railworks not working

[spinker]

I hope I am in the right forum.

Railworks does not recognize my keyboard input. The only keyboard presses it recognizes are the arrow keys to circle around the train.

I have been searching for an answer to my problem and I read a thread that said "If you had Rail Simulator installed when you installed Railworks it would create problems It said you must uninstall Rail Simulator before you install Railworks".

Can you tell me if this is true??

Larry

[FootplateManWSR]

Not true. I have both but I can't remember the last time I used RS.

[arizonachris]

Spinker, try and verify the game files. Right click on the game in your Steam Games list, choose Properties> local files tab> Verify ... See if that helps.

[spinker]

Thank you for your replies,

I have tried your recomendations
"choose Properties> local files tab> Verify"
result was all files ok. Checked Railworks again, only keys that were recognized were the arrow keys, F1,F2,F3,F6. not enough to use the sim.

When I first installed RW all keys were functioning and I was able to us sim. After using sim several times I then lost most of the function of my keyboard.

I have tried to reach customer support but all I get are
Pre-written messages that they received my email and a messageshown below

"If the issue is not currently listed there, a member of our support team will review your request and notify you when the FAQ has been updated with information relating to your enquiry"

Have not heard from anybody. Is there a special way to get a direct response from customer support?

In the RW options> gameplay> control model, I have set control to "expert", still no keyboard action.

I hope I have not asked too many questions but right now I have a program that cost $49.00 that I cannot use.

Thanks again for your interest.

Larry

[lonewolfdon]

What version of Windows are you using?

Did you install anything new recently just before you noticed the problem (such as new drivers, update for Windows, other software)?

Before launching RailWorks, be sure to close or disable other programs that may be running (Anti-virus, messengers, etc..) as it's possible another program could be causing conflicts.

Make sure anything such as Windows StickyKeys feature is disabled.

From the RailWorks options window, click on the Tools & Docs tab, then use the Clear Blueprint Cache button.

Is there some feature on your keyboard that you may have enabled or disabled without you realizing it or that it would affect RailWorks?

What type of Keyboard, a PS2 or USB type of connection? If USB, perhaps try plugging your keyboard into a different port. If USB you can also buy a cheap little dongle type plug that could convert the USB into a PS2 plug, then try it in the default Keyboard PS2 port. Of course I'm not knowing what type of keyboard you have or what type of computer either.

Did you have access to a different keyboard that you could temporarily plug into your computer and then test things?

Well, those are a few general suggestions I think you might try.
Good luck.

[spinker]

Thank you for taking an interest in my problem. I have been following your recomedations.
Results are very strange, sometimes I have keyboard success and then I dont,

engines will be running but will not move when I power up rpms increase but train will not move, sometimes train will only move in reverse, I dont seem be able to change the reverser to go forward. Brakes are off reverser only shows N or R. This whole situation is strange.

Am I looking for tech support in railworks or steam?
Does railworks have support where you can talk to a support person or is it all done thru their FAQ page.

This program is very strange. It seems that the only help you can get is from nice people like yourself who take an interest in others problems.

I will be continuing my trial and error testing.

By the way I have 2 computers linked by a switchbox which also handles a wireless mouse and keyboard. I did purchasea a wired keyboard to see if that would work better,still the same problems.
I have rail simulator on my second computer, that works fine all keyboard functions work. The reason I dont use that computer for railworks is that it is a slower computer.

Well anyways if you hae any further suggestions they would be appreciated.

Larry

[lonewolfdon]

A couple more suggestions for you:
Be sure you're running your Steam client and RailWorks with Admin privileges.

Are you using Simple, Intermediate or Advanced control settings in RailWorks? Myself I still prefer Simple driving mode. In the other modes, the control scheme for locomotives may change. Perhaps try playing with settings on Simple driving mode, then try again to see if A and D will throttle and brake, and S for changing direction to backwards or forwards.

