Hotfix 53.8a Issued Today.

[mrennie]

Posted today on the Steam forum:

Dovetail Games has released a hotfix for Train Simulator 2016.

The hotfix will download and install through Steam. You may need to restart Steam if the process does not start automatically for you. Once complete the new version for Train Simulator 2016 will be 53.9b.

Train Simulator 2016 53.9b changelog:

Resolved game start issue for new users prior to TS2016.
Resolved missing characters on Scenario Debrief screen.

The download size for Hotfix 53.9b is approximately 19Mb

The Train Simulator Team
Dovetail Games

[BDWorkshop]

I just got my update and it seems to be working now.

[Bananarama]

I need to do more testing, but it appears loading times are longer.

[Ericmopar]

If this was a real problem at DTG why are only some having it?

It can be many reasons. The most common are some kind of software already on a PC using a file or DLL of the same name, causing conflicts.
It can also be a corrupt download from the server itself.
DTG may have iffy HDD somewhere on their own servers, and therefor some uploads may be corrupted.

Later That Day...
I'm showing four new Dlls in two different folders this afternoon. So they are working on the problem.

[trev123]

Mine works alright after update 53.9b.

[buzz456]

Mine works alright after update 53.9b.

This is the latest fix.

[trev123]

Yes.

[trev123]

I need to do more testing, but it appears loading times are longer.

First time starting after an update or installing new DLC always takes longer. For me it does.

[Bananarama]

Still seems sluggish. I figured a reboot would help - it did - but the loading times are 15~20% longer across the board. Even when switching from world to scenario editor mode, which used to be fairly snappy, takes nearly a minute.

[Ericmopar]

Still seems sluggish. I figured a reboot would help - it did - but the loading times are 15~20% longer across the board. Even when switching from world to scenario editor mode, which used to be fairly snappy, takes nearly a minute.

I've thought it was loading a bit slower too, but since the update to 2016, not the hotfixes.

[OldProf]

I need to do more testing, but it appears loading times are longer.

I'm pretty sure that loading times are more subjective than objective. In other words, if you expect and are therefore anticipating (hoping for?) longer loading times, that's what your brain will perceive. I'm currently running TS2016's full version on my Italian computer, which has less physical memory and a slower graphics card than my American model, so slower loading times should be in order, but I'm quite sure that the opposite is true, except for the absurdly long wait for the Workshop tab to bring up the comparatively small number of scenarios I've downloaded, but that's been the same for as long as a Workshop tab has existed.

[Bananarama]

I'm pretty sure that loading times are more subjective than objective.

I ran tests on versions going back to TS2013. In each one, I made certain to have a fresh boot and start Steam first (online mode), and then check logmate for errors while loading, and each test was done multiple times (again, on a fresh reboot) to ensure I wasn't getting one-offs (cold boots wouldn't have changed things in any measurable form except in loading the OS). The specific procedure for each instance of TS:

• Wait for all processes to load in Windows
• Start Steam
• Start game
• Time menu loading
• Time editor loading
• Exit
• Reboot

Code: Select all

________________________________________________________
TS2013: v27.5a                   No Cache       Cached
========================================================
Icon click to Main Menu =        0:22.81        N/A
Edit Blank Scenario =            0:41.83        1:09.10
Scenario Exit to Drive mode =    0:03.76        0:03.76
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
TS2014: v42.9a                   No Cache       Cached
========================================================
Icon click to Main Menu =        0:20.39        N/A
Edit Blank Scenario =            0:26.58        0:32.50
Scenario Exit to Drive mode =    0:02.85        0:02.46
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
TS2015: v52.2a                   No Cache       Cached
========================================================
Icon click to Main Menu =        0:21.71        N/A
Edit Blank Scenario =            0:55.24        0:41.47
Scenario Exit to Drive mode =    0:08.93        0:09.07
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
TS2016: v53.9b                   No Cache       Cached
========================================================
Icon click to Main Menu =        0:30.71        N/A
Edit Blank Scenario =            1:30.56        1:07.55
Scenario Exit to Drive mode =    0:11.85        0:13.29
________________________________________________________



TS2014 is the clear winner and that TS2016 falls flat on its face - and both use similar Flash loading screens - only TS2013 got confused about some of the newer Flash parameters, likely in the route loading ad-driven slide show). When the initial 2016 update was released, I felt that load times were markedly better than the previous 2015 version, but all that went down the toilet with the latest hotfix. Right now, TS2016 is more useful as a door stop.

Start, go make coffee, come back and load editors, go get your cup-o-joe, and hopefully the route would have been already loaded by your return.

Note: TS2013 appears to have had a bug with loading or processing blueprint cache. I ran the tests several more times to make certain I hadn't goofed, but it all checked out. Also note that TS2013 didn't support irregular assets blocks, which might be a factor in what's going on in the background. I included this version mainly as an illustration and to plot a trend, and also I didn't bother to test earlier versions (I remember them as a bit slow anyway).

As an aside, although the original Rail Simulator was a bit clunky, the loading times are phenomenal. Of course, it didn't have to load the newer shaders and the bloatware menus we have today, but it's a snappy chappy and FPS is through the roof. Main icon to start was under 2-seconds, and less than 15-seconds to enter edit mode from the main menu. Tehachapi runs, albeit with the obvious errors regarding special shaders and there's no super elevation or distant scenery, and the best part is that it doesn't have to contend with Steam. It does work, however.

All in all I say we're going downhill and at a pace most would hardly notice from version to version. Having the game run most all the time everyday, I tend to notice immediate changes, at least be suspicious of their existence, so I didn't feel I was blowing smoke with my original comments. Of course, it was only the tests that confirmed my belief that TS is turning into a bloatware nightmare. IMHO, if this trend continues, we're in big trouble with the UE4 version.

The big question though, does DTG even care?

[stresstool]

I wonder if the extra startup time is network related. With 53.8a I was experiencing the same "slowness" or even "death" at RW startup as others were having. I put Steam into offline mode: same thing happened. I disconnected my PC from the Internet (unplugged it): same thing. I went to the network control panel and disabled all 4 of my network adapters: RW would repeatedly start right up lickety split. It appears to me there is some handshaking attempts going on with a server somewhere out there in the "Internets" even if told to run offline. And it is dumb enough to hang while waiting for a response. But if told there isn't even a network device available, it must skip that step.

I have subsequently received 53.9b so don't see that what seemed like infinite startup time anymore and haven't duplicated the experiment.

[buzz456]

OK let's do some real numbers instead of just going off on bashing 2016. On my computer it takes 20 seconds for the game to load. It takes 2 seconds after I click on drive. It takes 2 seconds for the menu to come up after you like click on the free roam. I chose the Marias Pass Scale Rail version. It took 10 seconds for the route to load. I will do the same thing with my 2014 and see what the times are.

2014 14seconds. 2 seconds. 1 second. 25 seconds.

Not enough time for me to get a cup of coffee.

[Bananarama]

Not enough time for me to get a cup of coffee.

With all due respect, I do use real world numbers, and have based my testing on the lowest common denominator. I do not edit on a hot rod PC (one at the ready, but not used for testing), and the video card is pretty old, but adequate.

More recent PCs, OSs and video cards would run circles around my old computer, but what's the point? I figure if I can run at a decent rate on an old box, then most others shouldn't have a problem either. That's not always the case, but develop on my other PC and you can bet there would be problems somewhere with someone. I won't take that risk.

I've been at this for more than 25 years, and that's how testing should and is done with most software. It's the only way to bring the numbers down to Earthly levels. Everything else, IMHO, is speculative and thus harder to measure.