It's an interesting proposal to pitch to a developer (doesn't have to be DTG, could be third party too) If they can get X number of pre-orders for a route extension, would they add it? (And only the people that pledged early would get the whole expanded route.) DCS (Digital Combat Simulator) is doing that with a few of their maps. You can pay for a smaller map, then pay more to "unlock" the extension. New people without the smaller map pay full price for both, those with the smaller map can at any time upgrade. Except in this case they just wouldn't build that extension until it hit a certain number of pre-orders. If it doesn't get say 500 pre-orders in 6 months then money is refunded. Of course, that ALSO presupposes there's a consensus on WHAT to offer for that extension which people can never seem to agree on here =-)
Well I’m telling you now, that I would pay the extra development time. Whether you take that at face value or not is entirely your choice.
Of course longer routes would be nice. But something I'd actually prefer would be more branching lines. Adding such branches could add a lot of value to a route, and many of the existing routes offer potential in this regard. Rosenheim-Salzburg is a good example. Sure, the route could also benefit greatly from an extension towards München! But taking my 111 from München to Salzburg would take just over 2 hours in total, and sometimes I just want to put in some 20-30 minutes of train driving fun. The branches along the route would be perfect for this. I'd be willing to pay a little extra for content like this too. If it's done well.
Not as easy as that have you used the route editor in TSW very very complex piece of kit but can do amazing things.
Enough now. This is getting childish. I find it hilarious though you’re going so far out of your way to prove me wrong. A person’s opinion can’t change in the space of a year? 390001 Nope, never, capeesh!
I see you have not changed. I mean, someone is doing the whole of London, so I said someone “could” do Sheerness.
Not a case of “you haven’t changed” as was simply saying the editor is a complex piece of kit you should take a look at it. It’s not as simple as taking a route from TSC and opening it up in the TsW editor and working on it if that was possible to do don’t you think DTG would have done that already and saved themself a lot of time and money, You would need to work on it from scratch. Also you have the issue of not being able to extend routes. So if it was to get done it would be either a stand alone route or be sold as a whole new route much like the extended SEHS. Like I said have a look at the editor your on Pc it is free to download and use.
You are right it is. Whilst I agree with your points about having longer routes I woukd 100 percent back this up and if it was to ever go irons further poll the do it would be near the top of my want list. There are some amazing routes that could be had if we could get longer routes. WCML north, GEML. Edinburgh to Newcastle etc. hopefully one day it is something we can see.
What do you mean by "the TSC one from 2021" exactly? TSC's version is way older, the TSW version would be more in line with the date you've mentioned. Did you misspell, or is there some TSC 2021 version avaliable somewhere I hadn't heard of before?
There are two versions. One is the original Faversham route from St. Pancras. The other is the one that adds on to the Chatham Main Line for the Dover/Ramsgate route. Danny originally merged the majority of the Faversham route, with the new location of Rochester. Here is the map with Gravesend at the northwest terminus and Sheerness on the northeast; the main route continues from both sides below.
Back to the topic in hand about longer routes as this is now going off topic. I do wonder if a shift when it moves to UE5 would open that possibility up more.
Sorry, but my post was on topic as it discussed the possibility that someone could add Sheerness on to an existing route if they know how. I think we can moderate ourselves, thank you.
You can’t add onto existing routes in TSW hence SEHS was released with the Ashford extension as a full route and not as a stand alone expansion. Also hence why no routes have had extensions onto them hence why some have the termination points others have mentioned. If extensions were possible I am sure DTG and 3rd party would have done it in all the years the sim has been released. something I hope they can work around as will help current routes expand further
There's a lot of things that aren't in the sim, yet are technically feasible to pull off at some point. There's a reason why route/loco codes have things like Maglev & Atomic-Electric as possible codes, even though nothing's used them. And while I can't remember for certain, pretty sure someone at DTG (probably Matt if I had to take a shot in the dark) it's technically possible to do route extension add-ons. It's just that said add-ons are more niche since they require a base route, a route extension that's sold with the base route as part of it has broader appeal due being standalone.
absolutely spot on. That’s why I am a fan of the cargo packs. I get not everyone likes them but for me they just enhance a route we already have and brings it more alive. One route I really hope the look at adding something more to is Birmingham cross city. A fantastic commuter route with fast and slow running and a great length which has short and long drives. It’s a great discussion and one I imagine DTG take a look at and have some great feedback on to put forward to the ones who get the say. When we look back at what we had when TSW heavy haul came out years back to what we have now they have done a fantastic job. I am sure they are not finished with what they want to deliver and the future is certainly one that has great potential as far as the sim goes.
