Indeed. Which is why I haven't tried it previously and probably won't, assuming we are getting a new version and DTG haven't sorted out a better official system.
To bring up the "not everyone can afford it" point, we are talking about a problem which only affects people that bought huge amounts of dlc and those who dont have enough income wont bother with TSW in the first place. Otherwise I have heard several people saying it takes days too. One being you but now you said it actually doesnt? Now i wonder how many of those others are just repeating the same thing to have a point? I can understand that hours of downloading is painfull but its not a viable argument to bring up again and again.
i was talking about some of the playerbase in general, not me specifically. it typically takes about 12 hours to redownload my collection to that i’d like to point out that income isn’t linear, and situations can change. i used to buy most tsw dlc’s, now i’ll probably get one every couple of months. just because i’ve built up a massive collection doesn’t mean i can keep adding to it at the same rate. more entitlement and lack of understanding
And it all comes back to the point anyway, this is a process forced on the end user by DTG's decision to remarket the game as new every year, rather than just update the core. Not aware of any other games that do this at least not with such a huge catalogue of DLC.
For me, it takes about 3 days to reinstall everything. If I were to do it all in one go then I would be able to do it in about 30 hours but I have to pause the downloads during the daytime because it takes up all of my bandwidth. If I or the rest of my household want to use the internet for work, entertainment or leisure, we can't - unless I only download during the nights and pause the download during the day.
Rather than release a yearly game thats constantly broken i think extra time should be put into the current game and fix the numerous issues thats blighted it
Evidence? Railworks was launched in 2007; TSW first announced in 2016 (nine years later) TSW was launched in 2017; its successor first announced in [?]. (2026 would fit the historical pattern.)
There's no evidence. TSW still has room to grow as it stands and I reckon many players would be upset at having to re-invest in DLC again from scratch in 2026 for a "late to the party" UE5 game when UE6 is on the horizon in say 4-5 years.
So you assume the large part of the playerbase has an unstable income forcing DTG to stop releasing a new game every year because they cant buy new dlcs? I never put any doubt into the fact that many people are strugling financially. None of the by you mentioned problems are fixed with DTG stopping the release cycle but rather are a problem of modern day society. Call me entitled and everything else you want, i dont see how its an issue redownloading content once a year which in the end benefits DTG and the players. Trying to force DTG to cancel their main source of income leading to a drastic drop in quality and probably some people loosing their job is quite egoistic.
You hit the nail on the head. DTG number one aim is new player acquisition. The yearly "New Game" is about getting new players who will then invest over time in the hundreds of available DLC. The alternative would be how SCS operate with Euro Truck Simulator and American Truck Simulator. The core evolves but the game isn't re-sold as a new game each year.
Yes the biggest annoyance being if you're in the middle of a job and an update drops (or you add new DLC as I did last night grabbing Iowa and Louisiana in the sale), it cancels it and resets your truck. But that's minor to what DTG put you through.
Maybe a two hours give or take. … not sure since I usually start it overnight and it is completed in the morning. Also downloading is in the background so I can do other things while downloading if I update during the day… really not a big problem. Of course, you don’t have to upgrade to the new version, and on Steam you can choose what DLC you want to download so you can control the size of each session. Is it optimal that one needs to redownload, most assuredly not… is it the end of the world… not even close.
As it is a business, I certainly understand the need for profit. However, I feel that a prompt response to bug fixes is what users are really looking for. My hope is that the title will follow the true path of a simulator rather than just a game. As someone who approaches this from the perspective of an overseas user, I sincerely hope to see improvements.
I do it overnight as well but it takes about 10 hours with 120 DLC as its down to the last 6 or 7 DLCs when I wake up on my Xbox. And I'm on a highspeed network so I can understand for people who are not as I even find it a hassle.
I'll probably get the free starter pack and only download the stuff I want to play next (including relevant layers), and take it from there.
