also bought Railroad Tycoon II when it came out. good graphics but I thought the game play was not quite as good as Railroad tycoon. I will have to check out the evil empire's website (Microsoft....hey, I can say that I am MCSE) Like many others, I love computers and computer games. But I am itching to get my layout going.

Cheers,
Matt

[upguy]

E-8, I have an "A-train" program that I would be happy to sell to you. I never spent the time to really understand it. Personally I liked the original Railroad Tycoon better than the II version. My problem was I just wanted to operate the trains. The stock market and having to answer to the shareholders was a distraction, but I was able to solve that problem. Then I was disgusted when the program limited my number of stations. Who wants to retire after one hundred years of railroad management? Not me! I wanted to keep playing forever!

With Tycoon II, I never seemed to master the game. I built my own map of the Oregon area and tried to run trains, but the time line and the industries never seemed to be in sync.

I guess I'll just send time building my N-scale empire. http://www.trainboard.com/smile.gif

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Rett

[StickyMonk]

i used to have a-train and the construction kit for my old amiga... didnt know it was avalible for the PC

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Matthew
wheres all the C636's????
stickymonk.com (http://www.stickymonk.com)
Matts Photo gallery (http://monkhome.homestead.com)

[eddelozier]

Here is a Web site that explains and has demos to most Railroad computer games.
I've tried a few but also find models more my interest. RRSWITCH wasn't too bad, runs in DOS and if you like car switching challenges it gives you enough.
http://www.railtronics.com/Software_Simulations.html

..Eddie

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Eddie Delozier
PRR N-scale
deloziers.com (http://www.deloziers.com)
eddelozier@yahoo.com

[drbooher]

Here's another website with info about railroad computer games (lots of reviews):
www.vernsrailpages.org.uk (http://www.vernsrailpages.org.uk)

Check out the Trainmaster 4 page. It's supposed to ship this month. Looks like they beat MS to the punch. Interesting line at the end of the page:

"If Bill Gates sees TM4, he will be weeping in his coffee and wondering why Microsoft have ignored this market."

I guess Bill did see it http://www.trainboard.com/wink.gif

Dwight

[Chris McDaniel]

Microsoft's train simulator is supposed to be released in the Spring of 2001. We'll see! The developer is Kuju: (www.kuju.com/TrainWeb/trainindex.htm)

I had the chance to play test this simulator almost two years ago. In fact, I thought the project had been dropped. If this simulator is anything like what I play tested (and it should be better), then Microsoft already has my 50 bucks.

Also, looking at the descriptions and screenshots, it appears the developers actually listened to the suggestions we (rail fans and model railroaders) offered.

During the test, we had the chance to run the Flying Scotsman over a few miles of trackage (from a country station to an industrial yard). The steam fans were really impressed. Carriages rocked in relation to the speed of the train. Smoke, steam, and vapor were very well modeled. They also included multiple cab, carriage, and trackside views. Everyone loved it.

The main thing I like is the option for the user to edit the terrain and trackage. I intend to use this to help me in design my next layout (from an operational standpoint).

BTW, Microsoft's Flight Sim 2000 was/is a hit. Pilot's have told me this flight sim is the best they've ever seen (to include real time - like now - enroute and terminal weather. If Microsoft brings that same level of detail to this rail sim, then we have a hit!

Nope, don't work for Mr. Bill, but looking forward to a decent rail sim (finally)!!

Look Ahead, Look South

[Chessie_SD50_8563]

Ah MSTS looks really good! I think the people who made trainmaster will be crying instead.

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Theres no such thing as having to many coal hoppers or GP40-2 when you model Chessie System
LONG LIVE THE KITTEN!!!
LONG LIVE BIG BLUE!!!
I looked at DCC... and stayed DC!

[mtaylor]

The MS Simulator looks good. Any one remember MS Space Simulator......what a dud. I hope this is not all hype but actually a great product like MSFS.

Later
Matt

[Chessie_SD50_8563]

well MSSS I heard really wasn't based after anything real (I have never played MSSS so I don't know much about it other than what I have heard). MSTS however is based after real routes and trains so that will help.

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Theres no such thing as having to many coal hoppers or GP40-2 when you model Chessie System
LONG LIVE THE KITTEN!!!
LONG LIVE BIG BLUE!!!
I looked at DCC... and stayed DC!

[tunnel88]

I never even heard of Space Simulator!

But if this is using the same engine as Flight Sim it should be pretty good. I'm guessing in no time at all there will be other engines that you can download and 'drive' just like the homemade planes in FS.

I like the idea of using it for layout planning.

[pray59]

I got to play with the Microsoft train simulator at the Train Show going on in San Jose. It is excellent! The only steam was a European type, but there are plenty of diesel lines, including BNSF.

It changed my mind about computer sims! http://www.trainboard.com/biggrin.gif

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Robert Ray
The NP & UP N-Scale Railroad (http://members.home.net/pray59)

[Chessie_SD50_8563]

A "Must Buy"?

------------------
Theres no such thing as having to many coal hoppers or GP40-2 when you model Chessie System
LONG LIVE THE KITTEN!!!
LONG LIVE BIG BLUE!!!
I looked at DCC... and stayed DC!