Open Rails - Freeware shmreewar

[kukailimoku]

So, it looks like a freeware-only existence in Open Rails is a bridge ti far, huh? I'm a noob, and a self-imposed constriction for anything I noob at is freeware only (at first) and then if it sticks in me then maybe a look-see at some payware.
I'm finding the freeware offerings dismal in OR. At least for the Activities section. The majority of the Activities downloads come with caveats about "need payware 'X'" or some such.

Separately, but related: And what's with almost everything OR downloads being Indian???? How'd THAT come to pass? I don't mind the occasional Indian route next to an occasional Ecuadorian route, next to an occasional Russian route.... but why does every freaking thing OR need to be some passenger consist from Budifigu, India?

What ever happend to just good old fashioned Cajon stuff, massive trains across the Canadian plains, German commuters, Japanese bullets? And where is the Korean KTX bullet???

[bwbrgb]

The rest of the library content also works on ORTS . I don't see your problem - - remember - it's free .
If it is not adequate for you then I guess you will just have to shell out for payware or CREATE your own .

[ftldave]

Perhaps more accurate to say that the rest of the library content can be made to work on ORTS, since most was originally created for MSTS, and it will probably need some reconfiguration and tweaking in order to run correctly on ORTS.

[qballbandit]

Yes, but Dave - "reconfiguration and tweaking" is subjective, yes?
When I first switched to OR, I never touched any of my existing MSTS routes or rolling stock, and I ran my trains just fine.
For a self-described "noob", my thought is that he isn't fully educated on what OR is, and what compatibility it has with most everything made for MSTS.
I agree, to get the best out of OR, and to further improve your train physics, and accuracy on more complex MSTS activities, reconfiguration and tweaking is necessary. But, in general, any noob can run and enjoy the vast expanse of content for MSTS in OR without headache.

[crstagg]

AND most of the stuff labeled "ORTS Indian Rails" could just as easily be labeled "MSTS Indian Rails". Many of the so called ORTS activities were developed by the MSTS AE but tested with ORTS. But a "NOOB" should not view the freeware listings by date but instead sort by name and by the RRs he is interested in. Besides not filtering by "ORTS".

[baldwin]

.................................................. ............
Separately, but related: And what's with almost everything OR downloads being Indian???? How'd THAT come to pass? I don't mind the occasional Indian route next to an occasional Ecuadorian route, next to an occasional Russian route.... but why does every freaking thing OR need to be some passenger consist from Budifigu, India?

What ever happend to just good old fashioned Cajon stuff, massive trains across the Canadian plains, German commuters, Japanese bullets? And where is the Korean KTX bullet???

It just happens that the Indian MSTS community is far more active than the US community where production of routes and rolling stock is concerned. Same for activities.
Not a lot outside of some old payware for Japanese, and Korean is non-existent. Most of the German offerings are payware.

Anything made for MSTS can run on OR, so you are not limited to new Indian content. Activities marked for OR usually contain a lot of traffic which would make MSTS choke. It requires someone to actually make these activities and once again it is the Indian community that is most active right now making activities for Indian routes.

[pwillard]

Lets crunch some numbers:

1 India 1.19 billion People
2 USA 311.1 million People

ORTS, since its introduction, has given to those 1.19 Billion people a free train simulator that wasn't free before. Even if only 26% of India is a train simulator fanatic... that would be equal to EVERY PERSON in the united states.

Go figure.

(But I also think a lot things are getting marked ORTS witthout them being "specifically" for ORTS)

[MsSheare]

Another thing to take into consideration is the fact IR has MORE content CREATORS. Most of the MSTS OR people only make for friends or themselves now due to some of the attitude of some of the people in general. The India creators are not facing that issue. I'm not sure who is still painting cars for library now beside me and a few others like Tyler.

But then again I love painting stuff I may not be able to create activities or route build but painting is what I love the most.

Most of what I make is able to run on OR or MSTS.

[geepster775]

Largely because the people who can generate challenging activities that make use of ORTS new features stopped being impressed by dated freeware long ago, and they stick to current top-shelf stock which is largely available only by payware means. It also minimizes potential support problems when you can simply require large payware packs for the bulk of the stock rather than requiring the download of dozens of freeware packs that may or may not remain available over time.

But for those with self-imposed constrictions that operate against this reality, they can feel free to change the consists to their liking to whatever freeware alternatives they choose without any assurances that the activity will still run correctly as intended. It may require a payware utility with testing functions to increase the odds of success, though.

[ftldave]

But, in general, any noob can run and enjoy the vast expanse of content for MSTS in OR without headache.

Sorry to say, that's just not been my experience.

'Nuff said.

[PXSE]

I just don't buy the argument that freeware is an essential component for entertaining or breaking in new potential users. Many times, freeware leads to more headaches in the downloading and unzipping (itself a challenge to many) and proper location installation, headaches that do not surface when you buy one payware route with self-contained activities and rolling stock and embedded sounds and that installs via one single installer. If you want to get a feel for whether MSTS or Open Rails or whatever other simulator product floats your boat is going to hold your attention, you need to make a minimal investment in a productive add-on instead of frittering your time away trying to make freeware load and work error-free and produce proper sounds.

[bwbrgb]

The downside to payware is something like buying fast food all the time and never learning how to cook . If the restaurant closes I think some people would almost starve .
For the last 15 years we've tweaked our MSTS content and that content works on ORTS also but it can still be tweaked again by using ORTS rules and it's methods to suit the newer Sim .... and " usually " you get more realistic results but nothing is perfect - - yet .
Just a thought !

[=FI=Ghost]

With freeware utilities like Route Riter you can easily switch any locomotive and/or car in a consist, or even whole consists within a given activity. Trainsim has a huge base of wonderful freeware cars and locomotives.

Create your own train world with locos and cars, and use them in activities that you have downloaded instead of default payware, and enjoy. That's what MSTS/ORTS is all about.

[Erick_Cantu]

Most of the US-based developers moved on to other platforms ages ago. India has more active developers. It's as simple as that. Whether they produce Indian or US content is, frankly, none of your business.

If OR had advanced materials, scripting, and more animations available, I could see ports of Railworks models happening, but, at the moment, you lose way too much in translation. OR is mostly just a way to continue running MSTS content at this point in time. We'll see what the future holds.

[lateagain]

So, it looks like a freeware-only existence in Open Rails is a bridge ti far, huh? I'm a noob, and a self-imposed constriction for anything I noob at is freeware only (at first) and then if it sticks in me then maybe a look-see at some payware.
I'm finding the freeware offerings dismal in OR. At least for the Activities section. The majority of the Activities downloads come with caveats about "need payware 'X'" or some such.

Separately, but related: And what's with almost everything OR downloads being Indian???? How'd THAT come to pass? I don't mind the occasional Indian route next to an occasional Ecuadorian route, next to an occasional Russian route.... but why does every freaking thing OR need to be some passenger consist from Budifigu, India?

What ever happend to just good old fashioned Cajon stuff, massive trains across the Canadian plains, German commuters, Japanese bullets? And where is the Korean KTX bullet???

So to translate your post into something resembling English ..... Lets see if I've got this right?

You are a Newcomer to Open Rails?

You own MSTS?

You own what sort of computer ....and at what cost?

What other software and or games do you run that are FREE?

How far back in the library did you search, and in what sections?

How much reading of the hundreds of Posts on OR did you do?

What other simulators do you own and how much payware have you purchased for those (if owned)?

Have you ever created anything and shared it for ANY Sim or programme?

You see from where I sit this post seems like one big TROLL .....BUT I may be wrong ...so if you care to answer some of the points I raised?