Revision as of 03:04, 5 August 2021

With the introduction of Trainz A New Era Service Pack 2 (SP2), a number of changes have been introduced regarding how data are backed up and, if needed, restored. This article is focused on routes, but the principles apply to restoring sessions or other assets.

In-game backups

New in TANE SP2 and carried through subsequent versions, backups are made continuously while you are editing a route or a session. If you have a power loss or if the game crashes for some reason, it is possible to pick up pretty much where you left off by simply reloading the map you were working on and following the prompts. You will be presented with a choice to either "Use changes" or "Revert changes":

• If you choose "Revert Changes", the last manually saved version of the route will be loaded;

• If you choose "Use Changes" then any changes written to disk after the last manual save will be included.

Note that if you want to keep this reloaded version of the route, after loading and checking that everything is ok, you need to "Save" to permanently retain those most recent changes. In other words, if you choose "Use Changes" then exit the route without saving, those changes will be lost. Also, if disk activity was occurring at the time the fault occurred, relevant parts of the route have a small chance of being corrupted. After reloading the autosaved changes into Surveyor (i.e.. Use Changes), and before saving the route, you should check that no corruption has occurred. If you decide that the route is too corrupt to keep, close Surveyor without saving to permanently discard the autosaved changes (revert back to the last manually saved version).

Manual Backup Process (External Backup)

Should your hard drive fail and you do not have your Trainz data saved elsewhere, then you will lose it all. It is highly recommended, therefore, that you back up your local data folder to an external hard drive or cloud server to ensure that your data are recoverable.

In Windows, your data folder is stored by default at the location: C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Local\N3V Games\. These may be hidden folders on your system; and "<user name>" is your name on your computer device (seen at login) and not your Trainz user name. Within the \N3V Games folder, may be trs2019\build.... or something similar reflecting a Trainz version and a randomly named folder of nine characters holding your user data. Finding this latter folder is critical to restoring lost data (see below). Windows 10 provides a regular backup utility and there are a variety of other software backup utilities available online to ensure your files are protected. More information on the location of your local data folder is provided at Help:Moving_Content.

Restoring a Route

There may be a time where a route becomes corrupted and you need to restore an earlier version or you have lost your route due to a computer drive failure. The restoration process has changed for TANE SP2, TRS2019 and TrainzPlus and the following guide will assist you in restoring a previous version of your route.

What and Where are the Backup Files?

From TANE SP2 on, your saved data are stored in backup archive files. These files have the suffix .tzarc. Trainz archive or .tzarc files are readable only by Trainz (using "Rebuild Database") and cannot be edited by an end user. Each time you use "Save" or "Save As" in Trainz, a new .tzarc file is created. These files are saved with the naming format of KUID xxxxxx xxxxxx.tzarc_zzzzz where zzzzz is a random number (TANE SP 2; in TRS2019, the suffix "_zzzzz" is no longer used). To find your most recent .tzarc file, sort the backups folder by date and then look for the KUID that matches your route.

Finding the Backup Files

To find your .tzarc files, navigate to your local data folder (see above for help), then click on the backups folder. The backups folder is much like your computer's "Recycle Bin" and contains copies of saved and deleted content. Here you will see folders named with a YY-MM-DD date format (i.e., 20-08-07 means 7th August 2020). Within each dated folder are numerous files and folders and the important files you will need for your restore process are the .tzarc files. Realize, that should you be needing to restore due to a hard drive failure, you must locate the .tzarc files in your backup storage system (cloud, alternate computer, cloud storage).

Restoring from Backup Files

If you decide that you need to restore an older version of your route, this is possible using a .tzarc file found in the backups folder. We suggest that you backup your local data folder prior to attempting any restore operation so that you have original copies of all the files. Please note that these principles also apply to sessions and other assets.

• Find the .tzarc file you wish to restore
• Copy the file from \backups into \editing (e.g., C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Local\N3V Games\trs19\build lowxu4v61\editing).
• TANE SP2 only: rename the file by removing the "_zzzzz" suffix (i.e., the file MUST be named in the format KUID xxxxxx xxxxxx.tzarc)
  • You may be prompted "If you change a file name extension, the file might become unusable. Are you sure you want it changed?". Answer 'Yes'.
• Open Content Manager then click Developer > Rebuild Database
• This will result in your .tzarc file being read back into the database
• The restored asset will now show as "Open for Edit" (this may take up to 30 seconds)
• Select the asset in Content Manager and right-click > Submit Edits

Your route has now been restored and is ready to be worked on again.

Restoring (Copying) to a Different Hard Drive

In the event that you are needing to restore from a backup location other than the one your route is (or was) located on, you will need to move the selected .tzarc file(s) into the /editor subfolder on the new drive.

Deleting the Backup Folder

It is safe to delete anything in the backup folder or the whole folder (a new folder will be created automatically when required). To avoid moving the deleted files into your Recycle Bin, in Windows you can use Shift + Delete. Of course, once deleted, the files are then permanently irrecoverable.

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• Content Manager
• Trainz Content
• TRS19 Help