We all have our gripes about this or that when it comes to TSW, but can we have a thread with positive feedback for the team? Here's mine... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The horn on the New York-Trenton ALP-46 is GREAT!! DTG should use that sound as a starting point for North American loco horns. If they were to replace all the American freight horns with this sound, I would not be mad at all; it sounds more like a real US train than any other in the game as far as I'm concerned.
There are a lot of things the game does right and I do think everyone on here knows and appreciates that and the reason for the negativity is because we see ways the game could be even better and feed them back. Not a criticism of yourself or your post, just what came to my head when I saw it. Anyhow if I were to choose just one thing I think I would have to say Blackpool Branches, I am sorry for being so general but that route really showcases what can be done with TSW.
Exactly this. And my answer to that similar point in the Survey, was the all day timetable. I’ve added a couple of routes to my TSC collection recently and while both are excellent (Hamburg U1 and Virtual District Line) can’t help how much better they would be in TSW with an extended timetable rather than a handful of scenarios. Runner ups in the good points are the ability to move around the environment in pseudo first person mode and far more interaction in the cabs and trains, open windows and doors etc. Just last night I played the scenario on BPO where you have to rescue the failed 142 at St Anne’s. Doing proper local door operation rather than just hitting Y or U was quite engaging.
This - I'd be the first to say that we're a long, long way from it, but imagine even a modestly sized route like Riviera in the 50s in TSW with a full service timetable. Given the variety of possible services*, I think it would be utterly mindblowing compared to TSC. Service mode is the reason I virtually never touch scenarios anymore - unless there's something special going on in the scenario that can't be replicated in service mode, it just feels like a hangover from TSC days. Bonus points specifically for TSW4 - free roam and volumetric fog are my favourite new features. *express and stopping passenger, milk/newspaper/coal/mineral/long-distance freight, local pickup/dropoff goods, trip workings, ECS, summer specials, the list goes on...
Quick Play, it works brilliantly and it only seems to choose the scenarios you haven't already played which is smart. Like Forrest Gump's famous box of chocolates "you never know what you're gonna git". I love the randomness of this feature and having to adapt to the card I'm delt. The timetable is great too if you just want a relaxing drive knowing what you will get. I really enjoy the 700 mod for the BML, especially driving the 700 FLU and bringing 12 coaches into a station successfully. Timetable would greatly improve TSC for sure.
I think TSW has found a good balance between realism and accessability. There's too many games out there being way to arcady, or realistic simulator that are overly complex. I love TSW for being somewhere in between.
lighting and volumatric fog. that really affects my gameplay... barely touches pre-TSW3 DLCs after TSW4 release.
Other items, possibly already mentioned… After playing TSC and Run 8 for a bit then coming back to TSW just feels slightly more three dimensional. Quick play, definitely - in fact the BPO scenario I mentioned came up as a result of using that. Doesn’t always of course but when you load up the game and unsure what to do, better than trawling through endless lists of scenarios in TSC etc. Quick resume from the Home Screen. Again something TSC sadly lacks and made worse by having to remember whether it was Standard or Career then again after running through the long, long list of routes which scenario was the one you last left off.
For all the complaints (some of which have come from me), I'm still blown away by the overall quality of the game. The graphics for instance show an attention to detail which is often staggering: reflections off the textured surfaces of the train and in the cab are beyond anything I could have hoped for when I played my first train simulation in the 1980s on my ZX Spectrum: (loved that game!) I love TSW too and hope it continues to improve
Quite a lot, if we're being honest. The forums and wider community may be very negative, but it's not because TSW is bad, it's because it can be better. For me, it gets the; - Timetable Mode - Modelling - (Generally) Physics/Sounds - Scenery - The Creative Tools right. Although, all can be better.
Indeed. Or titles like Simudrive (text only with no sound), the SIAM driver sims, the original Railsim by Jens Schubert or the Trainmaster 3 side scrolling sim for the US. We have come a long way.
Still have it...and my Specy. I get it out once in a while along with Turbo Esprite. Back then it's was the Dogs Croutons!
