Version 5.1 introduces new layouts, cars, scenery, and sounds for the British
audience, along with new features to make the data easily accessible.
Since the initial release, several handy features have been added, documented
here but not yet in the manual.
New properties scheme! Improved
dialog and capabilities, such as:
- Properties dialog is now modeless, meaning it stays up while you
click around and change the selected car and train. This makes
it convenient to see and edit properties without having to bring up
the dialog for each one.
- Properties changes are all now undoable.
- Improved Horn choice in Train Properties, shows correct sound
instead of "Other..."
Other new features in 5.1.0.5:
- Automatic view restore -- opening a layout now brings it up in
the last position and zoom where you left it
- Scripts now allow "subroutines," callable blocks of code stored
in files. This feature is not yet documented -- for info, send
e-mail.
- Improved cursors, especially when operating
- No more engine flips on coupling! We finally solved this
problem.
- and more, as listed in the Version History below
Drag trains by hand! Great new
feature in 5.1.0.3, improved in 0.4 and still more in 0.5.
Point to a car, press
and drag, and the train rolls along the track, just as if you were
pushing a model around with your fingertip. Use the spacebar to
throw the upcoming switch as you drag. Bump another car to couple. Click between cars to uncouple.
Carry out a whole switching session without touching the control
panel!
Features:
- Hover over a car and the cursor changes to fingertip, indicating
ok to drag train
- Drag works no matter what tool is active -- doesn't have to be
the Run tool.
- Works even if train is running -- upon release, train keeps
going.
- View auto-scrolls as needed while dragging. Scroll is now based
on the car being dragged, not the lead car of the train, making for
smoother movement. (If auto-scroll doesn't work, right-click
the layout and make sure Auto-Follow is checked.)
- Push one train into another and they couple, just as you would
expect.
- Hover between cars, the cursor changes to an uncouple symbol
-- click to uncouple. (Note: if this doesn't work,
uncheck the preference "shift-click to uncouple" on the General tab
-- either that or press the shift key as you move the mouse.)
- To throw a switch while dragging, use the space bar -- the next
switch in the path of the moving train is thrown. The train
must be moving toward the switch for this to work.
Auto-save! Automatic periodic saving
of your layout.
Using a new control on Preferences > General, you can choose to have
a backup copy of your layout saved every so often. Then if the
program crashes after you've been working on a layout for a few hours,
at most you will lose N minutes of work, where you specify N (default is
15).
If you choose this option, then every N minutes you will see a note
on the status bar indicating that a copy of the current layout is being
saved to a temp directory. Each save overwrites the previous one,
so you just keep the latest.
To restore a saved backup, use the new command File > Restore Backup.
This brings up a file dialog pointing to the folder of saved layouts.
Choose the one you want to restore, then in a second dialog, specify
where you want to save the permanent copy. You must save a backup
file to a different location.
British Install
When you install Version 5.1, you are given a choice of US vs.
UK settings.
If you choose UK, you will see:
- New welcome dialog, offering you the possibility of downloading the
entire set of UK data at once. See below for details.
- British flag on splash screen and About box.
- British default cars when you create a new layout.
- British folder opened when you bring up the Layout Chooser.
- Car class names translated to British terms.
Whether you are British or not, you will benefit from other features of 5.1:
- Folder download. Now you can click a
folder in any web chooser tree and download the entire thing at once,
including subfolders. Or you can choose to download only those items
you do not yet have on your local machine.
- Improved car descriptions. Tooltips and dialogs are now more
consistent in displaying car type and car class names.
- Improved handling of car and scenery errors. If you open a
layout requiring external cars or scenery, the alert dialog is now more
sensible and more useful.
- Plenty of bug fixes and small improvements.
- Internal work related to Mac development and change of web host.
For a complete list of what has changed, see the
Version History below.
For screen shots and a complete feature list, see
Version
5.1 Feature Page on our website.
Installer UK Settings
Choosing UK settings during the installation doesn't
do anything very fancy, just sets a few preferences you can later
change. They are:
-
Default car collection:
the cars to be used when creating a new layout. The installer
sets this to "Default Steam" for US or "Default Brit Steam" for UK.