You mentioned you had a wireless set-up for keyboard and mouse? That could be some part of the problem somehow? I know you mentioned you already tried a wired-keyboard, but also with strange results. Try the wired keyboard again, and a wired mouse as well, but be sure that all wireless features are disabled properly (for both keyboard and mouse), as maybe if you still had the wireless software/hardware still "active", and even if you plug in a wired keyboard and mouse, then maybe it's still causing some kind of conflict.

You could try emailing the RailWorks support, but mainly their "support" is via their FAQ page, and even if you do email them, chances are you'll just get an automated reply telling you to look at their FAQs page. I've tried to send a couple of email inquirys to their support in the past, and only ever get an automated reply telling me to look at their FAQs, and I've never had a real human reply yet. So, you could try to contact their support, but... good luck with that (don't hold your breath waiting for a real human reply :P

I love RailWorks, and I know their team works hard, so I'm not knocking them. I'm just stating things from my experience and viewpoint. Chances are you'll probably get more help and support,with specific problems not covered in the general "FAQs", from the people, like us, in the RailWorks Community, such as here in these Forums or over on other RailWorks/Train-Simming related forums:

http://forums.uktrainsim.com/viewforum.php?f=300&sid=0ba2ea4f0082003df0a75c096b55b3db

http://railworksamerica.com/forum/

http://forums.flightsim.com/vbts/index.php

Good luck.

[road_glider]

Same thing is happening to me.

I just got the game, installed it this morning. Free mode, oxford to paddington, drove the train about 10 miles, everything fine. Went to the test track, could not switch views or anything. restarted.

Now i've tried it 3 times, and with a reboot. The only numeric input it responds to is key 8. Cannot switch views. Cannot accellerate. simple mode.

And generic email response as well. Pretty frustrating.

[zm4r]

Mouse and Keyboard Software updates (drivers) maybe?
Grtz
Erik

[road_glider]

Keyboard or mouse drivers would be silly. This is definitely a bug in Railworks. It worked fine, then it quit working.

I have deleted it off my system, and now am going to download it again.

Edit: See post #12 for the solution.

[arizonachris]

Keyboard or mouse drivers would be silly. This is definitely a bug in Railworks. It worked fine, then it quit working.

I have deleted it off my system, and now am going to download it again.

After you do that, make sure you verify the game files. Right click on the game in your Steam Games list, choose Properties> Local Files tab> Verify

I find it's really necessary to do this with any Steam game, especially on a weekend when there are a lot of special sales going on. ;)

[road_glider]

After you do that, make sure you verify the game files. Right click on the game in your Steam Games list, choose Properties> Local Files tab> Verify

I find it's really necessary to do this with any Steam game, especially on a weekend when there are a lot of special sales going on. ;)

Thanks, I'll give that a whirl. I had actually started doing that before I deleted it and went for a motorcycle ride. I just got another fresh download, and I'm doing a "backup local content" right away, to (maybe?) not have to do the full download if I have to do it again.

The machine it's installed on meets the recommended system requirements, and exceeds the minimum. I've not had any trouble with any other simulator.

p.s. "All files successfully validated." And it's still the same.

Edit: Okay. I have figured it out. This is NOT a bug in Railworks. I have the exact same problem as spinker... Only the arrow keys, f1, f2, f3, and f6 (also numeric 9, and I bet if you check this, spinker, you'll also have it as well). And same with me, for a while, it was intermittent. Sometimes it works, sometimes not.

So here's the deal. Me and spinker... ARE IDIOTS. It says "click on train to start."

[lonewolfdon]

Yes, if you're in a Free Roam scenario, you'll first need to click on a train you see in the area before you can actively be on a train to control or drive it.

[spinker]

I believe I have found the problem with my keyboard recognition. I have reinstalled an older Nvidia driver that was in force when I first installed Railworks. This rollback of my driver seems to have corrected my problem. Now I have to learn more about Railworks functions.

I believe my thread can be closed as completed.

Thank You for all your help.

Larry

[seseorang]

When it comes to sims - just download the quickstart information first. Sometimes everything you need to know is in there. I started out with MS Train Sim. So many controls are similar. In free roam mode, you will get notices of trains in the top right, which tells you that you can take control of it.