RT3 running on Windows 7

[Hawk]

That is most likely one of those Windows Updates has done something to your system that is affecting the game.
That kind of issue is quite common for Windows Updates. You may have to completely uninstall the version that's not working and reinstall it. Just make sure you don't install it in the 'Program Files' folder, or in your case the 'Program Files(86x)' I think it what it is called.

[Steamtrainz]

Is there a solution to the graphics problem yet with 64-bit computers? I have that problem, but the game works fine, although I wish I could play it on ultra graphics.

[thietavu]

I've been able to run RT3 on Windows 7 without doing anything special. But when I hit a certain point, like a number of trains or an amount of track, the game slows to a screeching halt.

In a previous game I was able to run over 100 trains with no problem - no slow down whatsoever. And my current game started that way as well. But at one point it slowed right down - nothing gradual about it; it was instant.

Now, even if I have the game speed set to very fast, it can take twenty minutes to play a month. If I click somewhere, it's going so slow that I may have to click multiple times and it might take 10 or 15 seconds to register and do anything. Changing the settings doesn't affect anything as far as I can tell.

BUT, if I pause the game, everything goes smoothly again.

Has anyone else experienced this? Could it really be a hardware issue? I wouldn't think it would slow down that much on a laptop under a year old. Or is it that the game itself just can't handle too much stuff at once? Is there anything I could try that might work? Seems strange that it still works perfectly when paused, but once I start up again, it goes so slow.

When I have tested my gigantic Great China scenario, I have witnessed one thing. When I have lots of trains (100+) running, and remove any water tower or maintenance station, it may take minutes to continue with the game. Otherwise, as I have played this game with far more than 600 trains running at the same time (not unusual for the Great China scenario), there have been no problems. The computer does slow down a bit, but no other problems.

As for the problems with 64-bit computers... There are none. I run my RRT3/TM on a 64-bit Windows 7 system with "ultra graphics" with absolutely no problems whatsoever. Whatever Microsoft and AMD have done together, seems to work beautufully in this case.

[Moggie]

Sadly, that's not the case for me. I still get pixellation. At first when I zoom in the graphics are sharp but immediately turn fuzzy and stay that way. Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit, Radeon HD5670. Could it be an issue that I run RT3 in a window?

[thietavu]

Sadly, that's not the case for me. I still get pixellation. At first when I zoom in the graphics are sharp but immediately turn fuzzy and stay that way. Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit, Radeon HD5670. Could it be an issue that I run RT3 in a window?

What is your computer setup? I also run RRT3 in a window.

[Moggie]

Aside from the mentioned, an AMD Athlon II X2 @ 3.0 GHz (=stock), 4G memory.

[thietavu]

Aside from the mentioned, an AMD Athlon II X2 @ 3.0 GHz (=stock), 4G memory.

Not sure at all, but it might be that 4G memory isn't good for RRT3. 8 GB might solve the issue. There's something very strange about RRT3's memory management. Anyway, I have 8 GB of RAM, 1 GB of video memory, and things run well. Anyway, 8 GB is a very good investment if you have a 64 bit operating system like Windows 7. It's enough for everything and definitely not too much for anything.

[Steamtrainz]

I have the same as your computer, but I have the same problem with the fuzziness of the graphics

[belbincolne]

I'm very much regreting updating to Windows7 - not just for RT3 but for a host of other items it wont play / do.

Anyway my problem here is that I download RT3 and it plays fine. Then I patch it and it no longer runs and so far I've uninstalled and re-installed it three times. Twice with patch 1.03 and then leaving this out with 1.05. Each time it no longer works whether patched as an administrator or not. I'm on 7 Home Premium 32 bit 1PK oem whatever that means.

Anyone any ideas?

[thietavu]

I'm very much regreting updating to Windows7 - not just for RT3 but for a host of other items it wont play / do.

