Railworks 2 and BVE4

voyagerdude220 · 6 Jun 2011

Hi all,

Firstly apologies for my quite long post, but please bear with me.

I'm just looking for some help as to what people think of Railworks 2 , in contrast with other train sims out there, in particular BVE4 and MSTS.

Having played MSTS for a few years, then moved to BVE4, greatly enjoyed the increased realism thanks to the AWS/TPWS/Vigilance devices etc being simulated, i've got to that stage again where i'm looking for something new, having got alot out of BVE4.

I'm particularly looking for info as to what current users of Railworks 2 feel about:

The quality of sound- I found MSTS to be rubbish to be frank (e.g. a Voyager on full throttle sounded akin to a lawnmower than a train)

The quality of the routes & movement- What I mean by "movement" is whether Railworks 2 offers a smooth ride if you excuse the pun, as I had many experiences of MSTS being quite jerky, alot less so with BVE4. Are routes available on Railworks 2 based on real life lines of a good quality?

Do you need to learn the route inside out, as per BVE4, or do you get help from the sim- e.g. an indicator of what's coming up ahead like you do in MSTS?

Can you have a "free run" along the route, without following a timetable?

I'm particularly interested in two Railworks 2 routes:
Glasgow to Carlisle (via the great Beattock Summit)
Glasgow to Edinburgh (via Falkirk High & Linlithgow.)

Many thanks for any help/suggestions in response to this.

RailUK Forums

MrWhippyO · 6 Jun 2011

Personally, I have never tried Railworks but if you want to try something different, I recommend OpenBVE, especially the Birmingham Cross City south route and Network West Midlands http://www.trainsimframework.org

voyagerdude220 · 6 Jun 2011

Ok, thanks for that Mr Whippy O.

I've really enjoyed the NWM route on BVE4, particularly when driving a 220 ( in tilt mode

), Pendo and the 158- the 158 being my overall favourite to drive.

I've tried to install Open Bve before, with some difficulty but unfortunately can't remember the error which kept stopping me from running it.

valenta · 6 Jun 2011

Railworks is far superior to BVE, as to be expected for a game you have to pay for. Graphics on all routes in Railworks are great, and a really enjoyable experience. Sound is equally good.

A flaw that you mentioned is that Railworks (at least on my computer) is very jerky. I would think that if MSTS was jerky, Railworks would probably be the same, however you can change the quality of graphics which perhaps will speed the game up a bit.

Like MrWhippyO I would reccomened OpenBve highly, it offers a new depth to BVE, Network West Midlands and Birmingham Cross City South are among the best, but I would add the Northern Line (London underground) to that list. Openbve is a great piece of software and it is a steal at 0 pounds!!! :lol:

If I was asked whether to go for Railworks or BVE/OpenBve, I would choose Railworks for the brilliant quality of graphics despite the fact that the initial package and addons are quite expensive and routes can be jerky at times. Railworks is without a doubt a huge step up from MSTS.

Hoping this helps.

MrWhippyO · 6 Jun 2011

OpenBVE can be awkward to install, you have to have all the right bits installed in the right order for it to work http://http://www.trainsimframework.org/use/download_windows.html That's how to install it, if you want to give it a go, I had to refer back to that a lot!

valenta · 6 Jun 2011

MrWhippyO said:
OpenBVE can be awkward to install, you have to have all the right bits installed in the right order for it to work http://http://www.trainsimframework.org/use/download_windows.html That's how to install it, if you want to give it a go, I had to refer back to that a lot!

OpenBve is a pain to install, however it's worth it in the end.

londonmidland · 6 Jun 2011

When is the new version of the Birmingham Cross-City route going to come out? Also the lack of routes and detail for BVE put me off. So I decided to download RailWorks and that was much better for me, better graphics more realistic rolling stock (AI) and more routes. The best route for RailWorks is the WCML North, superbly detailed! You can purchase RailWorks off Steam. (or download it as a torrent, don't tell anyone

)

MrWhippyO · 6 Jun 2011

londonmidland said:
When is the new version of the Birmingham Cross-City route going to come out?.......(or download it as a torrent, don't tell anyone)

Tut tut!! I won't tell. I have no idea when the new version of the route is going to appear, it was due in early 2011, so they're running a shade behind, but it looks like it's going to be well worth the wait!

voyagerdude220 · 6 Jun 2011

Many thanks for the variety of different responses, i'm greatly appreciative of you airing your views.

MrWhippyO said:
OpenBVE can be awkward to install, you have to have all the right bits installed in the right order for it to work http://http://www.trainsimframework.org/use/download_windows.html That's how to install it, if you want to give it a go, I had to refer back to that a lot!

I might give that another go soon & report back my progress..

Darandio · 7 Jun 2011

valenta said:
A flaw that you mentioned is that Railworks (at least on my computer) is very jerky. I would think that if MSTS was jerky, Railworks would probably be the same, however you can change the quality of graphics which perhaps will speed the game up a bit.