You can change this on the Preferences General tab.
-
Initial layout folder:
the folder which opens when you first bring up the Layout Chooser.
The installer sets this to "Layouts101" for US or "British\British
Layouts" for UK. This setting is not available in Preferences;
instead, in 5.1, the last choice you make is remembered, so if you
want a certain folder to be opened, just navigate there and close
the chooser.
-
Car class language: the
terms to be used in naming car classes. Installer sets to "US
Edition" or "UK Edition." You can change this in either
the Preferences General tab or the AAR Car Types dialog. What
this choice affects is the way cars are identified in tooltips and
dialogs; for example, a "boxcar" in the US scheme becomes a "van" in
the UK. You can see the complete list of translations in the
AAR Car Types dialog. Note: this setting also determines
whether or not you see a British flag in the About box.
5.1 Welcome Dialog
The first time you start Version 5.1, if you chose UK
settings during the install process, you will see an alert welcoming you
to the new version and offering to download the entire set of British
content from the web. (This does not happen if you install from
DVD; in that case, you already have all the British data.) The
alert has a "do not ask me again" checkbox. You have three
choices:
-
Click Yes (recommended).
This begins the download process and displays status. You do
not need to wait for it to complete before you start working in the
program. Once the download finishes, your local chooser trees
will contain British and European data. (If chooser trees do
not update, exit and restart the program.) You will not see
the alert again.
-
Click No with the box unchecked.
This will skip the download and dismiss the dialog, but you will see
it again the next time you start the program.
-
Click No with the box checked.
This will skip the download and not ask you again. If you make
this choice and later decide you want the British data, you can
obtain it by individually downloading these folders and car
collections:
Layouts/British, Cartypes/British, Cartypes/European,
Cartypes/Defaults/brit *.xml, Cartypes/Loads/euro specific.xml,
Scenery/uk specific, Sounds/Chuff/brit steam_*.wav
This list is defined in a file called
uk_downloads.txt in your application data folder.
By download: instructions are on the
Download page on the web. Click the Download button and
follow instructions.
From DVD: insert the disk in the drive,
setup starts automatically. For details. see the next section.
If you have any trouble with the installation, see
Where to Go for Help below.
If you have a DVD from TrainPlayer, insert it into
the drive, wait a bit, and you will see the TrainPlayer DVD
Installer, a little dialog with three big buttons*:
Click this button to bring up the
TrainPlayer Setup wizard, which takes you through the same
installation procedure as for the downloaded version.
You may have already done this. If you
downloaded the demo or program and went through the wood-grain
screens of the setup wizard, then you don't need to do it again.
The DVD installer dialog helpfully informs you if this is the case.
Click this button to bring up the TrainPlayer
Data Installer, a different wizard for installing the data
files -- layouts, car collections, sounds, and scenery.
On the first screen, you are given a choice of
whether you want to install the layout files to the hard drive or
leave them on the DVD . (Other types of files are always
installed to the hard drive.) Installing to the hard drive has
several advantages: (a) the program starts up faster; (b) the
layouts open faster; (c) you do not need to leave the DVD in the
drive.
On the next screen, if you opted to install layouts
to the hard drive, you can choose which layout sets to install.
You can install your favorites and leave the rest on DVD for
occasional use. Checkmark the sets you want to install and
click Go.
Click this button to launch the newly-installed
program. This automatically
closes the DVD Installer.
Other ways to start the program are (a) double-click
the TrainPlayer 5 icon on your desktop, or (b) choose TrainPlayer
5 from the Start > TrainPlayer 5 menu.
* If the dialog does not come up automatically after
inserting the DVD, open Windows Explorer, navigate to the root of the DVD
drive, and double-click setup.exe.
TrainPlayer is shareware. You can run it free for thirty days,
after which you must purchase a license to continue. If you do not
have a license, a dialog comes up every time you run the program, and
the program eventually expires so you can no longer run it. (If
this happens, you are welcome to write
info@trainplayer.com and ask
for an extension.)
