Atomic Systems

Received them today at last and here is my evaluation:

HEIDI EXPRESS
Frames Rates 4 - 10 at best out in the country, which could be anywhere in the world, apart from a few Swiss looking chalets.

Wooden sleepers, when they are concrete in fact and the Graphics altogether the worst I have seen in a Sim to date. Switch / Points blades which move sideways instead of pivoting at the frog's end. Altogether a Waste of Money !

I took a ride on this route for real last year ! The Swiss have one of the most modern and up-to-date Railway systems in the world, maintained to perfection (not like their Air Traffic Control System) and this Sim is no match !!!

EURO LOCO Pack, Chris Longhurst designed like the TGV Pack and as expected with Pantos to match the TGV Pack Catenary height of 5.8 metres. As all the other European Routes I have, like the electrified Arlberg, Wupper and Protrain Rhine Valley, have a Catenary height of 6.0 metres, all JUST TRAINS Locos Pantos being 20 centimetres lower than the Catenary on these Routes are useless.

I have had enough of my recent experiences with new Hardware, O/S and MSTS Add-ons and shall give it a rest until the next release of MSTS.

Heidi Express is out then? According to Amazon Uk its sets for 26th July release!!

So it looks like Heidi Express could be a BIG dissapointment just like TGV Train Sim Pack was for many people. Oh dear.

I had an email the other day telling me that my copy was in the post, so maybe tomorrow?

It sounds disappointing from what I've read above, but I'll give you my opinion when I've tried it. I can't see what the fuss is with the pantographs. Many European modellers use 5.7m or 5.8m as the panto height. If it offends you that much, adjust the catenary height in the Route Editor.

Martin

"Ottodad" also cross posted this on my forum, so I repeat the response below:

H'mmm well I haven't seen Heidiland yet (though I fully intend to buy it) but the above comments strike me as being a little, well, subjective. If you're going to criticise frame rate then a description of the hardware is really essential. For all readers of your post know you could be running the programme on a PII 400 with 64Mb of RAM and a 3 year old Voodoo Card. What about the detail settings in MTS? Turning those down slightly can increase performance dramatically.
As regards the content of the route pack, well I haven't seen it yet but if memory serves me correctly much of the Rhatische Bahn runs through remote scenery with "a few Swiss looking chalets." That's part of the appeal of the lines. You also make no mention of the trains which are an integral part of the pack (visuals/sounds/cab/physics). What about Activities?

As I say, you're entitled to your opinion but you seem to have little grasp of the sheer amount of work that has to go into creating a route and associated rolling stock. Dare I say if you're not happy then perhaps you should attempt to create yor own add ons. If not then a little gratitude towards those who are working hard to produce third party items would not go amiss. Constructive criticism, yes but outright negativity is not going to win many friends or indeed encourage those who are working to make content for the programme.

Heidi Express isn't (ment to be) released in the UK until July 26th, so that's a bit odd. Maybe they've bought it forward since I was told last week.

I'll be popping in Electronics Boutique on the way home from work. I'll see if they have it in stock(though this could be unlikely knowing EB). Otherwise I'll order a copy from Amazon or Simware. I'm sure the product wont be as bad as Ottadad has made out(no offence Ottodad). We've waited long enough for it though, hope it is worth it.

Deltic2002 wrote:I'll be popping in Electronics Boutique on the way home from work. I'll see if they have it in stock(though this could be unlikely knowing EB). Otherwise I'll order a copy from Amazon or Simware. I'm sure the product wont be as bad as Ottadad has made out(no offence Ottodad). We've waited long enough for it though, hope it is worth it.

Looked at amazon about an hour ago, and it still said the 26th, which is the same date as contact sales have told me.

Anyone got the latest date for Trainz? I want to try to get that at the same time (both the same week aren't they?) but Amazon's not even listing it yet.

I ordered my Heidi Express from Simware and they emailed me to say it's been dispatched. I'll let you know when I receive it.

Martin

OTTODAD wrote:Received them today at last and here is my evaluation:

HEIDI EXPRESS
Frames Rates 4 - 10 at best out in the country, which could be anywhere in the world, apart from a few Swiss looking chalets.

Wooden sleepers, when they are concrete in fact and the Graphics altogether the worst I have seen in a Sim to date. Switch / Points blades which move sideways instead of pivoting at the frog's end. Altogether a Waste of Money !

I took a ride on this route for real last year ! The Swiss have one of the most modern and up-to-date Railway systems in the world, maintained to perfection (not like their Air Traffic Control System) and this Sim is no match !!![/b].

WHere did you order your copy from? Or did you recieve a review copy of it?

(Why ask for a "SUBJECT" when replying to an existing one ?)

