You want a Disney license? Good luck man... Can you imagine how many millions of dollars that would be?
if that is the case, it should be properly labeled as USA Route, and not us route, which leads to confusion
US usually refers to the USA, the United States. Only reason both letters aren't capitalized is because of how the forum is designed, where you cant have multiple letters capitalized back to back in titles, so something like USA appears as Usa.
Yeah, pretty much I think I made this a couple of months ago and it was capitalized, but the forum titles de-capitalized it. I explained what I'm looking at here: https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/us-routes.95169/
I will say it again ANY SEPTA ROUTE! You already have all the elements in game to make it. Sounds from the Arrow III is the exact same as the Silverliners all that would need to be done is a small amount of changes to the body of the cars. Remove the center doors and change the dome on top of the car. Interior is exactly the same. As for the route infrastructure from the Morristown route and the Trenton route is all you would need.
No thanks. I refuse to install Peninsula Corridor in TSW 6 because its unbranded. I have TSW4 installed with just the Caltrain content on it.
I’ve always said branding is a nice to have, but if licensing isn’t possible then I’d rather have a route unbranded then not all.
While I agree, there are a lot of people that don’t. People buy the routes not just for the route itself, but also for the actual licensed trains. NEC is my home route and without the Amtrak/NJT branding, I’m not sure I’d run it. Some of the others aren’t as big of a deal to me though.
I'm very much in the "who cares if it's unbranded" crowd. Seems a bit silly to me to not want the trains and routes because it's slightly the wrong color until you install a mod. Yeah, I know modding is not a console thing.
Sad thing is I know several of the higher ups that work at 1234 Market ST (Septa headquarters) and I'm sure if I poke around a lil bit I'll get the approval. But does DTG have the energy to make American routes? I have several issues that I'm seeing in this game. I really don't like how the game is catering to certain people.
Given how they are losing one of the best assets to US routes in Brandon after Stamford, I dont see US routes being good overall anymore.
Early 60's era Keystone Corridor from Suburban Station to Paoli, with perhaps the branch to Manayunk? I wouldn't know how licensing would work for defunct roads, but it would at least satisfy Philadelphians. I would also like a Septa route, but they already have enough to deal with, and plus, I would support a route in a different geographical location, such as the Northwest or the Rockies. Denver RTD maybe??
With exception of a few road names, most are under ownership of one of the major Class 1 railroads in North America. While the 2 Canadian ones are reluctant, the 4 US ones are pretty much good to go. But the hard part is research and references on stock, lines, and scenery of a specific time period.
I've always been skeptical about this so-called difficulty. DTG and a number of 3Ps have been researching and building US and Canadian routes and locomotives since virtually the turn of the century, both modern and historical, steam, diesel and electric traction. Has all that research somehow been lost?
I really really really want to see and would LOVE if the Amtrak Downeaster was added. Why? I take it all the time to go up north into Maine. Plus it has the extremely wanted P42DC on the route as main power and a F40PH NPCU which I imagine would be very easy to make as it's literally just a F40PH without the engine and is replaced with a cargo hold. It can also serve as 2 routes in 1 as it runs on an MBTA line. (I really want this)
What the player thought as an acceptable level of detail and sounds has increased since the TSC days. The research they have is likely to be no where near enough for today’s palate
You have to remember that if DTG were to attack a specific era, they would need the assets of that era to bring it to life in TSW, which the playedbase would be highly expected to be of a decent quality, and one DTG may not find profitable for the return, especially in a heavy urban area of the US. Now DTG, could also make a remote US route in a retro era like Clinchfield, then they wouldnt need so many assets. But as it seems they dont want to touch it anymore after Clinchfield. So we are pretty much stuck to HIS and his team to try and attack a specific era of retro stuff, but the ATSF pack shows it may be a case of be careful what you wished for....
Some that seem to be free to access are Pacific Electric and the Bay area's old Key System, but people keep complaining about too many California routes (I am not one of those people). I'd love either of those, but even if they weren't kind of niche to begin with they'd run into the need for a lot of new resources problem you already mentioned. I've advocated for SMART, which would be easier if they could get the rights. That would also be California, but if they could get it, SMART (as near as I can tell) owns Northwestern Pacific's brandings which might open up some historic routes. But again, California.
Along with a Trenton to 30th street line for SEPTA/Amtrak (assuming a septa license can be negotiated), this would definitely be a close second. The other South Station MBTA lines are fairly boring, so getting a North Station focus line would be a great addition and they have a good relationship with DTG already.