Anyway my problem here is that I download RT3 and it plays fine. Then I patch it and it no longer runs and so far I've uninstalled and re-installed it three times. Twice with patch 1.03 and then leaving this out with 1.05. Each time it no longer works whether patched as an administrator or not. I'm on 7 Home Premium 32 bit 1PK oem whatever that means.

Anyone any ideas?

When does it crash? When you're loading the game? My recommendation is still: use Windows Update and try installing the compatibility updates. They don't install automatically and they are not included in the list of "important updates". Yet, they do fix some problems with older programs such as RRT3.

[thietavu]

I have the same as your computer, but I have the same problem with the fuzziness of the graphics

Have you installed the compatibility updates?

[belbincolne]

Thanks for that - but I'm an ignoramus! Where do I find the compatabilty updates? As I try to unzip the patches half way through I'm told they've failed - try as administrator. Do that and says Windows will try to find a solution and thats that. Try to start RT3 and it wont. Uninstall and re-install and its fine - until I try to patch and back to the above!

[brunom]

Question no.1 is if you have windows 7 on a 64-bit processor, or windows 7-32 bit ?

If I had to guess I'd say you're facing those problems because you have the 64-bit. If it's the case, then, assuming you installed the original rrt3 on the standard folders, windows will have put it in c:\programs (x86)\railroad tycoon 3\.

When you run the 1.05 patch, it needs to unzip the files to that directory, instead of the one it suggests automatically. Check where you have your game installed, then use that folder name to replace the original path in the auto-extract file.

Windows asks for admin permission to copy/change content in c:\programs.. but then it can't find the c:\programs\railroad tycoon 3. That's because c:\programs is reserved for 64-bit native programs, and programs(x86) is where the programs in 32-bit (needing compatibility procedures) go. Windows 7 64-bit will apply the best compatibility option (normally, for 32bit programs, it mimics Windows XP-SP3) so you don't really need to worry with that. Anyway, as thievatu also recommends, keep your operating system fully updated.

Hope this helps
B

[thietavu]

Thanks for that - but I'm an ignoramus! Where do I find the compatabilty updates? As I try to unzip the patches half way through I'm told they've failed - try as administrator. Do that and says Windows will try to find a solution and thats that. Try to start RT3 and it wont. Uninstall and re-install and its fine - until I try to patch and back to the above!

It's simply selecting "Windows Update", then "Optional updates", then any update which is described as a "compatibility update". Takes some time and effort, but in this case it's worth it all!

[belbincolne]

Thanks brunom and thietavu. Did as brunom said, no problem and then halfway through the unzip up comes "Cannot create output file" exactly as before. Only difference is that now I can still play the original basic RT3 whereas before it ceased up. Any more ideas please?

[brunom]

good thing I was just here.. :D

My second guess is that your zip file is corrupt. Try downloading it again.

Or even better... unzip all the files to a path of your choosing and then copy them to the the game directory manually. If neither of these two solutions work, go and buy a decent computer

B

[Steamtrainz]

I have the same as your computer, but I have the same problem with the fuzziness of the graphics

Have you installed the compatibility updates?

Yes, there were no updates available whatsoever!

[dazzharvey]

on a related note, i was extracting all my games mods zips with winrar on RT3 & another game I was playing and was experiencing errors - switched back to winzip and had no problems, im on win 7 aswell

[thietavu]

Have you installed the compatibility updates?

Yes, there were no updates available whatsoever!

Sorry for a silly question, but: since those compatibility updates are all *optional* and Windows doesn't install them automatically, did you really check manually the long list of optional updates in W7? You know, the list where you can see something like 50 language settings and generally dozens of non-critical updates & fixes. If you don't see any of them it must mean that you have installed all the optional updates manually at some point - and I think you would know. There are so many of them...

[Steamtrainz]

I double checked and again today, there was no long list there were 2 optional updates. Apparently they were all already installed. I tried RRT3! It's still fuzzy!