User Guide

MICROSOFT TRAIN SIMULATOR ENGINEER’S HANDBOOK
GETTING STARTED | 3
MAKING TRAIN SIMULATOR REALLY PERFORM
When talking about a simulation’s graphics, quality refers to how real the images look on the screen,
and
performance refers to how quickly and smoothly the images move. Higher quality typically means
decreased performance, since displaying complex, richly detailed, three-dimensional graphics puts a
heavy load on your system. If you’re not seeing the graphics quality and performance you expect,
this section explains some choices and tradeoffs you can make to optimize your experience.
Improving both quality and performance
To get maximum quality and performance, consider the following options
Shut down other applications
When using Train Simulator, you probably won’t need other applications such as word
processors and e-mail programs, so close them to free up more of your computer’s
brainpower for Train Simulator.
Upgrade your graphics card —3-D graphics card technology is advancing at a tremendous rate.
Newer graphics cards, which operate faster and have more on-board RAM, can improve graphics
performance remarkably.
Make sure you:
Set the display options in Train Simulator to take full advantage of it (see “Change display
options,” in the “Making a tradeoff between quality and performance” section below).
Download the latest drivers from the manufacturer’s Web site.
If you have problems getting your 3-D card to work properly, make sure you’ve read the Train
Simulator Readme file (located in the Train Simulator directory on your hard drive) and the card
manufacturer’s documentation.
Get more RAM
Random access memory (RAM) is your computer’s short-term memory. Generally, the more
RAM there is, the faster your computer’s brain (the CPU) can process data. Your computer
must have at least 32 megabytes (MB) of RAM to run Train Simulator.
Get a faster processor
Although Train Simulator will run on a Pentium II 266 machine, a Pentium II-350 or faster
processor is recommended for optimal performance.