Frame Rates - Have a look at OTTODAD's PROFILE at:
http://www.train-sim.com/cgi/dcforum/dc ... =DCConfID1
and familiarise yourself with who I am , what I do and my Computing background. And while you are at it have a look at: http://www.otto-wipfel.co.uk !

Just Trains EURO LOCO Pack - To the guy who suggested adjusting the Catenary Heights in Routes:

Are you saying that I should adjust the Catenary Height in the WUPPER's *.TRK file which is ( 6 ) metres, the same as in the Arlberg Route, to ( 5.8 ) so that I can run JUST TRAINS Locos and then change it back to ( 6.23 ) metres to run ProTrain units and then to ( 6 ) to run others with Pantos that height ?

Not when I am PAYING for Software !!!

SWISS SCENIC RAILWAYS - HEIDI EXPRESS
The HEIDI is one of several Scenic Swiss Passenger Express Trains, sharing most of the Route from TIRANO in ItaLy through the Eastern part of Switzerland with the BERNINA and later with the GLACIER Express.

You can view pictures I took in January and September 2001, riding some of the 7 Expresses I was on at: http://www.otto-wipfel.co.uk/oaw_000013.htm
This is what Switzerland and the HEIDI EXPRESS look like.

The HEIDI EXPRESS, as advertised and pictured by Just Trains and delivered by SIMWARE yesterday, is a PASSENGER SERVICE and has nothing to do with Goods Traffic !!!

Finally, before you try to teach somebody to "Suck Eggs", make sure he does not know more than you !!!

>>Are you saying that I should adjust the Catenary Height in the WUPPER's *.TRK file which is ( 6 ) metres, the same as in the Arlberg Route, to ( 5.8 ) so that I can run JUST TRAINS Locos and then change it back to ( 6.23 ) metres to run ProTrain units and then to ( 6 ) to run others with Pantos that height ? <<

The catenary & Panto thing is a MSTS problem rather than one with the addons.

Catenary heights fluctuate along real routes, so it's not surprising people have different idea's about what hight the wires should be. I'd have thought Kuju would have written the code so the panto's stopped when they touched the contact wire. Personally I think it isn't really a major issue in the simulator anyway.

I would be interested in what other issues you have with Euro Loco. I have this pack and think the models are excellent! I am happy with all of Just Trains products (including the slightly dissapointing TGV route.) Abacus is another matter <sigh>

OTTODAD wrote: Have a look at OTTODAD's PROFILE at:
http://www.train-sim.com/cgi/dcforum/dc ... =DCConfID1
and familiarise yourself with who I am

No offence, but are we ment to be psychic to look on another sites forum to check your profile to find out who you are...? and it requires you to log in to view it too (I've got a username and password somewhere for it, but...)

OTTODAD wrote: The HEIDI EXPRESS, as advertised and pictured by Just Trains and delivered by SIMWARE yesterday, is a PASSENGER SERVICE and has nothing to do with Goods Traffic !!!

Heidi Express isn't by Just Trains (unless there's been a very last minute change)...

Heidi Express (the add-on, not the service) does (so I've seen on the official [?] site) have freight in it - quite a lot... what did you think of the freight and other features that were included in it? were the models of a good quality? (I believe this is what the other poster was asking/trying to get at).

simuk wrote:Heidi Express isn't by Just Trains (unless there's been a very last minute change)...

Heidi Express (the add-on, not the service) does (so I've seen on the official [?] site) have freight in it - quite a lot... what did you think of the freight and other features that were included in it? were the models of a good quality? (I believe this is what the other poster was asking/trying to get at).

My mistake linking the Just Trains EURO LOCO Pack with the HEIDI. The HEIDI is created by some Swiss guys who should know what Switzerland looks like for real ! The Distributor is AEROSOFT DE I had words with over the quality of another Add-On I purchased from them some time ago.

It's the quality of the Scenery Graphics and the 4 - 10 FpS which turn me off !! My machine has been built to my specs by my own OEM section, AMD XP 1900+, ASUS A7N266-E MoBo, 512 Mb DDR SDRAM, Guillemot Hercules RADEON 8500 Graphics and 2 x 28 Gb 5.9 ms Seagate Cheetahs.

I get an average 20 FpS with FS2002 and more then that with most of the MSTS FREEWARE Add-Ons like the WUPPER, SEAVIEW, PORT OGDEN, N.&.N.J. and some of the MSTS Routes.

It does not matter what the quality of the Rolling Stock is if the Scenery and the Frame Rates do not allow you to enjoy driving them !

MSTS doesn't use the same engine as Flight Simulator, and has different things that have to be seen (MSTS to me is much more detailed than the very sparse looking Flight Simulator).

What framerate do you expect from MSTS, Ottodad? Do you know what the recommended average framerate is for MSTS?