Atlas righttrack program

[CAS]

I've been tring to get the free download of the Atlas right track program. And everytime i go to download it, it says to register first. I then register, enter my e-mail address. But then it keeps telling me my e-mail is not on file. So i register again, but i keep gettting the message of my e-mail is not on file. I do get the e-mail confirmation, and password.
Is anyone else having this problem? Is there anything else i can do, to make it work?

Thanks, Cliff

 

[Will_annand]

Here is a better one for you Cliff.

I finally managed to download it this morning.
I double click to install, install goes flawlessly, however when I go to run it I get the following:

Note: this was a new install on this machine.

 

[Matthyro]

It was a straight forward process for me and it works with no problem. I did the registering thing and all
Cliff do you have more than one e-mail addy you could try?
Will, It sounds like your download is corrupt in some way. I would remove it from your PC then do the download again. Good Luck guys.

 

[Will_annand]

Well, it took 3 tries in downloading, but I finally got a version that works.

 

[CAS]

Thanks for your help. I tried with a different e-mail address and still the same messages as above. I tried just my e-mail, then e-mail plus id #, and still not working.

I guess i'll go buy a program to use.

Thanks again.
Cliff

 

[Matthyro]

You may wish to try contacting Altlas Cliff to see is they could give you some help.

 

[Will_annand]

You don't need to spend money, there is another excellent freeware program: XTrk-CAD

http://www.sillub.com/

 

[jmarksbery]

:thumb: I had no problem with it what so ever, worked fine. :thumb: Jim

 

[Tileguy]

Ive got the program and while Ive looked it over a few times I have not figured it all out yet.
JIM, ROBIN, what do you guys say to a helpful hints and tips thread for using the program?? Sure would be helpful to me and many others I would bet

Pretty please

 

[Clerk]

Clif, I had the same trouble so just gave it up.l

 

[babydot94513]

If you have RTS 5.0 just stay with that. The RTS 7.0 release from what I can see has nothing of major difference. But, it is free!

JD

 

[Pitchwife]

For me the hardest part of RTS was the flex track. Getting a curve was next to impossable, but I hung in and discovered a few of the quirks of it.

1 Use the zoom. get down to the 2 or 3 level to get those little dots to go where you want them.
2. The shaping tool usually only works on the last two or three tracks laid down. If you have a section that was laid down and come along later and put another track in the same vacinity and decide you need to reshape the ealier one it won't let you. The only way is to cut out the later track, move it over to the side away from the earlier one, fix the old one and then reattach the newer one.

There are a few others, too. If you have any specific questions I'll answer them as best I can, however there have been a few times when I messed with the settings and it started working better, doing what I wanted etc. I just had no idea what I did to cause it.

Another problem is that I updated from the original one that I downloaded and now every once in a while when I try to open a design I get a message that says that it was made by another version and can't be opened. :curse: :curse: The moral is that if what you got works, don't fix it.

It takes some fiddeling with and can be frustrating at times, but once you get the hang of it it's a good program. Besides, what do you expect for free?????

 

[Matthyro]

I certainly agree with Clark that learing to lay flextrack was the hardest and that it does take practice but it is all worthwhile because of the accuracy it brings to layout planning. It won't allow more track or turnouts that will actually fit in the space you have.

 

[Tileguy]

Clark, Robin, I was thinking more along the lines of a practical tutorial from those who have used the program (not that you guys have nothing more to do all day but play on the puter )

 

[Pitchwife]

The problem with doing a full tutorial is that there are so many things that RTS will do that it would take hours to put it together, and even then we'ld still miss a bunch of stuff. I would suggest doing what I (and probably Robin) did, just get in there and start playing with it. When you run into a problem that you can't figure out just post the problem here and I'm sure that either one of us, or somebody, will have an answer. There is a tutorial on the program, I just didn't have the patience to sit down and go through the whole thing.
I will give you a couple of pointers to get started.

First go through it's manual and familiarize yourself with the function buttons at the top of the page. One habit that I got into which still catches me once in a while is trying to change to a different function and not change the function key. If they ever come out with a computer that automatically knows what I want it to do I will be one happy camper. Try some experiments laying track and get a feel for the different functions and how they work. Also don't forget that RTS has a good help section. Use the index and find tabs in the topics section of help and you can find the answer to most questions.

Secondly, once you are ready to start your layout, use the line tool and make an outline of your room and of your proposed layout platform. Be Precise! If your diagram is off by a few inches it can throw your whole plan oot of whack.

The only way you will get to feel comfortable with this program is to do what you do with any new program, use it. Then if you still have problems/questions you can come here for answers. Be patient and persistent.

Good luck and hang in there, :thumb: :thumb:

 

[Tileguy]

Clark, better yet, i'll send you a sketch and you anticipate what I want and put it on the program OK

Just think of all the question answering that would save you

 

[CAS]

After numerous more trys of downloading rts7.0. And still not able to get it to work. I just e-mailed atlas to see if they can help me out. But it showed it may take a week or so before i hear back from them. Well thanks for evryones help, especially Matthyro.

Thanks again all,
Cliff

 

[Pitchwife]

Clark, better yet, i'll send you a sketch and you anticipate what I want and put it on the program OK

Just think of all the question answering that would save you

I'm willing to give it a try. PM me with your particulars and I can get your basic plan down, but you should use the program enough to fine tune the layout to your own specs yourself.

Part of the satisfaction, at least for me, is to know that the layout is my own creation and that it does just what I wanted it to do the way I want ir done. If you just want to play with the trains there are a number of ads in MR for companies that will come in and build the whole layout from start to finish. But where is the satisfaction of accomplishment in that?

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for one day. Teach him to fish and he can feed himself for the rest of his life." I don't mind answering questions, and I'm not much good at anticipating.

 

[Dragon]

Some people just may not be very good at designing a decent, workable, track-plan without help. In my case, I got a LOT of help from my step-dad-in-law.
Too bad I'm losing the room it would have been in, but someday I'll have bigger and better things.


"Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a night. Set a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life."

 

[Pitchwife]

Bummer agout losing the room. :cry: :cry:

No one starts off being able to develop a decent, workable, track-plan. That comes with a lot of work and dedication. Just go to the Track Planning for the Future forum and you will see what I mean. Still, it is YOUR layout and you are the one who will be the person most often running it, so it needs to be able to do the things that you enjoy about the hobby. That is one of the reasons that this Is The Worlds Greatest Hobby. Once you have an idea of what you want, there are so many tallented people here that can help you refine your plans. But you need a basic plan to begin with. Not long ago one member (no names) asked for help designing a layout. Another member took the time to design a really great layout that met all of the requirements. Did the first member take advantage of this great piece of work? No, They went on looking for other ways to do the design.
Designing a layout takes a lot of time and work and it is frustrating when that effort doesn't pay off. If you put forth some energy to show that you know what you are expecting from a project, there are many people here that will be happy to help fine-tune it. To design from scratch for someone else usually is a wasted effort.