THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE ORDERING

Thank you for your interest in acquiring a product from G-TraX and thanks especially for donating to the organizations that keep our worldwide railroad heritage alive in North America.

You're an intelligent consumer. You do your research, you read what other customers are saying, you shop around, you know a good value when you see it, and you pretty much know in advance what you're buying. More than likely you're going to thoroughly enjoy this product. But just so you know, please read this page carefully...

RAILWORKS

The product was designed specifically for RailWorks. It may not work properly in Kuju Rail Simulator. It definitely won't work in other railroad simulators such as Microsoft Train Simulator, Auran Trainz or BVE.

LINGERING DOUBTS

The product is not perfect. It has a few shortcomings and you can read all about them under the topic KNOWN ISSUES, below.

YOUR DONATION

The amount you are being asked to donate has nothing to do with the laws of supply and demand, and it has has nothing to do with what G-Trax might consider to be fair compensation for the hours spent developing the product. Your money goes to two places: approximately 12½% is used by G-TraX to cover transaction and administrative fees, and all the rest of it goes to the sponsoring organization of the prototype locomotives. This product is essentially "Donationware," except that a donation is mandatory.

KNOWN ISSUES

• The locomotives sport the “dynamic smoke” effect, as well as recently added steam effects for the whistle and cylinder cocks. Steam release from the safety valves has yet to be implemented in RailWorks.

• Although a game variable called SteamHeatingPressureGaugePSI exists, it has no apparent effect. Gauges such as those for steam heat, feedwater pump and atomizer steam pressure are artificially rigged to track what the boiler pressure gauge is doing. Likewise, there is no game variable for cylinder backpressure; the backpressure needles of locomotives equipped with compound gauges were set up to act in proportion to the steam chest pressure needle. Yes, it's window dressing, but at least the needles move!

• The real-world SP&S and GS-4 Northerns ran on fuel oil. Steam engine physics in RailWorks are based on coal firing only. The physics and controls of the SP&S Northern models have been adjusted to behave as if they are burning oil. Nevertheless, the HUD will still report the fuel as coal.

• The locomotive front headlights turn on and off using the H key, but the headlight will not illuminate terrain and other objects ahead of it. At the present time, RailWorks headlights are simply not programmed to do that.

• The rear headlight of the tender doesn't work at all. Ideally it should come on when the locomotive headlight is turned on and the engine is moving in reverse. In RailWorks the rear headlights (i.e. ones that you can turn on and off, not ones that are simply permanently on) only work on single-engine units.

• Where oscillating headlights are provided, the animation acts in concert with the siderod animations. In RailWorks locomotives, only a single animated object or a single collection of animated objects is supported.

• Railcars in RailWorks can be set up so the program randomly assigns dynamic numbers. The default Berkshire and War Baby GS-4 and their tenders are set up this way. Unfortunately, with dynamic numbering the engine and tender will rarely be assigned the same number. To change a number or to make the tender number the same as the locomotive number, go into scenario edit mode. (Click on the "World Editor" icon in the bottom flyup menu (it looks like a globe), then click on the "Scenario Tools" icon in the upper left flyout menu (it looks like an orange train). Click Yes on the Warning dialog.) Double click on the locomotive and/or tender. That activates a Properties flyout on the right side of the screen where the number can be edited. Save the scenario and return to game mode. The number(s) you input will appear whenever you run the scenario.

• Sometimes the animated cab controls seem to be unaffected by mouse drags. From a programming standpoint, the size of the "hot spot" of an object determines how much of the object will respond to a mouse event. The programmer can change the size of the hot spot, but there are practical limits. If the hot spot is too large, it can overlap the hot spots of other objects and the mouse may unintentionally cause the wrong control object to move. Try your mouse over different areas of the control object. You should eventually find the place where it responds the best.

• Sometimes objects in the cab or on the locomotive disappear when they get near the edges of the screen. This is caused either by DirectX or by the way DirectX has been implemented. DirectX uses something called a "view sphere" to determine what should should and should not be drawn. If an object's view sphere radius is too small, it may be prematurely culled from the list of objects to be drawn.

• The locomotives come with a variety of sounds. Hopefully you'll like them. If you don't, you're welcome to try and do better. Video games have been using discreet WAV files, or the equivalent, since the beginning. RailWorks is no exception. When a real-world locomotive accelerates, the changes in pitch, timbre and dynamics occur as a smooth continuum. It's impossible to reproduce that using discreet files. Until games are able to use real-time sound synthesis, we'll just have to make do with traditional WAV loops and one-shots.

• The SP GS-4s were equipped with both a traditional steam whistle and an air horn. The G-TraX models also have both of these. However, to implement the horn audio, an unused diesel control was used as a surrogate. Horn and whistle sounds are comprised of three files representing the beginning, middle, and end portions of the sound. For whatever reason, the surrogate control will only play the middle sound file. The sound is "looped" for as long as you hold down the horn key, which is Ctrl+Space. Sometimes the horn sound will "stick" on. If that happens, tap Ctrl+Space briefly once or twice to turn the sound off. If a fix for this problem is identified, a download patch will be issued.

• The locomotive packs ship with simple Free Roam scenarios for the Castle Rock Railroad or Barstow-San Bernardino routes. No other scenarios are included, but these will get you started. The SP&S Railway was at home in the Pacific Northwest, and the Nickel Plate Railroad was situated in the Industrial Midwest. The SP GS-4s ran primarily along the California coast as well as in the Cascade Mountains. To date, no routes specifically representing these locales have been released. It is hoped that this will change, but in the meantime perhaps you or other users will provide additional scenarios for the existing prototypical and fictional routes.

