So as most older players know, the training center was originally added back in TSW 3 to solve the problem of loco dlc being tied to a specific route. But since then the only updates it has had over the years are a few new scenarios and a christmas and easter mastery tile. Whilst it is nice that it has been updated I would like to suggest a few more changes to make it even better. (Feel free to add your own suggestions in the discussion bellow). 1. Car: The training center in it's current form is already large. If you want to get from the tunnel to Metro south station you'll be walking for quite some time. Therefore I would suggest taking the driving system from Holiday Express and add it to the training center so that exploration and traversing becomes easier. 2. More interiors: One of my favourite parts of the training center is the main building. I like that you can walk around it and it makes the training center feel more real. But sadly it's the only place like that on the map even though there are other buildings. Which is why I would like some more enterable interiors that could also be filled with easter eggs. Just imagine walking into one of the big maintenance halls or even just being able to finally enter the toilets in the main building. 3. Rules and regulations: This is an area that is severly lacking in tsw's education. If you know where to look you can find it out for your self, but not every casual player has the time to learn german just to read Infrago's documentation on pzb. So why not add some training scenarios where you learn the local rules, signalling systems and safety systems. Something like this was already shown with one of TSG's expert dlc where you start out in a classroom getting a powerpoint presentation. 4. More track: We currently have a few yards, a big circle, a small circle and a hump. Whilst I get that the center is based of the Siemens test track near Wildenrath. It would be nice to have some more variation, maybe some elevation differences, or places where signals from different regions could be placed (see suggestion 3), or at the very least add a turntable somewhere. 5. Track gauge: This one kind of adds on to #4, but currently we have 2 narrow gauge routes and soon we will also have a broad gauge route. Now I understand that it might look strange to add more gauges, but at least it means that we won't have floating wheels. 6. NPC: There are a few already, but in real life a rail yard like this wouldn't feel as dead as it does in game. I don't necesarily need passengers on the stations, infact I don't want that at all, but it would be nice to have a little bit more life in the map. For example you could have a teacher driver stand near some track explaining to a class of trainee drivers, or a maintenance worker secretly slacking of at one of the sheds, or some tourists sitting near one of the viewpoints. 7. Centralized training points in free roam: Currently there are random tutorial markers thrown all over the map. It would be nice if those could be centralized in one or two locations depending on where the tutorial starts so that the platform at station 1 doesn't look so full anymore. 8. Events: We already have an easter and christmas mastery tile so why not add more. Maybe have one for each month as like a third tier to the monthly masteries. You already have one for April and December, now get some more for the other months. Some suggestions July: beach themed or October: Halloween. 9. Centralized loco pool: In an era of ever increasing ssd prices it might be smart to cut back on duplicating assets. Let's take the Dosto for example, every german is already tired of it partially because it occupies 90% of their storage space since each dosto is a new dosto. If we tied a generic dosto to this route and then add livery variations via the routes then it would cut down on storage space. Sure it doesn't have to be every train but at least the common ones could be done this way. Another bonus is that the Main spessart dosto and the Frankfurt Fulda dosto don't have to be updated independently of eachother again. Ofcourse you sometimes need a localized version in which case it is fine to put that in the dlc file, but this could cut back on a few GB. Again these are only some suggestions that I feel like would add to or at the very least improve the usefullness and fun factor in the training center. I don't expect them to be added tommorrow, but maybe TSW 8, 9 or 10 could at least feature a few of these things. Also again add your own suggestions or discuss mine down below.
Personally I would rather they got rid of Training Centre entirely and focused on doing the tutorials on the actual route on which the train operates. That way correct use of safety systems could be demonstrated.
The problem with that is that loco dlcs would have to be linked to routes again since the tutorial would necesarily have to be on one of the routes. In my suggestion I reccommended moving safety systems and rules to the training center so that you wouldn't have to do 20 ACSES tutorials. For local rules they could still make a tutorial on the route it self, but that would only be neccesary in specific circumstances like local signals (e.g. those creep signals on Crewe-Preston). the rest could be taught in the training center. Also getting rid of the training center wouldn't solve your problem since in the old days they would teach the exact same stuff as they do now in the training center, but just on the route. You also have to remember that unlike you and I some players will be jumping on TSW 7 as their first ever adventure into the world of train sims. The training center also has a bunch of tutorials already on the basics of TSW that you couldn't just plop on another route.