The ability to pick up a timetable and escape for an hour pulling passengers or freight. Its quick to load and I'm immersed into another part of the world for a while. I agree with some of the comments above, it's clear to see the development between the original TSW and 4 in terms of modelling and graphics. In fact it highlights probably one of DTGs biggest hurdles for me now. They need to slowly upgrade the TSW2 DLC to LOD4. Going from the class 47 on BPO to the class 31 on TVL is night and day and clearly shows the development. Model detail, paint, lighting and exhaust standing out very easily. Though I understand some of the gripes on the forum, in terms of bugs and bug fixes, especially over the last few weeks. I have to say, some go way to far. They moan that there is little DTG response on here, not surprised to be honest when you read the OTT rants that quite basically rubbish the whole company. It's a game, not a necessity for life. It could be better, it could be worse but at least it's an option.
What is great about the TSW game is the timetable mode. 24 hours of rail traffic. The ability to add another train to the timetable and drive it is the best feature of the game for me. Free walking around the stations and along the railway is an excellent relaxing activity.
Free roam shine for me can run mostly what you want any where hopefull formation creator will be another great addition once the bugs etc are worked out of the beta and finished version is released to all platforms ..TSW is immersive for a escape and running freight and passenger trains old and new from various regions. Countries
For me, when done right, it's the immersion. Pulling into a station humming with a variety activity after having just viewed a beautifully drawn landscape with attention to detail is what keeps me coming back. Blackpool is the best example of the complete package so far. They way they went to the trouble to model individual buildings in Preston is astounding. But I also enjoy busy London Commuter, especially with the 700 add-on. Wurzburg and Dresden station activity is unmatched. It's fun just to sit and watch. Southeastern High Speed as a whole is also quite immersive. Niddertalbahn is just plain gorgeous.
The problem for me as someone who has been consistently complaining for the last few years about TSW) is that the game's potential does not match up to DTG's attitude towards it. I said myself on a large thread I started it in the later months of TSW2's life that I don't believe DTG in their current state were capable of managing the game, and I get proved so often that I don't feel smug about being right, just disappointed.
I'm already looking at the sim differently after reading the comments. I tend to underappreciate some of the features of the game until I see or hear how others enjoy them!
I think the recent WSR remaster is a perfect demonstration of this. It was an old and mostly forgotten route, a visual relic of the earliest days of TSW, and it's remaster brought it up there with Blackpool Branches as a pinnacle of scenic quality. And I saw nothing but enthusiasm and positivity from the community around it, there was so much investment and hype and it did not disappoint. If I was to speculate for a moment, I think it might be because of the history these routes have. These old routes in all their basic design were the routes which made us come to and enjoy this platform back in the day, they defined what features we came here for. I myself had my early TSW days very centric on Tees Valley, it defined my enjoyment of heavy locomotive hauled freight. Routes like that become special, and to have them remastered to those newer qualities rebirths those experiences all over again. We want to see those routes be the best they can be.
The WSR remaster is fantastic and playing it last night crystallized the best part of TSW4 for me: Timetable mode + Free roam can be magical. Spawned a Pacer at Minehead and ran it across the whole route. Great fun and it was interesting to watch the dispatcher react. Got stuck at a red signal leaving Bishops Lydeard, which previously would have been super annoying but with Free Roam i just deleted an AI light loco that was the issue and continued on my way. Formation designer still needs time in the oven but i hope they keep improving the feature (more on-foot spawn points is my biggest request.) Volumetric fog is also better than i would have predicted and adds a lot to immersion. I echo the call to backport it to older routes (TVL and BML pretty please!) Edit: just added a couple pics from my WSR freeroam
The timetable is certainly a strong point. I just wish there was more randomness to it though. The modeling of trains are also very good. Station modeling for the most part is very good
BML especially needs it. It's now the only one of the three Rush Hour routes yet to receive it. Both of the other two got the TOD4 upgrade alongside a new loco (Acela and Vectron) so I wouldn't be surprised if the same applies for BML.
I think Free Roam is the best new mode, it really elevates the gameplay experience and gives you a lot more freedom than you would normally have. It is basically what Scenario Planner should have been since you can take a train, put a custom livery on it, spawn it in timetable mode, and drive it like a regular service and it works pretty well. Since I was very disappointed with how lacklustre the Scenario Planner 2.0 update was, I've really been enjoying just making cool and unique formations and driving them wherever I want including lines that would never be drivable otherwise, solid addition to the game.
