new user = BAD DAY

[theredneckway77]

hi everyone. I recently bought MSTS at a store, and i'm new to the train simulator experience. I began doing research online and found that how cool it was that I could download new routes and consists (I think that's what theyre called) locomotives and cars.

I'm not really what you would call a "seasoned veteran" computer user, but I started to figure out (by teaching myself) on how to download and install all of these various files. I bought a couple of payware items, which I seemed to have no problems with. Then I began downloading what is called freeweare, much of it from this site.

All of a sudden, I began getting tons of error messages, saying "this file ---- was not found" and "world initialization failed" and many others. Eventually i got so frustrated, (the MSTS sim game wouldn't even boot up properly) so I just deleted everything and even uninstalled the MSTS program.

I really like MSTS, but to be honest, I'm no computer whiz. I would like to re-install the program b/c I really like it, but I don't know if I should download files. Am I better off just using the four routes that came on it? And only using the BNSF and passenger trains that came on it? Or should I give it another try?

Maybe some of the more experienced users in here could possibly instruct me in what I may have been doing wrong.

By the way, I did have x-tracks and newroads (the latest versions of both), and I always read the "README" docs and did the install.bat installations.

THANKS for any advice!

[Richard]

Hello Lee,
One of the best utilities for finding problems with MSTS is Route-Riter found in the file library under utilities.

filename: rr7025fu.zip

I would suggest you download and install Route-Riter and read thru it's help file on checking routes for errors. Some errors Route-Riter can fix automatically, for all others don't be afraid to ask here :)


Take care,
Rich S.

[inflammable]

Yeah, get Route Riter. Each piece that you download should be set aside and tested. It's time consuming, and can be a pain, but in the end you can make just about anything work correctly. You just have to work on it one thing at a time. Ask lots of questions on the forum here, and ignore those who don't help you out.

Everyone was new once. Some people are still new after all these years.

When you get an error message, try to describe what point the game is at, to get the most help. For example, 'When I click Drive A Train, it crashes' or, 'After I click Play, and the Route is loading, it gives me an error that it can't find a shape file'.

James

[Hawk]

Another good point to make is when you install something, check to see if you have any problems before installing anything else.
That will help narrow down which items are causing the problems.

Have you downloaded and installed the MSTS patches yet?

[theredneckway77]

hawk, I'm not sure if I have patches or not? how do I find out? I know I have never downloaded route riter, only x-tracks and newroads.

thanks 4 the help guys, ya'll are great. I'm going to re-install again today and start all over from scratch. This time I will download each piece, one at a time, and check and double-check.

[theredneckway77]

by the way, what directory (folder) should my utilities susch as x-tracks and newroads (and routeriter when I d'load it) where are they supposed to be located? Right now, I still have them just in a folder located on the desktop.

[Richard]

Hello Lee,
If you recently purchased MSTS, you may already have the patch. To check for the version number, you will need to open Windows explorer and change to the folder where MSTS is installed. For example

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Train Simulator

Then right click on the train.exe file and select properties from the popup menu. On the properties dialog box select the version tab. If you have Patch 1.4 then you have the current MSTS version.

http://forums.flightsim.com/vbts/up1/122234.jpg


If you do not have the current version go to web page:

http://www.microsoft.com/games/trainsimulator/

At the bottom of the web page are links for downloading the patch.

Take care,
Rich S.

[theredneckway77]

i have the V1.4 ,just like you have. I must have bought the newest version available, I bought it July 5th.

Ok guys, now I have another problem..... (yeah, im used to it by now) --- I downloaded route-riter then tried to start the program and I got an error msg pop-up saying "unable to find ace-it.exe" I don't know why this is..... I told it to download ace-it also. suggestions? comments?

[streamline]

Hallo!
When you install RR it creates a folder RouteRiter\AceIt. There you find aceit.exe. Copy the file into the same folder as Route_Riter.exe, and it will work. (Don't ask me why.)

Keep on steamin'!
Dietmar

[theredneckway77]

YOU THE MAN!

[theredneckway77]

now if I could only get my CSX Western & Atlantic route installed, I would be doing good..... any suggestions?

[Kenny1234]

Alot of freeware routes contain scenery items which are included within the 6 default routes. These freeware route authors are not allowed to include them in the packaged routes they distribute for copyright reasons. So they include a batch file that must be run which copies these files from your installation into the particular route. If you dont run the batch file, the route is incomplete and will not run, giving you errors upon startup. Payware doesnt have this problem because everything in payware routes is custom made, and they use none of the default material.

In order for the batch file to copy properly, you most often need all 6 default route folders installed and sitting in your routes directory (most freeware route authors borrow scenery items from all 6 default routes). What I do is create a directory inside the routes folder and move all 6 default routes into it, so they are quasi-hidden and dont show up and use computer resources unnecessarily. When I download a freeware route that requires material from the 6 routes, I move the 6 default route folders back into the main routes directory, run the batch files, and then put the 6 default route folders back into their hiding place.