TSW2 has the name SIM in the title, most of us are not train drivers, just because we can get trains moving and stopping is no excuse not to explain every function the “simulated” train has to offer, safety systems and signals should all be explained as well, if it’s just meant to be an arcade game take the word SIM out of the title, I spend good money to be entertained and enjoy, not to then spend hours on Google trying to find answers to my many questions, if I wanted to do research I wouldn’t buy computer games, I would do research
I’m bemused by the lack of a manual. TSW2 wasn’t thrown together in a couple of weeks, it was in development for a very long time. It was known throughout that process what the routes and trains were and how the scenario and livery tools work and what the players would need to know. The manual is a digital product, so Covid isn’t an excuse for it not being written. If you can produce a game with everyone working from home you can certainly produce a PDF. If the person who normally produces the manuals wasn’t available for any reason, there are plenty of options still available, and a lot of it would be cut and paste from old manuals. The release date was delayed for two weeks, so time wasn’t an issue. The game has been out nearly a month now and still no detailed manual, so time is definitely not the issue. There was time to do a quick start guide but not a full manual. Bemused.
The request for a manual has already been noticed and is being looked into, thank you for creating this thread however a petition showing interest isn't going to really achieve anything as we are already aware of the demand. I can understand how this is currently disappointing and frustrating, your feelings are certainly valid.
Lack of adequate documentation is a serious limitation. After all, this is not a "truck driving simulation without the steering wheel". To become proficient and have fun, a person needs to know what they are doing and people with neither the inclination nor time to do the research lose interest and that erodes the economic base of what is, after all, a niche company. One good technical writer, hopefully with a love of railroading, would suffice.
So many corporate brush offs in one post! My buzz word bingo card is going to be filling up fast! Did the company really believe that there would be little or no demand for a manual?
Natster you will soon learn that DTG looks into many things, unfortunately not many are actually done, we don’t need the team looking into a manual, we need confirmation that a proper manual is being worked on because it’s needed as part of the package, not a QuickStart afterthought, please reply if you have come confirmation otherwise not a single member of the community will believe it’s actually being worked on
I suspect a thorough manual would help DTG too, which I guess they have realised by now. Not that I am familiar with how testing is performed there, but without detailed documentation to refer to, unless every single person at DTG has specific knowledge of every train, signalling systems and particular route, it would be very hard to distinguish between "as designed" and "this is a gameplay bug" when failing a scenario during testing. And if like other studios they use relatively in-experienced short-term contractors for testing then it would be even more impossible for bugs that block gameplay to be identified correctly rather than player mistakes.
I've said it before, but I'll say it again (as this post is specifically about manuals) By not having one, DTG are making more work for themselves answering questions and report tickets. For example the ICE passenger lights. How many threads and support tickets have been submitted on this one thing alone. Most due to there not being a manual. Yes you will still get some questions because someone doesn't read the manual for whatever reason. But replying with a link to a manual has got to be easier and quicker than providing an explanation every time.
Here is a useful link. Not ofical but user created. If i were DTG, i´d talk to the guy. https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/out-now-tsw2-starters-guide.25913/
Thank you for this, very helpful. It comes to something when a customer has to take up their own time to produce something that should have been provided as standard. But hats off the them all the same.