Well.. well After 5 years of saying the world was empty of people outside stations I have found someone. I'm not sure if it is a collectible (as I've not bothered looking at them yet) or a diorama but none the less after driving trains through a people free (unless you're at a station) world I was happy to see this chap. ...... I don't count the train spotters on Horseshoe...
I think there are pedestrians walking around neighbourhoods on Sandpatch Grade but other than that it is unusual to see anyone outside of a station. Cheers
Yes, there are folks walking around on SPG- in downtown Cumberland, for instance, and elsewhere. It's striking how so much about Sand Patch has never been repeated or surpassed. It's like a couple of lights went out at DTG HQ at that time and the bulbs were never replaced.
Not so much that lights went out but rather time constraints. They spent like 2 years on the original CSX:HH. To be fair, a lot of that probably went into Simugraph, but the quality of SPG in general really shows that it had that much time. The physics are horribly outdated but the scenery still gives some recent routes a run for their money.
I wonder if there's a viable business plan that would have allowed DTG to spend sufficient time to make really polished routes again ( even GWE shows evidence of time spent. ) So many potentially excellent routes have emerged unfinished in the last couple of years. But I suppose the majority of players are always clamoring for something new and shiny.
To be honest, I doubt it. It's the old tale of the last 20% requiring as much work as the first 80%. A business will always ask: "How many additional sales will the last 20% generate?" And that number will be absolutely negligible in TSW's case. Casual players won't notice or care and even the very few players on the forums still buy the routes by and large. So there's no real business incentive to go the extra mile, as sad as that is.