To purchase a license, (a) click the Buy button on
the opening dialog, (b) choose Purchase from the Help
menu in the program, or (c) go to the
TrainPlayer
Products page on the web.
A purchase will generate an e-mail containing your assigned username
and license code. Enter them into the "Reminder" dialog the next
time it comes up, or use Upgrade License on the
Help menu to cause it to come up. Enter the name and code
exactly as given; copy/paste is recommended. (Shortcut: select and
copy both lines, then paste into the Name box of the dialog and it will
get both lines at once.)
Detailed instructions for running the program are in the Help system.
Choose Contents from the Help menu and browse around.
The same documentation is available in PDF format. For a link
to the latest PDF manual, see the
Support page on the web.
If you have been running a previous version, check the help topic
What's New In 5.1 for a guide to the new features.
Additional documentation is on the web. For a growing series of
helpful articles, see the
How-To
Clinics.
See the web
Support page for more resources.
Check Purchase
Upgrade on the Help menu to see what upgrades
are available. This command compares your current license to the
latest version and tells you what features you are missing, and how much
it would cost to get them. To purchase an upgrade, click one of
the buttons in that dialog and it will take you directly to a checkout
page on the web.
- Check the manual. See "Documentation" above.
- Check for answers on the
FAQ.
- Consult the friendly helpful gang on our
forum.
- E-mail the friendly helpful staff at
support@trainplayer.com.
| 5.1.0.5 (10 Sep 12) |
More fixes and features |
| 5.1.0.4 (21 Aug 12) |
More fixes and features |
| 5.1.0.3 (5 Aug 12) |
Major enhancement plus fixes |
| 5.1.0.2 (2 Aug 12) |
Minor fixes |
| 5.1.0.1 (30 Jul 12) |
Minor fixes |
| 5.1.0 (Jul 12) |
Release of 5.1 |
| 5.0.0.4 (15 Apr 12) |
Updated 5.0 release |
| 5.0 (2 Apr 12) |
First release of 5.0 |
| 4.2.2 (3 Jan 12) |
Second bug-fix release |
| 4.2.1 (14 Dec 11) |
First bug-fix release |
| 4.2.0 (1 Dec 11) |
First release of 4.2 |
| 4.1.0 (22 Oct 11) |
First release of 4.1 |
Changes in 5.1.0.5:
- Modeless properties dialog -- remains on display
as you select and modify car, train, layout props
- Property changes now undoable
- Improved cursors: no more four-headed arrow for
view panning
- Subroutines in scripts! Store some code in
a file and call it when needed.
- Restore view on open; eliminate Snapshot Windows
mechanism. View, zoom, settings (including Car ID display) are
restored when opening a layout.
- Fixes for coupling and uncoupling -- no more
surprising flipping of engines on couple
- Auto-follow setting persisted -- last choice you
made remains in effect until changed again
- No highlight of track when cursor is pointing to
train
- Fixed bugs in choosing default collection;
highlighting script command in window; adjusting volume level via
registry setting
- Improved train horn menu: now shows all
available horns, displays correct name instead of "Other..."
- Fixed subtle problem with clip boxes defined by
unclosed rectangle -- caused unexpected clipping of cars
- Prep work for large car images -- results to be
seen with upcoming release of Pedersen cars
- Auto-follow begins closer to center of screen
when dragging by hand; can be adjusted by registry setting
- "No car selected" indicated in car props if
applicable
Changes in 5.1.0.4:
- Improved dragging by hand: works with any tool;
cursor changes over car or uncouple point; auto-scroll
follows dragged car (not lead car); improved algorithm for tracking
mouse; improved touching when zoomed out
- Auto-save: backup file is saved periodically, as
specified by new preference; new Restore Backup command retrieves
saved backup
- Modeless dialogs now behave as child windows of
layout, hidden when layout is closed or minimized; avoids crashes
when layout is closed
- New cursors: hand for train move, custom new
cursor for uncouple, 4-head arrow for panning view
- Fix for download of large layouts -- problem
with utf-8 conversion was failing to retrieve large rrw files
- Changes in defaults: shift-click to uncouple,
mouse wheel zoom now off by default
- Load name "none" now handled correctly in car
props dialog
- Train tree now updates after Train > Name dialog
is used
- Change in click-to-load: when load chooser is
up, clicking an eligible car loads it but clicking again does not
unload; easier and less problematic
- Support for passenger cars: can now load all
types (coach, diner, mail, etc.) with passengers
- New definition of car cut: cut now
includes neighboring cars of same general (not exact) type
- Improvements in publishing: background image
file is now copied rather than remade from image; lowercasing of
filenames improved
- Changes to Route Finder dialog: no close or
minimize button; better modeless behavior
Changes in 5.1.0.3:
- Drag trains by hand! With the RUN tool
active, press and drag a train or car along the tracks.