Free Roam alone rocketed this game up to new heights. It gave the game a level of sandbox and freedom while still keeping realism in how your path is still set by the right direction of travel and working amongst the traffic. It's the perfect happy medium between structured service and total Trainz level sandbox, and these days I find myself almost using free roam more often than actual timetable services.
A lot actually to the point that it's easier to point out what it does wrong, and that would be the very fact that it's extremely poorly optimized.
I don't think TSW4 has gotten much right, but the earliest iterations of the game did. I can think of Sand Patch Grade, TVL, NTP and the GP9rm from Oakville as examples of excellent modeling and gameplay. Blackpool Branches got a lot right, but JT could have done that for TSW 2 or 3, so nothing to do with "4" really. Personally I don't think TSW4 is any better than TSW2 in any fundamental way. The game has just run out of steam ( no pun intended.... I think. ) To me TSW4 is redolent of complacency, ie. We've got a pretty decent game that's a steady earner, let's just keep doing what we're doing. Sorry if that's negative. But you did ask.
Would have to be optimized first so a loco dlc can also work on last gen consoles. Remember rush hour passengers is still not a thing
Tees Valley has amazing potential after the last few years of development. Get it up to TSW4 visual standards (plus update the loco's) then it's just the timetable extension. So many opportunities with freight movements sitting next to passengers services it could be the pinnacle of the franchise with a very busy and immersive route. Found myself a couple of times on free roam stood at Preston just watching the world go by and thinking it would be great if the same was applied to other routes. Thats when you see the opportunities on routes like Birmingham Cross City. New Street should be 4 times busier than Preston and its like a ghost town. Hopefully these things will be addressed easily as the game moves forward. The bones are there......just got to put some meat on it.
Quick play certainly sorts out the men from the boys, you’ve got to be pretty savvy to take on any train that it throws at you, that’s what I like about it - the challenge. If one defeats me it also gets me interested in that unit and I’ll go and research it and replay the training modules, then I might play that train for a bit just to specialise on it and pick up knowledge. It’s a great way of learning the game and some of the scenarios are incredibly creative. By comparison I find Timetable mode a bit easy.
I still think the Class 20 is probably DTG's best loco DLC in TSW, it's really nicely textured and the sounds are good too. Generally the late TSW2020 stuff was quite high quality, I just wish they'd stayed at that level.
Likewise. One day I'll do the same with Elite Dangerous, 40-odd years later. I love the immersion of TSW4, sure it's not perfect (weird passengers, etc.), but it's enjoyable. I've barely scratched the surface of Free Roam yet, I can see myself losing a lot of time in the future mixing and matching.
I would say they do trains very well. As far as modeling and physics goes. Sometimes sounds leave something to be desired. However, they really hit the mark with the Metrolink DLC. As someone who’s very familiar with that equipment, I can attest that it is extremely accurate and the sounds are incredibly spot on, too. I’ve said it before but I feel as though the Metrolink DLC as a whole, the AVL route and the equipment are some of the best US DLC from DTG, thanks in part to Metrolink being so willing to work with them and give them full access to literally everything. And this still stands even though the route needs more than a few bug fixes. That says something for the state of other US DLC that the Metrolink stuff sets the bar even with its issues. I also feel that free roam mode is a major strong point. I like the ability to just drop a consist onto the route at any time of the day and run for as long as you want to. Using GodMode really enhances the experience, too.
Pacers, the class 801 which has much better Hitachi sounds than the 385, the updated class 47 which is a joy to drive and just to look at really, the updated Western horn, West Somerset railway brought up to date and given the attention the idyllic line deserves, Antelope Valley, at least the locomotives and the iconic Los Angeles views.
Free roam is a big strong point. Being able to spawn a train and drive it in timetable mode is a lot of fun. The trains detail is impressive too.
There's always something attractive about the timetable. Even if the DLC is a bit, er, lacking in some areas, the one thing that always catches my eye is the timetable. I like that I can just pick any service I want, I don't have to exit my session after completing a service, and I can even chain services and get a full 8 hours shift if I wanted to.
Timetables and layers. This game has so much potential. Its just let down by corner cutting. If they can go back and remaster some routes like WSR, they can breathe new life into stuff.
The threads talking about what TSW4 does right, so to say it does nothing right is untrue, whether an opinion or not.
