Open BVE Project

Fans of the popular BVE train simulator have been disappointed by its lack of support for Windows Vista. Moreover, it appears that BVE's creator, Mackoy, has turned his attention to other matters - as one might expect from a young man in his twenties. (Of course, it is also possible that he is working on the next killer version of BVE, but so far we have had no news of anything in the pipeline for quite a while.)

The new Open BVE Project, launched in April 2008, may be the answer to Vista problems and carry some good news as well. The new Open BVE is already available as a demo for Windows (including Vista) and is expected to work on Linux as well. (I'll be trying it once I get my Linux machine.) I didn't see anything about Macs, but Mac fans can get on the OpenBVE forum (at the web site) and make their wishes known.

Open BVE is all new coding - no copyright infringement on Mackoy's work - and recognizes BVE add-ons. So far, only BVE 2 routes are usable with Open BVE. In my limited trial, I had success with the Uchibo route but found some of the scenery objects for the Flushing Line not working. I haven't gone back to examine the list of non-fatal errors associated with the Flushing Line. I am happy to report that the trains I tried ran well and the sounds were all there.

Open BVE will be adding new features as well, including animated objects and external view. The underlying code structure is less restrictive and said to be more efficient than BVE, so route designers will have more flexibility in setting track curves and placing objects.

In short, Open BVE is still in its early stages, holds lots of promise, and is available at the Open BVE home page here.

This is indeed good news for BVE fans and others who have not yet experienced the great sim qualities of BVE and its available add-ons.

Al