- Fixes in switch window: restore switch lights;
stay in synch with current layout
Changes in 5.1.0.1-2:
- Fix for inability to find default cars when no
document open
- Restore missing load indicators on
closed-car loads
- Missing cars alert: report if license does not permit download
- Fix problem with missing cars on opening Hornby layout
- Fix misspelled "jubliee tender" in British collections
Changes in 5.1.0:
Features:
Fixes:
- on change of default car collection:
update car dimensions, do not modify loads, convert more car types
- better error message on finding duplicate car collections
- use upper left pixel when determining background color for car
sides, not lower left
- remove Classic collection from trains shown in about box
- show cartype names instead of generic class names in tooltips
and other places
- when looking for layout background file, search Layouts folder
- scenery objects are now named for background file if any, rather
than generic object types
- more reliable train bounce: do not check for overlapping trains
- do not hilite track when mousing using scenery tools
- in choosers and aar car classes dialog: when selecting item,
unselect others
- eliminate Install All Scenery button; now done using folder
download
- eliminate menu index column from list view of car collection
- improved search for loads when reading car definitions: use
display name as well as file name
- hour glass cursor added in several places, e.g., when bringing
up web chooser
- when displaying scenery objects or sounds in chooser, do not
show file extensions on names
- top chooser: always set to icon view instead of list view
- new note in car collection preview window: "click car to see
preview"
- use RELOAD flag when opening web file, so web version will
overwrite cached if any
- remember last selected folder in layout chooser, return there on
next open; works across sessions
- on fail to load basic data, retry after creating new choosers
file: eliminates "default car collection not found" error
- no check for car collection errors when opening invisibly, e.g.,
linked layouts, modules, etc.
- improved handling of foreign non-ascii characters when loading
text files
- use improved download routine when getting a single text file
- add line feeds to output when exporting to xml: better
readability
- avoid reporting error when loading car collection fails to find
some image files
- update tree on refresh folder in web chooser
- car collection page: button says Download not Install when
folder chosen
- summary alert on completed export from chooser tree
- sort names alphabetically in load chooser
- fix to restore ability to drag loads from load chooser into
industry lists
- eliminate lengthy search operation when determining if web file
has local counterpart
- assume layout background files in web collections are all jpg:
reduces time to load web index
- do not create chooser items for any which failed to download
- load header data when exporting folder of layouts to xml or
delimited text: gets correct values of scale, size
- better export of folders to xml: eliminate unneeded fields;
lowercase all filenames; do not output "scale" item except for
layouts
- when loading data from web, get additional info: ops-ready flags
on folders, notes on car collections
- what's new folder: sort items case-insensitive
- improved way of choosing item which comes up on opening folder
in chooser tree
- improved method for finding files by pathname: consider \ same
as /
- update icon when creating folder in tree
- better way of determinining if web item has local counterpart:
uses path only, no search
- prevent adding duplicate car collections when reloading chooser
tree
- avoid crashes in preferences dialog when no layout is open
- on cancel preferences restore to previous default car collection
if changed
- remove "% cabooses" item from train generator preferences
- fix so rotation angle can be entered by hand in scenery
properties dialog
- fix to avoid car jump on cancel car properties
- update descriptor in car properties after edit collection
- choosing OK in the alert for missing cars no longer causes cars
to be permanently converted to defaults
- help page and button added to missing car/scenery alert
- screen now updates during mouse wheel scroll
Internal:
- refactoring and preprocessing to separate Mac-specific code from
Windows and shared
- move trainplayer.com to new host; rebuild shop site
- eliminate need to tag car collections as defaults for various
types of layout
- do not save temporary train names to layout file
