ashgray wrote:crumplezone wrote:davep wrote:Doesn't specifically say that TS2014 stuff will work in TS2015.
It won't work, the coding structure between TS2014 which has its codebase dating back into rail simulator and Kuju aswell as being DX9 will not be cross compatible with a completely next generation engine which utilises most of the new graphical and engine tech in DX11. The coding from DX9->11 is huge and its not a simple matter of a few changes here and there. The UR4 will allow for 64bit and better graphical performance and system performance in general but you can pretty much kiss goodbye cross compatiblity
Can i just ask - where exactly did you get this "information" from? is it based on something you know to be fact, or speculation?
Ash
Errr, is common knowledge if you read directx compatibility information. DX9 uses different .dlls to dx11 and it also is coded differently due to the graphic innovations between dx9->11. Kuju's rail simulator which is what TS2014 is based on originally and hasn't changed much beyond a graphics front end being modified is still kuju coded from 11+ years ago and DX9. You can't just bolt the unreal 4 engine onto that and expect it to work. Its not speculation, that is how it works and requires a grounds up re-write. The engine differences are like XP is to windows 7 currently if you want to take operating system examples and for anyone who has coded for XP and windows 7 will know how sigificant things had changed, its no different in this case.
If TS2014 was using the UR3 engine then yes it would be feasible and doable to move content over onto the UR4 engine since the development kits allow for this, but were talking about completely different engines which were developed years between each other on completely different technology of the times.
UR4 utilises C++ as its programming structure which means you could utilise some of the lua code which has been done for TS2014, but then you would have to pretty much write the entire UR4 engine as a near on copy of TS2014 which kinda defeats the object of using a new engine in the first place. UR4 uses alot of different functions and more call ups than the current TS20XX does for the most part.
UR4 pretty much uses all available current new technology and direct11, direct11 required a fair bit of different coding compared to DX9 because it introduced alot of new graphic innovations, its why there was alot of unsuccessful attempts to create hybrid dx9 with dx11 support games, shogun total war and its previous title are a example of this, they had sigificant hardware issues due to the developers not specialising in just one format.
I'll reinterate my previous statement. Cross compatibility is impossible if its a direct move over from TS20XX to UR4 to the extent its better to build ground up, however 3D models and sounds can be moved over and to a certain extent some of the lua script can but will require heavy modification. However alot of the rest needs to be made from scratch, most of the textures would have to be redone due the different shader engine in the UR4 engines, they wouldn't be the same between two engines.
DTG have noted they will continue to support TS20XX, but from a bussiness standpoint and a logicial standpoint to try and convert everything over it will balloon the development time by a incredible margin to the point it would become cost ineffective. Its not a simple matter of copy and paste or a few lines here or a few lines there. Its redoing most of the code, taking 3D models and changing them to the new format, changing all texture work to new shaders and ensure every single sound is converted into a new format without losing clarity.
Also, all the crazy talk about requiring a vastly new computer to run UR4 is silly which is bouncing around. Any graphics card in the last 4-5 years which is DX11 compatible will work with UR4, also due to the UR4 actually being a modern engine its more intune with more modern hardware so it should run better for anything built in the last 4 years aswell.
At the end of the day, what are people wanting? TS20XX with new graphics or a new engine entirely with better hardware support, in general better graphics and in general a much smoother development platform than the current engine? Its not going to be free upgrades, you can rule that out as commericial ventures have to pay a royalty fee back to Unreal and the cost of hiring on UR4 taught staff is additional cost vs teaching current staff its also why they are "learning" from the fishing game on the UR4 engine.
UR4 is not without its faults mind, google will reveal quite a few games using UR4 which have users having issues with the new unreal engine but its still infinitely better. I'm not going to go further into the technology backend and why this and that won't work, you can go read tech articles on unreal 4 and dx9 cross compatibility for that.
Also at the end of the day and people certainly won't agree with me on this point, but I would hope DTG would stop leaning on the handicap of providing support and upgrade option for a old codebase and simulator. It is stifling innovation by relying on a dated engine which is reaching its limit and can only do so much, nothing really big has come to the simulator beyond super elevation on a innovation standpoint.
Just as a example for a steam era point of view, there is only so much simulation that can be done currently with steam loco firing and general operation, this as noted by a few developers is limited by the simulation codebase of TX20XX. A UR4 engine based train simulator could technically have developers create there own simulation and hook it back into the main engine without requirement of reliance on the original codebase. From a graphical and physics standpoint you could have actual smoke which collides with surfaces and bellows from tunnels as UR4 is quite capable of doing so.
Also from another standpoint which people won't like, the UR4 engine allows DTG to develop the game/simulator for PS4 and xbone without requiring extensive differences in coding as both the new gen consoles utilising the PC structure (xbone even has window's kernels for example) which allows a larger audience to be reached and considering how DTG have been strieving towards getting a larger audience playing I would assume the UR4 move is targetted in some way at that.
Also looking back I'm quoted about ts14 -> 15 compatibility, which would be fine since it would probably be the same engine. But direct TS20XX to UR4 is still near on impossible for the amount of differences between the two codebases.
is a multi platform release but it will be locked.. Think of it as routes and a store (not to far from how the current incarnation has developed).. and thats if it even happens at all. Think of TMLs use of the Vision engine and put a store GUI on the front so its more expandable.