• Are the models "accurate?" Definitely not! They're reasonably close, but if you want absolute accuracy you should visit the actual locomotives and support their operating organizations. However, as "realistic" as the prototype locomotives may be, they too have been modified over the years. So what's really "accurate?" For further discussion of this topic, refer to the POV item written in late 2008 in the News & Views page of this site.

 

END-USER LICENSE AGREEMENT FOR G-TRAX PRODUCTS

In plain English, what the following EULA says is that the software is owned by and is the intellectual property of G-TraX Simulations LLC. What you paid for is not the software, but a single license to use the software. Again, you don't own the software; G-TraX owns it. Therefore, it's illegal to give copies of the software away to others, because they don't own a license to use it. The EULA also contains the standard legal disclaimer that G-TraX is not responsible if the software doesn't work, or even if it ruins your computer—not that that's likely to happen. There's nothing new or unusual about any of this; all commercial software is licensed the same way.

IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS LICENSE AGREEMENT CAREFULLY BEFORE PLACING YOUR ORDER.

This End-User License Agreement ("EULA") is a legal agreement between you ("Authorized User"), either an individual or a single entity, and G-TraX Simulations LLC ("G-TRAX") for any and all of its software products, which may include associated software components, media, printed materials, and on-line or electronic documentation ("SOFTWARE PRODUCTS"). By installing, copying, or otherwise using the SOFTWARE PRODUCTS, you agree to be bound by the terms of this EULA. This license agreement represents the entire agreement concerning the program between you and G-TRAX, and it supersedes any prior proposal, representation, or understanding between the parties. If you do not agree to the terms of this EULA, do not install or use the SOFTWARE PRODUCTS.

The SOFTWARE PRODUCTS are protected by copyright laws and international copyright treaties, as well as other intellectual property laws and treaties. The SOFTWARE PRODUCTS are licensed, not sold.

1. GRANT OF LICENSE.
The SOFTWARE PRODUCTS are licensed as follows:
      (a) Installation and Use.
        G-TRAX grants you the right to install and use copies of the SOFTWARE PRODUCTS on your computer running a validly licensed copy of the operating system for which the SOFTWARE PRODUCTS are designed, specifically, Windows XP and Windows Vista.
      (b) Backup Copies.
        You may also make copies of the SOFTWARE PRODUCTS as may be necessary for backup and archival purposes.

2. DESCRIPTION OF OTHER RIGHTS AND LIMITATIONS.
      (a) Maintenance of Copyright Notices.
        You must not remove or alter any copyright notices on any and all copies of the SOFTWARE PRODUCTS.
      (b) Distribution.
        You may not distribute registered copies of the SOFTWARE PRODUCTS to third parties.
      (c) Prohibition on Reverse Engineering, Decompilation, and Disassembly.
        You may not reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the SOFTWARE PRODUCTS, except and only to the extent that such activity is expressly permitted by applicable law notwithstanding this limitation.
      (d) Rental.
        You may not rent, lease, or lend the SOFTWARE PRODUCTS.
      (e) Support Services.
        G-TRAX may provide you with support services related to the SOFTWARE PRODUCTS ("Support Services"). Any supplemental software code provided to you as part of the Support Services shall be considered part of the SOFTWARE PRODUCTS and subject to the terms and conditions of this EULA.
      (f) Compliance with Applicable Laws.
You must comply with all applicable laws regarding use of the SOFTWARE PRODUCTS.

3. TERMINATION
Without prejudice to any other rights, G-TRAX may terminate this EULA if you fail to comply with the terms and conditions of this EULA. In such event, you must destroy all copies of the SOFTWARE PRODUCTS in your possession.

4. COPYRIGHT
All title, including but not limited to copyrights, in and to the SOFTWARE PRODUCTS and any copies thereof are owned by G-TRAX or its suppliers. All title and intellectual property rights in and to the content which may be accessed through use of the SOFTWARE PRODUCTS is the property of the respective content owner and may be protected by applicable copyright or other intellectual property laws and treaties. This EULA grants you no rights to use such content. All rights not expressly granted are reserved by G-TRAX.

5. NO WARRANTIES
G-TRAX expressly disclaims any warranty for the SOFTWARE PRODUCTS. The SOFTWARE PRODUCTS are provided 'As Is' without any express or implied warranty of any kind, including but not limited to any warranties of merchantability, noninfringement, or fitness of a particular purpose. G-TRAX does not warrant or assume responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of any information, text, graphics, links or other items contained within the SOFTWARE PRODUCTS. G-TRAX makes no warranties respecting any harm that may be caused by the transmission of a computer virus, worm, time bomb, logic bomb, or other such computer program. G-TRAX further expressly disclaims any warranty or representation to Authorized User or to any third party.

6. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
In no event shall G-TRAX be liable for any damages (including, without limitation, lost profits, business interruption, or lost information) rising out of Authorized User's use of or inability to use the SOFTWARE PRODUCT, even if G-TRAX has been advised of the possibility of such damages. In no event will G-TRAX be liable for loss of data or for indirect, special, incidental, consequential (including lost profit), or other damages based in contract, tort or otherwise. G-TRAX shall have no liability with respect to the content of the SOFTWARE PRODUCTS or any part thereof, including but not limited to errors or omissions contained therein, libel, infringements of rights of publicity, privacy, trademark rights, business interruption, personal injury, loss of privacy, moral rights or the disclosure of confidential information.

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