Hi Candace, Route- I'm not too familiar with the USA routes. 1. But for starters I'd like to see the routes expand North of Stamford towards Warwick via New Heaven, etc. going all the way up to Providence in the North Eastern region of USA. Essentially, connecting the already existing routes. 2. Would also like to the routes expand from Los Angeles to San Francisco eventually; at the South West region of USA. Why- It would make playing TSW more immersive being able to route hop a lot more as well as see other layers' trains while driving. Thanks.
Oh to see a curveball like Kettle Falls out of nowhere. I've recently been tracing the routes of interesting and anomalous routes on the US/Canada border in MSFS 2020 after randomly sighting the Woodland Spur over in Maine while flying over it and thinking "There's a story behind THAT", resulting in a rabbit hole of learning about the origins behind this and the Downeast Scenic Railroad Co.
Or one that has fascinated me - the New York Central line up through the Adirondacks to Malone Junction, Saranac Lake, Tupper Lake etc.
That got me thinking about the old Delaware & Hudson from Maple Leaf Tracks for MSTS. Loved that route, loco ( I think a GP38 ) and the livery. Probably a hiking trail these days. I hate to use an old chestnut like " those were the days " but, well..... ( I'm posting here partly to keep this lonely thread alive. The forum has become so darn UK-centric these days, which I guess mirrors the current TSW output.)
That was one of my fave MSTS routes ever! I'm sure it had a GP-38 but what i remember were the Alcos (C628s iirc) and how cool the sounds were on them and the freight cars, which typically just used the generic (terrible) default sounds at that point in time. I'd buy a TSW version in a heartbeat fwiw I wonder if anyone from MLT is still active in the 3p dev scene?
Sad fate of all too many such routes. SGoing back to my mention of Kettle Falls, there was talk a few years back of turning the route of the old Columbia and Western Rail Trail that used to connect to Grand Forks on the Canadian side of the border, from a hiking trail into a service road, but it seems there was enough of an outcry against it from the looks of it. Truly a fate worse than death for a former rail line if that had gone through.
There's a scenic line through the Adirondacks still, but TSW tends to focus on active revenue routes not excursions. I guess the WSR is the one exception being a heritage/museum route but even then it's still usable for regular commuters to the local and seashore communities to Tauton and back. The Adirondacks are beautiful but heavily travelled they are not =-)
Indeed that would be the challenge of any such route, even historical. I did some research into the route a few years ago and by the end think there was one through passenger train a day running between Utica and Malone Junction which was overnight in each direction and there might have been a day train to and from Saranac Lake. Probably a handful of through freights and a local “peddler” to serve wayside spurs. Which of course brings us back to the old discussion, same as with our more remote UK routes such as the Scottish Highland lines, Central Wales or Cambrian Coast. Should low traffic levels disqualify what would otherwise be a fascinating and interesting journey/drive from appearing in TSW? Particularly if representing a little bit of history. It shouldn’t all be urban or inter urban routes with Densha de Go arcade levels of traffic.
I could be wrong, but for a video game it comes down to replayability and additional value. Lots of people play routes to complete the timetable. If there's not much timetable, they aren't playing it long and don't feel they achieved much or got their value out of it. Indeed, how many timetables are "padded" up a bit with essentially the exact same run many times over? Not saying it's wrong, that could indeed be true, but even the "freights" are copy paste to give more trips in. The number of "services" in a timetable become a HUGE arguing point in discussions. Along with that, layering adds value, can "refresh" a trip with a new engine or rolling stock, and can sell more DLC. But you need a certain amount of core timetable to build on. If something has two trips on the timetable, will you play it more than twice? On the other hand, I'm not a completionist on this and I'll just play parts of a timetable that I like so the padding of routes with hundreds of runs that are copy and paste doesn't appeal so I don't get as much out of those as some other people either. The same train and route 22 times counts as 1, maybe 2 runs for me (different time of day perhaps) I don't need a LOT of runs, but there must be a fair amount and they should be decently different, with layers to freshen it up. It doesn't have to be a huge difference... number of cars, different cargo, different destinations, different stopping patterns, loco substitutions... but the same identical thing over and over doesn't add value (for me.) There has to be a balance just like there are different types of players. They touched on this in the latest stream on the issue of "Amtrak routes" where there were only two Amtrak runs a day. They said there "just isn't enough there to work with." Adding those Amtrak runs to existing timetables yes, but you can't build a route for just two runs a day. As beautiful as a Canadian Rockies or Scottish Highlands run would be, is there enough on it to make it appeal to enough players? If there's not enough on there naturally, would there be "outrage" at adding more traffic on say a freight run to make it more interesting? Add a few runs that aren't as common, railtours, uncommon freight (cargo pack add ons, etc) Some would make the argument that's "unrealistic" of course...since we do like to argue on the forum! =-) I just think it has to be balanced because we have a diverse customer base. Skewing urban and commuter admittedly, which means the deck is stacked against the rural routes.