Lol as someone from Jersey, I have to ask, who is saying Trenton is a strange end? That’s where NJT northeast corridor ends in real life. I know some folks wanted a Raritan Valley Line instead but NEC is the busiest and makes the most sense… As for Harlem, we’ve got the entirety of Manhattan, the Bronx, and Westchester County… not too many stops in Duchess that would make sense to terminate at… and if they can’t continue to the IRL terminus than no matter what stop they pick it’ll be “too short” to someone. I’m satisfied with the entirety of westchester tbh, only value Duchess would’ve added is more time and a few level crossings
There are many trains that do not stop at Trenton, hence it's a strange route end and trains were often made to stop at Trenton for service mode considerations.
According to Wiki, the only train that doesn't actually stop there is the Acela, and thats it. (And some Acela services used to stop there pre 2023.
For NJT it’s where the NJT NEC route terminates IRL… there’s nothing beyond that for NJT, well except for Morrisville yard Acela skips it IRL but I think the route is more about NJT and Amtrak is just thrown in as a playable layer, as it should be… majority of traffic on that corridor is NJT
Of course one possible downside of longer routes is increased file sizes. My TSW install is currently around 220Gb which is probably more than MSFS occupies. The time is rapidly approaching to trim some of the stuff I bought and never play and not required for layering (looking at you Sherman Hill and HSC).
That's something else to consider, especially when it comes to what routes are needed for layering, which would increase it further. The way around that, which is unlikely, would be have the layers (if any) appear by default without needing the required route.
Here is a map with the route end at Trenton circled. I do know I did read that some services had falsified stops at Trenton so they could be driven to the route end, but I had no information on how many were affected. Map goes just beyond Philadelphia 30th Street to Prospect Park.
Can we keep this on topic please I am getting sick and tired of threads getting taking off topic with pointless posts that have no reference to the topic in hand. This is a very good thread about route lengths with actually a lot of feedback for the developers to go through with information about the community. If you want to quarrel about who is right about services on a real life route take it to DMs
Last I checked, you stated you did not have familiarity with the route, so I was kind enough to provide a map. Can you please stop trying to bait people - specifically me - here? This is exactly why you were previously banned. Thank you.
if I was banned not that it’s for anything to do with you anyway so fail to see why you are making such a claim. I wouldn’t be here talking. You constantly take threads off topic for no reason other than to try and argue with people. The forum rules state pretty clearly to keep topics on subject. You trying to correct the member above is still doing that. End of matter for me any further posts off topic I will just report them and let the admin deal with it. I made a polite request you have came back with accusations which are clearly nothing to do with you in an attempt to be smart you are well known for it here. Have a nice day
This is a really good thought actually. Consoles have limited space. Granted they can expand when required I added a 2TB SSD to my PS5 and also a 1TB to Xbox series. I have got all my ps5 routes and sim on the console storage and moved everything else over to the SSD. Quite scary to think how quickly the space fills up. I do wonder if that is something they have looked at when making routes and factored the consoles in mind with regards to file size etc.
It's another fine day in forum land, toy's being thrown out of prams, and nurses running around trying to find the straightjackets. You just couldn't make it up......
Hey folks, just a gentle reminder to keep your tone and discussions civil and respectful and to not derail threads with unrelated arguments. All the best, Jan
Would there be any point in the Acela route being extended further so the Acela doesn't have a false end point? If so, could any current rolling stock be used or would new ones be needed?
It might be difficult to do that without going all the way to Philadelphia 30th Street, and that would turn it into a payware route extension. Which might be too much to ask for here. I am sure fans would love doing the entire journey, but would they pay for it as an extension while new players can buy the entire route full stop at release?
I suppose the question is, would a possible extension sell as a "new" base route in a TSW5 or 6 or 7 etc like SEHS was? It may do, but would it be worth the development time in case it didn't? The latter question would obviously be based on how popular the route is now?