- new registry setting to keep track of current layout folder in
chooser; initialized by installer
- eliminate ability to read car-top images from single file: all
tops must all be separate files now
- preliminary code for handling large car images
- preliminary code for annotation system for recording demos
- move global preference data to shared location with Mac
- handling of car collection and scenery errors now done by
reporting dialog
- develop but do not use facility for translating names via
language-specific translation file
- ability to export xml in web-ready format, for internal use
- multi-purpose debugging dialog for internal use
Changes in 5.0.0.1-4:
- Default car collections displayed randomly in About box
- Car button tooltips now show correct cartype names
- Fix to ensure module collections show sizes in N on chooser
- Fixes for downloadi of euro loads from web -- processing xml
with foreign chars
- Fix for identifying certain types in default collections
- Default setting for Whats New time frame now "last 30 days"
- Crash protection in several places
Changes in 5.0:
- Modular Railroading. New dialogs, new capabilities, new layout
properties, new chapter in the manual
- Ctrl-drag duplicates and drags objects, both track and scenery
- Status bar shows cursor position and object data while dragging
- Fix for faulty handling of scenery objects in rotating layout
- Can now enter degrees as floating-point numbers when specifying
rotation angle
- Improved performance in rendering scenery objects
- "Touch maps" improve performance when moving mouse using any
non-Run tool
- Fix for umlauts and other special chars in xml handling
- Ability specifying absolute sizes of scenery objects using
external sizes.txt files
- New checkbox in scenery object properties allows changing layers
- New Advanced tab in Layout Properties, allows change of
background image, module type
- Layout size column in Layout Chooser now shows sizes in N scale
for folders with N layouts only (e.g. NTrak folders)
- Various crash fixes
- New RZP files: zip files for packaging layout with components
- Layout scale no longer defaults to Z if unspecified; now HO
- New search path scheme for locating external files -- smarter
and more flexible
- Fixes for setting properties over multi-object scenery selection
Changes in 4.2.2:
- Built-in updating: if newer version of program is available on
web, alert at startup and allow download; new Check for Updates
command on Help menu
- Faster startup: delayed data fetch; cache web data; no check for
duplicate car colls; simpler finding of default cars; cache status
icons; status on splash
- Multi-line text in scenery objects: allow wrapping text in
scenery objects (no rotation); enter returns via "\n"
- Text alignment: choose left/center/right for text on scenery
objects
- Grid sorting: multiple sort in ops grids; add SortOrder column
to sort on user-supplied data
- Grid space saving: resize grid rows on show/hide Image; smaller
header row
- Train menu: do not allow train menu to come up empty
- Layout background color: do not hide layout color button; alert
if changes will not be visible
- Load car type override: new scheme allowing loads at given
industries to be restricted to certain car types
- Train selection in scripts: allow TRAIN <name or id> in scripts
- Car label duplications: non-default labels now retained on
copy/paste; dash-num suffix applies when needed to keep labels
unique
Changes in 4.2.1:
- New Station Style dialog for setting station text and outline
colors (access via Station Props)
- Drop track junction onto circle using Edit tool => forms curve
- Prevent drag by hand except in valid direction(s)
- Load lookups faster via name map
- Background color now applicable per layout
- Attaching stations to tracks: now works for multiple tracks
- Fix for flickering selection rect
- Prevent zoomout to infinity
- Fix in Industry Browser to show all AAR codes
- Handle trains with no names in Schedule Window
- Less flashing on zoom in and out
- Fix for hovering over track or circle and pressing Del to delete
- Fix for rail separation, now works on straights and curves
- Add rail separation value to Prefs
- New mechanism for handling loads in industries; allows aar
override
- Improved highlighting while dragging and while creating stations
- Fix for creating new station around multiple tracks
- Scripts: Train command now selects by train name or car label
Changes in 4.2:
- Revamped graphics system -- infinite zoom, smoother scrolling,
