Hello all, I realize there are probably a few other threads discussing this topic, but I feel like the game has gotten to n extremely low point. I have brought some evidence to back me up. First of all, two shots from Steam DB of the player count: This photo shows the steady decline over three years, although barely noticable Here, a much more noticeable decline, which is over 6 years. Next, I want to look at DLC release. I have noticed that in the passed 2 months, we got 1 DLC release a month, none of which being DTG. In the months before that, I saw a release of 2-3 DLCs. I haven't included screenshots, so you'll have to find it yourself. Finally, I want to talk about third party stuff. As I'm sure you know, AP have recently released their final HST pack (VP185). Usually, when a pack like this releases, there is almost no delay before the entire 'Most Recent Additions' of ATS' website to be filled with scenarios for the train. However, this time, there were barely any until around 2 days later. I'm not saying this a direct reason of why TSC may be dead, but just something I have noticed. As well as this, I have noticed a lot less third-party-payware addons released. Again, not saying this is a direct reason. I would guess this is because there really isn't a big enough market to asign a whole team to development for TSC anyomore. It is not all depressing, though. In the past two months, there has been an increase of players (presumbly for the release of the "new" games), as you can see here: Thank you for reading, Anson
yep, everyone is pretty much done with this game sadly, the forums are dead too. i personally im not moving on to train sim world untill they stop releasing a new game every year or so
The game is morphing 1) Not all players use Steam as the starting point 2) All new stuff is 3rd Party There is a lot of product out there. Regarding new content this is the law of diminishing returns. It is what it is.
I'm still continuing with TSC. Building two routes that I want to release for free sometime in the future.
At the moment of writing this post TSC has 1052 player, TSW 6 has 1024 (Kind of funny), Trainz 2022 has 293. At this time TSC player count sits at page 7 of the 90 page long list with player counts. Thats almost 9000 games where TSC hangs around position 625. A lot of newer and fancier titles that have a lower player count. No its not dead.
Interesting thoughts so far. Of course, I am only presenting evidence and not making a statement so I am not leaving the game. I am also working on a few projects for TSC to being to the game.
It's not dead, but it is dying. DTG aren't developing. Several significant UK commercial developers have announced their intention to drop TSC development. Activity on this forum and others is declining. I expect some of us will continue using it for a decade further, but it's entering old age and the end is coming into sight. I expect no "new" version in 2026 and I predict DTG will officially drop it in 2027.
Well for me, it's like a second win ive got with Train Simulator Classic 2025.. I had a 7 or 8 year hiatus from the game as my laptop at the time packed up. But back into it in a massive way and love doing my own scenarios etc... Hope the game is not going to end anytime soon. Cheers
It's only truly dead when there's a worthy replacement. There isn't one, and the UE5 TSW sequel/update won't change that. As for the VP185 scenarios, the VP185 is the least versatile HST variant in the game with only a handful of routes that it can be used on. It will obviously have significantly less scenarios made for it compared to the Valenta and MTU packs.
I think it's slowly declining, yes. More and more are probably using tsw. They can't resist the shiny shiny. It's a shame. For as long as I can remember, all anyone ever does is complain about the cost of everything, so hardly surprising.
Yes TSC is dead to DTG for a long time now. But as long as the local 3rd party content creation scene is working on and releasing new content TSC is not dead for a lot of people.
It's not dead' it's just the lack of content creators and neglection of DTG deciding to discontinue adding new content into TSC If DTG made everything easier including providing full tutorials on importing content, route building, importing locomotives, rolling stock, writing lua scripts and more. Perhaps TSC would see a better future All I need to know is either how to hack lua scripts so I can read them or where to find full examples of Steam, Diesel and Electric powered by overhead and 3rd rail including to send a message to the trailer carriage that is fitted with a pantograph. If I knew all this including physics, I would had released the Australian locomotives and rolling stock that I already have working in-game but I am using the physics from the developer examples DTG, please provide within the developer document examples LUA scripts and physics. I can't release the XPT, Adelaide Metro 3000/3100/4000 Classes and the QR ICE without those.. Or stop breaking your promises and these lies about licensing requirements and provide AUSTRALIAN content You people who think there's NO market for Australian content, that's all bull. We have been requesting Australian content since the game was titled Rail Simulator and still we have nothing Australian.. C'mon!!! EDIT: As for licensing! Like I said it's lies.. Have a look at the Racetrack route, where's the METRA logos?? You don't have to add the logos for ANYTHING Australian
As long as the game still works on my PC I'll be using it. I've spent a small fortune on DLC over the last few years and I don't intend to give up my investment anytime soon. I've been busying myself modifying a few exiting routes and creating scenarios, and that is a much fun as playing the game itself for me.
