BRISBANE, Qld. – December 1, 2008 – Auran Games and N3VRF41L Publishing today announced that the latest version of their long running Trainz franchise went gold today. Trainz Simulator 2009: World Builder Edition is the culmination of 8 years of ongoing development and is the fifth major release in the series. It delivers new features and graphics capabilities along with over 12,500 rail related items including more than 400 locomotives and hundreds of miles of drivable routes.
“The World Builder Edition for Trainz 2009 is a defining release in the history of Trainz,” said Tony Hilliam, Auran CEO and Exec Producer of Trainz. “This release builds upon all the features from previous releases and adds new higher resolution graphics capabilities, more detailed terrain and new tools such as advanced content search filters and custom displacement maps. Many of our audience are dedicated hobbyists who have their favourite version of Trainz from 2004, 2006 through to the Trainz Classics series. Our goal is that Trainz 2009 will provide a united platform for all users which we will continue to improve upon every year.”
“Trainz has sold more than a million units around the world since 2001,” said Graham Edelsten, Director of N3V Publishing. “We have released a dozen or more different versions aimed at every type of train fan and at every budget. It is truly an evergreen product based around people’s enjoyment of the world of trains. Trainz 2009 is backwards compatible with the majority of the 100,000+ items that are available on the Trainz Download Station but it is also capable of handling much higher resolution content as well. It will be very exciting to witness the new content as it is developed and released over the coming months and years. We look forward to bringing that new content to users in every corner of the globe.”
TS2009 includes the traditional Surveyor (World Builder) module plus Driver and Railyard. People can create, drive, operate, collect and share content with more than 300,000 registered Trainz fans from around the world. The focus of development for TS2009 has been on improving the underlying systems to bring Trainz into the next generation of graphics and to provide better tools for the community to create their own dream railroad (or railway, depending on where you are in the world). It includes 99% backwards compatibility plus enormous room to expand upon existing content by upgrading assets such as tracks, locos and rolling stock.
Work has already begun on the upcoming Engineers Edition (TEE) which will deliver a range of newly created routes that utilise the new capabilities provide by the World Builder Edition. TEE will be available in retail outlets throughout the world in early 2009.
TS2009 World Builder Edition is available for digital download or mail order on DVD from the Auran Store for USD $29.99. www.auran.com