I've given up hoping for an Eastern Region route as the main DLC this year, seems the smart money is on South West Trains content which I will be very happy with. A decent section of their network with a choice of stopper, semi-fast and express services and some freight would be a first day purchase for me.
hopefully they will update formation editor and make it easier to use plus add a button to have your wagon loaded or empty,
Personally I’m quite keen on the rumoured Airedale & Wharfedale route - an interesting scenic part of the country with some potentially fun services. Won’t get my hopes up just yet though, I’m not buying a damn thing on day one until they prove that bugs are still being fixed and they sort out the 805 cab mess
They're going to have to get a lot of new players because it's going to be hard to convince existing console users a third time that they're finally going to fix the blurry textures. They convinced me twice, after the third time I don't trust the developers to ever fix the blurry textures bug.
There's no convincing to do regarding a new game. I'll get the free starter pack and I'll get the routes if they prove to be blur-free.
Exactly, if DTG says that the blurry textures are fixed in TSW 7 I'll buy the deluxe edition. If it's just a promise again, maybe we'll fix it this year, I'll just take the free version of the game.
Don't rely on what they say. Just wait for the feedback after release before buying. Gotta say, a few of the routes that were released for TSW 6 were really good (I liked Medway, Thames Valley, Stamford and Ingolstadt), plus the two excellent remasters of GWE and ECW. So there is still enough to enjoy, I just take a bit more time to decide before buying.
You're right. I've been fooled twice. It's sad that the DTG developers have made buying DLC a lottery. Another problem is that Sony doesn't refund money if you download the content.
""We are making great progress on blurry textures on consoles, we hope to get a fix out to players very soon"" Matt Peddlesden February 2021 Roadmap Livestream.
It's not a lottery if you buy your ticket afterwards (So after reading feedback and watching streams)
You often hear that DTG's main aim is to attract new users, but a) is that true? and b) if so, why? Surely the number of players will plateau over time. How many people that would like a train sim haven't bought it, after 9 years? And also, surely DTG, with a regular income stream of multiple DLCs a year, have less of a need to attract new players than almost any games' publishers.
because they’re a business at the end of the day, and making money is the primary objective. a new title every year is the biggest contributor
From statements made on the Q and A streams blurry textures won't be fixed as its an ongoing problem that needs to be looked at on a route to route basis. I have a feeling the only way to fix it would be to rebuild the console version from square one which could take years. From the quality of textures, depth of scenery, all the duplicate trains to the way it loads/manages DLC all has to be tweaked. I don't expect it to be fixed for TSW7. Its going to be a wait and see what works and pick and chose what to purchase from here. I have not bought anything day one since Brum to Crewe. And I've noticed it seems to be fewer console reviews to come out the day of release so more are doing the same thing and holding out.
Yes, but what I'm saying is would focusing on new customers be a better approach for that than focusing on selling DLCs to the existing ones? Who, other than people have aged into the game, is going to dip their toe in on the 7th release? And if they're a casual TSW player, are they likely to spend a lot on DLC?
Generally they expect some loss of users every iteration for various reasons so the goal of aquiring new users is to offset that. Hopefully you get more new users than the amount you lose.
Why do you think DTG releases a new version of TSW every year? Their aim is to attract new customers who aren’t yet familiar with TSW, and every year TSW is announced and promoted on the platforms as a new game. DTG doesn’t do this for existing customers, but precisely to attract new customers to TSW.
Indeed. I have a gut feeling Tadami has bitten the dust for the foreseeable future. Though based on the evidence of what we saw in the preview clip, not sure why they couldn’t just have relegated it to a £10 budget release with a big caveat emptor or even - shock horror - spun it as an early access version (even though after 4 years of development, that’s a bit of a contradiction!).
It is a funny political decision, as they focus on constant flow of new customers (who will mostly get 1-2 routes that are in 80% discount and move on to something else) and keep massively neglecting the current players (who are willing to spend hundreds of euros). The comparison with SCS is spot on, same type of market, same type of DLC-based business, but focus on loyal customers instead of acquisition. Dovetail keeps doing layoffs, while SCS expanded from twenty people to three full floors in their new office building.
