14 days of O.R.

Well having wondered for a long time and reading what others were saying I thought "what the hell" and had a go.O.R does it seems to me have a lot to offer and may indeed be the long term best way forward for MSTS,though for me at least I found it to be rather complicated,though I must admit to only using the safe version,not having a clue how to use the updates.
I loved the basic feel of the Sim,and much prefer the "black box",especially the track monitor which shows 2 ,3 or even 4 signals ahead.Comparing one Activity I was surprised to find that there appeared one complete extra AI Train.
I was also surprised to run a 3 hour trip that did not "crash to desktop" and in which I made no Saves (if this is possible running MSTS through O.R. surely there must be a clue in there as to how to cure the problem,or am I being to simplistic).

The downside for me was  that on a few activities I couldn't get the Train to move,and on one act driving (memory loss at this point)a Voyager (?) where the Throttle and Brake are the same lever I could not get it to Brake at all (My fault I'm sure).

Apart from that as I said earlier,this is the Future for MSTS as far as I can see !   

Hi Roger,
You're quite right - the future of MSTS is in Open Rails - but, to me, there are still many occasions when activities don't work as they do in MSTS, as you've discovered.  I still have the odd look at it, but don't intend it to replace my MSTS until at least v1.0 is issued.

The experimental releases are a useful way to keep an Open Rails installation up to date.  If you've got the basic requirements installed, which you must have as you're able to run it, you can just download the latest Experimental release from here : http://www.openrails.org/experimental.html (this is the file to download : Executable binaries - OR_X.zip).  Unpack it to wherever you wish and run the OpenRails.exe; it will quite happily co-exist on your PC with whichever version you already have. What I've done is create a separate Desktop icon for the Experimental version

There is no "clue" to the MSTS Crashes To Desktop!  The fact is, Open Rails only uses the data from MSTS (Routes, Activities, Rolling Stock); the CTDs are caused by the MSTS game engine.  The OR game engine is totally new (and modern); it knows how to operate with new (post-XP) versions of Windows.

Cheers,
Ged

Thanks for that Ged,as I said anyone who's P.C. Savvy would,I think,see instant improvements in using OR.But as I'm not and as I like what I know I will continue to use MSTS as long as a few Cds become available with Stock and Acts.To be fair to the old girl the only thing I dislike is when it Crashes,but I have quickly got to grips with (REMEMBERING) to make very frequent saves.Regards, 

I have not really tried OR properly yet except for the 0.8 experimental version and that was when it first became available. I've never had a Windows 7 computer, so I can't comment how MSTS runs on one.  I still run my MSTS from a good old Sony VA10 which is built like a large laptop that sits upright on my computer desk (no separate tower or speakers to worry about, it's all built in to the back of the moniter screen) running with XP installed, it also has a good top end Nividia graphics card.
Besides that, I have a Windows 8 laptop with Radeon graphics card, but it won't run MSTS because of this card.
So, as far as I'm concerned I am quite happy to carry on with MSTS & XP, until OR has been developed to at least V 1.0 by which time, even Windows 10 maybe old hat.
I can't keep up with the pace of technology these day's I'm afraid. Splashing out £400 to £500 for a laptop with the latest version of Windows every couple of years, isn't going to happen.