Yes, but even then it's still limited. The majority of community scenarios in TS are replicas of real timetabled services, so there won't be as much to do with the Pullman set.
You could release a scenario for the Midland Pullman set for most main lines in the UK There is a trip next year to Kyle of Lochalsh & Inverness which starts from Swansea and runs via Cardiff, Hereford, Crewe & Carlisle to Scotland. I can think of 6 routes it would cover. The train makes a number of stops like a regular service. The Timetabled services will still be running and would be seen en route. ATS has a lot of Scenarios copying real life trips https://alanthomsonsim.com/ad-serach/?fwp_advanced_search_search=Midland Pullman https://midlandpullman.com/trips-tours/?filter_type=2026
Rather bleak that anything over a decade old is written off as being on its last legs. I assume most of the contributors to your forum fall into this same age category but still feel relevant in society even if they've hit their prime at 14 years of age and found it's all down hill after that. For players who depend on other creators for scenario content the options may become increasingly rarefied and costly but the joy of this game is that easy access to the editor allows players to create a myriad of content in whatever area they wish at the cost of a few hours work. A Quick Drive with complex random AI can be built in a couple of hours to give almost limitless scenario timetable options using whatever stock you have available. Likewise a free roam scenario shunting a yard or branch line takes as little as 10 minutes to set up. As long as we are allowed to access the content we have paid for and we enjoy playing the game I'm really not sure why so many people are so keen to take it away from us and proclaim its demise. New content continues to be released and there is a massive back catalogue of DLC still available. Player number indicators may not have much relevance as I assume they do not include those of us who play off line to avoid the carnage of the now thankfully rare updates which DTG throw out from time to time. Meanwhile over on the Train Stutter World forum no doubt the same harbingers of doom are gleefully gathering...
There are two risks to TSC. 1. It's no longer hosted on Steam, or Steam no longer exists. Neither looks likely at present, but nothing is for ever. 2. We get bored with the same functionality, the same limitations and the same bugs, and we stop playing it.
I dont see either steam or tsc dissapear from steam. It would make steam (and DTG) a unreliable platform. Why would prople buy something via steam if it doesnt ensure you can use it. It would be the downfall of the platform. I'm sure many like myself have invested a lot in TSC and removing it would ensure me never buying from the platform or publisher again.
I have games from 2004 on Steam that I can still play. Going back to TSC, I have lots of content that I have never played. I play the scenarios that come with the routes, and I have some routes where I haven't played any of the scenarios for some reason or another.
In my opinion TSW will die long before TSC. Third parties cannot currently release anything without DTG publishing it. So as soon as DTG lose interest, TSW is effectively dead. TSC on the other hand will live on as long as 3rd parties still have an interest. As 3rd parties don't have to pay Steam or DTG a cut of the price then there is still a chance to make money even with lower sales numbers. I like both, but for me TSW will never rival the amount of stock and variety of TSC and that's what keeps me playing. I was running the latest AP HST on MML yesterday and apart from some pretty graphics, nothing TSW has to offer would have made it better.
I suspect for those of us who aren’t always after the newest shiniest (and most expensive) toy, TSC will only die when there is no longer a version of Windows capable of running it. For heavens sake, some people are still able to play MSTS! Provided I’ve got a serviceable rake of AP Mark 1 coaches and some steam locomotives with quality sound sets, and a few scenic routes to run them on, I’m happy. (Typed from a droplight window in the 7th of 14 coaches behind 60800 Green Arrow at 77mph somewhere on the North Wales Coast line.)
DTG aren't releasing anything for TSC yet they are still publishing 3rd party content to Steam. Why wouldn't the same apply to TSW?
The timetable mode perhaps ? Either you're playing on QuickDrive, and you will expect to see the same consists at exactly the same places every time (depending on the probability set), or you're playing a scenario, then it's always same time, weather, etc.
Not if you are putting effort into the quick drives. Parked stock can be random. Rolling stock can be much randomized, and you can even have random red signals for the player train. Quick drives can be very powerful.
Man, it's so time consuming... But are you talking about the random signals specifically ? That I don't know.
