how to add MSTS content into OR and what about xtracks and newroads?

[Heruraha93]

Hi!
I have MSTS boxed copy on order but in the mean time i found Open Rails and installed it but apart from teh two free routes how do i add i new routes and trains? in particular the MSTS add on stuff, and alot of which i found require xtracks and newroads - how do i install these without MSTS or is it impossible?

also in another example i found the Bear Mountain Pass 5 Route i would like to add, and its instructions are to to put it in the msts routes folder and run a batch file - can i do any of this withou msts yet?

[DigitalRails]

MSTS & OpenRails shares the same folder structures.
Xtracks are the standard piece of tracks required as they are not shipped with MSTS, same with the New Roads.
For new routes & trainset of your interest you can either browse the File Library on this website or head to other 3rd party websites for payware contents.
Xtracks & NewRoads are already available on trainsim.com file library, use the search function.
Also UKTrainsim & ElvasTower hosts MSTS/OpenRails addons, check the websites.

[geepster775]

Most routes are going to require Xtracks and Newroads or ScaleRail and Scaleroads or a combination of. They only get installed once in the GLOBAL folder.

Some later freeware routes and most payware routes are complete, meaning they don't require any assets from the 6 original default routes that are provided on the MSTS disks. They can install into Open Rails straight up. If you are going to dink around with really old freeware routes from 2001-2006ish time frame, which is what this Bear Mountain route is, then yea, you will most definitely need a copy of MSTS in order to populate those routes with default assets. The less you dink around with the old stuff, the less you have to deal with these hangover issues.

If you buy and install MSTS, please make sure you follow these instructions to the letter. There is limited support for people who defy this and do their own thing.

https://msts.steam4me.net/tutorials/installing_msts_w7.html

Just be aware that the new Open Rails routes from Trainsimulations use a special type of Xtracks (which they provide via their installers) that does not mix with the original versions of Xtracks, which is why Trainsimulations cautions you to install their content that is built for Open Rails only in a separate Open Rails installation that is removed from any of your MSTS routes that run in open Rails.

If you install things per the instructions, you will end up with 2 Open Rails installations, one containing all the old MSTS routes (using the 1MSTS directory) and another for Trainsimulations routes. Open Rails will run the routes found in both installations, but MSTS cannot run any routes in the Trainsimulations installation, as their new content is Open Rails only.

If you buy MSTS, all you need to do is grab the 6 default routes and zip them up and store them offline in a safe place. Anyone wise enough to do that long ago would not be waiting on disks today.

[crstagg]

Hi!
I have MSTS boxed copy on order but in the mean time i found Open Rails and installed it but apart from teh two free routes how do i add i new routes and trains? in particular the MSTS add on stuff, and alot of which i found require xtracks and newroads - how do i install these without MSTS or is it impossible?

also in another example i found the Bear Mountain Pass 5 Route i would like to add, and its instructions are to to put it in the msts routes folder and run a batch file - can i do any of this withou msts yet?

By asking those questions it appears that you have not opened the ORTS Manual even enough to scan the table of contents as Chapter 4 answers your questions. RTFM!

[Heruraha93]

yes sorry quite right, i didnt even think about a manual - sorry i was just all too bamboozled to think straight on where to look

though as the other comments here show, it is indeed a complex process with using Open Rails and older MSTS content

I never owned MSTS before so never zipped up the default routes, also i like to collect older games too so getting a boxed version of msts was a must for me,
So far with train sims, i have only been playing Trainz 1.3 and Trainz: A New Era, and tried OR a little, before getting confused trying to add routes and trains (i initially wanted to add australian trains and routes - the NSWGR freight classes such as 48 class, and teh xpt and the 6029 Garratt (if i can find it)

[gremlin1812]

G'day' I see you are a new member, welcome. Things can seem a bit daunting at first but it doesn't take long to get the hang of things and take one step at a time. I will send you a PM.
Regards
Barrie from Sydney.

[geepster775]

it is indeed a complex process with using Open Rails and older MSTS content

Complexity is not the villain here, progress is.

It has been publicly documented for many years what the design priorities of Open Rails are. One of the new features is adoption of new file formats. What we have here is one vendor getting out ahead and offering a free route that takes advantage of some new file formats. In the process, they are using the new file formats to somewhat firewall their new content from 20 years of MSTS content riff-raff (and yes, some of that old community-derived content was pretty bad, not all routes in this file library are 'gems'). They are offering a free teaser that is simple as pie to install, and additional route installments are equally easy if you continue to buy their other Open Rails-only content.

If you are somebody who lacks MSTS disks but has a reasonable analytical head on their shoulders, it shouldn't be too hard to read a manual or watch a youtube video or two and come up with a solution to make older self-contained MSTS route content (the stuff with no batch files that does not rely upon MSTS disk content, the Monon route being a good example) co-exist on their PC in a separate Open Rails installation that sits side-by-side with any vendor-supplied installation that utilizes the new file formats. That part is actually pretty simple once you conceptualize it in your head.

Once you get enough time under your belt and gain access to a zip file containing the 6 default routes, then it becomes time to chase down some of these real dogs of the freeware route pool if you absolutely must rubberneck every accident along the freeway and run their supplied batch files to populate any missing scenery assets using the zip file as the source.

And remember this one file format change that was adopted by one vendor is just the beginning of the prior-announced changes that are on the horizon.

[Heruraha93]

lol what you have described here is largely going over my head. I think what i will feel most comfortable with is that once i get MSTS next week i will install it and will feel alot more at ease with the order of things.

I wish that i had more time to really dedicate to this genre! In my free moments i have been playing air combat sims and then i was trying out civil aviation flight sims and somehow this jumped over to train sims, but like aircraft trains are something i had an enormous interest in as a child, living in New South Wales with family working on the railway and living near the Junee Roundhouse

[locojr]

Can Only Add MSTS 3DTS Donner1 to OR - no routes or details

I loaded, to a clean Win7 64 bit PC, MSTS from my original 2 CD’s with NO routes. Then added 3DTS Donner Pass I. That add-on worked fine on MSTS using various routes. Then installed OR ver 1.3.1.4328 which included (only) route BNSF Scenic Sub (Starter Route) which worked fine on OR. The installation profile 3DTS Donner1 did not initially show up on OR. However, I was able to add it... but without any routes or details: activity, various locos, starting at, etc.

What mistake(s) are being made? This is my first intro to OR.... John R, Sonoma, CA

[SD40-2]

You need to point OR to your MSTS install.

On the main menu, click on Options, navigate to the Content tab, which shows you what directories it's pulling from for content. Click on Add..., and then point it to your MSTS installation folder. (I think where you went wrong was that you pointed OR towards the route folder. It needs to find all the folders in a MSTS install, ROUTES, TRAINS, GLOBAL, etc.)

You can switch between your installs in the main menu by changing the Installation Profile setting.

[Aadit Jha]

Hey there DigitalRails!
Contact me through telegram if possible.
-Aadit