Atomic Systems

I have just pre-ordered German Railroads Vol. 1 – The Seventies - Along the Bigge - details below

-Alan

http://www.german-railroads.de/preview.htm

I'd appreciate a review of this when you get it. I kept my eye on their website during the development of the route and was initially very impressed by the screenshots. However, I'm not quite so sure any more so haven't yet ordered my copy.

Martin

OK, I'll let you know when I get it. It'll be a couple of weeks, they're starting shipping on the 10th July.

I have had the pleasure of beta testing this route for them, translations etc. It is a super route especially if you like branchline types ( 80km limit ! ).

What is really outstanding is the over 40 included activities. Great variety.

For those that don't know the route is co written by Ernst Tollknaepper who has provided us with the excellent activity analysis.

I have nothing to do with them apart from been lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time and have adsl.

John

Thanks John

I think it might be credit card time again.

Martin

do any places in the UK distribute these add-ons, or do you have to buy from places on mainland europe?

jjoyce wrote:For those that don't know the route is co written by Ernst Tollknaepper who has provided us with the excellent activity analysis.

A-ha, I thought that name rang a bell!

I must admit it doesn't interest me that much- it's not a route I can relate to at all. It's the kind of thing I'd download but perhaps not buy (have to be a little bit choosy with Commercial addons). It looks well made though- I'll be interested to see Vol 2.

Same here Simon, I don't know the route at all. Also, from what I've seen of the trains, they are nothing special. The Protrain 232 is better than the GR one and the freeware 218s are better than the GR 217.

Martin

Yep, my view on the trains is exactly the same.

This has been slightly delayed, a problem at the CD factory according to their website.

10.07.2002: Shipping of english version

Because of a mistake in the CD-factory we will have a delay of one week in shipping our english Add-On. Sorry about that. We will start shipping now at the 16th. July.

-Alan

This addon pack has just arrived - will hopefully have time to try it out this evening.

Waiting for your report with baited breath. From what I saw on the website this route looks good with excellent attention to scenery and stations and a realistic environment. Not really fussed about whether the trains are correct or not (I know zip about the DB) but if 40 activities take you through what looks like a very beleivable world and the result is immersion in the scenery these guys have created then that is a big hit with me.

Sorry! This fixation many have with the locos is begining to annoy me! MSTS is about running a railway, so first get the railway right!!!

(don't know what happened today, must have missed my medication)

I'll post my impressions so far. Haven't played enough for a proper review, but won't have chance today to continue, so won't keep you in suspense too long.

As soon as I opened the box I was impressed - there is a well-written manual, giving information about the route and the stock, installation instructions, and pointers to other documents on the CD.

Installation went smoothly, standard autoplay stuff, a menu with links to all the PDF documents on disk (overview map of the route, track plans of each station, explanation of signals, "gradient profile" (which is just like the loading screens of the default routes), "speed manual" detailing the speed limits of the track (this is still in german, but since it's basically a listing of milepost, station name and speed limit this doesn't really cause a problem), and finally a list and brief description of each activitiy.

Loaded up, and ran activity 00 - a short run with loads of pop-up messages explaining the signals and signs that you see. There is one feature of the route - I've no idea how its done - there are several level crossings without barriers, you have to sound your horn on approach, if you don't its activity over. I can confirm that it does work.

The trains I have tried so far have lovely cab-views - the manual suggests driving with keyboard as not all controls are functional (or shown). This is how I always drive anyway, so not a problem, I wouldn't have even noticed but though I'd mention it.

I then started an activity with a passenger conist (01) and wondered if there was a passenger view. There was, but the camera was placed just outside the carriage - don't know if this is intentional or accidently, I edited the WAG and got the camera inside - not a brilliant interior, but certainly better than nothing. (Incidently, this set of coaches have 3 axels, I wonder how in real life such a coach could get round corners - do the middle wheels move in and out or something?)

Running conbuilder, I found a few errors in the locos, there were some where they'd made the classic mistake of not editing the SD file to the new name of the S when copying to repaint. Also a few minor errors in a couple of SMS files - a typo in a filename, couple of quotes missing - simple stuff, but which should have been checked at the beta stage.

Performance is good - I get 15-20fps generally on this route (which for my system is above average) - it does drop a bit at stations and I did have a 1second freeze at one point, but for comparison, another german addon, (protrain2), I am lucky to get 10fps, and loads of freezes as new tiles are loaded, (I think thats the reason!)

Reading the activity guide, there is loads to do, I haven't even scratched the surface yet. I have only tried one loco so far, and 1.2 activities, have to go to work and am sorting out someones computer tonight, so won't get anothet play until wed eve; so until then here is my mini review.

I haven't tested everything - not tried winter for instance, but my initial impression is €30* well spent!

*£20.20 after conversion.

(Note I am from the school of "we are really lucky to have freeware routes" rather than "why should we pay for anything when there's free stuff about" - so take my comment about worth paying for in that context)

-Alan

I'm still in two minds about buying it, mainly because I'm finding myself with less and less time to spend on msts and aren't driving half the routes that I've already got.

I'm not sure exactly how the 3 axle coaches worked, but I think that the centre axle was able to move. 3 axle designs were quite common at one point in Britain and elsewhere, before the days of bogie carriages. The ones on German Railroads were actually built after WWII, but using old underframes.

Martin