Atomic Systems

Why do we dislike trainsim.com... opps Tr***si*.com?

Because it is American....

We British do things proper.

I wouldn't go so far as to say I hate the site - some of the layout & content is good (& ALL MSTS resources are surely to be welcomed everywhere )

However, some of the forum threads frankly degenerate into an abusive waste of space.
I believe our 'Colonial Cousins' call it "in your face" - personally I call it bl**dy rude.

I've found this to be particularly of 'technical queries'. We are all at varying points on the ski-slope that is the "MSTS Learning Curve" - many problems may seem absurdley basic to the lucky 'techsperts' but are still posted as genuine concerns by the asker.
On UKTS I've generally found even the most 'stupid' queries to be answered with unfailing courtesy. On TS dot C as like as not some smug type quicky chip in with some little bon-mot along the lines of "don't you even know that, you useless cretin".

OK, so this space is, perhaps, sometimes a little vigorously "over-policed (esp. if the thread moves off-topic) but, overall, a visit to this site is still like meeting "old friends" - the "other" forum sometimes get to feel like a Friday night pub brawl!

(Oh cripes - I've just realised - this is probably my "alternative" log-in just cancelled. Aw shucks - what the hang, as they say over there)

In the name of over policing, please keep this thread polite and constructive as it's quite obviously extremely likely to enter no-mans land

Matt.

I have to say whenever I've posted enquiries I've had constructive replies.
As with this forum some correspondents are good, some just want to see their name in print.

Threads can quickly degenerate into a "I want...." sort of rant & lose their way. Some advice given is downright dangerous; that & the cowboy language is a pain.

The "why doesn't anybody make me a....." drives me to distraction. My immediate response is "Why don't you.....?

Some comic offered a whole $20 for somebody to make him a 2-8-8-0, that's probably about a cent an hour - less after tax.

I'm a bit cross with them at the moment - for the third time I can't get in to the forum; won't accept my password. Also a topic has disappeared after their revamp.

Don't be too censorious - there have been threads on this forum which have degenerated below usefulness.

regards
Richard Osborne

Before this site found its feet, after the sad departure of Tim Booth's site I must admit that I browsed at 'the other place' daily, but since Christmas I think I have only been there 3 or 4 times.

I have nothing against the site or its contributors, even though been American biased it does seem loud, fat, and ' in ya face'.

As an advocate and follower of the best of British I find that my needs (both in terms of downloads and the serious and not so serious discussions that take place) are met here.

Bob

I have nothing against Train Sim . com, other than it takes for ever to get in (unless like on this site, you become a premium subscriber) and the few times I've been on the forums (to which I have never contributed) they seem to be very insular, rude and completely confirming the general stereotype of anything US which is a shame. Nevertheless I've downloaded stuff off that site, and I have begun a passing interest in US stuff through it, and sometimes it has some useful downloads on it, so I'd never really knock the site. Just some of the twonks who post to it.

However, my preference is for UK, then European, so this site probably is my most visited "favourite" over the year, beating even British Model Buses and Euronet (except in the run up to the Song Contest of course...)

To be frank I think it's improved a lot since it's been restyled.No more gibberish from likes of "bcdef",seen his postings?Anyway,why worry?plenty of good stuff there.
If this site here keeps improving,perhaps a few of their authors will notice and start contributing here.Testing some beta stuff at the moment.

Well I regularly visit both sites, and must say that in the developing of Route-Riter, I have had far more help from the 'Yanks' than I have had from the UK (with a few exceptions like IKB and Paul).

People like Jim Ward (author of EZstuff.bat), Michael Vone (The Abacus Route designer manual) and Bill who wrote the Seaview 2 route all helped in developing the program and spent a lot of time explaining the layout of the various .dat files and other file formats. No technical query I made was ever ignored.

Both sites have the usual complement of flamers and troublemakers, but this is true of any site you visit. On the whole the MSTS community is helpful and give their time and effort freely, no matter where in the world they are located.

when i first got msts t-s.com was the only place i knew and there was and still is very little british stuff there. when i happened to stumble across this site (completely by accident) i found a lively community (similar to "the other place" except it's always good to be here) and most importantly-loads of british stuff which i happily spend hours stuffing onto my hd. nothing against t-s.com, i just like it so much more here because matt, the atomic team, the designers and the users make it such a great site which supplies exactly what the majority of users from our little island "fortress" want

Personally, I find that Trainsim.com is a great source of entertainment......... especially when somebody decides to bring up the question of an ".s" file editor! Good luck!!!

I absolutley hate the layout at t****-s**.com, and the only reason taht I frequent the file library there is for the Aussie stuff that's there.

For uploaders - train-sim.com is good for getting your stuff out and about into the community (just like msts.nl) - IMHO the forums are not arranged as well as they are on UKTS

I have never been into the TS-com forums. I've only heard about them second-hand. But when someone here points a link at an ongoing technical discussion I find that their treatment of stuff like friction, twin-port issues and so on show a good understanding on the code, the prototype and a willingness to share info. Much like here really. As others have said where would we be without the likes of Michael Vone, Okrasa Ghia and Rich Garber, to pull just thre names out of the air?

I have downlaoded a lot of models from there and those I am using in my route I have emailed the authors for permission and without exception I've got a very pleasant reply in the affirmative. So they are human, just like us after all.

Conversely I know there are a quite a few 'over there' who dislike this site for it's premium user set-up, they seem to think it is somehow elitist and cliquey.

I only ever go to TS-com once a week and hit the 'newest files' button for an hour or twos downloading session.

Train-sim.com is useful for techy info and finding out obscure stuff. Never been on those forums myself, the ones here are more 'chatty' whilst the Train-sim.com ones are 'well here it is, take it or leave it!'

The site is US-centric, which I don't mind, but it makes it less interesting, as I'm not as familar with their' railway (ahem railroad) network as I am with this one.

As for downloads, I prefer the system here. People forget that someone has to pay for the bandwidth etc. Sites like this wouldn't exist if it wasn't for the premium subscribers and they wouldn't exist if it wasn't for the modellers, activity makers and route builders etc.

Over there you can never get on the site (unless you know a few tricks, he he) with this site you are guaranteed at least a loco a day, many of which are better than the default ones. For a premium subsciber to UKtrainsim, at £17 a year it's amazing value. The only thing that stopped me in the past was the payment system, but now that it's been changed there is no excuse.

In conclusion, both sites are excellent and provide an amazing opportunity to publish work and obtain free stuff.