ADVICE FOR ALL NEWCOMERS TO MSTS!!!

[steamnut44]

MSTS is now approaching is eighth year since its introduction in 2001 and is still very popular even today. The reason is that this age old simulator has the largest collection of add ons ever done for a Train Simulator and new stuff is still being done as I write this article.

Having just attended the latest UKTrainsim Demonstration at the Warwick Model Railway Show, and as part of the UKTrainsim team, I was amazed how many enquirys about MSTS were being sought. Although both MSTS & KRS were being demonstrated, MSTS seemed to be the sim that was attracting most of the visiting public. I think at least we may have attracted at least a dozen newcomers on Saturday, the day I was there.

So if you have just recently bought a copy of MSTS, don't be miffed by the quality of the content on the basic installation. MSTS, thanks to the community, has been enhanced to beyond all recognition of the six default routes and stock that come in the box.

There are literally hundreds of add on routes now available and thousands of items of locos & rolling stock, which can be downloaded absolutely free from UKTrainsim. But to get all these downloads I would recommend that you take out a subscription with UKTrainsim. Why???

By taking out a subscription, you get PREMIUM MEMBERSHIP! This allows you to have unlimited downloads 24/7 without having to go in a queue system to get a download, which is limited daily. This will only cost you £20 per annum, the best £20 you can spend, if you want to add more content to MSTS.

To make life simpler, some of the best freeware routes can be bought from this site for £4.50 inc p&P plus an extra months premium membership. The benefit of purchasing one of these CDs, is that you get the full route, all stock and activities, plus it just installs everything to MSTS at the click of your mouse.

But before you start adding any additional routes, there are a few things you need to do first. You need to make sure your copy of MSTS is updated to V 1.4, Newish copies of MSTS now under the Explosive label may have this update already added but it won't do no harm to download the patch and install it anyway, as all it will do is overite the files if they are included. You can download a copy of this file from here.

http://www.microsoft.com/games/pc/trainsim.aspx

MSTS comes with a track system known as the default track, this was all new route builders had to go on at first, until several new track systems were introduced. These were first, X Tracks then UK Finescale so without both of these track systems being installed to MSTS, most of the add on routes will not run, So you need to download these two track system files and install them to MSTS, which come with self installing files. You can get these from the Quick Picks on the opening page of UKTrainsim. Also you need the latest Tsection dat 38, and the Tweaks Package will give you other enhancements as well.

The more routes and stock you add to MSTS, obviously the file system gets quite large and the more routes you have, the longer it will take to load the simulator before you can drive a train.

To get round this slow loading time, a nice little utility called Trainstore has been developed, which once installed, allows you to load up MSTS directly by clicking on the Trainstore Icon, on your desk top. Clicking on the Trainstore Icon, opens up Trainstore from where you can choose a Route & Activity Click on Easy Trainstore, then choose your route. Trainstore can do lots of other things, too many to mention here, but read the instruction manual after downloading.

Another useful utility is RouteRiter, this again does many things, but is useful for finding out if there are any missing files needed for an activity of item of rolling stock. Again Read the Instructions.

Finally, to improve the running of MSTS you need to istall the latest MSTS Bin Patch, which can be downloaded from here.

http://mstsbin.uktrainsim.com/eng/eng.html

Use the latest Stable version at the bottom of the opening page.

READ ALL THE BEGINNERS TOPICS IN THE MSTS 1 FORUM

The more you get to know, the easier it will become to enjoy MSTS!

Geoff

[jbilton]

Hi
A handy Tutorial

http://steam4me.railpage.org.au/trainsi ... _msts.html

Cheers
Jon

[mendes]

Before shelling out for your year's Premium subscription I think you should realise that buying a community or commercial CD from UKTS gives you a whole month's premium subscription!!

[douglee]

Hi All,
Having read the above and 'thinking' as a newcomer. I would say, Where/how do I get all this stuff?

You know how some people do not follow up on things!

So here's a thought.

Group all the essentials into one download on the Front Page (I know some are there seperately) or, make such a group available as a purchase from CD ordering. It could include the links to the Begineers Thread/s.
The second option would give the inexperienced user a backup.

There may be obstacals to this but it might filter out a few of the obvious newbie questions.

There's my twopen'orth.

[thenudehamster]

Having been away from MSTS for a good couple of years through moving countries and addresses, trying - and being seriously disillusioned by - Rail Simulator, and changing computers, I'm going through quite a learning curve trying to reinstall MSTS on a new machine. New users may well be in a similar situation, so perhaps some of the things I've learned will be a help to them.

I know, from browsing these pages lately, that Vista has caused no end of trouble through its much vaunted - and much hated - 'security' system. The answer is simple - don't install MSTS into the default location, but put it somewhere outside the Program Files folder. This is probably the most effective tip I got from reading the Tutorial on re-installing MSTS on Yuri's Steam4me site. It's been said elsewhere, but bears repeating - the tutorials on that site are worth their weight in gold. There are several little self-installers for bits and pieces of add-ons which make life easier, too.

This next is so basic that many of us forget it, but in trying to make MSTS work under an OS that wasn't even a pipe-dream when MSTS was written, we're pushing its boundaries a bit, and we tend to forget. Basic thing is this - do ONE thing at a time, and make sure it works before going on to the next. Sometimes it's not that easy; install Southwold, for instance and you HAVE to install X-Tracks and UK Finescale or it won't work, but on the whole one at a time is the golden rule. (I've reinstalled things three times because I forgot this one!)

Don't try to run before you can walk. If you are a new user, rattle around the default routes for a bit to get used to the way the simulator operates, and read a lot on this and other sites before you try to go modifying and updating.

Remember the Community CDs from UK Trainsim - by far the easiest and most trouble free way of adding content.

Don't be afraid to ask questions; I've been Trainsimming since 2003 and used to consider myself pretty well clued up, but I've made plenty of simple mistakes and haven't been able to see them for looking. As someone much wiser than me once said: The only stupid question is the one you don't ask.

[mendes]

but I've made plenty of simple mistakes and haven't been able to see them for looking.

Haven't we all!!!

[steamnut44]

Nice to see that some of the experienced users have also added to this thread. What tempted me to put this thread up, was that a lot of people making enquiries at the show, were not aware that you need to add certain utilities to MSTS, before you can run any add on routes. Trying to explain everything you need to do after first installing MSTS, to get add on routes to run, can be a bit confusing to the newcomer, as it is impossible to expect that everything being said to them is clearly understood, by the time they get home. So I thought explaining these simple (WHAT YOU NEED TO DO FIRST) instructions, on here would at least, give them a clearer picture of why these utilities (X Tracks, UKFinescale etc) need to be installed. A lot of people were under the illusion, that you installed MSTS, then added a route and it would run, just like the default routes do.

Geoff

[wertyuv]

shouldn't this be a sticky since it is 'pointing out' the ways of improving MSTS for newbies?
Just a thought