Just browsing Steam and the latest sale, notice that both the Just Trains Marylebone to Aylesbury and Marylebone to Birmingham routes have been pulled from the Steam store. Just wondered when and why this happened as I'm far more likely to buy the routes in a Steam sale with some of my wallet credit than direct from JT. Other JT routes such as various sections of the MML are still on Steam and some indeed on sale.
Both got pulled on Dec 23rd, 2022 according to SteamDB. I've got the Marylebone Aylesbury route (purchased in May 2022). Looking at My JustTrains assets folder, there was these typical issues with JT/DTG putting two .ap's with overlapping content in an Assets folder (specifically: two or more JT DLC conflicting), causing the cache generator to crash with a 0 bytes blueprints.pak. Always safer to buy from JT directly. You can then switch between 2D and 3D tracks with a little tool they add, which switches tracks.bins. I got it to run, but many didn't, and it had terrible reviews only due to this I think, even though it's a fine route.
Why? If there's some politics at play they are hardly likely to be open about it. Would much rather see what knowledge is in the public domain. However as Spikee mentions, looks as if both routes had huge issues so may have been forced to pull them down by either DTG or Steam.
Or by JT...Steam/DTG are only the platform which delivers. Why do you assume they had huge issues? ..removing conflicting content from a ,ap archive only needs the use of an archive manager (7Zip/WinRAR) and the "Delete" key. The TS user base is the biggest cause of issues.
Whatever... Anyway their loss as for all the flaws I might have given the route(s) a shot, but other than in very few cases I will not buy outside of Steam.
Gary Padley It's DTG that puts JT content into archives for Steam, as they are the publisher for Steam. The issue is, different JT routes spread their assets across various folders included in one depot instead of separate depots that would then form a package. The best example ist the Cornish Mainline crashing with SWEX, as you'll end up with two ap's with only slight differences, GreatWesternAssets.ap and CMLGreatWesternAssets.ap. This is not allowed, and the issue lies in JT using shared assets that are not unified across their DLC. It will not crash when buying from JT directly, as they deliver unpacked files, which simply overwrite each other. But - not installing them in the right order will lead to issues also. We've had lots of discussions over this, and the result was they have at least unified their CommonLibraryAssets for Steam - it is now a separate depot. Still some old routes bring older file versions of these assets. So buying from Steam, if you experience a crash you'll have to check which folder has two .aps in it. (Only necessary for assets, route data is not cached so you can have multiple .aps in there) Then unpack both to a temp folder, overwrite if newer. Then put them back either loose or pack your own ap. Example: https://forums.dovetailgames.com/th...s-reading-exeter-route-add-on-crashing.79903/ Fun fact: Check your JT CrossCountry HST. Does it have a branding? No? Untick Bristol-Exeter in Steam DLC manager and retick it - this will add the brandings from that old DLC, which get overwritten with unbranded textures delivered with newer JT routes that are writing to the same HST folder. Though I cannot guarantee it won't mess up other JT routes due to the complex web of cross references. I've downloaded the depot and copied the textures to my HST folder to have them branded again. DTG took a much better approach themselves - One route - one asset pack. May be duplicate assets but storage is not an issue nowadays.
I don't think there's a great deal of politics involved in train simulation. I would have thought going straight to the source would be more likely to get a definitive answer than asking on a forum where most of us are only in a position to speculate.
It doesn't matter why - it's not on Steam anymore. For reasons unknown. Buy from JT directly - I have locked myself out of Peak Forest because I've started with MML on Steam. Which doesn't work with the extension. (Probably doable involving a lot of manual work)
Interesting discussion but it was more curiosity than anything else. Anyhow on a positive note JT just did quite nicely out of me in the current sale, Hope Valley which is very, very nice particularly running via Marple which I'm also doing in their 7MT (Britannia) which is a very nice loco too. I also bought the 6MT though yet to have a play with that.
Missing out there Vern i am sorry to say buddy. For modern era routes JT Chiltern with the extra Aylesbury section and MML all sections. Are two excellent routes, where i get to run loads of blue stuff LOL. Opposite to you Vern, if i can buy direct from a vendor rather than Steam. Then i will all day long. Mike.
Point taken Mike! I may just have to bite the bullet and buy direct, taking the Warship or Western from Marylebone to Snow Hill does sound rather appealing, though a Victory Works GWR steamer just as good.
Just my own preference Vern and you know me well enough. To know i wouldn't try and tell you what to do buddy. That's the spirit get those hydraulics working or as you say a lovely VW steam loco. Mike.