I might have played more Cane Creek than most people, I find it very peaceful. I've always said they need to do a long distance Amtrak pack as a DLC alongside one new route and a revamp of the timetables for several routes they can layer into, two services per day, maybe with some potential shunting duties assembling them at termini or loco end switching, only a couple of services per route but adding value to several US routes. With future US routes being able to incorporate the P42DC, Superliners, and Viewliners (Not sure how Amtrak's licensing people might feel about depicting Horizons ingame right now)
Lot of routes have seemingly impressive timetables, until you look deeper and realize the majority are just copy and pasted over and over again. Honestly the only reason I don't even replay services all that much is just down to the fact there are a million copy and pasted versions of them, and I might as well go for a "new" one. But in practical terms I don't view them as anything less than replays. And I'm someone that actually does somewhat regularly play my backlog, lot of people treat routes like "one night stands" even with massive timetables. You play the route for a short time after release, then get bored and drop it. All that to say I don't think massive timetables are the big selling point people treat them as, 100% think a lot of people would be fine with smaller routes. Dare I say I'd welcome a few routes that I could, you know, actually do all the content on in my lifetime.
Agreed Mich. Everyone different, but I only have so much time so I don't chase completions but just from puttering around I'm fairly close on a couple routes just through time spent on them. I think I have 3 left on WSR for example, and a handful on Oakville. Something like Frankfurt that claims "over 1,000 services!" is not a draw. It's a negative. I see most of the runs are the same trains over and over, and some of those are AI services. In the meantime, all that extra traffic (while others may love it) just seem TOO busy and can harm many players gameplay (hence the reduced timetables for older platform users) As I said, different players want different things. I almost think a "sandbox" route would be fun, something like the Training Center but expanded into a small city or map like Derail Valley where you can sub in just about every engine in game and use it for something (not just drive a circle in practice) It wouldn't be a "real" route, but it'd be a made up city to get some variety and a chance to use that DLC people don't get to use much (like the 294 or the TGV or the Pendolino or HSP-45DT. So much stuff gets build but is so limited you hardly ever get to use it except on Free Roam and that doesn't have the functionality of a service or scenario. There has to be a way to get more use out of those neglected DLCs. WSR is a good example of just how much you can put on a route to make it replayable from different perspectives, along with different scenarios and runs that even on a small route feel different. Oakville has a number of different industries (although no layers sadly), while SPG, HSC, SEHS have multiple branches and substitutions possible. A run on Shap is quite different between an Class 86 or a Class 47 or Class 101 or a Class 20, even if it's the same stretch. Anyway, got on a tangent but my point is that replayability from variety, layers, different services and paths is something that adds a lot of value. There are far too many routes that look impressive on paper but as you said Mich, when you boil it down there's not much really THERE. They're one or two trick ponies. Take the TGV for example, or Frankfurt.
Any chance of a possible Reading & Northern route? Steam, Passenger, Scenic tours and Freight it has it all on 400+ miles of track.
To tag onto this, as beautiful as those routes are, what would they actually look like in game? TSW is a decent looking game, but if it’s only 1 or 2 timetable runs, will the view in game actually look like something that makes it enjoyable to drive through? In real life it’s obviously yes, but in game? I have my doubts.
fort William-Mallaig, at the Fort William end, you're looking at a shunting service for the Aluminium runs from Blyth, as well as an AI Caledonian Sleeper, with a handful of 153/156 services a day each way, and black fives layering in for The Jacobite. I've said a few times this would be an excellent route to test out a request stops function, building on the randomised features added in TSW6, as a means of mixing things up between limited numbers of runs. If you can't add more trains into the timetable, it makes sense to add replay value elsewhere. A mechanic like this would be vital to successfully pulling off a recreation in TSW of part of a route like Sudbury-White River, for example, with a single passenger service in the timetable, in between a bunch of CN freight services.
I'm hoping that if they get a good response from Preston to Crewe route with all the industrial sidings and runs, it'll reinvigorate the freight/shunting/industrial gameplay loops and enable more in depth scenarios, not just "a-b on the mainline" but end to end siding to siding like it should be. As I've said before, a "freight run" that starts on the mainline and ends on the mainline (not on a siding) is just like a commuter run that doesn't stop at any platforms. It's not complete.