better highlighting
- Dragging view by hand
- Fixes in track transforms -- curves, circles, turntables now
reflect and rotate correctly
- Setting of individual car sizes -- as it used to work, before
spring 2010
- New preferences for setting layout and window background colors
- New scheme for highlighting junctions and switches -- better
performance and appearance
- Load combos in Car and Car Collection Properties no longer allow
typed input -- you must choose from the list
- Auto-scroll turns off automatically upon scrolling or hand
dragging (as before) but now only if the selected train is moving
- Fixed display of crashed cars so not cropped
- Fix for turning off car labels while moving
- Fix for broken combo box in Animation Obj Properties
- Remove script welcome dialog
- On zoom out: remove double flash of layout before display
- Select All with track or edit tool now includes circles
- Allow choosing layout-specific background color -- new button in
Layout Props
- Fix allows selecting and moving circles when no track present
Changes in 4.1:
- Animation
- Ties
- Export image; replace Export dialog with wizard
- Track transforms: rotate, flip
- Car ID display rework
- Road Preferences tab
- Select Ties, Roadbed only
- Remove Tools > Options, redundant menu
- Remove nonfunctional Add to Schedule, Add to Switchlist menu
items
- Remove 4.0 Welcome dialog
- Remove "Save view settings" checkbox and feature; use default
view on layout load (improved scheme under development)
- AnyRail import enhancements: fixes for turntables; straight flex
sections now converted to single track pieces
- Select All with track edit tool now selects circles as well as
track
- Do not highlight stations when selecting track
- Improved cursors when using station tool
- Selecting polygon scenery objects now uses accurate touch
detection
- Add parameter to load def to allow fitting to partial car
length; used internally
- Remove Refresh Thumbnail menu item when in web chooser
- Add index column to car chooser to allow sorting default sets in
menu order
- When creating layout thumbnails, apply basic view settings (no
stations, color codes, etc.)
- Repair of progress bar during downloads
- Publish layout now uses default view settings
- Manual and help buttons updated to 4.1
- Better initial choice in layout chooser
- Updated and expanded sets of installed layouts and car
collections
- Fix for deletion, selection when using scenery tool
- Scheme for more efficient highlight detection; disabled until
further tested
-- TrainPlayer License Agreement --
Thank you for downloading TrainPlayer software. This agreement says: enjoy the
program on whatever computers you have, and don’t give away your license key.
With either the purchased or the demo version, you may:
- install the software for your personal use on one or more machines.
-
distribute the installer freely. Without a license key, the
installer is a free demo version.
-
use layouts as delivered with the program or downloaded from the TrainPlayer web
site, in accordance with your license. You will not be able to download layouts
for which you are not licensed.
-
request support by e-mail.
If you have not purchased a license, you may use the trial version
free for the extent of the trial period. The trial version does not have
the full set of features of the licensed version, and comes with only a
small set of layouts. After the trial period expires, you must purchase
a license or request an extension by e-mail.
You may not:
-
distribute, post, or make public any license key we provide.
-
modify the software or documentation.
-
distribute, post, or make public images, tpg files, or screen
captures of any Kalmbach layout.
-
make copies of the distributed DVD, except for your own personal
use as backup.
Track plans from "101 Track Plans for Model Railroaders," "Model
Railroader," and "Model Railroad Planning" are copyright (c) Kalmbach
Publishing Co. You are permitted to use the images within TrainPlayer
and TrackLayer only.
-- Disclaimer of Warranty --
This software and the accompanying files are sold "as is" and without
warranties as to performance or merchantability or any other warranties
whether expressed or implied. Because of the various hardware and
software environments into which this software may be put, no warranty
of fitness for a particular purpose is offered.
The program is not without bugs. If you find one, we encourage you to
report it, and we will do our best to fix it in an upcoming version.
Welcome to Version 5.1 --
for the British Railway Enthusiast!