I’ve been doing it for years, mainly on German/Austrian routes. I call them Real Drive Advanced scenarios For all rolling stock, parked and running, use spawn points. (Consist spawns and AI spawns respectively). Populate sidings with consists that have approx 60% probability of spawning. Have lots of wagon consists (i have over a hundred). Then your scenario really will look different each time. Same with AI trains, except i often give them 80-100% probability of spawning. Again i have at least hundred different trains that can spawn on a route. As for red signals randomised……is that a secret i want to give up….? Just joking, it’s pretty simple on the surface BUT you HAVE to account for the quirks of the dispatcher and the signal scripts that has to handle it, or your qd scenario WILL crash on you. But basically i do it with invisible trains in the path of the player train. One after each main signal, routed to a portal just before the next main signal, though sometimes, If it’s a combination signal (distant and main on the same mast) i let the invisible train run for two two consequtive signal blocks. Set the probability of spawning to approx 12%. The permutations of where you will have red signals are now over 1.000.000 if it is a route of even medium lenght. So in short. Over one million different qd scenarios packed into one qd scenario, where all parked rolling stock changes location and appearance and you never know what train you meet. Now that is IMO a powerfull scenario. If you take all the ways it can vary in, then one scenario contains billions of small and big variations. Sadly i seem to be the only one in the entire TSC community who does these scenarios. It’s become my niche. Here is a composite video of Real Drives between München and Brenner and back. All red signals and rolling stock randomized as described.
Oh dude, there's so much work involved in what you're doing, but no doubt you get the reward for it : in fact, it's like a random timetable... the only bémol being it's a random, a virtual one. You'll never get a red because you're following this precise service or this another one. True, in real life, there are also "unexpected" movements. At the end of the day, this is THE only mean to bring QuickDrive scenarios to life, but it still is an ersatz of what is done in TSW. Faut vivre avec son temps... Anyway, hats off to you
I would dare to venture as far as to say that TSW made TSC obsolete !!! Just kidding, I value my life !!! And anyway, we're not there yet (sadly).
I'm afraid I can't agree with that. Most people aren't bothered about reality, or authenticity in sims. Some are... but most are not. They have no context any way. They would have no idea if something is true to life, particularly when it comes to trains that are no longer running, or trains from a country they've never been to. Most people will prefer TSW because it's a more modern game with better graphics. Simple as that. They will prefer it's simpler interface, and the fact that it runs on consoles. Someone else summed it up well further up. So long as AP release stuff, TSC will survive. When AP stop... that's when TSC dies.
The biggest risk to TSC longevity is if DTG do a housekeeping code change which botched things up then fail to put it right. Read elsewhere that didn’t this happen recently, with some third party stuff getting nerfed?
Sad but true. People don't care that the train feels like a wet towel while driving as long as the graphics are shiny enough. That is the case with all types of games nowadays; shiny graphics => actual substance. I can only talk from experience within my local TSC community... but that is not true. As long as the local route builders keep updating and/or even building complete new routes the scenario creators will keep making scenarios for them and Chris keeps updating his trains i see TSC live long after AP has died. Only thing i have from AP is the Sky & Weather Enhancement Pack 2.0. Which is a nice have but not a must. I could do without and still drive my favorite routes and scenarios in TSC.
Look at the new route from the GAD team, it's miles ahead of anything in TSW - I get the graphics in TSW are better, but the sheer size of routes, the ability to build them, the variety of locos and rolling stock, it surpasses TSW by miles (IMO) and I have both
I keep seeing "the graphics are better in TSW" like that's a given but am I the only one that actually prefers how TSC looks? Albeit only with AP enhancements/stock. TSW continues to be weirdly overexposed, shiny where it shouldn't be and low quality textures in many areas with zero shading. Just look at most of the cabs, they are devoid of any weathering or fine details. Then look at the AP HST or 37 for example. Timetable mode is the one thing I wish TSC had but only with the ability for services to run late and then hold you up as a result (but only if it makes sense like you are running early or are a higher priority). I'm not interested in red signals for red signal sake if it doesn't make sense operationally. Does anyone know if TSW can do that? If not, nothing still beats a hand crafted TSC scenario by someone with railway knowledge on how trains should be regulated.
No you aren't alone. Although it's nice to be able to walk around in TSW I still much prefer the environment of TSC. It looks more visually pleasing. If it were possible to recreate timetable mode for TSC (not using freedrive), I wouldn't even touch TSW.
