View source for Trainz Life-Cycle Policy

N3V Games typically maintain support for major product releases for at least four years from the initial release date. This is known as the "end-of-support" date for the product. Support includes the following areas:

* Product-specific information, downloads, and utilities on the N3V Games web site.
* Product assistance through the N3V Games Helpdesk.
* Maintenance of product-specific forums.
* Access to the [[Download Station]].
* Access to upload content to the [[Download Station]] 
* Access to the iTrainz network.
* Access to other product-specific network services.

At the end-of-support date for a given product release (or at any time thereafter), some or all of the above services MAY be withdrawn at N3V Games's discretion. Users are encouraged to upgrade to a more recent version of Trainz to maintain support.

= Upgrades to Trainz Versions =
Prior to a new "Version" of Trainz being released (i.e. a new release with a new name), there may be one or more Service Pack released (i.e. game patches). These free updates provide a variety of fixes, improvements and upgrades to a product. A Service Pack will generally increment the [["Trainz-build" tag]] as these usually contain changes to the way content is configured or validated.

Once a Service Pack is released, we no longer test against older builds so we strongly recommend all Service Packs are applied to ensure you are using the latest, fully supported version. If any retrograde issues are identified, we may also release a "Hotfix" update to resolve the issue immediately (i.e. without waiting for a group of fixes or improvements) but these hotfixes will always be only for the latest version.

Please remember that “not-supported” does not mean the product is “unusable” or "broken", but rather it means that we do not test against that build nor release updates for it.

= End-of-support Dates =

The following end-of-support dates are formally acknowledged, and as of May 2015, 3 months advance notice will be provided prior to any changes to support.

{| border=1 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=0
|'''Product'''||'''End-of-support Date'''
|-
|[[Trainz 1.0]]||September 2010
|-
|[[UTC]]||September 2010
|-
|MSTS Regional Add-on Pack: USA and Canada Volume 1||September 2010
|-
|Microsoft Train Simulator Paint Shed||September 2010
|-
|Content Creation Art Source||September 2010
|-
|[[TRS2004]]||September 2010
|-
|Trainz Driver||September 2010
|-
|[[TRS2006]]||September 2010
|-
|Trainz Routes 1,2,3,4||September 2010
|-
|Trainz Collection||September 2010
|-
|Trainz Paintshed||September 2010
|-
|[[TC1|Trainz Classics 1]] (Harlem Line)||September 2011
|-
|[[TC2|Trainz Classics 2]] (Metropolis)||September 2011
|-
|[[TC3|Trainz Classics 3]] (Settle & Carlisle)||September 2012
|-
|[[TS2009]] World Builder Edition||September 2014
|-
|Treez Content Pack||September 2014
|-
|Settle and Carlisle Content Pack||September 2014
|-
|Cabon City Content Pack||September 2014
|-
|Murchison 2 Content Pack||September 2014
|-
|[[TS2010|Trainz Simulator 2010]] (Engineers Edition)||September 2014
|-
|[[TS12|Trainz Simulator 12]]||September 2018
|-
|[[Trainz Simulator Mac]]||September 2016
|-
|[[Trainz Simulator Mac 2]]||September 2018
|-
|[[TANE|Trainz: A New Era]]||September 2020
|-
|[[TRS19|Trainz Railroad Simulator 2019]]||September 2023
|}

= Q&A =

'''Q: ''Will the named products continue to operate after the listed end-of-support date?'''''

:'''A:''' We will do nothing specific to prevent the products from operating. However, if they were to stop working for some reason (for example, they were found to be incompatible with the latest Windows Operating System) we would not take any steps to resolve the issue. Additionally, any product features which rely on server support (for example, in-game [[Download Station]] access or iTrainz) may cease functioning correctly.


'''Q: ''Do you support non-upgraded products after a Service Pack has been released?'''''

:'''A:''' Once we have released a Service Pack update, the product has moved on from where it once was and we can no longer "fully support" the older version. e.g. we will not release an update solely for the older version, only further updates to the latest version. We will support all owners of the product and we will do nothing specific to prevent an non-updated version from operating normally, within reason. 


'''Q: ''Should I always upgrade?'''''

:'''A:'''Service Packs implement additional features and fixes that we believe improve upon the original release. If you do not wish to update to the latest Service Pack release, then you are free to continue using the older version with whatever limitations come with that version. If there are problems identified with older versions that are resolved by upgrading, then the obvious solution is to upgrade.


'''Q: ''Can I still access the Download Station after the end-of-support date?'''''

:'''A:''' Access granted to you by the unsupported product may be terminated. If you have purchased access through other means (newer products, [[First Class Ticket]], etc.) then your access will continue thanks to these products.


'''Q: ''Can I still access the Download Station from within Trainz, Trainz Helper, or [[Content Manager]] after the end-of-support date?'''''

:'''A:''' Access to our servers from an unsupported product is not guaranteed, regardless of your level of Download Station access. You may need to download the content separately and then manually move it into the unsupported Trainz installation.


'''Q: ''Will the Download Station continue to host content for Trainz editions beyond their end-of-support date?'''''

:'''A:''' We will not immediately remove older content from the Download Station, as newer editions of Trainz can still use this content. 


'''Q: ''Will I be able to upload old-format content to the Download Station?'''''

:'''A:''' New uploads to the Download Station must be in a format no older than our oldest supported product. Attempts to upload content with a trainz-build number lower than our oldest supported product will be rejected or will result in the content being flagged for third-party repair. This ensures that legacy formats are cleanly phased out over time.


'''Q: ''Will my Lifetime First Class Ticket continue to operate if all my registered products are beyond their end-of-support date?'''''

:'''A:''' Yes, we will ensure that all users who have a right to Download Station access can continue to download content. The specific techniques required to download content may change. At the current time, we offer support for using an FCT with the DLS web site to manually download content. We do not offer support for using an FCT with Content Manager (or similar) in an unsupported product. We do not offer support for installing manually-downloaded content into an unsupported product.


'''Q: ''I recently bought a copy of an unsupported product. Will you give support?'''''

:'''A:''' No. We will not sell products which are nearing the end-of-support date. It may be possible to purchase such a product from a third party through a bargain-bin outlet or similar, however we can not offer support for these products. We expect that the product will continue to operate as normal, and hope that you enjoy your experience with the product will be sufficiently enjoyable that you'll decide to upgrade to one of our supported products.


'''Q: ''My only Trainz product will shortly become unsupported. Will my forum access be removed?'''''

:'''A:''' No. We're not in the business of kicking our loyal users out of the community. We really think it would be beneficial if you upgraded to a supported version of Trainz, but that's a decision that you'll have to make. The product-specific forum may be removed, but your overall forum access will remain valid.


'''Q: ''Will the Download Station website be removed?'''''

:'''A:''' The Download Station website is not tied to a specific product. Our plans for this website are not affected by the end-of-support for any specific Trainz product. Your access to the Download Station is conditional upon having a supported product or other form of access such as a First Class Ticket. We expect to continue support and development of our web services indefinitely, although the exact form of these services may change over time.


'''Q: ''Is there a list of validation changes by version number?'''''

:'''A:''' No, but we have prepared a non-exhaustive list of [[validation changes]] made in the 5 years after TS2009 was released.