Speculation. DTG consolidated some of its projects, all studio's go through changes over time. It would be more fair to say DTG is concentrating on being more of a publisher than a developer, Sodor is maintained in house, but the majority of content for TSW now comes from 2nd party contracts and third party releases.
That’s a worrying thought! The team is clearly unable to cope with the volume of patch releases, let alone new content. The role of the publisher is to publish, not be a bottleneck and sit on patches until they become stale. If they’re concentrating on being a publisher they need to sort out their publishing process!
Yep, absolutely. The "focus on new customers" approach may work on the regular "release and move on to the next game" studio. But especially for this kind of simulation game that approach seems completely counter-productive. Here you'd want to keep existing customers happy enough to continue getting new DLC, best case for full price at release. You want to attrackt the collectors. Think more like with model railways - you keep expanding your rolling stock and / or the tracks / landscape ect. The ppl that stick to this hobby are the ones buying the most and the more expansive stuff, not those who buy one starter set and never touch it again in a year.
Yes. that's exactly how I see it! I have to wonder if DTG has stats that say otherwise, but of course they'll never tell us because that would be the equivalent of telling us to just dangle when we find bugs. Which apparently is what they're doing anyhow, just less obviously
One week to go. A little bit of excitement is there but definitely won’t be expecting anything huge. Haven’t really been playing a lot of TSW6 since it was released. :/
The base routes for TSW 6 were a bit disappointing. Not only the state of these routes in release (which was partly fixed later), but also the content itself. I don't find myself playing much of it lately, except maybe the trusty Voyager from the deluxe pack. There were some excellent DLC's released later for TSW6 though (not forgetting the remasters of GWE and ECW). So now it's time to sit out the pre-order discounts, the early access (Which is limited anyway) and get the free starter pack first. I'll eventually see how the feedback for the base content is.
Indeed. As I have stated previously, Riviera was completely the wrong era to appeal to veteran simmers, enthusiasts and thrash heads. Riesa to Dresden added a dull, flat and mainly straight section to a route most of us had already played to death. Morristown Line meant little to those outside the US, as opposed to doing something like Tehachapi, the Moffat Road or Kicking Horse Pass. I really hope they have chosen more wisely for TSW7, but based on the rumours so far - a modern SWT or Leeds local for the UK and a LIRR branch for the US (still a ??? for Europe), it seems not.
The excite-o-meter has barely flickered. I'm just bored with this yearly new edition circus and that tedious downloading everything again grind. I find the whole Dovetail Direct video almost embarrassing to watch with over caffeinated Blue Peter style presenters beaming out a scripted enthusiasm that often comes across as cringe worthy. Still they always look good with the matching new corporate T-shirts that look exactly like the old ones except for a single number changed, much like the product being sold. There was some great content with TSW6 but some of the latest DLC were grossly sub-standard. The Cl@ss 90 loco was an abomination that months after release is apparently still not fit for purpose. The Crewe to Preston route runs so poorly on PS5 that I feel robbed of £30. As things stand I will NOT be buying any full price DLC. I will get the free starter if available and just walk away from TSW if not. It is hard to be excited about a product that was in a good place not long ago but has stalled. A game so overwhelmed by ignored bugs and serious performance issues with blurry textures, frame freezes, choppy graphics and stuttering is nothing to get excited about and no amount of banal sales talk is going to convince many long term users otherwise.
Agree with you there vern I dont play dresden/leipzig it's just boring. Morristown route is ok but the alps are just painfully slow the arrows are fun to drive. And definitely would preferd the riviera set in the the late 80s for me.
For me was the Dresden-Leipzig the best thing what could happen. I did not like Dresden-Riesa because of "unnatural" ending in the Riesa station, but now it is my most favourite route. Leipzig is good and new section near Dresden is good too.
