Help:Importing Content

Recommended Methods of Transferring Content

There are several different methods that can be used to transfer content between different installations/versions of Trainz. Some are more suitable for smaller amounts of content, whilst others are suited to large amounts of content.

Use the Status column to avoid content marked as ‘payware’, ‘built-in’, or ‘installed from DLS’.

• DO NOT attempt to transfer content marked as ‘payware’ or ‘built-in’ manually as it will not include the textures and will show as faulty.
  
• This content is downloaded via in-game Asset Download window.
  

It is also recommended that content marked as ‘installed from DLS’ be downloaded again, see section Content From Download Station.

Using Columns in Content Manager

+ Click to show/hide Using Columns in Content Manager

Using columns in Content Manager is very simple, and can make finding specific content much easier!

To start with, you will need to ensure that Content Manager is not set to thumbnail mode, as this will turn off the columns. The option for this is found in the Trainz Settings.

To add columns, simply right click on one of the column names and go to ‘insert column’, then click on the Column you wish to add’.

To sort by a column, click on the column name. This will sort in ascending order, if you click again then it will sort in descending order.

For transferring content, add the ‘status’ column, then click on this column to sort by status. Now locate all content marked as ‘locally modified’, as this will be mostly content you have created, or content you have edited or installed from 3rd party websites.

+ Click to show/hide Using Columns in Content Manager

Transferring via CDP files (Easiest)

One method you can use is to save your content to a cdp file, or cdp files, and then import this into TRS2019. Note: cdp files should not be made larger than 500MB in size, so as to ensure that the file does not become corrupted and can be imported successfully by Trainz.

This method is recommended for transferring smaller numbers of assets, or individual assets.

To save the cdp file, follow these steps:

1. Open Trainz Content or Content Manager in your old installation of Trainz
2. Locate and select the asset(s) you wish to transfer
3. Right click and click on 'Export to CDP' (or 'Save as CDP')
4. Choose a location you’ll remember to save them to, then give the cdp file a name and click on 'Save'

You can save multiple assets to the same cdp file. To do so, hold the CTRL key and left click on each asset, then follow steps 3 and 4 above.

To import the cdp files, follow these steps:

1. Open TRS2019's Trainz Content (content manager) tool by clicking on 'Manage Content' on the Launcher
2. Drag and drop the 'cdp' files into the Trainz Content window

The content will then be installed. You can import multiple cdp files at the same time.

Transferring via 'Open for Edit' (Better for transferring a large amount of content)

I. For importing large amounts of content, we recommend the following approach for importing content from your older installation of Trainz:

1. Open Trainz Content or Content Manager (CM) in your previous installation of Trainz
2. Locate an asset you wish to transfer
3. Right click on the asset, then go to 'Open'
   • SHFT+LMB to select multiple assets.
4. Click on 'Open for Editing'
5. Repeat for all other assets you wish to transfer.
   • When you have opened for edit every asset you wish to transfer, right click on one of the assets, then go to 'open' and click on 'Show in Explorer' or 'Show in Finder'.
   • You should then see an Explorer/Finder window open showing the open asset. Go to the 'Address' bar at the top, and click on the folder called 'Editing'. This will show all of the open for edit assets.
6. You may now exit this 'source' version of Trainz.

II. To import the content, follow these steps:

1. Open TRS2019's Trainz Content (content manager) tool by clicking on 'Manage Content' on the launcher
2. Select all of the folders within the 'Editing' folder in Explorer/Finder
3. Drag and Drop these into the Trainz Content window
   • The content will then be imported into TRS2019.
   • If you plan on maintaining the original copy of Trainz, remember to go back and resolve any 'open for editing' (OFE) assets.
   • You may do this by custom filtering CM on 'OFE = true' and clicking "revert to original".

III. An alternative option, once you have opened your assets for edit, is to find the location of your Local Data folder and then import directly from this using the ‘import content folder’ tool. This is done by following these steps:

1. Open the launcher screen for your previous installation of Trainz
2. Click on Trainz Settings
3. Click on the ‘Install’ tab
4. Your Local Data location will then be shown in the ‘Local Data’ path box. The last folder in the path will be named ‘build xxxxxxxxx’ (the Xs will be random letters and numbers)
5. Open the launcher screen for TRS2019
6. Click on Manage Content
7. Click on ‘File’ at the top of the screen, then click on ‘import content folder’
8. Go to the location that was shown in the install tab of your previous installation
9. Click on the ‘Editing’ folder in the ‘build xxxxxxxxx’ folder
10. Click on ‘Open’
11. Your content will then be imported into TRS2019.

Dependencies

Dependencies are the assets that another asset relies on, such as all of the scenery objects used on a route, or the trains used in a session.

You can view an assets dependencies by right clicking on it, then click on ‘list dependencies’.

Alternatively, if you click on ‘list dependencies recursively’, this will display the dependencies of the selected assets dependencies. This is useful if the dependencies are likely to be ‘complex’ objects (ie trains, procedural tracks, complex scenery objects, etc). Use this option if you are not sure.

Content from the Download Station

It is recommended that content from the Download Station be downloaded again, rather than be transferred using the above methods. This ensures that you have the latest version of all assets from the Download Station, and will ensure that the assets remain compatible with Multiplayer.

Further Information

• Do NOT attempt to transfer assets from previous versions over into TRS2019 by simply copying your LocalData folders or creating .cdps.
  • The format of the LocalData folders may not be compatible with TRS2019.

• You must not set TRS19 to use the LocalData folder for Trainz: A New Era or any other version of Trainz.
  • Doing so can cause Trainz to become unstable, or cease to function correctly, and may damage any content in the LocalData folder.

• Please note that the following items cannot be imported into TRS2019 directly:
  • .ja files
  • .tzarc files

• TRS2019 has been designed to be backwards compatible with the majority of content from previous versions of Trainz.
  • ...so it is possible to import your content from TANE into TRS2019 and even from one build of TRS2019 into a new one.
  • ... that being said, Rulers are known to lock up the loading of a TS12-created routes into TRS19. It is suggested all rulers in a route be deleted in their native Trainz release before attempting to transfer the route to TANE SP1 or later Trainz releases. As rulers are layer-resident entities, you should unhide and unlock all layers when performing the ruler deletion operation.
• Important : TRS2019 requires the original textures to show correctly in-game,
  • ...therefore built-in content and DLC content, which does not contain source files, cannot be imported directly (or it will become 'faulty').
• Built-in content from TS2010 and earlier (excluding routes that were new in TS2010) is available from the Download Station.
  • We are in the process of preparing the TS12 and TS2010 routes for downloading.

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• TRS19 Help Page
• Trainz Content
• Content Manager