I'm thinking it's a big consideration of DTG, but especially for consoles (who are 70-80% of their market.) There's only SO much space people are willing to fill on their hard drives and that's VERY limited on consoles. A lot of people have 500Gb or 1TB, so the current game is hundreds of GB of content is a big chunk of that. Presumably people won't fill the WHOLE thing with just one game, so something has to give. If big routes just aren't bought by people on consoles because they "take up too much space" then that's a HUGE hit for potential sales. Someone brought up going to UE 5 at some point. Is that a thing? Will affect file sizes? What are the hard drive sizes for future consoles? I think I heard Xbox X was going to be 2TB internal? (not that everyone immediately upgrades to the latest version or that other games won't increase in size too)
The best way to figure out how big the game is (on Steam) is to buy everything and then see how much space Steam estimates the download and install would take. The game would mostly fit on a 1 TB drive, but they of course have other games to consider as well.
I reckon if they done that approach again it would be the ECML extended with the class 91 and MK4. The amount of people asking for that would be a smooth way to silk over the normal moans and groans IF tsw5 was to be announced and would be a good way to extend a much requested train and route package.
Although HD's are relatively cheap, one thing I have found in doing preliminary research for a new PC is that the cases about now don't seem to have many slots for additional drives. And it won't be that hard to fill up a 1Tb or even 2Tb drive. As I said, TSW is 220Gb alone and I have a fair few routes not in my collection. TSC is getting on for that and I think SimRail is around 60Gb. Various other programmes like the truck sims use >30Gb and if I want MSFS on there, total install is nearly 200Gb with all the bells and whistles. That soon fills a 1Tb drive.
Different take on this topic. Maybe AI will speed up routebuilding in the future and it won´t be a problem anymore in any simulator. Flight, Bus and Truck Sims don´t seem to struggle with all this, it´s only complicated for trains.
Even easier solution than buying everything. On the product page it shows you the file size. Take note of them add up the number to get total GB download and installation size. Saves you having to buy everything which will include stuff you may not want.
That may not be 100% accurate. Things get updated over time but the product page might not be updated. The Steam DLC manager for the game shows how much actual space is taken. Example: Peterborough-Doncaster claims a product size of 7.7 GB. I have it way over 10 on my hard drive.
It would be great if DTG seperated out the rolling stock from the route files, that way we could install everything needed for layering without needing the entirety of the old routes installed.
Yeah that catches people out the download size and install size will be different. On the product page you take the storage size which is the actual install size. Give or take a few gb it normally works out pretty accurate (most of the time )
I REALLY like that idea. You can bundle them to sell them, but make the locos and rolling stock, etc separate for DLC purposes. Saves having to keep the whole route on your hard drive too if you only bought it to use the one loco on it or 1 piece of rolling stock. For example, I want the G-6 but don't want to play the Osten map it's attached to... I wonder if we have lots of redundancy because when you download 4 routes with the same rolling stock, it adds it 4 times since it's built into the routes packages to download? That idea really has merit!
I like this idea for TSC as well, and I think it has huge benefits for that game in that the Content and Asset folders are distinctly separate, so splitting those into two parts has merits. Install all the assets but you can remove the route at any time if you are not playing it, to save space, and keep all the assets for other uses. I don't know the file hierarchy of TSW as intimately, but I presume there is some kind of split in it as well?
Maybe in the future, with newer technology at their disposal, DTG (and/or 3rd Parties as well) could make some longer routes. I'd love to see the following longer US routes: -SP/UP Donner Pass: Rosville-Reno; 140 mi. -Pacific Surfliner: LA-San Diego; 128 mi. -BNSF/ATSF Seligman Sub: Needles, CA-Winslow, AZ; 293.5 mi. (this one would need to be made in 3 segments; 4 if Grand Canyon RR is added) -UP Evanston Sub: Ogden,UT-Green River, WY; 177.9 mi. (this one needs at least 2 segments) -UP/BNSF or BN/C&NW Powder River Coal Route -CP Rail/CPKC Kicking Horse Pass: Revelstoke-Lake Louise; 155 mi. -WP Feather River Canyon: Oroville-Portola; 118 mi. -BNSF/BN/GN Marias Pass: Shelby-Whitefish; 152 mi. -D&RGW Soldier Summit: Salt Lake City-Helper, UT: 118 mi. -Brightline/FEC: Miami-West Palm Beach-Orlando -BNSF/BN/GN Stevens Pass/Scenic Sub; Wenatchee-Mukilteo, WA; 123 mi. -Amtrak/Sounder/BNSF Cascades Line: Seattle-Portland -BNSF Fallbridge Sub -UP Portland Sub -UP Bailey Yard (North Platte, NE)-Omaha, NE -Alaska RR: Anchorage-Seward-126 mi. Train Sim Classic has many of these routes, and they are quite long. Of course, those are TS Classic routes.