Don't let that put anyone off though, it doesn't happen to everyone. Also, Railworks is an evolving platform and is updated. The next major update due in the coming months will address that issue with a complete overhaul of the system, moving to multi core support.

voyagerdude220 · 12 Jun 2011

Thanks for your help everyone, I'm probably going to go ahead and buy Railworks 2 with the Glasgow to Carlisle, i'm not 100% sure yet, but i'm having a good think about it.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Hi all,

Just a quick post to say i've got Railworks 2 running today & rather like it.

I've mostly been playing on the Oxford to Paddington route, with 165's & HSTs to start off with, and then bought the Voyager download- You can really tell how well they shift compared to HSTs!

Crossover · 13 Jun 2011

voyagerdude220 said:
Just a quick post to say i've got Railworks 2 running today & rather like it.

I've mostly been playing on the Oxford to Paddington route, with 165's & HSTs to start off with, and then bought the Voyager download- You can really tell how well they shift compared to HSTs!

Is this the Voyager add-on you have or another one?

HST Power · 13 Jun 2011

voyagerdude220 said:
Just a quick post to say i've got Railworks 2 running today & rather like it.

I'm glad you bought it. It's an excellent game; solid in the graphics department, very realistic and much easier to get running than the likes of BVE. Though let me warn you, trying to build a succesful route will gradually become your obsession, as it has with me! :lol:

voyagerdude220 · 13 Jun 2011

sellis89 said:
Is this the Voyager add-on you have or another one?

I'm not sure if that's the same Voyager add on in CD form, but I bought & downloaded mine from the Just Trains website.

HST Power said:
I'm glad you bought it. It's an excellent game; solid in the graphics department, very realistic and much easier to get running than the likes of BVE. Though let me warn you, trying to build a succesful route will gradually become your obsession, as it has with me!

Lol i'm staying with driving trains at the moment, I'm probably going to also buy the Bristol to Exeter add on soon.

Please can anyone tell me if it's possible to alter train formations in the free roam mode? (e.g. Drive a double-set Voyager)

How do you move the driver's view so you can see the cab fully? I've got to grips with popping my head out of the window and various lineside views but can only see the top of the cab.

Thanks

HST Power · 13 Jun 2011

voyagerdude220 said:
.
Lol i'm staying with driving trains at the moment, I'm probably going to also buy the Bristol to Exeter add on soon.

Another good one is Newcastle-York, as created by a certain forum member.

valenta · 13 Jun 2011

HST Power said:
Another good one is Newcastle-York, as created by a certain forum member.

Newcastle-York in my opinion is the best quality route for railworks. The detail in Newcastle station is excellent.

HST Power · 13 Jun 2011

valenta said:
Newcastle-York in my opinion is the best quality route for railworks. The detail in Newcastle station is excellent.

I'm really looking forward to the upcoming Kings Cross-Welwyn route too.

So much to choose from!

valenta · 13 Jun 2011

HST Power said:
I'm really looking forward to the upcoming Kings Cross-Welwyn route too.

So much to choose from!

Railworks is a truely great game, diversity of routes thus meaning a great diversity of scenery and trains to drive. It is a real "must buy" for all train driver wannabe's!

Darandio · 14 Jun 2011

HST Power said:
Another good one is Newcastle-York, as created by a certain forum member.

Who's that then?

Bristol to Exeter is a very good route as well, but then that is a completely biased opinion as well. :lol:

HST Power · 14 Jun 2011

Darandio said:
Who's that then?

Let me think, who could it possibly be.....

Crossover · 15 Jun 2011

In fairness, they are both pretty good from what I've seen so far. The only problem I have is I'm running on a laptop and therefore lower graphics settings...therefore I end up with bits of signs floating in mid-air, platform ramps sometimes missing and Weston Milton station is nothing but a grid with people stood on it! Hopefully once I get a PC with decent graphics that problem will go

HST Power · 15 Jun 2011

sellis89 said:
Hopefully once I get a PC with decent graphics that problem will go

You can check your laptops specification and then compare it to the requirements as shown on the RW2 website by clicking the start menu and typing dxdiag. Allow the software to run, and it will bring up a list of all your computers performance ratings, such as RAM, graphics drivers, etc.
Then go onto the official game website and click 'Support.' The requirements are displayed at the bottom of the page. Take a look, compare, and see what your laptop needs.

Crossover · 15 Jun 2011

I think the main problem is it uses shared graphics (its a business laptop, not a gaming one)

I can run the game well enough, just doesn't look as shiny as it could do and WCML stretches the RAM too far

HST Power · 21 Jun 2011

sellis89 said:
I think the main problem is it uses shared graphics (its a business laptop, not a gaming one)

Ah, I didn't know it had shared graphics.

That would account the problems then!

Railworks 2 and BVE4

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